Chris’s Blog

For a while now, I’ve wanted an iPod Classic.  I have a 2nd Generation Nano and it’s a great little device, but 4GB is just not enough.  Not only that, but I really wanted something I can just sync my whole library to (about 28GB of music/podcasts/audiobooks) and not have to pick and choose.

In the past, I would have just gone out and bought it, but since taking the Financial Peace class from Dave Ramsey, I’ve been trying to be more responsible.  After waiting for nearly a year, I decided to take the bull by the horns and put a bunch of stuff on eBay to make the money I needed.  Combined with some Christmas money, I was finally able to order it (thanks for selling it $25 cheaper, Amazon) on New Year’s Eve and I’ve been loving it ever since.

Not only is it a great device that works exactly as it should, sounds great, and holds all my music and even a bunch of episodic TV shows (Firefly, Arrested Development, and Futurama, right now), but it means even more that I wanted it for over a year–waited, saved and sold stuff to get it–and was finally able to order it.  I think that makes it an even more awesome device than it already is!

On a side note, I have been enjoying being an Amazon Prime subscriber.  For those that don’t know, Amazon Prime allows you to get free two-day shipping on anything fulfilled by Amazon.com and for $3.99 per item, you can get something overnight.  I got a 3-month trial when I ordered the iPod and I think I’m going to actually pay for the subscription ($79/year) when the trial runs out.  I’ve been ordering more “necessity” items which are not only cheaper than at stores, but also ship free thanks to Amazon Prime.

Bekah is special.  She has to work so hard for everything physical that she does.  She especially has a hard time reaching up and out with her hands.  Last night, she was sitting in her Bumbo seat and Valerie put a little piano book in front of her at eye-level (unusually high for her to reach).  We were organizing Kayla’s room a bit and Bekah decided to start playing the piano.  I grabbed Valerie’s iPod Nano and shot a quick video of her playing her piano.  Way to go, Bekah!

Every season, they say, “this is the biggest group of Biggest Loser contestants ever.”  This season, it’s true again!  It’s another “Couples” Biggest Loser.  They have a set of twins who, combined, are just 31 pounds shy of half a ton and one guy who is significantly over 500 pounds on his own.

I love this show.  Not sure why exactly, but it’s one of the few TV shows we don’t miss an episode of.  Seeing the transformations of these people over approximately 16 weeks (and then a few more before the finale) is incredibly inspiring.  Some of them are almost unrecognizable by the finale.

So, who are your favorites this season?

I’m not sure if it’s because I think they’re too cliche or if it’s just that I would hate to make them and then not keep them (as 95% of people do), but I just don’t make New Year’s Resolutions.  Never have.

I don’t mind however, putting a few things down that I hope to get accomplished this year.  Valerie wants me to do this 101 things in 1001 days, but I’m not sure I can come up with that many, so I’ve made this somewhat shorter list.  I guess they’re “goals” of a sort.  It breaks down into a few neat categories, so in no particular order, here it is:

Family

• Figure out Kayla’s school situation.  This is more of an early-in-the-year-necessity as Kayla will start Kindergarten in the fall.  Ideally, I’d like to have her in private school.  Financially, that may have to wait a year or two.
• Have semi-regular date nights.  With a special needs child, it becomes both harder and more important to escape every so often.  We need to find a reliable, adult (or almost adult) babysitter that we can “train” in order to feel comfortable leaving Rebekah.  Ideally, I would like to shoot for a night (or afternoon) out without the kids once a month.
• Begin doing semi-regular family devotions.  Kayla is at an age now where she should be able to sit and listen.  I need to find an age-appropriate book or method to help out.

Finances

• Build up to 10% giving to our church.  We were there at one point, but some unexpected things came along and we cut back a bit.  I’d like to build up to that again.  We’re not far off, so this should be doable.
• Halve our debt.  We don’t have a huge amount, but I’d like to cut it in half.  This will largely depend on what new medical expenses come our way for the next year, but I’m hopeful.
• Begin making a car payment to myself.  The time is coming when I will have to replace my car and I don’t want it to sneak up on me.  I want to 1) have enough to put down from making that payment to myself and 2) be able to just carry on with that payment to pay off a new(er) car in 4 years or less.

House

• Get rid of our storage unit.  When we put the house on the market, we needed to de-clutter.  Now, we are paying $85/month to store this stuff.  Some of it we use and regularly go change out (winter/summer clothes, for instance).  Some of it we don’t.  I would like to sell or get rid of anything we can live without and refine the rest of it down to an amount we can fit in our attic storage areas in the house.
• Tame the yard.  This is more of an ongoing, progress item.  It will never be fully tamed, but I’d like to reclaim a bit more from the trees/scrub.
• Insulate.  We really could use a few more inches up in the attic and it would be really nice if we could do something about the uninsulated finished basement (not my handiwork, the knucklehead who owned the house before us was responsible for that one).

Personal

• Bring my lunch.  Once or twice a week would be good.  Not only would it save money, but it would also give me time to complete some of the items below this one.  My problem is that lunch is a social event for me.  It’s hard for me to pass up that hour with friends to eat at my desk by myself.
• Complete some video games.  I have a bad habit of getting partway into a game and not finishing it.  Whether it’s boredom, simply not enough time to keep up, or the next shiny thing comes along, something pulls me away.  I need to complete Zelda: Spirit Tracks, Torchlight, and Defense Grid.  I’d like to make some progress on Elven Legacy, Sacred 2, and Civ IV as well.
• Read some more.  I used to read a lot.  I don’t have time to read a lot anymore, but I have a handful of books that I would like to prioritize to complete.