Sunday, May 31, 2009

Crafty Husband :)

I have never been known for being the creative or even resourceful type, but today a vision I had about a year ago finally came to fruition. It is sad that such a simple idea took so long to materialize. While playing "Bigger & Better" with the kids a long time ago, I found a candle stand in someone's trash and had a great idea. I converted it into a plant holder! Well... There really was no converting to be done other than sticking little terracotta pots on it. The hard part was finding the right plants for it. Below are pictures of the porch (for context), and the candle holder turned plant stand.

The porch needs some color, but it will be there in a week or so when a couple budding plants finally bloom. The front only looks so nice because my wonderful mother put mad effort into cleaning it up with me this afternoon. Hope you enjoy.

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Growing Hops

I planted 4 hop rhizomes a few weeks ago and as of Wednesday one of the plants was already taller than my fence. According to what I have read, hops grow as tall as 20 feet. So yesterday I set out to build something for them to climb high for cheap. My total price tag was well under $40. Selling for $2/oz. I should be able to recapture my costs pretty quickly.

In dreaming up my design I had to come up with a way to get the hops down every fall without a 16' step ladder. My final plan was to run a cable between to poles that could be lowered. The pictures below should show my plan better than I can explain it. I purchased 2 16' 2x4s, 50 ft. of 1/16" cable, two eye bolts, string, and a couple other miscellaneous parts. I originally planned on using pulleys but decided that they were unnecessary.















Thursday, May 28, 2009

The Envelope System

I love personal finance. My first financial mentor was John Commuta, and am currently tutored by Dave Ramsey 3 mornings a week as I deliver the paper. I also read fivecentnickel and get some good stuff from him. Stephanie and I are around 1/4 million in debt. We aren't good targets for identity thieves. A couple months ago I worked out a very detailed and disciplined plan to be completely debt free in less than 11 years "on just the money we already make". (Commuta uses that phrase in his ads all the time) Hopefully, our income will increase and that number will shrink.

The problem is that my plan depends on Stephanie and I sticking to our budget. It is tight but realistic. Our dedication vacillates constantly because there are always special circumstances that justify fudging the budget just a bit. Those little exceptions in multiple budget categories really add up. According to our budget we are supposed to have around $800 to add to our smallest debt every month (up from $400 because we paid off the Honda! YES!). This month we barely paid our bills.

We were out of credit card debt quite a few months ago, but we funnel everything we can through our discover card in order to maximize our cashback bonus. We have not carried a balance in months. But, Ramsey confronts this mindset often on his show and insists that statistics show that people spend more when they use a credit card than they do with with cash or debit. Although I could not deny the stat, I have insisted that we budget well enough and track our expenses well enough that the credit card does not influence the amount we spend. Today, I publicly confess that I was wrong.

So, with hardly any resistance Stephanie agreed to the change. Today, my friend Walter passively convinced me to go the extra mile and convert to an all cash system. The aforementioned statistic further states that people spend even less with cash than they do with debit. So, I just emailed Stephanie and informed her that I want to switch to the envelope system. I remember my brother and his wife reading Larry Burkett and using this system as a result in their early married life. Here is how it works.

For all expenditures that are discretionary like groceries, entertainment, recreation, clothing, hobbies, dining out, and even gasoline, we take the budgeted amount of money at the beginning of the month and place it in appropriate envelopes. Throughout the month when we want something, we go to the envelope and use the cash for ALL purchases. When the cash is gone, guess what-- you are done. The system is beautifully simple, but certainly the best way for all but the extremely disciplined.

I am nervous but excited, because I know that the end result will be totally worth it.

Wednesday, May 27, 2009

When Children Die

This is a touchy subject, yet I must speak my heart on the issue, and again beg for responses.

There is a very popular belief among Christians in "The Age of Accountability". In essence, it states that until a certain age, children are not accountable for their sins and in one sense or another are innocent until a certain age or level of maturity. It is a very nice idea, and a wonderfully comforting way to assess the fate of children. But, I have never found a shred of Biblical support for this notion. It is clear from Psalm 51:5 that we are sinful from birth!

The other common way of dealing with the death of children is through infant baptism. Accordingly, we can somehow impute righteousness unto a child through the sacrament of baptism. This does not hold much water either.

The death of children is an uncomfortable subject, and one for which we want answers and I believe that in response we have dreamed up some pretty good sounding ones. Nonetheless, I believe Scripture is silent on the issue. That being the case, I personally have simply resolved that it is in God's hand to trust that he will do what is right with his own. It does seem consistent with his character that there would be some provision for those of a certain age, but I can with no certainty make that claim.

There is one passage that gives me lots of hope. After David's son dies he explains his peace in the situation by saying, "I will go to him, but he will not return to me". David clearly believes that his son is in heaven waiting for David to join him. Here lies my theological question of the day. I believe the Bible to be true. Therefore, I believe that David truly said what he said and believed what he did. But, David was fallible. So, just because David believed it, is that authority enough for me to?

Before I close I would like to emphasize the goodness of God. We can trust his will completely, for his ways and thoughts are infinitely above our own. So, just because I believe that neither infant baptism nor "The Age of Accountability" sufficiently deal with the issue, I am fully confident that we can trust our Heavenly Father to do what is right with all that go to meet Him.

I again look forward to comments on this post! Please justify for me either of the two popular notions or address how much faith we can put in the true words of David.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

My Media Center

This post may not be of particular interest to my few and faithful readers, but I write it for the sake of people like me. I looked intently for information on using an HDTV as a monitor and for recommendations on hardware and software for a media giant pc. My set up is not complete, but I have learned quite a bit along the way and highly recommend combining tv and computer, especially if you live in a small space. In order to complete the set-up I need a Blu-Ray burner and a wireless keyboard mouse combo.

The first piece of equipment I intently researched was the tv. If you are thinking of a similar set-up, I only have a few pointers. HDTVs either have 720 or 1080 lines of resolution equating to total resolutions of 1280x720 and 1920x1080 respectively. Within each group, the size of your tv is not going to affect how much stuff you can fit on your monitor, it is only going to affect how big individual pixels are. Total resolution matters more than size and therefore insist that you don't even consider 720. Furthermore, I would go with a smaller 1080p as well. I purchased a 37" Insignia (LG) from Best Buy and could not be happier with it. At full resolution, my vista start button is still smaller than a dime. If I would have went with a bigger tv, it would only stretch things out.
As far as response time, brightness, and other technicalities go, I would do your own research. Depending on what you intend on doing with your tv/monitor and where it will be, your answers to those specs will be very different. The resolution allows for very comfortable viewing of two programs side by side. I have posted images below.
Here you can see how much you can fit at full resolution.
Here you can see the tv in the context of the room. I should have cleaned the desk.
If you have any question, please ask. I love to help.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

Music & Memories

Music is awesome. Tonight I was calling up Tree 63 for Nic and somewhere in some tag a Damien Rice song contained the word tree, so it joined the play list. It happened to be a song I hate because of the f-bomb so i deleted it. But it inspired me to call up the album "O" and I have been listening to it for about an hour now. I am not sure if Stephanie had just purchased it or what, but this CD was very present in the foundational months of Stephanie and my romance. Images of her visits while I painted houses, late night drives, and cemetery walks flashed before my eyes. I could almost smell that summer sitting here listening to the music. All the while, Thor is lying in my arms, drinking his bottle, and gentle touching my face. Talk about bliss. I sure love my wife. I was in love with her then and she is ten times better now. The album is still playing and only has two songs left. I am sad that my reminiscent journey is coming to an end. In spite of looming lesson plans and a long night and longer day tomorrow, I am in temporary bliss--loving this moment, allowing God to show me how blessed I really am. All good gifts come from God and I am thankful for every moment.

Saturday, May 16, 2009

Minor Manipulations

We had a tough time finding a magnet beefy enough to hold the calendar to the fridge. I eventually harvested a magnet from an old hard drive that works great. Anyway, Stephanie wanted me to get rid of the leftovers. I played with them for a bit and made the face below. I thought it was pretty sweet and reason enough to keep them on the fridge.

Last night I walked by the fridge and noticed that my dude was ticked off! Someone had simply moved the eyebrows... Maybe this is nothing to any of you, but I thought it was pretty awesome that such an insignificant movement could change so much!
Doesn't this following one almost look worried! After today I will no longer take my eyebrows for granted!










Friday, May 15, 2009

Crafty Wife

My wife would not consider herself a crafter by any means, but she comes up with some good ideas. For some reason, I love this one. She made super cute fridge magnets by hot gluing buttons to magnets. It helped that her dad has been collecting buttons since he was a child and has a huge collection. But, I just thought I would share the idea in case your fridge

needs some...

Thursday, May 14, 2009

An Emotional Blow...

If a $100 bill fell out of my pocket, I would be just a little upset that I was out of some cash. But when my $75 batch of bees decided to run out on me it was a blow to my spirit. A few weeks ago--only days after I first received and installed my bees, I went to PA for a Saturday to become a trained leader of "The Truth Project". I spent the entire lonely drive home anticipating big changes in my hive. It was the first sunny day since the bees had been introduced to Canal Winchester, and I figured they would have made lots of progress turning my humble hive into a home.

Stephanie was out at her parents' house and I was supposed to drive straight out to join the family, but I couldn't resist a quick stop to see what I had missed! As I approached the hive I was surprised by the inactivity around the entrance but figured that the bees must all be out foraging! I carefully opened my observation window with incredible anxiety only to discover that my colony of 10,000 or so bees was down to 50... if that. My heart sunk. For the next few days I foolishly held onto a sliver of hope that they might come back or that the few remaining bees would raise a queen out of the handful of eggs in the comb they managed to build.

Stephanie was very understanding and even insists that I try again this year. I would really love to, but I am not sure if I have the time. I am not sure I could deal with another colony absconding. It was so sad.

Well, seeing as though I didn't even have the time to blog about the bees when I had them, I will post some videos and pictures of the whole ordeal. I hope you enjoy them.
This is a bee package. Within that screened box there is a can of sugar syrup, a queen protected in a cage, and roughly 10,000 (3 lbs. worth) bees clinging desperately to her.

Here is a short clip of me pouring the bees into the hive... I read that when they don't have a home to preotect they hardly ever sting. They were right!

Well, most of my bees didn't die, they just took off--presumably with the queen, but here are a few sad dead ones at the bottom.
This was all that was left when the bees absconded. Although extremely sad about them leaving I was pretty excited that they left me a keepsake. The strange thing is that they did not build to the top bars at all. Oh well, better luck next time I hope.
Here is a sweet macro shot I took. I believe that if you click on the image you may be able to get the full size version. It makes a pretty good desktop background. (apparently that doesn't work, so if you want the full size email, send me a message)
See those yellow lines down the center of the wood pieces? That is where the bees are supposed to build. They didn't like that idea.








Tuesday, May 12, 2009

A Pefect Boy*

The other day I was driving out to the Hall's and I was overwhelmed by the thought that our child was perfect*. I had to call someone to brag. I called my mom, because I think that it is okay to brag to moms. We are so blessed by Thor. I can't remember the last time he cried without good reason. He is sweet, cute, smiley, tough, and gaining mobility! We just could not have asked for a better little boy. Thank you Jesus!

*He is still a sinner... :)

Sunday, May 10, 2009

Remember the Sabbath

Somehow the fourth commandment (3rd for Catholics and Lutherans) has come to mean "go to church on Sunday". Most of us may think there is a little more to it--like taking it easy on Sunday. But in practice, it seems that most of Christendom acts as if a literal obedience to the other 9 is a good idea, but we can stretch this one all we want.

This dilemma was brought to my attention by Stephanie's uncle while we visited him in San Diego last week. We discussed it briefly. Yesterday, it was the topic of Sunday School and after inspecting Exodus, I have come to a couple of conclusions:

1.) Remembering the Sabbath day and church don't have anything to do with one another.
-Don't get me wrong, worshipping is an important part of Christian life. Many Scriptures support this notion, but it seems to me that it is unrelated to honoring the Sabbath.

2.) The Sabbath day is a day or rest; pure and simple.
-Defining rest very well may be a grey area, but that doesn't mean we should ignore it. It also does not mean that we should be like the Pharisees and turn it into a strict black and white code.

If you take the time to read the original text, you will see that it is one of only two commandments God takes the time to explain. It is as if He anticipates the question, "How am I supposed to keep it holy?" The text makes it very clear that it is to be a day of rest. The very word, "sabbath" means "cease".

Yesterday, as Earl, Bethany and I worked through this we tended to read our own desires into the text, but they don't seem to be there... One common objection is that "it is not work if it is something I enjoy is it?" I ought to consult a Hebrew scholar for this one, but our day of rest is to be modeled after God's day of rest. I know two things about that. God didn't need a day of rest, and creating the universe wasn't exactly work for him. He did not sweat once in the whole process, and I cannot imagine that it was anything but enjoyable for Him. The idea, I believe, is to rest--not to switch over to work that you enjoy.

No one will argue the practical (as opposed to spiritual or moral) value of the ten commandments. After all, the world would be a better place if no one stole, lied, murdered, or coveted. I am willing to bet that we would all be better off if we truly rested on the Sabbath as well.

So, Stephanie has agreed to move forward and we are committing our Saturdays to rest. I doubt the day upon which we rest is too important, but I work on Sundays--delivering the paper and teaching Sunday school. Those two things aside, getting up and going to church any day is too much like work for my sabbath. Getting a family of three out the door is tough, I cannot imagine having a bigger one!

From now on, we will work (hard) Sunday through Monday and rest all day Saturday. I don't imagine this to be easy, but we are committed to holding to this commandment with as much devotion as we hold to the rest.

Please comment, I look forward to a discussion on the topic. I would love to be wrong. ;)