A Slower Pace

My wife and I just finished Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University two weeks ago. It has been an amazing journey and has really propelled us to get our finances in even better order than they already were and to ensure we are always good stewards with the blessings God has given us. In fact, back in October I even blogged about my Florida beach vacation souvenir. That beach vacation was our family’s first all cash vacation and this Christmas will be our first all cash Christmas! The Dave Ramsey Financial Peace plan truly works and will positively change your family tree.

But here is the funny story.

BACKGROUND
I am a religious podcast listener of Dave Ramsey’s radio show. He is on every weekday for 3 hours and podcasts one of those hours free (I highly recommend subscribing). On his Friday shows, he will have people call in who have followed all 7 steps (which he gives out freely on his website) and who are now debt free. He will interview them a bit and then they will wrap up the call by having the person, couple or family yell at the top of their lungs — “We’re DEBT-freeeeeeee!!!!!!!”. It is inspiring and really good to know that others out there have done it — not through a secret program that costs hundreds or thousands, but through sheer planning, persistence, determination and sacrifice. I plan on driving down to Nashville with the family and doing my debt free scream at Dave’s Financial Peace Plaza lobby some time in 2018 (all debt including the house which is about all that’s left).

So because of our emphasis this Christmas on not spending money and focusing on the giving, my son has spent the last several weeks making crafts for our family presents. He just now came down to the basement and yelled in front of the family — “I’m CRAFT-free!!!!!!!”

I guess my listening to Dave’s Friday show podcasts in the car are rubbing off.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

There is a lot of hubbub about legislation that is threatening online internet freedoms — SOPA – Stop Online Piracy Act. This is another lamely veiled attempt to control what goes on amongst the internet. While it pretends to be upright and wanting to protect copyrighted material, it’s actual application isn’t very well thought out (imagine that — coming from politicians) and it aims to more control rather than to actually care about the root cause of the issue. But I digress.

Many tech bigwigs such as Google, eBay, Yahoo, etc are against this bluthering legislation for good reason. However, many of them are very upset because one of their own, GoDaddy, is actually supporting SOPA. And there is quite a movement to actually boycott GoDaddy and not do any business with them.

Well, I say “It’s about time! Welcome to the bandwagon. What took you so long?”

You see, this blog used to be hosted by GoDaddy. When I started writing this blog over 7 years ago, I wanted to focus on writing, not the technical aspects of hosting, domain registration, DNS servers and the like. There weren’t too many easy choices back then which led me to GoDaddy. However, that was before the trampy, soft porn advertising that now oozes from what I now refer to as “HoDaddy”. And while my spiritual and family values have strengthened and grown more conservative, HoDaddy’s have become looser than a thrift store turtleneck.

Now please don’t paint me as some sort of prude. I can appreciate a beautiful woman and I know that sex sells. However, to dress down or nudify (is that a word?) women and parade them on a daytime or prime time broadcast during NASCAR or football insinuating nothing other than raunchiness, is crass. It makes the Victoria’s Secret and beer commercials look mild and tame in comparison. I guess to compete with “Jersey Shore” and “Desperate Housewives” this is what we as a society have devolved to. I’m sure others have spoken out about this and I am sure that HoDaddy will be bested and surpassed by someone else soon. But I don’t have to pay into it. And I don’t have to expose my kids to it on daytime TV.

So almost 2 years ago I decided to make my own personal dollars speak for me. I gladly departed HoDaddy and found a web hosting company that aligned with my values and morals. A friend connected me with one of their friends who runs American Discount Web Hosting. Dawn is the owner and not only provides a great value, but also has awesome customer service and practices the values and morals I cherish. She is a great Christian businesswoman and if you have any web needs I highly suggest you give her a call. Especially if you are looking at alternatives to GoDaddy , er, HoDaddy.

As for the rest of y’all technies, while you and I are not doing business with HoDaddy for different reasons, welcome aboard.

Here are some media articles on the topic:

PCWorld article

LifeHacker – Ditch GoDaddy’s SOPA-Loving Butt

LifeHacker’s GoDaddy Jump Ship Checklist

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Wow! The video below was shared on a dear friend’s Facebook page. What a great way to start off Friday…..and the Christmas weekend.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Well, winter 2011 is now upon us. It is Dec 22 and today is the winter solstice and the first day of winter. So far, it has been quite mild. We had a cold snap a few weeks ago but it has mostly been in the 40’s and 50’s – definitely manageable for Kentucky in December. Last year at this time we had already had snow six times with three times of it sticking for 19 days. So far this year we have not had any snow at all. While my son is not happy, I can live with it.

We’ll see how the Kentucky 2011/2012 snow season goes. Below is a summary of what I captured for 2010/2011:

• 12 days of snow
• 9 times it stuck
• 7 times it stuck for longer than a day
• 36 days with snow on the ground

While it ain’t California, I am glad it’s not Minnesota or Michigan. I agree with someone I heard recently who said “This is the farthest north I am ever living”.

Also, below is the Farmer’s Almanac prediction.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

“Each of us is an innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus.” — Neal Maxwell

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

My daughter K has been morphing into a baking queen lately. From homemade pumpkin spice cupcakes with cream cheese frosting (made from scratch) to sweet Italian sausage and spinach calzones, she has been growing and learning in the kitchen with dramatic results. I am very impressed by her and I am sure to gain 100 pounds this Christmas season because of her baking talents.

Below is a more decorative example of her kitchen creativity. I told her it reminded me of a Christmas version of “Monster House”, an animated movie the kids watch.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

This morning I walked into my office and looked out the window facing east to be greeted by an amazing colored sky of pinks, magentas and reds. I poked my head into the office next to me to mention it to a co-worker friend who also looked in amazement at the sky God had painted for us. I completed my arrival routine — docking my laptop, putting my lunch into my mini-fridge and saying a morning arrival prayer — and then grabbed a camera to go out back to take a picture with the intent of sharing it here on my blog.

In the minute or two it took me to do all that and arrive outside, all the colors were gone. All that was in front of me was a cloudy dull grey blue sky. The sun peeking through causing all those red, pink and magenta hues had obviously risen higher above the cloud layer. I was amazed at how quickly that beauty had vanished. On my way in, I bumped into my co-worker friend who was also on his way outside to admire the sunrise beauty. He might have been even more surprised than I was, commenting “You just said something a minute ago”.

I am taking this as a reminder for all of us that life and time continue on, with us or without us. How many sunrises or sunsets do we miss because we are too busy to take the time to pause and enjoy them. Now let’s take this further — how many moments with our children do we miss because we are too busy with work or the house or with chores or errands. Or how many moments with loved ones do we miss because of those same things. Or how many moments do we miss to tell people of the Gospel and that Jesus loves them. So many opportunities that will be gone in an instant if we don’t grab them while they are in front of us.

So my lesson today — for me and you — is grab a hold of those moments when they are right in front of you.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

This is impressive. It is a very good story on determination, creativity, hope and perseverance. Go watch it.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

Today is our 7 year anniversary in Kentucky. I look back on that time with amazement — that God led us here; that we moved during the Christmas season; that we moved here cold turkey without knowing a soul. And to think that we have lived in our house here in Kentucky longer than we lived in our house in Thousand Oaks, CA. And that K and D have actually lived more of their lives here in Kentucky than in California.

I am so incredibly blessed I don’t know where to begin.

2005 – 1 year

2006 – 2 years

2008 – 4 years

2010 – 6 years

And 7 is a blessed number. I look forward to what our 7th year in Kentucky holds.

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net

I don’t know who said this but it hits home about what shapes and develops us.

” In five years you will be the same person you are today with the exception of the books you read and the people you meet.”

…..Dan at aslowerpace dot net