The Shell Factory

On the second day of our Florida vacation (New Year's Day), we paid a visit to The Shell Factory.  It's a kooky little place in North Fort Myers.  They sell shells, of course, but there is also a fun park and nature park.  We just walked around the shell displays and the fun little exhibits (a good portion of this is free to walk around in), and took some fun pictures.

One of the most important rules in the Hynds family is this: If you are near the skeleton of a large shark's mouth, you must take a silly picture with it.  Angie obliged.

Then, we all joined in on the fun.  Honestly, how many chances do you get in life to pose for a picture inside a shark's mouth?

Then, we roped Bill and Linda in.  Okay, enough with the shark.  Let's move on to more important things...

...like a triceratops.  Once again, you can't pass up an opportunity like this.  If you see a triceratops, take a picture with it.  No exceptions.

We will soon post all of the other pictures on our Facebook pages.  It was a fun way to spend an afternoon.  On a side note, it rained profusely when we got there, and we all got soaked!  Unfortunately, this was the beginning of the cool spell that hit Florida and stayed for more than a week.

One more note about New Year's in Florida - it was the first time in my life that I was in the Eastern Time Zone when the ball dropped at Times Square.  I got to ring in the New Year at that moment, instead of having to wait another hour.  It's the little things, really, that get me excited.

My Goals for 2009

I know we're already in the 11th day of 2009, but I thought I'd share some of my personal goals for the year. I got the idea for doing this last fall, when I read the book 48 Days to the Work You Love, by Dan Miller. It's a great book that deals with how we approach our careers, and how our career should be more than just a paycheck. It's a book that I recommend, no matter what you think of your current job.

One of the chapters in this book mentioned that often we want our lives to improve, but we don't lay out a plan for making it happen. I have been guilty of that; sometimes, I want to change, but I'm too afraid to take a chance, or I'm simply too lazy to do anything about it. So, for 2009, I decided to set some personal goals. I made 11 goals total, although I'm going to keep some of them private. Here they are, by category:

Spiritual
1) Read the entire books of Psalms and Proverbs, as well as all four gospels.
-I want to deepen my relationship with God, and I can't expect to do so if I am not more diligent about reading his word. I often lack the motivation to read the Bible, and I hope that challenging myself to do so will help. I will need about two months for each book. I'm cheating a little here; I was already halfway through Psalms when the year began. But Psalms is a pretty big book anyway. Hopefully, I'll have a better understanding of these books at the end of the year.

2) Pray every day, and pray for Angie and our (future) son every day.
-If you never talk to your spouse, the relationship never goes anywhere. Thus, if you never talk to God, that relationship also goes nowhere. I learned this during a good sermon that I listened to a few weeks ago. As a result, I'm going to try very hard to pray every day, even if it's just a small prayer, and I always want to be praying for Angie and our boy.

Finances
1) Work 300 hours at the M.E. Barber Company and teach two summer courses at RCC.
-The summer courses are already in the schedule, and I made a month-by-month account of how I will get to 300 hours for the year, based on what I worked in 2008 and how my schedule will be this year.

2) Bring our emergency fund to have three months of expenses saved up.
-We were at that point near the end of the year, but car repairs set us back. However, it was nice to have the money to pay for those repairs. This is where the extra hours at the Shop and teaching summer courses comes into play.

Physical and Relational Health
1) Spend 30 minutes on the treadmill (or walking outside) at least once a week.

2) Have a "date night" with Angie at least once a month.
-This will especially be important after our boy is born, so that our marriage can stay strong.

Personal Development
1) Read six books (one for every two months).
-I can already see some of my relatives laughing at this one. Reading, at least reading books outside of work, has never been a passion of mine, but I know that I need to read if I want to get ahead in life. I read two books for pleasure in 2008, so I hope to increase it this year.

2) Cook a meal once a week.
-I'm lousy at cooking, and that needs to change. Angie shouldn't have to cook every meal, so I want to help out.


And those are some of my goals for 2009. Why have I posted these on my blog? It's easy; it's a good way to stay accountable. All of you who read this are allowed to e-mail me anytime this year and ask how I'm doing, and you can demand that I be honest. I hope that this has inspired you to think about what you want for this year, and how you can make it happen.

Here's to a fantastic 2009!

Want to Take Control of Your Finances?

At the beginning of 2008, we took a class called Financial Peace University. It's a 13-week class that was offered at our church. I can't recommend this course enough. One year later, we are still reaping the benefits of learning about our finances. Right now, we make less money that we did at this time last year, and yet we no longer have credit card debt, we increased our savings account significantly, and we were even able to put some money away in a Roth IRA. Plus, we still sit down before every month and make a budget. I never wanted to do a budget (I know, a math guy who didn't like to budget; who knew?), but now I see no other way.

The class was created by Dave Ramsey, a well-known author and radio show host. His videos are very entertaining. Picture a crazy, animated, middle-aged man from Tennessee, and there you have it. I read his book, The Total Money Makeover, earlier this year, and learned much from it.

This class especially helped us out, given the current market. The way I see it, when there's a recession, we have two options: we can panic, watch CNN and Fox News all day, and assume it's hopeless, or we can choose to take charge of our finances. We chose the latter, and couldn't be happier.

If you are in the Decatur area, this class is being offered again at First Christian Church. It's on Wednesday nights starting January 7. It only costs $99, and you can sign up here. They even serve dinner beforehand, for $5 per adult and $3 per child, but no more than $16 per family. This class is being led by Shane Woodrum, who led our class last year. Stand-up guy, and a great teacher. If you're not in the Decatur area, there are classes offered nationwide, or online. Check out the website for more information.

It's a new year; why not make it the year of financial improvement?


(Note: After typing this post, I saw the commercials for the "Rich Dad" seminar that is coming to Decatur on the same night. I wasn't referring to that event, although I'm not endorsing or condemning it.)

My 2008

2008 was something else for Angie and I. Here's the year in review.


Angie and I both changed jobs this year (which I can't say was planned in either case). Angie took a break from her full-time position working with the blind and visually impaired. Now, she teaches part-time in the resource room and English at Meridian High School. I left my teaching job at ISU (and the commute that comes with it) to teach at Richland Community College.

We dialed it down a bit this year when it comes to traveling. Our longest vacation of the year was a five-day trip to Carbondale in June for a church conference. Even though it was brutally hot outside, we enjoyed being in Southern Illinois for a few days. In July, we spent a weekend with Angie's mom and dad, along with her sister Sherry's family, in Wisconsin Dells. In late September, we went to St. Louis to see one of Angie's high school friends get married. Finally, we went back to Carbondale in early November to visit the Staleys (read my earlier blogs for pictures of that trip).

Over the summer, I used the time between full-time jobs to work for my father at the M.E. Barber Company. Angie worked at Scovill Zoo, acting as a liaison between the teachers and the animals for the Zoo Crew kids' program. For an animal lover like Angie, it was a pretty fun experience.

And of course, there's the biggest news of all: In June, we found out that we'd be expecting our first child! We're expecting a baby boy in late February. Honestly, I can't wait for him to come. Seeing him move in Angie's belly is so exciting. He is such a blessing already. Pictures of the nursery will be posted very shortly, so stay tuned.

As 2008 has come to an end, I have a lot to be thankful for. I have spent the last couple of days thinking about this year, and all that happened. Sure, there were a few things that Angie and I wish hadn't happened. However, I feel like there were enough good things to be thankful for this year. And most of all, I thank God for providing for us all year and being there for us all the time, as always. I feel like I grew personally this year through both the good and the bad in 2008, and I praise God for the opportunities He has given me to grow.

I don't know what will happen in 2009, other than the fact that our lives are going to change forever when our little guy comes along. I do plan to write down some goals for the year, and I hope that I can be writing again in this blog on December 31, 2009, detailing the successes of the year.

I plan to keep up with the blog throughout the year. Also, Angie and I now are each on Facebook, so check it out. We wish you all the best in 2009.