Intentional Gesture

A lot times we donate our time or help some in need because we have been asked to react. When is the last time you purposely set out to help? Looking back, in my life, I can't think of a recent example. Most times I receive a phone call, say yes and chip in my time. Too often we don't make it an objective to go out and help someone in need. I hope to show my family in the near future the importance to set aside our personal time and intentionally help someone in need.

God Bless. Thanks for reading.

Tip of the Day

I had a teacher in high school that gave the perfect words of advice. Considering this was all I can remember learning from him, even though he taught Economics, World History, Accounting and etc, his advice still rings today: "Don't study something you already know the answer to."

I try to apply that to many other functions in my daily life. It could be decluttering the house, reading a blog or jobs around the house. Regardless of the situation, if you know the answer or haven't used the item in the last year, save yourself the time and study or keep something you will use.

On a side note:  Thunderstruck by AC/DC sometimes is just the perfect song to start a day.

God bless and thanks reading. 

Points of No Return - Blog reference

Please check out my brother-in-law's latest blog entry: Points of No Return. This is a great blog post in regards to Christians current stance within our culture. As Christians we tend to become defensive and even aggressive. We like to express what we are against rather than share the awesome news of Jesus Christ. Little Johnny gets teased in school and we put him in home school, when Little Johnny could be an excellent messenger of God to other children his age.Great points View of the Hill.

God bless....thanks for reading.

Morning Priorities

My mornings have a nice routine. If I am lucky, the kids sleep into 7am. If I am really lucky, Amanda wakes up with the kids, closes our bedroom door, feeds Brody and goes for an early morning walk with the kids. It's unfair to consider this an option and probably more naive. Life with young kids and a dog is active and personal priorities have to go out the window. But there are personal priorities that cannot be ignored. Besides exercise and good eating habits, we should prioritize time with God. Now don't assume I am the example to follow. The point of this blog is to not follow my example.

Each of my mornings consist of letting the dog out, feeding the dog, breakfast for the kiddos, read the paper and grab the phone for the latest social media updates. This morning I noticed a bad habit. I enjoy my smartphone. The conveniences are endless. First thing each morning I use it to check the weather, fantasy football/baseball, Facebook, blogs and lastly my devotion. Strongly recommend Charles Stanley's In Touch devotional. As I got to the devotional this morning, I thought it myself, "why are you checking this last?"

Often times we get stuck putting worldly pursuits in front of God's. I am guilty and many of us are. Something to think about next time we have some free time with our smartphone.

God Bless...thanks for reading.

Sherlock Holmes

If there are any Sherlock Holmes fans out there, then I highly recommend BBC's Sherlock. Click the link for the wikipedia breakdown. I enjoy how they take modern day technology and apply it to the life of Sherlock and Dr. Watson. I am a huge fan and love the books. I have only been able to see the show via Netflix. Once you start one episode, you won't be able to stop.

God Bless and thanks for reading.

Old Man Sandwich

 Aaron Schauer and I have this wager with our wives. If we reach our goal weight by the end of May, then we get to go out and buy shotguns (hunting), but if we don't, then our wives get cash of equal value. Our wives are amazing bakers and could easily sabotage our mission, but they also are sick of seeing their husbands with the extra weight. They have been great support. So far so good. Since Christmas I am down 16 pounds and have another 12 to lose by May 31st. In order to reach this goal, I need to workout and this brings me to my unique story.

Wednesday this week I went to the NDSU Wellness Center to workout. I like to go during the late morning. A lot of the students have class and access to a machine is easy. There are little to none negatives about working out at this time of day until this last Wednesday.  About 5 minutes into my workout, an older gentlemen steps up to the elliptical next to me. Not a big deal, but then he had a fan. His fan was positioned opposite of me, but pointing at him and then me. First, I don't like fans blowing on me during a workout, but more importantly, I don't like fans blowing the smell of a 70 year old man who clearly forgot deodorant and had been working out prior. Don't get me wrong. I smell when I work out. I sweat and release smells only POWs would appreciate, but I don't blow my smell to other people. I was only 5 minutes in and I didn't want to switch. I decided to suffer through it and continue. Enter old man number two with a fan. No joke, two minutes later, old man number two takes the elliptical on my other side and he too has a fan. I was being sandwiched. That was the last straw. Second old man must of have applied BenGay to 90% of his body and he too decided to blow his fan in my direction. It was time to pack up and choose another machine.

I guess there are times God puts us in situations we are not comfortable with. How we handle those situations determines our character and sometimes sense of smell. 

God Bless...thanks for reading.

Boston Marathon Tradegy

The Boston Marathon bombing is a tragic event. Unfortunately I am not surprised. I feel non immune to the possibility of a tragic event taking place where people congregate. This is our life and there is no sign of bombings or shootings going away. What can change is the way we raise future generations. We need to show young boys they are loved. We need to show the next generation they have a father and mother supporting them and loving them all throughout their years of growth. We need to show future generations that God is the answer and there is no other way to happiness. There is too much hate in our world and our self destruction will continue.

God bless. Thanks for reading.

A Large Plate of Crow for this Guy

Our family recently recovered a direct hit of flu and "shoots." Shoots involves dispersing internal body specimens via the rear. It was quite the adventure. Refer to last week's post: Parenting at its best for Emmett's entry into sickness. Amanda followed directly after. Emmett threw up early Monday morning and actually recovered quickly. His determination to continue his pursuit to accomplish 10,000 steps per day wasn't in jeopardy. Amanda got hit hard and was out for the count Tuesday. By Wednesday it appeared all was well and we thought we could jump back to routine, despite uncooperative weather. Katelynn and I appeared to be in the clear...so we thought. Repeatedly Amanda was frustrated neither Katelynn or I got sick. I reminded her that I have "strong like bull" genes and more than likely Katelynn got my immune system too. History has been in my favor. I rarely get sick and when I do, it will only last for 24 hours and I am good to go. Since Amanda and Emmett were better and I didn't get sick, I thought it was safe to start the family genetic bragging. I even went as far to brag in front of Amanda's parents!! Well Thursday at 1:16am the Lord struck down with all his might. I can remember waking up at 1:12am and thinking I should have kept my mouth shut. I will spare details of the first upheaval. Let's just say I didn't hit the toilet completely. I would have needed one of those large coin funnels you see at the malls in order to avoid hitting the floor. To make matters worse, Katelynn threw up on me later that morning. We did throw out an old couch because of Katelynn, so a little good came out of that. Moral of the story. The Lord works in mysterious ways and it's best to keep your mouth shut...good luck trying to tell an Italian/German/Irishman that.

Although all of us were hit hard with the flu, we got a lot of family time together, threw out a couch and I lost 4 pounds. All in all a good stretch. Here is a question: How come our dog never got sick?

God Bless. Thanks for reading. 

Parenting at its best...

Jack Bauer: "The following takes place between 4:37am and 4:39am"

If we have any "24" fans, you will understand the above statement. If not, well the following takes place between 4:37 am and 4:39am.

4:37:05am: Emmett wakes up next to Amanda and Tyler coughing and spitting...strong stench in the air.

4:37:08am: Tyler takes Emmett to the bathroom, Amanda gathers the comforter and rolls into a ball to protect the rest of the bed from the smell of puke.

4:37:45am: Tyler hands off clean Emmett to Amanda and Amanda hands off comforter to Tyler. During the exchange Amanda and Tyler exchange behind the back high fives.

4:38:01am: Amanda puts Emmett back in parent's bed, cue Matrix slow motion of Amanda sprinting down the hallway to the kitchen to grab Emmett a little juice.

4:38:14am: Tyler takes comforter downstairs to analyze the damage. He analyzes the situation and calls time of death at 4:38:19am. Comforter couldn't be saved.

4:38:25am: Amanda gives Emmett juice and Emmett falls asleep.

4:38:27am: Tyler throws away comforter, starts a load of laundry for Emmett's dirty clothes and saves orphan cat that he saw outside the window.

4:38:45am: Tyler gives a kiss goodnight to Amanda and Emmett and goes to bed.

4:39:00am: Crisis conquered. Tracy's go back to sleep.

Thanks for reading. God bless

Flying 101

I really enjoy traveling. I could sit in an airport and watch people for hours. The thrill of getting into a car that is not 10 plus years old or staying in a room where its okay to leave a mess when you leave, satisfies the inner American me. My work has changed over the past few weeks and allotted me the opportunity to do some travel. Nothing major. A few trips to Montana via air. Over the last 15 years, I have flown at least 20 times and during my last trip I thought I could share a few traveling tips I have learned. I will post this blog to Facebook and would appreciate any traveling tips you may have. These will be airline trips only...no road trip suggestions.

1. Wait: I have found it works best to wait and board a plane. Airlines don't care where you sit on the plane. With my 6'2'' 225lbs frame, I need space. By waiting for the plan to load, I can be last and possibly chose a seat up front or an entire row not occupied.
2. Headphones: There are some days I enjoy talking and there are days I want to be shut out from the world. Days I travel through airports I prefer to be shut out. Pop on the headphones and not a soul will talk with you.
3. Differentiate: Have a black piece of luggage? When it comes time to grab your luggage, do you have a tough time knowing which is yours? I wrap a bandana around mine and know exactly which piece is mine.
4. Move: The body can take its toll sitting on a plane for 2-4 hours, eating snack food at airports and lack of sleep. Get up and walk around between flights. Great way to get exercise.

Well nothing special, but I hope these tips will some day help you make your travels easy. Best of luck and enjoy your next get-a-way.

God Bless and thank you for reading.

Take a Stand!! No More Movies

Isn't it tragic we pay so much for movies? And this is coming from a HUGE movie buff. I love movies!! I could watch movies every night before bed and probably all Sunday afternoon. With that said, the price to see a movie in the theatre is outrageous. Tonight I needed to pass the time (I am Great Falls, MT for those of you wondering how can he "pass" time with two kids, an out of hand golden retriever and wife just begging to cuddle) and I decided to go see a movie. The movie was the latest GI Joe installment. It wasn't that bad, but I should have waited to rent. Regardless, after $9.50 admission and $11.00 for a small popcorn and soda, I am $20.50 down. What can be done? Well, actually nothing. It's a fight we will not win. As long as people keep going, the prices will continue to go up. I for one need to tail back and just buy a bigger TV.

Thanks for reading. God bless.

Paying it Forward

During a business trip I sat down at a restaurant for a late dinner. I ordered a burger and salad bar and waited patiently. The meal was great and I was pleased to be satisfied by a great meal after extensive travel. When the time came to pay for my bill, the waitress informed me that my meal had been paid for and also gave me a note. The note read "have a great day."

I will never be able to meet my angel. Thank you for your generosity. I will pay your kindness forward. If you have an extra $5-10 in your pocket, pay a for a meal at McDs or DQ. It's a great feeling having your meal covered, but its even better to pay for another's.