New Years

I’ve stared looking at the year in review and all in all, it has been a good year. The family is healthy, spent a lot of time with friends and family.

So here are just a few of the highlights and they are not in any particular order.

  • Both boys are doing great in school. In fact, both have been recognized for achievements in learning.
  • Boy B was diagnosed with ADHD & has been doing great with both a combination of medication and also additional services to help him learn to cope with this.
  • We celebrated the life of my Grandfather this October. My Grandfather meant the world to me and taught me so many valuable life lessons. You can read more here.
  • We were able to meet our 1st financial goal that we set for the year and that was to pay off at least 2 major credit cards. 2 done and a few more to go. But, in all honesty, that was hard because we had an increase of medical bills due to my son’s therapy. Not complaining, but just a fact. But we are on pace to hopefully be in a better place in 2018.
  • My wife was in a major car accident this summer. I will never forget the feeling of pulling up to the accident and seeing the damage to my wife’s van and feeling how blessed we were that she was still alive. Her guardian angel was definitely there for sure protecting her.
  • We added a new addition to the family! Meiko aka The Meeks aka a great little puppy.
  • I started doing DDP Yoga, which is something that I never thought that I would do or even more importantly that that, enjoy.
  • Grateful that my family in Houston were spared any damage during Hurricane Harvey.
  • Cooked a whole lot and really started to broaden my horizon with cooking and taking some serious leaps with that. I also added grill number 4 to the deck. Which gives me 4 Grills and a smoker.
  • The boys just started martial arts and love it. And Boy A is starting to play basketball at the Recreation Department.
  • Work is, well work. Nothing really good or bad to say.
  • My wife’s job has changed a bit as well, so there has been an adjustment period there for us too.
  • My two favorite teams won championships, UNC Basketball and the Houston Astros.

All in all, life is good. We had our ups and our downs in 2017 but made a lot of great memories too.

And 2018 already has some bright spots. My wife and I will be celebrating our 10th Wedding Anniversary and will be renewing our vows, with our kids there. And if all goes well, we should be able to really knock out a lot of debt in the front half of the year and being on our way to being debt free. And we already have at least 2 trips planned for the year as well, with many more to go.

So, from my family to yours, enjoy the moments and have a Safe and Happy New Year.

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Happy New Years! Welcome to 2017, the year of something.

The great thing about New Years is that it is a restart, a new beginning. Out with the old, in with the new. But, unlike many, I have really decided to have resolutions that were more manageable, which in my humble opinion, is why so many quite their resolutions within the first 3 months of a new year.

So here goes:

  1. Be a better father and husband – Spend more Quality time and Quantity of time with my kids and my wife. Once a month, we take a family day and go somewhere for the day. And with that, once a month, my wife and I have a date night/afternoon lunch. I’ve already talked with our babysitter and she is giving me a list of dates for the first 6 months of the year.
  2. Continue to reduce our family debt – This is and will be a primary focus for the year(s) to come. At our current position, we have done a solid job with both eliminating debt and also not adding any additional debt. There have been factors that have slowed down our progress, but I’m hoping that we will be able to continue our progress and with a sizable tax return, that we’ll be able to dwindle down our debt. The goal is to get all of our debt, to include my wife’s van and student loan down in the next 24 months. The other part of that, is to be able to start saving for a down payment, as I’ll need a new Jeep in the next year, as I’m already riding on borrowed time with it.
  3. Weight Loss – Only those that don’t need to lose weight, ever put this one down. So yes, I need to lose weight. And with that, I just had my physical for 2016 for work and was down 5 lbs from the previous year. That being said, it was a start, but I’m ready to do more. I’m really ready to drop this weight and that will be a little of a challenge as with a bad knee, it knocks out running and some of the things that I would normally like to do to  knock the weight out. But, doesn’t mean that I can not work on eating better and cut out alcohol. The cutting out alcohol will also help reduce debt too, so a win win.

So as we wind down our New Years holiday and take some time to reflect, I wish you and your families the best new years possible. So far for us, we have only had 1 Urgent Care trip visit in 2017 and yes, we are only at the 2nd day of the year. So from my family to yours, Happy New Years!

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As many people start the 2012, New Years Resolutions are being made and most will be stopped by March, as mine have in years past. I hope that by publishing my resolutions, I can keep track of them easier and focus on them more. So here goes:

1) Spend more time with my boys
2) Save more money – both for the boys College but for the family & I am hoping that by cutting down on eating out, using more coupons and the boys switching from formula to milk in a few months, that this will be an achievable goal.
3) Exercise more – I would like to start doing 2 – 3 days a week of cardio, which should be doable since there is a 1 mile walking path at work.
4) Pay down debt – Pay down at least 3 credit cards and finish paying off 1 college loan for my wife.

So, as we start the new year, let’s hope that I am able to do better this year than in previous with my 2012 New Years Resolutions.

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After a great week of Christmas, please take a moment to reflect on the 2011 year and both the good and use that as your foundation to 2012. So many times, people focus so much on the negative, that they look past the good things that are happening around them. So, out with 2011 and in with 2012. So what are you going to do different this year? How will this be the best year of your life?

For me, I have a list of goals that I would like to complete, which I will share tomorrow, but I want to be grateful and live for today. I want to live like today were my last, because if something where to happen to me today, I would want all of my family and especially my boys to know how much I love them.

So make 2012 the best year of your life, and from my family to yours, Happy New Year!

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Today was everything that I had hoped. The boys had a great Christmas day, we went to church as a family, we were able to see and spend a lot of time today with family and friends as well. And isn’t that what Christmas is all about?

As I reflect on the year thus far, we have been truly blessed. We have our health, we have two wonderful and healthy boys and we have a wonderful support system.

I am taking the rest of the week off to spend time with the boys and family. So from my family to yours, have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Years.

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