Monday, November 29, 2010

Remember to be thankful

Thanksgiving is always a great time to keep me focused on the important things. Its so easy to take things for granted. We are SO blessed. We've got an amazing family, two healthy kids (although one that doesn't know how to sleep at night), wonderful family and friends around us, two good jobs, cars that work, a nice house (alright three...but one we live in), etc. Its amazing how good we have it and how easily I forget that!

I am reminded when reading the blog of my friends, the Hedin's, about some of the trials you can go through. I can't imagine my little girl and boy stuck in the hospital 24 hours like that. Yet even the Hedin's have tons to be thankful for and I am sure they realize it. No matter how bleak things seem we still have an amazing amount of things to be thankful for. One of the lowest points of the past 5 years for me was when our Rochester house was destroyed by a sewer backup. It was devastating, not only for us, but for our friends who were renting the house from us. Yet even during all of that, God blessed us so much. He used that low point to show us that he always provides. He used it to show our friends that his community is amazing and that complete strangers will go out of their way to help people in need.

Don't waste this opportunity to remember all the things you can be thankful for!

Friday, November 12, 2010

Things are starting to slow down a little

Well with how infrequently we put stuff up here, I can't imagine we have a ton of people checking our blog...if you are still checking, leave us a comment so we know that its worth continuing to do these!

We've had a LOT going on lately.
The addition of AARON to the family has made us much busier than we ever thought we would be. You quickly forget how much work a newborn can be, but when you add a toddler into the equation, yikes...its tiring. Aaron has been teething lately (kinda early for that) so sleep has been at a premium in our house. Earlier in the week, Meg and I were basically sharing one person's night of sleep. Not going to complain though, he's an amazing gift. Some highlights of what Aaron is up to include being able to sit in a bumbo and play in his bouncy toy, he can smile and giggle, he rolls over from tummy to back and rolls onto his side. He's pretty cute and if I had some pictures on this computer I would post them!

ADDISON just turned two! I can't believe she's two already. We kept it low key this year though and just had family over and took them out for pizza to celebrate. Addison loves her new toys. The new kitchen is the one that stands out the most in basement but she loves her baby stroller and recycling truck, and everything else too! It was a good birthday for her, she needed some fresh new toys in her life! She never ceases to amaze me with how intelligent she is. She even knows that when we spell out b a t h that it means bath! haha She really thrives on playing with friends and has become quite the social girl. Her new sitter, Nicole, has a 2 year old (almost) daughter that she brings along and they play together all day.

We started leading a SMALL GROUP recently. Its gone really well, we really like everyone that joined the group and everyone is quickly becoming good friends. Everyone has such interesting and unique backgrounds and we love learning about what makes them all tick. Next week is our first social/volunteer activity. We are doing OCC boxes together and doing a potluck style dinner...using our friend Becky Cochran's potato soup recipe (YUM). Should be a memorable night. Every couple has kids and they really seem to get along well. There is one 3 year old, 2 two year olds, and one that is about 20 some months old. Great ages for playing together in the basement while their parents build friendships and learn about God! One of the couples has been struggling with having their two little newborn girls in the NICU at Children's. Its been a real trial for them, check out their situation in my last blog before this one. Feel free to check their blog to learn more about what they've been through and keep them in your prayers!

So that is what we've been up to lately. I'll try to get better with blogging now that Aaron is getting a little older. We are finally able to start having some free time at night again!

Friday, October 22, 2010

Please pray for our friends...

We just got an email from our friends, the Hedins, they have twin girls born at (I believe) 28 weeks. They were both VERY tiny and way behind in development. They've been at the NICU at Childrens since they were born and are now ALMOST full term (39 weeks). Amanda emailed me this morning with some sad news, the littlest one, Eden, was put back on a ventilator this morning. This is apparently a huge setback in her development.

Here is an exerpt from their blog:
"Today was the toughest day thus far, our hearts are aching with how difficult it has been. Eden was having trouble breathing all day, she was almost exclusively needing 100% oxygen when her MD decided that she needed to be reintubated (put back on the ventilator). He said she was so close to falling off the cliff, and he hated to have her struggling for every breath. Her reintubation was not easy because she has an anterior airway and her energy reserves were low to begin. She spent 4 weeks off the ventilator doing so well with her nasal cannula and her O2 needs were low, so we just don't know why this is happening. She is doing better now that she is on the ventilator. We however have been pushed to the breaking point. I seriously don't know how much more we can handle. I personally feel like my heart is crumbling into a thousand pieces, this setback is so huge we just don't know when she will be coming home"
I know I haven't updated in a while but I felt like this was very important and I wanted to make sure our new friends were doused in prayer during this tough time. I'll be posting on here more often again though...just stay tuned! 

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

The birth of our son

We decided to schedule an induction with our child this time. There were a few reasons for it, but Meghan wasn't going to argue...she wanted to meet our son and be done with pregnancy! We originally planned for a July 1 induction date but when it came time to schedule a room, we found out the entire week was booked solid...except Tuesday, June 29. It was a combination of busy time of year and the impending nurses strike which starts next week. Tough news cause we were really hoping for the July 1 date (for insurance reasons) but not much you can do when there are no rooms at the inn!

The morning came, we stayed at Doug and Jeannie's cause they were watching Addison for us. We got to the hospital at about 7:15 am and they started their checks and getting Meghan checked in. About an hour later, the pitocin started and so did the contractions. By about 10 the contractions were really getting strong. Meg was a total trooper through it all. About 12:30 she finally gave in and succumbed to an epidural! Relief! At this point she was still only a 5/6 so we figured we had a long way to go. About 2:15 the nurse came back to help Meghan switch to the other side and she was still a 5/6...it was starting to seem like this was going to be a long labor like it was with Addison.

About 20 minutes later, Meghan was starting to feel the contractions again...odd. She said they felt like the kind when she had to start pushing with Addison so I flipped the nurse switch. She came running in (I guess the one I hit is more of an emergency button haha). After we told her how Meghan was doing she did a check and in 20 minutes she went from a 5/6 to fully dialated with the baby at a +2 which means it was GO time. She immediately paged Meghan's doctor and we prepared the room. By the time her Dr was here, the baby was at a +3 without any pushing. Everything was going according to plan.

Once her doctor got ready to go, it was about 3 good pushes before
our son was finally here! Amazing delivery...nothing like our first. Praise God for that!! Our little son was here...he was perfect. Beautiful skin. Totally healthy. We were elated! He measured in at 20 inches and 7 lbs 9 ounces. Very healthy size...but not too big. He is a great latcher and eater and is still very healthy and beautiful this morning. Thanks to everyone for the nice comments on the pictures and in the guest book. I am sure we'll be talking to all of you plenty in the future!

Tuesday, June 29, 2010

Its Baby Time

Well our time has finally come. We are sitting in the hospital getting ready to have our second child. No pictures or anything but an update will be coming soon. We can't wait to introduce the world to our new son later today. We appreciate prayers for a quick and painless delivery and a healthy little boy (and mommy). Thanks everyone!!

Friday, June 18, 2010

Benihana for $12??

Last night, we decided to have our "last" nice dinner out for a while. The baby could be here any day and we KNOW that is going to change things drastically for us. Money is pretty tight so our options were limited, but Meghan knew EXACTLY what she wanted. Earlier this year, I cashed in some of my points from my company credit card for some gift cards to a few of our favorite restaurants (Chilis, etc) but I surprised Meghan by getting a $50 gift card to Benihana. We both LOVE teppanyaki and the Japanese style cuisine but its a little pricey so its a rare occasion that we can go.

We decided to bring Addison along...for one, babysitters are expensive and for two, we thought she'd really like it. We were right! She loved the chef and he totally tried to make her smile while doing his thing. I wish I had pictures! They had a Filet Mignon and Hibachi Chicken for two deal for $39 so we went for that and got Addison an order of the fried rice (she LOVES rice). Not only do you get the entertainment but great food already cut up into bite size pieces! What service!!

Addison had a blast and was continually asking for "more". More rice, more chicken, more birthday singing, more smoke, you name it she wanted more of it! haha In the end, after dinner for two, a cherry coke, and two orders of fried rice, the bill came to $51.89...so our total cost was $1.89 plus tip!! Not bad for a top notch dinner. I guess my job and traveling has its perks.

PUBLIC SERVICE ANNOUNCEMENT:

Those of you with a Benihana nearby may want to sign up for their Birthday Club. They apparently send you a "$30 birthday certificate" which the couple next to us was using. You can use it during the month of your birthday! I can't think of a restaurant with a better deal than that!!
http://assets.fbmta.com/clt/bnhn/lp/join/join.asp?q=thechefstable

Wednesday, June 16, 2010

Another first for our little girl

Last Saturday, Meghan decided she couldn't take our daughter having a "mullet" any longer so it was time for Addison to get her first haircut. A half a year ago she barely had hair, now it was about down to her shoulders!

Obviously, she didn't know what to expect and I think she is too young to really try to explain it so instead we found a place that is geared toward kids. We found a few places, but ended up choosing Kids Kuts Family Hair Care which is conveniently about 3 minutes from our house. They have some coupons on the website too so at least it felt like we were saving some money too! :-)

The appointment was scheduled for 1 pm and when we got there we found a cute little hair salon with playground toys for the kids to sit on while they are getting their hair cut. This was a nice distraction for Addison. She picked out the horsey and held on tight the entire time. Our stylist was great with her, though Addison had her usual stone face on when a new person is talking to her or touching her. Even with some coaching from mom, she wouldn't even crack a smile though she didn't cry or protest at all.

Mommy is really happy with the result as Addison's hair is now nice and even and can start growing in consistently into some long pretty blonde hair! I think we found our stylist at least for a while...anyone up in the north suburbs should consider looking up Kids Kuts...plus they do adults too!

Funny story of the week: Meghan, Addison, and I were at Target getting a few odds and ends. We were at the checkout and Addison was in the shopping cart. There was a young girl taking care of us and Addison looked up at her, looked down about midway and then pointed and said "booboos" which you might be able to guess what that means. I looked at Meghan and started laughing...I couldn't contain it as this was a word her mom taught her recently. Thankfully, I don't think the girl caught on but I laughed almost the entire way home.

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Preparing to grow our family!

Well summer is here. We've been keeping busy getting ready for the newest addition to our family. Our little boy should be here sometime in June or at the latest, July 1 (our set induction date). Meg has been having lots of contractions and was put on bedrest (kind of). The baby is doing well, the doctors just want to keep the baby in there as long as possible so that its full term. Meghan is very much ready for our little boy to come out, yet we need to hang on to July 1 if possible (for insurance reasons). In the end, I think he'll be out sooner and we'll just make due with the expensive delivery.

We are very much excited to meet our little boy though!! We still don't have his name picked out...we are close but just can't get past the final two, maybe we'll just wait until he comes out and see which one he looks like! :-) Addison is transitioning to being a "big girl" very well. She has her new big girl bed which she loves. We had it in her room for a week or two to let her get used to it but now she's been sleeping in it for about a week and is doing SO well. There have been a few occasions where we've moved her to her crib but each day is better and better!

I've been busy working on our basement. I have a goal of finishing it before our little boy gets here. Last weekend I had a few friends over to put up drywall on our walls. It was a long day but its done and I even have the bedroom taped and mudded (with the first coat). I think I'll finish the rest tonight and then start sanding Thursday or Friday night to get ready for coat #2. I think I am still on track with the project unless the little guy comes early! I can't wait to have the basement finished though. I feel like I can never find anything down there cause its all crammed in two little storage rooms. I am also really excited to have a 4th bedroom in the house. I'll get some pictures to post soon!

With all of this going on, its keeping us pretty busy. We've found time to see a couple Twins games at the new stadium though...it was a real treat! What a great place...baseball should ALWAYS be outdoors!! Two of our friends, the Roelofs and Normans, have had their second kids...both boys. That means all four couples (Roelofs, Normans, Hidlebaughs and Rasmussens) will have their first child in the same year, their second child in the same year and each will have 1 boy and 1 girl...you couldn't plan it any better! haha Our kids should be really close I think.

I wish I was better about blogging consistently but I'll try to do better. I love the comments though, it helps to know that people are actually reading the blogs!

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Vacations lead to busyness

March was a BUSY month. It was FILLED with travel, some for fun, some for work. Early in the month, Meghan took Addison on a trip to see her best friend Beth down in Missouri. They had their first Southwest Airlines experience which wasn't too bad I hear. Before they could get back, I had to leave for a conference in California. All in all it was an entire week before I saw my wife and daughter again. It was lonely...but I kept busy at home by building some MUCH needed storage shelves in the storage room. Its amazing how productive I can be when I have no other responsibilities around the house! :-)

The conference was very interesting, I go to it every year to catch up on what is happening in the aerospace industry. Most years its at the Beverly Wilshire (on Rodeo Drive and via Rodeo...shopping mecca for my high end readers), where Pretty Woman took place. I actually usually stay elsewhere though to save the company a little money...its a Four Seasons hotel, its NOT cheap. I had yet to see any celebrities there in all three years I had been there. I came close this year, Sarah Palin came through the lobby of the hotel about 2 minutes after me. The guys at my table for Lunch saw her and said hi. I guess she was very nice and friendly...she does have a new book and TV show to sell though so being friendly is in her best interests!

Shortly after we both got back, we had a vacation to Puerto Vallarta planned. It was a VERY unique vacation in many ways. It was our first vacation with a toddler which made it quite unique and extremely tiring. The first half the trip was rough, the 24 hour flu swept through the family. I got it the night before we left so I was basically worthless on the trip there. A couple nights later it was Addison's turn, which is something I wouldn't wish on ANY parent. Last was Meghan who got it the night after Addison after sacrificing herself all night with Addison. Luckily, Doug and Jeannie (Meghan's parents) were with us or I don't know how we would have managed!

We did manage to spend some time on the beach though. Addison loves playing in the water...she HATES the sand though. She hates it so much she won't even let us set her down in it, we have a great video but its not on this computer. It worked out to our advantage though cause she wouldn't leave the beach mats we put down.

Addison's top 5 favorite things about Puerto Vallarta were:
  1. The tigers and birdies which we visited many times a day to ROAR at.
  2. The waterslide that she would go down with her dad...over and over and over
  3. The slide at the mall nearby (see video below)
  4. Playing in the ocean and pool
  5. The water fountain in the hotel lobby (see video below)
While the vacation was tiring and not nearly long enough, it was SO memorable. I can't help but to think how fortunate we've been with vacations during Addison's life. It won't always be like this but we are taking advantage of the opportunities that God blesses us with. I am sure we'll be back in Puerto Vallarta again one day though, its a wonderful place and Paradise Village is a great resort.

The worst part of vacations, beside them ending, is coming home to a pile of work. At my job, I am a one man team so when I go on vacation, everything just waits for me...it makes vacation into both a blessing and a curse at times. I am just now, weeks later, finally getting caught back up again. I would take this vacation again in a heartbeat though...seeing the joy on Addison's face as she experienced the ocean was priceless!!

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Changes...to our home

God's been so generous with us. While we aren't quite to the point where Meghan can stay home (hopefully once we sell our rentals we should be able to do it though) God's blessed us so much. Recently we found out that not only are we getting a nice tax rebate but I also got a bonus which I TOTALLY didn't expect. Honestly, with layoffs and stuff, I just didn't think they'd be giving out bonuses this year. I was besides myself with joy when I my boss called me with the news though. One nice thing with both of those is that we always tithe off of each of them and we usually do something different and find some new charities (besides church) to donate. This is kind of fun cause I like the idea of helping people out and using that money we've been blessed with. Now its time for us to figure out where we want to give the money too...there are so many good organizations out there that need money!

The other fun thing is that we decided to take a big chunk of that money to finish our basement. We aren't going to put in the bathroom (yet) but we are going to have a finished bedroom and an additional den area down there. Luckily, the old owners did a LOT of the dirty work leaving us with a few smaller things to do to finish. Basically, we need to put down some carpet (the expensive part) and then paint, install a closet, and do some finishing touches. It will be nice to have the extra den so we can move the Wii and the other game systems we have down there so that if someone wants to play, they can at any time! :-) We rarely play though so we'll see if that changes very much.

A big step for us in this process (and probably the most fun step) was getting new furniture. We decided to move our current stuff downstairs and get some new stuff for the main room. This is really the first furniture that we've bought together. Almost everything else in the house was either one of ours from before our wedding or a gift at our wedding. I picked up the furniture on Saturday night and got it all set up, it looks SO nice. We decided to go with leather so our furniture is more "kid-friendly". It was tough to make a decision but we ended up settling on a couch and two recliners. The recliners are amazingly comfy, I think the couch is going to be jealous cause I don't see us using it too often! haha

I also started working on some new shelves in our storage room in the basement so we'll have a place for all our stuff in there! The first one turned out nice...now I just need to move it into the room, and secure it to the wall. Not something you can do alone! Since Meghan is visiting Beth in Missouri this weekend I had a lot of extra time so I spent most of the weekend organizing, cleaning, and building. It was quite productive but I sure do miss my girls. I am off to California in the morning for three days so I won't see them again until Thursday morning. Its going to be a rough 6-day stretch.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Changes...to our hearts (The Micah Project)

Eagle Brook has a pretty amazing series, The Micah Project, going on that I think might have the power to really change the hearts and minds of the people of this church...and hopefully throughout the community. The staff has done an amazing job of giving us opportunities to open our hearts to those that are less fortunate than we are. Tonight our small group girls had the opportunity to volunteer with Feed My Starving Children, a group that puts together meals for starving children in poor countries around the world. Tomorrow (Tuesday), the guys get their turn (everyone in our group has kids so this allowed us to avoid babysitters)...I am really excited. The girls (along with the others that were at the Spring Lake Park campus put together enough meals to keep something 94 children fed for an entire year. What an amazing thought...one night of work can make such an impact! This really excites me for my chance to help.

We are quite fortunate. I think we often forget about this. God takes such good care of us...we do so little for others. I am a little ashamed of that. My heart yearns for this at times and I ignore it. Hopefully God will continue to stir my heart. I do now understand what the Bible was talking about in 1 Corinthians 7:32-34. Being married can be a real challenge to being able to freely give of yourself to God. Your priorities change...they have to as you have people depending on you which is something that is rarely the case when you are single. I wish now that I had realized how much more I could have done when I was single. I have to be careful though to not use family as a crutch to not do the things I feel God is calling me to...its a fine line!

Did I mention that I am really excited for tomorrow? We haven't been able to participate in everything the church has set up to work on our hearts. Last week they challenged us all to live for a week on a typical diet of the majority of the world (which entailed rice, beans, lentils, water, etc). Unfortunately, I was traveling most of the week and Meghan, being pregnant, really needs to watch her diet some. We, at least I, do hope to give it a try for at least a day though. I've heard it was quite challenging! Another thing that was set up for last week was the Step Into Africa experience from World Vision where you walk through a simulated AIDS ridden village in Africa. While we weren't able to participate in many of the activities this time around, it wasn't in vain as I think we can still make changes to how we do life. I hope we can raise our daughter to have a good world view and compassion toward those less fortunate. Its our job as parents to instill these kinds of values in our children...Lord willing I won't let my daughter down in this area!

Thank you EBC staff for creating an avenue for God to change our hearts!

Thursday, February 11, 2010

What's going on with the Rasmussen's

Well we are a little overdue on an update with what we are up to these days. Addison is now 15 months old. I remember a short time ago bringing her home from the hospital wondering what in the world we are going to do with this little tiny pooping machine. Its amazing how much changes in just 1 year and 3 months. She's walking, talking, winking, roaring, laughing, running, playing, and smiling now. She's burrowed into our hearts in a way I can't even put into words. Honestly, its hard sometimes for me to even enjoy being away from home because I might miss something funny or amusing. I remember the first time she "winked" at us. I put it in quotes because we call it winking but really its blinking. We were at the mall in Coon Rapids and we let her down from the table we were eating at. She wandered over to a table with a couple kids and one of the girls was smiling at her and winked. Addison laughed and blinked at her. It was such a precious little moment that I cherish so much. You can see some videos of our little girl here:
http://www.youtube.com/user/trevorrasmussen

She's getting ready to visit her FOURTH country (not counting the one she lives in) in less than a month and it makes me think what a charmed life she's been able to have so far. I never left the country until I was old enough to vote and she's seen France, Grand Cayman, Britain, and now soon Mexico before she can even go to the bathroom on her own!! I can't help but be thankful for how fortunate we've been with all the traveling we've done in the past year...it won't always be like this so we are enjoying it while it lasts (and while Addison can fly for basically free). God has blessed us amazingly...I can't lie there...we live a charmed life. Sure others have more, do more, its easy to focus on what we DON'T have...but what we DO have is pretty amazing.

Valentines Day is coming up, this year we are keeping it low-key again...following our past traditions. While its a fun day to remember how much we love each other, we try to not get too caught up in the whole thing. I usually buy Meghan a little something and we'll have dinner and then maybe relax by watching a movie together or something. This year, the Roelofs are coming by and we're having pizza (heart shaped of course) and renting a movie. Honestly I look forward to that as much as I do some extravagant dinner. I've learned to really enjoy the little things like that.

Our eBay business has expanded. We are no longer just a place to buy covers for your Wii Remotes. Our focus has moved more into selling clothes, books, movies, collectibles, etc. Anything around the house that we no longer use. Amazon and Craigslist have also been great places for us to unload stuff we no longer need! It started with our garage sale last summer. Our friend Rachel had a TON of nice stuff that just wasn't selling so we made an arrangement to sell it for them for a fee. Its worked out so well and we've both made a lot of money in the process. Then we moved onto our own stuff and even stuff from both of our parents. I actually enjoy it more than the our Wii Remote covers because every item that sells means a little more room in our basement and garage! We are finally getting close to fitting both cars in the garage which has truly been my goal. Once this is done, we hope to use some of this money to finish our basement and add some more value to our house. While eBay takes some time, its proven to be a great venture for us and we are thankful to our God for providing the extra revenue stream!

Friday, January 22, 2010

Marketing gone wrong?


Most of you know that I am in marketing. I am always looking to hear about new creative ways people are marketing their products and services to try to reach their customers. I've come up with a few unique ones myself with my company. I was reading some news articles when this headline popped out: "Holiday Inn Offers 'Human Bed-Warming Service' to Combat Icy Sheets". After reading the headline I thought to myself, this CANT be what its implying, can it? Little old Holiday Inn wouldn't try anything crazy like that now would they?

Sure enough the article goes on to state,
"If requested, a willing member of hotel staff will jump in your bed, dressed head to foot in an all-in-one sleeper suit, until your nightly chamber warms up. Holiday Inn spokeswoman Jane Bednall described the plan as something like having a "giant hot water bottle in your bed."
Now I am sure on paper this sounded like a GREAT idea to some marketer who just KNEW this would get some press time. But what about the people who are hired to do this? What happens the first time they get some pervy guy (or Tiger Woods maybe) who wants them to stick around just a little longer. What happens when the wife finds out some young gal was in your bed "just to warm it up"? This sounds like a future PR nightmare to me. On top of that, how do you hire someone for this job? What are the qualifications to be a bed warmer. This was just too absurd of a story to not share. Anyone else hear and crazy marketing ideas lately that you just couldn't believe were real?

Monday, January 4, 2010

2010 is here...whats going to change?

2009 was a great year for the Rasmussen family. Addison got to experience a year full of firsts, 2010 will likely have much of the same as she still have so many firsts to achieve. I can't wait to be there for every one of them. Her biggest first will be that she gets to be a big sister for the first time. I realized that that we hadn't announced that to our readers on here so let it be known that Meghan and I are expecting the arrival of our next child sometime in early July. While we are really excited for our new addition, it brings a little apprehension too. Adding Addison to the mix was a big change but having two children in the house under 2 could prove to be really crazy. Luckily we'll get to go through a similar experience with three of our closest friends, the Roelofs, the Hidlebaughs, and the Normans. We are all expecting our second children within about 3-4 months of each other! Clearly Addison is too young to know how this will impact her life but we hope she'll take it all in stride!

2010 will bring stability to our lives. There was a lot of change in 2009...new home, new church home, etc. It seems like every year since we've met has brought a lot of change, but I think 2010 will be a stabilizing year for us and I am really excited for that. We have a great home that is affordable along with good stable jobs (and hopefully a recovering economy). We feel like we have really solid renters at both of our rental homes which provides a HUGE amount of relief for us after the craziness of last year. While the new baby will bring some craziness and sleepless nights, the rest of our lives have finally stabilized which is something I thank God for!!

With stable lives, its time to start focusing on ourselves a little bit too. For me, that means its time to really start to make sure that both Meghan and I are taking care of the important things in our lives. At Eagle Brook, I've heard Bob talk a few times now about defining your values. Its something I've never officially done, but its time for me to really do that.
  1. God (while its always important to me, I don't always make it a priority...its time to really change that. I need to make God ACTUALLY first, instead of on paper).
  2. Family (Meghan and Addison are vitally important to me...this has never been a question...same with my extended family. I also need to find more time to push my relationship with Meghan as husband and wife...rather than Addison's parents)
  3. Work (I like to think of myself as a hard worker, but I've developed some bad work habits that I need to clean up to be a harder, more efficient worker. With the football season winding down, its a good time to develop NEW better habits!)
  4. Friends/Self (I need to find more time to cultivate my friendships away from my family. While I LOVE my time with my family, Meghan and I both need to find time to spend with others to cultivate our individual sides of ourselves as well)
  5. Hobbies/Sports (I have no problem spending time watching sports, but playing them has always been something I enjoyed. I've put that on the side burner to be there for my daughter for her first year. I miss being in good shape...this might mean going out running or joining some kind of rec league.)
I haven't figured out how this is going to look yet. My life feels busy but I think there is way too much time spend watching TV and on the computer. This can clearly be reduced to free up some time for my other values. TV and computer are NOT core values of my life. They serve an entertainment purpose but I feel like they are causing me to become lazy at times...I hate feeling lazy. I figure a new year is a great time to work on this...