I see debt people!

We haven't posted in awhile and Jena says we need an update. We thought we'd tell you about our weekend and a guy I've been listening to on the radio for a few years. We went to Colorado Springs to see Dave Ramsey speak. He's a Christian-based financial guy that has syndicated radio and tv shows out of Nashville. He's also had three books on the New York Times Bestseller list, including one right now. I first found him on the radio when we were in Garden City. Off and on over the last few years, we've tried to follow his plan to get out of debt. Everytime we've been serious about it, we've eliminated a huge pile of debt. The problem was, we never really stayed with it and always managed to "buy stuff we didn't want, with money we didn't have, to impress people we didn't like." That's a Dave quote that I really love. Long story short, we're finally serious about debt elimination, not just reduction. Jena and I really want her to be a stay-at-home mom and that simply wouldn't have happened unless we learned to live on less than I make. Dave's been a huge motivator for us. For the first time since college, we don't have a dollar in credit card debt, are getting close to paying off our vehicle, and have a strong plan going forward for emergency funds, investing, and paying off the house. Seeing Dave live in Colorado Springs this weekend was a huge boost. Check out his website, www.daveramsey.com. Who knows, maybe he can help you out too!

Nashville, TN

Hey all, Matt here. I just got back from Nashville and wanted to tell you about my trip. Nashville is an amazing city. If you love music, this is the place. Every restaurant and every bar has a live band just about every night! I actually had to go there for work, but it wasn't really like work. I was representing Golden Harvest at the Commodity Classic. It's a huge farm show that draws growers, media, and industry people from all over the US. The show was at the Gaylord Opryland Hotel. The hotel is amazing. It sits on 52 acres, not counting parking lots and sidewalks. There are over 2800 rooms and the convention center is 600,000+ sq feet. That sounds big enough, but they have plans to expand to over 1 million sq feet soon. You literally need a map to navigate the place. There is shopping, restaurants, bars, and even a river with a boat tour housed in the hotel. Pretty amazing place. As you can probably guess, Nashville is full of celebrities and I managed to have a brush with one. We walked into a bar downtown on Thursday night and Kid Rock and his road crew were there. They were in town for a concert over the weekend and were just hanging out. If it wasn't for the huge body guards following him everywhere, you might not have even noticed him. Just a regular dude, hanging out and drinking a beer. It was a fun night. I'm also amazed at the talented people you run into. There is a guy or gal with a guitar on almost every street corner. And they're all pretty good. It makes you realize just how good you have to be to get a record deal. The talent seems to be a dime a dozen. Anyway, cool city and I'm ready to go back!

Baby Update!

It's been a while, so we better give you a quick update. We are now 20 weeks along. Half way!! The baby is really growing and he's starting moving around. People around town are really starting to ask questions about the little guy. It doesn't take long in a small town for news to spread. I think people are excited for us, but also excited that the new baby means Matt's Mom and Dad will be in town more often. People truly miss you guys around here. The two biggest questions we get are "do you have a name picked out" and "when are your Mom and Dad moving back". Our answer to both is "we don't know".

Baby McKenzie Update

Just wanted to give you all an update. We had a sonogram today and got some new pictures to share. This one was kind of funny, looks like a little alien. Jena is doing great and feeling good. The sono-tech thought we were about 15 weeks along. That means this little alien will arrive sometime in early July!

Oh, one more thing...the alien is a boy! One knee, two knees, weeknee! (sono-tech's joke, not ours)

Winter Wonderland

We're getting some pretty cool snow today. The flakes are huge and don't really show up on the picture, but it's making for some neat scenery. This shot is off our front porch, towards the hospital. As I look at this picture and then look back through some of the ones we have from living in Greeley and Garden City, I'm grateful for where we are now. Not that NW Kansas is extremely scenic, but we just got lucky when we found this house. We've couldn't have asked for a better location!

Hoss's Crazy Antics

We haven't blogged in a while, so I guess it's time to update this thing. We never seem to have creative things to write about except Hoss. He's the kid, what do you expect. He's always doing something weird like a kid. We had a few ears of corn left over from some fall decorations. We threw them into the yard for the squirrels and the birds, but Hoss decided he liked corn too and joined in.

It finally snowed here and Hoss loves snow. He was out with his tennis ball yesterday while we scooped the drive way. His favorite game is to "punch" the ball through the snow and hide it from himself. He definitely loves being outside and didn't seemed phased by the cold. He probably would have stayed outside all day if we would have let him.

Hoss and his new buddy, Buster

Matt and I had just got home and noticed a stray dog in our lawn. We love dogs and not to mention he looked like Hoss, but taller! We read his tag and found his name and his owner’s phone number. We called the owner and asked if he was looking for Buster? He replied he was out of town and his roommates are looking for him. He then thanked us and said he would send them right over. Well an hour later and only two or so blocks away here they come. During this waiting time we had Hoss get to know him. Hoss was not very happy to see him but soon warmed up. Buster on the other hand had a really good time. They tried to play in the lawn but with Hoss being so short and fat and Buster so tall and leggy they didn’t do too much. I think Hoss was glad to have a friend for the short time he did but was glad to go back to his only child lifestyle!