An Afternoon Out With The Family
It was an unexpected surprise that my youngest brother had planned an afternoon out with the whole family. We don't get out as much as most people, but we plan to remedy that soon. We do like spending time together whenever we're all available.
We ended up going to Perkins and enjoyed ourselves while having a good time. We're usually a bunch of loud mouths when having fun together. I really cherish these small moments in life where there's always laughter and joy.
Speaking of that, the Minnesota State Fair is right around the corner. I'm excited to say that I'm going! Well my family and I, that is. We decided on a day that we're all available. I just can't wait to have fun and eat all that greasy, fatty, unhealthy fair food.
Below are some of the pictures taken today. There aren't that many.
My nephew playing tic tac toe with one of my brothers on his Galaxy Note.
One of my brothers.
My delicious Tangler burger.
My tasty fries.
My dad buttering up his biscuit.
More family members. I didn't take pictures of them all, just wanted the pictures of the food.
Ok, there's a funny story behind these cups. When you usually dine at a restaurant you can be sure they will have doggy bags available to you, but no-one ever asks if there are doggy cups. I brought this point up today and had the whole crew laughing. I wanted to ask the waitress if they offered such a thing because we had a whole pitcher of lemonade that I didn't want to waste. I guess she over heard my loud mouth and brought some out. I was shocked that they existed outside of my head. I had to take pictures as proof that there's such a thing as doggy cups.
My oldest brother holding the doggy cups. Aww.
A Week Of Raspberries And Wild Life
This week has been going by fast already. There's been plenty ups and downs and turnabouts, and it's only the middle of the week. This is like a filler post of photos of what's been going on around the house. From a bush of raspberries to a teenage deer makes for an interesting week so far.
Here's the deer that I caught in the back yard eating leaves off a tree.
We have so many wild animals coming and going in our back yard. There's a family of albino squirrels in the neighborhood, more deer, regular squirrels, raccoon, spiders, exotic birds, the whole works. Its a lovely sight.
It's still eating.
It's startled because I started talking to it. My exact words, "Hey, Bambi!"
Bambi is trying to find the source of noise.
Bambi's running away because I was getting too close. Aw.
Look at him go.
These are the raspberries that my niece picked from our little raspberry bush.
Yum! Homemade raspberry jam is only one of the uses of raspberries I made.
Shortbread raspberry jam ribbons.
More ribbons.
Some kind of raspberry tart.
Raspberry shortbread cookies. So good.
More cookies.
The leftover jam. This will be good with toast.
My Top Five Favorite Christian Blogs
I've fallen in love with the quote: "I believe in God like I believe in the sun, not because I can see it, but because of it all things are seen." It couldn't be more true. Thinking about God has me thinking about my life and what I'm doing with it. I don't want to fall into that realm of living that will bring me down. I know my life here on earth is limited and I plan to make it right.
That being said, I realized that I want to take this blog in a slightly, different direction. There won't be any hardcore changes, there will be more "me" talking inside every blog post. I want to let my re-found faith in God to speak through every word I write for my readers. I have always loved God. He is what I live for and I want to make that be my leading force.
Without him, I wouldn't be who I am-- who I am meant to be. This will not be a religious blog (even though there's nothing wrong with that), but a blog where I find myself, rebuild myself, with the help of God. Below is a small list of christian blogs that I love to read. They are not in particular order; they're all unique in their own way.
Internet Monk is a great blog with an evangelical approach that gets you thinking.
Sayable is run by Lore Ferguson. She has an inspiring way of finding messages in the world around us.
Christian Personal Finance was one of the first christian blogs I came across that gave useful advice on the money spectrum of our lives.
Beginning And End post about Christianity in the media, bible, and elsewhere.
ODAK has many posts about theology, culture, scripture, etc.
I'm positive that there are many more decent christian blogs just like these. If you think I'm missing one, please leave a comment.
Belated 4th Of July Food Photos
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4th of July was fun and full of family. I enjoyed the fact that I got just about everyone to pitch in and help with something. My niece and nephew were some of our main helpers, and I thank my nephew for taking these pictures for me.
The only mishap I think I had yesterday was when I was trying to cut the ham but ended up cutting myself a little bit. I don't know how it happened, but it did happen. Safe to say that I stayed away from that evil ham all day. Enjoy the photos and I hope y'all had just as great of a Independence Day as we did.
Get Rewarded For Exercising
Exercising is a must for most people's everyday life. Then there are those of us who hate exercising or don't find enough time to set aside for it. There's always something that stops us from doing the things we know we should be doing.
I realized yesterday that I've been slacking on my push-ups, sit-ups, and running. Push-ups and sit-ups come easily to me, but running is another story. For some reason I'm having a hard time catching my breath these days. I have trouble trying to stop myself from passing out more than anything else.
As I got to thinking, I thought that maybe I needed something to motivate me to do exercise more often. So I looked through some of my bookmarks because I save lots of articles, sites, and other ideas for my posts. I came across two lonely apps that could help motivate me more.
Nexercise is an app that's available for both iPhones and androids. Nexercise's purpose is that they can help you stay motivated with their point system. For every exercise you choose to do, your smartphone keeps track of the length of your workout and the effort put into it. The more points you get, the better chance there is for you to win their prizes. They give away gift cards, discounts, and other free stuff.
Earndit is a cute, little website that rewards you for earning points for exercising. They require you to connect a tracking device with them so that they can keep track of your progress. You get the option of competing in challenges and check on your rankings to see how you're fairing. What I like about Earndit is that once you accumulated enough points, you get to choose your rewards. You can also refer your friends for 100 credits or brag about your accomplishments for 20 credits. It's like a fun game that you can play everyday.
3 Simple Ways To Manage And Pay Off Your Student Loans
Let's face it. Student loans are one of college students' worst nightmares. As a college student, I know that they are a pain in the butt. Sometimes I think I should have avoided ever taking out a student loan, but I have to admit that they helped me in their own way.
Enough of that. I want to prove to all current and future college students that all is not lost. I know I won't feel too stressed out when the time comes to pay back my loans because I have found three online methods to help me out. Let's take a look.
Upromise allows you to earn money for college by making everyday purchases. You can shop through Upromise, eat at their participating restaurants, grocery shop, or even invite family and friends to earn more money. The money you earn goes to your Upromise account. They give you an option to choose if you want to invest your cash-back earnings in a high-yield savings account, tax-deferred 529 plan, or to pay down on your college loans. You can even request a check to spend your money on any other expenses you choose to.
Smarterbucks is a rewards program that helps you pay down on your student loans. All you need to do is shop like you normally would in Smartbucks' marketplace and receive cash back that automatically goes to pay off your loan(s). They use a system where you sign up with their bank, "Smarter Bank" and get an online checking account with them. With it you will get their Visa debit card to use on groceries, etc. to earn more money.
Tuition.io manages your student loans for free. You can use them to manage all your student loans. That includes private and federal loans. I find this is a good way to track how much you owe. I can never keep track of the amount for some reason. I plan to start using these websites as soon as possible. I hope you will too.
