Review of The Millionaire Next Door

The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is a fascinating book! The authors spent a lot of time researching millionaires and studying their lifestyles and habits. The bottom line I gleaned from it is to be frugal, don't live beyond your means. Instead of trying to live a perceived lifestyle of the "rich" invest, be content, and accumulate wealth. A lot of time was spent on emphasizing the benefits of not buying flashy, expensive cars or other expensive "toys".

Millionaires are those that take the time to plan out their financial goals, make good budgets, and invest wisely.

There wasn't a lot of time spent on the habit of giving in this book, which was disappointing. I know that one of my goals of becoming wealthy is to be able to give away and help others with my cash.

Definitely a good book to read and glean insights from.

View all my reviews

So What’s New with the Reagan’s???

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This poor little blog has been sorely neglected for quite a while now. Seems like neither of us has felt particularly inspired lately…. But we’ll try and change that. We both enjoy coming up with posts, but it seems that it has been put on the back burner for a while – now it’s time to just sit down and write!

So what’s new with us lately? Well, first big piece of news: JC’s “Proof of Permanent Residence” paperwork finally came in the mail! WOOHOO! He is all approved as a Permanent Resident in Canada. He just has to leave and then come back in through the border to “officially land” so that border services can do all their official stamping and signing and then he’s good. Then he can finally look for work and we can have dual incomes. Until I go on maternity leave for a year that is… but still, mat leave pay (in Alberta) is 55% of my normal salary for a whole year, which is still pretty awesome.

After much planning and trying to figure out logistics, we finally have a plan in motion to go down to Butte and get the rest of his stuff, and then he can “land” on the way back up. We leave Friday (tonight!!!), drive part of the way, crash at my parent’s place, then get up bright and early Saturday and finish the drive. We’ll then get to spend the next 48 hours madly sorting through boxes and boxes of his stuff, selling his car, doing some necessary banking, packing a U-Haul and a truck, and still finding some time to visit with JC’s parents. It’ll be a whirlwind trip, but it’ll feel so good to finally have all JC’s belongings here in our little duplex in Canada!

We’re very thankful for JC’s parents and their willingness to help with sorting and whatnot, and for allowing us to sleep in their spare room and eat their food. : ) We’re also very thankful that my Dad happened to have next Monday/Tuesday off, and that he and my Mom were more than willing to drive down in their truck and pull the U-Haul back up to Canada, plus let us ride with them. I am also thankful for the big cab on their truck, which will allow all 4 of us to ride fairly comfortably…. This is an especially big deal to the Prego! I like comfort!!! : )

Speaking of prego… I’m 19.5 weeks along now. Just about halfway there!!! So far this has been an easy-peasy pregnancy and for that I am very thankful. Some very slight nausea for the first trimester, but thanks to the awesome-ness that is ginger-ale, it never bothered me much at all. The slight nausea left completely around week 14 and I’ve been feeling awesome since. Having energy now feels so nice, however around 7:00 at night, I definitely crash big time. If I want to accomplish anything after work, I better do it right away or it doesn’t happen cause I’m half-asleep. It’s kind of funny – JC is a major Morning Zombie and I’m now the evening Prego Zombie.

Next Tuesday is ultrasound day! We’re hoping and praying that baby Peanut behaves and cooperates and allows the ultrasound tech to tell us what the gender is. : ) It totally doesn’t matter to me what the baby is... I just want to know!!! I am planner at heart and not knowing the gender is driving me nuts! How can I pick fabric and sew curtains without knowing to make them boy-ish or girl-ish??? How can I wash and fold an entire 3 month wardrobe of baby clothes and put it away in the dresser if I don’t know to go with pink or blue?!?!? The horror!!! : ) I’ve had a feeling the whole time that it’s a girl, but that is just a feeling and nothing more… but we’ll see. I do have a bet going though – if I’m right and it’s a girl, my friend Brittany owes me a cute baby girl outfit. However, if I’m wrong and it’s a boy, then she wins and I owe her a cute outfit for her baby girl. Frankly, either way I win… either I get a cute baby outfit or I get to go shopping for a cute baby outfit… oh darn! : )

We will be sharing what the gender is on facebook and also on here, but we’re not sharing our name choices… the name shall remain a secret from everyone until little Mr or little Miss makes his/her appearance! : ) But I can give you some background:

We’ve had many, many discussions over the past several months on what names we would like for our baby – boy or girl. First we had to decide if we should go with traditional family names or something brand new. While we both can appreciate the cool tradition of naming our baby after a family member, we both agreed that we wanted our baby to have their own name and identity, separate from Grandparents or Aunt or Uncle. Than decision firmly made, it then took a while a finally find a girl and a boy first name we both agreed on, let alone middle names. If I loved a name, JC vetoed it. If JC suggested a name, I made a yucky face. And on and on. Finally one day a month ago I spent an entire lunch time at work pouring through an online list of top 1000 boy and girl names. I came away with my top 5 favourites of each and brought home the list for JC. Luckily, he immediately really liked one name from each list! Phew! Since then we’ve gone around and around on middle names… but we had a bit of a breakthrough in our baby name decision earlier this week. I had a sudden inspiration for girl middle name while at work and when I told JC, we slightly modified it and both loved it. We felt inspired and then changed the boy middle name too. So I think we’re finally 99.9% happy with both names! Sheesh, I thought picking a name would be easier…. : )

Well, that is pretty much it for Reagan news. I promise we’ll be better at posting from now on!

Big News!!

If I had to count on my fingers, a post with the title of Big News would be any of the following: a move, a new job, building a house, buying a yacht, or a new baby.  I should make you all try to figure out what the big news is, but since a lot of people already know, it wouldn't be much fun.

So.  Prepare yourself. 

Brianna and I are having a BABY!  Yup, you read that correctly.  In mid-April we will be the proud parents of a bouncing baby!  We won't know the sex for awhile, but we do intend on finding out.

Brianna has started nesting.  She has already been scouring Kijiji for deals on used baby items.  Right after we found out, she discovered a full nursery set for a little under half price!  We made the trip to Red Deer and fit it all into our Caliber!  I was quite pleased and surprised that it all fit.  Advantages to having a hatchback.  Once we know if it's a boy or a girl, she'll be able to put her plans into action!

We told our parents right away.  It just happened that her parents were celebrating their anniversary the same day we found out.  We told them that night out at the lake and they were surprised and quite happy!  Then we told my parents over video chat.  I really wish we had recorded that, because their faces were priceless!  Then we worked our way out and have told the Facebook world.

It's quite exciting!  I've always wanted to be a Dad and I have a special place in my heart for kids, so now that I'm going to have one of my own, it makes me burst with joy!  Brianna is especially excited! This is something she has dreamed and asked for, for a long time.  She can't wait to meet our little Peanut!

We will be happy if it's a boy or a girl or even a Klingon, but our friends are almost all thinking it's a girl.  What do you think?  My desire is split, but I wouldn't mind having a little girl to take on daddy dates.

Anniversary trip

Better late then never - It's the anniversary post!!!

Tuesday, August 7th, JC and I got to celebrate our First Anniversary!!!   We had planned and saved for several months and budgeted enough to go to Jasper National Park for two days and celebrate together.  We had a slight hiccup in our plans, since we both ended up with really bad colds the weekend before (complete with nasty ear infection and pink eye for me – Yay!).  We were feeling much better by Tuesday, thanks to Tylenol Sinus, Buckley’s Cold and Sinus, and my lovely bottle of antibiotics pills and eye drops, but we still felt a little under the weather.  Nevertheless, we decided no mere cold would hold us back, so armed with endless supplies of Kleenex and cold meds, we got up early Tuesday morning and packed our stuff into the car and headed off for an adventure.  We were also armed with Timmies coffees, which I think helped a lot too.  The caffeine helped counteract the slight sleepiness the cold pills were giving me…   : )  

But before I continue, I should back up… that morning right after our alarms went off at 6:00, we exchanged anniversary gifts.  JC went all out for me. 

Hmm, slight back-up again… first… The night before he gave me a thumb drive that was filled with music for me to listen to at work, as well as nine short 2-3 minute videos of him on a number of subjects; everything from memories to plans of the future.  It was so sweet!  Yes, he made me cry… in a good way.  He also stuck a couple short videos of my nephew laughing like crazy while being pushed around in his wagon, which are always awesome.  

Ok, back to morning… I opened two small jewellery boxes.  In the first one I found a beautiful silver and agate necklace that JC’s Grandpa gave his Grandma, back when they were dating.  Apparently, his Grandma had given the necklace to JC’s Mom, Ruth, with instructions that it be given to JC to give to his bride someday.  Very sweet and very cool gift!  I love heirlooms!  The other jewellery box contained a beautiful pair of black agate earrings to match the necklace.  Totally awesome gifts!  My hubby is so sweet!  

Back to the trip.  The forecast had been for rain and cloudy skies all day for Rocky and Jasper, but with the slight exception of some cloud about an hour west of Rocky that lasted all of 15 minutes, it was clear skies for the whole drive.  The scenery was gorgeous, as always.  I absolutely LOVE driving through the National Parks.   The majesty and beauty of the Rocky Mountains are amazing to me.  

We got to Jasper around noon and enjoyed a nice picnic lunch at a cute day-use area at Pyramid Lake.  It was so quiet and serene… It started to cloud up then and we got into the car just in time to avoid a rain shower.   We decided to check out Maligne Canyon, Medicine Lake, and Maligne Lake, however due to a mudslide from all the rain they had recently, the road was blocked off just past the Canyon.  Oh well, the lakes will wait til next time.  The canyon was awesome though, as usual.  I love the mist from the falls and the sound of the crashing water.  It’s my favorite stop in Jasper.  

We went to check into our hotel then, only to find that they had booked us into a Standard Room with a queen size bed, instead of the King size we booked online.  Well, the manager looked around on the computer and said that all their King rooms were booked, however if we wanted, he would give us a full suite with a queen size bed for our troubles.  Yeah, we totally said Yes to that!   So, we got a really nice, spacious, one bedroom suite, complete with living room and kitchen/dining, for the price of our original standard room…. Twice the room for half the price.  I love it!  

We had searched online for a good restaurant to go to for dinner that night and had settled on The Pines, a nice restaurant out at Pyramid Lake.  The reviews online were all good and the menu sounded yummy.  Well, the reviews were bang-on.  The restaurant was nice and quiet, and we got a table right beside the windows so we could look out on the lake and enjoy the scenery.  The food was delicious, from our roasted garlic, warm Camembert cheese and crusty bread appetizer, to our two entrees of grilled halibut, risotto and green beans, and stuffed chicken breast, scalloped potatoes and grilled veggies, to our lovely dessert of chocolate cream cheese mousse between layers of rich chocolate cake, with whipped cream and berries.  It was all Y-U-M-M-Y!  Our server even gave us our dessert on the house, since it was our anniversary.  It was such a nice, romantic dinner and we both loved it.  

The next day we enjoyed the breakfast buffet and strolled through all the shops in the town site and did some shopping.  By noon, JC was feeling a bit sick again, so we decided to slowly wind our way home.  We stopped a couple times to take some photos of the mountains and enjoy the views.  Once out of the Park, we stopped at a cute little campground and had another picnic lunch, before heading home.  Nice little place by a creek… we plan on taking our tent there next summer and camping for a weekend.  We got home at supper time and spent the evening relaxing on the couch, eating chicken fingers and curly fries, and watching Cars 2.  Perfect way to end the day!  : )  

Well, that was our first anniversary.  I loved spending the special time with my awesome hubby.  We made some great memories and had a wonderful time together.  We are both so glad we took that step a year ago and said “I do” and we’re anxious to see what the next year holds for us.  I know one thing for sure: God is good and the future looks glorious!
  

Everyday-ness...

Yikes!  Sheesh, this is really bad isn’t it?  Last blog post was on June 12…. Over a month and no writing – not so good! 

We’ve encountered a bit of a snag though… it seems that lately both of us have hit this slump and can’t seem to find inspiration to write for this blog.  I (Brianna) have started and half-written about half a dozen entries, only to read them over and completely dislike what I’ve written, delete everything, and sit there staring at a blank page, waiting for a light bulb to go off above my head and for inspiration to magically zap my brain like lightning.  Not happening so far….

I did have a bit of a realization though, what’s wrong with just writing about the Everyday-Ness that is our life?  Who said our posts have to be all fancy and dealing with the big and epic part of life?  After all, it’s our blog, so I shall write about what I please!  : ) 

Ok, so without further ado, here is what’s been going on in the Everyday-Ness that is JC and Brianna Reagan’s life over the past month or so:  

Summer has proved to be a busy season for us so far.  JC parents, John and Ruth, came to visit for 5 days back in mid-June, which was a lot of fun.  We got to hang out and visit and spend some time getting to know each other better.  

JC and his Dad, John

JC and I with his Mom, Ruth

During that time they were here, we celebrated Father’s Day for both JC’s Dad and my Dad, Richard.  We had a wonderful BBQ Shish Kebab supper!  Delicious!  My hubby is definitely the Grill-Master. 

JC and his Dad admiring the BBQ feast!

My sister, Rebecca, and I with Dad on Father's Day.

 

That same weekend was also a big milestone in my family… it was my nephew Gabriel’s 1^st Birthday!  We hosted the party at our house and we had a blast.  Birthday Boy enjoyed opening his presents, getting lots of attention, and smashing his hands into his cake and flinging bits of it everywhere.   I love that little dude.  <3 

Gabriel enjoying his yummy Winnie the Pooh theme cake.  By the end of it, he was covered head to toe in frosting.  :)

End of June marked another big milestone in our family… my parents, sis, and nephew all moved!    My Dad, a journeyman electrician in the oilfield, was offered a bigger, better job by the company he works for, to transfer and be in on the planning/building stages of a new mega-project.  After much thought, discussion and prayer, he and my Mom decided to accept the transfer and make the move.  My sister, Becky, decided to join them too.  So after spending all of adult life living about 5 minutes from each other, they packed up and moved 2.5 hours away.  Sure, it’s not that far by any means, but it will definitely make things different.  JC and I are going to head down to see them this coming weekend and check out their new house and new town.  We’re pretty excited! 

JC and I have been spending all of our free weekends (not many so far) out at our campsite at Burntstick Lake, about 40 minutes from Rocky.  My family has had a site at this Lake for about 14 years now, and 4 years ago, I got a site for myself.  Mom and Dad allowed us to have their old RV to share with Becky/Gabriel, so we’re pretty set up.  We’ve got a nice big woodshed, the camper, a bbq, an awesome rock fire pit, and lots of trees.  Ahhh, wonderful!   Next stop is to find a canoe so that we can get out on the water.  Right now we’re limited to getting on the water when Dad is there to drive his boat, so a canoe will be great for us.  

The most recent pic I have of the Lake is from last year... Chainsaw Master JC sawing firewood at our campsite. 

We’re still waiting on JC’s immigration paperwork to come through so that he can finally work.  We did chat with our immigration lawyer a couple weeks ago and she said that we should hear something by the end of August at the latest.  It will be so nice when he can finally start working! 

Oh, how could I forget!  My best girlfriend Marie is getting married in a mere 11 days and I get the honour of being a bridesmaid!   It has been so much fun watching Marie and Andrew and their journey, from dating to engaged, and now about to take that step and become Husband and Wife.  I don’t think he could have found a more amazing woman, and I don’t think she could have found a more awesome guy.  God has definitely brought them together!  So, next week marks the beginning of last-minute-wedding-craziness… at least as far as I’m involved... I’m pretty sure it has been craziness for the two of them for the past several months.  : )   I am very excited to be part of their big day! 

Marie and Andrew at our wedding last year... now it's their turn! 

Well, I think that is about it for an update on us… 

Here’s a good question for our readers: What do YOU want to see us write about?  Any ideas/topics?  Inspire us!  : ) 

How to love your wife

We all know the story:  Husband comes in after work, turns on the tv and starts to veg.  Wife comes in and starts to talk.  Husband grunts, wife wants to know what is going on in his life, husband grunts and turns up the tv.  Wife gets mad and starts yelling and eventually leaves.  (I think I just described every sitcom out there).

Men, this is not a good thing.  If your wife does not feel loved, listened to, and a part of you, she will be lonely and feel like you don't care.  This leads to dysfunction and an unhappy marriage.  Take the initiative and be involved in your wife's life. 

Here are a few practical ways to love your wife:

• Spend time with her.  Set aside the computer, the football game, the puttering in the yard, the video games and take the time to engage with her.  One of the things my wife appreciates is when I show her love by being available for her when she gets home.  I try to do chores or something not computer related when I know she's coming home soon.  
  
• Do little things for her.  Putting away dishes, doing a load of laundry, or any various chores speaks a lot to your wife.  Even the act of opening a door will show her that you love her and care for her.
  
• Be romantic.  Don't turn off that part of you just because you're married.  Bringing home a bouquet of flowers for no particular reason makes your wife feel special.  Say "I love you" and "you're beautiful" and mean it.  Again, make your wife feel special.  Don't do it in a selfish manner, but put her before yourself.
  
  
• Remember, she's made of spaghetti, following topics one right after another.  I know that can be difficult and by remembering that, you can switch boxes better.  Let her know that she's moving too fast or that you need to switch boxes before she starts talking.
  
• I know that as men we have been taught to be closed in our emotions and not let anyone in.  Guys, that's one of the surest ways to drive your wife away!  Learn how to let your walls down and let your wife see your feelings and your deepest desires.  She will respond in a myriad of ways to that intimacy and your marriage will be stronger for that.
  
• Be the leader and the protector of your marriage. 
  
• Be willing to admit your faults and be willing to work on your marriage.  Everyone can learn to love more, and you're no exception. 
  
• Take time to grow in God.  Allow the Holy Spirit to guide your life and pull you closer to Him.  Be disciplined in your reading of the Word, even if you don't like reading.  It is the best way to learn how to live your life in love and respect.
  
• Pray together.  Make a habit of going to bed and praying over each other before you go to sleep.
  
• Read marriage books and learn more ways to love your wife.  Ask the elders you know who have good, strong, and Godly marriages about what they have done.  

I know there are a lot more ways and methods to build a strong marriage.  Be open and loving to your wife and you will see yourself change and then you'll see change in her. 

Have you tried any of these ideas?  How did they work?  What other things do you do to love your wife?

JC Starts a Bucket List

A number of people have been talking about bucket lists (or I should say I've seen a few people talking about it over the last few years and I watched part of that movie with Morgan Freeman).

The concept intrigues me.  Do I go for the lifetime goals or do I make short term goals?  Do they have to be serious or silly or odd or what?

Being the geek that I am, I googled it.  Seems that a bucket list should be things that are somewhat challenging and mean something.  They can be serious, or silly; short or long.  Some people categorize them, others just write them as they come.

That said, I've decided to start a bucket list!

JC's First 10 Bucket List Items!

1. See Niagara Falls
2. Sky Dive at least once
3. Read the Bible through in one sitting
4. Climb the Washington Monument
5. Shoot a Moose (and eat it)
6. Eat snake
7. Visit Scotland again.
8. Celebrate my 10th Anniversary in Hawaii
9. Become a father
10. Catch a fish from a boat
11. Become debt free

I'm sure I will add to these over time and I welcome your encouragement as my life progresses.

What would you put on your bucket list?  Do you have one?  Have you started checking off items?

Content and thankful

I'm sitting in my living room, feeling very content.  There's sun shining through the window, the temperature is actually warm, and my wife is reading a book in the chaise.  Life is good right now.

Our weather is slowly getting better.  We had snow a little bit last week, but this week is supposed to be warm enough for rain.  That will be a nice change.  We're starting to get stuff together for a garden.  Started zucchini, lettuce, chives, basil, oregano, thyme, morning glory, and sweet peas.  We'll be planting carrots a bit later outside.  Going to be nice to have some veggies growing.

I spent the morning at church.  We have a daily corporate prayer time and it has greatly helped my growth with God and is a great part of the day.  After that Pastor and I went for coffee and had some good conversation.  I love our church and the relationships that I'm building.

After lunch I went over to my father-in-laws and did some sawing.  I'm in the middle of a project that I'll reveal later.  It was a lot of fun to be able to use the table saw and work with wood.

Life is pretty good right now. 

Thank You, Lord for this day, for the favor you give us, and the blessings showered upon us.  Thank You for our house and the ability to make it our home.  Thank You.  Amen.

How about you?  What's God doing in your life that You're thankful for?  Meet us in the comments!

When Chaos Comes Knocking

First off I must apologize for not writing more on this blog.  Life got in the way there for awhile.  We are back and will be posting more often.

Second, to discuss what happened I need a time machine...  What?  No time machines handy?  I guess you'll have to put up with me telling the story of a spewing toilet and the turmoil it caused.

Third - Just so that I have a nice three point introduction, here is the story:

The Story

It starts innocently enough.  An article I had written had just been published on The Christian Dollar When Plans Don't Work Out.  I had talked about when chaos strikes and your plans are changed or thrown out the window, turn to God and remember His Plan for you never gets thwarted. 

It's interesting how things happen to test what God has been talking to us about.

That day I walked to church for prayer and walked back, nice weather, and a good time.  I open my door and descend into our basement.  What do I discover but a pool of water about a 1/4 in deep at my entryway.  Oh boy....  Turns out that the toilet line out to the main sewer had been blocked and every time my neighbor's laundry drained, I got a flood.

After calling the landlady and getting the neighbor to stop washing clothes, I attempted to clean up.  Yeah, not having a wet vac really slowed the process down.  Then the clean up guys came and told me that the bacteria in the sewer water was dangerous and that they needed to remove the floors and sanitize.  Oh.  So you mean I need to move all my stuff out and allow you access.

Thus started a marathon packing!  We slept at my in-laws (Shout out to Richard and Julie!  You guys are a blessing!), packed up our stuff, and then moved it all into a friend's garage (Shout out to Dennis and Laura!  Thank you so very much!) with the help of some guys from church (Thanks to Darryl, Kyle, Glenn, Troy, and Devon!  You guys rock!).  From that Tuesday to the afternoon of that Sunday, we packed, moved, and cleaned.  My wife and her mother did a great job cleaning everything except the floors!

Let's take a moment and talk about how I had to deal with my ways of thinking.  I'll be honest, we both had moments where we wanted to worry and be annoyed that we were having to move.  It was tempting to think we'd be stuck staying with Brianna's parents for a long period of time, that our stuff would like hanging out in a garage, that we wouldn't find a new place, and if we did, we wouldn't be able to afford it.

However, both of us knew that God does care about us and does have plans for us.  We had to rest in God's hands, let Him be the center of our lives, and have faith that a new place would be found.  After all, we had been thinking about moving before all this happened and had started asking God for a new place for the same amount of money.  We knew that it'd take a miracle to get a place like what we wanted.  And our expectations were met...

In our searching, we had a couple leads that fell through. Then we heard about this Coop housing and that there was a two bedroom available.

Get this, that Tuesday night, a week from when I discovered the flood, we visited with the couple who makes the membership agreements.  We looked at the place and it matched everything we were asking for.  Even the ability to paint and to have a garden.  We signed the papers and got the keys.  By Saturday we were all moved in.

We've been painting and getting settled this last week.  It's almost to the point where we can feel at home.

Best thing:  Same amount of money for almost twice the space. 

Chaos came knocking.  We had to remember that God brings order.  We rested in Him.  Now we are blessed with a great place and a reminder to be focused on Him!

Meet us in the comments and tell us about what God's been doing in your lives. 

Video Blog

Made this the other day on my way to the church.  Not a lot of content, but it's a good first video blog.

February is a Month Of Celebrating!

I always knew February was a special month, but until I got married, I really didn't appreciate it as much as I do now.  I mean, we all know that it's the only month to start with an "F" and it's a funny sounding word to say.  It's full of holidays:  Groundhog's Day (which is only notable because Bill Murray got stuck in it), President's Day (Yes, for those who didn't know, Washington and Lincoln were both born in February, but they get to share a holiday), and it's the only month that has a Leap Day in it!  All in all, February is a special month.

What's that?  I forgot the most important holiday?  Oh, that's right, I was born on the 1st.  No?  Not that one?  hmmmmmm....  Oh, right Valentine's Day, the day that singles like to hate and couples like to enjoy.  For me, as the previous post talks about, I like it because I got the best answer to the best question on that day in 2011.  I think I'll let Brianna talk about how we celebrated it this year, though.

I forgot something else?  No, actually I didn't forget it.  The 18th of February is another one of my favorite days because it was the day my wife came into the world.  It took awhile for us to find each other, but she has improved my life and I'm sure she's improved the world. 

Oh, I must go!  We have a birthday dinner to prepare!

Why is February special for you?

A Valentine's Proposal

Ah, Valentine's Day... a day of love, chocolate, flowers, and mushy cards.  A day where sweethearts all over the country declare their undying love for each other in flowery poetic words.  I love Valentine's Day... even when I was single I loved Valentine's Day, because it was all about love and I knew that someday I would find someone who I could share it with!  This year though, Valentine's carries a lot more meaning for me, because it was last year on Valentine's Day that JC proposed to me. 

 He had made the trip up from Butte, Montana to spend a whole 8 days with me... from February 12th to 20th.  I was so excited to be able to spend that length of time with him!  We would get to celebrate his belated birthday when he got here, and then Valentine's Day, and then my birthday... all within those 8 days. 

Before this visit, we had spent a fair bit of time talking about proposals and marriage.  We both knew we would be getting married some day, and we had even talked about what kind of ring I wanted when the day came for him to propose.  (I asked for a white gold ring with three stones.  I wanted the center stone to be colored and the two outside stones to be diamonds.  I expressly asked for small stones, as I have never been a fan of big jewellery.)  During these conversations, we had talked about how he would be waiting for his tax return in March or April or May and then be thinking about looking for rings.  Of course, he never came out and actually said those words, he just kind of hinted at waiting and I ran with it.  Little did I now that my devious boyfriend already had a ring picked out, an exact match to my request, and that he had brought it with him in February. 

On Sunday afternoon (the 13th), JC went in to have "the talk" with my Dad.  I knew he was in Dad's office talking to him about our plans for the future, but I honestly didn't think it was because he had a ring with him on this trip.  I had so completely bought the idea that he was waiting for several months to buy a ring that I figured he was just asking for Dad's blessing so that next time I visited Montana, he would have the ring and would then propose.  Was I ever wrong!  My beloved boyfriend was downstairs in my Dad's "Man Cave" asking for his blessing to propose to me the next day and showing him the ring he had picked out. 

Well, Valentine's Day came and we enjoyed a nice lazy day together, going for a walk and doing lots of talking and laughing.  We had reservations at Redstone Restaurant in Red Deer for dinner and then we planned to go for a walk around Bower Ponds after dinner.  We thoroughly enjoyed a lovely dinner together, feasting on some absolutely delicious food! It was romantic and I loved it!  As we were finishing our dessert, JC informed me that he had one more gift for me (we had exchanged Valentine's gifts that morning), but that I couldn't open it until we were at Bower Ponds.
My mind raced for a moment.... Was it a ring?!?!?!?  But once again, my brain reassured me that he had not bought a ring yet, and so there was no way the "gift" was a proposal.  I was sure the gift was going to be something like a pretty necklace or a keepsake of some kind. 

We arrived at Bower Ponds and bundled up in warmer jackets and gloves.  It was almost too cold for a walk, but JC was adamant that we go... "Just for a short one".  (I didn't notice, but apparently he had slipped a wrapped package into his jacket as we were leaving the car)  We walked along the path until we got to the bridge over the Ponds.  We stopped there and JC said I could finally open my present.

He handed me a gift wrapped box about 8 inches by 5 inches, and about 2 inches thick.  I was immediately very curious as to what it was. I pulled off the paper and held a brand new boxed Bible in my hands.  I can admit, my immediate thought was "Really?  A Bible?  I know we both love God and we know that someday we'll be serving in ministry together.... but a Bible for Valentine’s Day?"  Within about two seconds though, my brain realized that this was indeed a very cool gift (I love Bibles) and thanked him for it.  He urged me to take it out of the box, so I pulled it out and looked at it.  It was a pretty color, but what caught me was the name inscribed on the bottom corner of the front cover... "Brianna Reagan".  It was at that moment that I finally realized that something was up and I started to freak out…   He told me to look at the dedication page inside the front cover.  I turned there and read the following words:

To my Lovely, Beautiful Bree.
From your Beloved JC.
On February 14th, 2011.
On the Occasion of: 
           WILL YOU MARRY ME?

At this point, he put his arm around me and held out a ring box with a lovely ring inside it.  He said, "I love you so very much. I want to spend the rest of my life with you.  Will you marry me?"  I immediately started crying and nodded and said "YES!"  I turned to him and I got to kiss him for the first time.  (We had both agreed to save our first kiss for engagement, and neither of us had ever kissed anyone else, so it was indeed, a first kiss!) I kept crying and smiling and laughing, and finally yelled at the top of my lungs, "WE'RE GETTING MARRIED!!!"  There were about 3 people skating on the Pond and I'm sure they all heard me.  : )  

JC didn’t know my ring size so he hadn’t been able to properly size the ring before giving it to me, but he had a solution!  When he purchased the ring, he had bought a beautiful silver chain to keep the ring on until we could get it into a jeweller. We slipped the ring onto the chain and he fastened it around my neck so I could keep it close. 

We finally decided to head back to the car since we were both freezing.  Of course, we made quite a few stops to smooch some more…  Once we got back into the warm car we knew we had a couple phone calls to make.  The first was to my best girlfriend, Marie, who I had promised to call first whenever the day came that I had been proposed to.  I got her on the phone and when I said “Hi Marie.  This is Brianna”, my cell crackled and she didn’t hear me.  She asked who was calling and as soon as I said my name again, she burst out with one of her famous “Marie Squeals”.  She said that there was only one reason that I would call her on Valentine’s Day and she asked if I was engaged.  : )  Yup, I assured her I was and she proceeded to scream some more.  She was almost as excited as I was!  Then we called JC’s parents on speakerphone and chatted with them for a few minutes.  They congratulated us and wanted to hear the story of how things went.  It was a lot of fun!  
 
We headed back to Rocky and my family was still up when we got to my house. More congrats followed and more hugs and smiles.  We posed for pictures and I got to show off both my beautiful ring, but also my very unique new Bible.  

I went to sleep that night with a huge smile on my face, knowing that I was going to marry the man of my dreams and being so thankful to have the wonderful guy I now was able to call my fiancé.  The cool thing is, now that we’ve been married for a little over 6 months, I still go to sleep with a huge smile on my face every night… not to mention waking up with one too.     

Persevering through the Desert

I've been trying to be productive the last couple of days, trying to use my computer as a tool and not as a time waster or brain sucker.  Thus I've been reading articles and working on my Inbox.  I took Gmail's claim that you never had to delete a message again.  Yeah, that might not have been a good idea.  4000+ emails takes a long time to work through. 

However, it felt like I was in a time machine, digging back into my past. I saw emails that made me think about that stage on my journey.  I thought about how sometimes I would get stuck, sometimes in circumstances, sometimes emotionally, and sometimes spiritually.  There was a period of time where I wasn't moving forward and was just spinning my tires.  I needed something to change.

Through a lot of prayer and thought, I came to the decision that God wanted me to put my faith out and take a risk.  I quit my job in Eugene, OR, and took a three and a half week road trip halfway across the US.  I used this trip to listen and try to follow what God wanted for me.  It started on the coast, figuring out that He wanted me to drive south and it continued across California, to Arizona, through Kansas and finally wrapped up in Missouri. 

I had many adventures on that trip, but there was one day that I want to share.

I was on my way from the Grand Canyon, headed up towards Colorado.  Right around Red Mesa, I was zipping along and saw a painted sign "Revival --->".  I smiled, thought that was cool and continued.  About a mile or so down the road, I realized " Oh, God, you want me to follow that sign!"  I turned around and headed back. 

Now this is in the middle of Arizona desert.  Red dirt and mesas all around.  The road was not paved and wasn't the nicest road in the world.   My assumption was that this would be in a hall or something like that, about a mile down the road.  Yeah, not so lucky.  About 3 miles I came upon a calf roping arena and yes, there were people roping calves.  I stopped and asked where this revival thing was. I got vague directions that really didn't help.

Back in the car I go and I start thinking.  My gas gauge was getting low and I was yet to see anymore signs.  I was starting to wonder about turning around and going back to the highway.  Then, I realized that this was a God moment.  Through out my life I've been willing to obey God, but my tendencies have been to only go so far and then either camp out there or turn back.  I liked my comfort zones and to push past them hurt.  Even in obedience to God, breaking those comfort walls, hurt.  But I realized this was a time to break that habit in my life.  This was the time to PERSEVERE and move forward.  God said and I needed to obey.

It wasn't 5 minutes and I see a sign.  Then, I see another sign and arrive at my destination.  The revival was on this personal property and turned out to be in Navajo!!  However, I was blessed and I got to bless others there.  They gave me a place to sleep and I left early the next morning.

I look back on this event in my life and I try to remember that when God gives us something to do, then we need to do it!  We need to push past the uncomfortableness.  We need to climb that mountain (My friend, Geno, just wrote a post about persevering in his hiking journey which inspired this post).

When I come to the areas in my life that are tough, I can get caught up in my wants at the time, but I have to persevere through   God does come through and I have seen His Hand time and time again in my journey.

What do you have to persevere through? 

Six Months of Marriage - Six Months of Blogging

It's our 6 month anniversary today.  Hard to believe that it's been exactly 6 months since we stood at that altar and began our marriage!    We've been through so much since then, that in one way it seems like we just got married, but in another it's like we've been together our entire lives!

So here's a bit of a review of our six months and what we shared on this blog:

• First was the honeymoon    and the fun we had in Canmore.  I still smile when I think of sitting in front of the smelly soap shop waiting for Bree to come out.
• Then we finished an engagement bookh that we greatly enjoyed, and have used principles from ever since.  
• One of the big steps we took was making our budget. It's been a journey, and eventually we'll talk a bit more about keeping to that budget and the journey we've been on since that first spreadsheet.

• September ended up with us starting to get settled into a routine.

• Then this American was introduced to Canadian Thanksgiving. 
• Brianna posted about her learning curve as a wife and her view of how God created her husband (definitely worth a read!)
• We discussed how reading has become difficult and movies easier to assimilate..
• Our third month anniversary was celebrated with Neptune Chicken 
• I wrote about how to make your wife happy - which still seems to apply now. 
• A question about our faith haunted Brianna.  
• Then we prepared for Christmas and recorded a Christmas message 
• Our 2012 started out with Brianna talking about what makes a great marriage asking a question that we still need feedback on.
• We had some frigid days and stayed home to play games. 
• And finally, Brianna shares a way that she saves money.

All in all, I think it's been a good 6 months!  I look forward to learning and growing with my wife over the next 6 months, the next year, and the next 50 years.  God has been really good to us!

When Distractions Get Louder Than God

If you're like me, you've heard a lot about "being still" and listening to God.  And if you're like me, you puzzle over how to do that.  I often sit in service, during a quiet time, or during worship, trying to center my thoughts on God.  Does that happen?  Not as often as I like.  I'll think about the need to talk to someone after church, or what we're having for dinner, or a project that I need to work on.  I catch myself over and over again with wandering thoughts.

Is it possible to think on God and seek Him first?

Yes.  It takes discipline and training to do that. 

³ For though we walk in the flesh, we are not waging war according to the flesh. ⁴ For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. ⁵ We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ, ⁶ being ready to punish every disobedience, when your obedience is complete.
2nd Corinthians 10:3-6 ESV

Our minds are under constant attack from several sides.   Our culture is full of distractions that take our eyes off of God and onto material and perishable things.  Think about it, how much time do we spend on the computer?  How much time is spent checking statuses, watching youtube videos about the Star Wars Kid, playing games, or even just watching TV?  I've heard that the average American spends 35 hours a week watching TV.  Can I just say "Wow!"

Beyond the obvious "we need to spend more time with God" I want to emphasize the discipline of training your mind.   Our minds naturally go to the easiest things to think about.  A habit is formed and our brain likes going that direction because it's easy.  It's easy to think about that game level you're working on, or the problem at work, or your daughter's latest drama.  It's not so easy to put our minds on God, on His Glory, on His Majesty, on the Awesome God we love and serve.  It's a battle and we need to spend more time in that battle.  Don't be mediocre.

How do we change our habits?  How do we discipline ourselves to put the priority where it needs to be?

We make choices.  We choose the good things and discard the mediocre and lukewarm habits.  Yeah, it's not something that is easy.  Changing habits is hard, but the end result is a stronger and more vibrant walk with God. 

I'm not saying all entertainment is bad, but when anything, whether movies, spouses, money, or books become bigger than God, then we have to seriously examine our lives.  Entertainment can be a good thing to have, but in moderation.

Our Action Steps

Brianna and I have recently been convicted that we spend too much time focused on trivial things.  We decided that to start our minds on better tracks, that we needed to trim some of the time wasters we fill our lives with. I recently wrote about What Place Does Our Computer Hold and that started us thinking about where our priorities should be.  Thus for the month of February we're avoiding watching movies or TV shows, taking a break from Facebook and spending more time with God and with each other. 

It's only been three days, but we're already feeling more connected with God and our minds seem to be working better. 

Yes, we're still using the computer, but it's limited to being a tool. 

The voices are loud and they can drown out God's voice.  Remove the voices and you can hear Him more.

Meet us in the comments and tell us how you deal with the distractions in this world.  How often do you check in with God?

Saving Money: Menu Planning 101

Since JC and I are on a mission to get out of debt ASAP, we’ve been on a pretty strict budget since getting married.  We’ve managed to reduce spending in a lot of areas and finally got our $1000 emergency fund all completed last month!  Now we get to put any and all extra money against our debts and knock them out one by one.  It feels soooo good to have some control over our finances and begin to see that light at the end of the debt tunnel! 

One of the key areas where we discovered we had to cut was our grocery budget.  We simply spent way too much on food!  So we cut it down to what we thought was a pretty fair amount, and lo and behold, we discovered another problem: our first couple months being married resulted in huge grocery bills at the beginning of the month and next to nothing left by the last week of the month.  Hello Kraft Dinner 7 nights in a row!   We knew we had to something. 

I realized that a lot of the things I bought just sat on the pantry shelf without being used, or sat in the fridge until they started to grow little green furry friends and had to be thrown out.  I had to be smarter with our money and avoid all this wasted food… because wasted food meant wasted $.  I needed a plan. 

So began my menu planning.  I made up a simple two-week menu of what I wanted to make for suppers each night, wrote down all the ingredients I needed into a shopping list.  I made sure most suppers were big enough so there were leftovers for lunches for the next day or two.  We both eat pretty basic, routine breakfasts, so I added those couple of items, along with some extra fruit and veggies, some basic sandwich makings for lunches, and voila! I had my shopping list.  I remember I did my 2-week shopping and ended cutting somewhere around $40 off what I had spent previously for the same time period.  Wow!  For us, that’s a big deal!  Now, I didn’t make every supper KD and hot dogs and ramen noodles to save bucks… I still planned food that we enjoyed, like spaghetti, tacos, chicken and potatoes, stir fry, etc. 

I realized that this was our answer to saving money – meal planning!!!  Since my first 2-week plan worked so well, I decided to go big and make the next one up for an entire month.  I used my totally amazing Microsoft Word formatting skills and made up a mind-blowing super awesome calendar that I could edit each month with whatever I wanted to make for meals, including a complete grocery list and recipes.  (Yes, I am that awesome!)    :P   I ended up making four grocery lists for that entire month.  The first one was a big list where I buy all of the non-perishable or “slowly-perishable” (like cheese, bags of carrots, etc) stuff for the month.  I divided up the rest of the perishable foods into weekly shopping lists. 

It took me about 5 hours that first month to get all the meals in the calendar and figure out grocery lists and recipes, which was a long time and a lot of work!  But it paid off.  Once again we saved lots of $, managed to eat yummy food, stayed on budget and avoided wasting food.

Each month I get a bit faster and a bit more creative with my menu plan.  Last month it only took me about 3 hours from start to finish, and that included pouring through my cook books searching for new ideas.  This month it was about 2.5 hours.  And the cool part is that I enjoy it!  I find cooking to be therapeutic and relaxing, and that includes looking through cookbooks and doing my menu-plan. 

Another great side-effect of doing a meal plan is that all I have to do is glance at my calendar that’s stuck to the side of the fridge and I know exactly what to cook for supper.   No more “honey, what do you want for supper?” “I don’t know… whatever you want” “Well, I don’t know what I’m hungry for.  What are you hungry for?” “Whatever you want is fine with me” and on and on.  It makes things a lot more streamlined in the evening, because I hated getting home from work at 5:45 and then having to figure out what to make and hope we had all of the ingredients so I didn’t have to run to Sobeys yet…   I’ve also tried to plan several Crock Pot meals every month, just because it’s such a time saver to just throw a bunch of stuff in the Crock Pot, turn it on low, and know that when I come home supper will be done!

Since this saved us a lot of money and frustration, I thought some of you out there in blog-reader land might benefit from it too!  I love the organization this provides.  I never have to guess about groceries or meals or what I have or need.  It’s all done and ready when I need it. 

This is what February’s Calendar looks like: