Inlow 10

Finished my 3rd year of doing video for Shaun's youth camp. I was up till 5:30am working on this last one. The most exciting thing is that I filmed the whole week in HD!



The whole week can be found here.

Chicago!

Last weekend we took the train up to Chicago, kidless! It was lots of fun.


The train was fun. We watched movies on the laptop so the ride went by quickly. They kept the car cool.



We got to the hotel at 10:45pm, then walked to Giordanos and ate a whole stuffed pizza!  Very cheesy and very good!



Friday we walked over 2 miles to Shedd Aquarium*, very cool.  My favorite was the dolphin/beluga whale show.




Next we went to the Planetarium* and watched a sky show on constellations.



We stopped at the Buckingham Fountain and the Cloud Gate (bean) on the way back to get dressed for our night on the town!




The Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup a few days before we got to Chicago so it was Blackhawk hysteria everywhere.  I was taking this picture of the hockey lions outside the art museum when Brittany spotted Vince Vaughn walking down the street!  We followed him for awhile to confirm his identity, then I looked back at this picture and realized he was in it!



We went to Al Primo Canto for made-on-order-all-you-can-eat Brazilian food. The lamb was my favorite.



We then went to the John Hancock building observatory*, then after nightfall we went back up to the 96th floor and got a seat along the window. I was sitting by a guy from France who offered to take our picture.




After that we walked Navy Pier and rode the ferris wheel. We went to bed after 1am!



Saturday morning we ate a huge breakfast at Houlihan's, then walked to the Field Museum* (behind my head).  My favorite section is the dead stuffed animals. Brittany liked the dinosaur skeletons.




After the museum we walked back through cloudy downtown to Xoco for lupper.




After lupper it was time to leave so we walked back to Union Station and returned to our child!


We had a great time, I recommend taking a trip there!

*Side note: If you're planning on going to the aquarium, planetarium, Hancock building, Sears tower, Field Museum, or Museum of Science and Industry, you should get a City Pass. Its $70 per person, which is probably less than you'd spend at two of those places without it, and it gets you in to all of them!

Probably Mine

Debt

We recently watched some Dave Ramsey DVDs in our small groups about being wise with money.  I was surprised at how much he incorporates the Bible into his strategies.  He frequently references Proverbs with passages like, "In the house of the wise are stores of choice food and oil, but a foolish man devours all he has," and "Dishonest money dwindles away, but he who gathers money little by little makes it grow." 

One Proverb he referred to stuck out to me was Proverbs 22:7 - "The rich rules over the poor, and the borrower is the slave of the lender." This caught my attention because it clearly shows the spiritual nature behind borrowing money. Dave went on to say that when someone borrows money, the person/organization that lent the money becomes master over the borrower.  That is why, if someone borrows from a friend or relative, the relationship tends to become awkward, even if the borrower is paying back the loan.  I think the analogy only goes so far; a lender doesn't have ultimate control over your life, but I thought it was an interesting parallel.

Another thing I liked was his debt snowball plan.  It didn't seem to make much sense at first, but the more I look at it, the more it does make sense.  In a nutshell, you pay off your smallest debts first, then use the money from the first debt to pay off the second (plus the extra), and so on.  You do end up with a large payment towards the end, but the increase has been gradual and each debt paid off is a small victory.

We have a couple in our group that were deep in credit card debt and weren't bringing in much money. They found the debt snowball plan, started using it, and now, just a few years later, they're just about free.  They also told us they were able to get several of their credit card companies to settle for less than they owed, which made a huge difference.

It seems to me that getting out of debt is kind of becoming a trend.  Since the 30s, each generation, as a whole, has gradually borrowed more and more money.  And now, I think the debt trend has reached its breaking point.  If our economy holds, we will begin to see a downturn in the number of people who are in over their heads. That's only my opinion, I wouldn't suggest taking it to the bank... Cool picture huh?

The Secret Dancer

The Griffin

 Isaiah 31:4-5
⁴ For thus the LORD said to me, "As a lion or a young lion growls over his prey,
   and when a band of shepherds is called out against him
he is not terrified by their shouting
   or daunted at their noise,
so the LORD of hosts will come down
   to fight on Mount Zion and on its hill.
⁵ Like birds hovering, so the LORD of hosts
   will protect Jerusalem;
he will protect and deliver it;
   he will spare and rescue it."


God hunts down his prey and draws them to him. Once they are His, He stands over them and jealously guards them and watches over them.

More Crafties

Here's some more of my new creations.  Dan's favorite is the black and red one.

A comb

 

These are bobby pins

A headband

A headband

A comb

A comb