First Day of Summer

It is the first day of Summer Wholee Cow! It is here, the kids home all day everyday. I pray that they have an amazing adventurous and  fun Summer. I really charge myself responsible with this goal, I have to lead them in this goal. If I sit on the couch how can I expect them not to. The only problem is that it is so dang hot in Texas so I am going to have to be creative in how we can beat the heat we have access to a couple of pools but I sure do miss the river in Oregon, but I am sure that we will be successful! If you have any ideas leave a comment.

What to Do?

Moments

Teachable

We are currently trying to figure out what to do for our kids and school! Home School? Private $chool? Charter School? or Public School? First off if I even mention the local public school again I might get slugged by wife (it is pretty lousy). Private school is amazing and we love it but we live on a ministry salary and we will go bankrupt after this year because Jack can not yet get a scholarship so we would have to eat ramen for the year and that can not be good for us. Home School is definitely is an option our schedule should allow us to do it. But we are trying to get Johnna's business off the ground and the two together will be very difficult. The last option is a charter school in Katy it is free and public but a little more advanced and we like that! Ellie is really smart and needs to be challenged so that it keeps her attention! We are open to all our options well except for the local public school. We just want to pray and seek what God's will is for us. Because we know when we are following his path we are going to the happiest so if you would like join us in praying for this I will keep ya'll in the loop!

Being Thrifty

My Favorite Thrifty Purchase!

I am so frustrated I had just just wrote a whole post about being creative and thrifty and it just disappeared. I know that it was an idiotic operator error but whatever. I said a lot of stuff just to say that we should all be creative and thrifty no matter if we have a lot of money or not which I am on the latter side of the statement.

Early Morning, Coffee, & Bike Ride!

Ready for a Roll

Adventure is on! I am going for a bike ride with a couple of my buddies and I can not wait. I am up early having coffee getting the bike ready, loading it up on The Scout, and going through my mental checklist of everything that I need. I feel that adventure is good for the heart. It does something for you, or at least for me. It is not that I am going to be away from my family, actually I am sad to leave them on a lazy Saturday morning but I am still excited to go. See, I get nervous and uncomfortable, excited and happy, filled with all kinds of energy. This energy make me feel alert and alive, love it! I know that I live in Texas and there is no great Mountain Biking but you have to make due with what you have, and that is what me and my buddies are planning on doing!

More Pics I Love

Me and the Boy in the Scout

Love the light on this Windmill

Big Ole Deer

Cool ole Truck

Windmill

My Scout out in the Wild

The Good Life!

Got up this morning and spent some time in The Word and in Prayer. Then went to work for a couple of hours, got done with that. Then went on a Coffee Date with my Wife, Great time with her! Drove the Scout around town, it seems to be running all right. Came home with a Scout full of groceries and made a delicious sandwich. Ate that and then brewed some more coffee and went out to the garage. See, I went for bike ride yesterday and wrecked the bike and broke my brake lever. So I fixed that and no it is not perfect but it is workable. I love simple life, God, Family, work, and the other junk. I think that it is important that we do not let work and the other junk take the front seat. Truthfully I do not always know how to do that, but I am trying to find Joy in the work and the other junk that way it does not weigh me down. Like my bike, granted it is not an emergency but it is important to me. I found it a challenge to fix it on the cheap instead of being bummed that it was broken and going out and fixing it by spending $$$, and now I view it as a story instead of an eye soar. I just hope that I can continue on this positive path!

Another Blog from the Chubby Jogger Blogger

Well I went for another run today, but the thing that made this run different is that I thought I was Superman! Not so much. I waited to go run until the heat of the day was in full force. Not a good idea, the heat was hot, the wind was hot, and the shade was not enough. I was miserable, hot, and exhausted. I am currently doing the running program ease into a 10k. So, I was running for 9 minutes, four times and I am not afraid to admit that I skipped the 3rd 9 minute run. But, I ran the last one and that felt great. Bottom line is that I am glad that I went on a run in the heat of the day. I learned great lessons today!

5. and this is all i want to do after a run like today!

1. I am not Superman
2. Run in the morning and do not dilly fart around
3. It is better to run anytime than to not run
4. The Heat of the day in Texas is flippin hot

Pics that make me Happy

 I love taking pictures and getting good angles that you don't normally see. These are just a few that I am proud of.  I also love coffee and better yet Coffee Houses I want to own one, some day!

The Heart of the Coffee House

The Blood that makes us Go!

The feet that take us? May be not mine but someone's
Sweet Ride! 

Good day with Legos, Ice Cream, and Scout Rides!

The day has been great it started with a 3 mile run, then off to a date with Johnna, then picked up the little monsters from school in the Scout 2 and stopped at the local ice cream shop "Sweet Tooth". After some scoops we got home and had a real nice low key family time with breakfast for dinner and legos as the activity of the night.  Legos seem to have gotten so much more depthy, it took a while but we got it done. Fun stuff! This is the first week of the blog and it has been a good one. I am normally not this positive but the blog has really helped me be intentional in noticing the small blessings in my life and that is on of the main things that I wanted The Simple Junk to do. Next week will hopefully be just as positive and I will start talking more about more of the creative stuff going on in my life!

The Kiddos

Jack and Ellie, The Jack Attack and Ellie Bellie are awesome! They are smart fun crazy they keep us busy and bring us awesome joy. The thing that makes me the most happy is that they are best friends. They are always playing together doing something like climbing trees together playing in the treehouse, or just running around the neighborhood. And if they are not outside they can sometimes be found snuggling on the couch together. They are always creative and adventurous and just plain buddies and I love it! I am not saying that they are perfect or that they always get along but who does? They are really cool kids and they make us happy.

Ellie

Jack

Fishing Together

The Run of the Day

That is me in the Orange running the Eugene Half Marathon

Maybe my blog name should have been The Chubby Jogger Blogger. I went for a run today and I loved it but I just do not know why. I am no super fit guy I am out of shape and it hurts to run but I still love it. I really enjoy being out there on a dirt road getting dusty and sweaty, no not really. I really like being out of breath wait that is not it either.I like that I get to drive my Scout out there and go skidding around corners way to fast but that is not it either even though that is a pretty sweet bonus. I think that it is the feeling of accomplishment, the quiet that I get to get lost in thought and the feeling that I am doing something good for myself and for my family. So, I love running even though I am a dough boy. Maybe some day I will get really good at running and then I will be skinny, maybe?

Mister Bo, Bjorne Hamilton, My Dog

Love this Stinkin Dog

My Heros

I have never really figured out who my heros are until I sat down to do it right now. I think I have four, the first one is easy, Jesus and if you don't understand why pick up a Bible and see what he did for you and me. My second hero is my best friend and wife Johnna Lou. Why? she is amazing full of life, creative, talented, artistic, good at anything, she has overcome a life that has sucked and has still been able to see it as sunny. Johnna can also come up with an idea in her head and flesh it out and it is awesome and she is full of grace. I want to see the sunny side of life I want to be creative and I want to be full grace and I want to be awesome like her! My third hero is a duo my parents, they have been married a long time and have made many mistakes but they are still banging it out and making it work. They might not say it much but they are best friends and would be lost with out each other. I want to grow old with Johnna and I want my kids to be able to say that her and I are best friends when we are old. The fourth was my neighbor Captain Bob he was always out in the garage tinkering and fixing I want to be that guy that figures things out and fixes things. He was always a little ruff but at the same time an amazing teacher he was a true boat captain.

Why The Simple Junk

My Family, My Joy!

I am a man that has a lot going on. I have a beautiful wife that is way to good for me! I have two amazing kids that are so awesome I love them so much. I have a great life! I just don't recognize it all the time so I wanted to start The Simple Junk so I can recognize the good stuff going on in my life. This blog is not going to be just about how good my life is. I will be blogging about all kinds of stuff My Scout II, My Treehouse, My Dog, My Family, and My Ideas crazy or not! I also promise to be real, short and to the point. Oh Yeah if my grammar and vocabulary bothers you sorry, I just don't think that I am going to worry about it.