New York Archbishop Timothy Dolan was on 60 Minutes recently and the interview was great. I love this man! So engaging and personable yet adhering to the teachings of the Church with no apologies.
Thursday, March 31, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Balanced Life Weekly #42
Hello everybody and welcome to another edition of Balanced Life Weekly! Got several things to share this week of interest so let's get right into it!
Health
This last week was very challenging on the calorie and exercise front but in a fun way. Last week was Kristen's Spring Break so we headed down to Hattiesburg to celebrate her mom and sister's birthdays as they are one day after the other.
On Friday we went down to New Orleans for the day and had a fun time. I had never been to NOLA as they call it down there for short. Once there we were hungry! I decided to eat like a local and since it is Lent and a Friday, I had a Catfish PoBoy with a mini cup of Gumbo. I enjoyed it after which we walked the mall by the Mississippi River there. I have never seen so much hot sauce sold in so many stores! I love hot sauce and live for the challenges of spice...in-fact I embrace spicy food! Later we ate at a dessert style restaurant called Stanley next door to St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square. All total I would say we walked a good 2 miles in downtown New Orleans despite my bad eating choices.
The next day, we went to Mass on Saturday evening and afterwards, attended the Irish-Italian Festival on the parish grounds. Being that Fr. Tommy gave us a Lenten exemption for the festival, I had a beer...not just any beer, it was after all an Irish festival so I had a Guinness and I also had an Italian Sausage dog.
Oh, did I mention earlier that day Kristen and I had lunch at Qdoba? Yeah, I had about 3200 calories that day and no exercise.
So I say all this for the reason that despite my weekend of festive foods, I still lost 1 pound! I thought I would gain or at the very least stay even, but I lost weight! What happen was is once we were back in town Sunday evening, I went to our fitness center and got my cardio in, the following day I did more cardio in the neighborhood and walked and ran a 5K. Earlier today I did yard work pulling shrubs and branches from the backyard to the front to be hauled away later in the week. I was sweating hard and with LoseIt! I calculated about 570 calories burned doing that.
So the point is I was able to get back on track with my fitness and eating healthy again. This is great because if I ever go somewhere, I know I can enjoy the local cuisine and yet get back on track quickly. Oh, as of now I have now lost 15 pounds!!
Wise
So with one trip down there is one to go and that is this weekend in Nashville for PodCamp Nashville. I am looking forward to learning new things, networking with other bloggers and podcasters, and of course seeing friends from other cities and states. Some I have seen before, others I have not. I am taking my iPhone, iPad, and digital camera with me so look for a lot of pictures, video, and some sound-seeing tours next week.
Well, that is going to do it for this week's Balanced Life Weekly. I managed to write this blog post entirely on my iPad using BlogPress. Quite handy considering I will be using this method to live blog from PodCamp Nashville. See you all next
Health
This last week was very challenging on the calorie and exercise front but in a fun way. Last week was Kristen's Spring Break so we headed down to Hattiesburg to celebrate her mom and sister's birthdays as they are one day after the other.
On Friday we went down to New Orleans for the day and had a fun time. I had never been to NOLA as they call it down there for short. Once there we were hungry! I decided to eat like a local and since it is Lent and a Friday, I had a Catfish PoBoy with a mini cup of Gumbo. I enjoyed it after which we walked the mall by the Mississippi River there. I have never seen so much hot sauce sold in so many stores! I love hot sauce and live for the challenges of spice...in-fact I embrace spicy food! Later we ate at a dessert style restaurant called Stanley next door to St. Louis Cathedral in Jackson Square. All total I would say we walked a good 2 miles in downtown New Orleans despite my bad eating choices.
The next day, we went to Mass on Saturday evening and afterwards, attended the Irish-Italian Festival on the parish grounds. Being that Fr. Tommy gave us a Lenten exemption for the festival, I had a beer...not just any beer, it was after all an Irish festival so I had a Guinness and I also had an Italian Sausage dog.
Oh, did I mention earlier that day Kristen and I had lunch at Qdoba? Yeah, I had about 3200 calories that day and no exercise.
So I say all this for the reason that despite my weekend of festive foods, I still lost 1 pound! I thought I would gain or at the very least stay even, but I lost weight! What happen was is once we were back in town Sunday evening, I went to our fitness center and got my cardio in, the following day I did more cardio in the neighborhood and walked and ran a 5K. Earlier today I did yard work pulling shrubs and branches from the backyard to the front to be hauled away later in the week. I was sweating hard and with LoseIt! I calculated about 570 calories burned doing that.
So the point is I was able to get back on track with my fitness and eating healthy again. This is great because if I ever go somewhere, I know I can enjoy the local cuisine and yet get back on track quickly. Oh, as of now I have now lost 15 pounds!!
Wise
So with one trip down there is one to go and that is this weekend in Nashville for PodCamp Nashville. I am looking forward to learning new things, networking with other bloggers and podcasters, and of course seeing friends from other cities and states. Some I have seen before, others I have not. I am taking my iPhone, iPad, and digital camera with me so look for a lot of pictures, video, and some sound-seeing tours next week.
Well, that is going to do it for this week's Balanced Life Weekly. I managed to write this blog post entirely on my iPad using BlogPress. Quite handy considering I will be using this method to live blog from PodCamp Nashville. See you all next
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Bagpipes at Mass
We attended Mass at St. Thomas in Hattiesburg over the weekend and as part of the Irish-Italian Festival, they had bagpipers there and they played at the conclusion of Mass.
Monday, March 21, 2011
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Balanced Life Weekly #41
Hello everyone and welcome to another edition of Balanced Life Weekly. Let’s get into what is going on this week!
Health
YAY! I’m down a total of 14 pounds now! This is despite my consumption at the Mexican buffet on Sunday. I did great on my calories last week until the weekend where we had a birthday dinner for my mom at Cracker Barrel on Saturday and then after church lunch at D’Casa where I enjoyed the buffet. I tend to bank my calories for the week for the weekend.
Later this month or early next I will be looking to get some serious running shoes for my 5K in June here in Tupelo. My friend Jeremy just got his as well and really likes them. We will both be running the 5K which will be my first run and his third.
Wealthy & Wise
Another promising bit of good news is I may have a firm lead on a job. It involves selling Apple products and it is in town not far from the house too. Other than that, I can’t say anything more at this point. Needless to say though the job is right up my alley!
Faith
We are now 1 week into Lent and so far I am doing good on what I set out to do. I haven’t watched any national news channels like Fox, CNN, CNBC, etc. and have avoided playing my FB games such as CityVille (with the exception of Sunday of course). It was really hard to not watch the news channels with the events in Japan last week, but I did my best to keep up with web based news sites and Twitter updates.
Well, that is going to do it for this week’s edition of Balanced Life Weekly. Be back next week for another update.
Health
YAY! I’m down a total of 14 pounds now! This is despite my consumption at the Mexican buffet on Sunday. I did great on my calories last week until the weekend where we had a birthday dinner for my mom at Cracker Barrel on Saturday and then after church lunch at D’Casa where I enjoyed the buffet. I tend to bank my calories for the week for the weekend.
Later this month or early next I will be looking to get some serious running shoes for my 5K in June here in Tupelo. My friend Jeremy just got his as well and really likes them. We will both be running the 5K which will be my first run and his third.
Wealthy & Wise
Another promising bit of good news is I may have a firm lead on a job. It involves selling Apple products and it is in town not far from the house too. Other than that, I can’t say anything more at this point. Needless to say though the job is right up my alley!
Faith
We are now 1 week into Lent and so far I am doing good on what I set out to do. I haven’t watched any national news channels like Fox, CNN, CNBC, etc. and have avoided playing my FB games such as CityVille (with the exception of Sunday of course). It was really hard to not watch the news channels with the events in Japan last week, but I did my best to keep up with web based news sites and Twitter updates.
Well, that is going to do it for this week’s edition of Balanced Life Weekly. Be back next week for another update.
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Catholic Media Promotion Day
Today is March 15th which is Catholic Media Promotion Day. The purpose of this day is to raise awareness of the role Catholic New Media is playing in our more interconnected world thanks to Social networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, and so many more. Part of Catholic Media Promotion Day is to name 3 of your favorite Catholic blogs, 3 of your favorite Catholic podcasts, 3 other Catholic related media, 3 random Catholic things online and your own personal projects. So without further ado, ket me make my contribution.
My 3 Catholic Blogs
The Curt Jester
This is an outstanding blog written by a former atheist named Jeff Miller. Jeff manages to strike the right balance between Catechesis and humor. I enjoy reading his blogs daily and read his archives for when I need key information which is very handy for me since I am an RCIA sponsor. Check out The Curt Jester, I think you will love it as much as I do!
American Papist
Also a great blog is American Papistwritten by Thomas Peters. If you watch Life on the Rock on EWTN, then you have probably seen Thomas as a guest on the show. American Papist is chalk full of great thought and Catechesis.
Southern Fried Catholicism
Last but certainly not least is Southern Fried Catholicism. This blog is near and dear to my heart because it is literally right down the road from me in Oxford, MS. Maintained by the great folks at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church right at the gates of the University of Mississippi. Writers of Southern Fried Catholicism are Brad Noel and Fr. Joe Tonos who of course is the priest at the parish. They also hold a great weekly event called Good Cheer that takes place at locations around the famous Square in downtown Oxford.
My 3 Catholic Podcasts
First off let me say this is very hard for me cause I can only pick 3 and I listen to so many Catholic podcasts, so if I leave anyone out here, please don’t take it personal.
iPadre
I have been listening to iPadre for several years now and I am fortunate to call Fr. Jay a very good friend of mine. His weekly podcasts are straight forward and powerful. Fr. Jay has a deep faith and love for the Catholic Church and his podcast is full of great teaching.
Catholic in a Small Town
If you are looking for a fun and hilarious podcast about a Catholic family living their everyday life, than check out Mac and Katherine Barron’s Catholic in a Small Town podcast. They also usually have a movie review each episode of their weekly podcast. My wife and I have had the opportunity to meet Mac and Katherine and they are just as genuine in person as they are in their podcast.
Fr. Bill’s Podcast
My wife and I love listening to Fr. William Holtzinger’s weekly homilies which he turns into a podcast. If we lived in Oregon we would be a member of his parish. He is also a fellow Pac-10 fan so he is a great guy right off the bat there.
3 Other Catholic Media
EWTN
Of course one of my favorite TV channels is EWTN. Great teachings and entertaining content. When I wake up in the morning, I like to watch the morning Mass held on the grounds at the EWTN campus. They also have a daily Rosary on the show as well lead by Mother Anjelica and the Sisters. Life on the Rock is a great show tailored for the younger audiences and Raymond Arroyo hosts The World Over which covers Catholic news events over the last week.
The Catholic Channel
If there is a reason I love satellite radio, it is because of The Catholic Channel on SiriusXM. From The Catholics Next Door with Greg and Jennifer Willits to The Catholic Guy with Lino Rulli to The Busted Halo with Fr. Dave Dwyer, they are just full of entertaining and informative content 5 days a week. You can find The Catholic Channel on ch. 159 on Sirius and channel 117 on XM.
SQPN
Of course SQPN is the biggest Catholic Media hub for me. Headed up by Fr. Roderick Vonhögen, SQPN has formed a network of Catholic podcasts from people around the world. Topics range from faith to health to entertainment to technology. It is always fun stopping by SQPN Live and seeing what is going on that particular day and chatting with fellow fans of SQPN. I can truly say I have made some great friendships via SQPN!
3 Catholic Apps
This covers the random area, I thought I would discuss the use of technology in Catholicism via applications on mobile devices.
iMissal
I love this application! It costs about $5 but includes all the readings you would need. As the title implies, it is basically a digital missal right on your iPhone or iPad device, it is also available in the Android Market for the same $5 price.
Confession
There has been a lot of news surrounding this new application. What the app does is guide you to make a good confession which you still have to see a priest to make as it should be. It goes down a list of the 10 Commandments asking you questions pertaining to each commandment. Based on what you check off, it will create a list of sins that is also password protected so you can take your iPhone or iPad into the confessional with and make a good confession. The application is $2 and very useful and informative.
Divine Office
One of my favorite apps in the Divine Office application for the iPhone and iPad at $15. This app contains all the Liturgy of the Hours prayers and so much more.
My Project
Finally there is my own personal media project. I write 3 weekly tech blogs at TupeloGeek called Tuesday Tech Talk, AppleTalk Thursday, and Googling Friday. I also write a personal blog called Balanced Life Weekly about my pursuit of better health, wisdom, and wealth. Recently I launched a blog called The Walking Catholic which is more focused on faith and health issues, it may also one day launch me back into the world of podcasting. I hope you will take the time to visit my blogs and leave a comment. Well, I hope you have enjoyed my insight on Catholic New Media and what I enjoy listening to and watching and interacting with. God Bless!!
My 3 Catholic Blogs
The Curt Jester
This is an outstanding blog written by a former atheist named Jeff Miller. Jeff manages to strike the right balance between Catechesis and humor. I enjoy reading his blogs daily and read his archives for when I need key information which is very handy for me since I am an RCIA sponsor. Check out The Curt Jester, I think you will love it as much as I do!
American Papist
Also a great blog is American Papistwritten by Thomas Peters. If you watch Life on the Rock on EWTN, then you have probably seen Thomas as a guest on the show. American Papist is chalk full of great thought and Catechesis.
Southern Fried Catholicism
Last but certainly not least is Southern Fried Catholicism. This blog is near and dear to my heart because it is literally right down the road from me in Oxford, MS. Maintained by the great folks at St. John the Evangelist Catholic Church right at the gates of the University of Mississippi. Writers of Southern Fried Catholicism are Brad Noel and Fr. Joe Tonos who of course is the priest at the parish. They also hold a great weekly event called Good Cheer that takes place at locations around the famous Square in downtown Oxford.
My 3 Catholic Podcasts
First off let me say this is very hard for me cause I can only pick 3 and I listen to so many Catholic podcasts, so if I leave anyone out here, please don’t take it personal.
iPadre
I have been listening to iPadre for several years now and I am fortunate to call Fr. Jay a very good friend of mine. His weekly podcasts are straight forward and powerful. Fr. Jay has a deep faith and love for the Catholic Church and his podcast is full of great teaching.
Catholic in a Small Town
If you are looking for a fun and hilarious podcast about a Catholic family living their everyday life, than check out Mac and Katherine Barron’s Catholic in a Small Town podcast. They also usually have a movie review each episode of their weekly podcast. My wife and I have had the opportunity to meet Mac and Katherine and they are just as genuine in person as they are in their podcast.
Fr. Bill’s Podcast
My wife and I love listening to Fr. William Holtzinger’s weekly homilies which he turns into a podcast. If we lived in Oregon we would be a member of his parish. He is also a fellow Pac-10 fan so he is a great guy right off the bat there.
3 Other Catholic Media
EWTN
Of course one of my favorite TV channels is EWTN. Great teachings and entertaining content. When I wake up in the morning, I like to watch the morning Mass held on the grounds at the EWTN campus. They also have a daily Rosary on the show as well lead by Mother Anjelica and the Sisters. Life on the Rock is a great show tailored for the younger audiences and Raymond Arroyo hosts The World Over which covers Catholic news events over the last week.
The Catholic Channel
If there is a reason I love satellite radio, it is because of The Catholic Channel on SiriusXM. From The Catholics Next Door with Greg and Jennifer Willits to The Catholic Guy with Lino Rulli to The Busted Halo with Fr. Dave Dwyer, they are just full of entertaining and informative content 5 days a week. You can find The Catholic Channel on ch. 159 on Sirius and channel 117 on XM.
SQPN
Of course SQPN is the biggest Catholic Media hub for me. Headed up by Fr. Roderick Vonhögen, SQPN has formed a network of Catholic podcasts from people around the world. Topics range from faith to health to entertainment to technology. It is always fun stopping by SQPN Live and seeing what is going on that particular day and chatting with fellow fans of SQPN. I can truly say I have made some great friendships via SQPN!
3 Catholic Apps
This covers the random area, I thought I would discuss the use of technology in Catholicism via applications on mobile devices.
iMissal
I love this application! It costs about $5 but includes all the readings you would need. As the title implies, it is basically a digital missal right on your iPhone or iPad device, it is also available in the Android Market for the same $5 price.
Confession
There has been a lot of news surrounding this new application. What the app does is guide you to make a good confession which you still have to see a priest to make as it should be. It goes down a list of the 10 Commandments asking you questions pertaining to each commandment. Based on what you check off, it will create a list of sins that is also password protected so you can take your iPhone or iPad into the confessional with and make a good confession. The application is $2 and very useful and informative.
Divine Office
One of my favorite apps in the Divine Office application for the iPhone and iPad at $15. This app contains all the Liturgy of the Hours prayers and so much more.
My Project
Finally there is my own personal media project. I write 3 weekly tech blogs at TupeloGeek called Tuesday Tech Talk, AppleTalk Thursday, and Googling Friday. I also write a personal blog called Balanced Life Weekly about my pursuit of better health, wisdom, and wealth. Recently I launched a blog called The Walking Catholic which is more focused on faith and health issues, it may also one day launch me back into the world of podcasting. I hope you will take the time to visit my blogs and leave a comment. Well, I hope you have enjoyed my insight on Catholic New Media and what I enjoy listening to and watching and interacting with. God Bless!!
Monday, March 14, 2011
Photo Update
Ok so over the weekend I was in the SQPN chat room and I mentioned this blog and Fr. Roderick checked it out but was wondering where my pictures were. Well I have decided to post a couple here, the first one was taken about a month ago which at that point I was down about 5 pounds, the second one is today where I am now down 13.5 pounds. Doesn't look like much yet but the more I update this blog with monthly photos, you should see the difference.
Profile Shots
February 13th
March 14th
Front Shots
February 13th
March 14th
Profile Shots
February 13th
March 14th
Front Shots
February 13th
March 14th
Promote your favorite Catholic media
Don’t forget that tomorrow is Catholic Media Promotion Day. For those who haven’t heard about that yet, here are the details:
On March 15, 2011, everyone with a blog, podcast, or Facebook page should list their favorite 3 blogs, 3 podcasts, 3 other media, 3 random Catholic things online, and their own projects.Then, post the link to your list here on March 15th.Lastly, on March 15th, go to iTunes and leave at least 3 positive written reviews for various Catholic podcasts and 3 positive written reviews for Catholic mobile applications.
Also, while your visiting the Catholic Media Promotion Day, go ahead and Like the page too! Look forward to reading your posts on Tuesday!
On March 15, 2011, everyone with a blog, podcast, or Facebook page should list their favorite 3 blogs, 3 podcasts, 3 other media, 3 random Catholic things online, and their own projects.Then, post the link to your list here on March 15th.Lastly, on March 15th, go to iTunes and leave at least 3 positive written reviews for various Catholic podcasts and 3 positive written reviews for Catholic mobile applications.
Also, while your visiting the Catholic Media Promotion Day, go ahead and Like the page too! Look forward to reading your posts on Tuesday!
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Balanced Life Weekly #40
Hello everybody and welcome to another edition of Balanced Life Weekly. A weekly blog of what is going on in my life.
Healthy
Ok so this past week I was actually up 0.6 pounds and that is Ok because it is muscle gain once again. My shirts are looser and my belt is having to go up a notch now instead of down, so I am definitely losing fat for sure. Course I could have done better if not for a sore lower back last week which curtailed my regular cardio workout. But I am optimistic this week I will turn things around when I hit the scale on Friday morning.
I had a nice conversation with my friend Ken at church on Sunday. Ken is a personal trainer at another facility and he gave me some insight on scales that measure body fat, he said it is not unusual for them to be off about 5% or so but the key thing is to look for the number to go down each week consistently. That made me feel better as I have noticed mine does fluctuate quite a bit. Then again it was a $35 scale so the accuracy may not be as good as a more pricer but better one.
Wise
So last week I talked about Texas, this week I haven't really done research on it as much since I view Austin as part of a 5 year plan. I have been diving into some social media apps however. One of them is TweetDeck, I have tried TweetDeck before but found I was not impressed. But I have to say they have made some great improvements to their desktop app! The iPhone version is about the same and the iPad version is basically a Twitter client with no support for Facebook, LinkedIn, or FourSquare. I will give it a review in one of my tech blogs though.
Wealthy
I have said before that wealth is not strictly tied to money or income. Wealth can come from the personal connections you make. For example I consider my life to have a lot of wealth with having a wonderful wife in my life.
With that being said, I had a wonderful opportunity last Wednesday to spend a few hours with my friend Jeremy. We had lunch at Cafe212 which is an awesome lunch place btw. We talked about the iPad 2 announcement that day, politics, and of course a lot about health. Jeremy is training to run a 10k in April and has lost a lot of weight himself. He is a big source of inspiration for me and we will be running a 5k here in Tupelo in June. We even checked out the park where the 5k will take place at and got a good feel for it. Oh and I got to try out his Kindle I am so sold on getting one now! So it was a great afternoon to hang out in a beautiful Tupelo.
Faith
Of course today is Ash Wednesday which marks the start of Lent. I have been thinking about what to give up during Lent and I decided to give up all games I play. So no CityVille, Angry Birds, Flight Control, etc., also I won't watch as much news all day, after a while it can get pretty negative and I find myself yelling at the television at a talking head type. I intend to replace both of these with more reading and time for prayer. I have not done a good job with a daily prayer life so this will give me a good running start at doing better with that.
Well, that is going to do it for this edition of Balanced Life Weekly. I would like to point out I wrote this entire blog just using my iPad instead of my MacBook, thank you BlogPress! See you all next week!
Healthy
Ok so this past week I was actually up 0.6 pounds and that is Ok because it is muscle gain once again. My shirts are looser and my belt is having to go up a notch now instead of down, so I am definitely losing fat for sure. Course I could have done better if not for a sore lower back last week which curtailed my regular cardio workout. But I am optimistic this week I will turn things around when I hit the scale on Friday morning.
I had a nice conversation with my friend Ken at church on Sunday. Ken is a personal trainer at another facility and he gave me some insight on scales that measure body fat, he said it is not unusual for them to be off about 5% or so but the key thing is to look for the number to go down each week consistently. That made me feel better as I have noticed mine does fluctuate quite a bit. Then again it was a $35 scale so the accuracy may not be as good as a more pricer but better one.
Wise
So last week I talked about Texas, this week I haven't really done research on it as much since I view Austin as part of a 5 year plan. I have been diving into some social media apps however. One of them is TweetDeck, I have tried TweetDeck before but found I was not impressed. But I have to say they have made some great improvements to their desktop app! The iPhone version is about the same and the iPad version is basically a Twitter client with no support for Facebook, LinkedIn, or FourSquare. I will give it a review in one of my tech blogs though.
Wealthy
I have said before that wealth is not strictly tied to money or income. Wealth can come from the personal connections you make. For example I consider my life to have a lot of wealth with having a wonderful wife in my life.
With that being said, I had a wonderful opportunity last Wednesday to spend a few hours with my friend Jeremy. We had lunch at Cafe212 which is an awesome lunch place btw. We talked about the iPad 2 announcement that day, politics, and of course a lot about health. Jeremy is training to run a 10k in April and has lost a lot of weight himself. He is a big source of inspiration for me and we will be running a 5k here in Tupelo in June. We even checked out the park where the 5k will take place at and got a good feel for it. Oh and I got to try out his Kindle I am so sold on getting one now! So it was a great afternoon to hang out in a beautiful Tupelo.
Faith
Of course today is Ash Wednesday which marks the start of Lent. I have been thinking about what to give up during Lent and I decided to give up all games I play. So no CityVille, Angry Birds, Flight Control, etc., also I won't watch as much news all day, after a while it can get pretty negative and I find myself yelling at the television at a talking head type. I intend to replace both of these with more reading and time for prayer. I have not done a good job with a daily prayer life so this will give me a good running start at doing better with that.
Well, that is going to do it for this edition of Balanced Life Weekly. I would like to point out I wrote this entire blog just using my iPad instead of my MacBook, thank you BlogPress! See you all next week!
Wednesday, March 2, 2011
Balanced Life Weekly #39
Hey everyone and welcome to another edition of Balanced Life Weekly. Quite a bit I want to share this week so let’s dive right in.
Healthy
First let’s get this weeks number out of the way, I am now down a total of 12 pounds! I am 20 away from making my drivers license honest again and then make it a liar again after that. I have struggled with food this past week, not badly but I am just eating enough to just stay under my cap instead of being like 500 calories under I am more like 25-50 calories under so I need to re-focus on this area.
Wealthy & Wise
So I am going to combine these 2 things this week to explain what I have been focusing on over the last several days. I have come to realize that if I want to truly find a job that I am excited to go to everyday, it is not here in Mississippi. The jobs that are here are the ones I just settle for because I see them as a paycheck more than anything.
With this in mind, I am studying the Austin, TX area as a place to live at some point. It may not be in the next year or 2, but I see it as a place I want to live in 5 years. It is a city that seems to have tons of tech jobs both with big companies like Apple and Google, but also a lot of startups are there. It carries the nickname “Silicon Hills” as a matter of fact because of all the tech companies it attracts.
So why are we still here you ask? Well, quite simply there are family considerations here, both my wife’s folks and mine as well as our siblings live here in MS. We know that living in Austin we would be further away from them, not terribly it would be a 12 hour drive to my folks and a 10 hour drive to see her family. But with the possibility of us adopting a baby out of the blue one day, it helps to have family nearby. So we are torn quite a bit here as you can imagine. I definitely see it as a place I want to live in after we retire either there or San Antonio. Anyhow that has been what is on my mind this week. My wife and I thought over the same thing 8 years ago when we decided to leave Los Angeles and head to Nashville. Any insight would be appreciated.
Well, that is going to do it for this week’s Balanced Life Weekly. See you next week for another update!
Healthy
First let’s get this weeks number out of the way, I am now down a total of 12 pounds! I am 20 away from making my drivers license honest again and then make it a liar again after that. I have struggled with food this past week, not badly but I am just eating enough to just stay under my cap instead of being like 500 calories under I am more like 25-50 calories under so I need to re-focus on this area.
Wealthy & Wise
So I am going to combine these 2 things this week to explain what I have been focusing on over the last several days. I have come to realize that if I want to truly find a job that I am excited to go to everyday, it is not here in Mississippi. The jobs that are here are the ones I just settle for because I see them as a paycheck more than anything.
With this in mind, I am studying the Austin, TX area as a place to live at some point. It may not be in the next year or 2, but I see it as a place I want to live in 5 years. It is a city that seems to have tons of tech jobs both with big companies like Apple and Google, but also a lot of startups are there. It carries the nickname “Silicon Hills” as a matter of fact because of all the tech companies it attracts.
So why are we still here you ask? Well, quite simply there are family considerations here, both my wife’s folks and mine as well as our siblings live here in MS. We know that living in Austin we would be further away from them, not terribly it would be a 12 hour drive to my folks and a 10 hour drive to see her family. But with the possibility of us adopting a baby out of the blue one day, it helps to have family nearby. So we are torn quite a bit here as you can imagine. I definitely see it as a place I want to live in after we retire either there or San Antonio. Anyhow that has been what is on my mind this week. My wife and I thought over the same thing 8 years ago when we decided to leave Los Angeles and head to Nashville. Any insight would be appreciated.
Well, that is going to do it for this week’s Balanced Life Weekly. See you next week for another update!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Balanced Life Weekly #37
Hey folks and welcome to another edition of Balanced Life Weekly. It has been another interesting week so let me tell you what is going on in my life this week.
Health and Wisdom
Well, another week is in the books and I am now down 9.4 pounds in 3 weeks. I am very happy about my weight loss, but more importantly, I am satisfied with my lifestyle change which is what weight loss is all about. I have been really smart about reading the nutritional facts on food and drink items as well as checking the information on fast food places.
I will give you an example, I have had to eat on the go a few times, but by taking the time to research the nutritional information, I have opted to say get apple slices at Subway with my sandwich instead of chips or a baked potato at Wendy’s instead of fries with my chicken sandwich.
Granted no one should live on fast food day after day no matter how much healthier it is compared to say a Baconator at Wendy’s, but you can be smart about those choices. Plus if you do read the information at fast food places it will either amuse you or scare the heck out of you, for example Taco Bell is advertising a new Quad Steak Burrito. I looked it up on their own site and well see below.
Yep, that is 2200 mg on the sodium! By contrast a triple size Baconator at Wendy’s is just shy of that although it does have more calories than the Quad Steak. I can’t even pull into a Taco Bell now without feeling sick to my stomach mostly because I used to eat there all the time!
Another benefit of eating healthier and working out is I have noticed my energy level has gotten a lot better! On my days off from the gym where I am up at 5am, I am not sleeping in like I used to which once I get a job will be an easy transition.
On another front, my dad is doing much better! He is home and his breathing is much improved. So we are very thankful to the doctors and nursing staff that took care of him while there and the continued improvement he is having at home.
Now for the one bit of bad news, I got into an auto accident on Sunday night, no one was hurt thankfully, but my truck has some pretty serious damage to the driver side front wheel and the driver side door is jammed. That being said, it is not knocking me off my fitness and health game.
Faith
I am loving being an RCIA sponsor at church this year! It is great to see the class we have and the questions they ask but also how ahead of the game they seem to be. What a great group! Looking forward to the Easter Vigil!
Well, that is going to do it for this edition of Balanced Life Weekly. Look forward to seeing you all here next week! God Bless!
Health and Wisdom
Well, another week is in the books and I am now down 9.4 pounds in 3 weeks. I am very happy about my weight loss, but more importantly, I am satisfied with my lifestyle change which is what weight loss is all about. I have been really smart about reading the nutritional facts on food and drink items as well as checking the information on fast food places.
I will give you an example, I have had to eat on the go a few times, but by taking the time to research the nutritional information, I have opted to say get apple slices at Subway with my sandwich instead of chips or a baked potato at Wendy’s instead of fries with my chicken sandwich.
Granted no one should live on fast food day after day no matter how much healthier it is compared to say a Baconator at Wendy’s, but you can be smart about those choices. Plus if you do read the information at fast food places it will either amuse you or scare the heck out of you, for example Taco Bell is advertising a new Quad Steak Burrito. I looked it up on their own site and well see below.
Yep, that is 2200 mg on the sodium! By contrast a triple size Baconator at Wendy’s is just shy of that although it does have more calories than the Quad Steak. I can’t even pull into a Taco Bell now without feeling sick to my stomach mostly because I used to eat there all the time!
Another benefit of eating healthier and working out is I have noticed my energy level has gotten a lot better! On my days off from the gym where I am up at 5am, I am not sleeping in like I used to which once I get a job will be an easy transition.
On another front, my dad is doing much better! He is home and his breathing is much improved. So we are very thankful to the doctors and nursing staff that took care of him while there and the continued improvement he is having at home.
Now for the one bit of bad news, I got into an auto accident on Sunday night, no one was hurt thankfully, but my truck has some pretty serious damage to the driver side front wheel and the driver side door is jammed. That being said, it is not knocking me off my fitness and health game.
Faith
I am loving being an RCIA sponsor at church this year! It is great to see the class we have and the questions they ask but also how ahead of the game they seem to be. What a great group! Looking forward to the Easter Vigil!
Well, that is going to do it for this edition of Balanced Life Weekly. Look forward to seeing you all here next week! God Bless!
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Balanced Life Weekly #36
Hello folks and welcome to another installment of Balanced Life Weekly! I’m going to get right into things I am excited about this week.
Health
Lot to be thankful for in this area. The most important of those is my father was discharged from the hospital on Monday and is now home and recovering thank God! He was there for about a week and he is very happy to be home and resting in familiar surroundings and enjoying home meals. It has a little more way to go before he has a complete recovery, but this was a huge step!
Now to my own health. Last week I was down 1,959 calories and I worked out my 5 days at the gym (I give myself Wed. and Sun. off). I worked my cardio arms and legs last week and as a result I am now down a total of 6 pounds since starting 2 weeks ago! So I am averaging about 3 pounds a week in weight loss and I should hit my goal of weighting 175 pounds by November 17th which would be my 10th wedding anniversary, what a gift I am giving to my wife but more importantly it is a gift I am giving to myself. The more I exercise and watch my calories, I am finding it easier to do. If I want to have a big dinner with my wife, I simply go conservative on the lunch and breakfast. I know I have mentioned this app before but for those that missed it Lose It! is an awesome app to track both your workouts and your calories for the day as well as logging your weight loss. Also my wife has been working out with me so having an exercise partner is important and having a friend to keep you accountable as well. I am thankful for my wife, and my friends Jeremy and Dave who motivate me both in their encouragement to me and their own activities. You guys rock!!
Wise
So I continue to be more of a better reader in 2011 and the recordings continue to pile on the DVR. I haven’t seen an episode of Conan in 3 weeks but I am up to date on NCIS, NCIS: L.A. and The Biggest Loser. I am reading Jeff Cavins’ book, “I’m Not Being Fed” where I am up to chapter 8. If you are a member of Goodreads, I have a profile there so look me up. I have a lot more books to read after this one so this should be a great year of reading for me.
Faith
I didn’t get to go to daily Mass all last week but I did go Wednesday and of course on Sunday, I also went to Reconciliation on Saturday. I try to do that once every month, it is a sacrament that as Catholics we should all take part in, to me it is like a shower for your soul.
Well, that will do it for this edition of Balanced Life Weekly. Look forward to updating you all next week on my continuing goals both in health and and other matters. God Bless!
Health
Lot to be thankful for in this area. The most important of those is my father was discharged from the hospital on Monday and is now home and recovering thank God! He was there for about a week and he is very happy to be home and resting in familiar surroundings and enjoying home meals. It has a little more way to go before he has a complete recovery, but this was a huge step!
Now to my own health. Last week I was down 1,959 calories and I worked out my 5 days at the gym (I give myself Wed. and Sun. off). I worked my cardio arms and legs last week and as a result I am now down a total of 6 pounds since starting 2 weeks ago! So I am averaging about 3 pounds a week in weight loss and I should hit my goal of weighting 175 pounds by November 17th which would be my 10th wedding anniversary, what a gift I am giving to my wife but more importantly it is a gift I am giving to myself. The more I exercise and watch my calories, I am finding it easier to do. If I want to have a big dinner with my wife, I simply go conservative on the lunch and breakfast. I know I have mentioned this app before but for those that missed it Lose It! is an awesome app to track both your workouts and your calories for the day as well as logging your weight loss. Also my wife has been working out with me so having an exercise partner is important and having a friend to keep you accountable as well. I am thankful for my wife, and my friends Jeremy and Dave who motivate me both in their encouragement to me and their own activities. You guys rock!!
Wise
So I continue to be more of a better reader in 2011 and the recordings continue to pile on the DVR. I haven’t seen an episode of Conan in 3 weeks but I am up to date on NCIS, NCIS: L.A. and The Biggest Loser. I am reading Jeff Cavins’ book, “I’m Not Being Fed” where I am up to chapter 8. If you are a member of Goodreads, I have a profile there so look me up. I have a lot more books to read after this one so this should be a great year of reading for me.
Faith
I didn’t get to go to daily Mass all last week but I did go Wednesday and of course on Sunday, I also went to Reconciliation on Saturday. I try to do that once every month, it is a sacrament that as Catholics we should all take part in, to me it is like a shower for your soul.
Well, that will do it for this edition of Balanced Life Weekly. Look forward to updating you all next week on my continuing goals both in health and and other matters. God Bless!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Balanced Life Weekly #35
Hello everybody and welcome to another edition of Balanced Life Weekly. I have quite a few things I want to share with you this week so I’m just going to get right into things.
Health
I will start on the health front. Since starting up at the gym last week and watching my calorie count thanks to Lose It!, I have lost 3 pounds in one week. I will check my weight on Friday for this week’s total. I had my first test on my calorie watching this week as my dad was admitted to the hospital on Monday morning but I am happy to say he is doing better than before. Needless to say this puts a lot of stress on family members and I could have easily gave up on my gym routine and consumed mass calories, but I didn’t. I did have one day where I went over my daily calorie count but by only 57 calories and I should still finish the week under my cap.
Wise
I’ve also done a better job and reading books on my iPad and watching less TV. The flip-side is my DVR is filling up fast with shows but that is Ok. I am looking at a Kindle down the road once I have a job so if any of you out there have one, leave a comment on how you like it. Love to get people’s insights on products and not really the manufacturers take on it.
Faith
I decided to setup a separate blog for my faith writings. I notice I can get very deep with my Catholic beliefs and read a lot of Catholic authors, I am currently reading “I’m Not Being Fed” by Jeff Cavins which is a book not only about him and how his hunger for a closer relationship with Christ brought him from his Catholic upbringing to an Evangelical Protestant and back to the Catholic Church, but for those that are searching for the same thing. For me personally, I am very much being filled with my Catholic faith, I have never had a closer relationship to Christ than I do since I converted in 2001 and to have the Eucharist at Mass, it is even more of a personal relationship with Jesus.
Friends
Finally I wanted to share with you a post from my good friend Jeremy who is both on a goal to lose weight and training for his first 5K. He has a post this week called Five Frogs which I found very inspiring and I think you will love reading it as much as I did. So until next week, God Bless!
Health
I will start on the health front. Since starting up at the gym last week and watching my calorie count thanks to Lose It!, I have lost 3 pounds in one week. I will check my weight on Friday for this week’s total. I had my first test on my calorie watching this week as my dad was admitted to the hospital on Monday morning but I am happy to say he is doing better than before. Needless to say this puts a lot of stress on family members and I could have easily gave up on my gym routine and consumed mass calories, but I didn’t. I did have one day where I went over my daily calorie count but by only 57 calories and I should still finish the week under my cap.
Wise
I’ve also done a better job and reading books on my iPad and watching less TV. The flip-side is my DVR is filling up fast with shows but that is Ok. I am looking at a Kindle down the road once I have a job so if any of you out there have one, leave a comment on how you like it. Love to get people’s insights on products and not really the manufacturers take on it.
Faith
I decided to setup a separate blog for my faith writings. I notice I can get very deep with my Catholic beliefs and read a lot of Catholic authors, I am currently reading “I’m Not Being Fed” by Jeff Cavins which is a book not only about him and how his hunger for a closer relationship with Christ brought him from his Catholic upbringing to an Evangelical Protestant and back to the Catholic Church, but for those that are searching for the same thing. For me personally, I am very much being filled with my Catholic faith, I have never had a closer relationship to Christ than I do since I converted in 2001 and to have the Eucharist at Mass, it is even more of a personal relationship with Jesus.
Friends
Finally I wanted to share with you a post from my good friend Jeremy who is both on a goal to lose weight and training for his first 5K. He has a post this week called Five Frogs which I found very inspiring and I think you will love reading it as much as I did. So until next week, God Bless!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Balanced Life Weekly #34
What a difference a week makes! Last week I told you how I had fallen off the good health habits, fast forward to this week and I have made some significant changes. Last week I joined the gym my wife goes to. I am happy to say I have not simply joined but an attending it as well. I have found that going at 5:30am in the morning is ideal as it is out of the way for the day and I have so much energy for the day.
Monday will be great as I do my workout and then attend Mass at 7:15am that day (the only day that week it is offered that early). So Monday is now my favorite day! In addition I am also making good on attending Mass on a daily basis, I went to last Thursday and Friday as well as this week and of course Sunday morning as always. I feel the combination is helping both my physical and spiritual health.
The next areas to focus on are getting back into reading habits on my books. I feel I am laying a great foundation for when the job offer comes along. I have the time between jobs to focus on the areas I neglected and build healthy and longterm habits.
Well, that is what I wanted to share this week. Hope you all are going great with your progress and meeting your New Years Resolutions. God Bless!
Monday will be great as I do my workout and then attend Mass at 7:15am that day (the only day that week it is offered that early). So Monday is now my favorite day! In addition I am also making good on attending Mass on a daily basis, I went to last Thursday and Friday as well as this week and of course Sunday morning as always. I feel the combination is helping both my physical and spiritual health.
The next areas to focus on are getting back into reading habits on my books. I feel I am laying a great foundation for when the job offer comes along. I have the time between jobs to focus on the areas I neglected and build healthy and longterm habits.
Well, that is what I wanted to share this week. Hope you all are going great with your progress and meeting your New Years Resolutions. God Bless!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)