January 24

Monday was my birthday. I am officially one year older that I was last year. It doesn't feel any different though. I still feel about the same as I did the day before my birthday. I guess once you hit a certain age, a birthday is just another day when it all comes down to it. We didn't really do anything special on my birthday, but we did go out and watch the latest Harry Potter and then we went to Shari's afterward. In my family, on our birthday, we get to choose what we will have for dinner. This year I didn't really get to do that, since my kids have been so sick recently. We were going to do my birthday dinner on Sunday, but we decided that it would be better for the kids if we just took them home after church. I'll have to come back and edit this post later, because there is more that I would like to add, but I am too tired now and Rachel is stirring in the bed next to me.

First Post of the New Year

It's officially 2011. That is one year closer to the end of the world, as our financial advisor put it to us this morning as we were going over our investment options. Since it looks like we are not going to start building the house any time soon, we decided to take that money out of our savings account and "put it to work for us." That's another line from the investment guy. Anyway, he seems like he knows what he is doing, so whatever. It's got to make more than just sitting in a savings account, right?
And now that I am on the road to financial freedom (yes I am still jobless), I can focus on the important things in life, like writing in this blog...? I suppose that I have to make a first post sometime. We went to the Pacific Science Center today and became members for a year. It only cost $80, and $75 is tax deductible so we really only spent $68... I don't really understand about the whole tax deductible thing. That is why I am not a very good investor, and why someone else (my wife) does our taxes. But the Science center is cool. If I had my camera I'd post some pictures, but it's out in the car right now and I don't feel like going to go get it at the moment. Mostly because I am not wearing any pants, and the neighbors might think I was a little odd going outside in my underwear. So If I get my camera soon and haven't forgotten all about this post, I will upload some of the pictures I took.

Save Money Doing Your Normal Online Shopping!

http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=82sUDNftLG53MhAChpcGLw%3D%3D

Do you shop online to save money? Do you use PayPal? I do too. Now I do both even better, ever since stumbling upon Ebates. Their website pays you back a percentage of your purchase at most online retailers, just for using their site as a portal. I mostly shop on eBay, and we all know that eBay gives you eBay bucks back when you buy something. It's like 3% of the purchase. But now, if I go through the Ebates portal, I get up to an extra 7%. It's stupid not to. They deposit into your PayPal account, or if you don't want to give them that info, they will also send you a check in the mail. Payouts are every 3 months (just like eBay bucks), as long as you have spent enough on other sites to get at least $5 back, but if you shop online like I do, that isn't a problem. They even credit you $5 when you make your first purchase through their portal, so you are guaranteed a payout in the 1st 3 months. They have 1,200 other member stores to, like Newegg, Target, Wal-Mart, Sears, Overstock.com, plus a lot of little online specialty stores that have great deals that you might not normally visit. I bought printer ink and got 15% back for that purchase. If you do ANY online shopping, sign up with these guys, and use my link to sign up cause I get more $$$ when I refer people. So far I've gotten $10.80 back from Ebates, for doing my normal eBay/online shopping, and I'll keep updating this total as I receive more.

http://www.ebates.com/rf.do?referrerid=82sUDNftLG53MhAChpcGLw%3D%3D

Sign up. Make a purchase. Get $5. If that 1st purchase is $25.01 or more I'll get $5 too.

What am I going to DO?

So today, I have made a few lists. Making lists is not one of the things I like most in the world, but today I feel like I didn't have any choice. I am getting ready to start school again next month and I am in the process of re-evaluating my goals. What that means is I am trying to figure out what to major in. What am I going to do with the rest of my life? I have made three(3) lists to help me explore and narrow the possibilities.

(1) Things that are important to me:
Resources to support my family
Time to pursue other things -family/hobbies/church
Being creative
Build/make things
Working with hands/tools
Learning about how things work
Feeling like I contribute/accomplish something
Autonomy

(2) Things I enjoy doing:
Woodworking
Building things
Reading
Finding out how things work
Being outside
BBQ/cooking
Teaching
Playing games
Solving problems around the house with things I make
Swimming
Working on my VW

(3) Things I don't really like doing:
Complex Math
Repetitive tasks
Being micromanaged
Having to wake up too early
Radical change
Crowds
Being really social/outgoing
Driving

Some of you who read this might say to yourselves, "Yes that is Nathan to a T." Others might read these lists and have a few things to add. Let me know.