Financial Peace? Is that possible?

Caty and I have been raised by parents that were pretty good with money. We both made it out of college with no student loans, no huge debt in credit cards, or any 'major' debt otherwise. I have a mortgage, minor Best Buy Credit Debt and a car payment. Not bad for a guy that could have easily ran up thousands in debt on electronics or Credit Card.

So if you were looking at us as a couple, we seem to be pretty good with money right? Yeah, she may be good but me personally I am the guy that never saved a dollar. I used to make some serious money on a nightly basis while I was bartending and all I have to show from that is a damaged liver. Caty and I started Financial Peace University with Dave Ramsey. I must admit the first few sessions left me feeling like a complete and utter failure when it comes to money. I have started the whole budgeting and 'watching money' stuff and I do slightly feel better about myself now.

It is officially 1 week out from payday and I am actually not stretching every dollar yet! I am ok with that. I just need to get into a mindset that I realize this is a every month thing. I rarely stick to things (diets, workout, reading, etc) so this may be my biggest struggle of the whole program.

Foooooood!

Recently, Caty and I have decided with the wedding approaching we need to start eating healthier than we were and also start eating at home. We are in the middle of Financial Peace and were shocked at the RIDICULOUS amount of money we were spending a month to go to eat every night. Let's just say it was over a 1000 a month on restaurants. The cost of a good Italian dinner, or a few good sushi rolls are apparently expensive!

In this whole eating better thing, I have realized something I sort of

already knew but had never explored. I like cooking. I like making stuff up and hoping it doesn't taste like crap! In a previous entry we were in Granbury this past weekend and one of the stores on the square was a cooking store with everything from high end pots and pans to grilling utensils to sushi kits. I wanted to buy ALOT of things in that store! I also want a new grill for the back yard... one of those shiny chrome ones that has like 8 burners!

A few nights back, Caty wanted to watch "The Bachelor" at her plac

e so she could do laundry and clean her apartment up. So I said I would cook dinner at her place. I seriously wanted to try my hand at grilling tuna but since she doesn't have a grill and Target doesn't carry Tuna Steak... I was all out of ideas. I walked around the store for like 30 minutes trying to come up with an idea. And I saw a Jalapeno. And A Lime. So I decided to make something with Jalapeno and Lime.

I ended up making tacos. They turned out good, I could have definitely thrown in another jalapeno and lit both of us on fire, but I didn't. I also make black beans. It was a good dinner if I say so myself.

I want to continue learning new things in the kitchen. So if you have any good ideas, HIT. ME. UP. I need recipes, techniques and all that stuff...

So real writing?

Can't figure out what day 20 of that challenge was, so I am renaming it the 19 day challenge and saying I am done! So I hope you enjoyed learning a little bit about me.

I am now going to try to focus on writing entries that are a little bigger glimpse into who I am and what I am all about. The current four followers already know about me and I am sure they aren't really all that interested in reading these things, but whatever. I want more followers! Ha.

So, this last weekend Caty and I joined my parents down in Granbury for a much needed one day escape from Mansfield and everything that it brings with it. We enjoyed fishing, food, deep sleeps, silence and even a bit of wandering around the square. We came across a 'off brand' half price books (not sure the name of the actual store but it was very half pricey). We went into the store of course and started looking around for anything that may peak interest. The Lakehouse my parents own isn't your usual party house, its very much the opposite and it is perfect to really get a good book and forget what you are doing. Anyways, I was looking through my usual section... Sports... and not seeing anything worth opening so I gave up and went up to talk to my dad while he looked through Best Sellers.

Before I go any further I need to tell everyone about a person I highly respect who I never had the opportunity to meet. This is one of the most if not THE MOST successful college basketball coaches of all time. Coach John Wooden is known for winning championship after championship but he is also known for the person he was off the court. His entire belief system, religious background, daily teachings, and his true passionate love for life and his wife have all been written in books and filmed for ESPN and other TV outlets. When he passed in the summer of 2010, I set out to own every book written by him or about him. He is an amazing man. I thought I had nearly accomplished that feat up until my trip to Granbury.


Back to the Half Price Bookish store, my dad was looking through the best sellers doing his usual thing of explaining to me why I need to read "Murder and Rape and Shoot em up" fiction books when I saw a very familar face on the cover of a thin red book. It was Coach. I immediately grabbed the book and looked for a price tag. Couldn't find it, but I said SCREW IT... I have tons of BLOW money left this month (explanation of BLOW money coming later, some Dave Ramsey fans know what I am talking about) I am buying it even if it is $50. So I bought it, not knowing for sure what the heck it was about, or if it was even something I would read. I wanted it on my Wooden shelf in my classroom. Once we got back to the car, I realized it was actually an awesome book that I will be reading everyday for the next 60 days. It has 60 entries about 60 one on on conversations that this writer had with Coach ranging from how a 93 year old never stops learning to the backbone of John Wooden's spiritual beliefs. Every entry features real talk from the Coach as well as the writer of the book who relates all conversation to scripture.

Now for those that do know me, you all know I have been looking for a way to 'motivated' to get back into my bible on a daily basis. What better way to get back into the Word than to read the real words of a man, who had been in the public eye for longer than I have been alive, whom I respect more than most men on the planet today. So I started yesterday, and yesterday was all about how are you spending your time each day? 86,400 seconds in a day and any wasted time is time lost. The part that stuck out to me was when Coach said "Have you ever said, I will just work twice as hard tomorrow to make up for my work today. If you can work TWICE as hard tomorrow, then you should work twice as hard every day."

That simple message right there hit me on so many different surfaces both in my everyday work and home life as well as my spiritual life. I know there are days at work and around the house that I say... I will do it tomorrow. And then don't do it for 4 weeks or 4 months (points to the friggin fan in my office still not installed). I know I have said it time to get my big butt in the gym on a regular schedule and do something about the health problems that run in my family and that are currently ailing me (nothing serious, minor dings from baseball and being out of shape). I know there are days I say, yeah I will prepare for that youth group thing at my house tomorrow and then realize that the Youth group thing is tonight!

And I know that I need to work on these things. I also know that it won't all fix itself tomorrow. So that's where you... my four followers come into play in this. I want you to remind me nicely to re-read this post ever so often. I also want you to remind me if I haven't written in awhile because this has been actually somewhat enjoyable of an entry. So, there.... Justin's longest blog of all time is complete. John Wooden, I thank you again, even though I never met you, I thank you for leaving a legacy that I can follow through books.

How will you spend your 86400 seconds today?

Definitely a Fire Day,

Justin

Day 15 through the end

Sorry for being such a crappy blogger but I have been out of town all weekend with a competition for my students... which we dominated and then this week has been a blur with state standarized testing and crap like that. Anyways I am gonna catch up till the end, not sure what I will start writing afterward but I am sure I can find something

Day 16 - Celebrity you would have over for dinner

I was going to say Michael C. Hall here but with the developments of the last few days, how could you not want to have a sit down dinner with this upstanding gentleman right here


Charlie Sheen is on a drug called "Charlie Sheen". He is what people in the radio/tv business call GOLD right now. If he opens his mouth and actual words come out... its gonna be worth hearing again. Yes, the man needs an intervention, prayer, Jesus, the whole nine yards, but you can't deny his quotability!
"I am tired of pretending like I'm not bitchin', a total freakin' rock star from Mars"

I really wanna change my Media Hero Webpage to Bitchin' Rock Star From Mars.... thoughts?



DAY 17 - Celebrity you would want to play you in a movie about you

This one is rather easy for me. I consider myself a funny guy so it has to be a comedy. Others may not think I am funny, but eff em! So I pick the obvious here, as long as he promises not to play me like he played the gay version of character in Hangover he played in Due Date. Zach Galifianakis may be the funniest man in the business right now, and I think he could portray the ultimate Justin Dearing.


Day 18 - Celebrity whose wardrobe you would like to own

Hmmmm... I was worried about this one when it came up because I honestly have no clue who I should/would choose here. I guess I will choose three (and break the "don't use anyone twice rule). I would wear anything pictured here... except maybe the vest... big dudes look weird in vests, makes them look bigger... But from this picture, Jesse Eisenberg looks the most like my style. I need to find a sweet Blazer to wear more often. I also want a grey suit!


Day 19 - Whose House do you want to tour?

I would like to tour Christian Bale's home. I think his place would be cool to see simply because that guy is a cool guy. He seems like a prick to some, but me... I think he is just good at job and expects the best. Had he not won the Best Supporting Actor award this year, I would have been done with the Oscars.



On that note I have one more day to post and since I can't find the actually pic that tells me what to do, I will save that for everyone tomorrow! Have a good day...

Knife Day for sure!