When Courney and I were first engaged we both agreed that we wouldn’t start a family until we turned 30. Two and a half years ago I turned 27 less than a month after our son Riley was born. Over these two and half years we’ve grown as a family in so many ways. We’ve sold our home, moved to a completely new city, sold our cars and donated most of our possessions to live a simpler life without a robust support system of friends and family like we had in Memphis. Courtney is able to stay at home with Riley and we make it work on half our previous income in a city that’s twice as expensive to live in. Every parent out there knows this but parenthood isn’t something you come into knowing how to do. You make choices and adjust as you go, constantly monitoring and considering everything. We’re really happy with the big choices we’ve made since Riley was born and not so happy with some smaller ones (but that’s for another day). At the end of 2015 we were ready to grow our family and in February we got the great news that we’re having a second child. Usually people share this on social media much sooner than I am but we chose not to. It’s been fun to tell people individually over the last few months. We’re having another boy and we can’t wait to meet him in November. The holidays are going to have a new blessing and a new chapter for us as a family. I can confidently say that we’re ready for it.
Let me lay my “political” views out here for the first time by linking to this intimate piece by Albert McMurry. It presents a fear I can’t understand but can damn well prevent from growing. As a father, voter and community member I can do something. As a white male I have no excuse for apathy on the subject of racism. The simple fact that Donald Trump’s statements, demeanor and actions towards any race other than caucasian is fueled by hatred is exactly why he won’t get my vote.
Shawn Blanc writes:
You have to be inspired first before you can create.
You have to learn before you can teach.
You have to experience before you can share.
There is no shame in taking time “off” of your work, in order to learn something, experience something, and be inspired.
My buddy Stephen announced he was going independent today. Let me just take this internet armor off for a minute to say I’m so proud of Stephen. He’s poured himself into his writing and podcasting for years now as a side gig and he’s finally able to take it full time. I have immense respect for the amount of hard work and dedication I know Stephen put into getting himself prepared to sustain the independent career. It’s not easy to be steadfast in saying no to so many things so you can say yes to the the long term goal. Speaking as someone who has similar long term goals of going independent I’m proof that sticking with it is difficult [1]. Stephen joins Shawn Blanc, Myke Hurley, Marco Arment, Jason Snell and many others in proving that if you put in the effort and continually invest in your craft it is possible to live sustainably doing so.
I’ve always seen Project 365 as a daunting thing to try. There are a few people I follow online that have participated in years past and I’ve never been willing to challenge myself to give it a try. Stephen Hackett provides a good description of what I’ve always assumed as an observer:
It’s 75 degrees outside and pain runs through my body. This is emotional pain like I’ve never felt in my life. I’m driving up I-10 in Florida from what was my grandparent’s house. I’ve been with my uncle for the last week on an unexpected trip to help my grandmother brace for the impact of divorce.
It was nearly 7 years ago that I was getting ready to start working at the local Apple Store here in Memphis. I’d moved here 3 months earlier to help my uncle and his family build their new home in Mississippi. He’d called me on a Monday with the offer to pay me while I oversaw the contractors who were working on multiple aspects of the house and to perform a variation of work getting the house constructed. I loaded my car in Canton, OH and was in Memphis on Friday. Digging trenches, sanding and painting what seemed like an endless amount of walls and installing pillars to hold the porch overhang that wrapped most of the house were only a few of the tasks that come to mind while I was working on the house. My uncle is a firefighter in a surrounding suburb of Memphis and has weeks where he couldn’t be there to oversee the construction process. Our goal was to get the house into livable conditions to house our tradition of Thanksgiving at their house. Once we’d rounded into October and were where we needed to be, it was time for me to figure out what I was doing next. I applied at Apple, got called in for a group interview and was in core training by the end of the month. It was at Apple that I first met some of my longest friends in Memphis such as Stephen Hackett. I also met Courtney within 3 weeks of working at Apple. She was part of the batch of new hires right after me. Over the next two and a half years I moved through nearly ever role within Apple Retail with the exception of management, began my relationship with Courtney and asked her to marry me.
Sam Spurlin found a fantastic quote and summed up something that crosses my mind from time to time these days. While I’m not rushing through life I really look forward to what’s to come.