So Proud

I'm so proud of Stephen. Last week he went to New Orleans and in the 5 days he was there, he took a course worth 3 credit hrs, wrote 3 papers, and took 3 tests to hopefully test out of 9 additional hrs of classes. So basically he knocked out a full semester worth of classes in 5 days and it was no small feat! He has worked hard to complete his Master's degree, and it looks like we might finally be at the very end. We missed him while he was gone, but I'm so proud of all he was able to accomplish and thankful for his hard work to finish his degree. Great job my love! And we're so glad you're home again!

Book Review: Mind Your Own Mortgage

Mind Your Own Mortgage

The Wise Homeowner's Guide to Choosing, Managing, and Paying Off Your Mortgage

By Robert J. Bernabe

So, before I read this book I knew absolutely nothing about mortgages except that you need one to buy a house, and you'll probably be paying for it the rest of your life (which I think is crazy!). I figured Stephen and I will more than likely purchase a house in the next decade or so, and so it would be wise to learn a little about what will probably the biggest purchase we ever make. With that background in mind, I thought this book was AWESOME! As I read it I found myself stopping to tell Stephen how helpful it was and asking him to read it when I was done. And it's not just for the first-time home owner - it spends a lot of time addressing refinancing and paying off existing mortgages as well.

I first love the overall mindset Bernabe has toward debt and living within your means. It reminded me a lot of Dave Ramsey and stresses being a good manager of your money to pay off debts quickly rather than constantly buying more and digging a deeper and deeper hole. With that frame of mind, he gives a thorough explanation of how to choose a mortgage based on PRICE and not payment, and then how to pay it off well before the final pymt date (which is typically 30 yrs or even more if you are not careful with your refinances - yikes!). The book is very readable and he used terms that I could understand for the most part, although I had to pay attention and read somewhat slowly to take it all in. It's a decent sized book at nearly 300 pages, and it got a little repetitive at times, but I'm glad I read it through to the end.

The only thing I DIDN'T like about the book is that Bernabe makes a pretty strong sales pitch throughout the book for an online membership to his book's mortgage managing website. He references forms on this site in nearly every chapter, but doesn't mention you have to pay a $29.95 membership fee to access them. Not cool. If someone buys your book and you base whole chapters around using specific forms, you should include those forms in the book for free.

As I said at the beginning, I'm so glad I read this book. I feel informed and confident about what to look for in a mortgage and how to manage it in a wise way that will hopefully allow us to pay it off early rather than pushing it further into the "retirement years." I will definitely reference it down the road when/if we start the journey to buying our first house.

I received this book for free from www.booksneeze.com in exchange for my honest review.

Month of May, part 3

And last but definitely not least, we celebrated wonderful life events with lots of dear friends from a baby shower to a bridesmaids luncheon to a wedding! I got to help with these events and had a wonderful time serving and honoring friends who are very dear to our hearts.

This pic was from our wedding back in 2007. Kameron was Stephen's best man and today we got to watch as he married his beautiful bride Olivia. Their wedding was an incredible worship service where the Gospel was clearly proclaimed and the covenant of marriage was celebrated. We're thrilled for Kameron and Olivia as they start their new life together as husband and wife!

Stephen looked very handsome in his tux. I loved the way he kept looking at me in the audience and winking from his spot on stage.  :-)

Congrats Kam & Olivia! Love, the Webbs

Month of May, part 2

Next, Caleb had his first water day at childcare.

He took a few minutes to get used to the water, but overall he did great and ended up liking it!

Caleb also had his first taste of real food - sweet potatoes (I made my first batch of baby food!)

We went to Granna & Poppa's house and swam in their pool for the first time. Caleb did great! We stayed in for about 45 minutes.

And of course spent some quality male bonding time with Daddy - computer games!

Month of May, part 1

Wow, the last few weeks have been super busy. Soooo much going on and all of it has been wonderful. I have so many pictures to put up here that I'm going to let the pics do most of the talking. We'll start at the beginning of the month.

We went to Kansas to visit my family!

Watched Auntie Em play soccer (she's awesome)!

Chilled with Uncle Dave

Went out to the farm for a visit and got to pet a brand new colt.

Pet the dogs

And turned the cuteness up a notch for Gigi & G-Paw

Caleb Bouncing

This video is from a few wks ago and I'm just getting it off the camera. I've watched it over and over and can't help but laugh out loud each time. Specifically because I think it looks like Caleb is bull riding at the end of the video. :-)  Enjoy!

Normal Evening

The game plan for tonight:

• Parmesean chicken & pasta in the oven, veggies soon to steam on the stove
• Stephen in the recliner talking baby talk with Caleb
• Caleb in the excersaucer putting all the attached toys in his mouth
• Watching American Idol (it's either Lee or Crystal for me - Stephen votes Lee)
• A bottle for Caleb, then bath, story, prayers and bed
• A little bedtime reading for myself
• And then off to bed for us big kids

A fairly normal and great evening for the Webbs.

Answer to Plan B

Ok, so within minutes of posting my book review of Plan B, I saw this trailer for David Platt's book Radical. I love David and what he says in this video is a major part of what I was thinking as I read Plan B, I just can't articulate it as well as David does. Much of American Christianity has been based around the idea of loving God and living the best life we can. But God doesn't always call us to America's idea of the "best" life. And we need to be ok with that. Watch the video. Read the book Radical or even better listen to the sermon series on Brook Hill's website HERE.

Radical by David Platt from Taylor Robinson on Vimeo.

Book Review: Plan B

Plan B

By Pete Wilson

I'm mixed in my feelings regarding Plan B by Pete Wilson. The book is based around the question of how do you pick up the pieces of your life when the plan you had for it falls apart - thus the title Plan B. A primary observation I had is that Pete leans heavily on stories/experiences to convey his ideas rather than basing them on direct biblical truth. This lends itself to being an easier read, but left me hungry for God's Word. However, I kinda got the feeling this book may have been written more for the person who has grown up in church their whole life and done their own thing and all of a sudden reaches a point where they either a: realize their life hasn't turned out the way they thought it would, or b: had something tragic happen and are now questioning where God is in the midst of that hard time. This would probably be a fine book to help them through that time as it does point you back to God and His plans and purposes for our lives and how they don't always match up with our own. But I felt like it was a very light book and only scratches the surface of God's sovereignty over our lives and His ultimate purpose for mankind - to bring Him glory. I don't have a major problem with this book, but as I said, it left me wanting more; wishing he had delved deeper into God's Word and truth.

I received this book for free from www.booksneeze.com in exchange for my honest review.