Snow Day, Shut-In Visit, Financial Peace University (FPU), and Superbowl

Snow Day
The day after Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the federal government was shut down due to cold and snow.  It was great!  I felt like I was back home in Iowa.  I was able to get a lot of work done for law school and read a few books before my life gets busier.  Also the Snow Day cancelled my work groups Holiday Party for the SECOND time due the office shutting down due to weather.  They rescheduled the Holiday Party to February 4th.  I know when the next snow day will be February 4th. :-)

Shut-In Visit
On Saturday, I visited a member of Bethany Lutheran Church who is a shut-in.  He is a 90 year old gentleman living by himself in Alexandria, VA.  He is doing very well.  His house is relatively clean.  The snow is swept off part of his lawn so the mailman has a path to walk with no snow.  He has a car that he occasionally drives.  While talking with him, I learned he is an interesting person.  He is a big hunter and fisherman.  He would hunt squirrel, possum, deer, or anything that moved.  He would also fish in the lakes, rivers, and streams of Virginia.  On his coffee table were multiple copies of "Virginia Wildlife."  He took up woodworking in his younger years. The cabinets in the kitchen, large dresser, and other various items were made by him.  I am glad I was able to spend sometime with him.

Financial Peace University (FPU)
On Tuesday, January 28th, I participated in my first FPU class at Bethany Lutheran Church.  FPU is a nine week weekly course teaching you God's way of handling money.  There were about 17 other people present at the one hour and thirty minute class.  The whole room was filled.  About half the people were from the Bethany congregation and the other half came from online registration.  The class has about an hour of video and 30 minutes of small group discussion.  The first lesson was focused on saving.  Dave introduced Baby Step 1, which is $1,000 in your bank account for an emergency and Baby Step 3, which is about 3-6 months of living expenses in an emergency fund.  It was also recommended to start saving NOW because compound interest is an explosion or the 8th wonder of the world as Albert Einstein said.  Today, I finished my homework and extra credit for the class.  I will probably finish the bonus material sometime before the class next week.  I went to some of the classes with my parents in the summer before I left for DC.  I still wanted to go this FPU because I would get my own material and like learning about finance.  This courses uses a holistic approach to handling money.

Superbowl
Let it be on the record, I think the Broncos will defeat the Seahawks in the Superbowl this Sunday.  I will be watching the game at the house of a co-worker.  I will be bringing a side dish.  At this point in time, I am not sure what the side dish will be, but I know it will be great!

Blood Donation, Scavenger Hunt, Christ House, and Meal of the Week

Blood Donation
On Thursday, January 16th, I donated my second pint of blood ever.  Now I am only 0.75 gallons away from donating a full gallon of blood.  The time for the actual donation of blood was not very long.  I believe a reason for that was me being very hydrated.  I recommend anyone planning on giving blood to fully hydrated on the day of blood donation and possibly the few days before the blood donation.  I was more relaxed this time as compared to the first time I donated blood.  When I was sitting down after donating blood where I was eating cookies and drinking orange juice, a woman who had just given blood fainted right behind me.  Literally 3 feet away from me.  Nurses rushed over to aid her.  They lifted her legs up, took her blood pressure, and gave her some food or drink.  She was fine after receiving the medical attention.

Scavenger Hunt
I participated in a scavenger hunt at the Air and Space Museum.  My team finished in the middle of the pack.  Somehow we got a bunch of deductions.  If we did not get the deductions, we would have finished tied for 2nd and 1 point behind the winner.  It was fun.  Afterwards my metro train took longer than an hour to get me to the King Street metro stop as compared to the usual 15 to 20 minutes.  This was due to track work.

Christ House
I volunteered at Christ House again to box food to be distributed to people in need.

Meal of the Week
This week I made Southwest Pork.  A pork roast was covered in a mixture of onion, chopped green peppers, bbq sauce, tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder, and oregano.  After cooking, the pork roast was shredded and returned to the mixture in the crock pot.  The shredded pork was placed in a tortilla.  It was delicious!  Also the slow cooker liner make clean up SOOO much easier.

Southwest Pork

Southwest Pork in a Tortilla

Ski Trip and Meal of the Week

This week, I had to work, prepare documents for taxes, and work on deciding on a law school.

Ski Trip
This week I signed up for a ski trip with the PTOS to Snowshoe in West Virginia.  There will about 3 days of skiing and 2 nights in a hotel or lodge associated with Snowshoe.  The trip will take place at the end of February.  I will carpool with a friend to and from Snowshoe. In order to get ready for the trip, I bought snow pants, a ski mask, and goggles.  I have never been skiing before.  I think it will new a fun and new experience.  During my first day of skiing, I plan on taking lessons.  Also I plan on not hurting myself.

Meal of the Week
This week I made my family chili recipe.  In the crock pot, chopped oinion, chopped green pepper, V8 juice, chili beans, diced tomatoes, chili seasoning, salt, pepper, and browned ground beef.  It was delicious.

Chili

Home for Christmas, Mayor of Alexandria, SNOW, and Meal of the Week

Home for Christmas
This year I was home for Christmas this year.  My travel was much smoother this year, but I still has a little delay in O'Hare.  Flight delays at O'Hare in the winter are expected.  I simply sat back enjoyed.  Many other people were not in a good mood.  I really enjoyed seeing friends and family.  Great gifts were given and received.  Below are a few of my gifts.  I want to thank every one for their gifts!  I really enjoy and appreciate them

Si Water Jug

No way I won't be seen running in this

Mayor of Alexandria
While watching the Clemson and OSU game on January 3rd at Joe Theismann's with some friends, we met the current mayor of Alexandria, William D. Euille.  He was involved with moving the Patent Office to Alexandria.

William D. Euille

SNOW

Snow finally came and stayed in DC!  The snow stayed for about 2 days.  I felt like I was back in the Midwest.  Then it warmed up and all of the snow melted.

SNOW!

Meal of the Week

This week I made Clam Chowder from a crock pot recipe book that I got for Christmas.  The clam chowder includes cream of potato soup, cream corn, bacon bits, baby clams, tiny shrimp, evaporated milk, and lemon salt.  There is some definite texture.  You can taste the sea food in every bite.  John had some of the clam chowder.  He enjoyed it.

Clam Chowder