Jon’s Blog

Well this is the final post here on Dadblogs2. My wife finally talked me into blogging on her site instead of this one. It will make it a lot easier for my “loyal” fans (Hi mom and the rest of my family) to go to only one site instead of two. Hopefully this will inspire me to write more often so there is not a lapse of months between posts. So come on over to fencedinfamily and look for my posts.
When I post the first few times you won’t know it is me because we can’t show who authored a post yet. Don’t worry Cindy”The great” will make a cute little “thingy” to show her posts and mine. So see you over at the main blog.

Wow, today I realized it is the third anniversary of my family’s moving to West Virginia. It seems like only yesterday that we made the big jump from Tennessee. Never in my life did I think I’d be living in West Virginia but here I am three years removed from leaving Tennessee behind.

A little background is in order if you are new to this blog of just a friend I haven’t seen in a while. I graduated high school in 1986 (eons ago it seems) and then went to electronics college,in Louisville Ky from 87-89. Then back to Tennessee , because I was still a farm boy and not ready for the “big city” life, and a couple of different jobs. The final one I had in Tennessee was in the auto industry. I stayed there for 12 1/2 years until that fateful day in October of 2005. I was on dayshift and working near the front offices. We suspected something was up when the HR director showed up at 5:30 in the morning. This lady did not show up until 8:00 or so on any other day. Well at 7:00 a meeting was called and some VP in the company flat told us ” by Oct 06 the doors will be closed”. This was a very wild day to say the least. My wife and I discussed our options and prayed really hard. Finally after exhausting all of my own options GOD opened the doors for us to move to West Virginia.

That door was for us to go to South Charleston WV where we lived with my in-laws for 8 months. This was a great stress relief time for me. I worked with my father-in-law doing lawn care. I loved the freedom to work as hard as I wanted or to take it as easy as I wanted.

Then GOD changed everything again and long story short we moved to Princeton. I have a job I love and a great church family that are as about as close as blood relations. So it has been a wild ride with 4 moves in 3 years(another yet to be written post) but I would not have missed it for the world. Especially since the birth of our third child Robert happened here in Princeton. I have been blessed by the Almighty GOD who made heaven and earth. The pictures below are of our journey since we have been in Princeton. I hope you enjoy them.

Our first Christmas in Princeton

Just my boys and me in 2007

Cindy and Robert

Today Feb. 24,2009 is my dad’s birthday. He is 65 years old. I know I did not send a card but I wanted to let him know I was thinking about him. So DAD here it is ” HAPPY BIRTHDAY”. We love you and are thinking about you, Jon, Cindy,Nicholas, James and Robert.

You may have noticed that there is something new on the side panel of my blog. This is a widget “add-on” it is by a web site called playlist. Basically this is a website jukebox. Except I control what I want played. So if you are visiting my site and want to hear some music just click on the play button and listen to my music. All the music is Contemporary Christian so you don’t have to worry about the lyrics. It may not be your style but this is what I like.

If you want too, follow the link above and you can download a pop-up player for your computer. This will be like your own juke box with whatever you want to listen too. You can do this while you surf the web or are at work or whenever. The best part is it’s free. Hope you have a great time listening.

A few weeks ago my family and I took a day trip. We visited an old Coal mine town and then went to Babcock State Park. We took pictures while at the park and I wanted to share them with you. For my mom and other family in the mid-south this is what winter looks like….. Yes the white stuff is snow.

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If you look in the upper portion of the blog you will see a new picture of myself and the boys this was also taken on the same day.
Now you know what winter is supposed to look like.

Well I had to buy some new work boots this weekend. My last pair lasted 2 years……. (boy were they tired..:0) My company has a policy of buying affected employees their first pair of boots and then reimbursing them xx dollars when they need a new set. So it was finally time to trade them in. I’d show a picture of them but don’t have the time. I did find a set I really liked. They were more expensive than I anticipated but well worth the price.

First let me explain something. I’m a blue collar worker meaning I get paid to do the hard stuff. Yes I have a desk and computer but I have to handle all the material that my company buys for my plant. This means anything from a 1 lb package via UPS to 1″ plate metal. So yes I need a good set of shoes on my feet.

I love my job. It allows me the freedom of not getting bored with the same thing everyday. I also get to open all the packages to find out what is in them. (Christmas every day)

Now back to my boots. I have been a Red Wing fanatic for a long time. So naturally I gravitate to Red Wing shoes first and last. They have never let me down. Now for any of you out there that might read this and say
“Hey he’s disrespecting my favorite boots” I’m not. I have just found a shoe that fits me and I want to let the world know about it.

I’ve been wearing Red Wings for a long time, 25 years at least. I know my father still wears them and he’s “retired”. There used to be a poster in my favorite Red Wing store that told how much pressure an “average” man put on his shoes in a year. The numbers were mind boggling and this was from a 180 lb man. Now I weigh a lot more than 180 so to say I punish a pair of shoes is an understatement. This is why I want to tell anyone who needs a a great pair of long lasting shoes to think about a pair from my favorite shoe company.

As I’ve said for years ” If the wing ain’t on it I don’t want it”.

As you can see from the picture this is a serious boot.But working on my feet all day makes me want to wear a serious shoe. So if you are a man or woman that needs some serious shoe leather for working in I highly recommend a pair of shoes from Red Wing.

This is for my friend Adam. When I first started this blog he asked me to write about ufo’s. So just for him I will, but, with a twist. I’ll post a picture of a plane and ask a question. Your job,should you choose to accept it,is to identify the plane and answer the questions.

So here goes…. 1. What type of plane is this? 2. What is the meaning of the clouds forming on the wings of the plane?

Well I can safely say I have not dropped 25 lbs in just one week. But I have dropped the sugar amount in my sweet tea. I also have vowed to give it up as of today when I drank my last glass. I know from personal experience sugar is my big down fall so here we go. Until next time.

I know it is winter time and supposed to be cold. I also know I live at approximately 2600 feet above sea level so I expect it to be cold in the winter. But this is what I woke up to on a beautiful “brisk” Saturday morning.

I know that any one who lives farther north than southern West Virginia will look at that picture and say “pshush, we go swimming in that temperature.” But I”m from the Mid-South which equals flat terrain and warmer temps.

Living here in Four Seasons country has been a real eye opener. The very first year we lived here we had 6-8″ (and it may have been as much as ten or more) of snow one particular time and it was fun to say the least. Remember where I come from 1″ will close schools. So to me this was a lot of snow.

Now that I’ve lived here three winters I don’t mind the snow. I can actually say it is no problem to drive on and all you have to do is bundle up and you can work in it with no problem.

Wow I just went to my favorite weather site and looked at the temp where I used to live in Tennessee. 22 degrees above 0. That’s a full 25 degrees warmer than here.

Oh well I live here now and love the changing season and the scenery.

Well I have stolen this idea from my beautiful wife. It is that time of year when everyone wants to get fit.  I realize I need to myself especially since I am too heavy to weigh on a bathroom scale. Yes above the dreaded 300 “nuff ” said. So in honor of my wife’s Wednesday Weigh In I am joining her on the journey to get fit. I know I can do this from past experience.

Here is some background for you. I have always been a “big” guy. Ever since I was born I have been big. 10 lbs 6 oz at birth… I’m now 6′5″ and 300+ which is good if you are a lineman in the NFL but I’m not. So I have to do this for myself and family. But I digress.

Back to the story. I was big when I went to college (Yes, Cindy, a mini mall education is still college when you get a degree ) and well when you get a country boy in the big city and add Pizza Hut in walking distance and you get the idea. I “grew” while I was in college.

Then when I went back home my mother talked to me about Weight Watchers. She joined. I just hitched my wagon to hers and went along for the ride. Plus my first job back from college was a VERY physically demanding farm job so this helped jump start my weight loss. Long story short, I lost 70 to 80 lbs in a year or so. I know I started around 315 or so and got down to 230.

I want to get back to that weight. I never felt better. So, LORD willing, I will start my journey and if you want to join myself and the Beautiful One in losing weight, just stay tuned right here. I’ll be glad to post or link to your successes and will be glad to commiserate when you have a set-back. Until next post VIA CON DIOS!