I haven't had the chance to blog much lately, much because of trying to put finishing touches on this video.   I enjoy working with stuff like this, but getting it finished has been anything but easy.    Nonetheless, I am looking forward to do much more of this stuff once our little one comes along.    I have some posts brewing, so please stay tuned.

Well, it's been two weeks since my last post, but that's for a good reason.   We're Home!

That's right, last weekend, Chelsey and I moved into a new house, and with a lot of help from family and friends, we're actually pretty well settled in.  It's been awesome!   It's been a journey since July living with friends out of two car loads of stuff, not having have seen 90% of our belongings since the fire -- It almost was like Christmas, as we unpacked our things.

It's still hard to believe that this place is ours.   I am overall very pleased with the quality of work that our builder did (nothings perfect, but it's fun to learn some basic maintenance).  We have had a few minor glitches here and there, but nothing major.

I really want to get a video tour for our friends up on YouTube, but here's a few pictures online for now:

It became a reality today that one of joys & pains of being a home-owner is that my vote this election has more implications in my life than just whether or not my moral standards are going to be held up by some elected official I choose to vote for.    Not that I don't take voting seriously, trust me, I do.   On the road to becoming an Eagle Scout, we're required to earn all the Citizenship merit badges - Community, Nation, and World.   So I am all about living out my civic duty on election day.

But in reality, even as late as primaries this past March, voting to me was more centered on which candidate did I see having the most Christian-worldview,  and there were few things that had an influence on my vote beyond that.   Let's face it, increases in taxes mean little to most people who do not own any property, so it's difficult to know how to vote on such issues, in which case I choose to not vote on them at all.

But now I have voice with reason to speak-up on such matters.   As I looked at the DDN Voters Guide (available online), the reality is that now as a home-owner, these ballot issues mean a whole lot more to me now than before, because now I have to decipher not only their need for the community, but whether or not I am willing to pay for those needs.  Greene County has four ballot issues that would cost us a total of a $200 increase in taxes over five years if all passed, all of which are for services we do not necessarily use.

It's my hope that I fight the choose to keep honor God first with my ballot on November 4th, and not let the fear of taxes prevent me voting for something God might use to help those in my community that might be in need.