One Minute Wellness

I just recently finished "One Minute Wellness" By Dr. Ben Lerner. I had previously read "Body By God" by Dr. Ben and am still trying to implement that one. "One Minute Wellness" has a very unique layout. The left side pages are a fictional story that relate the principles covered in the book. The right side pages are the principles that lead to a healthy lifestyle. After trying to read a little of the left and then a little of the right, etc. I gave up and finished the left pages first then went back and read the right side pages. The principles in this book are similar to BBG but go further in depth. If you are looking for a wellness model that does not involve medication and traditional medical practices, give it a try. I personally believe in the principles he outlines and think he has found one of the keys to a healthier lifestyle and disease prevention.

The Shrewd Christian

This is a book that I have been meaning to read for a long time. It turned out to be well worth it. While the cover and title are unimaginative, it gives some very practical guidelines to personal money management - sometimes bordering on too cheap. It is however, definitely worth the read and will help you manage your money and your household. Click on the pic if you want to order it.

Matt

Final Day at Sanibel/Heading Home

It started like this:

Lunch was here: (Our favorite place - The Bubble Room)

then on to the Outlet Mall for a little shopping. After that we headed home. Another great weekend.

Matt (Rested)

A Day at the Beach in Sanibel

Today I spent the day sitting here:

Looking at this:

and ended the day with this:

Tough Day and then Auburn beat Arkansas tonight in a nail-biter.

War Eagle,
Matt

Mashburns in Sanibel

We are on a little trip to Sanibel this weekend. Below are some pics that you might find amusing.
No Wireless - had to bring a switch and run cable.

Bailey practicing for tomorrow

A Bird flew over and this is what happened to Nick.

More to come...

Matt

A Day at the Beach

As some of you may already know, Thursday's are the day the Melissa and I spend the day together. Below are a few pics from the beach today.

The view from my chair

The view from the lunch table

The view from heaven.

Matt

Zune Rocks!

A few weeks ago I had a lapse of consciousness and slipped into an alternate reality. I blogged about how great my new iPod was. After having the iPod for couple of weeks and fighting the most ridiculous music program on the market (itunes), I got the opportunity to get a Zune cheap from www.woot.com. I went for it because I am a windows guy. I will never regret this decision. Not only can it play all my music, but will hold my pics and videos that I have downloaded from my Tivo. The best part of all is that this is done using a program that actually works. I might also add - bigger screen. For those of you that were surprised and disappointed by my Apple lapse, I apologize. I am back on the wagon.

Matt

Blink by Malcolm Gladwell

Mixed feelings about this book. It was very interesting as he talked about the judgements we make in the blink of an eye and why they are right sometimes and not other times. He also discusses how to use this to make decisions that will be more accurate. I did not really enjoy this one as much as some of the last few I have finished. However, click on it if you want to order it.

Matt

The Three Signs of a Miserable Job

I just finished another really good book. This was another of Patrick Lencioni's fables and well written as usual. This book talks about learning to manage your employees in a way that makes their success measurable to them, therefore giving them fulfillment in their job and vision for success in their job. A definite read for managers/supervisors. As always, click the book cover above if you want to order.

Matt

Movie Poster

Walking through the theater today the following poster caught my eye. Not sure why.

Tired

Sometimes you don't realize the toll that recent events have taken on you. As most of you know, the last 6 weeks have been emotional for the Mashburns. I think it hit me last night. I slept for over 13 hours - I know - impressive. I think I needed it. The cool thing - I did not get up until 1:30 in the afternoon and my phone did not ring once. A little divine intervention maybe?

Matt

Hockey Game with Bay

Last Thursday some friends gave us tickets to the Panther Preseason Game. Nick had tons of homework so Bailey and I decided to go - just the two of us. We had a great time. I love Hockey and I had the chance to explain the game to him and also to have some other conversations that we would not otherwise been able to have.

Cool sidebar - It was raining when we got there and in the scramble to get my poncho on and get into the arena as quickly as possible, I dropped my Blueooth headset in the road. When we came out, it was still there - in the rain. It still works. Unbelievable!

Attention All Verizon Customers

The Verizon stores located inside Circuit City stores are a lot cheaper. They are corporate stores just like the standalone stores, but offer much better prices and deals. I asked the salesperson at the standalone store if that was true and she simply said "yes". I asked her if she feels that that is fair and she said "We can't compete with their prices because they are a corporate store too". If that makes sense to anybody, please leave a comment. I am bewildered.

Matt

Two More Books

I finished a couple of more books and wanted to share them with you.



The first one is called "Light Force" and it is part of a series of books written by Brother Andrew. He founded the Open Doors ministry. I enjoy reading these type of books because they remind me how easy it is for us to do ministry compared to what some others have to endure. The stories in this book are great and very inspiring.



The next one is "The Difference Maker" by John Maxwell. It is a quick read, but well worth it. He explains in detail how our attitude is the difference in everything we do. As in all Maxwell books, it is well organized and setup to be easy to apply.


Pick them up and give them a try. Click on the pics if you want to order from Amazon.


Matt

Being White

Sounds like a rather insensitive title. I have read many books on diversity since being assigned the task of championing diversity at my previous position. All have been extremely good, but this one does a great job of helping "white" people truly understand what they thought the understood. If you think you are "colorblind", read this book. You will find that being colorblind is just a way of expecting other cultures and races to be comfortable in our (white) societies and customs. That is not diversity. True diversity is immersing ourselves in other races and cultures and truly understanding how they feel in ours. If you are serious about being racially and culturally sensitive, read this book. Sissies should pass on this one and just keep thinking that you have it figured out. Incidentally, you can click on the book pic above and order it from Amazon - if you are brave enough.

Matt

Water Skiing 2

If you look back about a year I blogged about the Mashburn's first Water Skiing adventure with the Mossers. Today we had round 2. Unfortunately as you can see below, I am still skiing using the boom. I found out today that I have to quit walking by the Ab machines at the gym.

In the next picture, you see the only evidence we have that Bailey gave it a shot. 2 reasons: Nick fell asleep at the camera and Bailey was not that interested in water skiing after the first try.

Below you will see the Water Skiing master of the family. Nick mastered the rope handle (off the boom) right away and continued to get better all day.

There was some tragedy in the day as my video camera took a swim. The good news is that I can buy a new one now. The bad news is that a lot of our footage from the day was on the tape in it. Oh well.

Big Thanks to the Mossers for making a great day for the Mashburns possible. We had a great time.

Matt

If You Want to Walk on Water, You've Got to Get out of the Boat

Today I finished the above mentioned book by John Ortberg. I got it from him when he was here a few months ago. He even autographed it for me - cool. I had previusly read "The Life You Always Wanted" by Ortberg

and thought it was one of the best spiritual growth books I have ever read. Even though I enjoyed the Water book, it was not quite at the same level. It did however end with several chapters that were very timely for me in the stage of life that I am in now. Great chapters on hope, faith, and worship. I recommend the book, but you have to stick with it. Starts slow and finished strong.




Matt

Apple Seeping In

It is hard for me to write this blog. Apple influence is seeping into my house. Last week, I got an iPod for myself. A deal I could not pass up (20GB 4G iPod for $99 - you have to watch http://www.woot.com/). I have already dumped 12GB of stuff on it and I really like it. But, that is not the most disturbing news. This morning I was outside doing my morning reading and when I came in I asked Nick what he was watching on his laptop. Much to my dismay he was watching Steve Job's press conference on the new iPod release. It gets worse. I just walked by and he is still watching it. I asked him how long it is and he said "1 hour and 20 minutes". He is watching the whole thing. Unbelieveable! Incidentally, he washed cars this summer to earn money to buy an 80GB Video iPod and a new Laptop - a windows laptop. I still have hope.

Matt

Matt

A Family Tradition

A while back we took the kids to the grand canyon. While there we took a family picture in a tree as a tribute to when my family did the very same thing when I was 12. I found the old picture. We just figured out that it was the very same tree. What are the chances that we would pick the same tree? I have not seen that picture in 15 years. It has been 27 since we took the original. See the comparison below:

Mashburn + Vacation = Injury

This picture of Bailey's finger and the associated precautionary sign is worth a thousand words.

Matt