82 things

The Joshua Tree?
The Joshua Tree? | Photo by Jonathan Blundell

In case you’ve missed some of the latest happenings — here’s a list of 82…

    We’re expecting…

  1. TWINS!
  2. I can’t wait to see the next ultrasound – we’ll be roughly 12 weeks into the pregnancy by then.
  3. Realizing we’re finally pregnant after two years of trying is odd. It’s hard to wrap our minds around — and it’s hard to get super excited — there’s always the thought that something could go wrong at any second.
  4. We’re going to have two babies — at once! And two 2-year-olds, and two 13-year-olds and two 16-year olds… and two college students… at the same time!
  5. And no, I don’t know if I would prefer two boys and two girls or one of each. I’m going to be thrilled with whatever God blesses us with.
  6. And yes, we like to do things the hard way around Casa de Blundell.
  7. Moving…

  8. We sold our house! We’ll we think… as of last Thursday it’s officially under contract.
  9. The buyer’s home inspector will be making a visit/inspection today.
  10. We’re keeping our fingers crossed they don’t find anything wrong.
  11. If all goes as planned we’ll close on May 6th on our current home and hopefully on the new home as well.
  12. We’ll have until 5 p.m. on May 8th to be out of our current home.
  13. That’s not much time!
  14. Once we move, we’ll only have to paint three sides of our backyard fence – our neighbor took it upon himself to paint our fence along the side next to him.
  15. I really want to be upset with him — but I guess I’ll look at it as a gift.
  16. We’re also going to have to sod our backyard.
  17. We’ll also have to start the whole process of landscaping all over again.
  18. I feel like we just did that somewhere else.
  19. While I really enjoy living in Red Oak – I’m looking forward to the opportunities awaiting in Forney.
  20. I’ve already been talking with someone about starting a new Wednesday men’s breakfast group in Forney or Mesquite.
  21. I’ve also talked with a couple friends about starting a new Laundry Love in the area as well.
  22. We’ll be a lot closer to family — all our immediate family (aka babysitters) will be within in 15 miles of our new home.
  23. We’re taking a HUGE hit on the sale of our house.
  24. It really ticks me off — but it’s just a sign of the times.
  25. Unfortunately that means we’ll have to put off a couple other things we talked about doing this year…
  26. …like replacing my truck with something newer with more interior room
  27. …having sinus surgery and/or pillar implants
  28. Celebrations…

  29. Laurie’s birthday is Friday the 16th.
  30. On Friday we’ll be celebrating the 4th anniversary of her 25th birthday.
  31. We’re planning a lunch with family at her favorite place – California Pizza Kitchen this weekend.
  32. Sunday, Laurie and I will be sharing our story at encounter.
  33. If everything goes as planned you can watch it live online at live.encounterthis.com (10:30 CST).
  34. Our three-year anniversary is coming up in a couple weeks – April 28th.
  35. I’m really looking forward to celebrating it with Laurie.
  36. No — I’m not thinking what you’re thinking.
  37. Blogging…

  38. I’m also coming up on the five year anniversary of my blog — April 30th.
  39. I’m working on a new theme and look to kick off year six.
  40. I started my blog on Blogger.
  41. And moved to Casadeblundell.com and WordPress in 2007.
  42. Since starting my initial blog in 2005, I also blogged about my trip to Nigeria
  43. …started the podcast
  44. the encounter blog
  45. the Red Oak Laundry Love blog
  46. …and We Live Simply.
  47. We Live Simply…

  48. Writing about my journey on We Live Simply has been a great practice and help for me.
  49. It’s helping me focus on simplifying my life and thinking outside the box.
  50. I’m not a simpleton by nature.
  51. I must learn to live simply because I tend to horde and complicate life.
  52. Since starting We Live Simply I’ve purged 35+ books…
  53. …50+ CDs
  54. …19 DVDs
  55. …two bags of clothes
  56. …and a number of other odds and ends.
  57. They’ll be more things purged for sure by the end of the month.
  58. I’ve also worked to limit distractions by limiting my e-mail usage…
  59. …I only check my e-mail first thing in the morning and then at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. (and maybe once or twice in the evening)
  60. I also typically leave the e-mail app on my phone turned off.
  61. I’m secretly hoping to inspire my dad to simplify things as well.
  62. The novel…

  63. The sales of my novel have dropped off.
  64. After a decent start, I’m only selling one or two a month now.
  65. I’ve started working on an audio version of the book.
  66. I’m realizing just how time consuming that is.
  67. I’m going to need to sell a lot more books with twins on the way.
  68. I’m thinking through a couple possible ideas for Nanowrimo 2010.
  69. Of course with twins coming in October or November — that may be completely out of the question.
  70. Other books you should read…

  71. Kevin Hendricks novel, The Least of These.
  72. Kevin’s new book, Addition by Adoption: Kids, Causes & 140 Characters
  73. You can pre-order Addition by Adoption now through April 20th.
  74. A portion of the proceeds will go to build a clean water well in Ethiopia through charity:water.
  75. simplify by Joshua Becker
  76. A Simple Guide to a Minimalist Life by Leo Babauta
  77. The Divine Commodity by Skye Jethani
  78. Other odds and ends…

  79. As of tonight — I’m challenging myself — that when I’m working on my computer at night, once the battery has less than 20 minutes left – I immediately turn it off and go to bed.
  80. In the past I usually plugged it back in and got a second wind for both my computer and myself.
  81. I want to put a stop to that.
  82. My battery currently shows 1 hour left — or 30% remaining.
  83. I hope I’m in bed before it reaches 20 minutes left tonight.
  84. I’ve also been challenging myself to eat better and slow down when I eat.
  85. The best trick I’ve found so far is to put my fork and knife down between each bite.
  86. Taking a drink of water between each bite is also a big help.
  87. I still catch myself halfway through a meal eating way to fast.
  88. By eating better I hope to lose some more weight.
  89. I’d like to think that if I can lose some more weight, my snoring will correct itself on it’s own.

So there’s my random list of 82 things. What’s on yours?

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Jonathan Blundell

I'm a husband, father of three, blogger, podcaster, author and media geek who is hoping to live a simple life and follow The Way.

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