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We had heard that you could ride bikes at the Gulf State Park for free, but then when we first looked up bike rentals for Gulf State Park we couldn't find anything except for options to pay to rent bikes. But then we decided to just walk some of Gulf State Park with our kids and we discovered their bike-sharing program which is really cool. We didn't actually use the bikes yesterday, but we learned how it works. Basically, if you download their app called "Bloom Bike Share", you are then able to take a bike for free for up to 3 hours to ride around on the 28 miles of trails in Gulf State Park. Bike stations can be found at common places like the beach pavilion entrance as well as at major trailheads throughout the park (such as Eagles Loop or Gulf Oak Ridge). We plan to try it out later this week. It's an awesome option for those that aren't able to bring a bike with them on vacation but would like to try biking in Gulf Shores. Gulf State Park is huge and it g

What is it about seeing a sunrise or a sunset that is just amazing when it comes over the horizon? I probably sound like an old person, but when I'm on vacation at the ocean I actually enjoy getting up early and seeing the sun come up. This morning didn't disappoint. It was cold, but I had my coffee in hand. I walked to the beach and watched the sun change the sky from dark to light. As I was walking back to our place I also happened to see an eagle fly right over our place. Now I probably really sound like an old guy, but in my opinion, these things are pretty cool. I'm ready to start a good day!

We made it. We're down in Gulf Shores for a while. Today I'm working from "home" in much nicer weather than Illinois. Yesterday right when we got here we ended up heading to the ocean for a little bit while a few of my brother-in-law's family got shrimp along the beach with some "suckers" they made out of PVC pipe. Basically they would find holes in the sand where a shrimp was and then put the piece of PVC pipe over the hole and then create suction to pull the shrimp out of the sand. Leave it to my brother-in-law's family to figure something like that out! It will be nice to be down here a couple of extra days to get situated.

Is it because we're getting ready for a trip? Is it because one of our kids woke me up at 2:30 and another kid woke me up at 3? Is it because sometimes my mind just gets going? I don't know, but what I do know is starting at about 2:30 until probably 4:30 I didn't sleep, and then I fell asleep for an hour, and then I was up. The other thing I know is when you have little kids you just learn to function on less sleep and sometimes it's just a normal abnormal night sleep. I think our whole family is a little excited about getting away for a while. We'll see how it goes. It's gonna be 16 kids (all cousins) and the oldest is 12! And we're going to try to do some work on our rental property with all that going on! This is the second year we're doing it. Last year was probably a lot more work than this year will be... since we just purchased the property last year and it needed some love. This year it's a lot of smaller projects and clean up.

I filled out a life expectancy calculator this morning and it said I could live to 92. My grandpa Al just celebrated his 94th birthday. I'm 41 right now, so that could be another 51 years... which feels like a long time. I also could only live a few more years. I have no idea. I've been reading Chip Gaines' book called "Capital Gaines" and towards the end, he writes his obituary and talks about how long a life expectancy calculator said he has yet to live. At the time he wrote the book he was 42 which was a couple years ago. He's close to my age. It just got me thinking about the future. What am I getting after? What's important to me? Last year I got a little fire about having family goals, but it sorta fizzled, and I never finished it... like many things I get excited about. I've talked about writing a kids' book of some sort. I get excited about our rental property in Gulf Shores and the potential there. I do love my job and the people I get to

Having little kids means that you can't accomplish much right? I'm not sure that that's right. I would say you feel more drained at the end of the day, but I also think that they give you something to fight for. You fight much harder to accomplish things and work hard than you do when you're working only for yourself. There's something similar that happens when you have a spouse. Now, don't get me wrong. I don't always feel like pushing myself. At the end of the day, most days, once the kids are in bed I'm ready to call it a day too. If it wasn't for my family though I don't think I would be driven to invest in a rental property or to learn to build a website, or to have a blog that I try to write in daily or to try to stay somewhat up on politics.  There's also a burden to teach my kids and share with them. I think that more than accomplishing things and setting goals for myself this is a harder one. I know I need to invest in my kids and he

I and my daughter found a new store that we like in Peoria. The Book Rack off of Knoxville is a used book store with a huge selection. It's well organized and the prices seem reasonable from about $2 to $4 a book typically. If you're looking for a good used book store in the area I would recommend this one.

Yesterday was pretty exhausting. Yet all I did was sit around most of the day. I sat in the car and drove an hour and a half to Philo, IL to attend one of our Winter Conference locations in person. I sat there and listened to the conference for about 6 hours then drove home for an hour and a half again. Then once I got home we watched the NAMA regional conference for an hour and by the time that was over I was ready to be done for the day. I was excited for the day and don't get me wrong it was good. The day of the conference was great. It's always good to see customers enjoying our content. And seeing work from the ag industry at the NAMA regional event is also good to see. But once it's over, it's over. I typically think we could have done that better still or in the example of NAMA I thought we might have won in a couple more categories. Why am I discontent? Why can't I enjoy the fact that we had a great conference or the fact that we actually did win a first at

What do you do when you don't agree with someone? Do you stay quiet or do you speak up? This question could use a little more context. If you don't agree with someone around their favorite food or movie or something that doesn't impact you or others personally it's probably fine to not voice your disagreement with their poor choice in food or entertainment. But, when the impact of their beliefs and opinions are much more far-reaching you should speak up at some point. You don't have to know all the right answers, although that's good, and it shouldn't be your goal to make them think just like you. But that's the beauty of living in a country where we're able to still express thought and challenge one another in our thinking. For example, I believe that a baby is a baby as soon as it's conceived. I will challenge you on this. A baby is not a blob or matter or anything else at any other point. Once sperm and egg come together in the womb they form

This morning I'm thankful that my mind is working. I can have coherent thoughts. I was able to get out of bed this morning and make myself a cup of coffee. I was able to drink that cup of coffee and taste and smell it. I'm able to sit on the couch and type letters on a keyboard and create sentences with words this morning. I'm able to read and comprehend. My eyes work and can show me what's around me. I'm able to feel warmth and cold. My lungs are working this morning and I can breathe. My heart is beating sending blood all over my whole body. I can hear noises through my ears and know what's going on around me. I'm thankful that my muscles are working that I'm able to hold things and grab things. I was able to put my clothes on this morning on my own. Just thinking about basic amazing things that I'm able to do because of how God made me and I'm thankful. Sometimes I sit down to write something and think I have to think of this really cool thing

Today is the start of the Winter Conference and I'm usually on my way into the office by now, but I'm sitting at home on the couch with no plans to be at the office at all. I plan to go to one of the 27 remote locations on Thursday this week. One thing that was the same this year is I couldn't sleep that well last night, but I don't think this time it was due to Winter Conference starting the next day I just think I was restless in general. This year for the first time ever at Precision Planting we won't have our Winter Conference at our headquarters with thousands of people coming through there. We have 27 remote locations this year with almost 70 different event dates, plus a whole bunch of dealer hosted watch parties this Friday. We took a big risk because we believed that in-person events were by far a better option than anything simulcasted to people's homes. We started with 32 events I believe and ended this morning with 27. We're looking forward to se

Play it safe or take a risk? What would you rather do? Should you do the hard thing? What if you fail? What if you lose money? What if someone gets hurt in some way? On the other side though... what if you learn something? What if you make money? What if you succeed? What if you end up creating something you never would have created? Yes, you might fail if you take a risk, but you'll never know if you don't try. What will hurt the most if you fail? You're pride most likely. Pride is something worth working on too. It's not a good thing. Most of us have too much of it. So, in this new year what will you take a risk on? Will you record a podcast, write a book, record a video, or take a class? Start a new hobby or share the gospel with someone? Take a risk. Don't play it safe.

It'd mid-January 2021 and I'm still working from home. I've been working from home since April of 2020. It's still hard to believe this has become the new normal for so many people that have office jobs. My new co-workers are ages 5, 4, and 1, and my wife. My new work attire is sweatpants and a zip-up hoodie with slippers unless there's a Zoom call and then I might put on a button-up shirt. My trips to the coffee maker involve hugs from my kids and catching up with my wife. My breaks in the middle of the day involve running on the treadmill or cleaning the bathroom along with lunch. Sometimes there's the occasional watching of kids while my wife runs an errand. It's all different. My car doesn't get near the number of miles on it anymore. I have no idea when we'll ever be back in the office again. Maybe in a few more months... maybe next year. No matter when it is it's going to be different when "everyone" is back in the office again. T

I didn't get up until 6:30 this morning. Words I never thought I'd say when I was in my 20s and living in Chicago. I love my mornings now though. Getting up early is something I enjoy because I like some alone time. Time to think and get ready for the day. Time to read. Enjoy a cup of coffee or two before the crazy of 3 little kids kicks in. So when I get up as late as 6:30 that might only give me 30 minutes or even less before one of my kids is up. Right now I've got 2 minutes left until 7 and I hear them getting up! Gotta go.

It's Friday and one thing I enjoy on Fridays is the "Release Radar" from Spotify. I know I've mentioned it before in a post, but there's just something about new music curated around artists I enjoy listening to that I like.  Some weeks you open it up and there's a song that just really hits you and then there are other weeks where everything seems just kind of blah, but you never know. You might even stumble across a new artist that you didn't know about that you like. There's one other area of Spotify that I've enjoyed more than others and that's under Browse in the Discover area. They have an area called top recommendations for you and also artists selected based on artists I like. I've found that to be a great resource for finding new artists that I didn't know about before that I like.

Will they shut us down? How conservative do you need to be in order to be shut down? I've been thinking about this more in the aftermath of what has happened with big tech companies shutting down our current President and others. I don't know the answer, but as I write I'm using Google's blogging service today. I use Google for a ton of stuff including my email. I use Apple products every day. I'm sure I use Amazon services for hosting purposes. I use the big tech credit card companies. I utilize Facebook and Twitter today. What if they said we don't like what you think about "x" and "y" thing. You're too far right. Would I just be out of luck? Is that coming someday soon? I'm not trying to create conspiracies at all. Just observing where some of these things could lead. The freedom to express ideas and the open market may come to end for those that aren't aligned with those that make the decisions. The internet may not be a place

I can't taste much or smell much and it's a really weird sensation. Yes, we got covid over our Christmas break. We didn't get tested, but when you can't smell or taste... you have it.  One of the best parts is not being able to smell any poopy diapers these days. It's a gift I think any parent with kids still in diapers would appreciate. The downside is you can't smell or taste anything else. So, most food just tastes blah. You still have the typical hankering for different foods, but then you make it and it's a disappointment because the taste just isn't there. Hamburgers were one of the worst. They just tasted like warm mush. But somehow there's still a little sense of taste and smell. I can't explain it well. Things that are more salty or sweet tend to make a little impact in your mouth. It's definitely not something you normally experience that's for sure. Overall, our symptoms have been very mild. We've stayed at home and are rec

Sometimes wouldn't you rather not know. Once you know about something you're accountable to take what you know and do the right thing or choose to do the wrong thing and purposefully be in the wrong. I feel this way about taxes. I'm not saying that you shouldn't pay them, but some it is so complicated, especially when you own your own business, that if you do it on your own you probably aren't do everything right. It's been a steep learning curve for me with our rental property in Gulf Shores and paying the lodging taxes. We have to pay lodging tax on a monthly basis for the state, county, and city. This number is supposed to be taken from our total number brought in each month. What makes it complicated is that Airbnb pays this for us, yet VRBO doesn't and we're on our own for any private deals. Then we also have to pay this tax on the cleaning fee that we collect according to my understanding. If I only didn't know it would save me a lot of hassle

We are currently getting about 10 inquires a day on our vacation rental property. It must be that the beginning of the year is when people start thinking about taking a vacation because we typically don't have this much action. We're already at 32 weeks books for this year and have even booked a week in 2022. It's easy to get excited about our property when the iron is hot and people are interested in booking. There's plenty of times though when it's pretty quiet and you tend not to even think about it... unless you're doing all the day-to-day, which is my brother-in-law. When there's a lot of action it takes more of your attention and you think about what could make it even better. But really it's in the rest of the time when it's slower when fewer inquires are coming in that you need to continue to be thinking about how to keep the place filled up.  I've slacked off on doing social posts for the property and haven't touched our website in a

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all." I haven't heard this in a while. I'm not sure how many kids still say it in school. In light of the aftermath of 2 days ago and then also of 2020 it doesn't seem very true of us. We seem to be very divided. What if we committed to serving one another? That doesn't mean agreeing with everything someone else says, but believing we are all equal. No matter what political views we might have.

I don't know what to think anymore. I tend to think 2021 is going to be just as crazy as 2020 was, maybe more. With the latest news of people taking over the Capitol building yesterday in favor of Trump, our world is getting crazier and crazier.  I more so want to just document that things like this have happened. It makes me wonder what other countries now think of our nation. One of the most powerful countries in the world with tons of internal fighting that's ripping our country apart. It's hard for me to look at the things I read and see and believe that we can really still say, "In God we trust." or "God bless the U.S.A." There seems to be a lot of corruption within our government and leaders, many opposing agendas and many leaders with their own agendas. We have a huge amount of debt as a country yet we act as if we don't. I'm thankful that through all of this and going into a new year I can say that I believe that there is a God and He is

I haven't been big on new year's resolutions lately, but I do like the idea of challenging myself in areas where I'd like to get better and setting goals for myself. Something that I've been thinking about doing is sending a note to someone different every week of the year just to say thanks or I'm thinking of you or praying for you. It wouldn't be hard to do and I know it's good for me as well as I think most people appreciate a little note. The other thing I've been thinking about along those lines is sending video notes. I heard this on a podcast recently. Since we don't see people as much these days it's easy to just record a video on your phone and email it or use a service like Loom to record your video and send a link or use an app like Marco Polo. It seems like this would feel even more personal than a note... though I haven't done it yet. So maybe send a note today to someone that's helped you out recently or maybe to someone who

I think we all tend to do this from time to time or maybe all the time. But we are told in Matthew 6 to not worry. God provides and He is sovereign. What does worrying do anyway? Does it get us anywhere? It's typically things that are out of our control and we don't know with surety how they will end up. The coronavirus has brought all kinds of worry with it. Should I be with my family? Am I sick? Are what I'm experiencing symptoms? What if I have it and then give it to someone who is older and they have serious health complications? Should I go to work? Should I work from home? Should I go anywhere? These things can paralyze us... but we have minds that are able to think through the issues and we can make the best decision for us and our family and those around us and then trust that God knew all about this way before it happened. Don't worry.

I spent half of the day yesterday with a chainsaw cutting up a huge limb that came down over the weekend. I'm thankful that one of our friends with a truck was willing to then come and take all of the debris over to the Morton dump. It ended up being two loads and he decided to go get a trailer for the second load because we had so much. A couple hours later after I was all done we heard another snap and watched as another big limb came crashing down. Not near as big as the last one, but it will take a little bit of work still to clean that one up too. We've had quite the ice storm over the weekend. I'm thankful that we still have power and for friends that are willing to help us out when we need help.

We had a ton of ice yesterday and saw multiple large tree branches come down. Thankfully none of them came down on our home. But one limb that came down almost made me and my wife cry. We had a huge limb that we've hung a swing on the past couple of years and our kids have climbed on and we've hung a hammock on than came down last night. It's probably a good foot in diameter at the thickest part and was just a cool spot in the backyard. It's gone. It's amazing how just having ice collect on trees can add enough weight to the limbs that they break off. My in-laws had a branch come off that broke their privacy fence. Thankfully this morning we still have power with all the ice that there is.