About The Project

What's the purpose of this project?

As a married couple, we share interest in many things but we also have individual interests that differ greatly. The idea behind this blog is that we intend to introduce each other to some interests, new ideas, or just experimenting as a challenge to engage the other. It's meant to be fun, to encourage us to better ourselves, and to foster engagement between us.

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Mindfulness
As I watch my kids grow, I'm constantly reminded how time is fleeting. It seems that in the blink of an eye, they go from being newborns to toddlers and despite having plenty of photos to prove it, I also want to fully immerse myself into the experience and be filled with strong and plentiful memories of it all. So I think one of my big goals is to be mindful of my time with my family. To put down the iPhone or iPad, to turn off the TV, to focus on being with them and experiencing life with them instead of constantly thinking backwards about work or forward to when I have my own free time. This goes for the time with Erica as well, which I think we could improve by engaging more together instead of doing our own separate things while sitting in the same room.

Appreciation of What I Already Have
As I approach middle age (and my pending midlife crisis) I have often thought about the goals I have achieved and the ones I have yet to. But something I need to work on is reminding myself that those remaining goals need not be set in stone, nor an indicator of failure in my life. Instead, I need to retrain my mind to fully appreciate what I already have and really consider whether those things I thought I wanted are truly important anymore. This plays into the concept of minimalism, but I need to take more appreciation of the relationships in my life and devalue the material goods. Would a bigger house really make me happier? Do I really want more a bigger mortgage and more isolation from my family as a result?

Physical Fitness and Overall Health
Those who have known me for a long time will probably remember that I wasn't always the healthiest person in the world. As I turned 30, I weighed close to 230 lbs, but I dedicated myself to getting fit and turning my life around. Over the years I got into running, yoga, and mountain biking with Erica. But as our family has grown, our free time has obviously greatly decreased so our ability to get out and try new activities together has suffered. So I'm hoping we can experiment with challenges that will allow us to be more active as a couple and a family, and find new ways of eating healthier together.

As this journey goes on, we hope that it brings us closer, that we grow our mutual interests, that we improve our lives, and that we have a little fun together.