Who missed my rundowns?! Oh, no one? Ha! Well, okay, but I am still going to write them in 2025. I know the last time I published one was LAST YEAR (on December 12) so just a reminder about how these work (because I have only written probably a million of them over the past 10+ years): I offer up thoughts and updates on five super random, unrelated topics. Here we go…

Family Spouse Photo – On the fourth Sunday of Advent, my parents, siblings, and our families gathered for home holiday cheer. Of course photos were taken. Out of the many I had to choose from, I decided to go with “the couples.” What a great representation of 67 total years of marriage…of course 43 of those years come from my parents 😂.

Four happy couples!

Bible In A Year – I know if you took my advice and started working on your own #1SE video, you are probably already pretty busy with an “every day” commitment. But I would like to offer yet another daily exercise that is way more important than #1SE. I humbly recommend that in 2025 you listen to the “Bible In A Year” podcast by Fr. Mike Schmitz. It is life changing. No matter what denomination you are or even if you aren’t Christian, you will find this podcast to be engaging, informative, and holy. I listened to the whole podcast during its debut year in 2021 and I am re-listening in 2025. I wrote about what you can expect and how Fr. Mike navigates the bible and structures the podcast. If you want to journey with me, PLEASE DO. Jump on now while we are early in January and please don’t hesitate to reach out with questions.

The Bible in a Year podcast with Fr. Mike Schmitz is incredible.

Favorite Drinks – On this glorious date six years ago, I wrote an even more glorious blog post (#sarcasm) about my favorite drinks. After covering my favorite sodas and favorite beers in earlier years, I ranked my top non-carbonated/non-alcoholic beverages. I am sure you can tell from the photo below some of the drinks that were included but for the full list and rankings, make sure to read the post.

In 2019, I ranked my 5 favorite drinks.

Headbanz – We are a board game family and every year at Christmas we get at least one or two new games. This year, my niece gave Sloan a game called Headbanz. It is designed for kids (although all of us adults had a blast playing it) as a fun and competitive way to describe things and ask questions. Each person puts a “headband” on and inserts a card in the contraption’s front portion so they can’t see the object on their card. The person then asks other players questions to try and guess what animal/plant/food/sport/etc. is on their card. Great fun!

Sloan playing Headbanz at our kitchen table.

College Football Playoff – From a fan perspective, I think the expanded College Football Playoff is great. The value of watching college football’s powerhouse programs duke it out in a playoff system that mirrors what has been done at the lower levels for decades is appealing. I am not crazy about the college football season extending to Jan. 20 but I guess there has to be a trade off. Despite a college athletics landscape that is broken, at least there is this bright spot. I am rooting for Notre Dame!

I have enjoyed the College Football Playoff and am rooting for the Irish!

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Alright, I feel totally back in the groove with Thursday Rundowns. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great weekend. Don’t Blink.