Happy Fourth of July Eve, friends! I am a big sucker for Independence Day as I feel nothing quite screams “SUMMER” like it. For me, it also packs the same Americana vibes as the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade and Super Bowl.

Happy Fourth of July!

In honor of tomorrow’s holiday, I will not publish a Thursday Rundown. This goes against the precedent I set in 2019 when the Fourth of July also fell on a Thursday and I threw together this rundown. I don’t know, I guess five years of additional blogging service later I feel more entitled to use my holiday time (😂).

But let me add one final anecdote to the “Fourth of July on a Thursday” thing: It’s great, isn’t it?!

I much rather my Fourth of July begin the holiday weekend as opposed to end it. Since Independence Day last fell on Thursday in 2019, it has either landed on the weekend or, like the past two years, on a Monday or Tuesday.

With the holiday landing at the very beginning of the week, working people usually pack all their fun into the preceding weekend. They then use the Fourth of July to perhaps take a small step back and celebrate the holiday knowing they have work tomorrow. If that isn’t the epitome of a firework dud, I don’t know what is!

Call me crazy, but I like opening my long weekend (because let’s face it, most everyone will take Friday off) with America’s big birthday party and then having the next three days to relax. So, I guess all I am trying to say is that I am really glad the Fourth of July is on a Thursday this year 😉.

Please enjoy an awesome and safe Independence Day. We are blessed to live in this country and should have every right to celebrate accordingly. Don’t Blink.

Some sense of organization is finally returning to our lives. When we moved from Myrtle Beach in 2020, we simply couldn’t bring everything with us. One such casualty that didn’t make the trip across the country was our filing cabinet. It was clunky and, to be honest, it had seen better days.

Well, we have definitely missed it over the past four years. I adopted the “put everything in random pocket folders” method. Want to guess how that worked out? There was never a central spot for these folders as they ended up in drawers and baskets throughout the house. Storing birth certificates in one folder under the bed upstairs and passports in a folder in the corner of my office downstairs just didn’t make a lot of sense.

For the past few months, Sidney and I have been very cognizant about the fact that we needed to do something about our disorganization. We looked at a couple places and kept our eyes opened at a large garage sale but didn’t find anything to our liking…until a few weeks ago.

I didn’t include this in my Father’s Day gift post, but the project Sid recently completed was the most thoughtful thing anyone has ever done for me to commemorate the special day. About a week before June 16, Sidney found a couple filing cabinets at Value Village. They were second-hand and in pretty bad shape, at least externally. After much debate on whether she wanted to buy them or just give up on the filing cabinet search, she chose the former.

Sidney did a really special think for Father’s Day by restoring these two filing cabinets.

When Sidney arrived home, she cleared our cars out of the garage and started the project. Over the course of several days, she sanded the cabinets, primed them, and painted them. I am kicking myself that I didn’t snap a “before” photo but if you can imagine the brown faded wood look you have a pretty good idea of what she was dealing with.

Last Tuesday she brought the finished products into our home. We have them both inside my office sandwiching my desk. The process of filling the cabinets up with contents from the folders is ongoing. Much gratitude to my wife for using her creativity and love to solve for a problem that I let fester for too long. Don’t Blink.

You don’t need to be a Swiftie to know that the word “eras” is synonymous with Taylor Swift. When the superstar launched her unprecedented and wildly successful stadium concert series, she called it the Eras Tour. Each “era” represented a different album she made throughout an 18-year career in music. My 7-year-old could tell you the name of all 10 eras.

Regardless of what you think about Taylor Swift, she has introduced a unique way of thinking about eras.

But each era serves a greater purpose than just naming her albums and highlighting her musical diversity. Rather, each era expresses where Swift was in her life at that time—personally and emotionally. Ask a true Swiftie about any era and they will tell you who Taylor was dating, who she was feuding with, and the overall state of her life at the time.

Taylor Swift’s recent reliance on eras has created a major impact in everyday society. Because of her gigantic influence, whether you are a fan or not, an “era” is now a unit of time measurement used by many to chronicle different periods in their lives. For example…

Last night, Sidney and I presented at our monthly Engaged Encounter meeting. Although the central function of this ministry is to stage weekend-long retreats for engaged couples, those of us who do the presenting meet monthly as a group to socialize and offer marital enrichment. The topic of our presentation? You guessed it…marital eras.

Sidney and I presented “Eras (Marriage Version” last night.

Inspired by an article by Stephanie Calis, Sid and I used the Taylor Swift formula to divide our marriage into eras. We told the story of our 8-year marriage through five different periods of time. Some of these eras were joyful and some were challenging. While the topic was fun to present as it offered relevancy to our group as we try our best to resonate with a much younger demographic of engaged couples, it was also therapeutic. By looking back on our marriage and naming our different eras, my wife and I were able to better understand how each one helped us grow and prepared us for the current era we are in.

Sidney and I after our presentation on the eras of our marriage.

Going through this exercise also helped me realize that the “eras concept” can be applied far beyond album releases and marriages 😂. You can use eras to chronicle your life based on cars driven, pets owned, houses lived in, and much more.

You can also use eras to define your career. I can chop up my professional experience by employer (UM, CCU, WSU), decade, boss, and even office. By segmenting my career into eras I can get a better understanding of my professional growth and the journey that has led me to where I am today.

So what about you? How can you use “eras” to tell the story of your life experience? I don’t share the Taylor Swift fandom that my wife and daughter embrace, but I can appreciate the usefulness of eras. Don’t Blink.

I celebrated my eighth Father’s Day as an actual dad this past weekend. Just like with the previous seven, it was a special day where my family went above and beyond to celebrate me.

Hanging with Beau and Sloan during Father’s Day 2024.

Although I am not a gift person (just ask my wife), I still appreciate the kindness and effort that my wife and kids put forth to give me something that is tangible. I wanted to share with you the heartfelt and unique presents they spoiled me with for Father’s Day 2024…

I usually say “a card is enough” when it comes to birthdays, Father’s Day, and Christmas. Of course they always make sure to get one, they just give a bunch of other stuff too 😂

Beau gave me a few gifts. You got the trophy that doubles as a cup for my cold beverage, an “I love my dad” sheet, and a paper weight photo display. With the sheet, I thought it was sweet that Beau values our daily walk to the end of the street to pick up our mail just as much as I do. I also loved the photo that accompanied the stone paper weight…My Dad ROCKS.

Beau spoiled me with a few different gifts.

Sloan made me a decoration craft that lists an adjective on each popsicle stick she feels describes me. It also came with a popsicle stick enclosed picture frame with a photo of her inside holding a sign that also contains nice words about me. Cut me some slack over here, I am trying not to let my ego get too out of control.

I can’t wait to hang this up.

Then you had my wife’s gift. Sidney always goes out of her way to get me something that I will enjoy and actually use. She nailed it with the gift bag that included work socks (most of my current ones have holes), mop towels (I will actually use them at the gym because I sweat a lot), pens (I am very picky with the writing utensils I use), and Twizzlers Bites (my favorite candy). I received the gifts on Sunday and it is now only Tuesday night but everything has already been used in some way!

Sid always goes all out when it comes to giving me gifts.

Big thanks to my family for making me the luckiest dad on earth. I hope all the other dads out there had a fabulous Father’s Day. Don’t Blink.