Long Time, No Blog

At a recent family gathering, I was reminded that we haven't produced a new blog post in a very long time. I looked to see for myself and it's been over a year - YIKES! A lot of great things have happened for the Baggetts since that last post in January of 2015. Let's use this post to catch up on some of our BIGGER accomplishments.

BIG MOVE

Julie and I started our family in the townhouse she bought earlier in her career. It was all the space we needed as newlyweds and we made it work when Graham came along. But as he grew bigger, the house grew smaller. We wanted a larger home with a yard so a very determined Julie Corman Baggett set her sights on finding something that met our needs. We visited dozens of homes but could never work out a purchase.

Finally, in October of 2015, we moved into our new home and I wouldn't trade it for any of the other homes we considered! I've had a lot of fun tackling some areas of need in the yard and we've painted almost every room inside. We've still got a long way to go but I hope that we'll be able to put together a book of "before" and "after" photos to document all that we've accomplished.

Graham loves playing outside at his new house!

The very best part of our move occurred about a month after we settled into our new home. After having it on the market for over a year prior to our move, we sold the townhouse. We were extremely blessed to not have overlapping mortgage payments!

BIG ADDITION 

Before we got super-serious about moving, we were super-serious about having another baby. It wasn't until after we moved into our new home that we had any success on that front. That's what God's schedule called for and did we ever succeed! We informed family and friends about the TWINS back at Christmas and recently had a really neat gender reveal party at our house.

Posted by Julie Corman Baggett on Sunday, February 21, 2016

The genders were a total surprise to us - we didn't find out in advance. My sister was a huge help with the balloon and boy were they loud when Graham popped them! Click here to watch a video of the big reveal.

Julie’s due date is July 11th but we’ve been told to expect them to arrive in late June. We’ve got to double-up on cribs, car seats and just about everything else but we’ll make it happen!

GOING FORWARD 

Now that I know how much our blog is relied upon for family updates, I’ll be aiming to produce at least two new posts each month. I’m going to challenge Julie to write at least one post a month. I miss my “Like, Love and Don’t Like” posts so I might borrow from that format. Those posts won’t be so personal – they’ll be more about the things going on in our family. That shouldn’t be hard to do. Between maintaining a larger home with Julie and my new job (oh yeah, that happened too!), I don’t know as much about what’s going on in the outside world as I once did!

In the meantime, let me give you a few links that are surefire ways to keep tabs on us:

Nick’s YouTube Channel - I mainly share videos of Graham playing with his toys in his new yard so this is a great way to keep up with him. If you have a YouTube account, you can set up an email alert to notify you of new videos that we post.

Julie’s Instagram - Julie does a great job of preserving moments from her outings with Graham. Everyone has an Instagram account these days and, in almost everyone’s case, what you see on Facebook has already been seen on Instagram.

Come Visit Us! - We’d love to have you visit us and let us give the grand tour of all the things we still need to do in our new home! Plus, I’m really starting to get into BBQ’ing thanks to my awesome new grill that my wonderful in-laws gave me for Christmas. I might cook you something when you visit!

Like, Love and Don't Like

This week, I like normal winters. Today is the one-year anniversary of the weirdest, most maddening winter events that I've ever experienced. So far, this has been a typical Alabama winter, and I really like that. Last year's ice event caused a lot of chaos for the better part of a week. I can't imagine how folks even function after snow storms like what occurred in Buffalo last November and this week in the northeast. Even one year later, I still slightly panic any time my tires spin on wet pavement and think the worst of thoughts - like what's depicted in this recent video from a New Jersey driver.


Would you be as calm and steady as this guy if you saw an out-of-control truck barreling your way?

Me neither.

This week, I love advances in car technology. For me, browsing the websites of car manufacturers has become the modern day version of visiting the local dealership. The new designs of Chevrolet's cars and trucks have really caught my eye - especially that new Chevy Colorado. We come to expect car manufacturers to raise the bar each year but I'm super impressed with the WiFi feature that Chevrolet has added to their new vehicles.


This will change road trips forever!

This week, I don’t like misplaced pity. I've had plenty of time to collect my thoughts about Auburn’s 2014 college football season. Ending the season by losing 4 of the last 5 games seems oddly acceptable given the promise that next year holds. But before we begin hyping next season (or is it too late for that?) I would like to address an issue of misplaced pity that fell upon the shoulders of kicker Daniel Carlson immediately after Auburn's overtime loss to Wisconsin in the Outback Bowl. I did not like the swiftness at which the media, coaches and many fans consoled Carlson as if his missed kick was the reason Auburn lost that game. I did not like that because it seemed to redirect the blame for the defense's abysmal play onto something more tangible - a helpless kicker. Also, where was the pity for Auburn kicker Cody Parkey when he also missed a pair of crucial field goals in a far more significant bowl game the prior season?

"Cool it with the penalties on 3rd and long, Mincy." 

Auburn's defense is the reason for those losses and to even hint at placing the blame on a non-defensive player is crazy. I, like a lot of people, like the hiring of Will Muschamp as Auburn's new defensive coordinator but I've been on enough of these roller coasters to know that every up has a down. Muschamp will certainly improve Auburn’s defense but I have that creeping thought in the back in my mind: What if he doesn't??

Like, Love and Don't Like

This week, I like the potential for TV subscriptions. Recently, HBO announced that it will begin selling subscriptions to their programs. These subscriptions will not require a traditional cable subscription and allow viewers to watch popular shows on mobile devises via an internet connection. While I don't watch any HBO shows, I'm very excited for this move and the pressure it might put on other cable channels (and even networks) to make similar offers. Cord cutters rejoice!

This week, I love Julie's sales skills. I love my wife for thousands of reasons but one in particular is her shared low tolerance for unused items taking up precious space in our home. But where I'm perfectly satisfied to simply trash such an item, Julie exhausts all avenues to sell that item. I'm not just talking about eBay - - Julie has also tapped into local sales groups that utilize Facebook. I'm completely lost as to how it all works but I'm thankful that Julie is determined enough to make something out of nothing!

This week, I don't like the various approaches to updating a home. In our search for a bigger house, we've visited may area homes that are for sale. In the homes that are included in our price range, I've noticed two levels of effort made by home owners when keeping their bathrooms, kitchens etc. updated: none and cheap. The "none" approach is more popular. I get it...home repairs and renovations are expensive. But it amazes me each time we see a home interior that's had it's current look since 1973. On the flip side (pun intended), it's not always refreshing to see a bathroom that has received a lot of attention...but only with the bare-minimum spent on materials. It seems crazy that there's no middle ground but that probably goes back to the price range in which we're looking.

By the way, why did so many bathrooms feature a pink or mint green color scheme back in the day??

*Above photo used for reference only. Not seen in any homes we've considered buying....but a close example!

Like, Love and Don't Like

This week, I like drones. No, not the military types. I'm referring to the commercially-produced versions that are growing in popularity. When equipped with a decent camera, these vehicles can provide amazing vantage points that have never been so easily accessed by videographers. Drones are now crossing over from recreational to commercial use. Golf courses, realtors and other businesses are starting to incorporate this technology into their marketing efforts after realizing a video from above trumps the traditional ground-level photograph.

I don’t have any desire to own a drone but I enjoy watching this phenomenon from the sidelines. There is a lot of drama and controversy pertaining to regulated airspace when is comes to operating drones in public places - and that's always good entertainment.

Here are some of my favorite drone videos.

Oh, and watch for "dronies" to become a thing.


This week, I love our Chromecast. My sister gave me a gift card for my birthday and with that gift card I purchased a Chromecast. I’m here to tell you that Google has knocked it out of the park once again. Here's the breakdown: this device pairs with your smartphone/tablet and WiFi signal to stream videos, movies, music and shows directly to your TV. Many big players in the media industry, including ESPN, HBO and ABC, have worked with Google to make their mobile apps work seamlessly with the Chromecast device.

I've been completely amazed and the picture quality of the college football games I've watched this season via Chromecast when piped through my phone. As a cord cutter, this device gives me great hope that networks will soon bypass the overcharging cable companies and sell subscriptions to their content. I guess that's the only downfall of Chromecast at this time...in order to view premium TV content, you have to provide the login to the account you have with your cable provider. Time will tell!

This week, I don’t like NBC Sports. As I mentioned, I am a cord cutter and I really appreciate the opportunity to watch streaming programs and sporting events. PBS makes episodes of Downton Abbey available online. I can watch every PGA tournament that CBS Sports carries on a laptop or smartphone. ABC's website was the only place I could watch the final episodes of Happy Endings after we told Charter Communications "no thanks". This concept of sharing is wonderful!

Unfortunately, the folks at NBC Sports (owners of the Golf Channel) aren't in a giving mood. Earlier this summer, the men's and women's US Open was played at the same course in back-to-back weeks. NBC Sports carried the events. I was happily surprised to learn that I could watch the men's tourney online. Weirdly, I had no such luck when trying to watch the women's tournament the next week. NBC did not stream any of the recent PGA Tour playoff events either. You can forget about them streaming any of their Sunday Night Football games. Although that's more of an NFL issue, that’s a terrible policy because I watched the 49ers and the Ravens play in the freaking Super Bowl on CBS on a laptop just a few years ago!! The Golf Channel sends me an email and invites me to watch the Ryder Cup online LIVE...and this is what I get:

I’m not sure what can be done about the stinginess at NBC Sports but the good news is that they lost the rights to cover the US Open to Fox Sports. If the shot callers at Fox Sports are reading this (and I’m sure they are) take note: this is your chance to gain a lot of fans!!