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Robert Grisham Posts

Favorite Books for 2021

Published by on December 20, 2021

There was a time this spring when I was on pace to read a book a week, something I’ve never done before. While I didn’t quite hit 52 books read this year, I got pretty close, and I definitely beat my goal of 40. Here are some of my favorite reads for the year.

First up are some memoirs…

A Promised Land – Barack Obama
This is one that I listened to, which was great because it was President Obama reading it. It’s a very long book, clocking in at over 750 pages, and this is just part 1. It was a very enjoyable read.

I’m Still Here – Austin Channing Brown
This is not an easy book to read. In fact, after getting through about half of it, I put it down for awhile. But I’m glad that I picked it back up. It was less about new information making its way into my brain and more about truths penetrating my heart.

Where the Light Fell – Phillip Yancey
I just finished this one a couple of weeks ago. I don’t think I had ever read a book by Yancey. This one was beautiful. He is around the same age as my parents, and like them he grew up in the south. So there is a lot about religion and racism. And it’s another powerful book on how our parents shape us, both good and bad.

Still Christian – David Gushee
David Gushee began his tenure at Union University my senior year. I really wish that I had gotten to take a class from him. I read his book on ethics while in seminary, and began following more closely his work after that. I felt a real familiarity reading his story, though I have not been in the spotlight like he has, and I’ve therefore not gone through the pain that he has.

Greenlights – Matthew McConaughey
This might just be the most entertaining book of the year. And it’s another one I’d highly recommend you listening to, as the author is the one reading it. I listened to it while driving through Colorado, Montana and Wyoming this summer. It, like Yancey’s book, has the message of parenting at its core.

Speaking of books on parenting, this one was excellent…

The Intentional Father – Jon Tyson
I’ve been using Tyson’s materials on parenting since Adam was in 6th grade and we began our weekly breakfasts together. I’ve read a lot of good parenting books through the years, but I’d say this one is probably my favorite.

Now for some books on finance, productivity, and really just living life well.

Lifeonaire – Steve Cook
This fictional story gets the reader to ask the question, “What is the good life, and how do I achieve it?” There are some cheesy parts in it, but it was one of those right place right time books for me. I’ve actually made an offer to Adam that if he will read the book over Christmas break and write a reflection paper, I’ll pay him $50. I think the message in it is that important for him.

Off the Clock – Laura Vanderkam
For several years now managing time has been just as import as managing money to me. Vanderkam is one of the best writers on this topic.

Work Less, Live More – Bob Clyatt
My interest in semi-retirement came after I left vocational ministry. I had been pastoring a church and doing real estate for several years, which meant I was working well over 40 hours per week. After I left vocational ministry, I had 15-20 hours that I did not necessarily fill up with more real estate. It allowed for me a better pace, which led to better health. However, I would often find myself asking the question, “Am I doing enough?” This book and others has helped me navigate these kinds of questions and helped me to imagine a new kind of life.

This year one of the topics I found myself diving into was Evangelicalism. It no doubt started with the divisive election. I wrote some about this here. I plan to write more on this topic in the coming year, but for now, here are a couple of books I read this year that were shaping influences.

After Evangelicalism – David Gushee
Here’s another book by Gushee. Whereas Still Christian tells more of his personal story, this book shares the why and how by laying out many of his theological convictions and shifts. I’ve recommended this one to several people.

Jesus and John Wayne – Kristin Kobes Du Mez
When a friend recommended this one to me, I asked if he enjoyed it. After pausing for a moment, his response was, “it was really good, but I’m not sure enjoyment was what I felt.” After reading it, I totally understand. It gives a thorough history of how we got to where we currently are with evangelicalism. It shares the good, the bad and the ugly. And the ugly is really difficult to get through.

I already have a good list of books that I plan to read in the coming year, and I look forward to reading them!

2021 Grisham Update

Published by on December 10, 2021

As I reflect back on the year 2021, I’m struck with how much change our family has experienced. Change isn’t necessarily a good thing or a bad thing. But it’s a thing. Of the four of us, I’m pretty sure I was the one with the most boring year, but as I get older, I find that I’m perfectly ok with that! Here’s a month by month snapshot of the Grisham’s 2021.

In January we celebrated fifteen years in Memphis! Mandy and Micah returned to in-person school after a semester of virtual. Adam continued to be virtual for the spring semester.

In February Mandy and I celebrated our 25th Valentine’s Day together. Adam bought his first vehicle (from my dad). And we experienced a lot of snow and cold temps. The snow meant lots of fun. The cold meant frozen pipes at our house and at several of my rentals.

In March Mandy and I got fully vaccinated. The four of us, plus our dog Bella, spent a week hiking in Robbinsville, NC. Adam took on a personal service project and raised $1000 for St. Jude. And in the first of many big changes, Mandy found out that her contract at her school was not being renewed. It was a huge blow. One week later she had two great job offers.

In April Mandy’s Granny passed away. We were able to spend a few days celebrating a life well lived with her family in Missouri.

In May Mandy accepted the job as executive pastor at our church, Christ City Church. She and Micah finished up their time at New Hope Christian Academy. And Adam’s soccer team at East High won the West TN championship and got to go to the state tournament in Murfreesboro.

In June Mandy started her new job. Adam turned 16 and got his driver’s license. Micah turned 13. They both got fully vaccinated. And Mandy and I celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary by spending a week in Playa del Carmen. While there a tree fell on one of our rentals, so part of a couple of days was spent dealing with that. Now that Adam could drive and had a truck that could haul his lawnmower, he was able to add clients to his thriving lawn care business.

In July our family spent two weeks exploring Yellowstone, the Grand Tetons, and Boulder, CO. I wrapped up my first but definitely not last new construction project, and I also purchased my 20th rental property. Adam bought his first electric guitar and plays everyday. He, Micah and I take turns on the piano daily as well.

August marked the first time in her career that Mandy wasn’t going back to school. The boys were hoping that would apply to them as well, but alas, they were back at it. Adam started his junior year at East High, finally in-person, and Micah began 7th grade at a new school, St. George’s Independent School. Transition is hard, especially at that age, but Micah has done great.

It seems that we end up doing one big project at our house each year, and that was true this year. In September we landscaped our backyard. We love the results! My sister Taylor and I also took a road trip to Mountain View to hang with Dad, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Mandy and I are serving on the Memphis Young Life committee and are excited to see a new club started at Adam’s high school this fall. Mandy is also serving as the school’s PTO President. She led the initiative to raise $11k for the school in their annual support drive.

In October Adam and Mandy visited colleges across Tennessee. A week later Mandy and I took a trip to her favorite place in the world, Bar Harbor, Maine for fun hiking in beautiful foliage. Mandy found out that she had skin cancer on her forehead. It was removed and everything is ok.

November will forever be marked by Mandy’s SCAD heart attack. It’s been three weeks since this happened, but it feels like a much longer period of time. We met with her cardiologist this week. He decreased her medications, and her energy is beginning to increase. She begins cardiac rehab this week and looks forward to a full recovery. Micah joined the swim team at St. George’s earlier in the fall, and he began swim meets in November. He took first place in the 50 meter butterfly during his first meet!

It’s the beginning of December, and as we make our way towards the end of the year, we’re looking forward to a bit of a slower pace. With everything that’s gone on, we’re taking each day as a gift, grateful for God’s provision and protection throughout the year. We wish you and your family a very merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Mandy’s Heart

Published by on December 7, 2021

I wrote the following three Facebook posts over the last week, but I thought I would post them here as well.

This first one was written on Sunday, November 21, 2021.

We had quite the scare this weekend. On Friday afternoon Mandy was driving to the Target parking lot to send off the kids to YoungLife camp. She started having pain in her chest and down her arms. She pulled over and called me. I came to pick her up, we went to see Adam off, and we came back home. She started feeling better. Weird but better. A couple of hours later her dad recommended that she take her blood pressure. We have a monitor, so she did that. Her blood pressure was very high. We called brother-in-law Stephen, and he suggested that we go to the ER. I’m glad he said that, because that’s exactly where we needed to be.

After several tests, it was determined that something had happened to her heart. Her troponin levels were very high, and a heart attack wasn’t ruled out. More tests and it was revealed that there didn’t seem to be damage to her heart, which might have meant immediate surgery. Her blood pressure was getting worse, though.

It wasn’t until 2:30 Saturday morning that we were able to get into a room in the cardiology wing of the hospital. We both got about an hour of sleep. We were told that the plan was a heart cath at some point yesterday, but they needed to get the blood pressure down before doing so. At this point Mandy was still in some pain.

Yesterday afternoon we spoke with the cardiovascular doctor. He said that he was 80% sure that it was pericarditis rather than a heart attack. Pericarditis is inflammation around the pericardium. It can cause pain, which can cause elevated blood pressure. It can also cause triponin levels to increase. All of that happened. It was also good news in that medication is the remedy.

Fast forward to this morning. Mandy slept great and feels very good. No chest pains and a marathon of Hallmark movies. Her blood pressure is good, but her troponin levels, while down, are still elevated. They want to do a heart cath tomorrow just to make sure it’s nothing more than pericarditis. We feel really good about that. It’s thorough, and if you know Mandy, you know that she’s a fan of thorough. She should be able to go home tomorrow night assuming the results of the heart cath are good.

We’re grateful for family and friends who have been helping take care of kids and reaching out with prayer and kind words.

The next one was written Tuesday, November 23, 2021.

I wanted to give an update on Mandy. Yesterday was honestly a really hard day. We were hoping that the heart cath would show no issues with her heart, which would confirm the pericarditis diagnosis. That unfortunately wasn’t the case. They found a tear in an artery. The new diagnosis is Spontaneous Coronary Artery Dissection (SCAD). She did have a heart attack, but it was caused by this tear rather than by blockage. It most frequently occurs in otherwise healthy women between the ages of 40-50. While it, like pericarditis, can be treated with medication, it definitely seems more serious.

The actual procedure was tough on Mandy as well. She was up at 4am to prep, and they came to get her at 9:30. For some reason, they ended up bumping her for another patient, so she just had to wait. She was already uncomfortable after being in a hospital bed for several days and being hooked up to all kinds of stuff. And then the waiting and actual procedure were tough. She was pretty uncomfortable the rest of the day.

This morning I was thinking back to the Ted Lasso episode that features the phrase “It’s the hope that kills you.” I felt that way yesterday. We had a whole lot of hope for 24 hours, and then just like that it was dashed. Mandy was in pain, was drugged up, and was disappointed. And I was pretty helpless to do much for her. And I was tasked with sharing the news with family. This was hardest with the boys. I wasn’t sure how much to share and how much to hold back from them.

I also thought about Proverbs 13:12, which says “Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life.” My heart definitely felt sick yesterday, but I also love the image of this tree of life. Before going to bed last night I reminded Mandy (and myself) that tomorrow will be a new day. It could be a much better day.

I’m happy to report that she slept well last night, and feels much better this morning. We are waiting to hear from her doctor. We’ve been told that his plans are to discharge her today. We pray that is the case. I know that she’s ready to get home.

I am well aware that there may be some disappointing turns throughout all of this, but we’re resolved to trust God, to seek to press through, and like Ted Lasso, to fight for hope. Mandy has never felt like she had so many people seeking to protect her heart, and we feel confident that we are in good hands with the team of doctors at our side. We’re thankful to have so many people praying for us and reaching out to help. We feel loved.

The final one was written on Thanksgiving morning (November 25, 2021).

As I reflect on this Thanksgiving morning, I can’t help to think about this last week that we’ve been through. We’ve now had two nights at home, which has been so nice. Mandy feels good. We’re looking forward to seeing the cardiologist in two weeks just to better understand what happened and what the road forward looks like. But for now we’re glad to be home with the boys. And we’re very grateful.

I want to specifically thank our parents for helping out with the boys. We knew they were in good hands while we were in the hospital. That allowed us to rest. I’m also grateful for our sisters Megan and Taylor, who have checked in on us every day and been available for whatever we needed. And I’m grateful for our boys Adam and Micah. They had to pivot several times. But they were both champs. And it’s been great to be back with them. We had to miss Micah’s first swim meet on Saturday. He came in first in his butterfly race!

I’m grateful that Howard suggested to Mandy that she take her blood pressure last Friday night. And I’m so thankful that Stephen is our brother-in-law. Stephen is a nurse practitioner who gets a lot of after hours calls from our family for one symptom or another. After hearing her blood pressure reading he suggested that we go to the ER. He was also the one I immediately called after I got the call from the surgeon who did the heart cath and told me what happened. Stephen suggested that I reach out to Linwood White, his good friend who is the Nursing Director of the ER & Cath Lab at Baptist. Linwood had already walked Mandy’s stretcher down to the heart cath procedure and waited with her and helped her understand what was about to happen. Once I called Linwood, within five minutes he was sitting in our room explaining what had happened. He then got Stephen on the phone to explain it to him. That settled me down and gave me the information I needed to communicate to the family. I’m so grateful to those guys for being with us in those moments.

On that note, I’m grateful to Anne Higdon for coming to see Mandy on Sunday night. We had decided that I should spend the night at home to be with the boys. Anne is a nurse at Baptist, and knowing that Mandy was going to have a visitor spend some time with her was reassuring.

I’m grateful for the doctors and nurses at Baptist East who cared for Mandy so well. Being at a hospital is pretty terrible. There are so many things you think ought to change in the way the conduct business. For example, a tv in the ER blaring wrestling seems like a bad idea. But these doctors, and especially these nurses, work their tails off. We knew we were in good hands, and I’m grateful for their care.

I’m so grateful to the friends who have helped out with kids, brought food by, set up meal trains, called, texted and emailed. We have been absolutely blown away by the love and support we’ve felt by you all these last few days. We’ve felt love and prayer in such strong ways. Thank you so much for that.

There were many times over those days in the hospital that I was so grateful to be Mandy’s husband. I know there are many who would have signed up to sit with her at the hospital, but I’m beyond honored to be the one who got to do that.

Finally, we are both grateful for life. This has been a time where Mandy and I have both asked some What if? questions. Those are scary. They also cause you to pause, take stock of life, and treat each day as a gift. During this time we’ve reflected on friends that we’ve lost. We’ve thought specifically about Shawn and Asuka. And we’ve thought a lot about our friends who are battling cancer and other illnesses. Our hearts are with you.

I hope that today is a day for you to pause, reflect and give thanks for the beauty and bounty in your own life.

Happy Thanksgiving!

It’s been two and a half weeks since Mandy’s heart attack. Tomorrow we see the cardiologist. Mandy has lots of questions, so hopefully we’ll get them answered. Some of her medication has caused her to have much less energy than normal (she says that she’s in “Vacation Mandy” mode). And there’s of course some anxiety about this happening again. But overall she’s felt good. We’ve had lots of people checking in on us and providing meals, and the boys seem to be doing ok. We’re grateful for that.

Why You Shouldn’t Worship People

Published by on November 30, 2021

One of my favorite shows on tv right now is Succession. It’s the story of Logan Roy, the billionaire owner of a media empire, and his four children, all of whom are vying for his love and attention now, as well as his throne once he is gone. The family has more money than they know what to do with, but they’re not happy. Life is not working that well for any of them.

In each episode the viewer sees just how much Logan’s children and employees hate him. He is simply a mean bully. A kind word out of his mouth is never true kindness – there’s always an ulterior motive. It’s no wonder that there is hatred for the man. What is shocking is that there is also love, awe, and a desperate attempt for approval from these same children and employees.

It’s shocking, but it’s really not that shocking. We’ve seen it before. It’s part of the human story. It’s the worship of man at its finest. Logan is on such a powerful pedestal for all around him to see. He’s placed himself there, but they too have placed him there. And once a person is in that type of position for those around him, destruction follows, and that’s the essence of what we see throughout this show.

I’ve also been listening to the podcast “The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill.” I was in seminary and then in the early years of starting a church during the 2000’s, and during that time I was definitely influenced by the work of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, along with it’s founder and lead pastor Mark Driscoll. I have known the story of what happened there over its almost twenty year history, but hearing it on this podcast has been an unsettling experience.

In my opinion, at the core of what went wrong there was the celebrity culture that so many church leaders strive to attain. But it’s not just about those leaders. Those in the church want it too. And it doesn’t end well. In interview after interview, you see the love for Mark Driscoll from those who were impacted by his ministry. And along with that love was so often that desperate attempt for approval. He could have channeled this into a different direction, but he too was desperate for approval.

This worship led to destruction.

I often think about the commencement speech that David Foster Wallace gave at Kenyon College in 2005. Here is an excerpt.

You get to consciously decide what has meaning and what doesn’t. You get to decide what to worship. Because here’s something else that’s weird but true: in the day-to day trenches of adult life, there is actually no such thing as atheism. There is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worships. The only choice we get is what to worship.

And the compelling reason for maybe choosing some sort of god or spiritual-type thing to worship — be it JC or Allah, be it YHWH or the Wiccan Mother Goddess, or the Four Noble Truths, or some inviolable set of ethical principles — is that pretty much anything else you worship will eat you alive.

The rest of the speech is worth your time to read or listen to, but this is the big part for me. People are not meant to be worshipped. And when I say “worship”, I don’t mean sing songs to or bow down to. As Wallace says, it’s all about where you get ultimate meaning. Humans were never meant to give ultimate meaning to a person. And when it happens, it doesn’t end well.

One note…While a lot of Driscoll’s behavior has made me sick, I don’t put him in the same evil monster category as I do Logan Roy. However, I find myself thinking about these things as I listen to both stories. And I think there’s something we can learn from both.

Acadia 2021

Published by on October 28, 2021

Several years ago our family took a trip to New England. One of the stops was Bar Harbor, Maine. It quickly became our favorite stop, so much so that we cancelled the next leg of our trip so that we could stay an additional day. Since that time we’ve gone back twice.

We had a trip planned to Bar Harbor last fall but had to cancel due to COVID. I looked at planning a trip there this fall, but the boys’ fall break schedules did not align. So we decided to wait another year. Then one day, about two months ago, I asked Mandy the question, “What does a rich life look like to you?” It’s a question I had heard listening to a podcast. Without skipping a beat she said, “going to Bar Harbor this fall.”

That’s pretty specific, so I started thinking about ways we could make it happen. By searching for vacation rentals two weeks after the week we were originally looking, there were more options to choose from. We booked our flights using American Airlines points and found a cute apartment right in the heart of the town.

We spent last week there, and it was a wonderful trip. Mandy asked me the other night what we should call this area. We have three options. Bar Harbor is the main city. Acadia is the national forest. And Mount Desert Island (MDI) is the island that it all sits on. No matter what you choose to call it, for Mandy and I it’s our favorite place.

Here are a few highlights from our trip.

Watching the sunset at the Bass Harbor Head Lighthouse

The view from the top of Huguenot Head after a lovely hike

Riding bikes on the carriage roads. This is one of the nineteen Rockefeller Bridges scattered throughout the park.

Sitting on Sand Beach. A traveler from Indiana took this photo of us. He said it looked like we had the beach all to ourselves.

And finally, sunset on our last night from the top of Cadillac Mountain.

If you’re looking for a great place to travel, we highly recommend Acadia!

Reading the Bible

Published by on October 12, 2021

A couple of months ago I decided that I wanted to try to read the entire Bible in a year. I wanted to come back to this beautiful yet complex book with new eyes. Like many, I have a complicated relationship with the Bible. I’ve been reading it all of my life, yet there have been times when I have had to step away from it. I’m sure I don’t need to tell you that the Bible has been used throughout its history to justify some pretty jacked up things. Through the years this book has helped me grow closer to God, but at other times it’s played a role in me wanting some distance.

Despite all of this, I found myself wanting to revisit it, and I decided that I’d like to try to read the entire thing. This is something I’ve tried before, and I’ve never made it through. Most Bible reading plans start in January with Genesis. The last time I did this, I made it through the Pentateuch (the first five books of the Hebrew Bible). I got through Joshua and Judges, and then I began to make my way through the glory days of Israel’s history, which centers on the story of David. I’ve always liked David’s story, so this was pretty easy. It was Kings and Chronicles that did me in. There’s lots of repetition, and I got fatigued and quit.

This time I’ve done three things to hopefully help me meet my challenge. First, I’m reading my favorite Bible – The Daily Bible in Chronological Order. What I love about this Bible is that it’s divided into 365 daily readings, but it’s in chronological order, at least according to the editor. There is also a lot of historical and cultural commentary that I find super helpful.

Second, I decided to start two months ago rather than waiting until January. This meant that I began with Ezekiel, a very complicated book. I’ve read the minor prophets, which are sometimes tough to get through. I also made it through the large book of Job, which gave me a lot to think about. I’m about to finish the Old Testament. There are then a few days that cover the intertestamental period and the impact of Greece and Rome on the Hebrew people. And then we start the New Testament. By the time I get to January and start Genesis, I’ll be almost five months in. I’ll have a good foundation, but I’ll also have developed a good habit.

Finally, probably the biggest key is that I’m not doing this alone. My friend Luke is going to be reading with me, and our plan is to meet weekly to discuss. Getting to talk about what we’re reading is going to be great. It will of course give some accountability to meet the challenge, but more than that it will be great for our friendship.

I’m going to use this blog to write from time to time what I’m learning and how it’s shaping my life. I’m excited to dive in and see where this takes me!

Our Backyard Project

Published by on October 6, 2021

Almost eighteen months ago, knowing that we would be spending the summer mostly at home due to the pandemic, we decided to buy an above ground pool. We had a lot of fun with it last summer. Unfortunately this past summer was a different story. Mandy spent more time maintaining the chemicals than the boys actually spent swimming in it. So we decided to get rid of it. That part was easy. Then we needed to decide what to do with our barren yard.

Normally Mandy and I take a long time to make a decision, especially when it involves spending a large chunk of change. This time, however, we decided pretty quickly what to do. When I asked Mandy what she envisioned, she said that she wanted something that reminded her of the pacific northwest. So we knew we wanted trees. We also knew that we wanted grass. We had tried zoysia sod several years ago, and it looked good for one summer, then went downhill from there due to too much shade. So we definitely didn’t want to make that mistake again.

I had met Chris Pettit with Pettit Lawnscapes a few months ago when our neighborhood association hired him to plant trees along one of our streets. I gave him a call and asked him if he could help us. He came over, asked us lots of questions, and shared some ideas. A couple of days later he stopped by with a drawing and estimate. It was what we wanted. Fast forward a few weeks, and Mandy and I are extremely pleased with what we have.

This is where we were by the end of the second day. We had our trees, as well as a flagstone patio and walkway. Here’s where we are two weeks later.

In the end we decided to get lights installed. I’m so glad we did!

1198 Forest Ave Project

Published by on September 30, 2021

I couldn’t be more excited by how our latest renovation project turned out. Last winter we did our first mailer to neighborhoods where we have renovated houses in the past. We got two phone calls as a result. One was from the long-term (and out of state) owner of 1198 Forest Ave. He was getting out of the rental business, and this was his last one in Memphis. We went to see it and immediately knew that we would like to buy it. We loved the location (walking distance to Crosstown Concourse), and we loved the fact that there were five bedrooms. His estimate of how much it would cost to renovate the home was too low, which meant that the price he wanted wasn’t going to work for us. We were able to settle on a price we both thought was fair, and a few weeks later we closed.

Here are some photos from when we purchased the home.

The home had a newer roof and HVAC, though the entire system had been stolen a year or so ago. So we had to install a new system. In addition, we decided to add a second system for the upstairs. We knew that we needed to replace everything in the kitchen (flooring, lights, cabinets, countertops & appliances). We would also be painting the interior and exterior, and refinishing the hardwoods upstairs. The other main issue was that while there were five bedrooms, there was only one full bathroom downstairs plus a half bath upstairs. We would need to figure out how to have at least two full bathrooms.

Our solution was to enlarge the half bath to accommodate a full bathroom. To do this we just made one of the bedrooms a bit smaller. I was very happy with the design decision.

The entire project took about four months. Normally we start looking for tenants once the project is complete, but this time we were able to find someone a month before we were finished. Final touches are today, and our new tenants move in tomorrow!

Here are some photos of the finished product.

Formative Books – Work & Productivity

Published by on September 16, 2021

In previous posts I have shared my favorite books on the topics of spirituality and money. Now I’d like to highlight those books that have most helped me to do my work. As a long-term solo entrepreneur, I’ve rarely had someone looking over my shoulder to ensure that I was actually doing my work. That may sound heavenly to you, but it’s meant that I’ve had to develop systems and habits so that I actually get things done. Like previous posts, this list is in the order of when I first encountered these works.

First up is Time Management for Dummies, by Jeffrey Mayer. You may chuckle with this one, but this was the first productivity book I ever read. I read it during a time I had a job in which no one was there telling me what to do. I had to figure out how schedule my days so that I actually got things done. While I don’t remember much specifically about the book, there is one exercise that I continue to use. It’s the master list. You take a yellow notepad and write down everything that you need to get done. I now primarily use Nozbe for my to do list, but when there is a lot on my plate, I come back to that master list. There’s something about getting everything from my brain to a piece of paper that is clarifying.

Next is The 4-Hour Workweek, by Tim Ferriss. I’m a big fan of Tim Ferriss. I’ve been listening to his podcast since soon after it launched in 2014, and I’ve read just about all of his books. It was through this book that I first began thinking about concepts like life design, mini-retirements, and remote work. I’m fairly certain that a lot of my thoughts on working the system probably came from Tim as well. This is a book I come back to every few years.

Next up is StrengthsFinder 2.0, by Tom Rath. I first took the StrengthsFinder assessment back in 2001, but I didn’t have anyone really help me to understand it. But in 2010 our church had a consultant come and spend a weekend with us. I learned that my top five strengths were Command, Self-Assurance, Adaptability, Activator, and Arranger. This gave me language to understand the tasks I do that make me feel strong. I began to understand that this is a unique way that God has designed me, and it’s good for me and others when I spend the bulk of my time living and working out of these strengths. If you’ve never taken this assessment you can do so here. I highly recommend it.

Next up is Anything You Want, by Derek Sivers. The subtitle is 40 Lessons for a New Kind of Entrepreneur. I like that. I first heard Derek on the Tim Ferriss podcast, and I was immediately a fan. He is about as outside the box as you can get, and more than just about anyone I’ve ever heard about, his decisions and day to day activity are so rooted in his values and desires. This is a short book with short chapters, and it’s another one that I come back to every few years.

Greg McKeown’s Essentialism came at a perfect time in my life. I was doing too many things, and this book helped me make some radical changes. What do I feel deeply inspired by? What am I particularly talented at? What meets a significant need in the world? At the center of these three questions are just a few things. I understood that my focus needed to be on these things. That meant that I needed to stop doing a lot of other things. And that’s where the next book helped immensely.

Before Free to Focus was a book, it was a course by Michael Hyatt. It was one of the best investments I’ve ever made, and it continues to bear fruit in my life. It was from Hyatt that I learned how to construct an ideal week. The course/book also helped to give me the courage to cut out a lot of things I was doing that might have seemed urgent, but that weren’t really that important. It also gave me the skills to automate a lot of the tasks that I did on a day to day or week to week basis.

Deep Work, by Cal Newport, was another big one for me. The idea behind the book is that a lot of the work that is needed today is what he would call deep work. The problem is that the way so many of us spend our working days pushes against deep work. We are so easily distracted. What I learned through this book was to have time set aside during my most productive hours (morning) that was devoted to this kind of deep work. During that time I wouldn’t check email or browse the web for whatever entered my mind at that moment. It’s a discipline for sure, but it’s one that totally pays off.

The Complete Enneagram, by Beatrice Chestnut, is similar to StrengthsFinder in that I believe that the more I understand about myself, the better I’m going to be. Everything starts inside and works itself out. I’ve written on the Enneagram before, so I won’t repeat myself here. But of all the books on the subject I’ve read, this one is by far my favorite.

There was a time in my life when I was a workaholic. I worked a lot because I loved my work, but I also worked a lot because I felt better about myself when I did. Burnout was of course the end result of this kind of unhealthy lifestyle. Rest, by Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, taught me to take seriously the need for intentional rest and play. There are chapters in this book about taking walks and taking naps. Simple yet very counter-cultural.

Off the Clock, by Laura Vanderkam, has been out for awhile, but I didn’t read it until this year. I had read a couple of her other books, but this one is definitely my favorite. In one of her earlier books, Vanderkam encourages the reader to keep track of how their 168 hours (one week) were spent. This is an activity that I’ve done several times, and it’s one that I highly recommend. The subtitle of this book isn’t just a catchy line. I think it’s truly possible: “Feel less busy while getting more done.”

Two Weeks in Switzerland – Pt.2

Published by on September 7, 2021

In my last post I shared about our desire to go back to Switzerland this summer. In this post I’d like to document the planning process. We still have many months to go, but I’m happy to report that all of our flights and lodging have been booked!

This post is going to be long and very detailed, but that’s how the planning process really is. Planning a trip to another country is a complicated process, but hopefully what I share here will help anyone else who wants to take it on.

I mentioned in the last post that I hoped to pay for half of this trip with points. I first discovered “travel hacking” right before we took our month long trip to Europe in the summer of 2018. We had saved up for over a year for that trip, but it was a bit frustrating to learn that I could have saved SO much money had I understood travel hacking earlier. I won’t make that mistake this time, and hopefully you won’t as well.

To get started, we knew that we wanted to go back to the Lauterbrunnen Valley, and we wanted to stay at the same chalet. It’s in a small car-less village called Wengwald. Mandy found and booked this place a year before our last trip. It was affordable, and it had so many great reviews. To help explain how magical this place was, this was our view every morning we stepped out the door.

Now you can see why we felt the immense need to get back to this place!

Once we had decided to spend our entire two weeks in Switzerland, we knew we could spend at least five days here. So that’s what we are going to do.

We also decided that we would like to spend some nights in Mürren. The elevation in Wengwald is around 4200 ft above sea level. In Mürren it’s 5500 ft. We did some of our favorite hikes in this area. And one of our favorite memories from our time there was eating Magnum ice cream bars on a bench and having a little old lady stop by and ask us to make sure that we didn’t drop any of the chocolate onto the street. Never had that happen before!

So we booked this place in Mürren for five nights. Ten nights down. Where else should we go? Before I get to that, let’s discuss flights, because this is where things get pretty tedious. I started the process off by going to Google Flights. I had at first assumed that we would fly out of New York like we did last time. So I began searching for the best flights there. We then decided that Chicago would be a better option since we could fly nonstop via Southwest. So I started searching for the cheapest flights from there to Zurich. There I discovered that we would save a lot of money going at the beginning of June rather than the end of June or July.

From there I went to the Chase Ultimate Rewards site. My default credit card for the past several years has been the Chase Sapphire Preferred. And since it had been four years since I had gotten the bonus, I was able to apply for a new one. I first had to downgrade my existing card to the Chase Freedom Unlimited, which has no annual fee and gives you 1.5 points per $1 spent. And then I had to apply for a new card. The new bonus is 100,000 points, which is the highest ever. If you don’t have the Chase Sapphire Preferred, you should definitely get it. And if you do decide to apply, it would be awesome if you used this link, as they’ll give me some points as well!

There are times when it’s best to transfer Chase Ultimate Rewards to partner airlines and hotels. I’ve done that with Southwest and Hyatt. I looked into those options for my flights. I ended up booking through the Chase travel portal though. Here is a great tutorial for using this site. The bottom line is that you search for flights just like any other site, but instead of paying with cash, you use your rewards, and the rewards when you have the Chase Sapphire Preferred are worth $0.125. So four tickets from Chicago to Zurich costing $2425.76 cost us 194,060 points instead. Not a bad redemption, especially considering the fact that I paid a $95 annual fee to get 100,000 of those needed points through this credit card!

Since we knew that we would be flying in and out of Zurich, we knew we wanted at least two nights there. Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland. It’s also one of the most expensive cities in the world. So now we had a large city. And we had villages in Wengwald and Mürren. We decided that we wanted a couple of nights somewhere in between. So we settled on two nights in this apartment in Luzern. We will be arriving in Zurich mid-afternoon, and the next morning we’ll probably wake up around 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning. Jet lag will hit us hard in Luzern, but it will be a good place to shake that off by exploring a new city.

And then we were down to Zurich. Did I mention that Zurich is one of the most expensive cities in the world? It’s #5 according to this article (have you even heard of #1!). As with the other stops on our trip, we opted for apartments rather than hotels since our boys are only getting bigger. More space is helpful. I read lots of blog posts and purchased Rick Steves’ book so that I would better understand which neighborhoods would work best. We settled on this apartment for two nights.

At this point I have booked flights from Chicago to Zurich as well 14 nights in vacation rentals. All that is left is our flights from Memphis to Chicago, plus a night in a hotel on either end of the trip. Our first thought was to fly Southwest. We’ve had the companion pass for the last couple of years, which has really saved us money. It expires at the end of 2021, and I may opt to wait a year before trying to get it again. The other issue with Southwest is that they fly into Midway, and our Zurich flight is in and out of O’Hare.

I went back to the Chase travel portal and found that I could book four nonstop flights from Memphis to Chicago for $1035.20, or 82,816 points. We went with the points. The good thing with that, besides using points instead of cash, was that we would fly in and out of O’Hare instead of Midway. Now all that was left was booking hotels. I chose a Hampton Inn for our first night. We will arrive at O’Hare that morning around 9:30 and then will take the free airport shuttle to our hotel, where we’ll leave our bags before heading downtown for the day. We’ll have the next day completely free as well. We’ll check out, leave our luggage, and head back downtown. Our other thought is to do a college tour or two that day. After a fun day of something, we’ll had back to the hotel, pick up our luggage, take the airport shuttle to O’Hare, and fly our at 10pm .

Our return flight from Zurich arrives in Chicago around 6pm. It’s going to feel like 1am to us, so once we clear customs and get a bite to eat, we’ll take that free shuttle to the Hyatt Place, which I paid for with Hyatt points, and crash. The next morning we fly out at 10am. Nice to not be too rushed that morning, even though I’m sure we’re going to be up EARLY.

Since this post has gotten rather lengthy, I think I’ll save a bit for a last post. In that post we’ll discuss transportation once we get into Switzerland, plus I’ll share some things we learned during our last trip that will help us this time around.