Joshua

Today was spent at Laguna Beach in California. I walked to the bus stop, and for $1.25 my travel expenses were covered. After taking a few pictures of people and the landscape, I found a spot on the beach. I spread out on my purple, Hawaii beach towel and read Joshua. I had a map of Israel in biblical times, so as I read Joshua I was able to look at each city as it was discussed. Here's my super-condensed version of Joshua - all 24 chapters in a nut-shell.

Joshua- He did a lot in his 110 years on earth. Joshua was Moses assistant, so after Moses died he took over. He led God's people, the Israelites, into the Promised Land. To get there, they crossed the Jordan - which God stopped the flow of - and on their way through the river, they took 12 stones from the middle of the Jordan and carried them to camp. They marked the place where the priests, who carried the Chest of the Covenant, had stood. Then, after camping in Gilgal, God gave Israel Jericho.

Joshua became famous over all the land. Joshua then went to take the city of Ai, but God stopped them. Joshua had to trace God's anger to one person - Achan, son of Zerah - who stole from one of the cities Israel was given. God held back Joshua and the people of Israel from His goal until this one person was brought to justice - stoned to death. One person. Wow!

God then gave Israel their land. Moses had already divided up some of the land, so those tribes were sent to settle. Joshua cast lots before God (after advisement for how to divide the land) and completed the division of land to the rest of the 12 tribes. A couple of the tribes didn't think they had enough land, so they went to Joshua and he gave them more.

The wars were over and everyone settled in their land. Each king was appointed for 31 cities. In the end, Joshua asked the people who they wanted to worship. Everyone chose God.

All of Israel was given their land from God, and God guaranteed they could keep everything as long as they obeyed Him. It was up to Israel to maintain God's blessings.

Today was so refreshing. Thank you God for study days. Also, Tim, Stephen, and I had dinner at Johnny Rockets. After a nice burger, fries, and milkshake the hot tub finished us off. Today was perfect!

things that make us happy

Tim wrote this cool program. We're keeping track of things that make us happy. We're hopeing that our friends will add things that make them happy to the list.

Allowances

This is an excerpt from an email. I think this theory sounds pretty good.

Some families don't believe in giving allowances to kids, but I do — with certain restrictions. I think an allowance should come like a paycheck, on the same day each week, so that kids can begin budgeting mentally. You may, for example, say no to all requests for candy in the drug or convenience store, but a child with an allowance will know that he can pay for his own treats once a week. I don't believe in paying for good grades or for anything else that is the child's responsibility as part of the family (making his bed, tidying her room). Parents often start with 50 cents or $1 in kindergarten or first grade and give a raise of 50 cents or $1 each year. But it really depends on what you expect your kids to pay for — at ages six to eight they might be expected to pay for their own trading cards, for example. At ages 10 to 12, they might be expected to pay for a movie with their allowance. But if you expect your kids to put part of their money away for college each week, or to give a certain percentage to charity, you'll probably want to give them more.

Written by: Jean Chatzky. Jean Chatzky writes the back-page column in Money magazine and is a featured columnist for USA Weekend and Time magazine. She is the financial editor of NBC's "Today" show and her "Money Minutes" airs weekly on CNBC. Chatzky is the author of Talking Money and The Rich and Famous Money Book. Her latest book is the national bestseller, Pay It Down -- From Debt to Wealth on $10 a Day.

Birthday 24

So it's on to a new week and a new month, and most notable is the passing of my birthday. Number 24. Man I feel old. (But Jennie's older :)

I've milked this one about as much as I can. I took two days off work and did nothing of any value to others. I did however thoroughly enjoy my new Xbox and my very own beautiful, shiny copy of Halo 2. And because my Best Buy gift card was scorching its way through my pocket, I took a little trip and picked up... shhhh, don't tell anyone... Dance Dance Revolution. Though I felt somewhat less than manly at the checkout counter, Jennie and I and others who wish to remain unnamed have been dancing non-stop for the past three days.