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Free Printable Road Trip Car Checklist to Prepare for a Long Road Trip

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Want to know how to prepare car for a road trip with a road trip car checklist? Then be sure to read all the great car tips for road trips below and download your free printable car checklist for road trip below. We want to help you get your car ready for a road trip by sharing all the car maintenance before long road trip tips and other prep that is recommended.  It goes without saying, but a car is a big investment. I personally do not know anyone who can afford to simply drive their car into the ground and then get back up and replace it without batting an eye. To compound things, when you go on vacation, you want to enjoy ...

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9 Practical Yet Cool Gift Ideas for Your Outdoorsy Guy

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Looking for gifts for outdoorsy guys? Then this is your list! Below you'll find gifts for outdoorsy men, whether its your boyfriend, your outdoor dad, or your outdoor enthusiast friend, these items would make his adventure time outdoors even better! And a huge perk is that they are totally cool gifts and very practical.  Today we celebrate a special breed of man in your life. You know who they are. They're the guy that gets up and out of the house to go hiking or biking early in the morning to catch the sunrise. They're the guy that takes you camping even in the dog days of summer. They're the guy leading the expedition down the ...

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Why We Took Our 5 Young Kids to a Snooty Art Museum

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When we were dating and during our first few years of marriage, Kate and I went to museums often. Whether it was the Museum of Art on BYU's campus or the Indianapolis Museum of Art (now known as The Newfields) when we lived in Indiana, we kept up the habit of taking in the fine arts, even after having kids. I can remember taking the twins, and even our son when he was very young to visit the Indianapolis Museum of Art. It was always a fun outing for the family. Unfortunately, we haven't been to an art museum since moving to Texas. We made sure to correct this in our most recent travels. In May, Katelyn and I took our family on ...

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How to Choose the Right Credit Monitoring for Your Family

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Since the September 2017 data breach that occurred at Equifax, I have had it on my mind that my entire family needed to have some sort of monitoring or freezing of credit to help protect us against the malicious and false use of our identities. Prior to this moment in time, I must admit that I had little knowledge about the services that existed to monitor my credit and identity or that freezing credit was even an option. The goal of this post is to inform you of what is out there and to simply suggest considering taking action to protect yourself against the constant threat of having your credit or identity stolen. Currently, ...

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How to Decide if a Google Home or Amazon Echo is Right for You

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Debating a Google Home vs Amazon Echo? So did we. Here's how we ultimately decided between a Google Home or Amazon Echo. May it help guide your decision! I like techy things. I don't always stay on top of the latest technology nor do we typically own such things, but when I walk through the store and see things like smart light bulbs, smart doorbells, connected clocks, smart thermostats, connected smoke detectors, and other such devices for the home I can't help but geek out a little bit. It was this exact geekish impulse that drove me to purchase our first major "smart" home devices this past holiday season: a Google ...

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What 30 Days on Jenny Craig Taught Me About Losing Weight

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Thank you Jenny Craig for sponsoring this post. -- Get serious about losing weight with Jenny Craig! A few weeks ago I decided to lose weight without dieting by changing my life. I jumpstarted this change with the help of Jenny Craig. I am thankful for the month I participated in the Jenny Craig program as it opened my eyes to a couple of things about being healthy. Jenny Craig members can expect to lose an average of 1-2 pounds per week, which is a healthy range of weight loss. However, I should warn this post won’t necessarily be about weight loss, though I did lose weight over the last month-and-a-half. No, instead ...

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Why I Am Losing Weight Without Dieting

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Thank you Jenny Craig for sponsoring this post. -- Get serious about losing weight with Jenny Craig! As a youth, I never thought to myself, “Man, I hope when I’m 36 years old I’ll struggle with weight issues.” The fact of the matter is that no one wants to stand on the scale and see an obscenely large number staring them back in the face.  But here I am, on the precipice of the rest of my life, and I must ask myself, "Do I want my life to be long and enjoyable, or short and painful?" In my mind, I’ve already made the decision as I want at least one more child, and hear how great grandchildren are and all of that. I want to ...

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How Non-Traditional College Students are Making Ends Meet

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Chances are high that you or someone you know is in a similar situation as I am in: a college student who is earning degrees later in life with a family in tow. As non-traditional students we’re out there seeking educational advancement: degrees, certificates, training, courses, professional development and the like. In the U.S.A, a place where education is viewed as the great equalizer, we’re hungry for bettering ourselves, our families, our vocations, our incomes.  Our group of education-seekers differ from traditional variety in that we started a family prior to finishing our journey for more education. We are the ...

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5 Useful but Overlooked Back to School Items for College Students

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At 36 years of age, I'm still in school, though working on my PhD. Despite plenty of success academically, I still have anxiety dreams before a new school year begins. I dream I didn’t go to class all semester and now need to take a final exam that I cannot read.  I wake up with a bit of fear and stress, but it quickly washes away as I laugh it off and I know I work hard in school, attend my classes, and prepare for all exams, usually achieving good results. Being prepared is good in all aspects of life, but back to school preparation goes beyond simply having a backpack, notebooks, textbooks, pencils, and paper.  I want to ...

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The Best Things about Living in Texas Hill Country

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This post is sponsored by Ozarka Water. All opinions and love for Texas Hill Country are my own. When we looked into places we'd like to move for my PhD, we considered Colorado (my home state), Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan (as my wife is from the Midwest) and our far-fetched choice of Montana.  Texas wasn't even on my list. I held a lot of common misconceptions on the State of Texas, thanks mostly to the proud Texans I met during college, things like: “oh, it’s all dessert except along the Gulf Coast where it’s a billion degrees AND humid”; or “oh, Texas is full of cowboys, hicks, and rednecks and they all have the worst ...

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4 Gifts for Dad That He Wants and Will Remind Him of You

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Getting the perfect gifts for dad can be something of a dilemma.  What do you get the man who has everything?  And by everything, I (of course) mean a wonderful family, great kids, a beautiful and strong wife, and the blessing of the Gospel in his home. The key is to focus your gifts for dad ideas toward items that remind him of how blessed he is. I know, being just such a dad, there is nothing I like more than having reminders of my loving family, who is praying for me at home while I am at work or school for long hours, and can't come home and see them as I'd like. So, here are some fantastic suggestions for gifts for ...

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Fatherhood and Education: Having Your Cake and Eating It Too

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Today I am welcoming a very special guest writer to What's up Fagans? - My husband Joshua. He's the guy behind the scenes, the man I love, and the father of my children. And today he's explaining, in his own words, our family's decision for him to pursue fatherhood and education at the same time, despite the finances, hardships, and sometimes guilt.  I love knowledge of all kinds, and in just about any subject. I really believe that "Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection" (D&C 130:18).  That's why I love the idea of being a lifelong learner. As such, I desire ...

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