Hello everyone! I rarely share personal info unless it is related to money. Mostly because I know that when you come to Enemy of Debt, you are mainly interested in getting out of debt. I want you to get what you are looking for when you visit so I avoid talking about certain topics, unless it is related to money.
However, I thought it would be fun to share with you a special behind the scenes look at me—the Enemy of Debt. Learn some random facts about yours truly. Why now? That’s simple—we just had a baby and I am on cloud nine, so I thought I would lighten things up a bit. Please enjoy! 😀
In 2009 I/we:
- got put on the map by Jim Kavanagh over at cnn.com causing Enemy of Debt to explode! (Thanks Jim!) I went from about 41 subscribers to now 294 since May of 2009, and I LOVE EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU!! 😉
- celebrated being married to my beautiful wife for 5 years! (Thank you Alana for putting up with me!)
- BECAME DEBT FREE BABY!!!!! (Thanks Dave Ramsey!)
- had a precious and healthy baby boy! (Thanks to God!)
- became a regular contributor at the Self Reliance Exchange to help encourage self-sufficiency! (Thanks to Clair and DDFD for the opportunity!)
All really wonderful and exciting experiences.
Now For 21 Random Facts About Me
(Number 20 may shock you!!)
- Favorite sport growing up: baseball – pitcher and shortstop. Played for 13 years.
- I was most known for: my killer curveball and accuracy as a pitcher.
- Have lived in: Virginia, New Mexico, & Oregon.
- I have: three beautiful children – Caitlin, Isaac, and Noah. (All pictured below!)
- I considered myself: an Atheist until the year 2004, which is when I became a Christian.
- I absolutely enjoy: reading, hiking, skiing, playing golf, darts, ping pong, pool, basketball, & blogging.
- I do not enjoy: watching sports on television.
- Regret to say I have never: been out of the country.
- 7 places I most want to visit: Greece, Italy, Israel, Japan, Australia, India, and Peru.
- My 3 favorite T.V. shows: Criminal Minds, Fringe, & Lost.
- I smoked cigarettes: for 14.5 of the last 19 years. Quit for good 2 years ago! Yay me!
- My 3 favorite types of food are: Italian, Indian, & Chinese.
- I am scared of: heights & not learning.
- Once flew to Florida to: replace a relatives roof, in the middle of the summer—for free. Did I say IN THE MIDDLE OF SUMMER? Seriously though, we saved her lots of money.
- Favorite hike in Virginia: Old Rag Mountain.
- Hates when: people smack when eating. (Agggh!) Nobody wants to hear you grazing!! It’s amazing to me that the people who do it—yeah you know who you are—act like they have no idea. That’s like finding yourself skiing at the top of a mountain, NAKED and saying you didn’t realize it.
- Is annoyed by: parents exploiting their kids for personal gain. (bubbleboy – I feel for you dude!)
- If I ever start a non-profit organization, it would be mainly focused on these two things: 1.) motivating and assisting struggling single-parents, and 2.) motivating and mentoring children that do not have a father figure, especially—but not limited to—orphans and foster children.
- Any tattoos?: Yes…this one, and I want at least two more. At least! 😀
- *Something you might not expect from me: at one-time—I had 5 earrings, a tongue ring, my eyebrow and my lip pierced. Too much? haha!
- Embarrassing life changing event – In 2003, I went to an interview once and actually asked this question: What is your policy on piercings? (smack! smack!) Needless to say I DID NOT get the job, in fact, the guy knew the very second that question came out of my mouth he wasn’t going to hire me. What makes it even more embarrassing is that it was a big opportunity for me at the time, and I was referred by a friend of a friend from the company. UPDATE: Piercing-Free since 2003. Hahaha! I don’t hate them per say, I just grew out of them.
My Beautiful Children
Caitlin Taylor (13)
Caitlin At Hospital After Birth
(will add one of Caitlin at hospital after I find one and scan it!)
Bradley Isaac (3)
Isaac At Hospital 1-3 Days After Being Born 2006
Joseph Noah (newborn)
My Beautiful Wife And I On Our Wedding Day
Our Dogs
Daisy
Gizmo
Blast From The Past – Isaac As A Chicken For Halloween 2007
Isaac was so cute! The second picture was hilarious because he just decided to sit down in that corner and look as if he just lost his job or something.
A Young Me Before Debt
Good friends - Jr. High School
Walking my mom down the isle
My Favorite Christmas Ornament
These scissors were a gift from my first Financial Peace University class I led at my church. They have “Enemy of Debt” engraved on them!! ROCK ON FPU!
Notice the cut up credit card pieces that were placed in this ornament after we paid them off and closed each account for GOOD! We haven’t borrowed a penny since January of 2008, even though we were told it couldn’t be done!
Ornament reads: Financial Freedom…Priceless!!! Ornament is a gift I buy for anyone in my FPU class that cuts up there credit cards anytime during the 13 weeks.
Did You Know I Could Draw?
I drew this from a picture of Isaac
I drew this from a picture of Caitlin
I guess I will need to get to work on Noah’s drawing now! ;D
ANTI-CREDIT CARD ART That I Created For EOD—You Like?
Thanks for taking the time to get to know me just a little bit better! Any comments?
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND!
Thanks, Brad for sharing some of your self with us. The most surprising thing to me was not the piercings, but rather your art skills.
bucksome – lol, yeah well I wish I used my art skills more often. I have thought about taking an art class for my own benefit. Surprisingly I have never taken one since High School, but would love to broaden my ability.
Dave – You talking about the tunnel picture? That was one of the first, and actually there is more but these are the best.
Chris – I hear ya man! I love to play golf too but hardly ever do it. Actually a friend of mine won some passes to play 18 holes at a local golf course, and doesn’t play, so he gave them to me. I can go four times by myself or invite 3 friends, and I’ll probably do the latter. I haven’t played in years, but did find the time to go hit some balls at the range a few weeks ago. I did pretty good actually. Mostly straight…which I am sure you know is good. 😀
KelsaLynn -Awwww…shucks! 😉 Glad this helped my cool factor, and I enjoyed sharing it. My wife has beautiful taste btw, and it sounds like you do to. We had a beautiful wedding because of my wife’s hard work and great choices. It urks my nerves so bad when someone does it that my wife gets the biggest kick out of it because she can see it affecting me. LOL To me it as simple as basic manners in general…nothing too complicated. LOL
Karen – Hahahaha Karen! The chicken suit was so awesome! I have another picture where Isaac is walking but it looks like he is flapping his wings. My wife was the one who found the chicken suit, and to this day it is the most adorable chicken costume I have ever seen. I would have liked to get a foghorn leghorn costume for myself. That would have rocked!
Julie – Thank you very much for your kind words, and I agree about the smartest thing I have ever done comment. 😀 Glad you enjoy EOD and I hope you stick around.
Thanks everyone for giving me a chance to open up. 😀
I think I like the last EOD art the most. That’s a good one. Thanks for giving us a little better insight into your life.
Have a good one!!!!
David Damron
LifeExcursion & The Minimalist Path
Great art Brad. I also like to read books, hike, and play golf, but I have to add playing guitar for myself. I’ve been playing for 12 years now, I wish I could say the same for my golf game though, LOL.
I thought you were a cool dude before I knew all this about you, but now… no, just kidding, now I think you’re even cooler. Your children and wife are beautiful (your wife’s bouquet is IDENTICAL to mine- so she must have good taste 😛 ).
2009 has been a wonderful year for you and your family!
#16 (smacking while eating)– there is a guy at my work who I swear to God wins the gold medal for this. It’s SOOOO loud. I have to leave the room. I’ll eat at my desk in my office if he’s in there b/c I can’t stand it.
Thanks for sharing!
This is so great, Brad! I love random facts about people… it gives you a more balanced view 🙂 Isaac in the chicken suit is awesome… I knew you were a great blogger, but to dress your 2 year old in a chicken suit takes you to a whole new level of awesome for me. 🙂
Karen
Thanks for sharing your views, your self with us. You have a lovely family. Glad to hear you are no longer an athiest. Becoming a christian is the smartest thing you’ve done…..dare I say even smarter than getting out of debt! :0) Love your articles, and your blog! Thanks for your time!
You actually asked that in an interview??? LMAO. We share a common interest in past piercings. I took mine out after my second child. And had some tattoos lasered off when I started a real career (of course, I got more in the interm – just covered areas – lol).
Still fantastic when I hear about you and your wife putting away the credit cards. Amazing! You two proved it could be done. 🙂
Awesome post! Happy to know you.
Now if you’ll excuse me I need to read more on your Athiest’s approach to becoming Christian (as I am thinking of once again attending church).
Hey Money Funk, yeah I actually did. It was one of those moments where you learn instantly. I knew as soon as I asked the question I didn’t stand a chance. Other than that the interview went well. My train of thought was that I had just spent all this money on getting these piercings and I was really just curious about the policy but I guess the time to ask that question would have been AFTER I got the job. YOu live and you learn I guess. I definitely learned from that.
We did prove it could be done and that was with people like my dad telling me that it was next to impossible to have a car without a payment or to go through life without a credit card. My dad is actually pretty good with his money too, but even he has been sucked into that train of thought. I say you should not ever say NEVER, because there is always a way! 😀 As you said we are proof!
I tell you my change in beliefs wasn’t an easy one. Every part of me was convinced that God was a fairy tale and that science proved it but as I continued to search I started to realize science did more to prove Christianity than it did evolution. Look at how perfect everything has to be for life to even exist. One thing is off and we would not be here. Just looking around you and seeing the beauty that is everywhere it is hard to comprehend that being random and meaningless. We were created. If we were created then who was our creator? The Bible answered my questions. If you would ever like to discuss this further or just need someone to talk to about it, please shoot me an email.