WWDRD: What Would Dave Ramsey Do? or How We Chose Not to Participate in The Recession

i don't know how to open this blog post. is it proper or good etiquette to start a blog post with a preface? does it matter? i always found the thesis paragraph the most annoying part of writing essays in school. sooo, no introduction. just read the post.

clark likes to listen to conservative talk radio while he's driving, and a favorite program of his has been the dave ramsey show. about a month ago clark and i borrowed dave ramsey's financial peace university tape series from his parents. along with thesis paragraphs, i have always had a distaste for finances and money in general. people fight over money all the time, and where there is money there is usually bountiful debt (hello, america). mo' money, mo' problems y'all.
but MAN! ever since listening to dave talk about money, and how to make your money work for you, i am PUMPED about finances and money in general! it seems like since clark and i have been taking a more active interest in managing our income, our lives have been blessed with more money. one of the blessings has been a second job for me, which brings me to...

edit: i feel like this paragraph about working at sonic sounded condescending. that was not my intent. the truth is that sonic is stereotyped as being a job for high-schoolers and high school dropouts, and for a reason. however, i really enjoy the company of most of the people i work with, and i'm pretty proud of the ones who haven't finished high school because they work a lot harder than most people i know. /edit

here is what i get paid to do:
i am a carhop. when i am inside the little sonic building i am preparing your tray to bring out to you (laying your straws spoons and napkins out, mostly), making drinks, cleaning our drink/ice cream area, or just standing around. sometimes i refill the ice bins. i am also responsible for bringing out the "smile tray," which has all the fast food necessities such as salt, mustard, ketchup, salsa, ranch and honey mustard packets. i share these duties with the other carhops.

this is merely a glimpse of our life right now, but i just don't posess the blogging stamina to go on. before i finish, let me reiterate how much i love dave ramsey. he is awesome. i wish i were his neighbor or his hairdresser. adieu!

ps.
sonic trivia!
did you know the first ever sonic was started in shawnee, ok?
did you know there is only one sonic drive-in in michigan??

whoa, coins! they totaled $199.

"hey y'all! see you in belton!"

if you weren't yet aware, THIS is what happened to our hotel. at least we weren't there yet!

rayna dances for thanksgiving from daniellew on Vimeo.

hello there. i do not know why it is such an arduous task for me to update this blog. i look at it about one hundred times a week hoping for new photos of friends family and babies. i am just selfish and want to eat up all of your lives, and share none of my own! and clark's own (our own).

feed your brains with these pictures from thanksgiving in San Anton':









i have more photos, but my flash was not functioning so a lot of them are blurry.
it was an enriching trip! i learned a lot about texas history (how did i never learn about the alamo?), and got to eat real texas barbecue right out of a bbq pit!

things as of late

hello to all, friends and family! i realize that this blog is not often updated, and let me apologize for that and at the same time assure you that we do love you all and think of you often! here is what is going on with clark and danielle recently:

• WORK - this takes up most of our time. when i (danielle) am not at lincoln elementary working with kiddos, i am likely babysitting some other kiddos. this is fine because it allows us to pay bills, and also i like dem chillens. clark is still at his student job with the university, and it treats him well.

• SCHOOL - this semester we are both part-time students at OU. i am taking a ballet class, which is interesting and tons of fun, and a music of the pacific rim class, which is not tons of fun but certainly interesting. clark is taking two history classes, and they are kinda tough. he's hanging in there. this semester clark also changed his major to multi-disciplinary studies, with an emphasis on history and media. this change came at a good time, and that he was able to do it was a blessing. he now is set to graduate in the spring or summer, with only 15 credit hours left to complete.

• NETFLIX - clark and i decided to subscribe to netflix, and let me tell you. it's fun. in the time that we aren't working, in class, or doing classwork, we're usually enjoying the cinema right here at home.

LIFE IS GRAND!