Since I returned here in early December, things have been progressing smoothly and regularly.  Bicycling conditions have been steadily improving, and today they were the best that I have seen them since it snowed just before Thanksgiving.  In fact, during today’s ride to the grocery store and library more than three quarters of the trip was on relatively clear roads!

Next Saturday I am looking forward to returning home for a two week Christmas vacation, but I should be pretty busy until then with school finishing a number of classes and with work helping to prepare to close the the books for this year.  Please pray that all goes well, and I accomplish much for the glory of God.

Now, time to get back to studying…

After more than ten hours in transit, I arrived in Portland at about midnight last night (the flight had been scheduled to arrive at about eight o’clock).

Throughout the trip, it frequently appeared that bad weather conditions both in Washington and else where would easily keep me from getting home, but, by the grace of God, everything worked out well.

What a great God we serve!

I am planning (Lord willing) to travel home via Greyhound and airplane tomorrow (Tuesday), but this snow storm could cause a problem.  Please pray that I arrive home safely and quickly!

This week has progressed similarly to last week with a busy combination of study and work!

I have been preparing for bicycling in the cold weather, and I now ride to work wearing a jacket, gloves, and a full-face balaclava (similar to a ski mask).  So far, this combination has been keeping me warm… but the real test is left to come!

At work I have been enjoying more learning, and I was actually disappointed when Friday came.  Thankfully, tomorrow will be the start of another workweek!

Listening to sermons and other lectures online has been a great blessing, and I am very grateful for BlueBehemoth as well as SermonAudio.com!

Titled Founders Speak, this 101-page document is a compilation of 190 quotes by our founding fathers in topics such as religion, government, slavery, and more.

The History

I originally compiled these quotes for a different project died early.  Keeping it on my computer, I used this document myself over the past year during discussions about the founding fathers.

A couple of days ago, I got the idea of releasing it on Practical Manliness so that other people could have the benefit of these great quotes.

Yesterday morning, I automated the entire buying process and created a “cover” for the electronic document.

I used…

• PayPal – For the payment system.
• Aweber – For the delivery system.
• MyEbookMaker – For the 3D cover.

Released!

With everything ready, I published an announcement article and started promoting.

So far, I have promoted Founders Speak using the following methods:

• Twitter – Mentioned on my Twitter account.
• Facebook – Mentioned both on my business and personal account.
• Facebook Ads – Ran a short advertising campaign.
• Reviews – Sent review copies to a few bloggers.

In the day that has passed since the launch, I have had only one sale – perhaps because the price ($3.99) was too high.

What I Learned

• Practiced setting up PayPal stores
• Created my first Aweber delivery system
• Worked with other bloggers to get the news out

During this time, we have competed in a total of four debate events:

• one “workshop” (January)
• two “round robins” (February and March)
• one “tournament” (April)

Summary of the Debate Season

During the workshop, we tested our cases and practiced our debate skills, but no awards were given or announced.

The round robin competition in February included four rounds and, for the first time, awards were given.  To our amazement, Maddie and I actually won the first place team award; Maddie won the seventh (I think) speaker award, and I won the third place speaker award.

In the March round robin, we did not win any team award, but we did still get speaker awards.

In the final tournament, we were the top team going into the out rounds, but we lost during the quarter finals.  When the results came in, we won fifth place team award; Maddie won third place speaker award, and I won first place speaker award.

What I Learned

During this debate season, I learned how to…

• communicate my ideas clearly to my audience.
• recognize logical fallacies.
• evaluate the “expertise” of experts.
• ask the right questions to find flaws in arguments.

A Big Thank You To…

My learning and success in debate is due to the influence and gracious time investments of my debate teacher (Mrs. Arp), my parents, my debate partner and sister (Maddie Desmond), the CCNW director (Mr. Engel), and the encouragement and help of my fellow debaters.

Most of all, I owe my success to the blessing of Jesus Christ.  May all the glory go to God!