A Drastic Change . . .

Recently Owen and Casey decided to make a major change in their life. Before you guys get scared, Owen and Casey will still be a big part of Minutes Matter. In May, they attended a weekend event, Outback America, which compelled them to make changes in their live. Some of the changes have led them to sell their house and move to the inner city of Huntsville, AL to be apart of the Lincoln Village Ministry. Several years ago, a few people and the city of Huntsville decided to get involved and help rebuild this neighborhood. Owen and Casey feel God has called them to use their talents in new and unique ways. As you know, one of Casey's gifts is art and another is her love for kids. Owen is gifted in technology and loves working with teens. For years, they have been heavily involved with the youth group at Twickenham Church of Christ and their house has always been a revolving door for the teens.

This type of ministry is not new. Do a search and you'll probably be surprised to find there is one of these ministries near you. We have one in Nashville area called The Front Porch Ministry.



Since this is such a drastic change, most (if not all) of their furniture will need to be sold with their house. The house they are moving into is approximately a third of the size of their current home. They are planning to use some of their profit to purchase furniture that will be more multi-functional for their new smaller space. Here's a glimpse of the Lincoln house, you can see they have some work that needs to be done.

This brings me to my reason for this blog:



Last week, as I was doing my morning reading, I happened to notice a contest sponsored by CB2 which happens to be one of Casey's favorite stores. In fact, we purchased several items from CB2 for our new Minutes Matter booth at High Point Furniture Market: wall mounted magazine rack, lamp, and table. The $10,000 CB2 gift card is what attracted me to investigate the rules of this contest. I thought to myself, someone is going to win this contest, why not Owen and Casey and my two precious granddaughters! If they win, they would be able spend the money they would have spent on new furniture on other things in their new surroundings. Believe me, there's a lot to do.

What I would like for you guys to do is vote for our booth at High Point. The entire $10,000 gift card will be used for furniture and storage in the new home. We would love to be one of the top 50 vote-getters to become a finalist. We have appropriately named the entry The Drastic Change, because we felt like this name was fitting for our new High Point space as well as their new life.

Please tell all of your friends and family to vote and help Owen, Casey, Maddie (9) and Morgan (5). The girls have big hearts and always want to help others but most of all want to please God. However, they are feeling a bit of apprehension in leaving their house and friends. Owen and Casey are very fortunate to have families that are extremely supportive. Both Jerry & I and John & Penny Kester (Casey's parents), told them we'll do whatever is needed to help them get the house ready. Owen's brother & his wife (Lee & Leah Green) and Casey's sister & her husband (Carrie & Ricky Jones) will also be helping a great deal.

Click here to vote for "The Drastic Change"
(but most importantly please keep this new adventure in your prayers!)

Recommendation for a New Computer

I know many of you are in the market for a new computer, or are expecting one as a holiday gift, and now is the perfect time to buy. Computer prices are always the lowest at the end of the year! Every week, several people will call into our office and ask, "I am buying a new computer, can you tell me what I need?" We decided this would be a perfect time to let you know what we recommend both with regards to Studio, as well as general office productivity. So I asked Owen, my son and Vice President of Development, to write an article on his recommendations for someone in our industry purchasing a new computer.

**Below is a photograph of one of my desks, which show a dual monitor setup. The dual monitors are connected to my desktop computer. I also have my laptop next to my dual monitors, which enables me to use three screens. For the most part, when I am in my office, I use my desktop computer with the dual monitors. You'll be amazed at the increase in productivity just by adding a second monitor!

Owen's recommendation when purchasing a new computer:

When you decide to purchase a new computer, you need to consider what your computer needs for your business will be in three to four years from now, not just for today. Current software programs have dramatically increased in size, as well as the amount of resources they require, which translates to the size of your hard drive and amount of memory your computer has installed, so plan ahead to maximize your computer's useful lifespan.

Here are my recommendations for purchasing a computer today that will serve you for many years to come.

• Hard drive: 250GB with 7200 RPM
• Processor: 2.5GHz with Dual Core
• Memory: 4GB or 8GB (8GB requires a 64 bit operating system)
• Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate (64 bit)
• Graphics Card: 512MB Laptop Screen: 15.4" or 17"
• Desktop Monitor(s): 22" - 24" single monitor or consider a dual monitor setup.
• Warranty: Purchase an on-site warranty for 3 - 4 year

Dual Monitor Setup for a Desktop: This is my preferred monitor setup. I recommend purchasing two 20" or 22" identical monitors. A 20" - 22" ViewSonic monitor can be purchased for under $200. Read the article "Two monitors are better than one" from Microsoft for setup instructions. Once you work with dual monitors you'll find it hard to go back to a single monitor. The setup is relatively easy, especially if you are using identical monitors. Another advantage to using identical monitors is the height and width of each monitor are the same, which makes for smoother viewing.

External Monitor Setup for a Laptop: If you are using a laptop computer you can also add a monitor. All you need to do is choose the option to extend your screen to a second monitor.

Computer Cables: Monoprice.com is the absolute best source to purchase any cables you need for your computer. Monitors normally include 3' cables. However, that may or may not be long enough to connect the monitor to your computer. Monoprice offers these types of cables for a third of the price offered by other companies. Monoprice also carries several iPhone accessories, check out the battery backup.

External Hard drives for backups: The final and most important item I recommend is the purchase of an external hard drive for backups. In fact, I recommend purchasing two! Rotate the second backup weekly and store it off site. An external hard drive should be compact enough to transport easily. When I order computer parts/components for Minutes Matter, I purchase from Newegg. They have a wide selection of just about anything you need for your computer and great prices. Fanton Drives has a portable external hard drive with a USB connection and has a huge data capacity of 1TB (terabyte or 1000 GB.) Make sure you set up your external hard drive to backup daily. This automation can be done through Windows Backup for Windows 7, Windows Backup for Vista or you can use the software that is included with your external hard drive.