Breaking News!

Through a series of unfortunate events, the blog mascot, Dirty T, has been severely injured. Wounds are severe, chance of survival is looking slim. Pictures and details to follow, once family has been notified. We can say that Matt was also involved in the accident, suffering only minor injuries, thank goodness. The biggest break is in our hearts. Keep Dirty T in your prayers and/or well wishes as he clings to his little ceramic life.

Hiding Dirty: Hoover Style (The winner is...)

 

To make it fair, we named AC as our official name picker. We shook the names up really good in my official Iraqi war hat from my friend Mark, and AC dove her hand right in and grabbed a name. (My wife wants me to add that yes, Anna is in her bathing suit, and yes, we know it's cold outside, but she wanted to wear it around the house...)

Thanks Anna. And the winner is...

Mary Herold, congratulations on the big win! Mary is the first official winner of the "Hiding Dirty" contest. Now, I know what some of you might be thinking, "That's your sister." Indeed she is, but everyone had an equal chance of wining because we used little innocent AC to pick a name.

Here is Mary showing Dirty some love because he just gave her a $25 gift card to Amazon! Way to go Mary on those great eyes of yours in finding Dirty. By the way, for those of you who could not find him and those that did I shall reveal his hiding spot below.

Best of luck to everyone on the next contest 

In order to have another contest, we need to make another trade! Everyone dig in your attics and find something to trade for the camping oven. Here are just a few of the things that I have been offered for the oven: $50, a Spyder Paintball Gun with 5 Co2 containers, a Bear Compound Bow, some .50 caliber rifle, and among many other things. 

Thanks again for everyones support!

Sweet Home Alabama: Trade # 3

The picture says it all! 

Welcome to Hoover Alabama! 

I am going to try and tell you about it this trade without writing a book. Traveling to Alabama was a last minute decision for Amy and I. We had been snowed in our home for over a week and a second storm was coming, we had to get out! We packed everything up and without hesitation I grabbed the Linksys Router. I'm not kidding you, as soon as we were on our way I was posting on Craigslist that I was wanting to make a trade while I was there. I had a few offers, but nothing really stood out to me.

I decided to surf around on Craigslist to see what I could find since I did not get many offers. I came across an ad that seemed intriguing. This guy and his family had moved from Tennessee and were trying to get rid of some stuff to make more room in their new place.

I had nothing to lose, so I tossed the router out as an offer. This is Jeremy and he has to be one of the coolest guys I have ever met. I told him about the project and he was all for helping out. His offer: One totally awesome Brinkmann Portable Propane Camping Oven! (Model # 842-0805W)

It was brand new and had never been taken out of the box

This is Jeremy's story 

Like many of us, Jeremy had many challenges growing, one being he was  diagnosed as a Type 1 Diabetic at a very young age. As the years passed he started a family of his own, adding a very adventurous boy to the mix. Life unfortunately took a turn for the worst.

Not long after Jeremy had his son, Diabetes got the best of him. He was slowly going down hill, ultimately losing the functions of his kidneys and his Pancreas. He would later have to be put on Dialysis. 

Jeremy wanted his boy to remember him, so he decided to get involved with the Boy Scouts. There was one big challenge though. How does one continue their dialysis and go camping? 

Thanks to the Boy Scouts of America, they have found a way! Jeremy was taught how to continue his dialysis in a tent! This opened up endless opportunities for Jeremy and his son to go camping together. 

Jeremy had been on an organ donor list for sometime now and it would soon be his turn for an opportunity at a new life. It was not long after his scout training, that he received a call that he had a kidney and pancreas waiting on him. 

He was rushed to the hospital to be prepped for a surgery that would change his and his sons life forever. That was November 2006. In just about a month he was able to come home and celebrate with the Boy Scouts at their Christmas party. 

Nearly 5 years has passed since his transplant! No longer is he a diabetic, and on top of that, he is in the best health he has ever been in.  He's now able to enjoy life more than ever with his son and wife.

All that to say, the camping stove was an extra stove that he and his son had bought for one of their camping trips they had gone on in the past, but never ended up using.

I managed to find a picture of the stove so I would not have to open the box. I altered the picture to protect the innocent. If you were thinking it was stolen, it wasn't. I just pulled it off a site and changed it up some :) The oven does not come with the fuel canister, but I will throw one in with fuel for the right offer!

P to the S: Were you able to find Dirty T? 

Don't forget about the contest! Read this post if you are confused.