Recent Blog Articles

Code:Rad - Revoltech Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

Jonathan Longnecker / January 31, 2015

In case you missed it, we're big Ninja Turtle fans in the Longnecker household. I grew up with them, and now my kids are obsessed. We've watched just about every movie and television season we can get our hands on. And of course we've got all the toys. I'm pretty sure we have every action figure you can get. Or at least we thought we did.

Recently I ran across these bad boys from a Japanese company called Revoltech (seriously, it's all in Japanese). Not only are the a near perfect sculpt of the turtles from the 2012 Nickelodeon series, but they are dang near infinitely poseable and come with amazing detailed weapons. Shoot, you can even pose their eyes or white them out for battle mode. Rad!

I showed them to the kids, explaining that getting something like this wouldn't really be a toy you would play with all the time since they're delicate. But they still wanted them.

So we surprised them for Christmas this year and got the whole set. Or maybe I bought them for myself. Anyway.

Podcast Interview: People I Almost Know

Jonathan Longnecker / January 20, 2015

Have you been wondering what some of the thinking is behind our decision to travel full time? Good news! Michelle Moran of "People I Almost Know" interviewed us for her podcast and asked us for you :)

In all seriousness, we were honored to be a part of her show and get to talk about some of the crazy things we're planning. It was a blast!

If you want to listen to the episode go check it out. Enjoy!

Code:Rad - 1767 Designs

Ashley Longnecker / January 16, 2015

Guys, you know I love old wood and you know I love good design, so when both of those worlds collide, you get 1767 Designs. He takes old wood from homes in the Nashville area and creates rad pieces of art.

Sometimes, tables, headboards, but his unique style is one that you won’t forget once you check out his site. Follow him on Instagram and buy some rad art that will make your guests swoon. Well done, sir. Well done!

Longnecker Year in Review: 2014

Jonathan Longnecker / January 13, 2015

While I'm not usually one to jump on bandwagon's, a year-in-review is never a bad idea. It's good to take a breath, look back and gain some perspective on how you spent your time over the last 365 days. Plus, writing it all down means you can actually come back, read it again and learn from it!

So much happened in 2014, but the biggest news was that we finally decided to take the plunge and start the process of traveling full time! We're not on the road yet, but we're committed, have a plan and should be on our way in 2015. More on that later!

Here a few highlights of the Longnecker's 2014:

Money

This was the year we finally got out of debt! We paid off one of our cars late 2013 and the other in early 2014. What tremendous weight off our shoulders! 

All that's left is the house, and we'll be tackling that when we start our full-time travels.

This was also the first year we were really able to start saving and building an emergency fund bigger than the minimum of $1,000.  While we were never super stressed about money, having a healthy savings account definitely helps us breath easier. Highly recommended.

Health

2014 was also the first year that I believe Ashley and I finally began to understand what we needed to do to be healthy. We were both tipping the scales at our highest weights ever (pregnancies not included!) and everything we started just wouldn't stick.

A conversation with our chiropractor flipped a switch for me, though. It was simple math - I was consistently eating too many calories for my body to burn off. The extras got stored as fat. I was making this decision over and over again, day after day without even realizing it. 

Code:Rad - Smartwool Socks

Ashley Longnecker / January 12, 2015

I had never owned any wool socks before my last trip to Indiana when my sister insisted that I buy these Smartwool socks.

She promised me that I would never go back to cotton socks. She promised me my feet would stay warm but not sweat, and she promised me that they would be worth the $15 per pair that I was about to pay. She promised me that I wouldn’t have to wash them more than once a week because they are wool and don’t harbor bacteria and she promised me that they wouldn’t stink.

Well, Lee Ann - you were so freaking right. I will never go back to cotton socks. I am in love. My feet are warm, but never sweat. They don’t smell and I can wear my one pair of socks for a whole week without washing them! SOLD! I now have 2 pairs of Smartwool socks and as soon as I got back to Tennessee I bought a pair for Jonathan to try out. He’s just about as picky about his clothing as I am. Guess what! He LOVES them. In fact, I haven’t seen him wear his old cotton stretched out socks one time since I bought him the Smartwool socks. SCORE!

How awesome would it be to only have 2 pairs of socks per person in your house?

Have I ever showed you our bag of unmatched socks? Holy crap. It makes me mad every time I look at that bag. This will solve all our problems. Everyone is in charge of their 2 socks! I just need to get them each 2 pairs and we’ll be good to go.

Give them a try - or pick some up at REI. They are worth every penny.