Libertyville Savings Bank

Some time ago, I stumbled across the Libertyville Savings Bank’s blog via the links from the Keosauqua Sale Barn’s website.  Since then, I've periodically checked back to see if Blain had written anything interesting.  In mid January of this year as I was considering whether to accept a job offer to come to work at LSB, I came back to the blog page wondering, “what would I write my blog about?” I was born and raised in rural Jefferson County.  My dad raised feeder pigs and sold livestock feed for most of my childhood.  I participated in the 4-H program in Jefferson County taking pigs to the local county fair each year.  As a kid on the farm, doing chores helped establish a work ethic that would help me be successful down the road.  It also instilled a passion for working with livestock that will be with me for a lifetime.  As I was finishing up high school in the late 90’s, the hog industry changed at a rapid pace.  Vertical integration within the industry pushed small hog producer…

Keeping a blog is like building a house.It can take awhile, a long while.So like the house building process it’s been awhile since my last blog.But, once it is finished it’s out there for all to see.The conglomeration of decision, all tied to your personal preferences and tastes... it’s daunting.
The most common question we got after completion was “are there things you’d change?”Well the answer is “of course”.But if you’re going to build thinking to achieve perfection you better rethink your goals.It’s a crazy fun process but it isn’t for the faint of heart – and probably not for the “anal spreadsheet minded” like me (so my wife says).We had two completely different experiences.My wife, the creatively talented, loved every minute of the process. There was a point, I think it was during decision number Four Thousand and Twelve, when she gave serious thought to killing me with the particular doorknobs I liked.I know that look.Her eye twitches, her hair clippie vibrates, and her face tur…