The first 2 months of the year the Elder's Quorum (hereafter referred as EQ) Presdency consisted of Tylor More (President), Anthony Burgi(1st Councilor), Thad Jones (2nd Councilor) and Tanner Milne (Secretary). Anthony Burgi moved out of the ward and Steve Lesueur was made 2nd Councilor and then Tanner Milne moved out of the ward and Jeff Brummer became the Secretary. In September the EQ Presidency was reorganized and the following were called - Jeff Brummer (President), Brian Stephens (First Councilor), Steve Lesueur (2nd Councilor) and Jon Graff (Secretary).
We had a great year as a Quorum and enjoyed the blessings of the gospel and comrodary of the Brethren. Early in the year we had an Ice Cream Social at the Gissels home and had 20 show up to enjoy some frozen dairy delights with toppings. In November we had a EQ BBQ in which the Elders (and wives) made chili and we had a competition to see who had the best chili (Rachael Earl), hottest chili (Ryan Moats), most unique chili and best desert. We had 40-50 people show up including some non members and lesser actives. The Elders have enjoyed also playing basketball all year long on Tuesday nights. To date we have had no fights or major injuries so it has been a successful year.
We have had many great teachers instruct us in the hour we meet together as a Quorum including Brian Lawrence, Tylor More, Steve Lesueur, Thad Jones, Matt Tidwell, Jeff Brummer, Tanner Milne, Darren Peterson, Ryan Moats, Steven Powell, Brian Stephens and others. We also enjoyed seeing Levi Germaine receive the Melchizedek priesthood. Some new Elders that moved into the ward this year were Keith Hardy, Matt Sloan, Art Sherwood, Ed Clark, Joseph Hardwick, Bobby Pitts, Eric VanAusdal, Andrew Watts.
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Sunday, December 9, 2007
Rain Rain
Once again it is easy to talk about the weather and begin there. It has run quite a bit lately for Arizona and this is good news for our new beautiful lawn. Yes. After a year and a half of putting it on the back burner we have officially got the sprinklers to work. Dean actually was the mastermind and came over to help me finally do the electrical work and flush out the valves. He is pretty handy and we got it done in a couple of hours. We paid about $70 for parts and valves and another $100 for the sod. It is probably about due to be mowed, but it is so small it isn't worth buying a mower so I think Brian Stephens or Nick Perry is going to hook me up with their mower.
Nick Perry and I played ping pong yesterday in the garage of his place. It was so fun because we are pretty close skill wise and the garage was big enough to play and move around and the weather was perfect pong weather - 60 degrees. We played for an hour neck and neck and he ended up coming on top and winning the overall match.
Last night we went to the ward Christmas Party and it was pretty neat. We had ancient Mediterranean dishes like chicken and pitas and cucumber salad. We then got to see a version of the Nativity and the birth of Christ. I am not sure why but I haven't see a Nativity production in a few years. It was very peaceful and Cloe Nielson sang beautifully. Some of the kids from our Sunday school class that Lindsay and I taught were also in it and were Shepard - TJ Goodman, Dallin Johnson and Mitch Allred.
Lindsay and I also went to the Rockets last Saturday with Thad and Patsy Jones and Honey Milius and her daughter Corbin. It was pretty fun. We went to a Tapanyaki restaurant called Ichi Ban first and watch our chef from Brazil. It was really delicious. Lindsay looked beautiful. We had a blast. We went to Gammage theatre and by the time we got there 10 minutes before it started we realized that we were at the wrong theatre. We sped across town to the correct theater and showed up just on time for the big show. It was pretty awesome. I didn't have huge expectations for the show but I thought it was well done. The Rocketts did like four or five musical skits and then they did a pretty cool Nativity scene. I though this was the best part of the show because of how well it was done. There were even real camels that the wise men brought. Can you image that? In the middle of downtown Phoenix there were these huge camels. It was pretty neat to see. Anyway that wasn't the only thing I thought was cool. I was caught up in the Nativity and imagining how cool it would have been to see the Savior after he was born.
Funny story (if you weren't there): Friday night Lindsay woke me up and said that there was an alarm going off. In my half la la land state I realized that she was right. Not realizing that it was important I tried to go back asleep. Now unfortunately I was awake and couldn't go back asleep because of this high pitched alarm so I got up. Now keep in mind it was 2 in the morning and I was out of it. So I got out of bed and determined on the two brain cells that were functioning that it was coming from the hall outside our bedroom. So I had to get a chair from the office to get up to it. The chair was not very sturdy and I wasn't very stable in my sleepy state. I started trying to figure out one of the alarms and why it was beeping at an unusually loud tone. Now keep in mind that I have no home improvement skills and I wasn't sure what the heck I was doing. I worked on this one alarm for about 20 minutes and realized the beeping wasn't coming from that one but one further down the hall. By then I realized that I was going to lose sleep over this beeping and was beginning to get frustrated but I couldn't really blame the problem on anyone but myself because the next alarm I read that you are supposed to change those alarms batteries every year. By now it had been 2 years so they were due and probably going to die. So after another 20 minutes I just unplugged the alarm off the wall and picked up were I left off the next day after we went to sleep.
Nick Perry and I played ping pong yesterday in the garage of his place. It was so fun because we are pretty close skill wise and the garage was big enough to play and move around and the weather was perfect pong weather - 60 degrees. We played for an hour neck and neck and he ended up coming on top and winning the overall match.
Last night we went to the ward Christmas Party and it was pretty neat. We had ancient Mediterranean dishes like chicken and pitas and cucumber salad. We then got to see a version of the Nativity and the birth of Christ. I am not sure why but I haven't see a Nativity production in a few years. It was very peaceful and Cloe Nielson sang beautifully. Some of the kids from our Sunday school class that Lindsay and I taught were also in it and were Shepard - TJ Goodman, Dallin Johnson and Mitch Allred.
Lindsay and I also went to the Rockets last Saturday with Thad and Patsy Jones and Honey Milius and her daughter Corbin. It was pretty fun. We went to a Tapanyaki restaurant called Ichi Ban first and watch our chef from Brazil. It was really delicious. Lindsay looked beautiful. We had a blast. We went to Gammage theatre and by the time we got there 10 minutes before it started we realized that we were at the wrong theatre. We sped across town to the correct theater and showed up just on time for the big show. It was pretty awesome. I didn't have huge expectations for the show but I thought it was well done. The Rocketts did like four or five musical skits and then they did a pretty cool Nativity scene. I though this was the best part of the show because of how well it was done. There were even real camels that the wise men brought. Can you image that? In the middle of downtown Phoenix there were these huge camels. It was pretty neat to see. Anyway that wasn't the only thing I thought was cool. I was caught up in the Nativity and imagining how cool it would have been to see the Savior after he was born.
Funny story (if you weren't there): Friday night Lindsay woke me up and said that there was an alarm going off. In my half la la land state I realized that she was right. Not realizing that it was important I tried to go back asleep. Now unfortunately I was awake and couldn't go back asleep because of this high pitched alarm so I got up. Now keep in mind it was 2 in the morning and I was out of it. So I got out of bed and determined on the two brain cells that were functioning that it was coming from the hall outside our bedroom. So I had to get a chair from the office to get up to it. The chair was not very sturdy and I wasn't very stable in my sleepy state. I started trying to figure out one of the alarms and why it was beeping at an unusually loud tone. Now keep in mind that I have no home improvement skills and I wasn't sure what the heck I was doing. I worked on this one alarm for about 20 minutes and realized the beeping wasn't coming from that one but one further down the hall. By then I realized that I was going to lose sleep over this beeping and was beginning to get frustrated but I couldn't really blame the problem on anyone but myself because the next alarm I read that you are supposed to change those alarms batteries every year. By now it had been 2 years so they were due and probably going to die. So after another 20 minutes I just unplugged the alarm off the wall and picked up were I left off the next day after we went to sleep.
Sunday, November 18, 2007
Update
I am totally a moody writer with most of the time the mood being laziness because I don't write. I am in the mood now to write alot but that will probably only amount to like 3 paragraphs. I am living the bachelor life this week as Lindsay and Tyler are in California visiting her parents and her cousin Sara. The seemed to have a fun week and Lindsay showed Sara the finer parts of Placerville. The went to the salon for some makeovers and such. Pretty cool. Lindsay and Linda showed her how to make some awesome food as well.
I got lonely but tried to keep busy to pass the time with work, church stuff, golf and probably more TV time than normal. TV is the ultimate time killer and it is sad that I have to resort to that but there are some times in life when you just want to be a human vegtable and relax. Most of the time after I do that though I never feel as though I accomplished much of anything (including writing in my blog). I miss my little family.
Earlier last week I ran with Lindsay around our whole ward boundaries. I always wanted to do that and I just started "runnin" and couldn't stop. Usually I get bored and want to turn back but I knew Lindsay wanted to run more so I told her if she ran around to Higley I would run with her. So I think we ended up running like 4 miles. That ties the farthest I have ever run.
Lindsay and I are excited to go visit SLC this week and my family in Syracuse. Mom is coming to pick us up at the airport tomorrow and we are staying for a week there. We are going up to Idaho for 2 days also to visit our family and friends up there. It should be fun.
I got lonely but tried to keep busy to pass the time with work, church stuff, golf and probably more TV time than normal. TV is the ultimate time killer and it is sad that I have to resort to that but there are some times in life when you just want to be a human vegtable and relax. Most of the time after I do that though I never feel as though I accomplished much of anything (including writing in my blog). I miss my little family.
Earlier last week I ran with Lindsay around our whole ward boundaries. I always wanted to do that and I just started "runnin" and couldn't stop. Usually I get bored and want to turn back but I knew Lindsay wanted to run more so I told her if she ran around to Higley I would run with her. So I think we ended up running like 4 miles. That ties the farthest I have ever run.
Lindsay and I are excited to go visit SLC this week and my family in Syracuse. Mom is coming to pick us up at the airport tomorrow and we are staying for a week there. We are going up to Idaho for 2 days also to visit our family and friends up there. It should be fun.
Sunday, November 4, 2007
Blogerific
I need to start writing in this more otherwise my great great grandkids are going to think that I was boring and that I was a workaholic or something. Lindsay and Tyler are sick this weekend and they have needed some extra TLC so I am trying to help out where I can. Lindsay doesn't get sick very often so that is good. I think it has to do with her healthly lifestyle of eating and excersising. She has rarely in her life eaten fast food. I think that is pretty awesome and so she has helped me ween off of the "Super Size" me lifestyle.
I remember the days when I worked at Mickey dees and I would eat like 4-5 of their hamburger patties on my break with a big Hi-C and a ton of fries. I would follow that up with 2 apple pies. I definitely ate to much fast food that summer that I worked there and I am sure that it messed with my athletic performance. I had such a incredible metabolism that I didn't gain any weight however. I was like 160 lbs from ages 16 - 25. After 25 my metabolism has slowed and I have to eat better and make time for me to exercise.
I usually play soccer once a week and we have our soccer season wrapping up. I also try to play basketball with the ward once a week. Our stake just got a new building and the gym is full size. It is an awesome building and the church spared no expense. It is so cool that the day they open the doors to the building it is paid off. This is why our church has virtually no debt. Back to the health topic. I sure do skip around. Lindsay has also helped me to run 2-3 times a week around our house. The weather is nicest in the morning and I try to run 2-3 miles. I get pretty bored and run with my Zune to keep entertained.
I remember the days when I worked at Mickey dees and I would eat like 4-5 of their hamburger patties on my break with a big Hi-C and a ton of fries. I would follow that up with 2 apple pies. I definitely ate to much fast food that summer that I worked there and I am sure that it messed with my athletic performance. I had such a incredible metabolism that I didn't gain any weight however. I was like 160 lbs from ages 16 - 25. After 25 my metabolism has slowed and I have to eat better and make time for me to exercise.
I usually play soccer once a week and we have our soccer season wrapping up. I also try to play basketball with the ward once a week. Our stake just got a new building and the gym is full size. It is an awesome building and the church spared no expense. It is so cool that the day they open the doors to the building it is paid off. This is why our church has virtually no debt. Back to the health topic. I sure do skip around. Lindsay has also helped me to run 2-3 times a week around our house. The weather is nicest in the morning and I try to run 2-3 miles. I get pretty bored and run with my Zune to keep entertained.
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Dad's Lad
Tyler is definitely getting bigger and taller and more of a personality. He gets more and more fun each day. He now smiles quite a bit and has his two bottom teeth coming in so that causes him to be grouchy at times. I can't complain however because he sleeps well through the night and has seen month 2. We started using cloth diapers 3 weeks ago and so we do more laundry now also. At first I was a little reluctant because of the upfront cost and effort that would have to be put into it, but it will be cheaper in the long run. Lindsay is also pretty good about washing them so I don't have to do the dirty work.
Tyler is starting to giggle more and he gets his talky streaks in the morning around 9am. He is a morning person like his Dad and is always in a good mood from 7 am to 11 am. He also learned how to push himself up into the pushup position when he is on his stomach.
We went to Santa Barbara last weekend for our anniversary trip and had a fun time. It was the first time that we have been on vacation in a while and we took Tyler along for the trip. He must have known it was our anniversary trip because he didn't fuss much the whole time so that was nice. We went to Universal Studios in LA and spent 5 hours there. We had fun and I have never been there so it was cool to see how films were made and some movie history. We got Tom Cruises autograph also. Ok no we didn't but we saw were some of his movies were filmed and we cruised on a Trolly that took us around the park.
We spent the night in a Worldmark timeshare in Solvang and it was pretty nice. We arrived in the condo and they left a crib in there for Tyler and we couldn't figure out how to put the crib together. After an hour of trying to asseble this plastic/metal crib we called the front desk and they couldn't figure it out either. So we read the directions for the third time and realized that we just didn't do one step correctly so we felt dumb. So part of me wanted to complain to management that it wasn't setup correctly and the other part of me would feel dumb that it took me an hour and a half to figure it out.
We spent the night there in Solvang and went to Church the next morning. It was a cool little Danish founded city and had lots of shops with things from Scandanavia so I was a big fan.
Tyler is starting to giggle more and he gets his talky streaks in the morning around 9am. He is a morning person like his Dad and is always in a good mood from 7 am to 11 am. He also learned how to push himself up into the pushup position when he is on his stomach.
We went to Santa Barbara last weekend for our anniversary trip and had a fun time. It was the first time that we have been on vacation in a while and we took Tyler along for the trip. He must have known it was our anniversary trip because he didn't fuss much the whole time so that was nice. We went to Universal Studios in LA and spent 5 hours there. We had fun and I have never been there so it was cool to see how films were made and some movie history. We got Tom Cruises autograph also. Ok no we didn't but we saw were some of his movies were filmed and we cruised on a Trolly that took us around the park.
We spent the night in a Worldmark timeshare in Solvang and it was pretty nice. We arrived in the condo and they left a crib in there for Tyler and we couldn't figure out how to put the crib together. After an hour of trying to asseble this plastic/metal crib we called the front desk and they couldn't figure it out either. So we read the directions for the third time and realized that we just didn't do one step correctly so we felt dumb. So part of me wanted to complain to management that it wasn't setup correctly and the other part of me would feel dumb that it took me an hour and a half to figure it out.
We spent the night there in Solvang and went to Church the next morning. It was a cool little Danish founded city and had lots of shops with things from Scandanavia so I was a big fan.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
Million Stars
I recently had an unanimous blog comment request Andy's "Million Stars" article. Now since I think only Chez and Craig were there this has to be for them.
http://media.www.isubengal.com/media/storage/paper275/news/2002/09/04/Opinion/Humor.All.The.Inexhaustible.Treasures.Of.The.Heart-266416.shtml
http://media.www.isubengal.com/media/storage/paper275/news/2002/09/04/Opinion/Humor.All.The.Inexhaustible.Treasures.Of.The.Heart-266416.shtml
College dances
Here is another article Andrew wrote about our dances in college. This is another good one.
http://media.www.isubengal.com/media/storage/paper275/news/2002/09/18/Opinion/Humor.Advance.The.Chance.Of.Romance.At.The.Stake.Dance-276148-page2.shtml
http://media.www.isubengal.com/media/storage/paper275/news/2002/09/18/Opinion/Humor.Advance.The.Chance.Of.Romance.At.The.Stake.Dance-276148-page2.shtml
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Mom and Dad come to Visit
I am not sure how to post these pictures but I can figure that out later.
My parents came to town this weekend from Friday until Tuesday. We had an awesome time.
They stayed in Scottsdale at the Marriot because my Mom worked her majic and found a screaming deal there. We went there once and went swimming and Tyler got his swimming trunks on.
On Saturday we made sandwiches and they came and visited us at our house. Dad helped me be a better Mr. Fix It but unclogging our sink. We then and ate at Cheesecake factory and hung out the mall.
On Sunday we had Tyler's blessing and my Dad, Bishop Allred, Brent Stanley, Jason Davenport and John Parise. I was kind of nervious but I think it went well. We then had my mom and dad, Dustin and Luelaa Portman, Dan and Teresa Payne, Brian Madsen, Jason Davenport and the Stanleys over to the house. Tyler was good the whole time during church so that was nice. I was nervious he was going to cry during it. Lindsay made her world famous chicken wings and drumsticks for dinner with mom and dad. We hung out at our house after that and played 90's trivial pursuit and Dad and Lindsay beat Mom and I. We had a good time and I think we should play board games more often.
On Monday my Dad and I played golf at Lone Tree and we both stunk. We ended with both of us shooting 85. The first 5 holes the mesquitoes were out of control. I must have been bitten 50 times and called the pro shop and chewed them out for not warning us because I wanted to buy some bug spray. The guy acted like it was the first time they ever had that problem and said they didn't have any spray.
On Tuesday we were ready for the bugs and we got bug spray but there wasn't any bugs. I thought I could blame my bad play on Monday on the bugs but on Tuesday I shot 84 and so did Dad so mesquitoes where not the problem. We all went to lunch on Tuesday at the Red Lobster and my parents flew out after that. I am grateful that they could come and love them alot. We are excited to come and see their new house in Syracuse at Thanksgiving.
Monday, July 30, 2007
This is an awesome article that Andy wrote in the ISU bengal about our Bachelor pad. Funny stuff
http://media.www.isubengal.com/media/storage/paper275/news/2003/01/29/Opinion/Humor.A.Guide.To.Bachelor.Pad.Living-354704.shtml
http://media.www.isubengal.com/media/storage/paper275/news/2003/01/29/Opinion/Humor.A.Guide.To.Bachelor.Pad.Living-354704.shtml
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Bengal articles
I found some of Andy Jorgensens funny articles from when he wrote the humor column in the bengal. This one is of Valentines issue that I get setup on a blind date with a girl on the basketball team. Andy did well and it was all paid for http://media.www.isubengal.com/media/storage/paper275/news/2003/02/12/Life/Bengal.Tags.Along.On.Blind.Date-367170.shtml
Rainy Season
Monsoon season has started and we recieved our first few rain storms. It is a nice changeup to the heat of 110 degrees everyday. I think you appreciate the sun more if you don't have it all the time. I know I appreciated it in Finland when it was the dead of winter and I didn't see the sun for 2 months. There I also saw 22 hours of sunlight in the summer and 23 hours of darkness for a few days in the winter. I am definitely glad I live somewhere that is light for most of the year however I would like to have some seasons also. I miss the crisp cold air of winter and the first few snowstorms and I think fall is a beautiful time of year with the trees changing color. In Arizona the cactus don't turn different shades as it drops from 110 degrees to 70 degrees in the fall. I think it would be nice to be a snow bird someday and have the best of both worlds.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Writer's Block
Ok. I would love to write in this blog every week but I haven't been to disciplined yet. Maybe some magical day. Life has definitely changed even more since last time I wrote. We are starting to get Tyler in a sleeping routine and he has a couple naps a day and goes to bed around 10pm usually and wakes up twice a night and gets up at 5:30 ish. Lindsay does an awesome job of waking up with him at night and feeding him and I get up with him at 5:30 and entertain him until he is hungry. We are trying to avoid the pacifier as much as possible because we don't want him to get hooked on it but sometimes when he is fussy in the morning he uses my pinky as a pacifier.
Everyone tells us that he is mild mannered and that he is mellow but I am not convinced because he is really the first baby I have been around for a lot of time. I think he has been pretty easy to take care of but Lindsay does all the hard work. We still haven't succeeded in teaching him how to not pee when his diaper comes off. We are also waiting for his first smile and catch ourselves making weird faces at him. He also is a big fan of the car. He rarely stays awake in the car and loves the ride of his car seat.
We finally had an offer on our home in Boise and it is supposed to close in 2 weeks. We are excited because that will free up a lot of our cash flow and stress. We lost some money on the house but it was bad luck because the market dropped soon after we bought the place. Our realtor Diane McDonald has been great and a go getter to sell the place.
Our business has been going well. We didn't land the Roadys' account because of a bid from a brother of a guy within the company. We had better price and service but didn't get the deal simply because he had a brother that worked at Roadys that was part of the decision maker. If he messes up however we have the next in with these Truck Stops. I guess I can't totally blame them because I am sure that I have picked my friends and family before without it being the best business decision because they are friends and family. Sometimes it works out but alot of times it doesn't because friends and family feel that they don't have to work as hard.
Church was good today and we learned about Family Home Evening in sacrament. Lindsay and I were re-motivated to start having FHE on Monday nights. I think it is a great thing that we can set aside for our family to be together. We then had a great lesson in Sunday school about the resurrection of the Savior and how everyone will be resurrected someday. Matt. 28, Alma 11:42+. We had an awesome lesson in Elder's Quorum on forgiveness and how we should forgive everyone because we aren't perfect. Some Elders gave some emotional stories of how they had to forgive someone to overcome bitterness they had. I can't remember if I had mentioned but I am the new EQ secretary and we are no longer the 12-13 year old teachers. I am going to miss those kids.
Everyone tells us that he is mild mannered and that he is mellow but I am not convinced because he is really the first baby I have been around for a lot of time. I think he has been pretty easy to take care of but Lindsay does all the hard work. We still haven't succeeded in teaching him how to not pee when his diaper comes off. We are also waiting for his first smile and catch ourselves making weird faces at him. He also is a big fan of the car. He rarely stays awake in the car and loves the ride of his car seat.
We finally had an offer on our home in Boise and it is supposed to close in 2 weeks. We are excited because that will free up a lot of our cash flow and stress. We lost some money on the house but it was bad luck because the market dropped soon after we bought the place. Our realtor Diane McDonald has been great and a go getter to sell the place.
Our business has been going well. We didn't land the Roadys' account because of a bid from a brother of a guy within the company. We had better price and service but didn't get the deal simply because he had a brother that worked at Roadys that was part of the decision maker. If he messes up however we have the next in with these Truck Stops. I guess I can't totally blame them because I am sure that I have picked my friends and family before without it being the best business decision because they are friends and family. Sometimes it works out but alot of times it doesn't because friends and family feel that they don't have to work as hard.
Church was good today and we learned about Family Home Evening in sacrament. Lindsay and I were re-motivated to start having FHE on Monday nights. I think it is a great thing that we can set aside for our family to be together. We then had a great lesson in Sunday school about the resurrection of the Savior and how everyone will be resurrected someday. Matt. 28, Alma 11:42+. We had an awesome lesson in Elder's Quorum on forgiveness and how we should forgive everyone because we aren't perfect. Some Elders gave some emotional stories of how they had to forgive someone to overcome bitterness they had. I can't remember if I had mentioned but I am the new EQ secretary and we are no longer the 12-13 year old teachers. I am going to miss those kids.
Sunday, June 3, 2007
Quietness
I am more excited than ever to have a baby. For some reason lately I have been having alot of fun with some of our friends kids. I have never really been prone to take interest in other peoples kids that are real young because I didn't know how to act around them but lately that hasn't been the case. I guess I am slowly converting in to the father figure. Weird. I think it is cool.
Today after church Lindsay took a nap and I was by myself and kind of felt alone. this was a weird feeling and then I thought that I soon would not be having this muck alone and quiet time. That is OK with me most of the time because I am more of a social person. However, I do enjoy some time everyday for quiet time.
Last week was pretty eventful. Dean and I went to Kingman to install our first two Gas Stations. This was definitely a learning experience that we weren't flawless in installing. We spent 4 hours at one location and another 3 at another. We were converting one from a Mobile station and from Satellite to IP connection. We had some problems with the Datawire boxes and need some phone time on with our techs to work out kinks. There is alot of stress on us when things aren't working well because them more time that a gas station is down the $100's and $1000's of dollars that a gas station loses. We worked out the kinks and took notes of the best techs to talk to over the phone because it is all about who you talk to in life and business to get you the most accurate information.
Next week I am headed to Boise for a business trip. I hope that Lindsay doesn't go into labor because I will be gone for a day. Her mom will be taking good care of her and I told her to hold off until I get back. She will be full term in 5 days and is due in another 3 weeks.
Yesterday we became CPR certified. We went to church and their was a lady that Brother Harston works with that taught us basic CPR and 1st Aid. I learned alot about the 30-2 compressions to breath ratio. I am glad that we went so I feel more comfortable if I ever have the chance to help someone I will not feel helpless.
Today after church Lindsay took a nap and I was by myself and kind of felt alone. this was a weird feeling and then I thought that I soon would not be having this muck alone and quiet time. That is OK with me most of the time because I am more of a social person. However, I do enjoy some time everyday for quiet time.
Last week was pretty eventful. Dean and I went to Kingman to install our first two Gas Stations. This was definitely a learning experience that we weren't flawless in installing. We spent 4 hours at one location and another 3 at another. We were converting one from a Mobile station and from Satellite to IP connection. We had some problems with the Datawire boxes and need some phone time on with our techs to work out kinks. There is alot of stress on us when things aren't working well because them more time that a gas station is down the $100's and $1000's of dollars that a gas station loses. We worked out the kinks and took notes of the best techs to talk to over the phone because it is all about who you talk to in life and business to get you the most accurate information.
Next week I am headed to Boise for a business trip. I hope that Lindsay doesn't go into labor because I will be gone for a day. Her mom will be taking good care of her and I told her to hold off until I get back. She will be full term in 5 days and is due in another 3 weeks.
Yesterday we became CPR certified. We went to church and their was a lady that Brother Harston works with that taught us basic CPR and 1st Aid. I learned alot about the 30-2 compressions to breath ratio. I am glad that we went so I feel more comfortable if I ever have the chance to help someone I will not feel helpless.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Broken Cabinet
This weekend I tried to improve my skills in being a handyman. In calling these actions skills that would be the wrong word. I was building a cabinet for our new baby bathroom and thought that I built it correctly. After I had placed the plugs in the wall I was pretty confident I would be done sone. As I was putting this masterpiece on the wall it broke in my hands. I was pretty bummed out because I spent a few hours building it and I couldn't fix it.
Lindsay will probably be building stuff from now on. I think I want to take some classes on how to become a better Mr. Fix it.
CONFIDENTIAL
Lindsay will probably be building stuff from now on. I think I want to take some classes on how to become a better Mr. Fix it.
CONFIDENTIAL
Sunday, May 20, 2007
QUOTE OF THE DAY
Some of my longtime friends may remember that I had a "Quote of the Day" on my voicemail for a long time. I took if off for lack of material but I think I want to start to do it online. I hear these cool quotes and want to pass them on. Plus it helps me remember them. Today's quote is:
. Isn't it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do practice?"
Please send me some cool quotes that I can add to my blog
. Isn't it a bit unnerving that doctors call what they do practice?"
Please send me some cool quotes that I can add to my blog
Sunday, May 13, 2007
Church Today
I am going to try to write every Sunday so I can remember what I learned in Church. I have a terrible memory and anyone that knows me could probably tell you that so by writing I can remember things easier.
We spent time last night with Kolter and Lindsey Eager. We didn't get to prepare for our 12-13 year old lesson until this morning. We had a big class today and it went well. When we first started teaching the class a year ago we had a hard time keeping everyone quiet. It was a battle to get thru class and felt like no one wanted to listen. After a while throughout the year they became better listeners and participators. This was due to Lindsay's stern enforcement of the law. Thank goodness because I think I am a pushover.
We had a good class today and taught about Lorenzo Snow, the fifth president of the church, and his background. I used to not always look forward to class because of the difficulty in teaching but now I get excited to teach and it is fun teaching with Lindsay. She is a good teacher and shows me things that she has learned at school about teaching.
In Sacrament meeting we had a great meeting about Mothers. Myself along with the Elder's Quorum sang the Mother's song "Love is Spoken Here". It is pretty cool to see 40 men singing a song about their Moms. The Sunday school children also sang a Mother's day song. It was cool.
We also had a great lesson about Forgiveness. I think that I always can improve on this and forgive everyone because I definitely want to be forgiven for all of the dumb things that I do.
We came home and watched one of Lindsay's favorite movies.... Dead Poets Society. This inspired me to write today. Oh yeah. I also got Lindsay some chocolate, a necklace, teddy bear and The Dead Poets Society for her birthday.
GO JAZZ
We spent time last night with Kolter and Lindsey Eager. We didn't get to prepare for our 12-13 year old lesson until this morning. We had a big class today and it went well. When we first started teaching the class a year ago we had a hard time keeping everyone quiet. It was a battle to get thru class and felt like no one wanted to listen. After a while throughout the year they became better listeners and participators. This was due to Lindsay's stern enforcement of the law. Thank goodness because I think I am a pushover.
We had a good class today and taught about Lorenzo Snow, the fifth president of the church, and his background. I used to not always look forward to class because of the difficulty in teaching but now I get excited to teach and it is fun teaching with Lindsay. She is a good teacher and shows me things that she has learned at school about teaching.
In Sacrament meeting we had a great meeting about Mothers. Myself along with the Elder's Quorum sang the Mother's song "Love is Spoken Here". It is pretty cool to see 40 men singing a song about their Moms. The Sunday school children also sang a Mother's day song. It was cool.
We also had a great lesson about Forgiveness. I think that I always can improve on this and forgive everyone because I definitely want to be forgiven for all of the dumb things that I do.
We came home and watched one of Lindsay's favorite movies.... Dead Poets Society. This inspired me to write today. Oh yeah. I also got Lindsay some chocolate, a necklace, teddy bear and The Dead Poets Society for her birthday.
GO JAZZ
Sunday, May 6, 2007
Work Update
Things have been going well at work and we are having some major success. May is going to be a great month (because it is Lindsay's Birthday month. We have been starting to work with some people in the Petroleum industry and are having success there. We just last week signed up some Gas Stations to do there processing. It will be a fun niche to get into because they are loyal clients and will stay with us a long time. Dean and I have taken allot of trips to Kingman and back servicing these clients and getting a crash course in the industry.
We have been blessed with some great things happening in our business. We have done over 35 accounts the last 3 months and are due to hit around 50 this month. We are also in the process of looking for an office manager. We have been so busy that we don't have time to call back all of our clients so we need to hire someone to help us with our paperwork. For now Lindsay is going to help us out because she has just finished with school.
We have also gotten adjusted in our new office in Gilbert. We are almost in downtown Gilbert about 5 miles from our house. I like the area and the rent is relatively cheap. The place has never had tenants and just remodeled so the carpet and everything is new. It also gives us allot of room to grow because it is pretty big.
We have been blessed with some great things happening in our business. We have done over 35 accounts the last 3 months and are due to hit around 50 this month. We are also in the process of looking for an office manager. We have been so busy that we don't have time to call back all of our clients so we need to hire someone to help us with our paperwork. For now Lindsay is going to help us out because she has just finished with school.
We have also gotten adjusted in our new office in Gilbert. We are almost in downtown Gilbert about 5 miles from our house. I like the area and the rent is relatively cheap. The place has never had tenants and just remodeled so the carpet and everything is new. It also gives us allot of room to grow because it is pretty big.
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Stake Conference
Today and yesterday we had conference with Elder Coleman of the Seventy. He gave some good talks about the Family. He stressed that the Family is the core of society and that we need to strengthen our families and guide them. The world is becoming more and more lax when it comes to family values and if people had an eternal perspective about Heavenly Father's plan more people would strive for stronger family ties. I am grateful that Lindsay and I can start a family together and have this great direction in our lives.
Elder Coleman also talked about how Jesus Christ taught by many different ways when he was on Earth. He knew that many people learned different ways so you have to teach different. One example of this was the way he healed the blind. For one man he took spittle and placed it on his eyes. For another he told to go and see and for another he touched his eyes. This is a great lesson that there is no cookie cutter way to do things. Sometimes you have to pray to find the best way to help people unique to their situation.
Today ours Stake President Pugmire gave a good lesson on his testimony of the gospel. He said that he was glad that the Gospel embraces all truth no matter where it is and that is all that is important in life that we seek after truth and embrace it.
Elder Coleman also talked about how Jesus Christ taught by many different ways when he was on Earth. He knew that many people learned different ways so you have to teach different. One example of this was the way he healed the blind. For one man he took spittle and placed it on his eyes. For another he told to go and see and for another he touched his eyes. This is a great lesson that there is no cookie cutter way to do things. Sometimes you have to pray to find the best way to help people unique to their situation.
Today ours Stake President Pugmire gave a good lesson on his testimony of the gospel. He said that he was glad that the Gospel embraces all truth no matter where it is and that is all that is important in life that we seek after truth and embrace it.
April Fools
I think God gives each of us certain talents and gifts for us to bless our lives and the lives of others. I know one gift that he may not have given me was the mind to build things. I am not gifted when it comes to building the simplest things. I think it comes from me not spending enough time with the Lincoln logs as a small child.
I have had struggles with home projects in the past. In having a new home and having to add amenities I have tested my limited knowledge of home repair. I spent 3 hours trying to build a TV stand that should have taken like an hour only to finish and realize that the doors didn't shut flush. I stripped a few bolts in the process so I had to go back to IKEA to get some knew ones.
My most recent project was a wall cabinet for our Baby's bathroom. This is only a 2.5 foot by 2.5 foot cabinet and should have only taken about 2 hours to build. I spent 3 hours and still have tomorrow to finish it. The doors on it are not closing correctly so I am not sure what to do.
I am not sure where to learn these home handy-man things. I think I am going to start watching Bob Vila shows if he is even on the air anymore.
I have had struggles with home projects in the past. In having a new home and having to add amenities I have tested my limited knowledge of home repair. I spent 3 hours trying to build a TV stand that should have taken like an hour only to finish and realize that the doors didn't shut flush. I stripped a few bolts in the process so I had to go back to IKEA to get some knew ones.
My most recent project was a wall cabinet for our Baby's bathroom. This is only a 2.5 foot by 2.5 foot cabinet and should have only taken about 2 hours to build. I spent 3 hours and still have tomorrow to finish it. The doors on it are not closing correctly so I am not sure what to do.
I am not sure where to learn these home handy-man things. I think I am going to start watching Bob Vila shows if he is even on the air anymore.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Year of the Golden Pig
I went to Vegas last week and went to the Electronic Transaction Association Conference for two days. I was going to drive there because I was trying to talk Lindsay or Dean into coming with me but that didn't work out. So, literally, at the last moment I decided to fly. Tickets are not always the cheapest at the last minute for some reason so I had to pay $250 for a round trip to Vegas. I stayed in our Timeshare off of Las Vegas Blvd.
In the morning I played in a golf tournament with Gary Rutledge, the COO of North American Bancard. Two years ago Gary and I won this 4 man scramble in Las Vegas so we wanted to give it a whirl again. It was a beautiful day and we teed off at 8 am. We only had 3 players because our fourth guy dislocated his shoulder the day before when he was water skiing. This was unfortunate because he was a scratch golfer. We still had a good team, and a great chance at winning. I was hitting my driver well all day but the rest of my game was less than desirable. Because the course was short we only had the 50-100 yard shots to the greens. Unfortunately, none of use could get those too close, so we had a lot of long birdie putts. Gary made some long putts for us, and I had a couple of great par-3 shots that actually won me closest to the pin on one hole. We finished at 11 under and in third place. Not bad for playing mediocre and we had a fun day.
The conference was very educational; I am glad that I went. In this business and in my world it is fun to rub shoulders with people that do the same thing you do because day in and day out I usually don't deal with people that know more than me about the industry. This is because I am always dealing with potential merchants that don't know much about the card processing industry.
Towards the end of the trip, I met a cool Korean couple that are sales reps for North American Bancard and they were fun to talk with. We chit-chatted with Rita Feldman and went to lunch together before I flew out of Vegas. They said that our baby is going to be very special because in the Oriental culture this is the "Year of the Golden Pig". Now you may ask yourself - Why is this special? Who wants there child to be born in the year named after a animal that is killed for bacon? Well, let me tell you... The Year of the Golden Pig only happens every 600 years. According to Chinese Folklore, this is an event that occurs once in every 600 years and will insure that a baby born on this year will experience a prosperous and wealthy life.
In the morning I played in a golf tournament with Gary Rutledge, the COO of North American Bancard. Two years ago Gary and I won this 4 man scramble in Las Vegas so we wanted to give it a whirl again. It was a beautiful day and we teed off at 8 am. We only had 3 players because our fourth guy dislocated his shoulder the day before when he was water skiing. This was unfortunate because he was a scratch golfer. We still had a good team, and a great chance at winning. I was hitting my driver well all day but the rest of my game was less than desirable. Because the course was short we only had the 50-100 yard shots to the greens. Unfortunately, none of use could get those too close, so we had a lot of long birdie putts. Gary made some long putts for us, and I had a couple of great par-3 shots that actually won me closest to the pin on one hole. We finished at 11 under and in third place. Not bad for playing mediocre and we had a fun day.
The conference was very educational; I am glad that I went. In this business and in my world it is fun to rub shoulders with people that do the same thing you do because day in and day out I usually don't deal with people that know more than me about the industry. This is because I am always dealing with potential merchants that don't know much about the card processing industry.
Towards the end of the trip, I met a cool Korean couple that are sales reps for North American Bancard and they were fun to talk with. We chit-chatted with Rita Feldman and went to lunch together before I flew out of Vegas. They said that our baby is going to be very special because in the Oriental culture this is the "Year of the Golden Pig". Now you may ask yourself - Why is this special? Who wants there child to be born in the year named after a animal that is killed for bacon? Well, let me tell you... The Year of the Golden Pig only happens every 600 years. According to Chinese Folklore, this is an event that occurs once in every 600 years and will insure that a baby born on this year will experience a prosperous and wealthy life.
This legend is so popular, that Korea is expected to have a 10% increase in birth rate this year, which is apparently much needed as its birth rate is extremely low.
I am, in the words of Lindsay, "stoked" to be a Dad.
What I miss about Finland
I found a paper of with some things written about Finnish people that I miss.
1) The way Finns can talk by breathing in and talking at the same time. This rare phenomenon is only possible by Finnish blood. If you don't believe me try it. The older Grandmas are excellent at this.
2)Sauna and Makara. Sauna is such a culture in Finland that they get mad if you interfere with their Sauna night they get really upset. There are few things in life that are better than going in the Sauna and jumping into a cool Finnish lake. After doing this a few times your body is totally relaxed and cleaned.
3) Quiet Buses. Finns are pretty quiet on their own and when they are in public transportation. They don't communicate with others unless they have to. BUT on the bus if they do get a cell phone call they are pretty loud and not afraid to speak about every detail that happened Friday night while they were on a date.
4) Quietness - You have never known the peace nature has to offer you until you go to Finland. Even in the cities the Finnish people have a great respect for the peace of the beautiful forest that surrounds them.
1) The way Finns can talk by breathing in and talking at the same time. This rare phenomenon is only possible by Finnish blood. If you don't believe me try it. The older Grandmas are excellent at this.
2)Sauna and Makara. Sauna is such a culture in Finland that they get mad if you interfere with their Sauna night they get really upset. There are few things in life that are better than going in the Sauna and jumping into a cool Finnish lake. After doing this a few times your body is totally relaxed and cleaned.
3) Quiet Buses. Finns are pretty quiet on their own and when they are in public transportation. They don't communicate with others unless they have to. BUT on the bus if they do get a cell phone call they are pretty loud and not afraid to speak about every detail that happened Friday night while they were on a date.
4) Quietness - You have never known the peace nature has to offer you until you go to Finland. Even in the cities the Finnish people have a great respect for the peace of the beautiful forest that surrounds them.
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Golf Stats
Josh Crockett introduced me to the coolest Golf website www.freegolfinfo.com
This site tracks all of the scores and courses that you have ever played for free. I had a ton of score cards that I entered in here and now I don't have to pack the cards around.
This site tracks all of the scores and courses that you have ever played for free. I had a ton of score cards that I entered in here and now I don't have to pack the cards around.
Thursday, April 19, 2007
10 Year Highland High School Reunion Life Update
I wanted to post this because I wrote it for my 10 year year-book.
1) High School activities - I played 3 years on the Highland Golf team - I was just an average player and didn't play well my senior year at the State Championship at our home course. I had a few honors classes but didn't ever get college credit for them. I wish I would have spent a little more time studying and a little less time watching TV. I also played soccer and loved the competitiveness of High School soccer. Randy Bosh was a great coach.
2) Since High School I went to a year at ISU and then left to serve a two-year Church mission for the LDS church. I went to Finland and spoke Finnish for two years. It was more of a blessing to my life than I could write in pages of material so I won't try, but I never regret my decision to teach people about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
After that, I went to ISU and graduated in Marketing. I walked on to the ISU Golf team and played for 3 years. Out of ISU, I started working for myself as a card processor. I am the guy that you talk to if you want to take cards from clients, both online and in a store. Currently I am getting into a system where you can pay via your cell phone with an encrypted card in your phone.
3) I think my Greatest Accomplishment since High School has been getting married. It took me a while but I did it almost 2 years ago. I met Lindsay in Mesa, Arizona at a Monday night church activity playing soccer. At first I thought that she was a girl that I met the night before and got her phone number. After being followed by multiple guys I convinced her to go to Applebees w/ me and my friends. The cliche "the rest is history" fits. We dated for 3 months and got married in Hawaii on the beach.
4) Something you may not know about me is that I love technology. I am always interested in the latest piece of tech and I want to be a computer nerd someday.
5) My favorite memory of High School was skipping class and going bowling with Corey Sherman and Brand Novosel. Just Kidding... That wasn't my favorite memory. I don't know if there was one event that I think of as my favorite, but I thought our school always had excellent sports programs and it was fun watching football and basketball win championships.
1) High School activities - I played 3 years on the Highland Golf team - I was just an average player and didn't play well my senior year at the State Championship at our home course. I had a few honors classes but didn't ever get college credit for them. I wish I would have spent a little more time studying and a little less time watching TV. I also played soccer and loved the competitiveness of High School soccer. Randy Bosh was a great coach.
2) Since High School I went to a year at ISU and then left to serve a two-year Church mission for the LDS church. I went to Finland and spoke Finnish for two years. It was more of a blessing to my life than I could write in pages of material so I won't try, but I never regret my decision to teach people about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
After that, I went to ISU and graduated in Marketing. I walked on to the ISU Golf team and played for 3 years. Out of ISU, I started working for myself as a card processor. I am the guy that you talk to if you want to take cards from clients, both online and in a store. Currently I am getting into a system where you can pay via your cell phone with an encrypted card in your phone.
3) I think my Greatest Accomplishment since High School has been getting married. It took me a while but I did it almost 2 years ago. I met Lindsay in Mesa, Arizona at a Monday night church activity playing soccer. At first I thought that she was a girl that I met the night before and got her phone number. After being followed by multiple guys I convinced her to go to Applebees w/ me and my friends. The cliche "the rest is history" fits. We dated for 3 months and got married in Hawaii on the beach.
4) Something you may not know about me is that I love technology. I am always interested in the latest piece of tech and I want to be a computer nerd someday.
5) My favorite memory of High School was skipping class and going bowling with Corey Sherman and Brand Novosel. Just Kidding... That wasn't my favorite memory. I don't know if there was one event that I think of as my favorite, but I thought our school always had excellent sports programs and it was fun watching football and basketball win championships.
Wedding on the Beach
I thought this was a neat article about getting married on the beach. Ok... I am biased
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070404/lf_nm/weddings_travel_dc
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070404/lf_nm/weddings_travel_dc
Saturday, April 14, 2007
Funny Home Remedies
1. If you are choking on an ice cube simply pour a cup of >boiling water> >down your throat. Presto! The blockage will instantly remove >itself.> >> >
2. Avoid cutting yourself slicing vegetables by getting someone >else to> >hold while you chop.>
3. Avoid arguments with the Mrs. about lifting the toilet seat >by using> >the sink
4. For high blood pressure sufferers: simply cut yourself and >bleed for> >a few minutes, thus reducing the pressure in your veins. Remember >to use a> >timer
5. A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will >prevent you> >from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze >button.>
6. If you have a ba d cough, take a large dose of laxatives, >then you> >will be afraid to cough.> 7. You only need two tools in life - WD-40 and Duct Tape. If it >doesn't> >move and should, use the WD-40. If it shouldn't move and does, use >the duct> >tape
8. Remember: Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.> >> > Daily Thought: SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES. NOT REALLY GOOD >FOR> >ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE >STAIRS
1. If you are choking on an ice cube simply pour a cup of >boiling water> >down your throat. Presto! The blockage will instantly remove >itself.> >> >
2. Avoid cutting yourself slicing vegetables by getting someone >else to> >hold while you chop.>
3. Avoid arguments with the Mrs. about lifting the toilet seat >by using> >the sink
4. For high blood pressure sufferers: simply cut yourself and >bleed for> >a few minutes, thus reducing the pressure in your veins. Remember >to use a> >timer
5. A mouse trap, placed on top of your alarm clock, will >prevent you> >from rolling over and going back to sleep after you hit the snooze >button.>
6. If you have a ba d cough, take a large dose of laxatives, >then you> >will be afraid to cough.> 7. You only need two tools in life - WD-40 and Duct Tape. If it >doesn't> >move and should, use the WD-40. If it shouldn't move and does, use >the duct> >tape
8. Remember: Everyone seems normal until you get to know them.> >> > Daily Thought: SOME PEOPLE ARE LIKE SLINKIES. NOT REALLY GOOD >FOR> >ANYTHING BUT THEY BRING A SMILE TO YOUR FACE WHEN PUSHED DOWN THE >STAIRS
Monday, April 9, 2007
I love Finland
This is a pretty awesome video that aired between conferences last weekend. It shows the history of the members of the church of Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Russia and Finland. The video shows that culture and faith of the people of these countries. It also shows of the blessings of the temple in Finland. This temple was announced the end of my mission in 2000 but was not "Finnished" until last October because of diffuculty getting government approval.
I really wish I could have gone back and seen the dedication and some of my friends from Finland during this time. It would have been awesome. One of my goals is to take Lindsay and my future family to see the temple and the rest of Finland. This video is about 45 minutes but well worth it.... OK .. I am biased because I love Finland. So turn off the TV and check this out
http://www.ldsn.org/fma/page.php?pg_id=15
I really wish I could have gone back and seen the dedication and some of my friends from Finland during this time. It would have been awesome. One of my goals is to take Lindsay and my future family to see the temple and the rest of Finland. This video is about 45 minutes but well worth it.... OK .. I am biased because I love Finland. So turn off the TV and check this out
http://www.ldsn.org/fma/page.php?pg_id=15
My Grandpa Jack
My Grandpa Jack passed away two weeks ago and it was a sad day for all. I am so glad that I got to make it to Idaho 3 weeks ago and see him for the last time. We were talking technology as he explained to me his latest gadget that he had gotten. A PDA that had many functions such as a voice recorder, planner, internet browser and navigator. It seemed to be something good to talk about to keep his mind off of the trouble he had breathing and problems with his heart. In my mind I knew that he didn't have much time on this earth so I was glad that I was in town. I wish that we would have discussed a bit more about life and the times that I enjoyed growing up and coming to visit grandpa's house.
As I departed and said my goodbyes I told him that I loved him and wanted him to get better. I wish that I would have told him more of the things that I appreciated him for. One of the things that I learned from Grandpa Jack was hard work. If working until you are, I don't remember how old, 120 maybe says something. This says that he was never one to sit stagnant. I was surprised that he sold the Jewelry store even though I shouldn't have been because he was like 120 years old.
I also learned from my Grandpa how to wheel and deal. Grandpa Jack was a great business man and always got what he wanted. He never seemed to be dishonest but always worked hard in negotiations. I hope I picked up a little of this up on my own. I think that I picked this up from my mom mainly who can get her money back on a non-refundable airline ticket.
I am also thankful that my Grandpa was supportive in all that I did. He was a big advicate of my mission and wrote me often while I was in Finland. That meant alot to me and I saved all of his letters.
I am going to miss the emails he would always send to me. In the last 2 years since I have been in Arizona I have kept in touch with Grandpa via email. He would always send me 2-3 mass emails a day to let me know he was still ok.. Some were funny, some spiritual, some cheezy and some weird but it was just kind of his thing of passing along what he enjoyed. I know that some of them always made me prove my Christianity because if I didn't forward his email to 10 people within 2 hours I wouldn't be called a Christian. Or If I didn't forward a certain email to 10 people in 5 minutes my great grandson would catch a nasty flu on his 12th birthday.. or something goofy like that.
I am also thankful that my Grandpa taught me to be conserving and not wasteful. He would try to fix things before he threw them out. This is the opposite of the mentality of today's society of if it is broke just throw it away and buy another one. I ended up reprogramming his credit card terminal 2 years ago with my company and he was really concerned that the reciepts printed longer and that more paper was used in the process. He approached me with this concern and I didn't know what to say. I had encountered previous clients with concerns of slow service time, bad pricing, slow terminals, long contracts or slow deposits into their bank accounts but never a reciept that printed a inch to long. So I called my technical support specialists and they were baffled. There was no way to fix it accourding to them so I had to break Grandpa the bad news. I hope that I can have that quality of not being wasteful pass on to me.
I will miss you Grandpa and hope to see you down the road.
As I departed and said my goodbyes I told him that I loved him and wanted him to get better. I wish that I would have told him more of the things that I appreciated him for. One of the things that I learned from Grandpa Jack was hard work. If working until you are, I don't remember how old, 120 maybe says something. This says that he was never one to sit stagnant. I was surprised that he sold the Jewelry store even though I shouldn't have been because he was like 120 years old.
I also learned from my Grandpa how to wheel and deal. Grandpa Jack was a great business man and always got what he wanted. He never seemed to be dishonest but always worked hard in negotiations. I hope I picked up a little of this up on my own. I think that I picked this up from my mom mainly who can get her money back on a non-refundable airline ticket.
I am also thankful that my Grandpa was supportive in all that I did. He was a big advicate of my mission and wrote me often while I was in Finland. That meant alot to me and I saved all of his letters.
I am going to miss the emails he would always send to me. In the last 2 years since I have been in Arizona I have kept in touch with Grandpa via email. He would always send me 2-3 mass emails a day to let me know he was still ok.. Some were funny, some spiritual, some cheezy and some weird but it was just kind of his thing of passing along what he enjoyed. I know that some of them always made me prove my Christianity because if I didn't forward his email to 10 people within 2 hours I wouldn't be called a Christian. Or If I didn't forward a certain email to 10 people in 5 minutes my great grandson would catch a nasty flu on his 12th birthday.. or something goofy like that.
I am also thankful that my Grandpa taught me to be conserving and not wasteful. He would try to fix things before he threw them out. This is the opposite of the mentality of today's society of if it is broke just throw it away and buy another one. I ended up reprogramming his credit card terminal 2 years ago with my company and he was really concerned that the reciepts printed longer and that more paper was used in the process. He approached me with this concern and I didn't know what to say. I had encountered previous clients with concerns of slow service time, bad pricing, slow terminals, long contracts or slow deposits into their bank accounts but never a reciept that printed a inch to long. So I called my technical support specialists and they were baffled. There was no way to fix it accourding to them so I had to break Grandpa the bad news. I hope that I can have that quality of not being wasteful pass on to me.
I will miss you Grandpa and hope to see you down the road.
Boy on the Way!
I am excited to write more in my Journal. I started writing in my Journal on my mission to Finland in 1998 and was pretty faithful writing for two years. After I got home I have been touch and go and haven't written as much as I wanted to. This may help me a little more because it is easier for me to type. I think it is easier to people to read my handwriting in a Blog journal than in my handwriting. Although it may lose a little personal appeal that comes with handwriting.
My life now gets more and more exciting as it goes on and I am excited to have my first kid here in a few months. The due date of June 28 is coming up fast and I think I am as ready as I can be. I have definitely gained more respect for Lindsay and women in general for the hard time that pregnancy can be..>> Guys have it easy... Just trips to the store is the extent of our tough times in Pregnancy. Pregnancy can be fun because I get to gain sympathy pounds and eat more things that I may not. I have also had allot of cravings for Ice Cream for the last few months.
The first birth I ever saw was my sister giving birth to her first child Jaden and that was an adventure. I arrived towards the end of her labor and found myself peaking inside the door of her room close to the birth. As my sister screamed loud and was "pushing" towards the finish I began to get nauseous and light headed. So I had to leave and head down the hall towards the bathroom because I thought I was going to hurl. With that as a preface I think I will do better this time as Lindsay goes into labor because I know what to expect and will be more prepared.. Hopefully.
I am excited to be a dad and know that it will be the most important responsibility I will ever have. It is a humbling experience taking responsibility for another life but I have had a great examples of a father that I know I will have to follow.
My life now gets more and more exciting as it goes on and I am excited to have my first kid here in a few months. The due date of June 28 is coming up fast and I think I am as ready as I can be. I have definitely gained more respect for Lindsay and women in general for the hard time that pregnancy can be..>> Guys have it easy... Just trips to the store is the extent of our tough times in Pregnancy. Pregnancy can be fun because I get to gain sympathy pounds and eat more things that I may not. I have also had allot of cravings for Ice Cream for the last few months.
The first birth I ever saw was my sister giving birth to her first child Jaden and that was an adventure. I arrived towards the end of her labor and found myself peaking inside the door of her room close to the birth. As my sister screamed loud and was "pushing" towards the finish I began to get nauseous and light headed. So I had to leave and head down the hall towards the bathroom because I thought I was going to hurl. With that as a preface I think I will do better this time as Lindsay goes into labor because I know what to expect and will be more prepared.. Hopefully.
I am excited to be a dad and know that it will be the most important responsibility I will ever have. It is a humbling experience taking responsibility for another life but I have had a great examples of a father that I know I will have to follow.
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