My Baby Brother is now a Married Man!

My baby brother got married last night on the beach in Maui. It was absolutely beautiful! THe wids was blowing which kept it cool, the waves were crashing and the sun was setting. My brother looked amazing in his pink tuxedo vest and black slacks. Carli was absolutely stunning in a black and pink gown, not traditionall I know, but the whole wedding was un triditional to our mainland cultures. The preacher blew a conkle shell horn to announce Carli's decent onto the beach, they had a sand ceremony and a Lei ceremony. The whole thing was perfect and so perfect to their personalities. And I now have an amazing new sister in law!

A Woman Scorned

I thought this was one of the funniest stories I have heard in a very long time. It's a joke that was told to me when I was going through a divorce and it just really hit the spot for me.

A lady and her husband lived together in a beautiful mansion, over looking a lake. With a beautiful winding driveway and flowerbeds surrounding the home, it was a dream come true. However, one day the woman came home to find her husband in bed with a 20 something bleach blonde. Now this woman was not by any means stupid. She knew that she did not have a job, although the house was completely paid for, she could not possibly afford to kick him out so she played it cool, filed for divorce and in the settlement she let him have the house with the agreement that a.) when he sold it she got 1/2 of the equity and b.) she could have one more night alone in the beautiful house before his mistress moved in.

To make for a speedy divorce, her husband agreed to her terms. So on the night following the divorce, she made herself a beautiful dinner of shrimp and wine, lit a candle and dined.

But as she was cleaning up she started placing the tails of the shrimp and other leftovers in the curtain rods, under the carpet and in the tv stand. Then she turned out the lights, locked all the doors and smiled as she walked herself to the car.

The next day her husband moved his new bride to be in to the luscious house and they started their new life together. But before long, a rotten smell began permeating from every corner of the house. The new bride scrubbed the walls and floors, washed the drapes and scoured the whole house, but to no avail. Before long she could not stand it any longer and demanded that he sell the beautiful home. However, with the smell permeating the entire house, he had alot of trouble getting any interested buyers. He lowered the price and lowered the price until it was selling for less than houses a tenth it's market value. Finally, it seemed a miracle, he received an offer from an anonymous buyer for the very low price he was asking. His brand new marriage already on the rocks and his new wife threatening to leave, he was glad for any buyers and he accepted the offer.

The stress of his divorce, his new marriage and the house had ultimately cost him his job and he was struggling to make ends meet. He bought his new bride a moderately priced home in a downtown suburban neighborhood and since this was not what she had bargained for, the marriage ultimately ended.

The wife on the other hand, who had been the anonymous buyer, took her half of the equity from the sale of the house and went through the house, removing all of her carefully placed treats and cleaning the house thoroughly. She turned around and sold it for market value, bought another elegant although slightly smaller house on the lake and used the equity from the re-sell of the home to live luxuriously until she found another man who loved and adored her and took care of her every whim.

The moral to this story is: Never underestimate the wrath of a woman scorned!

The Bridal Shower

Seldom do I walk into a house and find myself spell bound. Saturday was the exception. Now, most houses I visit are beautiful, exqusite even gorgeous, this one can only be described as spell binding. It was huge from the oversized wood and glass entry doors to the modern furniture, to the custom made, dark mahogany entertainment center and matching round dining table that expanded to seat up to 26.

The baby grand in the entryway happened to be a player piano that emited the most beautiful tones, filling the room with a glow of it's own. The fireplace was floor to ceiling rock with the opening being at least 6 feet under the easily 20' high ceilings. Even the furniture was oversized, but then it had to be not to be dwarfed by the size of the room.

The kitchen hosted a full granite counter and center bar with sinks in three places. The stainless steel fridge was flush mounted into the wall and featured two full size doors and the dual cooktops and matching built-in, head heighth stoves gave the impression of a grand catering company.

Upstairs featured a master bath, complete with jetted tub, flat screen LCD television and his and hers walk-in closets. Multiple other bedrooms littered the second level, but the kicker here was a 90 ft by 20 ft room, simply for the childrens playthings. There was a pool/pingpong/foosball table in one end and anothe LCD flatscree in the other surrounded by a wooden play kitchen, pint sized recliner chairs and a myriad of toys. One the return to the main level one had to walk along what can only be described as a catwalk type hallway, fully carpeted with beautiful, ornate railings, that opened to full view of the main level sitting area. The basement was unaccessable to us as it was a 3000 sq. ft. appartment for the lady of the houses' daughter.

The grounds, from what I saw of them were spectacular and the home itself is just about everything I could ever want in a home. As a side note, the lady of the house has 6 children of her own, married her husband who brought with him 4 children and they adopted 6 more for a total of 16 children who are now all grown and married with children of their own. 27 Grand children to be exact. So family get togethers are seldom small and the expansive room is necessary to accomodate everyone. All I can say is I wish I had her Husband's job!

If he won't do it.... then I will!

Now please don't get me wrong, I love my husband dearly and I appreciate all that he does do, however, I can get really frusterated at times over the stuff he DOESN"T do. And I do understand and sympathize with the fact that he has just SO much to do. My biggest problem of all is that he gets frusterated when I do it. It's not that he thinks I can't do it, he just thinks that I have enough of my own stuff to do and he gets embarrassed that he didn't get around to it.

Granted, I do have plenty of my own stuff to take care of without adding his to do list as well, but sometimes things just need to get done. So today, I did it.

I took the furnace motor that he repaired back to my mother's house and re-installed it in the furnace. Works like a gem! Then I went to Home Depot and bought my own caulking gun, a tube of high quality caulk and a couple of caulk removal and installation tools. I have since come home and removed the old caulk from the tub and cleaned it up so now it's ready for new caulk.

This is all very new to me. I have never done this kind of thing before but this was important! Not only has the old caulk given way and allowed the shower to flood my office in the basement, but it is also leaking to the outside of the house which tells me it is causing more problems than just soaking my basement carpet! So I had to get it done. And besides, it's not like I am installing granite tile or anything, I am simply spreading caulk. It seems to be alot like some of my crafts. And so far, it has been pretty easy. I'll let you know how the rest goes later.

I am learning more and more about life insurance since my step-dad passed away. I can't believe that people really get Cash Value life Insurance. It just doesn't make any sense to me, but then I am not an expert in the field either. I just hear what the salesman wants me to hear. I am wondering what other people think about the matter. My question is why pay nearly 3 times as much for a 10th of the coverage. Granted, term life insurance gradually decreases in value, but later in life you are not going to need as much insurance as you do now. Right now I have a Husband and children that I stay home with. If I were to suddenly pass away now, not only would he be left with the funeral expenses and the loss of my mediocre income, but he would also be left without child care and that can be very, very expensive. The amount of Cash Value Life Insurance that I can afford would never come close to replacing the financial stability that I currently offer to my family.

Term life insurance on the other hand, from what I understand, is less expensive and offers greater coverage, more to the tune of what my family would actually need to replace me. term life insurance rates are much lower than Cash Value insurance but, the coverage gets lower as I age, then again, so do my expenses. My house should be getting paid off, my children grown and the cars paid. By the time I am "old enough" to pass on, I should not have many bills or expenses to leave my husband.

Is there something that I am missing? Something I do not know about? Please let me know your comments and feelings on the matter. I am just struggling with the fact that a mere $50K is not nearly enough to cover the costs associates with losing a loved one.

The Return From The Road

Just a helpful side note from my last post... when my friend found it time to return West to be with her Grandchildren, she also found it difficult to move a decades worth of stuff, gathered over time and needing to me moved quickly.

She spent alot of time looking into different options from U-haul to long distance moving companies. She found that the best option for her was moving pods. As strange as it sounds, moving pods are nothing more than steel boxes delivered to your driveway, into which you move your belongings at which point the company picks them up, tosses them on to the cars of a train and delivers them to a location near your new home.

She found that moving pods are an inexpensive and quick way to move your belongins long distances. No on the other hand if most of your belongings are antique and/or high value pieces, I would highly suggest you take the route of hiring a long distance moving company as they are licenses and insured to protect your valuable items.

Hit The Road

My friend, mother of 5 and avid homeschooler decided one day that it was time to go. Her kids had lived in Utah long enough and needed to see more. So she sold her home, found a used rv for sale, packed it up and hit the open road. She eventually settled in South Carolina where her family lived. She spent a good amount of time there before heading back this way to be with her oldest son and grandchildren.

Now my point in telling you this story is not to suggest that you dump your house and savings into buying an RV and heading out, but rather to suggest that you get out more. See more of what our beautiful country has to offer. We have Vermont with gorgeous leaves in autumn. There are the redwood forests and theme parks of California, the white sand beaches and exotic landscape of Hawaii and the history rich area of Washington DC, Virginia and Pensylvania. Then there are the 7 National parks right in our own backyard. Zion, Arches, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef and Canyonlands, All right here in Utah. Then There is Yellowstone and Grand Teton right next door. These are easily weekend trips and just as inexpensive as it comes when you go treking in an RV.

Rv's offer you the convience of taking your home with you. No need to eat out or pay for expensve hotel rooms. The biggest expense is the RV itself and the gas required to get it there. Way less than the cost of a single airline ticket!

But even if you go by car and stay in a nice hotel, just go! Take advantage of all God has given us to enjoy. Get out and Hit the Road!

Job Woes

I have been looking (halfheartedly) for a job for the last month now and my biggest concern right now is I have done nothing but sale my entire career and now, I am tired of it! I have my nursing degree but as I have said before, I hate nursing. So now what?

I am looking over the available jobs and I just can't find what I need. But then how many jobs out there have the requirements set at: Must be able to type very fast, own your own equipment and work from home. Hours from 9:30am to 11:30am. Must be able to go all day without ever dealing with another person.

Does not sound very reasonable or likely. Lots of sales and nursing positions out there and a few for fulfillment centers, not exactly what I was looking for.

So if anyone hears of a great opportunity, with at least some of the above perimeters, please let me know!

I'm Going to Be Independently Wealthy!!!

I'm Going to Be Independently Wealthy! Isn't that exciting news! Here's how I am going to do it....

First I am going to enter myself into the Miss Black America Contest.

Second I am going to sue for millions on the basis of discrimination! My case will be that I lost because I was white! After all, it is the Miss BLACK America pageant.

Of course I'll have to form my own version of the NAACP since those idiots would have no idea how to defend this. I'll have to find a group of people that actually have brains! We'll convince the jury, made up of poor white women, that my losing had nothing to do with the fact that I am a 30 yr. old mother of five with no hips or chest at all, but rather my losing was based solely on the color of my skin and I was discriminated against. Of course, people are so used to hearing the discrimination plea that everyone will buy right into it, since after all, discrimination is so prevalent still.

And when I get my millions out of these Miss Black America people, then I'm entering the Miss Mexican America!

P.S. We'd never get away with holding a Miss White America!

Cadillac Song by Johnny Cash

I just heard the Cadillac song by Johnny Cash and it gave me a wonderful idea! Forget the Caddy, I'm going to get myself a job at the Ferrari plant and sneak myself out some Ferrari parts. Except I'll learn from his mistakes and start with the exterior, get all those parts first and then work on the interior and finally the engine and tranny. I think that's the only way I'll ever be able to get myself a Ferrari. Other than that, I'll be driving my little minivan for the rest of my life!

But until then, the Johnny Cash is always good for a laugh with his Cadillac Song.

Helping Families - Helping Yours

I have just signed on with a new company, actually, they are not a new company, they have been in business for many years, but they are new to me. I will have the flexibility to set my own hours and work when I can. The pay is reasonable and I will be getting the opportunity to help people by offering free financial needs analysis to families. It includes debt consolidation, life insurance quote, retirement planning and investing.

I love the program because it has the ability to save families hundreds and sometimes even thousands of dollars per month, some of which can be invested to help them make their retirement goals. It's a great company so far and I love the benefits of the job.

If anyone is interested in getting involved or just getting a free financial needs analysis, leave me a comment and I'll get you hooked up. This has been really great for me, so far!

Diet Drug Addictions

Drug addiction is an epidemic that challenges millions of people from every walk of life. No one is immune from it. And it's not just the addict that suffers, all the people around them, everyone that loves and cares about them suffers with them. And addiction to diet pills is no exception.

Our society places so much value on being skinny when in fact it is not healthy to be "model thin". Highly overweight or obese is not healthy either, so finding a nice balance, somewhere in the middle is an ever increasing challenge. And with that challenge come the new monster. Diet drugs are popping up everywhere! They are worse than Starbucks!

Not all diet pills are bad, however. Most can actually be very beneficial, if used properly. Diet drugs can give the dieter the edge they need to get going. They can kick start the metabolism to help proper diet and exercise do their job. And there are even some diet pills that can give you energy to get through your day and others that can help cure acne while your at it!

But I have seen too many people start popping these little pills with tragic results. It can seem too easy and when the time comes to actually change their diet or start the exercise routine, they falter. Falling back on the pills to lose the weight. It becomes a vicious cycle and they get hooked. Please, if you use diet pills, do it responsibly.

Losing my Mind....

Is it just me, or does everyone start losing their minds as they get older? I swear, as I get older, I can not remember what I am supposed to be doing, where I am supposed to be going and who I am supposed to be doing it with!

I have two boys that need to be at football practice, one at 4, one at 5. One girl has to be to cheerleading practice at 5:15 and the other has Dance at 4:45. One child gets picked up from her mother's at 2pm and her brother dropped off at 9pm to be babysat all night.

Add in our Country Fair Days Kid-K run at 6 and Movie in the park at dusk and I feel like I am running in circles. I am beat and tired and I can't remember who needs to be where, when. I'm going to need to get myself one of those PDAs everyone has, just to keep track of myself!

The Distracted Mom

I am having one of those weeks. We are in the process of taking all of the children's toys, moving them to the play room, sorting them and boxing them. The children will then have to check them out, just like a library system.

I have not figured out yet just how to work it all. I would like them to have to earn them, but I think I would need 5 different POS systems, just to keep everything straight. And at $10,000 a shot, I doubt I'll have even one! I knew they had too many toys, but I never imagined they had this many! Good thing, some get to be thrown out and others are too young, even for Baby, so they get donated.

However, I am thinking that this is already working. I am seeing much less clutter in their rooms and the rest of the house. It's actually pretty nice!

Mesothelioma

Cancer is a scary thing and having children does not make it any easier. One lady I know, a mother of three, lost her husband of 42 years to Mesothelioma. They assume he got it from the asbestos he inhaled while doing home renovations in the early 60's. The funny thing was, it didn't rear it's ugly head until much, much later in life. He was in his early 60's when they found it. He was finding it harder and harder to breathe and when he started the chronic wheezing, he decide to see his doctor. Unfortunately, he was not one to see a doctor regularly so it was very advanced and although they tried several rounds of chemotherapy, it proved far to advanced for even today's medical science. He passed away peacefully and without pain with the assistance of medication, but he left behind a wife and 3 teenage children. This poor woman has been through so much in the last year and she finally decided to look up Mesothelioma lawyers, so far she hasn't had much luck with that, as the company he worked for has long since disolved, but they seem optimistic. She is now trying to put her life back together without her dear husband. But with the help of loved ones, and the little money the state gives her, she should be fine. It just never ceases to amaze me how quickly this life can leave us. Please make sure you see your doctor regularly and kiss your kids and your spouse every day!

Diet Pills?

The debate on diet pills continues to get bigger and bigger. Which ones are safe? Which are FDA approved? Which is the best route... Natural or synthetic? All are good questions and all have serious risk factors involved. I have seen natural weight loss pills do as much damage as synthetic, man made ones. I have seen hundreds of billions of dollars pumped into the pharmaceutical industry via the sale of these drugs and billions of dollars generated in the legal system by the prosecution of the drug companies on even the best diet pills. Not to mention the millions of dollars earned by the medical industry from the "side effects" of these drugs, both natural and synthetic. And yet, as a nation, we continue to cling to the hope that we can still eat our $5.00, 2000 calorie big mac with a diet coke and pop a pill to make ourselves healthy. I don't know what the answer is, but I know that popping diet pills like candy is not the answer. However, Safe, practical use of diet pills, a healthy diet and plenty of exercise is a good start!

Lose it Right

Losing weight is not an easy thing and it can be very frustrating and cause feelings of failure when it doesn't work. However, it does not need to be that way. There are many natural ways to kick start your metabolism. Coconut oil for instance, when used at a rate of 3 tablespoons per day, it is said to speed up your metabolism greatly. And there are many drugs on the market to help you out, but even the best fat burner can't compete with a poor diet. Chocolate cake for breakfast, McDonald's for lunch and a salad for dinner followed by ice cream is just not going to cut it!

Choose healthy meals and healthy snacks. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables as fillers with small amounts of protein and carbs for the energy you need to get through the day and not feel hungry. An apple and peanut butter make a great snack. A piece of toast, a banana and a cup of low-fat yogurt is a yummy and healthy breakfast and go easy on dinner. Then that piece of chocolate cake once in awhile is a necessity for everyone, but daily it is nothing more that a sand trap for even the best dieter.

So take a minute to look through your cupboards. Are they stocked with healthy, quick grab snacks, or are they filled with high calorie, high sugar, fill you up fast but leave you hungry in 10 minutes treats? Now is a great time to make the effort to clean out your cupboards and stock them appropriately. You be very glad you did next time the mid-day munchies sneak up on you.

Free Summer Fun Activities

Here is a great way to kick up your fun this summer. The R.A.M.P. program in Weber County has opened up a world of opportunities for families finding themselves on suddenly tight budgets and in these dire economic times, that is more than a few of us. They are opening various facilities in Weber County every Saturday free of charge. I am really excited to be able to take my family on some of these outings.

Link to http://www.co.weber.ut.us/ramp/PDFs/summer%20schedule%202009.pdf and you can see a listing of all the available facilities and the dates for free admission. There are some really exciting ones like the Roy Aquatic Center, BSA Ropes Challenge Course and The Ice Sheet to name just a few. Spend your summer having fun, get out and go!

Sharing Embarrassing Moments

I had a friend tell me the other day that she had heard that sharing embarrassing moments with friends was a great way to make them less embarrassing to you. So over lunch at our favorite hang out (McDonald's, of course!) she shared with me the details of her most recent date. Lets just say it didn't go very well at all. This wonderful guy she had just met had invited her to a party in which everyone was supposed to dress as the opposite sex and go to the "prom". I guess it was really alot of fun, men in prom dresses and women in tux's.

As the night wore on, it got hot and stuffy so she took off her jacket. Well, part of the party involved water balloon volleyball. (If you have never played before, it's alot of fun. It involved a volleyball net and passing water balloons back and forth using towels.) They enjoyed a lovely game of water volleyball until it happened! She got hit, square on with a huge water balloon. She was soaked and it was at that time that she, and her date, realized that under her white tuxedo shirt she had made the mistake of wearing a black bra and she had left her jacket across the yard and inside the house. She was very embarrassed, but said that her date handled it like a true gentleman. He wrapped the towel they had been using to play around her and quickly ushered her inside and waited until she had dried herself off and was presentable again.

He then decided that he had had enough of the Prom dress as well and he took her home to change before taking her out to a lovely dinner.


I don't know if she feels any less embarrassed about the situation for having confided it in me, but I feel a whole lot better now that my sides have stopped hurting from laughing so hard. Hopefully soon, she'll stop rejecting my phone calls and talk to me again.

Summer is Here, Electronics are In

Summer is upon us and with that comes lots of children with lots of time on their hands. So that leads me to this particular post.

In this day and age, electronics rule our world. They are every where we go, involved in everything we do and they occupy our every waking moment. However, that does not mean that they need to be our constant source of entertainment.

Now, I'm not saying that you should hide the Nintendo Wii or lock up the computer. Actually the opposite. Make time each day for your children (and yourself) to spend time playing video games and working or playing on the computer. The video games are a great way to build hand-eye coordination and the computer is a necessity of daily life. But set time limits. One hour each day and then it's outside to play.


And finding yourself outside doesn't mean that the electronics get left behind either. Bring along your ipod when you go for a walk, especially in the city. The music will be a beautiful distraction to the noise of city life. On a nature walk, bring your blackberry or PDA and record what you are seeing and doing. It will be a wonderful memory during the cold dreary months.

Take pictures and upload them to your computer as a screen saver or on your digital photo frame. Record the sounds of nature and upload them to your ipod to listen to as you are falling asleep.

Getting outside doesn't mean leaving the electronic behind, but in our world it means incorporating them. So take your electronics and get those kids outside! Enjoy your summer!