Please read through the whole thing

Okay first of all let me start by stating that this is in no way a knock on the content of my experience, in fact, I think that what was discussed was important and relevant...but...

Last night I had the opportunity to attend a "fireside" run by my local Stake. For those that aren't LDS you may not understand for those that are...you know what I'm talking about.

It was presented as a financial fireside in which we would be discussing how to get out of debt, save for retirement etc...Because of what I do part time, I wanted to go and see what principles were being taught.

As I arrived at the church I found that the 'fireside' was being held inside the gym...not the chapel plus it was being held inside one of the other building and not the stake center. This surprised me as in the particular building that we were going was signficantly smaller and the gym did not hold more than 200 people (in hard chairs I might add). After being seated, things started very normally. The stake presidency was in attendance and former Bishop got up to get things started. He talked about how about 1 year ago he was and his family were struggling to make ends meet and were having a hard time following the councils of the prophet in which we are all encouraged to save money and be prepared for difficult times. This all rang true for me as I lost my job just over a year ago and had wished that we had money saved for such times. He then talked about how he had asked for help, when he heard an advertisement on the radio for a very specific person's plan for getting out of debt and wealth building (if you are really interested in knowing which program let me know and I will let you know individually, but I don't want to specifically mention who because I don't want this to be about that person). This immediatley caused my eyebrows to raise...surely this was not...He talked about how much it had helped him in his life and that he had won a free membership to the program. Okay. The man conducting the meeting brought up the agenda for the meeting and discussed how this could be a resource (of many) that can be used to eliminate debt and begin building wealth...fine...let's get on with it...For only 99 bucks we could join up...HOLD ON....WHAT?

Okay like I said this has absolutley nothing to do with the program that was introduced, but I was shocked to hear what was going on. I can't believe that under the guise of a "fireside" we were now being asked to buy into a program...This actually explained why the activity did not take place within the chapel...we actually watched the first seminar from this person. For the record I think that the debt reduction ideas and plans are fantastic. The concept of eliminating the paying of interest to banks...fabulous. It is actually very close to what we do...but the fact that I was at a church "Fireside" blew me away.

The man conducting the meeting followed up with this comment, "...in order for this to fit within the guidelines the church has, I can't accept a check here tonight..." That sounds suspicsiously like..."we are already getting really close to the line...so we have to be careful and make sure we don't cross it..."

I hope that this doesn't offend anybody, and like I said, I am in no way knocking the material that was presented, just the false pretenses under which the meeting was set up. If I had known what this would be, I may not have gone. If everyone can take a step back and look at this...would you attend a fireside if you knew that you would be asked to pay 99 dollars?

I would be fine if they said we are going to have a financial workshop on a saturday come casual...but I don't think that they should have pushed this as a fireside.

New look

Well...it's happened. My wife started actively participating in the blog...can you tell?

I don't want anyone to think that Daniel is the only one who posts anything on our blog....so here I am blogging for the first time woo-hoo what a thrill! :) The robbery was awful and the following night/morning I also heard the car alarm going off and jumped out of bed raced down the stairs and flew open the door to catch the scumbags in the act.... well to my surprise and probably that of the neighbors it was the kids across the street honking their horn for their mom to come out and take them to school. Then logic caught up with me. What was I going to do here I am in my pj's half blind because I didn't grab my glasses, what was I going to do to the robbers? They weren't going to hit the same house again the very next night and at 8:00 in the morning. I hate this feeling of being out of control in a situation. That I don't know whats going to happen and to always have this sense of paranoia.

Not only to add to this situation. Daniel went out of town on monday for the night and got back late tuesday. My mother went to Denver with my grandma to visit my aunt. So there I was a week after being robbed home alone, by myself with 3 kids. Daniel has never left me before, I've left him (girls camp, youth conference, girls weekend, etc.) He can handle himself and the kids. It was scary but I managed. Now i know there are moms who do this all the time, single moms, military moms, etc. But I had never done it. At first I was afraid....I survived hey hey I will survive! Most of the lights were on that night but hey what can I say?

Good things did come of it though. Carter (who will be 3 in June) has decided to start potty training. YAY! Hip Hip HOORAY! It may be driven by his love for candy and treats but who cares if it works I won't have to spend money on diapers (I will probably have to spend money at the dentist since his teeth will be rotting out of his head) but I won't have to change stinky diapers any more! (Well until McKinley stops nursing) How is it going? Well when he is done eating his treat a few minutes later he some how needs to go potty again. I feel like I spend most of my day in the bathroom encouraging him but hopefully he's getting the hang of it. In the two days since we started, we've only had two accidents. So things are going.... :) well I guess that's all from me for now...I need to give McKinley her medicine we get to go get shots today...we aren't going to be happy tonight.

I know, I know

I know, I said I was going to get off the venting but something happened last week that is so totally worth venting about.

So Tuesday, March 17th, I wake up and get ready for work. It was normal morning and nothing too out of the ordinary had happened, I even got up and got ready on time...I walk out to my car, and open the door to find utter chaos. It looks like a tornado has been through. My first thought was to Carter. He's almost three and has the uncanny ability to make really big messes in a very short time. But the more I look, the more it seems something else is afoot. I immediatley find my car owner's manual to search for the $100 in emergency money I keep stashed there (you never know where you will be when you blow a tire)...it's gone...I've been robbed. I jump out of the car like it's got an electric current. And my CSI watching mind kicks in...oh no...I've disturbed the crime scene.

I check the wife's car...broken into as well...the $100 bucks we keep in her car...gone. I was careful with her door, and used my jacket to open the door and a pen to look through things. I couldn't believe that our cars had been broken into...I am almost positive that the doors were locked. We lock everything up at night...even the dog...(okay not really the dog, but everything else is locked up).

I head back in to the house, call the police and let them know what has happened. I also decide that I better call work and let them know that I may be late, or I will be working from home. A police officer shows up after a short while (since it's morning he was at the elementary school near my house to deter speed demons), he looks at things and informs me that he can tell where they pried the top corner of the door open, which allowed them to get in and unlock the doors. My jaw dropped as he told me how they do this. He said the unfortunate thing is that it usually causes a little bit of damage to the doors as it tweaks them enough that they don't align as nicely and so the doors are harder to close.

He notices that some of the stuff has been put away and asks if I disturbed the 'crime scene' wincing, I confirm that it happened. He takes an official statement about what was stolen and what time I noticed it. He asks what time we went to bed and if we were startled out of our sleep at any point...I tell him what I know, he thanks me and adds a comment, "You are probably lucky, if they hadn't found the cash, they would have taken the cd's and cd players right out of your car...and they aren't careful when they do it." He also mentions that it's a pattern, groups from out of town come in to Layton, and hit neighborhoods. He said you can almost block out areas that have been hit, and in a few months they will be back to hit that same area again.

I asked him if there was anything we could do to avoid getting hit again...and he said...the good news is, the best thing to avoid getting your car broken into just happened. "They probably won't hit you again because they already got something from you."

Okay so here comes the venting. For those who have been to my house or know about where I live, I don't live in a bad part of town (although I am beginning to wonder). It's a quiet neighborhood where not much happens, the worst we really have ever had is simply speeding. This little stint has thrown us into the wraps of paranoia. How late do we let our kids go out and play? Should we buy alarm systems for the vehicles? I woke up a few nights ago...because I was sure I had heard the security system in the Trailblazer (which you have to hit the lock button on the remote twice to set the system) going off...turns out...it was my imagination. I walk in the door and lock it...immediatley...when I'm in the house...shouldn't I be safe to leave the door unlocked?

Plus...what is up with the police? My car was broken into and money was stolen...where was the Crime Scene Investigators? Isn't that part of a step to catching the jerks that did this? I got no assurance that they would have an officer drive through the neighborhood and intervals for the next 6 months...I got no assurances that they would do anything...I haven't even gotten a follow-up phone call...

Okay I admit that some of this is sarcasm...I don't expect them to do anything unless they fell it is warranted. Plus I understand that to them, this is nothing extraordinary...but that doesn't change the fact that to us, it is! Is any neighborhood safe out there. I also get this depressing feeling that as the economy worsens, crime will follow. I am not worried too much about my money, it hurts a bit (heck I could have used that cash to buy stuff), but it's not like it pushed under the poverty level, or wiped out our entire savings (although it did a huge number on our emergency money). What worries me the most is the peace of mind that I may never get back.

When we first moved to this area, we had a $300 mountain bike get stolen, I didn't attribute this to the neighborhood or anything, there was a lot of construction going on with a lot of private contractors whose employees probably didn't make too much money, so I blamed it on them. For 3 years I have felt comfortable with letting my kids play outside without too much supervision, I felt comfortable leaving windows open so if I got locked out, I could break in...for three years things have been good...now I want to move, and I hate that some petty criminals can have that kind of effect on me.

Okay...off the venting

Okay, so I am off the venting thing. I guess thing had been worse than I was used to for the past few months, but things have definatley gotten better.

I'll get to the better things later, this past week I had to do one of the harder things I have had to do in a while. For most of those reading this (I don't think there are many) but for most of the people who actually read this, what I went through was not a big deal. I didn't think it would be a big deal either, but for some reason it's having an affect on me.

On Saturday, I said goodbye to my little sister. There have been milestones in the past and it's not like we spend a whole lot of time together, but she moved out of state and it's been tough adjusting. Like many, we had to adjust when I went on a mission, and just over year after being home, I got married, so like I said we hadn't spent too much time together. She got married a little over a year ago and has been living and going to school in Provo for a few years as well.

I had the same problem when she got married. She was growing up and facing the world without the protection and security that her big brother provided. It was hard for me, I cried like a baby in after the fact, and although I WAS proud of her like I said. It was about saying goodbye then as well. Don't get me wrong, she married a great guy who is going to treat her like a queen. So it has nothing to do with the guy, but that doesn't change the fact.

Okay so then I was very proud of her when she had her first child, her and Jenn were pregnant at the same time, and Macy was born in October and McKinley was born in January. I am happy that my most recent child will have cousins that are close in age, eventhough they won't be close in any other way.

So I put this question out there. Am I just being a baby, is this some form of immaturity that I have a hard time dealing with a sister that lives out of state? (she is in TX by the way) Do I just need to grow up and accept the fact that not everybody can continue to live in the same city or state in which they were born?

I know that there is a part of me that is even more worried about the overseas posts that will have to take place...(sorry I didn't mention that my brother-in-law is an officer in the Air Force that's why they are moving away). I am worried because then in addition to the the fact that she is far away, she is days away and news can sometimes travel slow (especially when I don't check my e-mail every day).



Okay so here's the good stuff. I am doing new things and helping a lot of people. It's amazing to see the change in people when they come to a realization (some of which with my assistance) that they don't have to worry about the future. I have helped quite a few families who will go from nothing saved for retirement, future expenses etc. to having money saved up and in the pocket within 5 years. With those savings growing and putting them in a position to enjoy retirement and not just be retired. I have found that the exhilirating feeling sometimes makes me wish that I could tell them again and again...It's changed my entire feeling on life. I am a victim of my father's upbringing who is often heard saying things like...'I will be working until I'm 80', I always that my job was a part of my life. Now I am doing things that have life being a part of the job. It's a liberating feeling and hopefully you will see a difference in the blog as a result.

thanks all...