Resting

This is Shiree posting. I'm laying here in bed resting. I've been reading Tracy and Julie's blog posts and thinking about how therapeutic it is to just write. So I'm writing some thoughts now. I don't know if everyone knows that I'm pregnant. About 10 weeks and last Friday I started spotting. Now for anyone who's been pregnant, seeing blood is a bit freaky. So I called a nurse and I've been told to not pick up any kids and to rest as much as possible and try to get the bleeding to stop. I have 3 kids!!! I can't lay in bed all day. So now it's Wednesday and it hasn't stopped and I'm supposed to just lay here. And the house is a mess, there's laundry to be done, and I'm not supposed to do any of it?
Thankfully this is happening the only week Lance doesn't have school this entire year. And my mom, dad and grandma are coming to help today because the Coney's will be here tonight. and then they can help take care of the kids while I lay here. And my friend Heather took the boys this morning for a few hours. But I somehow just can't relax and enjoy the break.
The thing I wonder about the most is why this is happening now, with the 4th child. I've successfully carried and birthed 3 children and now my body is falling apart or something. I'm only 32. So maybe I'm not a spring chicken anymore, but I'm not old either. I guess my body is falling apart more than I thought.
Hopefully they can tell me what is going on at my appointment Friday.
Now I'm done venting so that feels better.

Ipod experiment update

1/2 way there. Thanks to the two who have participated so far. Everything seems legit so far, no spam, no hassles. I just need two more people to help out to complete the experiment. If this is the first time you are reading this, check the last two posts for full details. By the way, the free credit report is quick and easy, you just have to give them your credit card info to sign up for the monthly thing, but you can cancel right after you get your credit report and you never get charged anything, plus you get your credit report. You do have to cancel by phone, but just say no!). Here is the link again to help out with my experiment: http://www.YouriPodNano4free.com/index.php?ref=4913548

Ipod Experiment part 2

OK, the experiment continues and I've had one person sign up so far for a free offer and they have counted their sign up towards my Ipod. I only need three more until I supposedly get the Ipod. (See the last post for more details). Any help would be appreciated, but please don't spend any money on this unless you really want to sign up for one of the offers anyway. I recommend the stamps.com offer and you can quit after 21 days and still keep your credit. Like I said before, I don't know if this is going to work, but I'll let everyone know the results. Thanks for the help in this experiment so far! Here is the link again:

http://www.YouriPodNano4free.com/index.php?ref=4913548

An experiment...

How many of you have been anoyed by the "GET A FREE IPOD" ads that you frequently see on the net? Well, I have NEVER known anyone who has actually gotten a free ipod/PS3/360/etc. So I am running a public information experiment. I have scoured the internet to look for a "reputable" company claiming to give out FREE ipods. Here is the supposed deal: I sign up for one offer (I'm doing a free month trial of stamps.com, it is free and I get $5 of stamps free to print out, and I can cancel after 21 days and keep the credit) and then if I can get 5 others to click on my link and sign up for an offer, I get a free ipod Nano. We'll see. So anyone willing to help out for the sake of public information, click on the link below, sign up for an offer that you have never participated in before (try a free one so you don't risk anything) and email or comment telling me that you have signed up. Also, just in case, sign up with an email address that you are okay getting spam at (I can send you a Gmail invite to get a new email address to use, if you want.). I will keep everyone up to date on the progress.
Here is the link you must click on for me to get the credit:

http://www.YouriPodNano4free.com/index.php?ref=4913548

Thanks for your help in this experiment. Updates to follow.
Don't forget to let me know when you sign up so I can keep up with the progress. I will not put your name on the blog, unless you request me to. Thanks.

Say Hello to Our New Friend

Just in case anyone out there wants to break into our house and be naughty, I hope you can identify with swiss cheese. This is my new homeland security device. .40 caliber, hollow-point protection. Go ahead, make my day...

Licensure

I just found out that I am now licensed to practice marriage and family therapy in the state of Utah. Cool! Now I get to pay TWO states money every year!

I got screwed!

I now have a titanium screw in my jaw. And I actually paid for this...? Yes, I did not take care of my teeth, and I had to have one removed (or root canal and crown for about the same price, but this way, I'll never have a problem with this tooth again...). The bone healed for a few months, and today they drilled a large screw into my upper jaw, and sewed the gum shut over it, while the screw assimilates into the bone. On the bright side, I did get to use laughing gas. I love that stuff! I also talked the dentist into giving me a free professional tooth bleaching (normally $100 or so) since I'm forking out thousands for my teeth with him.
Also, I knew I shouldn't have believed him when he said, "Oh, you'll only need some Ibuprofen, it shouldn't hurt too bad." Well, I feel like I was cut open and had a piece of metal shoved up into my skull. Ibuprofen, ibushmophen. Oooouuuuuuuuuccchhhhhhhh!!!!!
Also, he mentioned that my bone is not as dense as some people's where the screw was put in. This may be the nitrous talking, but I now have proof that I'm not dense, even if I am a bone head, that got screwed by his dentist. (OK, definitely the nitrous oxide talking now...Hehe!)

(no, that is not my head in the x-ray...)

Thought this was kinda fun!

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Simpsonize me

So I Simpsonized Shiree and myself. I think the cartoon Shiree is great, but I don't look as much like this guy. I love the cat (Snowball/ our Winter). If you want to do the same thing, have a close-up high contrast photo available for upload, and go to simpsonizeme.com

Enjoy!

Cash Back!!! 0% down!!! Owe as much as you can!!!

Warning: If you have a new car or lease, you should not read this. Doing so could induce nausea, vomiting, anger, upset sense of reality, whining, and pouting.

I have to comment on the long standing tradition of car companies pretending to "give" you cash back when you "buy" a new car. They call it Cash Back, or Bonus Cash, or a Cash Allowance. Turn on the TV for more than 5 minutes and you'll hear it. How nice of them, just giving you money if you buy one of their cars. I wonder where that money comes from? Hmmm... Well, it's not theirs. The car dealerships actually make more money off of selling a car loan than on selling a car (this is a fact). Try coming in with cash to buy a new car sometime and watch as they try and entice you into a loan. What this Cash Back crap is is them encouraging you to take a bigger loan than what is needed to "buy" the car, so they can "give" you cash. You are just taking out a loan to get cash that you will then pay interest on to the bank. Now, if you were just sitting here thinking, "wow, I'd love $2,000", you most likely would not go down to the bank and ask for a loan for some cash. But that is what you are doing with the Crash Back deal. And people fall for it every day. So you end up not only paying way more than the worth of the car, way more than the price tag value, then you pay an extra $2000 or more to get cash back. "Hey honey, lets go get a loan, pay thousands more for a car than it is worth, not to mention many thousands more than it will be worth once the wheels hit the pavement (buy used cars!!!!) so we can have some cash in our pocket, that we'll end up paying a lot more for than we actually get in our pockets!" That's almost as stupid as, "honey, lets get rid of our payed off car and spend $25,000 on a hybrid to save money on gas!" One final stupid one, "Let's spend $300 a month on a new car loan ($3,600 a year) so that we don't have to spend the $800 to get our 5 year old car fixed." OK, one more, "Lets spend $300 a month on a leased car that will never be ours so that don't have to drive a paid off car with no payments and an occasional repair that would be about what we pay a month on our lease." It blows me away what people are willing to pay for new car smell and the ability to say for a few months "I drive a new car." Stupid.

One more thing, a car is NOT an asset! If you want to use that term, try a depreciating asset. How about this: I have some stock for you! Buy it for $20,000, and in 4 years it will be worth 40% to %50 LESS than it is now. In fact, keep it long enough and you can only sell it for a few hundred dollars. But what most people do is just buy more of the stock for another $20,000 or more and let that depreciate. But hey, they look cool because of all that stock! If you want to be really cool, you can just lease the stock, and someday you can buy it if you want to, but it will still only be worth beans. But it's not about the money, right? It's about looking cool and that "new stock smell." Wake up!

Oh yeah, and then, after pouring your money into new car smell, you MUST complain about not having enough money at the end of the month and ask stupid questions like "Where does it all go?"

Enough said.

Regarding my "non-mormon" post

I received a comment asking why I need to "sell" Mormonism, regarding my One Mormon's Thoughts blog (see comments under the last post). I thought maybe others would have this question, so I thought I would quickly address it here on this blog for those of you who might want to check out my other blog. First of all, thanks for the comment, "anonymous." I don't feel a need to sell Mormonism, it sells itself pretty well judging by it's fast rate of growth through converts. The problem is, as I state in my other blog, that there are so many misunderstandings regarding my church that it gives our church a bad name unfairly, and members get treated unfairly. Some examples: no, we don't practice polygamy. The Jews used to, Muslims used to and still do in places, we used to, but haven't since the late 1800's. Another- I heard of a young man who's father refused to put him in his will because he erroneously thought that his son would have to give some of his inheritance to the church. I know of people being refused jobs, not allowed to go out on a date with someone, had other kids not allowed to play with them, all because of misunderstandings about their beliefs as "Mormons." I know of parents disowning their children, and hundreds being killed, raped, homes burned down, and generally persecuted because of mistaken beliefs. I personally have been mocked, spit at, had rocks thrown at me, ridiculed by some family members, and had a friend receive a death threat, all because of ignorance and misunderstanding about my beliefs. Do I need to sell my religion? No, it is doing just fine without me, but I do feel a need to correct the misunderstanding that so easily sway others to hurt and to make afraid those who are only trying to live a good life.

Help, all you guys who are not Mormons!

OK, I need your help. If you are reading this and are not a Mormon (a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints), I need you to give me some feedback on my other blog, One Mormon's Thoughts. I would love to know from your perspective what burning questions need to be answered or how I can improve the blog. Thanks!

Hmmm...

Is anyone else as scared of this guy running the country as I am?...

President Bush Mourns President Hinckley's Passing

Statement from President George W. Bush:

Laura and I are deeply saddened by the death of our friend, Gordon B. Hinckley. While serving for over seven decades in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Gordon demonstrated the heart of a servant and the wisdom of a leader. He was a tireless worker and a talented communicator who was respected in his community and beloved by his congregation. As President of his church, he traveled to more than 60 countries to spread a message of love and optimism to the millions of people around the world who shared his faith.

A Mayflower descendent and the grandson of Mormon pioneers, Gordon was a deeply patriotic man. His leadership and service strengthened the Board of Trustees of Brigham Young University, the Boy Scouts of America, and the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. In 2004, I was honored to present him with the Medal of Freedom, our Nation's highest civil award, in recognition of his lifelong public service.

Laura and I will miss Gordon's friendship and wisdom. Our thoughts and prayers are with his five children and the rest of the Hinckley family.

Passing of President Gordon B. Hinckley

Beloved Church President Gordon B. Hinckley, who led The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints through 12 years of global expansion, has died at the age of 97. President Hinckley was the 15th president in the 177-year history of the Church and had served as its president since March 12, 1995. For more information see lds.org.

Podcast 2

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The sky is falling!

OK, I am getting sick of the news media lemmings misreporting our economic condition. We are not heading for a recession! A recession is a period of 6 moths of negative growth in the economy. Bernanke said yesterday that the economy is NOT facing a recession, but will face a period of slower growth over the next year. Shouldn't this be the lead story on all the networks? Did anyone notice the term "GROWTH." Slower GROWTH, not recession. Ben says that consumer spending will slow. THANKS GOODNESS, consumers have been spending like drunken congressmen! Just look at how little the gas prices have affected driving habits!! Check out this great LA Times article, it is one of the few that doesn't have to spin pessimism. Notice that its election time. Now the government is trying to remind us of the misinformation that only the president can help our financial lives. We all want to be able to have our $30,000 cars, (not that we actually own them, but we pay on them until we need another one, and pay on it, forever and ever, amen), our boats, our 1,000 inch flat panels, and max out our credit cards instead of paying for things. How about this- the markets are falling, so lets start investing!!! It's a blue light special, it's a clearance sale on stocks, not panic time! If we are in control over our finances, and have savings (gasp), we don't have to look to the government for our financial stability. Americans are a bunch of babies! The media feeds on this stuff, too. It is amazing how many news idiots are preaching doom and gloom, even in reference to Bernake's comments. Just watch the news tonight and see how often a pending recession is announced, even when he, and many other market analysts, realize the strength of our economic position. If you believe what's on the news, I have some great ocean front property here in Provo I'd love to sell you! I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but it sure seems like the major networks are in league with the markets in their push. Analysts have suggested that the Federal Reserve, Congress and the Bush administration are being goaded by markets to take economic-stimulus measures that may be costly, excessive and even unnecessary. Further evidence of our continuing desire to look to government to take care of us financially. If you are worried about the housing market, or Wall Street, or are looking to the next president to save you from your financial woes, how about look at yourself, for crying out loud. How many of us can afford over $600 dollars a year for a cell phone, nearly $1,000 a year for TV channels, thousands a year for NEW CAR SMELL instead of an affordable paid for used car, and tens of thousands a year for homes that are five times as big as the one we grew up in, not to mention huge SUV gas guzzlers, ATV's, Boats, DVRs, and constant gadget "upgrades", yet we still whine about why can't the government give me more tax breaks, why can the government hold my hand and enable my childish materialism. SUCK IT UP AND SELL THE BEAMER, MAN!!!! When did wealth and "Making it" take the form of a 6,000 square-foot home, cars we can't BUY but pay on all our lives, and having the APPEARANCE of wealth, yet not being able to breathe because every penny you make is going right back to the people you owe. Heaven forbid that something happens and your income drops, or you have an unexpected repair, what happens when the American Excess card is full? What ever happened to saving money, to paying for things we want, for not having to have it all NOW. Bush, gimme a tax break, gimme tax break! Grow up, America. Your savings accounts and debt should be a much bigger concern than what the Fed does. Take charge of your own lives and let the Government govern, not babysit and throw costly tax breaks at you. Come on! Here's to Dave Ramsey and his sanity which fed my rant, check out his site on my links.

B-ice-cycle

So I finished up a session at the clinic around 8pm, put on my coat, helmet, scarf, gloves, and wind-breaker pants, and rode home on my hog (scooter). It was a cold day today so I dressed warm for the ride in. We are only about a mile away so the ride is not too bad even in the cold. So I get inside tonight and check the temperature. The weather channel said 11 degrees, and "feels like" -4. I thought it was a bit cold...

Made it...

So I made it through my first semester in my doctoral program. I got a 3.92, not too bad... This semester is going to be crazy, Stats class and Advanced Research are the biggies. The story continues...

Jenny lost her tooth--twice!

Well, Jenny pulled and tugged tonight until she pulled out her first loose baby tooth!! We are so thrilled!! But then we had a crash--slippery wood floors are horrible for feety pjs--and now we can't find that tooth anywhere. We'll post a picture of her new smile tomorrow and hopefully we'll be able to find that tooth! If we can't, hopefully the tooth fairy will find it and throw it away so Daniel doesn't find it. UGH!