GO AGGIES!

David, my brother, is going to be on BYU channel tomorrow from 6:30pm-9:00pm!!! Go watch! He's playing in Rugby, Utah State University vs. BYU. I believe he's number two. They do pregame from 6:30 to 7 and the game goes from 7-9. David starts for the first hour and is off the second.

Go watch! It'll be a fun game, I'm sure USU will get their butt whipped but it'll be enjoyable to see!!

GO AGGIES!

Some funnies

So my sister in law said that my last post sounded like I was depressed and angry... I was frustrated and having a bad day but things were fine. So to make up for the bad post I thought I would share some funny things I saw and let you know that our landlord is letting us stay another month, so we're no longer homeless! Yay!

Enjoy!

This was andrew and I two nights ago.... he's a blanket thief. :) I might have to build the same device.I see this all the time in phoenix....

my day so far

I need to sit and clear my head... plus this is for those who are wondering...

Our mortgage company, screwed up our loan and didn't work on it for a month, so we're not able to close when we were supposed to. And the stakes of losing the house are high. Pray for us that they get things moving and the loan to go through so that we can move. We have to be out of this house that we're in on the 31st and the estimated date for closing if the seller allows it, is the 10th. So we'll have 10 days where we have to try and find a place to stay with all our food that's in the freezer, and our 2 dogs and 2 cats and 5 kittens.... which is pretty impossible (I'd get rid of the kittens if i could, but they're not old enough yet). If anyone wonders, i would not EVER suggest/use American Mortgage Specialists... (they might be "special" but they're not specialists)

We got a cat neutered and declawed yesterday. They charged me more than they quoted me and they also said they were going to give a military discount and they didn't. They also took my cats bandages off to soon and his paws look worse than the 4 cats I've seen after they've been declawed. The lady I talked to was also rude. I won't be going back to North Buckey Animal Hospital, I was very disappointed, and I let them know that by cancelling my other declaw appointments.

They also told me that the cat would be tired and wouldn't be using the kitty litter much for the next couple of days, nor would he continue to mark his territory as much-- WRONG. So far, I've never seen this cat pee, in the last almost two years we've had him, as much as I have in the last 3 hours and he is NOT tired.

Our other cat insists on keeping her kittens in abby's room under her bed. Because of this I have seen abby carrying around the kittens by the neck (the wrong way like she's choking them... and she is), I have had to take big red gum out of kittens fur, and she put the cat in her cool egg looking chair that spins with her and spun around as fast as she could, making this cat very sick to the stomach.

I kept getting calls to get my visiting teaching done last month and they kept saying that if I need some one to go with, they, supervisors, would come. Well, it turns out my companion was yet again A-wall and the supervisors couldn't come. And I'm trying my best inbetween abby and moving and everything else to do this and... everyone else around me is un-willing or too busy. It's frustrating when you're the one trying to do the right thing.

And I've given up cleaning, every time I try and clean abby messes it up again.

Oh and the weirdest thing! I keep getting calls from an inmate in the maricopa county #4 jail. I can't quite understand who it is he says his name when they ask if i will accept the collect call-- which i don't, because 1 have to pay for it and 2 i don't know any one down here that talks like that or would be in jail.

And I woke up to our back yard flooded!! --which is bad! but hopefully it'll make our grass grow better!;)

On the bright side, we went to our new ward last sunday and we were very impressed. A lot of people came up to us out of their comfort zone to talk and we're going to be the 3rd LDS family on our street. One of the LDS families saw us at the house as they drove past to go home from church and stopped and talked to us. The prospective ward was more friendly and helping than the ward we are actually in! So we're excited

Anyway, keep us in your prayers that we'll be able to get into the house. And that we'll find a place to stay for the next two weeks!!

(oh and please forgive the grammatical errors through out this post... i don't have time to go back and fix it all.)

Pictures of Abby

I took these pictures today. She'll be two in a month and since I don't have Katie around to take her yearly pictures... i attempted it with my new cool camera.

So here they are. There are a lot... sorry, I'll have to shorten it later.

heart xoxo

oh ps- you can click on the slide show and it'll take you to the picasa album so you can see a bigger picture and go through it at your own pace.

I hate my ward

I hate to have two pessimistic postings in a row but I really need to get a load off my chest. I HATE MY WARD! In fact I cringe when I hear "the church is the same where ever you go"... because I sure hope that there aren't any other wards out there like mine. The doctrine and organization might be the same, but the wards aren't. I have never felt so unwelcome, pushed away and alone in a ward in my life!

I mentioned before that the bishopric and YW presidency decided not have me to go Youth Conference and it turned out that it was good that I went because Yu Ge needed a translator... well they decided AGAIN that I wasn't going to another youth activity! They're doing a youth handcart trek this month and they yet again decided I wasn't going. WHY? I went to a meeting they mentioned in sacrament meeting about the handcart trek because I was planning on going. The leader in charge humiliated me infront of all the parents, told me to leave and told me I wasn't going. Everyone in the meeting laughed at me and at what he said because I was being made fun of... and I ended up leaving red faced. I had mentioned many times to the president and others before when they were talking about this, how I really wanted to go. I also mentioned that most of our YW presidency couldn't go because they're pregnant so to have me go would be good. But... no... if I end up going, it's because I'm really really really pushing for it-- which I shouldn't have to do, but I do.

I still don't have any one to talk to in Sunday School after living here a year. I go by myself to sunday school because andrew's in primary and abby's in nursery. I typicaly sit by myself if the seats open are by people who won't talk to me or I try and find someone else who is sitting by themseves to meet that I don't know or is new. I found out that most people in our ward think that i'm a teenager not an adult, so they REALLY don't know me.

We've met with the bishop several times for temple recommends, callings and what not. I feel like he thinks our marriage is going to fail even though we're really happy and content with each other, our marriage and how our lives are going. It makes me never want to go to him because Andrew and I always leave wondering what he was trying convey to us. Are we going to fail in our marriage?-- it's not looking that way but he seems to think so. What does he think is wrong with our marriage? Why does he keep asking us to rate our relationship? We leave never understanding him!

And Andrew mentioned in choir that we were trying to buy a house in maricopa and waiting to close. And now every one thinks that last sunday was our last sundayin the ward. We've never had more people talk to us, but it wasn't "we're sad to see you go" or anything like that. They were more in the context of "can't wait to see you go"

Our bishop, said sunday that he heard we were moving and that this was going to be our last sunday. We told him we still have to close, that it's still possible for things to fall through, and we have to move etc. (He didn't offer to help find people to help us move when we said this either) He just said that we never were asked to talk but wondered if we'd bare our testimony. Andrew and I both told him not to count on it. -- If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all. Neither one of us have ever turned down a request by the bishop and have always wanted to bare our testimony before we leave... but... not this ward.

This ward is just very cold. And it's the first ward that I've been in that I have actually met not one, not two, but SEVERAL people who have stopped going to church because of the members in the church. -- which is sad! And many that have been baptized that have decided not to keep going. So... to all those out there reading this-- TALK TO PEOPLE! BE NICE! LOOK FOR NEWBIES TO MEET! and DON'T walk away from people without saying something when they go up to you to try to talk to you (I get that a lot in this ward ). And I'll try and do the same.

Traffic Cameras: A Load of Crap

I think this is a load of crap. I got a ticket in the mail two days ago. I was going a supposed 11 over the speed limit (which I think it questionable. I very very rarely go more than 7 over. I typically stay with in the speed limit. I'm a good citizen!).

Here in Arizona, they were trying to improve the city by putting more cops on the streets with the hopes of them helping the people, than out on the highways/freeways getting speeders. To do this, they added traffic cameras that take your picture if you're going 11 + over the speed limit. Unfortunately, if I never got this ticket (like for example, I MOVED and it didn't get forwarded...) I would have a warrant out for my arrest. It does not take into account that I had 3 people tailing me and I was going the speed of traffic. My picture is not very clear in my opinion, so it could have been anyone driving! and I feel like it's a violation of my rights. I am also disappointed that instead of it's idealistic reason--less cops on the highway more on the streets-- it has moved to less cops on the highway AND less cops on the streets. We have less police officers than we did before the cameras.

This whole camera thing has a lot of flaws (which I'll list later) but Andrew and I were listening to a Steven R Covey tape a while ago about trust. And that there's a formula for becoming a great leader. Some that "communicates your worth and potential so clearly that it profoundly influences your life". And I think this is true, and I'm just going to copy some things that are off of his blog page. "there's four imperatives of leadership.

1. The first is to inspire trust. You build relationships of trust through both your character and competence and you also extend trust to others. You show others that you believe in their capacity to live up to certain expectations, to deliver on promises, and to achieve clarity on key goals. You don’t inspire trust by micromanaging and second guessing every step people make.
2. The second is to clarify purpose. Great leaders involve their people in the communication process to create the goals to be achieved. If people are involved in the process, they psychologically own it and you create a situation where people are on the same page about what is really important—mission, vision, values, and goals.
3. The third is to align systems. This means that you don’t allow there to be conflict between what you say is important and what you measure. For instance, many times organizations claim that people are important but in fact the structures and systems, including accounting, make them an expense or cost center rather than an asset and the most significant resource.
4. The fourth is the fruit of the other three—unleashed talent. When you inspire trust and share a common purpose with aligned systems, you empower people. Their talent is unleashed so that their capacity, their intelligence, their creativity, and their resourcefulness is utilized."

I copied these, because I think that what Covey says is true and that these cameras are not following this formula. In fact, I think it's doing the opposite. Arizona is being hit really hard by foreclosures and other things and I think that, we as a people and government, need to put the trust back in the people.

I thought these traffic cameras were a joke before I got the ticket and I still do (by the way it was a $200 ticket!!! that in its self is really high for there not being proof and a lot of flaws). I feel that it's just another step towards a big government, it's like living in China all over again, I feel like I'm back in a communist government.

Below are some objections to ticket cameras I found with links to why. I think that these outweigh the issues of speeding. I also just found out that pilots are complaining that the lights are bothering them while trying to land airplanes. It's just unsafe! Any way, I wish I could fight this some how! But I don't have a clue even where to start. Here's the links:

General
Ticket recipients are not adequately notified.
The driver of the vehicle is not positively identified.
Ticket recipients are not notified quickly.
There is no certifiable witness to the alleged violation.
Ticket camera systems are designed to inconvenience motorists.
Ticket cameras do not improve safety.
Taking dangerous drivers' pictures doesn't stop them.

Photo Radar Specific
Photo radar is still radar, and it can generate false readings.
This type of enforcement emphasizes ticket volume.
Ticket cameras are very inaccurate on certain roads.
Photo radar encourages artificially low speed limits.

Red-Light Camera Specific
Cameras do not prevent most intersection accidents.
These devices discourage the synchronization of traffic lights.
There are better alternatives to cameras.

Abby sitting on Santa's lap

Here's SOME of the pictures taken... we have lots. i'm only scratching the surface.

Moving

We've put an offer on a house which was accepted. We've signed the contract and given them escrow... so we're waiting to close. Andrew and I are so excited. It is in Maricopa, Arizona. Just south of phoenix.

Here's some random pictures

The front door:


View of the kitchen from the family room:
Here's another view of the kitchen from the family room with the lawtons in there:


It has a dog door!!


And... we took more pictures but for some reason my card is bad and they all came out lime green and you can't see anything... so that's pretty much what we have.

If you go to this website and click on the windrose dr house you'll be able to see more pictures and stats on it too:

http://www.flexmls.com/cgi-bin/mainmenu.cgi?cmd=url+other/run_public_link.html&public_link_tech_id=oo5n66ww7eh&s=12&id=1&cid=1

(We got for slightly cheaper than their listing price-- good for us!)


Any way, we're excited! Hope you all come and visit us! We LOVE visitors.

Life update

i've been getting several requests to update them on my life lately... i feel this comic is better than words and best represents abby and me. i found it in the newspaper last week.

Mullet

I know I haven't written on here in a while.... and I will get back into it BUT in the mean time... I heard that David, my brother, now has a mullet... hhahaha... dork. and so... I would like to dedicate this post and this song to him... particularly the bolded part. ya big dufus!

Well I thought about the army
Dad said, son you're high
And I thought, yeah there's a first for everything
So I took my old mans advice
Three sad semesters
It was only 15 grand spent in bed
I thought about the army
I dropped out and joined a band instead...

Grew a mustache and a mullet
Got a job at chick-fil-a
Citing artistic differences
The band broke up in may
And in june reformed without me
And they got a different name
I nuked another grandmas apple pie
And hung my head in shame

Been thinking a lot today
Been thinking a lot today

Oh, I think Ill write a screenplay
Oh, I think Ill take it to la
Oh, I think Ill get it done yesterday

In this time of introspection
On the eve of my election
I say to my reflection
God please spare me more rejection
cause my peers they criticize me
And my ex-wives all despise me
Try to put it all behind me
But my redneck past is nipping at my heels

Ive been thinking a lot today
Ive been thinking a lot today
Ive been thinking a lot today
I thought about the army...

DAVID: GET RID OF THE MULLET