Get your Gabi fix...

The winner is...

There has been much debate on who Gabi looks like. (Thank you to those who said she looks like me!) Well scientists have come to the following conclusion...

Gabi rolls over...

Gabi has been rolling over now consistently for about a week. We finally figured out how to take a lesser quality video of her so we can post it on the blog! Enjoy!

The Office...

Tonight is the season premiere of The Office, one of the funniest shows to hit TV...dare I say EVER! I am on pins and needles to see what will transpire between Jim and Pam.

And as always the crazy antics of Dwight!

*I neglected to add that we will also be watching the loved favorite My Name is Earl!
FREE EARL!!!

**I would be watching Grey's Anatomy (another one of my favorites) but The Office is on at the SAME TIME!!!!! Grrr...So I will watch GA online.

Don't buy stuff you can't afford...

Our stake has come out with a series of "newly married" firesides. (That is what they call them but all aged marrieds are invited) We went to one last night for financial planning. It was entitled "Where does all the money go?" The husband/wife team (the Blackwells) that taught it are in our stake. He is a financial planner and goes all over the country talking about finances. They were in their late 20's or early 30's....married 8 years have two little girls.

She spoke first and talked about little routines they have in their home. She noted that she didn't start doing these things when they had money. She started it when the bank account said zero.

1. Love your bills and payouts.

When the mail comes in she says you should be excited and say things like "I have been waiting for this one!" "We are grateful for things like the August SRP bill...Thank you that we are able to pay this and cool our home." She mentioned recording everything...save your receipts and track where the $$ is going.

2. Eliminate unhealthy money phrases.

Do not use language like "That's too expensive" or "We can't afford that" She said that her kids had never heard these words. (I wanted to know what she DOES tell her kids then...lol.) This was basically on the idea of “Whether you think you can or can’t either way you are right.” - Henry Ford 1863-1947

3. Know and understand where unnecessary spending comes from. Are you competing? Is it for self-fulfillment?

She admits that she has a hard time with spending still. Even though she came from a family whose parent's would save all year to take the kids on a vacation for the summer, and they paid cash. She said "anyone who knows me knows that I like nice things. But, I have realized that things won't always match. In fact, our TV is on a card table right now until we have saved enough to get what we want."

Bro. Blackwell started off his portion with a HILARIOUS video clip from SNL.

Here is the link to it on youtube...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MxFx0NzSjWw

He brought up the idea of a cash management system. He counsels all kinds of people from all walks of life. He said you would be surprised at how many people are living paycheck to paycheck. There are surgeons who live surgery to surgery and if you took out their next 3 or 4 surgeries they would be filing for bankruptcy. He sees the same thing with pro athletes. Just because you have money doesn't mean you know how to manage it.

He talked about how it is not important to just know the system but to LIVE the system. He applied it to the gospel. You can know of the gospel and then there is living the gospel. They are two very different things.

The cash management system is:(these are net percentages)

10% Tithing/Charity- learn to give

10% to YOU= emergency fund. NOT a trip to Disneyland, new couch, etc. This must be on automatic draft. Out of sight out of mind. He said a lot of people think of their credit card as being their emergency fund. This won't work because it just keeps perpetuating a vicious cycle of debt to the cc.

10% Your future -401K, mutual funds, IRA (he suggested a ROTH). Again these must be on automatic draft.

This leaves you with 70% of your NET income to live within your means. You pay off your debt and save for things with this money. He said that when people come to him and ask things like "can I afford this house?" He runs this plan with him and if the mortgage doesn't fall in the 70% he tells them NO. That really make me think and reconsider how we will look at buying a home.

He used a lot of quotes from Thomas S. Monson's talk "Leadership-a Challenge Today"-Jan 26, 2006

"An educated man is not one who has trained his mind to retain a few dates in history. He is one who can accomplish things. Unless a man has learned to think, he is not an educated man, regardless of how many college degrees he has after his name." -Henry Ford

In that same talk Pres. Monson said "We cannot restrict our thinking to today's problems alone. We have the obligation to plan for tomorrow's opportunities. We are limited only by our thoughts and personal determination to convert these thoughts to realities."

About paying off debt Blackwell suggested using debt isolation to pay off the smallest balance first, then you apply what you were paying on that towards the next smallest balance until they are all paid off; regardless of interest rates on the other debts.

He ended with this, also from Pres. Monson's talk:

Formula for successful leadership and a noble life:
First, think big.
Second, prepare well.
Third, work hard.
Fourth, live right.


In all it was a great fireside. We have also signed up for the stake Strengthening Marriage Sessions. It is a new program by LDS Family Services to assist in strengthening our families. Sessions are limited to ten couples and we have to commit to attend all six sessions. They start 10/11 and end 11/15. We will let you know what we have learned!

There has been a death in the family...

I am sad to report that our beloved computer has died....
Roughly two months ago he started showing signs of poor health.
Upon rebooting and startup words like "hard drive failure is imminent please back up your files immediately" kept appearing.

We had hoped he would last another year, but apparently imminent means this past Sunday 9/9 (Two weeks after the warranty expired). For now, he is still on "life support" because he won't turn off. We will be pulling the plug soon. Sadly, this particular computer's life only lasted a little over a year. His two predecessors also lasted less than 18 months. Do yourselves a favor, don't shop in the "disposable" computer isle at BestBuy. They really should give these cheap computers expiration or "sell by" dates like with dairy products.

We managed to back up (crosses fingers) a majority of our pictures but the other documents may be long gone.

His replacement has already been chosen, but will not be purchased until Jack starts with the firm (read Annie wants an Apple and Jack promised her long before this computer died that she will get one). Luckily we still have Jack's laptop to work from.

I am writing from my work computer so there may not be as many pictures from now until we get our new computer.

My fav five

I've been tagged by Jen!

5 things I was doing 10 years ago:
1. involved with my first bf.
2. Super busy with marching band, Varsity Band and Orchestra
3. Working at Childcare after school
4. Taking Driver’s Ed. (some of you know the sad truth of when I actually got my license…)
5. Going to stake dances and actually enjoying them

5 things on my "to-do" list today:
1. Take Gabi to grandmas
2. Go to Dentist for a follow up and polish (unfortunately it was back where we used to live at the Polytechnic campus!!!)
3. Go to Target to get gift for sister’s Birthday today
4. Go meet Julia in the parking lot of Mercy Gilbert to pick up an item I purchased from Craigslist
5. Go to work

5 snacks I enjoy:
This should be prefaced by if these things were readily available this is the order they would be in…usually this is NOT the case. Usually...it's backwards!
1. fruit
2. nuts (almonds, cashews are my favorite…chocolate covered is a plus!)
3. granola bars
4. something chocolate
5. something baked pastry or other baked sweet goodie

5 songs I know the lyrics to:
1. numerous Primary and Disney songs
2. Me and You: Kenny Chesney (“our song”)
These are the songs that are definite… I know that I know many more but mostly it doesn’t come to mind until I hear the song playing….So I can’t think of any more for you but they are wide and varied.

5 things I would do if I was a millionaire:
1. pay debts
2. pay off our parent’s homes
3. buy ourselves a home
4. buy Jack his AK-47’s (he wants two of them…)
5. jewelry…I love sparkly things….need I say more…

5 bad habits:
1. I am a HUGE procrastinator
2. short fuse/getting upset too easily
3. Veruca Salt syndrome (see Lolly’s post) You would not believe the efforts I have to go through to suppress this urge….more than Jack thinks…
4. not setting aside time to practice
5. uh…no number 5 this is getting depressing!

5 things I'd never wear again:
1. bangs...I wore them for 15 years!!!!
2. tee-shirts with silly sayings on them…I’m serious if you see me in one tell me to burn it! LOL
3. heels over 1” and even that is pushing it for me…
4. scrunchies
5. tie-die, spandex or anything neon…enough said. (can you tell I was a child of the 80’s)

5 things I like to do:
1. be with my family/friends
2. surf online
3. cook
4. play music
5. decorate

5 favorite toys:
1. computer
2. digital camera
3. uh…Gabi???
I can’t think of any more…I guess I need MORE toys!

5 people i tag:
1. Bethany VanV
2. Megan C.
3. Bethany D.
4. Lolly O.
5. Daniel A

Gabi's first camping trip.

This weekend we decided to be active members of our ward and go on the ward campout in Payson. We had a hard time getting out there, with both of us having to work and Gabi being extra fussy (having a melt-down), but we made it. We got there a little after 9pm. Big thanks to Chris and Lolly for letting us borrow their lantern! Our new bishop and another member of the bishopric helped us set up our tent.

There wasn't much time to talk that evening, but we bundled up Gabi sat around the fire for an hour or so before we went to bed. She slept untill about 6:30AM and then we had breakfast around 7ish. We left for home around 9:45. We had not been camping in quite some time so it was fun to be out in nature again....even if you could hear the traffic from the highway. :)

Jack's Note: On the way home we stopped at the Circle K in Payson for some water and a caffeinated diet beverage. As I waited for the foam to subside on my little vice I overheard one of the local (delete "rednecks" and add "characters") calling to the three hellions raiding the candy isle. Fittingly enough, their names were Winchester, Remington, and Deringer (I don't know why he didn't go with Ruger for the third kid...maybe he already has a dog by that name?). You all know that I love guns...but even I could never go that far. I think Annie should keep that in mind the next time I put forth my suggestions for baby names.

Mom, Dad, what is camping? Will...will there be bears?!?!

Our 3 man (or 1 man, 1 woman, and 1 baby) tent.

Baby and Dad sleeping

Gabi loves to stretch in the morning and after her naps.

She always wakes up with a smile!

She loves her fist!

Gabi Update....the shots

We took Gabi in to see the dermatologist again on Wednesday (9/6). The hemangioma on her face was growing again...way too fast. After much prayer and reflection we decided it was time to try the steroid injection. She bled quite a bit and cried a lot, but it all went okay. These injections should help stop the growth. The hemangioma will still have to go away on its own. She'll go back in two weeks for a follow up visit and possibly another set of injections. Cross your fingers.

The Move...

This is Jack...I guess I am allowed to chime in on here too sometimes. We moved two weeks ago...back to Arizona from BFE. The area around the ASU East Campus was nice, but it was just too far away from Phoenix....I couldn't handle a commute that long. My buddy Dennis had 3 bedroom townhouse in Tempe which he was looking to rent out...so that's where we ended up. We plan to be here for at least a year (until I finish the clerkship) at which point we'll take a serious look at the housing market and make a decision about whether to buy (according to a study in the NYTimes, the Phoenix, Mesa, Scottsdale area is the second most likely place in the country to lose value over the next two years....64% chance of double digit loses....seems pretty arbitrary considering the market is nearly impossible to predict....but it could be good for us I guess).

The move went off without a hitch (except for the rain). We're so grateful to have so many friends that were willing to help out. We started at 6am and just about everybody I asked to come showed up! We had 11 adults and 3 children giving a hand...almost too much help! It got a little crowded and it wasn't uncommon to have to wait in line to load something in the truck. We had the truck loaded by about 7:30 and unloaded at the new place by 9:30.

Gabi is tired after the move!

Shots of people who helped us move. Look at all the muddy tracks!

More Gabi updates...

Since the last appointment there has been a lot going on...The cream did not stop Gabi's hemangiomas from growing. She now actually has one on her butt (near her girly parts), but it is only as large as a pin-prick...and not at all raised. The doctor said that if it begins to grow at all he will laser it off so it won't become a problem (the pin-prick one...not the one on her face). We unfortunately found out that if we had been able to see Dr. Halmi at the very beginning of all this he could have lasered off Gabi's facial hemangioma and we wouldn't have to be dealing with any of this right now!!!! I was SO furious! But, there is nothing that can be done about that now...

Since the cream didn't stop the growth, the next step is steroid shots. We are reluctant to do that because of the potential that it might leave a scar on her face. :( We asked our family to pray and fast for Gabi this past Sunday 9/02/07 and we are grateful for all who participated! Over this Labor Day weekend Gabi's hemangioma changed every 24 hours (and not in a good way)! That worried us so we made an appointment for 9/5/07 at 11AM so that the Dr. can look at the recent development. Jack and I are SO stressed out about this. However, we saw a show over the weekend about a little girl who couldn't breath on her own, hold her head up, etc...so things could definitely be worse. We are grateful for our little Gabi and glad she is such a happy little baby --in spite of her little issues.

During all this I have gone back to work. I have been back since 8/13. I really like it and it is only part-time...so that is nice. I would love to continue working until Jack starts with the firm, but we will see how it goes on people to watch little Gabi. :)