Just a blag.

Im just bloggin. Nothing particular to blog about. Everything at work is good. Most things at home are good. We have apparently used 1/2 our propane tank, and they wanted $300 to fill it up. We told them just to put 100 gallons in at $1.50 per gallon. That is some expensive gas! I dont even know where it goes? Our furnace is electric. We only use propane on water heater and fireplace. It was probably the fireplace, we had it on alot. Sometimes all night.... oops.

Its nice to have Ed back in town. Someone to talk to on the way to work, instead of blasting the music and singing at the top of my lungs to keep awake.

So we dont even own a DVD player. How pathetic is that? Well, its been nice that the kids are forced to watch VHS tapes. They can beat them up all they want, and they never break. I dont know how many DVDs we have thrown away cause our kids have destroyed them.

I hear the movie Hitch is really good. Havent seen it, but heard it was really funny for guys and a great chick flick for girls.

They finally started finishing the deck on our house. And the fireplace people are supposed to show up on Friday to put in our fireplace blower. We found a small problem with our master bathroom. The hot water dial doesnt turn very far and therefore doesnt let through enough hot water for a hot shower. I called Danielle Johnson of Wasatch Homes and she said she would have someone come look at it. That will be nice.

What else?

Nothing, Bye.

Things I learned while at Mom and Dads

Food Storage Shopping Center
Mom and dad have the perfect food storage system. They just have a couple rows of shelves in the basement and food lined up like in a grocery store. Like they have 5 jars of pickles, one lined up behind the other. Same goes for everything. Ketchup, Dressings, Crackers, Corn, Canned Stuff, etc. Then when they notice they are getting low, they go buy a few of the item and just line them up again. It is sooooo nice. Its like going to a mini grocery store. Very nice way to have food storage. Instead of people who put stuff in boxes then stack the boxes on top of each other then forget whats in the boxes anyway. What kind of system is that? I plan on doing food storage the same way mom and dad do.

Mom is the only one who understands her kids
I dont know how to explain this, but mom is the only one who truly knows how to handle all us boys. Which one of us wouldnt do anything for mom? Which one of us would ever outright disobey mom? How many of us have our Eagle? How many gone on a mission? How did mom ever do Sacrement Meeting while dad was bishop? I can barely handle my 3 kids! And plus you should see her handle Joe. Poor Joe, being the youngest gets picked on so much, and sometimes too much, and at those times, none of our "now hes mad, lets really make him mad" seems to help, only mom can calm the storm.

Opinions arent neccesarily meant to be shared
This I picked up mostly from Dad. When you spend enough time with Dad, you begin to realize how utterly stupid and opinionated most of the world is. Some of the things they say in Gospel Doctrine classes just makes you cringe. And whats funny, is you will think "well I have the perfect thing to say that will shut them all up" and then you will say it, and people will carry on as though you didnt even talk. How frustrating is that? PLUS, Dad likes the enigma he creates about himself because he doesn't express alot of opinions. No one ever knows what my Dad is thinking and most consider him some great wise man, and this all due to his silence.

I grew up, got married, had kids, and didnt change at all
I discovered that Im still the lazy kid my parents had to deal with growing up. When we first moved in I was like "OK, Im gonna do the dishes for mom every night, and keep her house clean, and help outside, blah blah blah blah blah blah blah". And I did - for about 2 weeks or so. Somewhere around month 4 I realized how messy I would leave the kitchen at night and mom would come home and clean. I realized how I would watch TV instead of help Joe mow the lawn. Or sometimes I would leave clothes on moms upstairs floor and she would set them in our basket on the stairs so I would remember to take them down. How pathetic am I? I get free rent, free food, free babysitter, and this is how I repay her? Yeah, Ill probably feel bad about that the rest of eternity.

Leftovers
One thing we have had a problem with our entire marraige is leftovers. We NEVER ate leftovers. We even got to the point where we would just throw them away soon as dinner was over cause it didnt make sense to store something you would throw away later anyway. But Mom and Dad are the masters of leftovers. Mom knows how to save them, and Dad is really good at eating them. This, thankfully, was something we actually picked up. We eat leftovers all the time now, and our shopping trips have been cut down exceedingly, to the point that it is noticeable.

Mom and Dad and technology
Its funny, but although us kids are the Computer Nerds of the Universe, mom and dad arent that far behind. Dad is editing and burning movies like a madman. Mom is now proficient in both mac and windows and even has DSL and wireless flooding her house. Plus they have a nice PBX phone system that pages and intercoms. Put all that together and they have more technology than we do. And you should see moms washer and dryer! You need training just to learn which buttons to push!

5 minutes early is 5 minutes late
If there is one thing Dad likes, its punctuality, and its 10 minutes early punctuality. You should be 10 mins early to everything. 5 minutes early is 5 minutes late.

Watching the TV muted
Dad is soooo funny. He watches ESPN muted. He watches most everything muted. But its funny how much chaos the TV adds to anything. Chaos level with kids is like 6 out of 10. With the TV on? Its 11 out of 10. To those not watching the show, its just excess noise that they have to deal with. When dad watches it muted, the level of chaos is very low and very nice for those not interested in whats on. Amy and I put our TV up in the loft. And it is soooooo nice. The living room is always calm and quiet no matter what. Even when kids are playing in the room. Just the fact that the TV isnt in the middle of it all removes alot of the craziness.

Man's Essential Tools

Having just moved into my house, I have found that my current set of tools has been invaluable. I thought I would share what I thought were essential tools for any household. I own all the below listed tools myself, and have found that having them has made my life alot more easier and gives me a sense of comfort knowing that I will most likely always have the right tool for any job.

Good set of assorted tools
I have quite a large toolset, probably $250+ worth of just everyday tools. It is essential that you have tools around the house for everyday things. Let me suggest some stuff that I consider essential.

2 Hammers - You need 2 because a hammer is the most left around tool ever. It is best to have a 2nd hammer in case you left your other in the basement, or out by the grill. And get good high quality hammers.

Every size of wrench and ratchet - You can buy a whole set of wrenches and a whole ratchet set for $20-$30. You need both the metric and US measurements. Nothing is worse than having every size of wrench except the one you want. So keep them organized.

Electric Drill - Amy just bought me a Black and Decker 14.4 volt cordless drill for $49 on sale. It is normally $129, so it was a good deal. But MY HECK it is so nice to have. The possibilities are endless with such a tool. Also, spend about $20 and get a drill set. I bought a drill/screwdrive/ratchet set for the drill for $19 at walmart. Its a nice little foldup set. IT IS INVALUABLE!

Screwdriver Set - Get a good set of screwdrivers. DONT BUY THE 1 SCREWDRIVER THAT DOES EVERYTHING. They stink, you lose the bits, and the bits are generally made of a soft metal which breaks or chips. Just buy a good set of different sizes, shapes, grips, etc. You can get a screwdriver set again for like $20. And definitely buy those short ones know as dickies. They are fat short screwdrivers, but you would be surprised how often you need a shorter screwdriver. Also, spend $5 and buy one of those mini screwdriver sets. You know, the kind that you would use to tighten the screws on your eyeglasses. You will again be surprised how often you need them.

Tape Measure - Get a 30' tape measure. You can buy 20' ones for like $2. But get a good long one. You will curse yourself if you dont.

Black Electrical Tape - Holy Macrel, how many times have I needed this stuff to find out I used that last of it already. I try to have 2 on hand all the time. Guys are always running cables, rerouting power or speaker wire etc. This tape is essential.

Duct Tape - The house that doesnt have a big huge roll of duct tape - is a very sad house indeed. Thats all Im gonna say about that.

Plier Set - You need 2 or 3 pairs of pliers. You will always run into a job where you need 2 at a time. You should also have 2 pair of vice grips. Again, these are essential.

Wire Cutters - You just need 1 pair of these. They will last you an eternity. But they are must have for any toolbox.

Set of Wireties - Moving into a new house, I found a zillion places where I used wire ties. If you go to home depot, you can get a bag of all different sizes for like $8. And you get like 1000 of them. Essential.

Leatherman - This is perhaps the most handy tool ever created since the Fall of Adam. I cant put into words the beauty and usefulness of this tool. It doesnt matter what your carrer, what your gender, or what your current job. This tools will do anything. GIRLS, WANT TO BUY YOUR HUSBAND THE PERFECT VALENTINES DAY PRESENT? THIS IS IT! Plus they are extremely high quality and they will last most likely his entire life. The Leatherman Wave is the model you want.

Carpenters Knife - This knife will cut anything. Plus you can hide the blade and switch out the blade if it ever gets dull. There are a million times in your life when you need to cut something. Believe me, a kitchen knife is unnacceptable! The carpenters knife is the tool for cutting.

Needlenose Pliers - Perhaps this is covered in the plier set - but I just dont want you to overlook this. YOU HAVE GOT TO HAVE NEEDLENOSE PLIERS! Get a pair.

Screws and Small Nails - This will most likely have to be purchased at Home Depot or Eagle or Lowes. I purchased a little box that had an assortment of screws in little containers and another little box that had a million sizes of nails in their own little boxes. I have had the same little sets for 4 years. I dont use them all the time, but they sure are handy to have around. Need to hang a picture? Need a little nail! Piece of wood breaking apart? Nail or screw. Lost a screw while putting up your blinds? Sure glad you have a backup. You need to have a little collection of tiny screws and nails. The big ones you can just buy when you get a job that needs one. But the little tiny ones you need to buy now and have on hand.

Alan Wrench Set - For around $8 you can buy a whole set of alan wrenches. Get them or youll be sorry.

Cigarette Lighter - I keep one of these in my tool box. They are perfect, and they are under $1 to buy anyway. Its better than keeping matches, and you can always get a flame when you need one.

Power Checker - I have this little tool that has a tiny light bulb in it and it has 2 little wires. You can touch these 2 wires to any outlet or light bulb etc and the small light will light up telling you wether you even have power or not. I use it all the time. It is soooo handy. Probably under $2 to buy as well. A must have for any toolbox.

Big Outside Tools - These can all be summed up into one category, and you only need 1 of each. Shovel, rake, square-mouth shovel, snow shovel, and a hoe. You can get them all for under $50. In order to do any outside work around the house, you need all of those. I promise.

Well, those are the only tools that I can think of, and I went through my amazing set of tools to make sure I didnt forget anything. Every once in a millenium I have a need for some weird or unusual tool that I dont have, but I always have a friend who has one or I always can go rent one. There is no need to buy these weird tools. The cost doesnt justify that fact that you will only use it once. Plus it takes up unnecessary room in your toolbox.

Butane Tanker

I called mom yesterday, and apparently a Butane tanker crashed and turned over at 2nd north on Highway 89 right next to my moms house. They evacuated the whole area. Most of my fam is in Targhee, but Marie/Mom/Joe were there and had to be evacuated. I wonder if they have gotten back in their house yet?

TANKER UPDATE:
The tanker exploded at 10:30pm last night. No one was allowed in their houses till about 8:30am this morning. Mom and Marie just stayed at the Dents for the night, it worked out really well. Fun stuff!

Life's Secret Pleasures

I was thinking one day about all the little things that make my day, and how important it really is to find excuses to enjoy "Lifes Little Pleasures". It really makes life bearable.


Here are a few:

Get a nice showerhead. I have found this to be a neccesity. Having a nice showerhead changes ANY morning into a good one. Ours has a dial that changes tween 2 settings. 50 tiny lazer streams of hot water, or 3 pelting stream of hot water. Or you can set the dial in the middle and get a little of both. OH MY HANNAH I LOVE IT! I generally only get out of the shower cause the hot water has run out. This is a secret pleasure which everyone has a right to enjoy.

A nice soft bed. This makes a huge difference as well. A mattress with a pillow top will suffice. Otherwise just buy a topper. They are between $40-$150 depending on softness, technology, and size. We bought a memory foam topper for our king size bed for $80. It feels like marshmallows. It is soooooooooooo soft, it is amazing. I love going to bed cause I know I get to sleep on the clouds. AHHHHHH! This is a must have for those seeking the secret pleasures of life.

Freedom from debt. You truly dont understand what it means to be free from debt until you are. Currently we have 0 credit card debt. And it is sooo nice not to owe any money. Once you are out of unneccesary debt long enough, you can REALLY feel how crappy debt is when you get back in it. It feels like a weight around your neck. It plain stinks! We have house and school debt, and those alone are enough to kill a person. If you really think about it, it would appear that the purpose of life is to come here, amass a huge amount of debt, pay it off, then die. Happy are those who pay it off early, then have some life left to enjoy some debt free years. How much more could you do if you just didnt have a house payment? Or rent? You could go on a cruise every 2 months! See, you dont need to make alot of money to live rich, you just have to get out of debt.

Here is a secret that most will never figure out. Find a hobby that you truly enjoy. One which enjoy enough that you get grumpy if you cant find time to do it. THEN, figure out how to make money with it. The money part is the secret. Do something you would normally do enthusiastically for free, then figure out how to get paid for it. Its like icing on the icing on the cake. You want icing on the icing on the icing on the cake? Find something you AND your wife enjoy and make money with it. I think most succesfull business start this way. They find something they like and are good at, then figure out how to make money with it.

Kids and grandparents. Take your kids to see their grandparents regulary. I mean this. Grandparents LOVE grandkids. Well, most anyway. And grandkids LOVE their grandparents. Kids are totally oblivious to any problems grandparents are having, wether it be marraige, getting old, money, whatever. Kids dont care, and when grandkids are around, its a welcome break from life for the grandparents.

Buy used cars. Ok, Im probably gonna take some heat on this, cause the general population likes their brand new cars. But I just dont see how anyone can justify the debt for such a thing. In reality, you spend such a small amount of time in a car, that it doesnt matter how nice it looks. All that matters is how well it runs before it needs repairs. My dad hardly ever spends more than $2500 on his cars anymore. They generally have 150,000 miles, but most run up to 200,000 miles before any major problems happen. Thats 5 cents a mile. Where are you gonna get a deal like that? If you buy a brand new car for $20,000, and drive it 200,000 miles without a single problem, your looking at 10 cents a mile. Thats twice as much! Plus your gonna pay interest on the debt bringing your total closer to $28,000 on a 5 year loan bringing you to 14 cents a mile. 3 times as much! Would you buy better gas if it was 3 times as much? I doubt it. You could buy a used car, and when you go somewhere nice or to someones house, just rent a brand new clean car for the weekend or night, and you will still be WAY under what you would pay for a new car.

Get a big piece of land. Yes, it does make a difference. None of this 1/3 or 1/4 of an acre crap! Maybe it makes more of a diff to a man than to a woman. For me, its very fulfilling to go out and look at my own piece of earth that I own and can change and create and form to my liking. Contrary to what most believe, percieve, or what show I may put on, I do enjoy a good days manual labor. Not very often, but every now and then it feels good to work like a man instead of like a desk-sitting computer nerd. BUT, there is something very satisfying about a large garden, getting grass to grow, planting trees, and then seeing your creation develop. Plus, kids LOVE big backyards. Im talking yards big enough to play a soccer game in or play lazer tag or kick ball. It doesnt have to be as big as a baseball diamond. My parents had 7/8ths of an acre and it was perfect. We had a HUGE backyard, a giant garden, a basketball court, and a large oversized deck. All the neighbor kids would always come over to play games because we had the biggest and therefore funnest yard in the whole neighborhood. My wife and I bought a 1.25 acre lot, and we have it all planned out for a oversized backyard, a giant garden, a chicken coop, basketball court, horse/cattle corral. Man needs earth, and a big chunk, so he can create his own little paradise. Woman needs home, and a fair sized one, so she can beautify and create her own little paradise.

Wake-up early. Your thinking, "yeah right!". There is no way to explain what a difference it has made to go to bed early and get up early instead of the other way around. My entire life I have been staying up late and sleeping in. And the change was very hard, and I missed being able to sleep the day away. But since I have been forced to get up super early (4:15am) my days have been sooooo much better. I feel more alert, more energy, better about life in general, and I have way more time! Not every morning is easy I admit. Some days I curse the day I decided to go with such an early schedule, but soon as I get out of that shower and realize I feel like a million bucks at 5am and can accomplish so much before the rest of the world even wakes up, its very satisfying and I enjoy it. Most people who read this blog, or actually, just most people, will never learn this principle. People in a cave tend to stay in the cave where it is dark because the light outside hurts their eyes and its easier just to stay put rather then go through the pain of letting their eyes adjust to the light so they can see the beauty of whats outside.

There are lots more than this. And I will be adding them as soon as I remember what they are. Any others I left out?

Wowser Weekend

Had a pretty exciting weekend.

Arnie our shipping guy had a mild heart attack. They found 3 veins which are 75% blocked and he has to have triple bypass open heart surgery. He is out a couple of months.

Marie's baby is still in the hospital as far as I know. The baby is supposed to be released today. It was not having enough bowel movements and they couldnt figure out why.

Sadies baby Libby fell off the bathroom counter and bonked her head on Friday. Sunday after church she had a seizure so Sade took her to the ER and they discovered her skull had a crack and kept her for the night. The Dr said that the skull would heal and just to leave it but wanted her to wear a helmet. Sade thought it would drive Libby crazy, so they just told her to watch Libby closely and make sure she doesnt bump her head while it heals. Then monday Libby got a fever of 102. Mom called me and by the time I got over there the fever had gone and Libby was acting normally. Of course Ed is gone this whole time out with the Army, so it was pretty stressing for Sadie. Monday night Sades sisters came up to stay with Sade while Ed is gone to help her through this. Nothing as good as family.

Thats it, fun stuff huh?

Showerhead & Internet

Its amazing how much difference a nice showerhead can make. The ones that came with our house dont look that expensive, but HOLY CRAP they are sooooo nice. They have 2 settings, one that acts like a normal shower with a million little streams of water, and then the other setting is 3 very hard streams of water that come out the middle. Amy has it set to do half and half. I LOVE IT!!! I actually look forward to my morning shower. AND, its amazing how much easier it is to wake up at 4:15am when you have such a nice shower.

We spent the weekend at Amy's parents house, and they just have the common showerhead like most houses, and it just wasnt the same. I didnt enjoy the shower near as much, and I couldnt wait till I got home to my own shower. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH I love my shower!

Lymanbros has finally agreed to put a tiny sat dish at my house to serve me high speed internet. Currently they are gonna give me 2Mbps. So that will be nice as I am DYING with the dial-up. Talk about the worst technology EVER!!! It always disconnects, its slow, it takes up your phone line, its just plain sucks. Will be nice to have some broadband.