Finally we were off...

Does it seem that always something comes up when you are leaving town? It always does me. Thankfully Ty and I made it to Logan on 11.26 around 10 pm. One of the things I love about going to Logan is the ability to relax and that's just what we did. Wednesday we watched a movie and hung out with Debbie and Gaylan. Thanksgiving morning we slept in and I got to watch HGTV all morning. We headed to Grandmas and Grandpa Gerbers home. It was packed! We ate and talked with all the family we had not seen all year. Tyson played Turkey Bowl and luckily we had no separated shoulders.

After dinner we headed home and decided to relax (again). We decided on a movie around 6 pm and we watched Amber City. After the movie we got home and we played a random LDS trivia game. The funniest thing is that at first we played it as a dumb joke but then we really got into it. The Gerbers are pretty competitive in everything. That night Tyson and I decided that we really wanted a tree (see here for the reason why)but the only killer deal with at Walmart at 5 am. So what did we do? You guess it. We braved Black Friday. Tyson and I eagerly woke up at four freaking thirty in the morning and innocently headed to Walmart. We were not prepared. I mean who gets up that early anyway? Apparently EVERYONE in Logan. After seeing couple of fights over Tonka Trucks, Tyson and I spotted our dream tree (6.5ft, clear lights ... heaven)and managed to get two (one for us and one for Straton) After Walmart we headed to Kohls and then to the mall. The rush of our first black Friday kept me pretty wired but then around 9 am I crashed. Its not normal for people to do so much so early. So we headed home and ... you guessed it, relaxed. Straton and Lauren brought over Guitar Hero. Around 4, the entire family, plus Jael and Steve went bowling. We got home and watched "Deja Vu" and ate pizza. Around 9 pm we packed and headed to SLC. We stopped by my Grandmas house and visited her. We got home around midnight. Overall this Thanksgiving was awesome Family, food, blessings and yes, relaxing.

I want to specially thank Gaylan and Debbie. They gifted us our first Christmas tree. I can't tell you how wonderful Tyson's family is to us. We are blessed with such great families. We love you Gerbers.

Several people have posted comments on my blog to see how Primerica is affected by the Citigroup bailout. John Addison, CEO of PFS, came out with a message just this week to keep us agents in the loop. It's pretty amazing. Read on.


The 'Strength of Primerica'

'This is John Addison... and I have just a quick message about Primerica...

I just wanted to let everyone know that I'm going to be doing a special message at the beginning of our broadcast on Monday (November 24th - on EPN; Primerica's Entrepreneurial Network) to talk about Primerica and talk about how strong our Company is and where we are... about the world and what's going on and to make sure everyone understands the moment that we're at.

I've got some statistics... I've gotten a lot of questions about what's going on with CitiGroup and how it affects Primerica... What about our paying claims?, What about paying our policyholders?, What about paying commissions?...

I want you to understand... Primerica, our unit (of CitiGroup) in the last (third) quarter made $121 million dollars (profit)... the rest of the insurance industry lost money that quarter!

We have $4.8 billion in equity in our business... we have an incredibly conservative portfolio - $6 billion dollars.

Our life premium is $2 billion dollars, year-to-date... up 5% over last year!

The insurance commission, the NAIC, oversees and regulates us and our risk based capital ratio is 400%!
That's 4 x (four times) our target and that's 8 X (eight times) the regulation limit.

We are regulated, on our own, and walled off from CitiGroup!

In summary, we have so much capital and strength... it's unbelievable!

We make money and we have ZERO debt as a Company!

We are so strong as a Company it's unbelievable!

Look, the world is full of worry, right now... the economy is troubled... and there are lots of issues that you can worry about...

I just want you to know we are unbelievably strong financially... and while others get weak, we're getting stronger!

There's plenty of things to worry about, but there's nothing to worry about when it comes to Primerica.

See YOU at the TOP!

Weekend Recap

We had fantastic weekend. This last week we've had so many great things happen to us. Internally Tyson and I are really growing. It's hard to explain but I'm grateful for the chance to grow. Ty and I have been reading alot. About everything. Sales, leadership, how to get along with people ... you name it. Part of me hates not being recognized, and no one knows the efforts being made by Tyson and I. At the same time I know the "seeds" are being planed and cultivated. Within time ALL the fruits will be seen. I have faith in this. I have faith in our future. Yesterday Tyson closed a loan and premium with an eager new stud - nothing makes Ty happier. What most people did not see is that Ty missed most of the U vs Y game to do this, without a single complaint. Most men won't take out the trash without complianing, but Tyson sacrifices what he loves now, to secure our future later. Isn't that amazing?

Our goal is 100x100 and we are growing ourselves to take on this responsibility. I am amazed at how Tyson never drops his duties on others ... he stands up and learns and takes responsibility. I know most don't see this. Most frankly don't care. I care. I want to remember how far Tyson has come along. How far I've come along.

We attended the temple Friday night. I was sitting in my chair trying to feel the spirit and all of the sudden I looked up and saw Tyson. I started to cry. I cried for our tough times, for the long nights, for the trials along the way. But mostly, I cried out of respect for my Tyson. The last 18 months have been the most uncomfortable times in our lives; however, it's been the most rewarding. Floods of memories, role playing, preparing, presentations, trainings, prayers ... all came to my mind. I could not take my eyes off of Tyson, who was oblivious to what I was feeling. We left the temple and I had this total moment of clarity. My greatest treasure was standing right in front of me and I saw him. Sometimes what matters most is standing right in front of you all along.

I'm forever grateful for Primerica. Grateful for my amazing team. Grateful for our mentors (Steve&Theresa, Phil&Heather, James&Angie, Gaylan&Debbie) but most of all, Tyson. My superman.

MMI 2008

Tyson and I are blessed. Heavenly Father is ALWAYS looking out for us. Brian and Emily, Aimee and Paul, Jenny and Mike, Aaron and Tracy ... all got tickets to the Millionaire Mind Intensive seminar. We really wanted to go but never thought we had the time. Well the night before the seminar two extra tickets were found! Tyson was able to make 90% of it and I made about 70%. It was incredible. I realize that some people may think seminars are stupid and all they do is try to sell you stuff ... blah, blah, blah. My theory - so what? Tyson and I really thrive on events like these. We love the emotions and friendships made through seminars. We had a great time and we even took the challenge of being "warriors." We are implementing the jars idea to split our money into different accounts and really have control of our money. Tyson and I have never worried about money. Primerica has made our financial situation 100% secured but now I have better way to treat all the income that comes to us.

Ty and I would come home and write down our dreams and goal to grow Primerica. Tyson has been on the phone non-stop with potential clients. I have never been more proud of be part of this amazing company. Tyson and I are here to stay forever. We expect to triple our networth in the next 24 months and ALL of it comes from PFS. The rumor is that MMI is coming back in the spring. I'm excited to take my team to it. It will be awesome!

Primerica Big Event

It seems just like last week we had our last event. It's amazing how fast time goes by and how much growth we've had. Our team is full of hardworking studs who want the best for their families. We've had alot of amazing people come into our lives, mentor us and pull us up to the next level. Our team was recognize for all the work they have done he last six months. Thank you to all the team for all you do.






Friday night I wore my new dress - yeah!and had 10 guest personal. We got home around 10:30 and went straight to bed. Saturday we were at the expo center by 8:30. We got seats for our team and spent 9-1 with intense training. We heard from Brandon Niel, Marc Nichols, Jeff Feldstead, Cassey Smith .. the list goes on and on. The main guest were Glenn Williams and Mark Jazapovic. After the meeting, Ty and I headed to Market Street Grill for the Team Captain lunch. Man, I always go crazy on the bread there - it's so good. Brian Halley and I seriously had FIVE loafs! I was so stuffed I could not eat dessert. BTW - we also had the entire crowd sing happy birthday to Debbie. He he he ... she was so surprised.






This is the last month for the competition to the Bahamas and we are fighting until the end!!! Thank you to all the team that make us look good - we all know who are the real heroes ... ALL OF YOU!

Mothers and Pizza Equal ...

What are the odds of marrying an amazing man and having my mother-in-law have the same birthday as MY mom?! Apparently good.

We celebrated Debbie's birthday by relaxing and having a fantastic conversation on marriage. Debbie then dashed into Wendover for dancing and relaxing. My mom was a little more Conservative and just wanted to relax at home. Everyone came down and by everyone I mean even my little sister drove 2 hours to be with the family. We had fantastic food, watched Iron Man and played Ticket To Ride. Tyson won too - of course :)




**note: the 1st photo was actually taken by Andrew (age 4) and I thought it was SO cute**

I just have to say how lucky Ty and I are to have such amazing mothers. We have never wanted for anything and because of our mom's we are both very strong people. The importance of good mother's is so real to me. We love you Mom's

Second note: I want to remember that on November 8th at MIDNIGHT I had a craving for Hawaiian pizza (I don't even like Hawaiian pizza) and my amazing, AMAZING husband put on his coat, drove and brought me back a pizza. It was the best pizza EVER. Could I ask for anything better than Tyson? I am so lucky. So blessed. I just want to remember this feeling FOREVER. I love him.

Halloween 2008

I will take blame for posting Halloween pics almost halfway through November :) Hey at least we did it eh?

Halloween was great. I've come to realize how lucky to we are to have such great people around us. I ran the office from 9 - 1, headed over to a clients house until 2 and then headed to the Stonebrakers famous Halloween bash and when I say bash I mean BASH! We had a full on train, yes a TRAIN, taking all of the kids, and by kids I mean me, around the block. Call me weird but I actually loved it. It was so fun to go 5 miles an hour in a fake train. It brought back all the "I wish I could haves" from my younger years. After the train ride I stuffed myself silly with WAY too much sugar and made my way to the gigantic plastic obstacle course (which I totally wasted the kids on .. oh yeah!)

Steve and Theresa even had a haunted house in their basement. We ate, met the neighbors and just had a good time. I feel so blessed to have such great mentors. They have given me such a big vision.




The party does not stop there. After the party I headed over to another clients house, closed some business and headed to on of our recruits house for dinner/trick-or-treating. Tyson had a full on cowboy outfit - thanks Branden. We took Oakley and Blakely out for just 30 minutes and found a huge trunk or treat happening in LDS church. After gathering too much candy we headed home for the big event - eating dinner out of the pumpkin.The pictures look gross but it was fantastic. After the dinner we headed to Tyson's cousins house (Scott) and wished him a Happy Birthday. We finally got home around midnight and totally crashed in bed. It was a great Halloween.






BTW I'm also posting photos of our first MURDER MYSTERY PARTY (80'S THEMED)

Lucky Number 7

7 Things I Can Do:

I CAN . . .
- clean and throw away old things
- make a killer chicken chili
- change a flat tire
- run an office
- run forever with a good song on
- live for days without my cell phone
- figure out anything I REALLY want to do


7 Things I Cannot Do:

I Can not . . .
- speed more than 5 over the limit
- draw
- stand my house messy
- sleep when I'm hot
- watch scary movies
- live without good desserts
- wait until Bahamas


7 Things I Say Most Often:

- are you kidding me?
- tough times don't last but tough people do
- baby cakes
- don't be a victim
- I love you
- freaking awesome
- I'm happy for you baby


7 Favorite Foods

- ice-cream
- rice pudding
- rice and beans w/queso
- bread pudding with caramel sauce
- spaghetti and mizithra and meat sauce
- carne asada
- bread, specially pizza

I've never voted before ...

so today marks a long time goal to be accomplished. I admit I was never into politics but my college years opened my eyes. I remember the 2004 election. I was dating Bill, attending the U and was really starting to find out what I believed in and who I was really was. I remember on Election day going to classes and hearing the advice from professors and what the other students were saying. I wanted to vote. I wanted to have a say. I lost my chance. I remember being glued to CNN and seeing the results come in one at a time. I thought I had life figured out.

Fast forward four years. Graduated, married and running a business, my life is SO different that what I thought it would be. It's better. I was so eager to make sure I did not lose my chance that I registered, oh I don't know, 8 months ago. I have my polling location, my ID and excitement. I thought about voting early but I did not want to lose the buzz of "election day". I hope everyone votes, I don't even care if you vote for the other dude but VOTE. Exercise your right to free speech. The sad things is that Tyson is registered in Logan and probably won't be able to vote. He is kicking himself for that. I don't know about you but there is something different about this election; our country is changing. Our world is changing. The only thing that gives me comfort is that Tyson and I are fighting to create a life of security and freedom and no other place in this world could give us that opportunity. I'm so grateful for this day. So grateful for this country. So grateful for PFS.

So go vote ... if only for your kids.