The Glory of Tyson With Kids

James is here. Tyson's five-year old nephew stayed with us for two whole days - and he lived to tell the story. Don't get my wrong, I'm not awful with kids, but I lack the oh-so-useful mother instinct that is necessary when watching any kids. The result, Ty played with him pretty much all day, while my OCD tendency to clean up had me following his little tracks to pick up all the toys ... all in vain by the of the day.

Again, I was impressed by Ty and his never ending imagination and patience with children. He's great, no, he's amazing with them. During church James loved the new primary and was so excited when we sang a welcome song. During sacrament he was busy transforming a paper into an airplane. Chenille bought him a Transformer Bumble Bee and he was excited to show anyone willing to listen how to transform it.

I have to say that as much as he did put me out of my comfort zone, I learned a lot about myself and really just was able to relax and enjoy the moment - something that I find hard to do in my quest to achieve pretty much everything in life. Children are such a blessing. Children put life into the real perspective and make you think outside yourself for a change.

Don't get me wrong, my birthing time is years away, but slowly and surely, my heart is opening for the wild adventure called parenthood. I'm just glad I have an amazing guy to show me the way. I love you Tyson.


P.S. Blame the lack of pictures to the "internal error" blogger is having

Arts Festival

I visited the Arts Festival for the first time on Saturday. The music, food, booths, vendors, patrons ... EVERYTHING was so interesting. We found IKABANAS, which are flower holders that allow flowers to last three to four weeks longer than regular vases. We found awesome photography, cool outdoor decor, yummy smoothies and unique jewelry. When it came down to lunch I got brave and enjoyed Thai food (not bad eh?)

The only drawback (and it was a big one) was the sweltering heat!! It was 92 degrees when we got there and by the time it left it was 98! I was burning in my shorts.

Heat and all, we still had a great time. Now I can officially say I went to the festival.

To Do Or Not To Do?

So we are thinking of some "new" fun things to do in San Francisco. The bad thing is that most of have been been to San Fran and have done the regular things: Fisherman's Wharf, Guirradeli Square, Golden Gate Park ... the regular. Now we are trying to taste something new ... because San Francisco is so diversified.

Some suggestions are: seeing a Broadway show, visiting wine country, surfing on Monterrey Beach, eating at new digs and so forth.

Do you guys have any suggestions?

San Francisco Here We Come!

We just found out our San Francisco dates - August 4-8th. This will be our second trip with Primerica and we are so excited. We are specially happy to have Emily and Brian Halley join us. They are great leaders under our team and will do amazing things in this company!

My goal is to eat Ghirardelli Chocolate, see Alcatraz, see Golden Gate Park, visit the wine country and enjoy a beach.

We will be staying at the beautiful San Francisco Hilton, and rubbing shoulders with the elite of the company.

Another great treat is that Tyson won the famous "Green Jacket." Which includes a 30% bonus when we go RVP and that will equal a great first year income.

I am so proud of our entire team; they have busted their butt and have broke down so many barriers. We love you team!

Tagged.

5 Things I Was Doing 5 Years Ago:
Going to SLCC, serving in Institute Council, skydiving, boating, living at home, dating several guys

5 Things On My To-Do List:
Clean my house, order birth control, wash my hair, finish office work and kiss my husband

5 Favorite Snacks/Food:
Cheese Nips, Peanut Sauce, strawberry ice-cream, bread pudding, snores with peanut butter

5 Things I Would Do if I Were a Billionaire:
Retire my parents, set up mission/college/wedding funds for my kids, create a great retirement, travel to Nicaragua, give money to each of my siblings.

5 Bad Habits:
Picking my face, biting my nails, not washing my dishes, being clingy, impatient driving

5 Places I've Lived:
SLC, UT; Managua,Nicaragua .. that's it, but I plan on living in Hawaii, the east coast and Europe someday.

5 Things Under $10 I Can't Live Without: Nail polish, ice-cream, toothbrush and toothpaste, body scrubber, face wash

5 Favorite Movies: Transformers, While you were Sleeping, Father of the Bride, Iron Man, Charly

5 Favorite Kid Names (or names I would have used for a girl if I had one): Ninoska; Emma; Nicole; Jackson; Boston.

5 Thing Always in My Purse: Cell phone; Keys; Checkbook; lip balm; floss.

5 Current Obsessions: HGTV, cleaning, working out, my business

5 Places I'd Love to Go: Bali; Australia; India; Eastern Europe; any beach would do right now...

Two Years

Not to take away from Father's Day and all, but Ty reminded me of something. It was two years ago on Father's Day that Ty first met my family. It was frankly the first time him and I really hung out one on one. It's amazing how fast time goes by and how much has happened. Since meeting Tyson my life has completely changed and I'm a far better person because of it. So here is a tribute to Tyson and the new things I have done because of him:

I have started my own business - that alone deserves and award
I have traveled 4 times and three different states since we have been married
I went through the temple
I went to Bear Lake
I got up on wake boards
I believe in myself more
I am more patient
I can laugh at more things
I can accept change
I became a sister and daughter in law
I enjoy visiting more
I do more service
I dream bigger
I work harder
I read a book a month
I associate with amazingly successful people
I feel loved everyday
I have a constant supportive buddy
I never go to bed feeling sad
I wake up next to the person I love
I look forward to someday having children
I accept the fact that I'll have a dog someday

It's been an amazing two years, hard at times but I am so glad he is with me. I could honestly not think of anyone else that would be a better fit for me. I love you Tyson. I'm so grateful for you. Thank you for believing in me and loving me. You are my why.

Inspiration

J.K. Rowling delivered the commencement address at Harvard's graduation ceremony. I have actually never read the Harry Potter series but was blown away by her beautiful words. Here are two of my favorite excerpts:

"So why do I talk about the benefits of failure? Simply because failure meant a stripping away of the inessential. I stopped pretending to myself that I was anything other than what I was, and began to direct all my energy into finishing the only work that mattered to me. Had I really succeeded at anything else, I might never have found the determination to succeed in the one arena I believed I truly belonged. I was set free, because my greatest fear had already been realised, and I was still alive, and I still had a daughter whom I adored, and I had an old typewriter and a big idea. And so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life."

I loved these words. So many times in life I feel overwhelmed by my fears; however I am daily working on conquering my fears and becaming a someone that I am proud of. I also loved this quote:

"You might never fail on the scale I did, but some failure in life is inevitable. It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all - in which case, you fail by default."

Need inspiration? Read the rest here.

Studio 32

One of Tyson's business partner has the coolest wife! Heather is sweet, can make a killer pasta salad and is a business owner herself. She has an awesome Online shoe boutique - Studio 32. These are killer shoes with great prices. She also does fun shoe parties that you can try on shoes, purses and accessories.

Check it out here.

Green Tree Servicing

I was so mad from the following story that I just had to make sure I warn people. We are currently trying to help a cute family get out of two interest-only loans (they got sold a "great" rate and payment) but that is being stopped because of Green Tree Servicing. This company came in, told the clients that they can make a few home improvements with an installement loan, what the clients did not know is that this company put a LIEN on their house! They were charged thousands on "closing fees" for windowns! C'mon people!

This poor couple had no idea that this happened until we looked at their contract and sure enough there are deeds of trust that makes GE Money the owner of some of the property, a list of all the extra hidden fees they charged and the catchy name that they used to sell the loan - "Property Improvement Loan."

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BE CAREFUL WITH THIS COMPANY.

Joseph Smith Movie Date

One of the many benefits of owning a business is being able to control your time. Yesterday Ty and I accompanied Straton and Lauren to see the Joseph Smith restoration movie downtown. We caught the 4:30 showing. Regardless of what religion you are,I feel that anyone with a heart would shed a tear or two in this movie. Joseph Smith suffered so much for what he believed in. Living in a society were few stand up for their beliefs, some may make it seem normal. The reality is that we live in a country were many courageous individuals would not budge from their beliefs. I wish I could say that I have never backed down in a moment of weakness or temptation. I can't. I have dropped my standards on occasion to enjoy what seemed at the time "popular" or "cool". Seeing that movie made me realize that success comes from laying down at night and knowing you have not gone against your better self.

Tyson and I had great chat on the way home. I feel so blessed to be part of a religion that does not conform to what is cool. Standards are standards. I love that the church does not back down in the middle of persecution. How would it be if ever great concept was shut down due to a weak backbone? I feel the same about our business. PFS was started in 1977 to correct an injustice! Families are still being lied to and robbed everyday be hungry salesman not willing to educate. I'm so proud of being part of something that makes me uncomfortable. I'm growing. I would suggest revisiting this movie if you get the chance to.

Food Storage

The recent news on this has made me really shape up my food storage. Truth be told I have always thought food storage was for old women who had nothing better to do than to can for hours at a time. I was wrong. The recent months have given me really good cause and inclination to start and maintain my food storage. Since my mother-in-law is amazing, she has helped me order dry milk, cheese, beans, rice, butter ... everything. Ty and I have gone as far as stuffing our bed bottoms with toilet paper and extra soup cans. Crazy? Perhaps, but the truth is that if you look around, our food supply is not flourishing. Just a month ago, my faithful parents entered Costco go buy their six months worth of rice, and Costco was out! The price of bread has jumped 13% since January alone. Part of me wants to think that everything will be OK, but the other part makes me want to get ready just in case.

The funny thing is that people thing that food storage is only for disasters or Armageddon. The truth is that many of my friend, including me, used food storage for the loss of a job, bad weather, Illness or just when money is tight. I believe our Leaders are warning us to prepare for hard time and folks we are in HARD times. Ty and I meet families that are force to credit card a gallon of milk, bread, eggs ... the simple stuff. There are many great web sites that educate people on food storage. Check these out.

Cheesecake Factory

Last month one of Ty's favorite friend flew out to from San Diego to visit us. He saw Tyson get promoted and celebrated by going to the Cheesecake Factory. I've only been in NYC and San Francisco, so I was worried about the Utah twist. I was wrong. The food was still great, although a little greasy. The cheesecakes were heavenly and it still just a cool place to eat at.