Going Public

There are times in your life when you truly realize that you are witnessing something that will go down in history. Tomorrow marks that day for Tyson and I.

Primerica is going public.

Symbol PRL on the NYSE.

We have been waiting for this amazing moment since we started with this amazing company.

Tomorrow all the million dollar earners will stand with Jon Addison and Rick Williams to ring the bell at the New York Stock Exchange and they will be joined by 400 PFS employees and top reps to celebrate this momentums occasion. Thanks to preparation and God's blessings we are able to take part in stock purchases. This will change our lives.

We will look back on this moment and remember what it felt like to be part of something bigger than ourselves. This company has given so much to Tyson and I. Moving to Colorado was a very big expression of our commitment and love for this company; however, any close friend already knew how much we love this company.

So here's to the future. Primerica's future. Our future. May we remember this exact moment in history

Talks

We survived our talks in church. We also got come callings:

1. Tyson & I are ward missionaries.

2. I was called to be the YW Camp Director.

HOLD THE PHONE. Camp Director?

Yeah. This is a cruel joke.

I. HATE. CAMPING.

I am still baffled by this. Of course I accepted but man I was blown away.

One word to describe camp this year: C.A.B.I.N.

Talk Nervousnes

Tyson and I have been busy all day trying to get our talks finalized for tomorrow.

Is it normal to be so scared? I had a dream last night that I was on the stand and had the usual flashcards to assist me during my talk. Well in my dream as soon as I got up to stand my flashcards started to melt, melt, melt. It was pretty miserable. I was so scared that I just started to read every definition in the bible dictionary. Yeah so all day today I have been making sure I am using sheets of paper and not flashcards - just in case ;)

We are attending a baptism today and I get to use the serving platter my mom bought me for christmas. I made a big mess in our living room because I was so excited to see it all put together. End result - a nice platter and packaging bubbles all over my floor. It was worth it. I am attempting to make cream cheese brownies - they looked so good online. My biggest thing is that I don't know how to get brownies to come out nice and compact. I am actually for the first time trying the "high altitude" method - but if that is seriously why my brownies come out weird sometimes I will be pretty upset at myself that it took this long to get it right.

Happenings

Its set to snow again in Colorado. Gotta love it. I had a day off on Thrusday so Tyson and I spent a great day together. Running Sam's Club, eating at PF Changs for free thanks to coupons, playing at the Dinosour Park with the Scottorns kids. It was really fun. The only weird thing is that I was SOOOOOO tired. I'm sure the Scottorn think I am like 60 because I get so tired. We came home yesterday and I was out. I mean OUT by 10:15 pm. Tyson found me sprawled out in the bed with a book on my chest. He just tucks me in and kisses me good night.

Colorado has allowed us to get out more. We have to. Staying at home would drive us insane. Last night Tyson practiced his presentation with Jon and Melissa. They are so great to teach us their tricks and to give honest feedback.

I have been crazing avocados and tuna yesterday - I know weird eh? So today I had it for lunch. I went to my trust "food storage" and got out some saltine crackers. The bad thing is that these crackers must have been atleast two years old and totally tasted like paint. Yuck! So much for "anything can be in storage". I had to enjoy my lunch cracker free - but it was still really yummy. Tonight is our pizza and fruit night. I might even make home made pizza - if I'm feeling brave.

These pictures are from our date to Buca de Beppo and dinner with the Baker family.

Cold and Snowy

We woke up today to 12 inches of snow - which were mostly melted by 5 pm. Gotta love that Colorado weather. Slow days are nice at work. I get caught up at work and do office stuff for Tyson. I am attempting a "meal planning" strategy for us to try out. I have heard so much about the time and hassel is saves but to tell you the truth everytime I would start to write specific meals out I would just get overwhelmed.

I was reading a blog that gave me a great idea. Do "food" category days instead of specific meals. So here is my first attempt:

Mondays - pasta day
Tuesdays - crockpot day
Wednedays - left overs
Thrusday - eating with the team :)
Friday - pizza and fruit
Saturday - Surprise
Sunday - Surprise

Truth be told I have the next three Sundays planned. Saturdays will most likely be eating left overs and something quick. This makes alot more sense to me. I have a big calendar in my kitchen so I can get reminded of which day it is. Breakfast and lunches are still in the air. One thing at a time.

Tyson was gone all day but when he did finally get home we did a little at home workout. It's pretty pathetic that my sister can teach an hour long spinning ride and I can barely do 10 push ups. I do much better at cardio than strengh training. I'm excited for warm days filled with bike rides, walks and just being outside.

We head out to SLC May 20-24th and I could not be more excited. I miss Utah. A lot. Specially just hanging out with my family. Last night we played games with the Scottorns and Hickmans. The girls won at Celebraty and the boys did not take it well.

So we can honestly say we made it through our first big Colorado storm. Now bring on spring please!

Sweet Baby Boy

Baby Oklen was born 11 days ago. He is so stinking cute. We can't wait to see him and hug him. His blessing was yesterday. Straton and Lauren will be amazing parents. Lauren already looks amazing. It's amazing how much joy a baby will bring into your life - even if it't not yours. I am so happy for them.

Truly family is the main reason we are here. Heavenly Father is so kind to let us be together forever. We are so happy for our future.

Happy 74 B-Day

My grandma had a big bash on Saturday. Celebrating 74 years of a beautiful life. 9 kids, 30 grandchildren and many many more to come - sum up her life. I was so sad to miss it. Tyson and I sent her a boutenier. She got up and got her hair done, new dress and ready to rock.

My grandma and I are very close. She practically raised me. She was my biggest example of selfess giving. She spent all her hard earned money to bring my family here. I can't even begin to comprehend what the took and where I would be without that. I owe so much to her. It makes me so happy to see her travel and enjoy life now. She has worked so hard. My mom really loves to throw parties and really goes about and beyond what is needed to make people feel special. I love them. I miss them. May can't come soon enough.

Missionary Dinner

We had the missionaries over this week for dinner. It was also St.Patricks day. I had this great idea on making green food and having a great dessert ... wrong wrong wrong. I had everything pretty much taken care of; however around 5:50 pm I had a small crisis in the office. So here is how it really came out.

5:45pm: Everything is dandy. I am feeling totally on top of it.
5:50pm: Small office crisis that needs my IMMIDIATE attention.
5:55pm: Oh look! The missionaries are in my office, waiting to go into my house.
5:56pm: I call Tyson to come get the missionaries.
5:57pm: I am wondering if I can even FEED these dudes. Ask Tyson to finish cooking.
6:00pm: Crisis quasi fixed. I am stressed to the max.
6:15pm: Melissa and darling kids show up.
6:25pm: Should have eaten at six but I am still finishing up dinner.
6:34pm: We finally sit down to eat. Soup is way to salty and rolls are hard :(

The evening really did turn out great. The Elders brought a sweet spirit into our home and gave the coolest object lesson. We had a great time and Mellisa and I did laundry and got some awesome grocery deals.

70 to 32

Colorado weather is very unpredictable. For example: yesterday, a high of 70 glorious degrees; today, 12' inches of snow and high of 32. Weird eh? I am so happy for warm office and home. Tonight I am attending my first relief society event - fondu night. I'm a little scared but I know I need to get involved and really make an effort. We will be here for a while and I want to make great memories.

We are pretty much done doing all the final stuff to our new place - my new favorite thing is these two shelves we bought at IKEA right before we left.

Thanks to Mellisa, I am loving the outcome.

Thoughts.

We attended our Dave Ramsey class today. It was so great. I am loving what I am learning. Next week we are meeting to do our online budgeting forms - it is alot of forms.

Church was great - we talked about being better spouses. Today we were suppose to have a church investigator but he had to cancel. Friday night we went to see Alice in Wonderland = it sucked.

I attempted to make two types of rolls this weekend - as one of my 2010 goals to get better at making rolls - honestly it's harder than it looks. I keep trying and I am getting better but it's just not quite perfect.

I had a dream last night that we were back in Utah and that Strats wife, Lauren, had a baby girl but Oaklen was still a baby. Weird huh? I've been thinking about them alot - specially since we won't be able to make it to their baby blessing. I'm glad all of Lauren's family will be there. I missed our families today. a lot. I even started crying at church. Colorado has been good because we have had to be dependant on just each other and it has brought us closer.

This week will be a great week. Work is going really well. I feel so blessed with the people I work with. They are all so wonderful. I feel that that lord has big things stored for us.

Julio and the Temple

This is my little bro Julio. He attended the temple for the first time on Saturday. I missed it. It was probably the the first thing that made me sad to not be in Utah. Jael was amazing and took tons of photos and sent them to me during the day. It made it a little bit easier. I can't even begin to tell you how proud and amazed I am at my little bro. He has come soooooooo far. The Lord really had his hand in his life. So many times I wondered if my example would ever make a difference, and now, years later I see the fruits. I honestly can't take any credit - Julio has made so many decisions on his own. I know he is just headed in such big things - future millionare for sure!

Saving in Colorado

I have to admit I was excited and scared to start couponing again. I feel like such an amature. Colorado is different - both good and bad.

This last week I have slowly started to coupon again. I have missed the thrill of getting the deals. We were lucky to enough to have enough food from our stash in Utah that we have been able to make it just fine with the current food we had. Here are my first success stories:



Safeway was having a cereal sales and thanks to my coupon blogs I was able to snatch a great deal on Ty's favorite stuff.

Retail cost: $24
I paid: $5

Wow! Tyson actually got this deal during the day and he was very happy.



King Soopers is the next big chain here. I was able to get 4 bottles of virgin and extra virgin olive oil, three boxes of whole-wheat pasta and two loafes of whole-wheat bread.

Retail cost $47
I paid: $5.41


The two things that I just love about couponing in Colorado are:
1. Both Safeway and King Soopers double EVERY coupon. No limits.
2. Unlike Utah all the shelves are actually stocked. So many times in Utah if you got there the end of the week - the items were completly gone.

It's nice to see some familiar things start to happen. I'll keep you updated on my couponing adventures.

Back at it ...

So I am starting Digi scrapbooking again... wish me luck

Boys will be boys

Right next to our property is a big empty field. It's common to see a fox, squirrels, groundhogs and even falcons. Well Tyson is in love and so this is usually what happens after church on Sundays. Tyson really needs a dog - or a baby :)




Church was great today. We talked about how to be more holy in our everyday things. I spoke about the morning devotionals that we have started doing at 8 am. We wake up, read scripstures on the couch, pray and say affarmations. It's been a great way to start the day. We attended our Dave Ramsey class and we are starting to do our envelope system and our cashflow charts - it seems like alot, but it's been an awesome class. I love how hand and hand it goes with Primerica.

This weekend we had an awesome training with the Scottorn baseshop. Saturday we hung out with new friend Sugey and Chad. We watched 2012 and eat at Q-doba (We really like this place :) Sugey and Chad have a MASSIVE TV and surround sound. They are a very cool couple - Christian. We even prayed at the restaurant. It's neat to see so much committment to religion.




We are entering our third week in Colorado. Time sure does fly. I start my regular work schedule and I'm excited and kinda scared. It still feels like a vacation that we are here - we really have been so blessed our entire time and I know that God will continue the good favor.

PFS Trip to Vegas

We really had a fantastic time. Primerica trips are always life-changing. We quickly came back on Thursday and we quickly packed to Colorado. Honestly it was the perfect thing before we left. Spending that time with amazing people is so uplifting. I am so grateful for this company and for the people it has brought into our lives.




We also happen to find a karaoke bar .. Tyson just happened to stand up on the pole and do a little dance ..




We got to see Grandma Mimi and her new house.



We even got a taste of RVP promotion ... Don't we loook good?









We hung out with all the leaders and of course enjoyed the shopping







Of course we had amazing Primerica speakers ....