Young Halloween Results

Just a quick tip I learned while typing this post: don't click on any of your pictures while in the "Preview" screen. You lose everything you've worked on, and you have to start over. (Sigh) Anyway, Here are a few pictures from the Young Family's Happy Halloween Extravaganza! (2008) This is my Jack-O-Lantern. (My second favorite part of Halloween!)


So this year Melanie wanted to dress up as a family and do something cute. I was okay with that as long as I didn't feel like a Halloweenie doing it. When she suggested Peter Pan and Wendy, I almost said no. But the thought of Erin being Tinkerbell had me sold on it. So even though I was gone two weeks out of the month (one week in Miami and another week in Washington State) I was still able to make our costumes in time for all the Halloween parties.

Erin looked so cute, ... I don't think it's fair that Daddies melt into puddles over their daughters. I'm just warm putty in her hands, and I can't help it. THAT's what got me into those green tights, which actually turned out to be thin green panty-hose! I had to put on THREE other pairs of normal panty-hose to blend out my hairy legs. Even then I felt totally exposed.


... at least until I finished the shoes. Then - because of some unexplicable reason - I felt much better. There must be something in the commitment of a complete costume that erases all the doubt and shame you should normally feel when you are dressed up like a complete fool. I felt great, it was fun. Now that it's over, I don't have to worry about being a faerie-boy next year. I can move on in my life, and do something ... else.

on Change and Growth Part 1

The status quo seems to be a very powerful thing. It's part of human nature to want to grow and improve and to seek after more. I've been noticing, however, that when people try to grow and change, many times they end up falling back to where they were.

I'd bet this has happened to just about everybody on the planet. You have a habit you'd like to break or create, you start practicing your modified behavior, and in a short amount of time, you realize you're back to old habits and your attempt at behavioral modification has completely failed. I know it's happened to me many many times. It frustrates me to think about how many times it's happened. I tried to keep a budget once or twice (or more...), and it works great for a month or two, then the weekly budget meetings get bumped once or twice, then I'm behind and it's harder to catch up, then... *sigh* my good intentions evaporate once again. Back to the status quo.

I know of a family which was living in New Mexico and decided it was time to make a change and come up to Cedar City, closer to family. They prayed, considered, and sold their house, packed up the truck and rented an apartment in Cedar. He ended up working the exact same job here as in New Mexico, moved from one store to another, they moved to Hurricane for the same kind of job, and a couple of days ago I heard that they were back in New Mexico. Same town, same job. The only thing different is that they are now living with his parents because they don't have a house. Status quo.

I know of another person (and these are people I know and admire, I'm not trying to point out any kind of uncommon weakness) who with grand intentions left his job to spend more time at home with family and earn the family living through investments. That lasted about 6 months, and now he's back at the same job he left. Status quo.

Why does this happen? I don't say that these families made the wrong decision to revert to the way things were, or that the decision to change in the first place was wrong, and surely there were individual factors in all of the cases I mentioned, and the economic climate had a big part in the decisions of both the families I mentioned, but when we see trends, we look for common factors and try to identify ways of getting around these common problems.

Why is it so hard to make a change?

Politics Kill Me

My sister-in-law put this link up on here blog I thought it was an interesting editorial piece by Orson Scott Card.

I don't know what to think about politics this year, but there is a big mess right now that is without a doubt.

The 2nd

Although Nate was wishy washy I think he was somewhat leaning towarda
the second and I think that would be better for us because of all my
home teaching and things. It only remains to be seen if Ked can make
it then.

Super Guy
(on the move)

Announcements announcements announcements

Please make them short and sweet,
short and sweet,
short and sweet.
Please make them short and sweet,
Ashley's pregnant.

Something

Well we are looking at doing something next week I talked to Nate and
it looks like they were busy this Friday and Melanie had something on
Saturday. I was thinking we could do a little Sunday dinner and games
or we could get out during the next week or celebrate November on
Saturday. Votes may be expressed between the three options.

Sunday
Weekday
Saturday

Express yourselves and if we end up doing things in seperate chunks,
or if it ends up as just some of us, or just me and Jane then tough
luck for those missing out.

Oh and with the Sunday option Jane and I can host no problem good food
and fun.

Super Guy
(on the move)

What is it?

What is it that makes some people so sure of themselves that nothing, NOTHING, seems to ever get them down, and some people (most actually) are so easily distracted by the things that COULD get them down that they lose all but a fraction of the hope they had once upon a time? This is the biggest puzzle to me, and though I really shouldn't be so affected by it I think of it almost continously. I'm sad about what people give in to, especially if I know and love and care for them. So what is it?

It's not circumstance, though everyone is quick to blame circumstances. That's a poor excuse because everyone's life is balanced with ups and downs, and everyone is affected by that bumpy rollercoaster equally. (Different trial, perhaps, but we are all given enough blessings to out-way those trials whether we choose to acknoledge them or not.) It can't be wealth either, because - as powerful of a tool as it can be - happiness is a choice, and comes without a price. So what is it?