ANNIVERSARY

Today is our anniversary. This week Nick is taking me to a concert for our anniversary. It has been getting harder and harder to celebrate or remember our Temple Anniversary, which I prefer to celebrate, because it is only three days before Christmas and this last year I had the flu that day. We dont usually celebrate this one because the important one is our Temple Sealing anniversary. We were sealed in the Mesa, Arizona Temple on December 22, 2004! (Nick joined the church in 2003) I wish we had pictures but we didnt take any. We never think to have our picture taken in front of the temple or on the temple grounds when we go because we are usually in a hurry. Our marriage has been great. Nick is the most wonderful man I could ask for. He is very considerate of my needs and feelings. He lets me take naps when Im tired, he cleans and does dishes without being asked, he laughs and plays with the kids, and we can talk for hours and hours about anything. He is my best friend.

Did I Ruin The Economy? NNNNOOOOOO....

DISCLAIMER: THIS IS AN ANGRY RANT. IF YOURE IN A GOOD MOOD, DONT READ IT.

So let me tell you what. When houses were selling faster than hotcakes we NEEDED a house. We bought ONE. 30 year fixed mortgage. Down payment. We saved up to buy it. We have one credit card. We pay our bills on time. We eat a lot of rice and pasta. We rarely eat meat because of the cost. We dont put our kids in preschool, dance, soccer, etc because we cant afford it (nope). We try to live within our means and make sure our bills are paid when we get paid so that if we run out of money, we have to resort to... more rice.

So late last year Nick and I were talking about maybe getting another credit card with a zero introductory interest rate to transfer our balance because are plans were to pay it off within the introductory rate time frame and save us that money on interest and help our credit with another card. We walked into Costco and saw the setup for applying for a credit card. We had recieved Costco offers in the mail many times and vaguely remembered the offer as something like: 0% apr first 3 months, after that a rate of 11%, the default being 24%. We walked up to the lady and she said, "If you apply you can get a free thermos right now."

Oh yay. A free thermos.

So we asked her, how long the 0% rate lasts. She said three months. Then we asked her what the rate would be after that... She said,

"It depends on how BAD your credit is"

I said, "We have really good credit" and we walked away.

Saturday we recieved a bill in the mail from the dentist for $169. It didnt list a date of service or a service provided. None of us have been to the dentist since August. I called today and the lady at the dentist office claimed I had just failed to pay that much for a crown (on top of the $325 I paid at time of service). I had gotten a crown in February last year and had paid about the same fee each time. In August I did even ask why there was a slight difference, they didnt really tell me why. So I called the insurance and they said they approved the same amount for both crowns and told me the amounts contracted between them and the dentist to cover and for the dentist to charge. Both were the same. I called the dentist back and she claimed that they had changed their contract with the insurance company in March... (changes arent made in March, anyone with insurance knows contracts run from Jan 1 to Dec 31- I verified it with the insurance). So I asked the dentist office lady how much the crown fee was. She said in Feb it was $518 and that the fee had gone up to $585 in March. That difference is not $169. So if I am paying the difference in their crown fees I should owe $67 (which they would have known at the time and charged me at the time). I asked what the full fees total were for a crown and she wouldnt give me an answer. Why... because I paid $325 out of pocket and the insurance paid $254: that adds up to $579. So if I owe anything it should be $6. If there are hidden fees.. the insurance company doesnt know what they are... they have a contract with the dentist for a set price and set reimbursement. I feel like Im being taken because the dentist is hurting financially. Am I paying someone elses unpaid bills? Did they look at my records and realize I had paid in full on the date of service and think, oh she has money, lets say our prices went up and we forgot to charge her some money.... I dont know much about insurance and billing, but I know how to add.

Oh and Unions... good for farm workers in the olden days, not good for today. We have lawyers and laws that protect workers. Unions today just protect lazy workers and hold back companies trying to compete on global scales.

And buy American?? Im having a hard time shelling out $3 for a plastic bin to hold my kids' toys in... do you think Ill be able to come up with the $15 the same bin will cost me for an American product (the extra money goes into American wages, insurance, union dues, pension). The Chinese that have jobs, are glad they have jobs, their country is able to grow because of them. Only recently have Americans become thankful for jobs.

And boy... what an idea... silencing Rush Limbaugh because he doesnt like the ideas the democrats are putting on the table.... what? Rush Limbaugh is great. Its not like all our radios dont have off buttons for those who dont like him.

And if you had the patience to read my rant. Im sorry for being so... angry. Yeah I know, what a way to show people how nice and friendly and sweet I am, Im just as much fun to hang out with. I'm just as upset about the economy as anyone, I am grateful my husband has a job. I pray he can keep it. I just am tired of people trying to blame some one/some thing/some business for the bad economy, and the media scaring us into further slowing our spending. I heard an economist on the news last week telling Americans "Dont spend ANY of your tax return! Hold on to it tight!" hahah lets blame them.. All in all, though, it was greed.

So are you all just as excited as I am to bail out the big auto companies who didn't change their business planning in the 80s when Asian vehicles were starting to enter the US full force? I wasnt the one who underestimated Toyota and Honda. Ooh lala the 80s Ford Escort.. nothing could compete with that. Surefire winner for generations to come, huh guys? Oh and the big banks that were given money to loan to people... and are not loaning it out. Yes, lets hand our paychecks over to those guys....

You may have seen this done on other blogs--you leave a comment to receive something handmade and crafty, and then you make a post on your blog to "pay it forward" and send something handmade to three other people.Here's the deal:Be one of the first three people to leave a comment, and I will send you something handmade in the next three months.You get to pay it forward by doing the same thing on your blog for three people.Once you leave a comment saying you're interested, you need to make a post on your blog within one day.So, who wants to play??

2007 looking back

This is a look back at 2007:

A year and a half ago we took a trip to Oregon. Well... we've taken trips to Oregon since but I was going through pictures and was wanting to remember this trip. The above picture is a picture of us at the Tillamook Cheese factory. From the left: Sister-in-law Cory, Nick, Isaiah, Me with my sister Jessica, Carmen, Julian, a friend, my brother mark, a friend and another friend. The thing that makes this trip so memorable is that we took this trip just two days after I had my gallbladder removed. I wasnt in much pain, just discomfort from the CO2 that still plagued my abdomen. I had the surgery on a Thursday I think... we left on Saturday morning to Oregon. We spent the rest of Saturday at Ikea, Sunday resting, Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday we went hiking around the Silver Creek waterfalls, to Tillamook, to the beach, to Portland and the OMSI museum and so on. What a recovery!

This was taken somewhere near the ocean! :D obviously. It was nice that week. Nick likes Oregon.

This is at OMSI. Carmen was playing and learning. While I was at the hospital my sister Sarah was housesitting/babysitting for me and the YW in our ward Heart Attacked me. That was so sweet of them! It was a hard time for me to have that surgery because Isaiah was only two months old and I had to be in the hospital about three days without him and I wasnt able to nurse him or see him but once and thats when he started sucking his thumb. He never started until then.


These pictures were taken the day of the surgery I believe. The incisions from the gallbladder surgery are the ones covered with tape. The scar across my stomach is from a surgery I had when I was two months old. Keep in mind I had just had a baby AND my abdomen was inflated with CO2!