A new month begins and I was informed rather pointedly that I needed to update my blog. I have a new reader who thinks I should be updating this more. As it so happens, its been a very busy month. To start with, I signed a short term contract that gave me the Dj franchise. We have to detail the equipment and a few other things that just haven’t happened yet and so the contract gave me custody of the franchise but allows us time to finalize the main contract. I’m paying the franchise fees, I’ve been added to the owners list, all is good. But man am I busy. Working graveyard at USBank and running the Dj franchise and getting that started has made life interesting.

A was just in his HS production of the musical HONK. Based on the story of the Ugly Duckling. It was very good. A had an average of four to six hours of play practice after school each night and it showed. They had a real choreographer who had worked on the original production. She had just moved to Oregon, and knowing the school drama teacher came and taught the kids some good moves. A was in the chorus and as such had many things to do. He was a very busy kid.

E is struggling with her academics, still trying to balance getting her work done and discovering a social life. There is a boy who calls here regularly who is part of a three best friend triangle. I’m not sure if there is anything more then that, but he sure does call all the time. Has NO concept of good phone calling times. He’s also quick to give you respectful lip service when you mention that he has to call only during approved call times. (hopefully you catch the sarcasm in that statement)

Tadpole is about to turn 3 in four weeks. I can’t believe time flies so fast. He’s a very energetic little boy and does nothing by halves. Everything is done with full attitude and emotion. Which means he throws lots of tantrums and doesn’t allow you to ignore him for long. Which can be interesting when I’m on the phone with a prospective bride. Of course the cute thing he does is grab the other phone when I’m on the cell and copies me being on the phone. He’s also talking more, in that he repeats a lot of what he hears. He isn’t really talking independently, but he’s at least trying to say what he hears. Its encouraging as this is usually the stage before they start talking in earnest. A was also about this age when he started talking more on his own too.

I’m also dating someone. Its been three years really since I’ve had a willing suitor and its been over a year since I fell out of love or obligation with BG. He lives up in Seattle and has two boys of his own. He gets them every other week so we get to see each other on the other weekends. We’ve met three times but have talked online every day for three months. Before that we were just acquaintances on ldsmingle. What I really like about him is that one, he doesn’t try to schmooze me in over the top, fake compliments. He is caring and attentive and isn’t just trying to get into my pants or to cyber over web cam. He looks at things from a positive point of view and no matter how overwhelmed or stressed I may get always listens and tells me I can get through it. I love that! He’s kind and becoming my best friend. The thing that really gets me sometimes is he’s 6 foot. My dad and brothers were all six feet so I’m used to the height, but anyone who knows me personally knows I’m not into guys who are too much taller then I am. I tend to feel uncomfortable or threatened when they are more massive or taller then I am. I don’t have that problem with him. I feel comfortable and cared for. Its a very interesting feeling and something I haven’t felt in a very long time. I have my reservations on some things as I’m sure does he, but that’s what dating is about, learning about each other, seeing what works and what doesn’t. And learning that its okay to just enjoy liking someone. Letting things develop without rushing or feeling pressured to come to some momentous decision. Another thing I’m learning to enjoy.

I have a bride on the phone… so catch up with you all later.

***What Wendilynn Means***

You are very charming… dangerously so. You have the potential to break a lot of hearts.
You know how what you want, how to get it, and that you will get it.
You have the power to rule the world. Let’s hope you’re a benevolent dictator!

You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone.
You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together.
At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people.
You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts.
You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

You are balanced, orderly, and organized. You like your ducks in a row.
You are powerful and competent, especially in the workplace.
People can see you as stubborn and headstrong. You definitely have a dominant personality.

You tend to be pretty tightly wound. It’s easy to get you excited… which can be a good or bad thing.
You have a lot of enthusiasm, but it fades rather quickly. You don’t stick with any one thing for very long.
You have the drive to accomplish a lot in a short amount of time. Your biggest problem is making sure you finish the projects you start.

You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow.
You are light hearted and accepting. You don’t get worked up easily.
Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is.

You are a free spirit, and you resent anyone who tries to fence you in.
You are unpredictable, adventurous, and always a little surprising.
You may miss out by not settling down, but you’re too busy having fun to care.

What’s Your Name’s Hidden Meaning?

Personally, I think they make me sound like a confused nut case. How contradictory can it get?

The President and Prophet of my church died at 97 on Sunday night surrounded by his children.

I loved President Hinckley. He was kind, generous, full of humor and had a wonderful way of expressing the Love of Christ without sounding condescending or timid. He had a knowledge of the Love and Life of our Jesus Christ and knew that He lived. He worked hard to help others and he was much respected by those who came in contact with him.

Now that Pres. Hinckley has died, we also turn our eyes to see who’ll become our next church President. THIS article gives a pretty good explanation of the process. In this case, the oldest member and currently President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is Thomas S. Monson. A very kind and gentle man. If he is our next President and Prophet, which seems likely, I know the church is in very good hands.

I have to admit to being thrilled that neither Democratic or Republican party has a front runner. Why? Because we get to see what I consider real candidate campaigning in action.

Its always bugged me when we get to the conventions and the winner is already picked. What is the point of “delegate voting” when everyone knows who the winner is? This year, we could possibly see some real contest for the nominations.

As an non party voter I won’t get to vote in Oregon’s primaries, I am still excited to watch the process. For once, a real contest for the nomination. I think that allows us to better see who these people are. Because its not a given, they can’t hide as much because everyone is looking closer and not as many people are caught up in the adrenaline ride of their favorite candidate momentum.

The nominees are under a microscope. McCain cannot hide his choices behind a happy smile and a willingness to befriend the media. Hillary can’t just cash in on the appeal of having a strong woman running for president. She has been through hell and we know it. I still won’t vote for her, but I know many people who will thinking she’s “earned her due”. On the flip side, we’re starting to see McCain’s nasty side as he might not get what he thinks is due him. I’m sorry, being a tortured soldier for this country does not mean you get promised the Presidency. I can name a few hundred soldiers who are missing a few limbs who would have the same entitlement with that reasoning. I would have voted for McCain against Bush.. I liked him then. But he has proven to be a dishonest politician who will say whatever will get him attention. I was flabbergasted at the last republican convention talk he gave when he called Bush all these glowing names after having just run against him and pointing out how he wasn’t a glowing person. I couldn’t help thinking then, what did they promise you for your comments?

I’m pleased to see that the economy talk has lessoned some of the religious bigotry being used in regards to Romney. I have no problem with people not liking my religion. I do have a problem with people like Huckabee who pretend to not know about LDS faith while making shock jock comments they know will inflame their evangelical voters. I’m glad his run is losing steam. Couldn’t happen to a more dishonest fellow.

Its still a little weird though to see some of the stuff that people really seem to think we believe. I have read some real paranoia in the comments section of many of the political blogger’s articles. I will say one thing. When you hear the stuff about Godhood and planets and heaven.. Put it in context of this concept: We are literal children of Heavenly Parents. Every single one of us. And our Parents are raising us to become like they are. This world is one step in our eternal progress in the eternal society we are all members of. Given that context.. how is what you heard really all that unreasonable?

I just heard back from the Corporate office of the dj franchise. I have the green light to proceed with the purchase of the business! WOOHOO!!!!

Fingers crossed and prayers to be heard that it doesn’t get swooped out from underneath me a second time!

Happy New Year everyone. I hope the new year brings blessings to you all!!

I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas.

Not to some people. I read THIS article and was disgusted to read how people are starting to think that having children is a terrible thing to do.

You’ll get no argument that we are not using our resources very well. But to say that the solution is less children instead of being responsible with our resources instead of being gluttonously greedy is a real stretch.

From a theological standpoint, I believe one of the most important things we can do is help our spirit brothers and sisters come get bodies. Now this doesn’t mean you have a baby every year. Get real. What it does mean is that having children is precious, important and part of God’s plan.

I really think the real reason not as many children are being born is because people think it will spoil their lives. They can’t be as selfish, they lose freedom, they lose their independence, etc…

What they miss out on is what I’ve come to realize being a parent. Absolutely nothing teaches you more about God, the world, and about yourself more then being a parent. You learn so much about joy, pain, sorrow, happiness, anger, patience, wisdom and humility. And that’s if your lucky.

Having children a mistake? Not in my book.

That can happen to a sexually active teenager. You can recover from pregnancy, if you don’t have the family to help support you raising the child, there are wonderful adoptive parents out there who will. They’ll even pay for everything while your pregnant in many cases.

Don’t get me wrong, statistics show that children who keep the children they are giving birth to increases the chances of living in poverty and that baby ending up in jail. This is a pretty bad statistic. But all in all, you can recover from pregnancy. There are many agencies and programs to help young mom’s who don’t have the family support to raise a child. What isn’t being told to most of these kids though, is that they are more at risk of catching a STD then getting pregnant.

I was just reading that Portland, Maine’s school board had voted to approve giving their teens birth control without telling the parents. Now I don’t know if they are also going to educate these kids about the risks of STD’s or not, but in most cases, those who take the attitude of “well they are having sex anyway..” aren’t also thinking, “Well, we better make sure they know what is out there to catch”.

1 in 5 people in this country over the age of 12 has a STD according to the various statistics compiled by the Center for Disease Control. that’s not a happy number. I’ve been told by various nurses that Genital Herpes, the most common STD infects 45% of sexually active adults. I have a friend who works with pregnant teens and none of them knew that they also had to get tested for STD’s as well. To these kids, an STD just wasn’t what they were worried about. Unlike pregnancy however, you don’t get to recover from most STD’s.

After everything I have gone through, I am a big supporter of teaching kids abstinence until they are old enough to handle the emotional stress of sex in a supportive environment of a good marriage. I know most people consider that an outdated notion but I’m not one of these people who thinks you just tell kids, “don’t”. You arm them with information on the true risks of being sexually active. Pregnancy is the least of your worries as far as I’m concerned. I Know so many parents who give their girls birth control pills, but don’t teach them to protect themselves from STD’s. We females are more at risk then males. Its just a fact of our having an open reproductive system. For example, Chlamydia. Many cases go untreated because the symptoms are not obvious. And its most common in girls ages 15-24 who are sexually active. This disease can scar the uterus. And when your uterus is scarred, its harder for a fertilized egg to attach. They figure every time you get chlamydia, you can lower your fertility by 25%. How many people teach their kids these things?

My advice to those who would choose to let their teenagers be sexually active, if you do so, also arm your kids with the knowledge of the risks of acting like an adult. Don’t just hand out the pills and then act surprised when they catch an STD.

I’ve pondered over Mitt’s speech on thursday and have watched with disbelief and amusement over many of the knee-jerk commentaries by very biased journalists. Only a few seemed to hear what Mitt was trying to say and most jumped on the “mitt’s really a fanatical evangelical in hiding” wagon.

I wondered if they heard the same speech I did.

In trying to understand what was behind the rhetoric I realized that they indeed had heard a different speech. Not that the words were different, only the definition of words and phrases they applied to his speech. Many are suspicious of anyone of strong faith creating a Christian theocrasy. And many others are suspicious that our LDS leaders will dictate to Washington. Nobody seems too bothered with actually checking out if our leaders will do so or have ever done so. Many were looking for another example of Mitt “flip flopping” and others were just tired of hearing religion being discussed in with politics. These different biases, and the fact that journalism needs hype and complaint to make money, colored many of the responses.

I also realized that most are not used to the way Mormon’s look at government, the constitution, God or any of the other theme’s that get brought up in discussing Mitt Romney’s theological/political views.

What I got out of it was that Mitt got rid of the “My religious way or the highway” that people are used to hearing from the more rhetorical of the born again Christians and stated eloquently that we each bring something important to the theological table that makes up this country. And while he didn’t mention much about those who choose not to believe in any God, keeping in mind his primary audience for this primary election, his speech wasn’t aimed at those who don’t believe. In many ways, though he was reminding us that we have to work together for our freedoms, and that our religious views is an integral part of that cooperation.

I know many will take his comments and make them sound like he thinks only people of faith make good citizens, but his comments was aimed at those who think that anyone who doesn’t believe their way is worthy of suspicion. I felt moved by his speech in a way that I haven’t been moved by any politician in a long time. I heard someone devoted to bringing everyone to the table and working on our challenges, not just giving up on them.
I think Mitt was smart to go past the petty bickering over doctrine, declare himself faithful to his theological principles and then talk about what we have in common in this country. Most people probably don’t realize that Mormons will fight for your right to disagree with us. Nor do they realize that we consider the Constitution and living, breathing document that should be respected and valued. We also consider the Founding Father’s inspired men. Imperfect to be sure, but still inspired men. Think about it, How many people do you know can be handed a monarchy and say,” No thanks, you rule yourselves” ?