Teeth

We got my hubby's teeth checked for a quote. His teeth would cost just under $6,000.00 to fix! He would need four root canals with stainless steel teeth, a deep cleaning, and several fillings. Years of neglect on top of bad teeth genes have really added up!At work yesterday his co-worker started planting seeds of doubt because of this big bill. He came home disheartened and made the comment "Maybe if I had a higher ASVAB score they would take me."I didn't know what to say. I told him I didn't even want to consider the possibility of him not going.This is our time, I feel our lives changing. No, we may not have exactly what we expected in the end. If he does or does not go in is not what is important. What is impportant is the CHANGE.All the changes I have been working on in our attitudes towards life, money and work are begining to show in our lives. We will accept the blessings as they come, even if we misread what they will be.

Bright Side

There are many things in our lives that happen to us which we say we do not want. Death, breakups, lost friendships, accidents, sickness, etc. most people simply react to this with anger, sorrow, frustration, etc. The problem with this is that when you react to your situation, you only bring more of these feelings into your life. When you are sad, does giving into the sadness and throwing a fit really help your situation? No! Does it make you feel better? Not really.
I remember a while back when I became Overwhelmed and sat on my floor crying. The more I cried, the more I wanted to cry. Of course it didn't help that my daughter kept saying "Don't Cry Mommy!" with her own little eyes welling up.
When someone reacts to their surroundings they hurt themselves by perpetuating the bad emotions. You are telling your subconscious brain "This is the kind of situation that makes me feel bad." so your subconscious replies "Better keep feeling bad then!"
In other words, the more miserable you are, the more miserable you become.
You see, the human brain is made up of two parts: Your animal side (also known as your subconscious) and your human side. Your animal side is enormous. It is a database which remembers every slight detail of every experience. This is here to help you operate automatically in any normal circumstance. Your human side is what causes you to consciously consider situations and information.
The problem most reactive people run into is that they are on auto-pilot. They are animals. They only access their human side on rare occasions when their experience is something their animal side hasn't got a complete answer to.
When we experience our world, the best way to experience something new, or that we perceive as bad, is to look at the experience from our human side. This is more than just "looking at the bright side". This is making the conscious choice to continue at an emotion which is neutral, even in times when unexpected troubles come your way.
Children react to their environment like a victim. If they get in trouble for hiding in the closet with a bag full of candy, they react. Even when they did something they knew they shouldn't do, they assume the position of victim, and begin to blame their environment for their reaction. "I wouldn't have thrown a fit if my candy wasn't taken from me! It is your fault that I am upset!"
Many adults react this way as well. Take for example a young man who gets involved in an accident because he was not watching where he was going. When the officer starts writing him a ticket, he starts flying off the handle "I never even saw him! He was in a blind spot! I couldn't help but hit him!"
I know that some times I have had many "bad" things hit me all at the same time. In these situations I often get overwhelmed, and I want to just curl up in a ball and cry. Funny thing about it is the fact that giving in to these feelings does nothing for the situation. When I throw my little fits for the world to see, all that I achieve is smeared makeup and people around me saying things like "I am so sorry. I don't know what to do..."
So, what do we do? We stop. We take a step back. We disconnect and look at it from an objective point of view. We need to ask ourselves what we need out of this situation, ask God for help, tell your brain that it will be okay and let go. Don't stress. When you stress you push the remedy away by seeing only tithe problem. Give it to God and trust that it will all work out.
God will never give you more than you are prepared to handle. All the tools you need to conquer every situation you have locked away, waiting for you access.

An Introduction to the Basics of "The Law of Attraction"

There are a couple schools of thinking on the subject of the law. There is, of course the rookie belief that if you just think really hard on something it will come to you. There is the belief that you wanted everything that you have in your life, the good and the bad. There is also the belief that you expected everything that you have in your life, good, or bad.
I myself personally believe a blend of all of them.
It has been my experience with this interesting phenomenon that when I expect something to happen, it does not necessarily mean I want it. I do not want health problems; we do not want the people we love to leave us. But when we have a fear, and nurse that fear, even somewhere below our immediate consciousness, we begin to prepare ourselves for it.
Take the teenage girl who is dating her first boyfriend. It's true love! She is going to marry this boy. In fact, they have a wedding day set, and he is going to whisk her away to Paris and they will live happily ever after. Then, the relationship begins to cool. She becomes a little insecure/ He may have given her no reason to worry, but in the back of her mind, the grim reality of teen love is setting in. She begins to wonder, what would happen if he did break up with me?
She tells her friend one night on the phone “OH I would just DIE! My heart would break! I would never love again! I would be devastated and I would lock myself in my room and cry for days!”
Then it happens. He decides he likes her friend (the one she was talking to on the phone the night before), and he dumps her. She feels like she’s just going to DIE! Her heart is broken. She swears she will never love again! She is devastated and she locks herself in her room and cries for days! She does exactly what she expected to do!

Here is a question: do YOU believe you control the world? More specifically, are you willing to believe that you control YOUR world? If you are in total control of your life, no matter how your life is, this means there is no one left to blame but you.
You are in control of your habits and addictions
You are in control of your financial status
You are responsible for your career and work status
You are responsible for your vehicles.
This is a scary concept, but one I think we all must consider. Why is it that we are so willing to jump on blaming someone else for our failure?

A few months back, the company I work for fired an employee. After he was let go, he left nasty letters for his fellow employees blaming THEM for his being fired. About a month and a half later he called the owner of the company and left a message blaming the owner for the loss of his house because he was fired. Does he not see that if he would have treated his position in the company with a little more respect and maturity none of this would have happened to him? No, because to see your life as your responsibility means to accept that you made a mistake and that you could have done better.

I love Bob Dylan, well at least his music anyway...

I watched the Watchmen last night, it reminded me of this song:


Come gather 'round people
Wherever you roam
And admit that the waters
Around you have grown
And accept it that soon
You'll be drenched to the bone.
If your time to you
Is worth savin'
Then you better start swimmin'
Or you'll sink like a stone
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come writers and critics
Who prophesize with your pen
And keep your eyes wide
The chance won't come again
And don't speak too soon
For the wheel's still in spin
And there's no tellin' who
That it's namin'.
For the loser now
Will be later to win
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come senators, congressmen
Please heed the call
Don't stand in the doorway
Don't block up the hall
For he that gets hurt
Will be he who has stalled,
The battle outside ragin'
Will soon shake your windows
And rattle your walls
For the times they are a-changin'.
Come mothers and fathers
Throughout the land
And don't criticize
What you can't understand
Your sons and your daughters
Are beyond your command
Your old road is
Rapidly aging
Please get out of the new one
If you can't lend your hand
For the times they are a-changin'.
The line it is drawn
The curse it is cast
The slow one now
Will later be fast
As the present now
Will later be past
The order is
Rapidly fadin'.
And the first one now
Will later be last
For the times they are a-changin'.

Dreams...

A long while back, when I was still newly wed. I had a dream. One of those dreams you just can't seem to get out of your head.
Now, before I begin, I want to describe to you my dreamscape. A dreamscape is the terrain and "location" a person may have most their dreams in. I suppose it is possible that not all people have a common dreamscape, but I believe most do.
My dreamscape consists of old buildings- often in the small town I grew up in-usualy in a dull grey, or rainy kind of setting. Many of the buildings are abandoned, some are crumbling down and falling apart. Inside the buildings there is a labarenth of poorly lit rooms. I often feel as though the buildings are haunted, or there is some sort of presence. The funny thing about this is that it sounds like a horror movie, but in my dreams, I pay no mind to it all. I just walk through it all as if it is standard. I give it as much notice as you do the gravel you walk on every day.
In this particular dream, it was drizzling, as usual. It was grey, and my husband and I were walking through this abandoned and dirty town, past huge brick buildings with no windows, and sooty streets.
We walked past factories. We walked down unpaved alleys. Eventually we reached a place in the middle of town, like a park. The grass was green, and wet with recent rain. The clouds had parted and were letting in that kind of sunlight that comes through a thin cloud-cover. We climbed to the top of the hill and sat in the wet grass.
I remember looking at him, and hearing him say "see, wasn't it worth all that to reach this?"
I do not remember anything else happening, but I don't think it would matter if it did. The message got accross. I do not believe I will ever forget that.

MEPS

My husband went to MEPS Monday. He took his ASVAB test and did well, even on the parts he thought he would do poorly in. He said there was one part he had problems with, something about puzzles which were not in the study guide. I knew he would surpise himself *wink*.
Yesterday was when the problems happened, however. This was the day of the physical (dun dun DUN!- that was dramatic music). Aparently, MEPS is like a window into the world of Basic. They wake you up at 3:30, tell you, basically to get your ass down to breakfast or someone will be up to get your ass down to breakfast. You have half an hour to eat and get your ass to the bus to drive to go fill out paperwork and see the "Doc". After he stood in the rain outside for an hour, he filled out his paperwork and was sent in to see the guy who would do his physical. They had him take off his clothes and they began to inspect him. When they looked at his back they saw the huge deep scar below his right shoulder blade.
"What is this?" they asked him.
He told them all about how he had punctured a lung and broken two ribs on a hook when he was little.
"That needs to be in a report."
They saw another scar on the back of his head. "What's this?" He explained it as well.
"That needs to be in a report."
Then they looked at his teeth. They told him he needed a report and an estimate on those. In other words, go home, have your recruiter fill out a report and come back another day.
His MEPS is in Denver, somewhere around a six hour drive from here.
When he started this journey (which is still just begining) we knew it would not be easy. So I hugged him when he got home, let him vent and then let him sleep; he was exhausted.

A Quote From The Onion

"The United States was founded in 1776 on the principals of life, liberty and the reckless pursuit of happiness at any cost- even life and liberty"
from The Onion's "Our Dumb World"

www.theonion.com/content/atlas

Mama Mia!

This is my mom's blog:
http://peoplepowerexchange.com/

WOO HOOOO!!!! I am on the internet!

Thanks to my good buddy Terry, I have realized I have this amazing invention called "wireless internet". I am on the internet for FREE! Right now. I have to be sitting right here under my big front window in my apartment, and possibly on Cody's back porch (shh, don't tell Cody, heh heh heh...)

Awesome!!! Another Simple How To Use Standard Stuff Tutorial!

Summit (the company I work for) has employees all over the Western Slope of Colorado, and also a couple in Wyoming. Our Wyoming crew consists of a couple guys, with an incredibly nice (and talkative) southern man as the foreman. Last week, this foreman told me that the program he uses to fax me his time sheets had expired.
Now, all the other foremen come in to the office at least once a week, so they can just hand me their time sheets and I can give them new ones just as easily. Because this gentleman is in Wyoming (at least 8 hours from here) he does not come in to the office, and cannot physically turn in his time sheets, or pick up new time sheets here.
To remedy this he created his own time sheets and cover letters on his computer with a Microsoft Office trial that came with his computer. This trial has just expired, and he does not want to pay for the full version (and who can blame him).
So I suggested he try Google Documents. I love it, and it’s free! In fact I use this instead of Microsoft Office Myself.
He, of course, had no idea what Google Docs was, so I wrote him this tutorial. Enjoy!

How to use Google Docs Instead of the Microsoft Office Suite:

Step 1: Go to Google. Yup, believe it or not, the service called “Google Documents” is on Google.

Step 2: If you do not have a Google account, you have to make one (but that isn’t a bad thing because Google has all sorts of cool features.

Step 3: Log in to Google. Hope I haven’t lost you here….
Step 4: On the top right you will see a link that says “My Account”. Click it.

Step 5: Hey look! There are all the services you use. But wait, Google Documents isn’t one of them. Darn! Well, I guess we will remedy that. Beneath the label “Try something new” there is a link that says “more >>”, click it. Now you will see a list. On the right hand side, under the heading “Communicate, show and share” is a link that says “Docs” or “Documents”. Select it.

Step 6: Use Google documents to create spreadsheets, “word” documents and forms! You can also share documents from this page, so you don’t have to fax me everything, if you don’t want to.

Quote

"You can't wait for inspiration. You have to go after it with a club." -Jack London

From Zen Habits

A great piece by Zen Habits (If you haven't noticed, I love this site and recommend it to everyone)
Be Still.
Posted: 19 Jul 2009 04:01 PM PDT
Post written by Leo Babauta. Follow me on Twitter.
Be still.
Just for a moment.
Listen to the world around you. Feel your breath coming in and going out. Listen to your thoughts. See the details of your surroundings.
Be at peace with being still.
In this modern world, activity and movement are the default modes, if not with our bodies then at least with our minds, with our attention. We rush around all day, doing things, talking, emailing, sending and reading messages, clicking from browser tab to the next, one link to the next.
We are always on, always connected, always thinking, always talking. There is no time for stillness — and sitting in front of a frenetic computer all day, and then in front of the hyperactive television, doesn’t count as stillness.
This comes at a cost: we lose that time for contemplation, for observing and listening. We lose peace.
And worse yet: all the rushing around is often counterproductive. I know, in our society action is all-important — inaction is seen as lazy and passive and unproductive. However, sometimes too much action is worse than no action at all. You can run around crazily, all sound and fury, but get nothing done. Or you can get a lot done — but nothing important. Or you can hurt things with your actions, make things worse than if you’d stayed still.
And when we are forced to be still — because we’re in line for something, or waiting at a doctor’s appointment, or on a bus or train — we often get antsy, and need to find something to do. Some of us will have our mobile devices, others will have a notebook or folder with things to do or read, others will fidget. Being still isn’t something we’re used to.
Take a moment to think about how you spend your days — at work, after work, getting ready for work, evenings and weekends. Are you constantly rushing around? Are you constantly reading and answering messages, checking on the news and the latest stream of information? Are you always trying to Get Lots of Things Done, ticking off tasks from your list like a machine, rushing through your schedule?
Is this how you want to spend your life?
If so, peace be with you. If not, take a moment to be still. Don’t think about what you have to do, or what you’ve done already. Just be in the moment.
Then after a minute or two of doing that, contemplate your life, and how you’d like it to be. See your life with less movement, less doing, less rushing. See it with more stillness, more contemplation, more peace.
Then be that vision.
It’s pretty simple, actually: all you have to do is sit still for a little bit each day. Once you’ve gotten used to that, try doing less each day. Breathe when you feel yourself moving too fast. Slow down. Be present. Find happiness now, in this moment, instead of waiting for it.
Savor the stillness. It’s a treasure, and it’s available to us, always.—From the Tao Te Ching:
It is not wise to dash about.Shortening the breath causes much stress.Use too much energy, andYou will soon be exhausted.That is not the Natural Way.Whatever works against this WayWill not last long.—Read more about simplifying in my book, The Power of Less.

What I Will Need to Adjust in Myself for Army Life

I am going to need to learn to manage money better. There is a free class for army spouses on money management, which I will most likely take.
I think my more recent quest for simplicity and minimalism will be helpful. Eric and I have written off any kind of loans: no credit cards, paycheck advances, etc. We have also decided to start investing, some how. I will most likely find a good investment class of some sort as well.
I am also going to have to learn to be alone a lot more. I believe I am strong enough for this.
This is going to make us a much stronger family, I am excited (and a little scared) for this to happen.

I have been a BAAD blogger.

I don't have the internet right now, so I am not really blogging lately.