Sunday, November 23, 2008

Here She is folks!


We had a crazy weekend. Mary Beth's Mom had her wedding Friday evening. We had a great time hanging out with friends and family, and the food was great too. Saturday was the BABY SHOWER. HOLLAA! We scurried around to get everything ready to go and by 2 pm I was surrounded by about 40 women. Needless to say, by 2:30 I made a run for the door, and went to watch some football with my dad. I came back around 5 pm and we had a room full of presents. We are both so grateful for such incredibly generous family & friends. Thanks everyone. We'll be sending you a thank you note soon. :) Mary Beth and I were so excited that we already put up the high chair and took the car seat over to my parents just to practice-with no baby of course. We also sifted through the hundreds of diapers and baby wipes and decided we won't need to buy either one, until... at least a year from now. :) We received some awesome gifts and we can't thank everyone enough. We are getting very close to the big day & I'm certain that Jan. 4th will be here before we know it.... Here are some pics of the mother-to-be. Such a cute little belly.

MB & her Mom
MB with Faith (sister) & Brian (Bro-in-law)
MB with Melissa & Tarah-they're only 3 months along....

Wednesday, November 19, 2008

COMING SOON-Pregger Pics of Mary Beth

I am going to try to get some pics of MB with her big belly up soon, so be on the lookout.

Big 3 Bailout

I have been grappling with the facts in order to develop an opinion on the US Automotive Industry Bailout. Normally I would say that Ford, GM & Chrysler don't deserve the money because they failed to run their businesses properly. This failure can & will cause a company to go out of business in a free market economy. However, I think that US Auto Industry is an integral part of the fabric of our country and that we need to do something to restructure the way these businesses operate. I also think that it is important that we, as Americans, realize the significance of what a failure of these companies would mean. When people think of the Big 3, they probably think about the executives running the companies who are collecting million dollar paydays to run their companies into the ground. Non of us feel sorry for them because they will still live well regardless of how the company performs. In this case, I am not thinking about the executives of these companies, but the line workers (some of whom I know and respect). I don't want to see them loose their jobs because unlike the executives, if the companies go out of business, these line workers will be unable to provide for their families and pay for their cars & homes-which would continue the downward spiral of credit defaults and mortgage foreclosures. Not to mention the thousands of companies who make parts for these cars that would lay off even more average Joe's and cause those companies to struggle. I know that we can't have our cake and eat it too. I realize that we are going to have some lay offs to reach better efficiency levels and that pension plans may be reduced for retired workers, but I think if we can save the Big 3, we can emerge from this crisis a stronger nation. Restructuring is the key-not a bailout. Concessions will need to be made on both sides and the UAW should be taken out of the equation.

Check out this article by Mitt Romney in today's NY Times-he is a savy business man, and I think he could be a great President some day. He has some good thoughts on the issue. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/19/opinion/19romney.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Don't Live the Myth, Don't Miss a Moment

I have been thinking about baseball a lot the past few days because I have had two dreams that I had begun playing again. I was also asked to join the Cardinal Club Board of Directors for William Jewell, so I have been reflecting on my experience as a student athlete at WJC. The title of my post is very significant to any Jewell baseball player because those two statements are mottos of the program. I think these two statements also have a practical application in life. You may be asking, "What is the myth?" The myth is that its the batters job to move a runner to the next base. Coach Stockton taught us that it is our job as a base runner to find opportunities to move ourselves (i.e. dirtball reads, past balls, stolen bases etc.). The more time I spend at the bank, the more I realize how applicable this motto is in the business world. The myth that I have been living is that it is the company's job or my bosses job to promote me if I do my job well. I couldn't have been more wrong. I have found that I have to continually promote my abilities to management and continue to search for opportunities to advance my career. The second statement goes along with the first, but just goes a little deeper. There are only so many opportunities (moments) in a baseball game to capitalize on the mistakes of the other team or to capitalize on your strengths. In life it is the same way. You only live once and you have to make the most of every opportunity. I think that I will begin to live by the mottos that served me well in college while playing baseball and I have a good feeling that it will serve me well in life.

I am, however, still trying to figure out how our third motto relates to life....."Hit the ball hard with backspin?" I guess I will need to continue to think about that one.

Thursday, November 6, 2008

I VOTED!

I voted on Tuesday in what will probably be known as one of the most monumental elections in the history of our country. Barack Obama became America's first African American President. I am proud that our country has come this far; where race no longer divides us, but we embrace our differences and we can learn from each other. I can honestly say that I woke up Tuesday morning not knowing who I was going to vote for. Not that I was uninformed; I followed the debates and read the policies of both candidates thoroughly. However, I felt that both Obama & McCain could be a great President. I never once doubted that both men wanted what was best for the American people. They just happened to differ on the path to get there. I ended up voting for McCain because I felt that his fundamental ideology aligned more closely with mine. However, being someone who has professed to be a conservative since I was 13, I can honestly say that Obama got me excited. I am not interested in complaining about the election because I am rejuvenated by our generation's willingness to participate in such a meaningful way throughout the campaign and election process. I have read countless articles about the "millennial generation" and how we expect everything to be handed to us, and how we are unwilling to get involved. I think we are proving that we can be a generation of "Change" - to take a page from Obama's book. We have the opportunity to continue to build on this for elections to come, and hopefully, we will try to bring about positive change in our own communities in the meantime. Before you know it, we will be leading this country and the more we get involved now, the better off we will be in the future.

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Reasons we love Colorado

We took a road trip to Monument & Breckenridge, CO this summer with Mary Beth's Dad. It was a great time and we didn't want to come home...(but we did). We stayed with our friends; the Meekers. They are an amazing family and they were very gracious to allow us to stay in their house & cabin. I love blogs with photos, so I decided to post some of our pics from the trip.

Mary Beth and I getting ready for some fly fishing

The Cast......still working on it, but I did catch my first trout
A little caving (bonked my head on a rock & MB lost her shades but it was worth it)

MB & I in Breck (MB with new shades on head)

View from the top of Quandary Peak-my first 14er

The mountain goats