Money Well Spent!

WE'RE HOME!!!!!!!!!

After almost 7000 miles and a month traveling the country we're finely home! The kids did great (considering) and I think we all survived. In fact, we had a great time and enjoyed seeing everybody.

We heard on NPR that between work, the economy, and gas prices only 40% of people surveyed were planning on taking a summer vacation this year. I admit we don't have a lot of money, but we did have a lot of time as my job with the Army won't begin until August 3rd. Therefore I consider ourselves lucky to have been able to take such a long trip and see so many of you.

Some may say that our trip was a little extravagant or expensive; however, if you do the math, it only cost ~$15 per person we saw on our trip. Well worth the money spent!

My big regret was not being able to see Ammon, Rachel, and Wendy Young, and Adam and Sherrie Drais. Plus, that would have lowered our average dollar-per-person seen as well! It's also too bad that we missed Keith and Julienne. I guess they're in Utah or Idaho right now. Oh well, next time.

I'll be in San Antonio TX the next two months and hopefully I'll get a chance to see Paul and Cindy while I'm there.

Still traveling...

Yep, we're still on the road. Wednesday we're off to Oklahoma via St. George.

See my previous post for a look at our map.

Some Fun Little Pictures

Clark getting a little too close to the computer

Clark watching the model train zoom by from the museum in Cedar Falls IA

"Llamas for Obama" at the Cedar Falls parade yesterday
I wonder if Obama aprooved that message.

Since I've never been seen mad, this photo that Cal took of me today is very rare.
He just laughed and took more photos.

My Craigs List Bargain

About a week after graduating from optometry school Windows on our computer crashed. No biggy, Daniel said he could put Linux on there which sounded fine. We didn't get around to it for a week or so but when we finally did the screen had died too. So, bad hardware, bad software, time for new computer - but no money.

For my OBLC this summer in San Antonio it will be convenient to have my own computer there. So, I hit Criags List every other day or so to see what had been posted. About 3 weeks ago I found this little guy for $100.




It was slightly mis-advertised, the battery doesn't work, and I had to reinstall Windows to get it how I wanted it, but still a "deal" nonetheless.

A little follow up on my running

As you may have read about a month ago, I was following a running schedule that Sheldon made up for me. A couple of weeks ago I finished up and Sheldon and I had our little race. He also bought me a board game for completing his "program". It worked out really well and when I did my race I ran my fastest 2 miles ever:

14:14

Here is the game I picked out:

A Day at the Fair

Here's a little video I had animoto make. It's pretty fun.

I'm supposed to be able to put it directly in my blog but for some reason it wouldn't let me. Until I figure it out, here is the link itself.

Enjoy:

http://animoto.com/play/ndqNfb9874AVbz4vc56MKQ

Stop checking all your blogs one by one and get a READER!

I used to be one of those people that checked other people's blogs only to find out they hadn't even updated them. Then I read a blog entry by Alex Hachtman (an old BYU roommate of mine) that talked about Google's reader for blogs (or any website for that matter).

Basically the Google reader has a side bar with all the websites you "subscribe" to. You choose. I've obviously only chosen blogs of friends and family, but you could put any website there that you want.

If the blog has been updated it shows that it has and how many times. Then you just click on it and the selected blog shows up in the space next to the previously mentioned side bar. It is great and it saves me a lot of time. I just go check my email and then I click on the "reader" link and check my "subscriptions".

To use this wonderful feature you will need a gmail account. I don't see a problem with this since everybody should get a gmail account. Just go to www.gmail.com and you can sign up. I don't even have any money invested in Google (dough!) - maybe I should buy a few shares before I publish this on my "widely read" blog.

Please, get a reader and start saving time.

Special thanks to Alex Hachtman

a long trip, but not quiet coast to coast

I think the trip we are on qualifies as epic.

Yep, 6,595 miles! Let's just say that our kids are loving their car seats. Ruth will be leaving more details on our family blog if you're interested.

We're excited to see everybody and so far the trip has been great. We haven't even had to pay over $4.00 for a gallon for gas yet.

If you don't live in one of the destinations below we're not visiting you. Sorry, we had to set the limit somewhere.


View Larger Map

National Board Scores Are In!!

I passed Part III just fine, so I'm all done with the whole "National Board Thing"!

Now I just need to pass that Nevada Law test. I'll be doing that July 8th in Carson City Nevada.

A new-found vexation

As many of you know I only speak Spanish to my kids. I am probably the hardest person on my Spanish abilities but I would still say that I'm 70% fluent in speech and 95% in comprehension.

For 90-95% of my conversations with the kids I can say what I want to say in the way I want to say it; however, occasionally my kids will ask about something or how something works that I have a difficult time explaining in Spanish.

This is VERY frustrating for me! If I've learned something from speaking Spanish to my kids it's that they have an amazing capacity to learn vocabulary. Therefore, it is even MORE FRUSTRATING for me when I see somebody take a much less than worthy effort at giving an explanation in English when it is comparably so easy.

So yea, take a second explain things to your kids. Use big words. IT'S OK! THEY'LL UNDERSTAND YOU!!

Just in case optometry doesn't work out...

Just as a point of interest, this is across the street from Lee's Gas Station and both are on Robertson Street.

Pretty crazy!!

Cal's Birthday!!

Yep, Cal is 3!!!

He was super excited about all the decorations, pretty train cake, and presents!


Here's the Cake that Ruth and I made. I cut out the pieces and she made the fondant and put it all together. Cal was really excited to see it with candles!


I think Clark was almost as excited as Cal.

It was pretty funny, Cal was very serious and focused as he opened his presents. Clark kept asking him what was inside and Cal would say with an almost annoyed tone, "I don't know Clark!"

Our Family Blog

RobertSons & Daughters has been updated recently and many of you have made comments that suggest it doesn't load correctly on your computer.

So, I decided to take a picture of it and put it on my blog.

Sandbox

Today I took all the grass and a couple inches of dirt out of an area on the lawn where there was a black plastic ring from an old fire pit. Anyway, I ripped it all out and laid some plastic down and filled the hole with yummy sand.

Clark was so intent on using it that he went outside right before dinner began after Ruth asked him several times to stay in. He ended up going to bed a little early tonight.

Anyway, both boys love it. They've been playing in a dirt pit on the side of the road in front of Mom and Dad's house for the last few weeks. Not the best place for little boys to play.

The Old One


The New One!

Off to Missouri!!

We've been waiting to find out where we're going for our first Army assignment for a few months now so Ruth decided to email and ask the Colonel if he had any information. Well, he called and left a message while we were at a Ward activity tonight. I called him back and he was very apologetic. He said he had emailed all the students a few weeks ago about their assignments. We've had a known email problem for the last year but we've been getting his newsletters recently so I figured our email problem had been solved.

There is a back-up email that is used by the Army to reach me that I don't check very often. Well, I checked it today and for some reason didn't notice the email titled: Assignment Information. Anyway, we got the email 10 days ago and it says where we're going.

I'll have to email the Colonel and tell him that I did get it at my other email address.

On the Run!!

For the last few weeks or so I've been running 2 miles 3 days a week to try and get in shape for my Army training. I usually start out by doing my sit-ups and push-ups, then I stretch and run my two miles. I need to run them in 16:something, but my goal is to do it in 15 minutes. If I take it easy I can do it in 17 minutes and if I push my hardest I can do it in 15 20.

Sheldon ran on his high school's cross country team and when he came home last weekend he set up a running schedule for me. I'm supposed to run everyday, alternating easy and hard days. This week the hard days are 3 miles and the easy are 2 miles. For the next 3 weeks the mileage will go up each week. For example two weeks from now my hard days will be 5 miles and the easy ones will be 4 miles.

When Sheldon gets back in 2 1/2 weeks we'll do a 2 mile time trial to see how fast I can do it.

So far so good. Especially considering I don't like running.

A Change of Plans?

I've been waiting to get my National Board scores and to hear from Nevada about my state license. Yesterday I got a letter from the Nevada State Board of Optometry and unfortunately it began with a "We regret to inform you..."

Luckily they weren't talking about my National Board scores (which I don't think are out yet) but they did inform me that I didn't pass their law test. I needed a 75% on it and scored a 73. Rats!

I wasn't extremely surprised as it was one of the harder tests I've taken, but I was disappointed. To take it again I have to take it in Carson City and pay the fee over again. Double Rats!

For the time we're in the Army I don't need a license in any particular state, I just need a license. So, I need to look into some of the other states I had my national board scores sent to. Most other states only require a free take-home law test, so we'll see.

Clark's First Bike!!!!

Yep, Clark is old enough to start his future bike-riding career. He has been able to pedal a tricycle for at least a year or two and ride a 2-wheeled scooter. So, I'm hoping he can combine the two skills and learn to ride his new bike.

I found it on Craig's List. It is a chrome Schwinn with 16" wheels. It looked pretty good in the pictures and the asking price was $20. When we got to the house to pick it up it had quite a bit of rust around the lower tubes an bottom bracket. It was also fairly dirty and I could tell it was going to take some work to get up to par. I gave him $10 for it.

I spent all day yesterday overhauling it. I had to clean and repack all the bearings. The biggest project was getting all the rust off. I eventually gave up on the rust. I did get most of it off, but time-involved/results ratio was not looking good.

Overall, I think it looks pretty good and Clark was really excited about it. He even had a go at riding last night. He actually did pretty good until his nerves got the better of him. We'll keep trying.

Camping!

Last night Clark, Cal and I went camping! It was the annual Father and Son's outing here in Ruth's parent's Stake. Dad (Grandpa) and Sam (uncle) came up later and slept in the tent with us.

It was pretty funny. Clark and Cal are pretty picked with food and all they had was spicy jumpalia w/ coleslaw and french bread (which was delicious by the way). Well, I knew that Clark would probably only eat the bread but Cal can be a little more adventurous so I gave him some of everything. Well, he said it was all "spicy" even the bread (due to garlic I guess). Anyway, I thought there was no way he would like the coleslaw but boy did his face light up with joy when he savored his first bite..."not spicy!" he said, relieved.

He ate all his and mine!

They had a great time and Clark said he wanted to live there forever. With a request like that you can guess he was pretty traumatized when I told him we had to go home.

On a separate note, I've been looking on Craig's List for a good used bike for Clark. He'll be five this summer and I'm hoping he'll have a desire to learn to ride it. I'll post a picture when we find it.

"State of the Union"

I've been thinking lately about our country's money situation. Not so much the government, but we the people. As we all know, debt has become a rampant plague that has been speedily growing in prevalence. The "average American" portrayed on TV and in movies must make much more money than the average American really makes.

Over all, I think America has done fairly well to ignore the salesman's plea to upgrade. When he says we need the "bigger & better" we say "no, this one is fine", but when it comes to barrowing money, we have failed to use the same wisdom with the salesman at the bank.

Unfortunately we have believed what the bank says we can afford, not our bank accounts.