QB U

Emmy suggested that I blog so I thought I'd be a good husband and obey. I'm in one of those moods to just write random thoughts and brush off being cohesive. -Tonight was fun at mutual. We went to BYU's recycling maze. I had fun timing the deacons as they ran through and organizing their races. I told Emmy that I really hope I'm in the ym presidency again when Jimmer's a deacon. -I love fall weather. I love how each week it gets cooler and cooler and how the trees slowly change colors. Tonight it was low 50's, high 40's. I have great memories for each part of the year, but there's something about fall- the coolness in the air, the wonderful smell...it's all nostalgic and just great. I try to remember the good memories from similar weather and there's just too many of them. There's walking home from class or late night studying and just enjoying the night time, or there were the hay rides when I was a teen. There's also biking home from an appointment on my mission and being grateful to have familiar weather and smells. The weather also reminds me of my freshman year and going home to Iowa for a few days, surprising mom, and opening my mission call. I also brought home my laundry so I could do it at home and it would be free. I lugged around a huge bag of laundry on the bus, trax, airplane and then all back to save $3. Considering inflation, though, that $3 is now worth $5 or $6 so I'd say I came out on top. -The most spiritual moment of my life is when Jimmer was born. I loved it when Emmy got to hold him for the first time and then I got to hold him. Man, it's just so amazing and indescribable. I'm getting really excited for our next baby and that next amazing moment. I think it will be really special to see Emmy hold the next baby again and then for me to hold him. I think what will also be really special is to see Jimmer hold him. They'll be good buddies, two really special spirits, along with my Emmy, another special spirit. Speaking of Emmy, she really is such a great mom...I knew she would be, but she's been even better than I thought she'd be. -In August I stayed home from Church with sick little Jimmy. As part of our little "sunday school," I talked to him about Jesus and showed him our painting of Jesus and the little boy. Later, Jimmer was looking up at the picture, there was something really neat about that, almost like realizing these were the beginning steps of Jimmer's lifelong journey of learning about and getting closer to his Savior. -Jimmer's a really funny kid. The nursery workers think it's really funny how excited Jimmer gets about snacks and certain toys. I can relate, I get really excited with ice cream, steak, and other good foods. We often walk around the temple, and Jimmer loves pointing at the temple. -So, the election is less than two weeks away...crazy. I'm nervous about it, but I can also accept either result. I mean, it would be absolutely awesome if Romney won. But if Obama does win I think our nation deserves him. That doesn't mean I haven't tried to make sure my guy wins and won't continue fighting for the things important to me, but ultimately I think a society deserves the leaders they elect. Having said that, Romney's going to win, 70% sure on this one and it continues to go up each day. -BYU football...ugh. It's ironic that BYU...Quarterback U...is only 1 good quarterback away from being 7-1 or even 8-0. Luckily, I've tempered things down this year to just being a fan and not a fanatic. I still LOVE college football and it I didn't have the family responsibilities I would sit and watch college football all day every Saturday and just eat wings, pizza, artichoke dip and chips...mmmmmm, doesn't that sound good. -Speaking of things I'm crazy about...the jet ski fund is up to $643. So only like $9,000 to go. I'm taking donations. -Man, me and Emmy had such a fun Europe trip. We bring up our trip often and enjoy talking about strolling the streets of Paris, driving the Battle of the Bulge sites in Belgium, tram hopping in the Hague, walking around Koln's zentrum, or biking Heerenveen. We like talking about all the chocolate we ate and the vla, doner kebabs, Indonesian food, and good desserts. It's kind of running joke now that whenever I go to Europe I almost always accidentally buy carbonated water while I'm there. I HATE carbonated water! But because of the way I travel, I can't throw it away and must drink it. We do hard things afterall. Except when it comes to toothbrushes apparently. Emmy's fell on the floor at one of the hostels we stayed at. She thinks it's disgusting to share toothbrushes so I let her use mine and I had to use my finger. When our family drove in Rome it was one of the worst driving experiences of my life. We kept on getting lost and going around in circles. I think it took us 2 hours to get out of Rome. I didn't want that to happen in Paris...but it somehow did. Luckily I knew where our hostel was in reference to the Eiffel Tower and to the Seine River. We found our hostel after only being in the center for 10 minutes. In Germany I hit 160 km/hr. I thought it was pretty cool except that cars were still zooming past me. I was also disappointed that 160 km/hr is only 100 mph, so yeah, there's room for improvement. Whenever we go back and spend more time in Germany we're going to get a better rental car to take on the Autobahn.

Manti Te'o Interview

This is a really touching interview from probably the best college football linebacker. He's LDS but chose to go to Notre Dame for school. He's such a stud. This interview will inspire you and bring a tear to the eye. http://www.jimrome.com/junglehighlights?uri=channels/465575/1701019

Fire Obama!

So I'm writing this message to do my civic duty of participating in the political process and here are my reasons why I won't be voting for Obama and why I don't think you should either: -43 months of 8% or higher unemployment, but up to 11.63% when adding in all the number of people who have dropped out of the workforce -Our national debt has gone up over $5.5 trillion -Gas prices have increased by nearly $2.00. Obama doesn’t control prices, obviously, but he’s prohibited drilling in the Arctic and the gas pipeline to help alleviate this increase. -Obama’s support for gay marriage -Billions of wasted dollars on Solyndra and other companies. -Obamacare violates the Constitution by mandating that each citizen purchases health insurance -Obamacare requires churches to include provisions in their health insurance policies against their religious beliefs -Blanket amnesty to illegal immigrants under employment -Obamacare will mean higher health insurance premiums -Obamacare means more fees and penalties, but the real name for it is taxes. -The average household income is down $4,000 -The number of people on food stamps has gone up by 15 million -The poverty rate has gone up 2% -Real economic growth is averaging 2.2%, less than half of the historic average for past post recession rebounds -Under Obamacare, abortions are funded by taxpayers. -The number of people receiving welfare has increased by 10 million, which now means 107 million (one-third of Americans) are on welfare. -Obama panders to African Americans by playing up race issues (i.e. Obama’s speech in Jeremiah Wright’s congregation where he blamed race as the reason the Feds were slow to give aid to New Orleans) -Obama endorsed the Occupy Wall Street movement even though he has benefitted the most from receiving money from Wall Street more than any other president in the last 20 years. -Despite ’08 campaign promises, Obama’s administration has not been transparent (i.e. Fast and Furious, Obamacare) -Obama’s quote to outgoing Russian president, Dmitri Medvedev: “This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility. -Obama made it easier to stay on welfare by removing “the work requirement” Obama has done a lousy job the first four years of trying to improve the economy, and has not given us any confidence in his ability to improve it the next four years. The best way to defeat Obama is to elect Mitt Romney as the next president. Romney has a proven track record of turning things around (i.e. struggling businesses, 2002 Olympics, state of Massachusetts). To defeat Obama, here’s what you can do: 1) Register to vote. Google your state and “how to register to vote” for instructions. Encourage others to also register to vote 2) Be sure to vote on Tuesday, November 6th. To find where you need to go, google your state and “find your polling station.” Encourage others to do the same. 3) Donate to Mitt Romney’s Campaign and encourage others to donate: http://www.mittromney.com/action/fundraise/fire-obama-fundraiser 4) Donate money to the major Super PAC’s and encourage others to donate: Restore Our Future- https://restoreourfuture.com/donate Crossroads Grassroots Policy Strategies- https://www.crossroadsgps.org/donate/ Americans For Prosperity- http://americansforprosperity.org/ 5) Volunteer to help the campaign by signing up to make calls from home and encourage others to volunteer- http://www.mittromney.com/call-home-landing 6) Order yard signs and bumper stickers- http://store.mittromney.com/ We are only one month away from this critical election. If you agree that our nation can’t afford another four years of Obama, do whatever you can do to ensure this outcome. Don’t regret later that you could have done more.