We went camping at home

And anna jumped on the trampoline.

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Sent from my mobile phone.

Ta-da!

 

I'm not sure I need to say anything else.

Topic 16: Auditing

My company is currently undergoing its 401(k) Audit. I'm serving as the liaison between the auditors and the payroll department; I like to say I'm the peace mediator between the factions. :)

It's not really that bad. It's been kind of fun to work on the audit from the other side of the fence, because I know exactly where the auditors are coming from. Sometimes I miss public accounting, but most days, I'm just glad to be where I am. Do I ever regret that I left public accounting? Some days I definitely feel pangs of regret or guilt for having given it up, but then I think about going back, and I just have no desire to do it.

That's all for today. I'm not winning a Pulitzer today. That's for sure.

Topic 15: New technology

When I decided to write about new technology, the first thing I thought is that I would sound like an old geezer who tells anyone who would listen, "In my day we walked to school, and wore yellow onions on our belt (on account of the war you couldn't get white ones), and took the ferry to Shelbyville. It only cost a nickel, which in those days had a picture of a bee on it. Give me five bees for a quarter we'd say..."

New technology, in general, is "a good thing." I am, however, disinclined to try out a lot of the new stuff, because it just seems like a waste of time. Facebook is an example of something that can be valuable, but for too many persons, is a waste of time. I like being able to reconnect with friends who were lost to me, and see what they are up to. I don't care to see all the silly games that they play. It's nice in thought to send me a virtual fruit, or a virtual hug, or a virtual teddy bear, or whatever, but what I'd rather have is a real message that tells me how you're doing, and what's happening in your life, and if you need a favor. My good friend Ethan Stubbs and I used it to to reconnect in (I know this will sound strange to some facebookies) the real world.

We hadn't seen each other in years (maybe 10), but we reconnected on Facebook and then met for dinner and real conversation. That is what makes Facebook valuable. It's not mafia wars, or farmville, or poker, or anything else. It's about knowing that you are connected to your friends, not just virtually, but in reality.

What are your thoughts on technology? Has Facebook lost its relevance for you?

James is mad that I took his picture

Yeah. Awesome.

Aaron J. Clark

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Sent from my mobile phone.

Here's a picture of Anna finally (finally!) eating her dinner.

Aaron J. Clark

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Sent from my mobile phone.

Topic 12: I missed yesterday's post

I was working on a talk and lesson for church today, and I needed to get those taken care of, in addition to my normal household duties.

Both the talk and the lesson went well, I think. My lesson was on "Be of Good Cheer", and my talk was on "Protecting the Family in the Latter Days." The major takeaways were that we make a choice about whether or not we are happy, and that the simple things like scripture study, prayer, and family home evening protect And strengthen the family.

The kids are watching Mulan, which we only have on the computer. That means that I’m typing on a slideout keyboard on my phone. It’s kind of a pain to type, so I’m signing off.

Topic 11: Proud vs Prideful

This isn't a very long post, but I would like hear your thoughts: What is the difference between "proud" and "prideful?" I have some thoughts, but I'm curious to hear what you have to say. Please leave a comment.

Topic 10: James

And here are a couple of photos of James when he received his bobcat award. What a cool kid. We sure love him.

Topic 9: Anna

Here are some pictures of Anna that I've been meaning to post. These were pre-haircut pictures, so you know I've held on to these for a while.

Topic 8: Alden

I've been meaning to post a couple of pictures of Alden that I took a couple of weeks ago, but I just haven't gotten around to it. These are some of the cutest faces he's pulled for the camera.

Topic 7: Stranger Than Fiction

Tonight we watched "Stranger Than Fiction." If you haven't seen the movie, go to the library and borrow it. It's a total hoot. I won't give away the story, but I can tell you that I can relate to the main character, Harold Crick, on levels that most other people can't.

One line in particular: One character asks Harold, "What's your favorite word?" His response, "Integer." So true.

Topic 6: My Country ’Tis of Thee

Today one of our speakers in church was asked to talk about patriots and the founding fathers. The things that I heard (I was in the foyer with Alden for a good portion of the meeting) were, while not particularly eloquent, very heartfelt. I feel badly that I don't even know who the speaker was to give him credit for his thoughts.

He talked about true patriotism being a quiet, humble, feeling of respect and love for one's country; he noted that it is not boastful or superior or proud. It isn't chest beating jingoism (my words, not his), but it is something that every citizen can and probably ought to feel.

Our speaker then discussed some of the important documents in our nations history, like the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. I don't know about other religions, but in our's, we believe that these documents, especially the Constitution, were inspired by God. (With regards to the various compromises [eg, Three-fifths Compromise], we believe that God gives men agency, or the power to choose, and he knew that it couldn't have been ratified without them. That's my take on it anyway. Comments are open for thoughtful discussion.)

A few years ago, I read a book entitled "Miracle at Philidelphia: The Story of the Constitutional Convention" at the behest of one of my professors. The author asserts that it was nothing short of a miracle that the different states were able to draft such a momentous document, convince the delegates to throw out the less than perfect Articles of Confederation, and get the Constitution ratified by the states. As I read the account, as taken from notes of persons attending the convention, I found that I had to agree. There were some vehement battles, and some tough things that those delegates had to do to get everything ready and working. It was, indeed, a miracle.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks, a modern-day Apostle and former attorney and Utah Supreme Court Justice, wrote a stirring article with his thoughts on the Constitution. I recommend that you read it.

We live in a marvelous country. It was founded on principles of righteousness, by far-sighted and strong individuals. Our Constitution continues to serve as a model for the rest of the world, and I hope it will continue to do so.

Our fathers’ God, to thee,
Author of liberty,
To thee we sing;
Long may our land be bright
With freedom’s holy light.
Protect us by thy might,
Great God, our King!

Topic 5: Gone Fishing

We've decided to go fishing today. I look forward to working with Anna so that she can catch her first fish by herself. We'll probably be fishing in the Green River.

Other than that, I don't have much to report.

Perhaps tomorrow I can share some good news from the trip.

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Small update: We didn't catch anything, but we had a lot of fun trying.

Topic 4: Money

So, let's talk about money. I never understood money while I was growing up. It was made to be spent, and I knew how to spend. I remember one summer when I worked at least 40 hours every week, went fishing every saturday, ate out frequently, and at the end of the summer, I didn't have a penny to my name. So, I had to keep working during the school year so I could buy the stuff that I wanted—music, clothes, school stuff, dates, and so forth. I just didn't understand the way it flowed. I was just trying to have some fun, but as soon as the money dried up, so did the fun.

And it isn't as if the act of getting older made me any smarter. Julie and I were blessed with an opportunity after we were married to live in an apartment for $200 a month. Good luck finding anything like that. But did we save? Were we wise? Probably not. I'm not sure we saved anything significant during that time. We did dumb things like refinance a car to pay for repairs that cost more than the car was actually worth.

Part of the reason I decided to study accounting and finance is so that I could learn more about how to manage my own money. But the one person who taught me more about money than anybody else was Jesus. Five years of accounting and finance, an advanced degree, a CPA license, and all I really needed to know, I found in the scriptures. Here's one example of a principle that I learned about:

Jesus said, "No man can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon" (Matthew 6:24).

Mammon can be defined as riches, avarice and worldly gain. We cannot serve God and riches. What does this mean? It means that if you are a servant of money, you can't fully serve God. Who are the servants of mammon? They are the people who haven't yet learned to master their money. You will either be master of money, or you will be a slave to it. If you are a slave to your money (or your boat, or your house, or your snowmachines, or whatever), you can't always fully serve God.

I can't tell you how many times I met a person who couldn't find time to attend church, or participate in a service project, or play with his kids because he "had to go to work." And, more often than not, this same person was paying several hundred dollars a month to the satellite/cable company, who was driving a leased car, who wore the latest fashions... you get the picture. Who was in charge of that persons life? Right. Mammon. It's a choice you make—you cannot serve God and mammon.

On the other hand, I know several persons who are not what most persons consider fiscally successful: they don't drive the latest car, they don't wear the coolest jeans, they don't live in the nicest house, but they seem to have time to help their neighbors, give generously to charity, share what they have, and are content with the hand that's been dealt them. They have enough.

The term "enough" was a key in my understanding of money. For most of my life, I wanted "more" (and I admit, there are still times when I find myself wanting "more"), but when your goal is "more" you can never have "enough." It's such a powerful concept to find the point where you have "enough."

When you have enough, you can create that cushion so that when the company that convinced you to move into the wilderness with their flashy stock options and promises of bonuses fires you, you can just roll with the punches. Maybe you'll take the next two weeks to appreciate your new baby, and spend time with your family, and get set for the job hunt that's coming. That's what I did.

When you have enough, you can put something away for a rainy day, or sock it away in your kid's mission fund. Or, you can do things like send some extra cash to your friends when the Spirit prompts you that they're having trouble. Or drop off some diapers and a couple gallons of milk for the people who are having troubles. That's what other people did for us.

So, dear reader… which will you choose? Will you be a slave to money and mammon? Or will you choose to be a master of money and a servant of God? I hope you'll choose the latter.

Topic 3: It’s finally summer in Lyman

July 16th will go down in my personal record books as the latest start of summer that I can remember. (Except of course for Chile, where they don’t start summer until Christmas time, but that’s another topic for another day.)

I'm not complaining, though. Every day has been in the oh&endash;so&endash;pleasant 70s and 80s for the past couple of weeks, and it’s felt just like spring. Of course, my allergies didn’t appear until mid&endash;June, so I knew that summer would be late. But it looks like it’s finally upon us.

Things that help you know for sure that the summer in Wyoming is here:

1. The kids have been sleeping outside on their new trampoline for the past couple of nights.
2. We all had a craving for grilled hamburgers.
3. I grilled hamburgers.
4. The sun no longer sets.
5. The Utah Navy stops in Mountain View to get gas on their way to Flaming Gorge.
6. The rest of the world has been complaining about the heat for at least 60 days.

That's all for tonight. Hope you have a lovely evening.

Topic 2: Health Care in America

Nothing like starting our challenge with a little controversy, is there?

One of the Wyoming senators is Dr. John Barasso, who, with his fellow senator and physician, Dr. Tom Coburn, have new webcast to discuss health care in America. As a citizen of Wyoming, and a dutiful patriot, I have sent my senators letters regarding topics about which I care, and as a result I ended up on Senator Barraso’s email list. (A quick aside: I wrote letters to the congressional delegation from Utah occasionally while we lived there, and never heard from them again. Oh well.)

Anyway, Senator Barasso emailed and asked the citizens of Wyoming to pose questions about health care in the US that they could feature on their show. This is a topic that is near and dear to my heart (pun intended), and so I responded with this question:

Could you please address in your broadcast how the Congress could create a viable health care solution that would permit the market, rather than the government, to cover the uninsured and/or reign in health care costs, without additional government spending?

What's a country to do? Everything that I have heard says that the uninsured cost the taxpayer a significant amount of money. On the other hand, our government already spends more than they bring in.

So, dear reader, does such a solution exist? If so, what is it? If not, why not? Thoughtful answers graciously accepted in the comments, or, if you have relevant links to share, please post them.

P.S. I got an email from the senators this afternoon that my question would be featured on an upcoming broadcast.

Topic 1: Something I've accomplished in the last six months

I’m pleased to say that for the past six months since we moved to Lyman, I’ve either walked or ridden my back to and from work on all but a handful of days. I’ve certainly seen some benefits: my clothes are starting to fit a bit looser than they used to.

I'd probably lose a bit more weight it I was traveling more than four or five blocks...

Accepting the challenge

Even though Aaron only said he was thinking about issuing a challenge, I’ve decided to accept. Why not?

So, I’ll try and post something on some topic during the next 30 days. We’ll see what happens.

Writer’s block?

It seems to me that every time I’ve sat down at the computer with a few minutes to write something for the blog, that I just don’t have anything to say. Like today.

Woke up… went to church/work… came home… unpacked some boxes or cleaned up my room or helped fold laundry… nothing exciting or different or special. I guess I’m just having a few of those easy going, mellow weeks. Sorry I don’t have anything exciting to report.

Anybody else ever feel that way?

It just occurred to me that I’ve probably been too busy working on the mundane, that I haven’t had time to look for the silly or amazing. Hmmm...

Two guys are floating in a hot air baloon...

... somwhere over San Francisco, when the fog comes in.

One turns to the other and asks, "How are we going to get out of this predicament?"

The other responds, "We'll just hang out for a while, and when the fog lifts, we'll find someone who can tell us where we're at."

Sure enough, about 20 minutes later, the fog lifts, and they spot someone on the ground. They float down and one of them shouts to the man on the ground, "Hey! Buddy! Where are we?"

The guy on the ground shouts back, "You're in a hot-air balloon!"

Disgustedly, one of the guys says to the other, "He must be an accountant."

His friend looks bewildered and says, "Why's that?" to which the first responds, "Well, the information was accurate and correct, but it wasn't worth crap."