Gotta Light?
I love my husband! Look how studious he is and he is even using a Christmas gift we received, a Twist A Lite. Did you receive any cool or unusual gifts?
Studying
Enjoy your weekend!
~Alie
Scott and Alie
Army Life. Education. Faith. Family
Archive for the category “Scott”
Spring in Utah?
Winter-wonderland in April
Do you love snow?
Are you a skier/snowboarder?
We have the greatest snow on earth. Plus, it keeps snowing!
This is what we woke up to this morning and the news predicts it will continue through the weekend.
I am a summer person! I love all sports and activities that are done in the warm weather.
I am rethinking this notion.
Maybe, I should start enjoying all things winter, especially when it likes to linger.
Do you enjoy winter or summer more?
What are your favorite outdoor activities?
Today was also my daughter’s Spring Program. The 2nd graders sang songs about friendship. It was adorable and a tear-jerker.
To add to the emotion, my friend received a text during the performance from her husband. It was his flight time landing home tonight! He has been deployed and my friend had no idea when he would be home because the days kept changing.
She is surprising her daughter and having friends over saying it is a small get together. Then the beautiful part will be her dad walking in the front door!
Happy Friday! ~Alie
End to a Beginning: Guest Post
Hello Again,
As with all things there is an end and a beginning. In life and death, birth, childhood, the teenage years, adulthood, and hopefully for most of use the twilight years we see a beginning and an end as well as the beginning of something else. As I look to the final days of February 2011, I see a month of waiting, sometimes patiently, sometimes not for the time when I can again and this time permanently rejoin my family this Summer. So many things I want to share, learn, and do with them. I read constantly and ponder extensively on ways that I can positively interact with my family. My current hobbies are reading, listening to audio books, and reflecting on ways that I can become a positive influence not only of my two boys as well as my two new stepchildren. I reflect on ways and things about myself that are not exactly my most pleasant traits and I continue to try and find ways to better myself as an overall good person.
Like so many other new beginnings, the beginning of March has a special place in my heart. On March 9, 2011, the Lenten Season begins…a time of preparation and waiting for Jesus Christ to die on a cross and rise again on Easter Sunday so that I may have eternal life with Him. The more “mature” I get the great sense of awe I have for this special time in the Church Year. I have many years taken this time to reflect on bad habits and tried to give them up in sacrifice to Jesus for all the awesomeness He has provided in my life. This Lenten Season is no different.
I ask you that if you feel yourself wandering through life, take a moment in these weeks before Easter to reflect on how you can thank God for all the wonders He has placed in your life. If God seems far away right now, maybe ask God to show you that He loves you very much and continues to bless you even in a time when all seems for naught.
I for one am going to give up being sarcastic in sacrifice for all that Jesus has given me. Clean up my act so that I can join Him on Easter Sunday, a better example of who He wants me to to be for the rest of the world.
God Bless You in whatever your journey is and wherever it takes you.
Scott
A Lonesome Cry: Guest Post
As I write tonight, I am listening to the neighbor’s dog howl his loneliness wail while his owner is out for the evening. I can understand the dog’s plight. As much as I decided my own fate months ago when trying to decided what was best for my family and how the timing of moving, marrying, moving, and settling would prove easiest, this time alone is harder than I ever expected. I am sure it stems for the small but precious time I was able to spend with Alie, Kian, and Kyra as well as spend the most time I have in close to two years with my youngest son Alex while back in the United States over Christmas break. Our time together was precious, loving, sometimes frustrating, and all the while memorable. I felt at home for the first time in almost four years. As I write this post from my flat in Germany, I understand that I am truly blessed to have the opportunity to live in Europe and explore the history and culture of a land that history going back into the years BC. Yet with every passing day my only prayer is that time will not slow done until I am home in the loving arms of my future wife and my family. It has been a long four years. So go ahead and sing me your lonesome tale, yee dog of the night, I will say a prayer for you as well that just as I pray for a quick return to my family, your master returns home to you.
God Bless and Thanks for letting me share,
Scott
Children and Money: When are they old enough to know? Guest Post
A couple of days ago I ripped open a Citibank credit card offer for 0% for 14 months. I was curious due to the new laws changes and read through the back of all the rules and penalties associated with missing a payment. After the 14 months of 0% the interest rate settled at 11% which is not bad for a commercial credit card. The reason I write about my experience is the interest rate if you miss a payment or two, the interest rate shoots up to 29.99%! That is huge and why sadly many young people never get out of debt.
I had one of those experiences in college when I got a credit card to pay for a 1994 Spring Break to sunny Acapulco. The trip cost about $1500 outright, however who has $1500 outright in college?! I swiped my credit card of then 18.5% interest and enjoyed a sunny Spring Break with friends. Unfortunately three years later that $1500 vacation turned out to cost me about $3000!
The question I pose is why is it taboo to talk about money with your kids? My parents are two of the smartest people I know. I had a blessed childhood, two parents that stuck together through rough times and are still married today. I had the standard High School jobs such as De-tassling corn (all Junior High kids have to do this living in Nebraska), McDonalds once I had a car, and a clothing store once I got tired of showing up to school smelling like food. I went to college, joined the US Army Reserves, and held part-time jobs there as well. The point is…never throughout that time period did anyone discuss the good and bad uses of money. Why is that? I learned many hard lessons about money, contracts, and what happens when you sign the dotted line. Why did it have to be so hard?
Today I checked out various college tuition and was stunned at one advertisement where the college gave students each a 50% discount on the tuition. So instead of the total being $70,000 a year for tuition, room, fees, etc the total was only $58,000! I almost choked on my tongue! When did getting a college education become a scheme for academia to get rich?
Alas I ponder how I might introduce money themes into my 7 and 9 year old’s world for if I wait chances are my then 21 and 19 year old children will be swiping their 40% credit card on a trip to Fuji and the $3000 trip will turn into a $10,000 nightmare.
Read about Alie’s post:
God Bless and Ideas are welcomed,
Scott
Scott
While I was skyping with Scott today, I told him how popular he was as the guest blogger. I know it is his wit and humor. I am trying to convince him to be the guest blogger the last Thursday of the month. I initially was thinking every Thursday, but I think he will be too busy. So stay tuned to see if he will be the guest blogger more often.
Maybe a few sweet comments will lure him in!
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| Having so much fun with my camera phone and apps. |
The applications on my camera phone are so much fun! Truly! It reminds me of the darkroom days. I would take color negatives and print them as black and white, I would cut negatives and tape them into collages, or put a layer of toilet paper on top of the photo paper and make tears in it, so many cool things and now I can get similar effects with an application.
Thank you Scott for the cool camera, I mean phone!
~Alie
Guest Blogger – The Other Half of the Team
Hello All,
ALie is under the weather and asked me to fill in…I am thinking she will never ask again.
Our trek together definitely has been an interesting one. It will be two years in April and we have spent approximately two months in each others personal space. ALie is amazingly patient and kind as well as beautiful and intelligent. She has promised to share her life and her adventures with me for the rest of her life. What she learned in the last 45 days is that the rest of her life will be spent battling Scott. I say with this with a true love and respect for ALie. We make a great team. However it is unfortunate for ALie that I am egotistical, stubborn, argumentative, sarcastic, and not good at compromise especially when I think I am right. I have a philosophy at my office that many times leaks into all the facets of my life that goes, “I am right until proven wrong. I am wrong quite a bit, but if you are not willing to take a stand on an issue and stand by it even in the face of criticism you will be left doing it my way.”
My philosophy is that too many people cave in to others wishes too easily to avoid the argument. The argument and the heated discussion is the best part and where the REALLY GREAT ideas are developed. Anything a person really wants should not be easily obtained, for when you fight for what you want and obtain it you will appreciate it.
Love more, care deeply, be passionate, aim high and always, always strive to obtain your dreams!
Be the world’s example one life at at time.
Serve Lead Protect
God Bless,
Scott
The fact of the matter is
I am having so much fun with this time off. I will post on Monday!
Please enjoy yourselves and be sure to visit on Monday!
Much love,
~Alie
Serve Lead Protect
This is one of my favorite photos of Scott and his boys. The boys are so young and Scott looks so happy. Scott as “Mr. Incredible” is so fitting. Not because of his physique and the fact that he is strong and is 6’4″, but because he believes in family.
Although he is divorced, he is an active role model to his boys, he loves them and provides for them in so many ways. He is a caring father with the goal of helping his children become responsible kind adults.
I admire parents that strive to be good role models to their children. It is difficult with so many people opting for divorce and trying to balance the act of raising children separately. The most important factor is that the children know the divorce is not their fault.
A few years ago I started a parents group and the parents that met regularly were divorced. It was interesting to witness parents that were co-parenting. It was often complicated and there was much contempt with the children being caught in the middle. As an observer I could see so many ways that would benefit everyone involved if only they could set aside their anger and egos.
Yet, as an outside observer it is easier to be objective because my feelings are not wrapped up in the many emotions of being divorced and trying to co-parent. I am alone in my parenting because K and K’s father has chosen not to be involved. Either way there are struggles and hardships involved in parenting.
That is why “Mr. Incredible” is inspiring. He is strong yet he is flawed. However, his flaws bring us closer to understanding his strength. I admire that in a super hero, he is not perfect, but he will still be a great dad and try to save the world.
As I look at the photo of Scott and his children, I realize that Scott has flaws as well. No one is perfect, whereas people tend to look for perfection and quickly become disenchanted when they realize a person is not perfect. For me the flaws add to Scott’s character because his core is built upon integrity, love, and faith.
I know that Scott will always be a good leader and will provide for his family. He will never abandon them or leave them wondering “why?” He is a father, son, Soldier, friend, and hero.
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