Making a logical case in favor of Facebook

While some have joined us on Facebook, I see there is no rush to join us en masse, so rather than simply say "join us, the water's fine," I'm going to lay out a (hopefully) well thought out, cogent argument which I believe will convince the toe dippers to jump the rest of the way in.

First and foremost, Facebook has all the elements that allow for effective self-promotion, whether it be for a business venture, professional networking, sharing a hobby with other like-minded individuals, or simply grandstanding in a way that would make Mom proud! I've seen authors, musicians, actors and other professions enlist the masses to view their talents on a scale that would not be possible without spending large sums of money. I belong to several "groups" related to business promotion and entrepreneurship that have given me a mountain of information on the subject I would not have had access to had I not joined Facebook and then the respective groups of people with whom I have a common interest.

OK, even with that having been said, I know for many that is still not enough to get us to join Facebook. So let me tell you now that in this day and age, your kids have two primary means of communication. They are texting, and Facebook. Do you sometimes feel like your children are not as communicative with you about what's going on in their lives? Well that's ironic, because their entire list of friends on Facebook knows exactly what's going on in their lives. Why do the know when you don't? It's because your kids are regularly updating their "status" to tell everyone in their network of friends what's up. Even though none of my children read this blog, I'm not going to embarrass any of them by naming names. But to illustrate the point, one of my children wrote a status update that helped me to understand they were feeling down and discouraged. Had I not been on Facebook, I would never have known what they were going through, and consequently I would not have called them to find out what was going on. I had the opportunity to share some similarly discouraging events that had occurred in my own life when I was close to their current age, and I told them how I handled it. That conversation brought us closer together, and even prompted that child to hang up the phone and immediately update their status with "I'm thankful for my Dad's advice." It warmed my heart to know I had been able to have a positive impact at a critical time.

Sharing pictures and videos is an engaging and fun experience as people "tag" each other's photos and comment on them as well. There are several applications (they're called APIs) which make the interactions more fun. Giving someone a "piece of Flair" which is a graphic in the shape of a button (you know--like a campaign button) is a nice way to let people you care about know that you are thinking about them. One of my favorite applications is the "We're Related" application where you invite family members to install the application and connect to other family members through the family tree. The company that's created that application is also building a way to turn that into a GEDCOM pedigree chart.

Those who are on Facebook already have received an invitation to a family group I created for us. Some current family Facebook members have joined, and some have not. Through that family group, I also sent out an invitation to an "event" that Dad and Harriet are sponsoring--the annual post-Thanksgiving family feast, which allows for RSVPs as to whether or not you can make it.

I understand there are those in the family who are technology adverse, and would rather write on paper than type on a computer. If that's you, there's probably not much I can do to convince you to join EVEN IF you clearly see the merits to all the reasons I'm sharing for joining.

No man is an island. Or woman for that matter. We are all connected and need to be able to regularly share that connection. Our Heavenly Father has blessed us to live in this time where we have some amazing tools to help facilitate that connection. Some might argue that those same tools also are responsible for keeping families apart. And there is truth to that. Until I joined the networks my kids were on in order to monitor their activity I had no idea of the positive power these tools can have to bring us closer together.

I love you all. Thanks to each of you for the impact you've all had in my life. I have learned to modify my focus from the negative to the positive. Rifts that may have existed between us in the past have been because I was telling myself the wrong story about the events that occurred in my life. For example, I used to be mad at Mom for not letting me play football. Now in my 50th year, I see others my age limping around dealing with a body that's quickly wearing out, while I feel fit as ever. My perceptions had to change in order to learn to appreciate all of the positive things our family has to offer. It's never been your problem, it's always been mine. So join me on Facebook and let's take our family relations to the next level!

"Rachel Has Allergies" or "How Being Tired Changed My Life"

A week ago Sunday I called my friend Anne for some medical advice. Anne is a nurse and a mother of four, so she is an excellent resource for information. Not to mention her husband is a doctor. It's like having my own medical team on staff. So I called Anne to consult with her about Rachel. Rachel has allergies, so I just wanted to get some advice on what I should be doing. During the course of the conversation I mentioned that I have been so tired lately. I figured it was Rachel's fault, because she hadn't been sleeping as well as normal, which means I don't sleep as well either, but that had only happened a couple of days, and I had had plenty of time to catch up on my sleep, but was still so tired that all I wanted to do was sleep. Anne asked "Are you pregnant."

"Uh," I said, "I don't know that I'm not, but I don't think I am either." But there had been that one other little thing that made it a possibility, so after I finished freaking out, I decided that the next day, Monday, I would buy a pregnancy test. I did. I passed.

So I called my doctor and told them that I think I'm pregnant. They scheduled me to come in the following Thursday, which I did. (In the meantime I took the second test that was in the box on Wednesday, just to be sure. I passed again.)

So on Thursday in the doctor's office I took a third test. Turns out the first two tests were accurate. So the doctor told me that since I have 40 years of youth, and the fact that this is my first pregnancy, I am considered high risk. She referred me to an OB who got me in today.

My appointment was supposed to start at 12:50. Now I know that "supposed to" does not equal "actually does," but still, I waited for over an hour. During that time two other people who I know came into the office. I was finally brought back after 2:00 where I waited for another while in a consulting room. The doctor who came in was very nice, very helpful, and very informative.

I had an ultrasound, and I was able to hear the heartbeat of the little teeny tiny baby, and I got some pictures too.

Notifications will be sent out now

I just modified the setting so that whenever someone posts a blog entry, the site will notify many of us that there's an update to our blog. I say "most" because blogger.com limits me to 10 email addresses for notification. I've selected Dad and all the siblings to receive notifications--then you can pass the message on to your kids if you think they will be interested. Since posting has dropped off somewhat, I think people are not checking the site as often, so I thought I'd take this extra step.

Also, on another note. I am now officially "politically" connected! I have spent hundreds of hours working on Jason Chaffetz's campaign as his "Online Campaign Director." With everything we've gone through in this race, I count Jason as a personal friend. He was just elected to US Congress for Utah's 3rd District by a whopping 37% margin. Now many of us in his grass roots organization are working to begin pushing our nation back into a more conservative direction than where Obama is likely to take us. We welcome any and all who would like to join us. Just thought I'd put that out there.

Another way for us to connect as a family

Well, this blog has been a good way for us to connect more closely. Now I'd like to introduce you all to Facebook. It's a social networking tool that even BYU approves of. I recently attended a teacher development seminar and a BYU Professor was espousing the virtues of using Facebook to connect with family, friends, and the kids you teach who all use these tools as a matter of course. In the family, I'm currently friends with Lonny, all my kids, a couple of my step children, Tony and Luella, Megan Rasmussen, Emily Bateman, and Noelle. If we could get more people on there, we could create a family group and create even more useful ways to keep us connected and engaged in one another's lives. Then after you all convert to Facebook, I'll convert you to the merits of Twitter! Ah, the wonders of technology!!!

Letting go of my pride.....

So, I'm about to reach a milestone in my life. I'll be turning 31 in less than two months and will officially be (as I like to call it) dishonorably discharged from the Young Single Adult ward. I hesitate to go to the Single Adult ward because, frankly, they all seem to have this look of utter defeat and I just can't handle that.

It is at this point that I realize that I must let go of my pride and accept the help from others. I am now going to allow both friends and family to set me up on dates, seeing as how, I seem to be horrible at choosing the right person. Who knew?

So, if any of you think you know the perfect girl* for me, please let me know.

Thank you.

*Disclaimer: The perfect girl must consist of more than her being a single person, of the female variety, in the 20-30ish range.

Brennan is...

*Smart: He manifested a hunger for information while still in diapers by eating the newspaper. Of course he had a considerable challenge digesting what he had ingested, so had to be taken to the doctor and given a laxative to ease his discomfort. None of us knew what was making him so cranky until newsprint showed up in his diaper.

*Resourceful; a gifted problem solver: We big sisters have to take at least some credit for this, since we gave him his first complex problem to solve. I'm pretty sure it was Lamona's idea to put one cracker in each of his fists, one in his mouth and one on the tray of his high chair, to keep him quiet. It worked well--because he was unwilling to let go of the crackers in either hand or lose the one in his mouth by biting it--but for less time each day as he cleverly designed a system for eating all the crackers without losing any of them.

*Tidy: He has to have a place for everything. He was sitting on Jackie Goudy's lap, facing her, playing with her car keys before Sacrament meeting one Sunday afternoon. When he was finished playing with the keys, not wanting to be so sloppy as to drop them on the floor, he looked around for someplace to put them away. And then he had a wonderful idea! He very adeptly grabbed the elastic of Jackie's peasant blouse, pulled it firmly toward himself, dropped in the keys and let go with a snap. Another problem solved.

*Having a great day today, I hope. Happy Birthday Brennan!

Family Traditions

Hi everyone,

I'd like to propose a new series of postings from as many of you as possible. As the holiday season approaches, I think it would be really neat if we could all post some of our favorite holiday traditions.

Okay, I'll start!

We love to carve pumpkins for Halloween. Here's Michael's pumpkin:

The other tradition for Halloween we started purely by accident. A few years ago on Halloween, we set up our firepit on our driveway, and people came by to warm their hands as they walked around the block with their children. Since then, we have turned it into "adult trick-or-treating", with beverages, hot dogs, and chili. People have been bringing their friends by, telling them they just have to stop at this house on the block that serves treats for adults, too!

For Thanksgiving, we celebrate at Tony's parents' house. I'm in charge of the pies, of course!

On Christmas Eve we have a sleepover party(remember the missionaries sleeping over for Christmas?) with Tony's family. They stay overnight at our house, and we open gifts altogether. The gifts fill up half of our living room!