More On Relationships

I dont even know what to title this, but this is my Marriage and Family degree coming out again...sigh....

So I was talking to a girl in my ward a few days ago, and she has got herself into a little relationship. Exciting huh? Well, feeling head over heels over someone is always exciting. Who doesn't want to have their heart aflutter with feelings of affection? However, after listening to her story, I got a little bit frustrated with the situation. For one, they have been dating for FOUR MONTHS and the guy only asks her out once a week....as in, they only see each other once a week. They haven't even held hands. She texts him and he doesn't respond for HOURS. She has days where she just cries and cries. He lives around here, so there is no good reason. Yes, he is a vice principal at a school, very successful, very confident, a great guy in many ways, but he hasn't had a relationship for probably ten years. So being the 31 year old man that he is, and she being the 24 year old woman that she is, he has had a lot more time to establish himself as a very independent, and shall I say, a bit selfish of a person..though I am not ragging on him here, but come on dude. She sacrifices everything--she would drop anything she was doing to be with him. ANYTHING. Trust me...She said even just being in the room with him makes her happy--she told him that he doesn't even have to pay attention to her, just as long as she is there with him. (???)

So ladies, it is important to be patient of course, but I believe that we all have the right to be seen as the most important thing in our man's life, and vice versa. If you really love someone, it isn't about being dragged around in the waiting game. It isn't about sacrificing so much of who you are just to become an empty vessel being conveniently used by someone else who isn't giving you the time of day. He, in all honesty, probably doesn't even realize he is doing it, but it is no excuse--relationships take time. They take SACRIFICE. They take awareness of each other, SAYING "I love you", ACCEPTING compliments and giving them, breaking down the walls of your heart and giving of yourself. It's all about making those decisions, and being committed to them. Oh how much happier we would be if we were willing to do those things for someone else!

Like I said, I am not trying to tear this boy apart, because he really is awesome in many ways. Just trying to get across some principles of good relationships!

My Little Bro!

I just wanted everyone to see my little brother! that is him on the bottom far right kneeling with his half smirk that he always has. Well, its more like the sun is in his eyes but he has that look on his face frequently....haha :) I miss him, what a perfect place for him to be...the kid who used to rip apart all the stuffed animals so he could shove the stuffing up his nose.....Now he is a basically a trained assassin. Ha...Thanks to all you boys out there (and ladies!) serving our country!

PS he isn't in Iraq anymore! YES! Now the little punk is cruising around Australia....pshhh...

Cleaning Checks are NOT Cool at Carriage Cove

We have lived at Carriage Cove for the past year and a half, and have yet to pass a single cleaning check. (This is coming from the previous SHOW apartment at Cinnamon Tree....we had such a clean and supposedly cute apartment they asked us to be the show apartment.) Actually, I take that back, we did pass one time. That was worth framing the paper, let me tell you!

The reason why I believe we never pass is not because we do not clean our apartment, oh no no no, we usually spend an average of 6 hours a person on our given jobs. However, if you know anything about Carriage Cove, you know money is involved. (I can go on more about this...but I will refrain.) Yes, indeed. They charge you a fee PER JOB of things that did not get done properly. For example, I don't know the exact amount, but we will say if your windowsill has a piece of lint on it that was leftover from the rag you were using to clean it off with, they would charge you $5 for a dirty windowsill. Ridiculous.

This is why I refuse to fail. I am going to be here regardless of what should be going on in my life while they are checking my apartment. Then I can get rid of whatever lint they find, and they cannot charge me a fee for it. Good thing I have a job in the evenings. I feel bad for those who have to work..or go to school...huh..who on EARTH would have class from 9am-noon?

Now, don't get me wrong, I love living here.....but cleaning checks are a beast.

Health Care Reform

My family has numerous health problems, to the point where my aunt and uncle both have to stay home and not work because the care of their daughters takes up all of their time. My uncle cannot leave the house for more than two hours because there has not been a nurse that has been trained in such specialty care that is needed for my cousins and their extremely delicate health needs. The government is changing some of their health care, and as a result, this is affecting my family to the point where my cousin isn't even able to EAT....they took away the only food that has been working with her body. (She has to eat through tubes inserted into her stomach, and her body has rejected all other food types...now she has to switch to a port inserted into her heart. Last time she had that, she got a blood infection, which could be fatal). I understand that some people out there are just trying to get a free ride out of the government, but because of the cuts and what not that our government is making, there are families out there who are going to be in very serious situations. This is what my aunt wrote:

One of the things that I have worried about in health care reform is that the Democrats are tackling the problem at the wrong source by trying to keep the insurance companies from charging as much as they do for health care. My concern has been that the health care industry isn't the one driving up the prices. I believe that the price increases are being driven by other forces, one of which is lawsuits that attack drug companies, medical equipment manufacturers, hospitals and doctors. This drives up the cost of their medical malpractice insurance that they have to buy and the cost is passed on to us in the cost of their services. There are other forces at work, I'm sure, like costs of research and development, paying salaries that are competetive to recruit the best researchers and doctors. I'm not sure what can be done about those things, but I know that the frivolous medical lawsuits can be addressed. There was one recent article that I read that said that America might use the model another country used (Australia?) in their health care reform. Any person who can show that they were damaged through the medical care that they received (not because of medical care they did not receive - if that happened they're out of luck) then they are compensated a predetermined fixed amount for their loss. There are no lawsuits, no court costs and more people actually participate in the program because they don't have to worry about all of the grief involved in litigation. Anyway, I got a little off the track here. The point is, the health insurance companies aren't the force that is driving up health care costs. And when the Democrats pass a health care bill (as it looks like they will) they will only destroy the health insurance companies, not drive down cost. When that starts happening, I only hope that we can make additional health care reform that will address the real problems before the entire health care system falls completely apart. The article I am sending is a link to an article that talks about how much money the health insurance companies actually make. It is an interesting read... http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20091025/ap_on_go_co/us_fact_check_health_insurance Anyway, I hope that our government figures out the best way to do this! *editor's note: I guess the government had nothing to do with the food. The company that makes it actually just discontinued making it. My bad..