Love me Some Duke Ellington

Online Education

So my school's Twitter feed had an interesting article posted. It was a CNN article I believe sponosored by CareerBuilder. It was supposed to discuss the emergence of Online only schools as a viable alternative to traditional schools, particularly for those of us that cannot find the time to get into a traditional campus. To me it read more like a hit piece against Online education.

It did have the obligatory section on what to look for on the sidebar. I did agree with a good portion of it such as making sure it is truly accredited amongst them. However, it stated that you should make sure it charges per credit hour. Why in the world would that make a difference? The only thing I can think of was it was a plug to push people towards online classes at a traditional school or a more expensive online/classroom university. The article stated that if you can accelerate your program or use "life" experience towards your degree then its not really viable. One graduate quoted in the article discussed earning a "true" degree by going to a traditional school but taking some online classes.

Some good things mentioned in the article, 61% of CEOs and small business owners are familiar with online or distance learning programs. 83% of executives in the survey say that an online degree is "as credible as one earned through a traditional campus-based program."

Although the basis of the article and the minimally covered main point is that business owners and executives see online degrees as viable and just as good as long as the programs are properly accredited, the writers couldn't help but take a shot at the schools as well. That's not surprising to me coming from a news outlet such as CNN. It does however paint the picture that the author is somehow in the tank for traditional universities. I think one has to look at the subtle digs made by the writer in an article to discover some of their true intent.

I love my school! It is awesome! I think it has better accredidation than most traditional universities. I LOVE the fact that I can accelerate my program and save the money. Who can honestly be served by an online program that requires you to pay per unit. To me its just the school trying to increase the cost and therefore their income. Of course, I attend a non-profit school. I love the fact that it is "competency" based. So yes, I can use that life or career experience, whatever it is and use that knowledge to help me pass my exams to show I know the material. After all, isn't that what exams are all about. Employers love the fact that the school uses a competence based approach. It ensures that the graduate actually knows the material and wasn't just sitting through the class with drool coming down the side of their mouth.

Long Long Time Ago.....

....In a galaxy far far away.

I used to post here. Ok, now that I am done with the obligatory I never post here comment.

I am really excited about my program for school. Using the mentors advice I am really accelerating my program. Monday he suggested I take the Pre-Assessment for one of the courses listed several terms down because he figured I would do well. If I pass with 70% or better I should just schedule the Assessment. Bam, I scored a 78% on my critical thinking Pre-Assessment. That means with all going according even better than my original plan, at the end of this month I will have completed 16 units for this term and I will only be half way through it. I will also have my A+ Certification. He then suggested I look at adding the network security class next. He knows I have my eyes set on working for the NSA. Speaking of that, the Masters program at school in Network Security and Information Assurance was just certified by the NSA last week.

Mentor also just set himself up on Facebook and is having all the students he mentors kind of join the group. It gives a whole lot of encouragement and excitement to see what everyone else is doing and to sort of taste of all their successes.

I will try to blog a bit more about personal life here. We have a cruise coming up, Lisa just went into business, we got a new flat panel tv, there is just a whole lot going on in life. Of course, my conservative blog I will keep posting to once a week. After taking the Nolan test though it should probably be my Libertarian with sprinkles of conservatism blog.

Dancing Kid

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Schooling Begins Again

Just got the application finished, and then just have to get to payday to pay the filing fee for my school app. I am going to get into Western Governors University and get my IT degree. It begins a fine balance in my life now between work, school, family, and business. I will do it all because I am the bomb diggidy!

HCG Update

So I have finished the first round of the shot protocol. I've lost 34 pounds as of today. I probably won't do another round, but it's reinforced some better eating and getting exercise in. I am still losing although I am not on the shots. It is awesome!

HCG Diet

So the weightloss program we have started a little over a week ago is totally kicking my trash. I have however dropped 15 pounds. If I hit my benchmarks I have set for myself, I don't believe I will be doing another round. It has been a huge strain on my mental health. When I hit the benchmarks I have set, I can use the healthy eating habits I have learned and the good work out habits we are forming and slide myself in to the weight I want.

Diet Program

Well, we have started our weight loss program that we are doing. I will have to occasionally post an update and share how I am doing. We are doing the HCG program. It is really structured, which is good for me. I know that Lisa is probably posting about it, so I will let her share the details on how it all works.

On another note, 75 days until Disneyworld....WOO HOO!!!!

Can you tell i'm excited?

New Computer Piecing Together

The new computer is starting to come together. I finally found the right drivers for the ethernet card. Got the right driver for the onboard sound card. It is 7.1 dolby 3d stereo surround sound. Now I just need some righteous speakers.

New Computer

I have a new computer I just built. It is super sweet. It is installing everything right now as I post via the laptop. I am going back to advancing the new cool computer now.

Playlist

Well, being that the songs kept coming up all screwed up I decided to take off the playlist. As soon as I get a new one set up, I will get it posted.

Oh, for those that want to follow our Disney adventure, I have set up a Disneyworld blog for my family. Let's see how big a mess it turns into with ALL of my family having posting access. It ought to be fun.

First Post of The Year

So, this goes to show how one of those resolutions is going. That resolution was to post in my blog once a week. I hope to do better.

So, as Lisa mentioned on her blog we had a nice trip to Disneyland. Although she did kick my trash on Toy Story Midway Mania. When we ride it at Disneyworld, we're almost at the 100 day mark woo hoo!, she is so going down. Same thing on Buzz Lightyear! Love ya honey!! It was really nice to have a weekend alone with Lisa. I really want to hit a goal of doing that once every quarter. Even if we just have someone take the boys and we stay at home. Our little trip away just reminded me how much I love her. It also brought funny Lisa back out for a while. Funny Lisa needs to make more regular appearances.

Work is going okey dokey. The contract was finally settled upon and now I know what my raises are going to be, so I can better budget. Actually we are going to start doing something old school that I think will really work. We are going to budget by pay period and use envelopes with cash. That will help solidify a bit more personal control.

I am excited about business this year. I had been kind of blah about just about everything in life up until the beginning of the year. Allowed myself to get a bit too down on myself. But now, I am totally pumped. I love the ad click bar thingy we have going. To get a free tool to help you make some extra cash, just click on the turnkeyleadership site link to the side. I am so excited about it I rerouted a business website to it. I love the email that comes with it too. It is super duper user friendly. I like it more than my gmail.

Oh, for all those interested, the calling I received and accepted was for Elders Quorum Secretary. I am totally pumped about it and we have a good Presidency that is willing to go out and work. I feel some great things are going to be happening in our little ward. Speaking of great things, I was in the temple doing initiatories the other night. I feel the Lord is going to be unfolding some good size changes in my life in the near future. It's a feeling like great blessings are in store. That is a nice thing, but the unknown is kind of scary. I do feel confident it will be a good change and movement though. I also felt an urgency to get the Lord's work done. The amount of time to do it is getting a lot less very quickly.

I hope everyone had an awesome Christmas, a fun New Year, and here is to a prosperous New Year for everyone!

I ROCK!!!

Well, it's not really anything I did, but I did find out I could access my blog account from my work computer. So much for company software blocking personal sites, woo hoo! (Said as the IT spies are probably watching me type this going, hahaha, we will shut him down)

I figured, as usual, it was time to say something. Not that I really think much before I post anything, but hey that's part of the fun and I have to kill 25 minutes before I get out of here for the holiday.

Oh, did I mention that I have holidays off now with pay! Woo hoo! No more being forced to use flex that you get in minimal amounts. Yes, that is a shout out to all my peeps still stuck at the MGM. Suckers!

I am just so excited about a lot of stuff recently. Lisa and I had a rockin trip to Mesquite. Not that we did much outside of the room, but it was nice to hang out and relax. Besides, there really isn't a whole lot to do in Mesquite. I am so very excited for the new business division we have just launched this week, loan modification. I get to spend my business hours helping people to stay in their homes. If you guys know anybody that needs help, I pay a nice referral fee. :-)

I am also just excited in general for the holiday season. I love the season, but sometimes it is depressing without several trips to Disneyland during the holidays to celebrate. Oh well, there is always next year! Oh, and Dad is taking us to Disneyworld in May. Woo Hoo! All those years of flying American Airlines is paying off big.

I now return you to your regularly scheduled Wednesday boredom.

As Always, About freakin Time

So, I guess it is about time to throw another post up on here. So much for trying to get one up every week, eh? Well, this is what's been happening, in a nutshell . (Insert favorite nutshell joke here)

The new job is working out very well. The people are awesome, and the money is much much better. Plus there is not this pervasive feeling of foreboding like there was working at the MGM. I don't think it was the MGM so much as it was certain people that worked in the hallway where I was. Bad vibes from the way they treated their people and ran their department. Plus there were a couple people there always trying to find a way to try to get me in trouble. Guess they can't stand the site of somebody succeeding, especially when they have no power to pull that person down.

Anyways, the job is good. Lisa and the boys are doing good. Bryan started truly crawling this week. Now we have two little ones that are mobile. Should make life very interesting.

Lisa and I are going away to Mesquite on the 24th for our quarterly weekend away. We can't wait! A whole weekend to ourselves. Any time we can get to ourselves is definitely a valuable commodity. Not that I don't like being with the boys. It is fun, but as a couple you have to have time that is just yours together. I think that is true with any relationship, whether you have kids or not. We are also taking the boys down to LA for Halloween. Yay! One of the perks of my job is that we get Nevada Day (aka Halloween) off as a paid holiday. Did I mention how much I love the new job? We are going to have a nice three day weekend down at my mom and dad's. So anybody down there that wants to say hi, feel free to stop by their house on Saturday to hang out in the afternoon.

I think that does it for now. Back ot my yummy chicken nuggets and a rare few minutes of game time.

New Job

I know I know, I said something about posting once a week or something like that. Be thankful that Lisa keeps reminding me to post more regularly and specifically about my new awesome job. Between the new job, family time, and business, I haven't figured out how to squeeze in regular blog time. Maybe I will just stop sleeping. That will give me lots more time.

I started a new job 2 weeks ago working for the Southern Nevada Health District, or as I like to call it, The Man. Some of my carpool buddies call it, Payton Place. Some of my Libertarian friends like to say that I am now contributing to the problem. They are just jealous that I don't have to pay into social security anymore. Like it's going to be there when I retire anyway. My friends that like to travel to Vegas will probably be sad that I don't get random free show tix and hotel discounts anymore.

So, on to the new job. I am the Administrative Secretary for one of the Community Health Nurse Managers. So, yes, I am a male secretary in the Nursing Department. At least my name is not Gaylord Focker. I love my new job. The hours are better, the pay is better, and the people are just way cool. None of that high school crap I had to deal with at the MGM.

Something Fun

1. Add a comment on my blog about one memory that you and I had together. It doesn't matter if you knew me a little or a lot just do anything you remember!

2. Next, re-post these instructions on your blog and see how many people leave a memory about you.It's actually pretty funny to see the responses. If you leave a memory about me, I'll assume you're playing the game and I'll come to your blog and leave one about you. If you don't want to play, suit yourself.

Running from Problems vs. Being Blessed

So I had some intersting thoughts on my drive home from work yesterday. Don't ask me how I happened onto this thought process, but it just jumped out. I was thinking about how as humans we try to run from our problems. Or, another way to look at it is we focus on our problems and what we would like to change so much, we think of the best way to run from them. One area that I hear that a lot in is when people are evaluating where they live. I hear both sides of this too. One is, we don't have enough space. We are on top of each other and we just need to give the kids a little room. The other side is, we have too much room, I never see the kids anymore. I think in either situation you need to focus on what you have been blessed with. If you think everyone is on top of each other, just remember that you are blessed to have a roof over your head, and at some point as the kids grow up, they will start to do their own things and you will see less of them. If on the other side, you don't see them too much, the house is too big. Remember, as your kids grow up they start to do their own thing. So, I think the focus to fix it ends up being the same thing, right? At some point our kids start to break off and do things on their own.

This comes up for people on the financial side too. I see people with little money feel like they are the richest people in the world. I see people with a good income and lifestyle feeling like they have no money. I think if you have your basic needs met that is all you need. Also, if you feel like you have no money, the best way to solve that is track every dime you spend. If you know where your money is going, you'll at least feel a bit more in control.

I know from experience that you cannot relocate to another area to correct your problems. Even if it fixes one issue, there are others that crop up. Just remember that the secret to wealth is gratitude. Think of the things the Lord has blessed you with and everything will be alright.

A Year Half Gone

I can't believe that we are into July now. Half of the year is gone. Well, in some aspects of my life I am right where I want to be. In others, I am just a bit behind my schedule I set for myself. However, things are catching up quick so watch out.

We went up to Lisa's family reunion on Cedar Mountain this last weekend. Her family has a ranch up there and it was just awesome. We had a blast. I also got to meet some more of her cousins. It was great to let Josh get around and get super dirty. I don't know how his close survived. Although it was nice to get home on Sunday, the weather was much nicer up there. When we pulled into town on Sunday at 7pm, it was 110 degrees. It wouldn't be bad if it actually cooled off at night. (thanks for the insight there honey :-p)

I am thinking of starting up a blog detailing the stuff I am doing business wise and to document the building of my business. I just don't know what to call it. I am open to suggestions. Things have been picking up fast and moving forward. It is exciting and a bit scary at the same time. It's nice that success is starting to come through the door and at the same time you think, wow, how is this going to change my life. I am all for change, especially when it is good, but it can still be scary.

Summer Begins

Happy first day of summer everybody!

Things have been great out here. Even with the triple digit heat. I am going to try to update this on a somewhat more regular basis. I am going to schedule at least weekly time. It's nice to let everyone know what I am doing and it's a good little record for myself too.

I am also done studying for my life insurance exam. I am working with Amy and John in launching a new company. It is taking financial services and applying it to what we are already doing to give a full picture. I am really excited about this and so is Lisa. It is a crusade that I can really get behind one hundred percent and go full speed. Plus, I get to be in the peace of mind business. I really like being able to help give families peace of mind by helping them to get their financial house in order and provide them a little education along the way. Anyways, the site below is where things are starting out.

http://www.mpsguide.com/

I have been able to go back this week and help some friends and a couple former clients start getting the financial house in order. What I really like is we are building that long term relationship. I look forward to doing the follow ups every 6 months. It allows me to see the progress of friends, family, and clients that I have been able to help get on the path to financial independance. As you can tell, I am way excited about all of this.

This weekend is Father's Day, so I would like to say Happy Father's Day to all the other dads out there. I hope you are having an awesome weekend like I am.

Next weekend Lisa and I will be celebrating our third wedding anniversary. Time is just flying by. I can't believe it is three years already. It has just been absolutely wonderful. I never thought the love you have for somebody could continue to grow so much and so fast. We are sending the boys up to Lisa's parents for the weekend and we are just going to spend the weekend here alone by ourselves. It is going to be soooo awesome.

The other big thing that I am really looking forward to is the trip we are planning to Disneyland in September. I am so uber excited. I can't wait to take the boys.

A Template

Thanks to the site Lisa uses, I found a template for my Blog. I think I will change them from time to time. It is a pain however, because when I put in the new one I have to redo all my links. However, I think maybe I will change it once a month.

Oh yeah, don't mock me. The Smurfs freakin' rock!