10 Years?!?!

This year I celebrated my 10 year anniversary with SmarterTools. 10 years, wow.  I never imagined I'd make it this far.  A lot has happened in these 10 years.  I came to SmarterTools an unemployed (5 months) temp worker in October, 2009.  I was put in a corner office next to our CEO, Tim.  I met the channel partnership manager, the IT person, and of course the office manager.  Aside from that I was pretty isolated from everyone else.  I started with scanning all partnership documents, checking the accounts to match said documents, and creating files for each partner company.  When I finished this they had me start doing follow-ups on trial keys.  I went into the trial follow-ups knowing very little about our products.  Although I was related to one of the owners, had a personal SmarterMail account for many years, and even used SmarterMail for a client at my previous job, I still didn't know much.  But I needed the job while I searched for a more permanent position.  So, extremely nervous, I made those calls.  Because I was so nervous I would always close the office door so no one would hear me talking on the phone.  If someone did have questions I sent them over to the support team, whom I had not yet seen or met.  I was intended to continue doing temp work until December, so I was given various tasks to work on over those three months.

Finally December came, and of course I was starting to panic inside because I had yet to find a permanent job, despite going through two employment agencies and getting a few interviews.  At the end of my time in my temp job Tim sat down with me to talk.  Although my anxiety was through the roof I was somehow impressive enough to hire on in a permanent position.  Thus, my adventure in customer service/sales truly began.  I was put in an office with support team and was put to work making more calls. This was probably the hardest part for me at the time, because I still didn't want anyone to hear me talking on the phone.  

A few months after I had started at SmarterTools our channel partnership manager had quit.  And it was just about partner renewal time.  Since I had done the document scanning I was somewhat familiar with the documents and so forth, so the renewals were put in my lap.  I had to learn fast how to handle the renewals.  Thankfully this process was simplified over the years and partners no longer have to sign new, 12-14 page, agreements once a year.  So now on top of doing customer service I was handling our partners.  Not only was I now in charge of doing the renewals, I also became the point of contact for those wanting to apply for partnership.  After a few years of this, management decided to put the full decision of partners in my hands.  So now not only did they ask me about the requirements, I was the one who had to make the decision of accepting or denying a partnership (no pressure there).  Just before this I remember there was a period of time when my manager had to make color coded schedules for daily tasks.  While the support team had one color most days, two colors twice a week, my scheduled had several colors every day.  The scheduled included responding to tickets, making renewal calls, making trial follow-up calls, following up on price quotes, and whatever needed to be done for partners.  

Over time, things have changed.  The company started automating a lot of the tasks I was doing.  It did worry me at first and made me wonder what I was going to do with my time or if I would even have a job after that.  But no matter how much the changes have scared me I stuck to it and thrived.  Not only has my job changed but the company itself has changed.  The office underwent two renovations in my time here, many employment changes, and internal structure changes.  Although the SmarterTools I work at today barely resembles the one I started at 10 years ago, the heart of the company is still there.

When I tell people about all the perks of being at SmarterTools (trips to Hawaii, conventions, movie days, dog days, etc.) they are impressed and jokingly ask if we are hiring.  These types of perks are certainly unique and not many companies would think to provide them for their employees.  But the most important perk I have seen working here is something else entirely.  The support.

When I say "support" I don't mean our technical support or development teams.  I mean the support the owners provide to their employees.  Working here I don't feel like "just another peon".  In 2010 my dad passed away unexpectedly.  The company sent flowers and every one was supportive and compassionate when I returned to work.  In 2014 I had to get my gallbladder taken out and about six months later (April 2015) I had to get my appendix taken out.  These were not the first surgeries or injuries I had to recover from while working here.  Through it all the company and owners supported me.  About five years ago I decided to go back to school to get my bachelor's degree.  Although the degree was in an unrelated field the owners supported me and would frequently check to see how school was going.  The owners also knew that my end goal was to get a master's degree.  Even though they knew this would eventually take me away from the company, they still support me.  

Call it luck, karma, kismet, call it what you will, but I will call it blessed.  I feel extremely blessed that this job came along and SmarterTools was willing to put their time and money into me.  I didn't know even a quarter of the things I know today, and I'm continually learning still.  I loathe the day I'll leave the company to pursue my career, but if SmarterTools ever opens a counseling department I'll be the first in line to work there.

Finances and Children

Often times my sisters and I will talk about things my parents did to raise us. We sometimes compare their actions to the stories we hear from others. And then we realize, our parents may have been flawed, but they did a pretty amazing job raising intelligent independent adults. There is one thing, however, that I often wish my parents had taught us when we were young...FINANCES. Many parents may not think of this as an important part of raising their children. However, if you want your children to be successful in life, this really is a major thing they should be taught. You can begin by sitting down and discussing the family finances with your children. Show them your expenses versus your income and how much you have left after subtracting your expenses. There's one diary entry I remember from when I was in elementary school. I was angry with my mom because my birthday had to be postponed. I wrote that it was postponed because she had to by bread and other groceries. As a child I did not understand the concept of money and how paying bills and other expenses made you not have money (or leave you with very little of it). I was angry and hurt, and felt unloved. Perhaps if my parents had explained to me, had shown me the budget they had to work with I may have been more understanding (or not, who really knows). Then as I got older and got my first job at 16 I found I was spending all my money but had nothing to really show for it. Sure I had a savings account, then eventually a checking account, but there was never really anything saved in it. As I moved into adulthood my spending habits did not change much, I just had to make sure I had enough money for more expenses. Then I got a little older and got my first credit card at age 24. Then I found out I had really good credit and had "money" thrown at me. Now, I did know how credit cards worked and that I'd have to pay any money back but that didn't stop me from spending. I made a bad choice when getting my next car and ended up getting it for almost $7k more than the sticker price. Finally, at age 28 I lost my job and struggled to find a full time job for almost 6 months. My mom had to pay my car registration and one of my car payments. I ended up so far into debt there was just no way out. After much prayer and consideration I felt my way out was Bankruptcy. So at the age of 29 I had to file bankruptcy. Since then I have struggled to shed my old habits of spending and be more responsible with my money. For the most part I have been successful. So now thinking back on my experience and having to learn the hard way here is some advice for parents:

Teach your children the difference between wants and needs. Teach them that you a need must be fulfilled, but a want can wait. A want does not need instant gratification the way a need does. You can save up for those wants. In fact think over the want long and hard. If after a few weeks or months it is still a want, and you have saved for it, fulfill that want. For example, I wanted a VR headset, the games were fun and it was pretty good exercise. The headset cost about $800. Even though I could have easily saved the money and made this purchase I decided to wait a few months. After 3 or so months I still felt I wanted one but I didn't really WANT one. In other words, to me it was no longer worth spending $800 to purchase. Another example, I wanted an xBox 360. I loved the games on it and really liked playing the Kinect. So I saved my money for a few months and when I was done saving I decided that I still really WANTED the xBox, so I purchased it. The xBox was not a huge expense because by the time I made my purchase, it was not a new thing.

Teach your children about your family's financial situation. I'm not saying that if you have a million bucks in the bank show it to your kids. What I'm saying is show them the expenses that need fulfilled with your paychecks each month. Show them the numbers on paper. Then show them the income you have to pay those expenses. If your family is struggling and your children see this they may want to help the family cut costs or come up with ways to earn extra money. If you are not struggling financially you can help your children to understand WHY you are not struggling. Take the opportunity to teach your children how to create a budget and stick to it. Help your children to create their own budget. Even if their only expenses are to fulfill their wants, help them to understand that the new toy they want is something they should save up for. These are skills that, if learned early, will greatly benefit your children when they become adults.

Teach your children how to save. When we were little we would get Christmas checks from both sets of grandparents, then for our birthday we would get another check from my mom's parents. Since my birthday was right after Christmas I usually had more money than my siblings. So a week or two after Christmas my parents would take us to the store to spend that money we had received. I still remember the cool Barbie swimming pool I bought and set up. I did enjoy that Barbie pool (I put it on a towel in my room and filled it with water that night so my Barbies could go swimming before bed). In fact I'm sure I enjoyed all the toys I purchased with my Christmas/birthday money. However, looking back, it would have been more beneficial to me and all my siblings if my parents had taught us how to save that money. I received those checks for years, even if I still spent half the money on toys, I would have gone into my teens with a savings account already set up. So teach your children to save. Save that babysitting money, save that birthday and Christmas money, save that allowance. This goes back to teaching your kids to budget. When you help them create a budget include putting money in a savings account and an amount to be donated.

Teach your kids what a savings account is for. The savings account is not intended to be used as your overdraft account when you've spent all your checking. Your savings account is for...you guessed it, SAVING. This is something I still struggle with sometimes. Although, lately I've been saving money up then I use it to pay off some debt, like my credit card. Teach your children that when they put money in their savings account it's meant to stay there for a long period of time.

Teach your children to set financial goals. If you don’t have a reason to save your money, you are less likely to do it. Help your children set a financial goal. Older children may want to save up to buy their own car. Your younger children may want a certain toy or video game. Help them figure out how much they will need to save and what they can do to meet their financial goal as fast as possible. Don’t have them set just one goal, they need a short-term, mid-term, and long-term goal. A short term goal can be the toy your child wants to buy, a mid-term goal can be the car your teenager needs to save for. A long-term goal can be saving for college, saving to move out, saving to take a trip with friends. As they get closer to meeting their goals, help them set new ones.

If you, as the parent, have trouble with these things yourself you may find that teaching your children helps you as well. Set your own goals, create your own budget, save your own money, lead your children by example.

Let's Get Fit!

In a previous post I talked about my journey to be fit.  Over the years I'll try to eat healthy, but I never do it when I'm working out and it never lasts very long.  Then I'll try to get in shape by exercising, but I never eat right while I do it.  And while the working out routine has lasted a while, I eventually stop that too.  For some reason though, this time around was different.  I started at Mixfit Phoenix in January.  The office was getting into a health kick, trying to provide healthier snacks and encouraging the employees to attend the gym.  In March the gym decided to do a 21 day health challenge, they were only accepting 10 clients so they only wanted those who would take it seriously.  That meant no pasta, no breads, no to many of the things I normally ate.  I stood at the counter and was about to turn it down because I didn't think, like in the past, that I could give up those things.  Especially the sweets and pasta.  However, I was thinking that if I did this challenge and they were being so exclusive I might feel more accountable about staying on track.  I also thought about how I felt about myself.  I've been wanting to get healthy for a long time, I've been wanting to lose weight and feel good about myself for a long time.  I wanted to stop looking at other girls and seeing how fit they were, and seeing how they little fat they had on their bodies.  And it was then and there that I decided I was going to accept the challenge and put my best efforts into healthy eating.

From past experience, I was dreading the constant cravings for sweets and pasta.  However, for some reason this time around was different.  The first couple of days I did have cravings for sweets so I bought flavored gum and used Mio Water to satisfy those cravings.  I started buying fruits and fresh veggies to snack on and eat with my meals.  I used recipes but left the potatoes out.  On the occasions that there were sweets around or carbs as a part of the meal I was able to limit myself to a very small portion.  After just the first two or three days I really didn't have a problem with craving sweets.  I still had pasta sitting in my pantry that I hadn't touched for three weeks.  As a result I've lost about 6 pounds of fat, I've slimmed down, and you can see the physical changes that have happened so far.

The three weeks are now up but I still feel a desire to continue with the healthy eating.  I am planning to add things like cheese and pasta back into my diet, but as more of an occasional side dish thing rather than always eating it or having it as my main meal.  I'm going to combine the habits I've formed with the 21 day challenge with the portion control practiced by the 21 Day Fit diet.  I was never one to go for fad diets, most of those end up not being so healthy for you in the end or they are not something that people could realistically do for the rest of their lives.  However, changing your diet and eating habits can be realistic.  During the 21 day challenge I followed the healthy eating about 90% of the time.  My roommates had a party that was going to have lots of goodies.  I knew that it would be unrealistic to attend and not touch any of the goodies.  So I planned ahead, I said I will have one cake pop and one cookie (which I made), and that's all I had.  When I was on vacation in New York, Sarah had gotten a lava cake to share with mom and me, I had two bites of it and was done.  This surprised her because I really love lava cake, and this one was very yummy.  But I knew if I didn't stop myself then I would go overboard.

So here are my tips for changing your eating habits.  When you have sugar cravings find something to take the place of that, crystal light, Mio water (or something similar), fruit or candy flavored gum can all help you to satisfy your sweet tooth.  Planning ahead will help as well.  If you know you're going to be in a setting that will have goodies you shouldn't eat, or if you know you're going out to eat plan it all ahead of time.  Set a limit, like "I'm only going to have one small piece of cake at the party," or look up a restaurant menu before and and decide what you are going to eat.  Have someone who will help you stay on track and celebrate your successes, no matter how small they are.  For me this was my roommate Shayna.  Whenever I came home and told her how I resisted eating something and made a better choice she was really excited for me.  When I lost weight and was able to fit into something I hadn't for a while she was really excited for me.  Although I do have others in my life who helped in this manner, having this kind of support directly in my home was the most encouraging.   Make a plan.  The hardest thing for me in the past is not having any kind of meals planned.  I don't necessarily have a weekly or monthly menu planned out I am thinking ahead.  I try to make recipes that will last me a few meals.  If I don't have something planned then I've made my backup plan scrambled eggs instead of pasta.  But I plan to have that as my backup.  And finally, even though I was not doing this eating plan with anyone in particular, it can be most helpful to have a "diet buddy."  When you have someone doing the diet plan with you it makes it easier to have someone who is struggling right along side you.  It's easier to have someone help you make the better meal choices and keep you in check when you don't.  Even though Shayna was not doing this challenge with me she was able to provide new snack ideas for me to try, and she was provided the encouragement at home that I needed in order to stay on track.

Since January I've lost about 12 lbs of fat total.  I'm feeling better about myself and more confident in my body.  Because I've seen these changes in myself I'm even more motivated to continue working out and eating healthy.  I'm so excited to see how different I will be by the end of the year.

Standing for Virtue

There was recently some articles about Candace Cameron Bure defending a couple who committed to stay virgins until they were married.  On The View, the hostesses were poking fun at the couple for being chaste and were commenting that 30 should be the limit for staying a virgin, and that was pushing it for them.  It made me wonder how the views of society have shifted so greatly.

It wasn't too long ago that people, especially women, were scorned for not being chaste.  And now all of society praises the loss of virtue outside of the sanctity of marriage.  It is those who choose to stay virtuous in the sight of God that are ridiculed and mocked.  I really appreciate that Candace stood up for her beliefs at the risk of being ridiculed.  She pointed out that in some circles being chaste until marriage is not an unusual thing.  I think she is courageous for always standing up for what she believes in.  It's one thing to stand up for your beliefs in school or with your friends and co-workers.  I think it's a whole other challenge to do so in front of millions of people  I know she'll get a lot of ridicule for her stances on a lot of things but I wish her the best and hope that not only her courage will spread but also her virtue.  I hope that young girls will start to look up to someone like Candace as a role model.

Marriage Should Be Forever

I was on my way to work today when they announced on the radio two new celebrity divorces.  One couple is getting a divorce after 3 years and another after 2 years.  When I hear about Hollywood divorces I have the fleeting thought, "why couldn't they work it out?"  But then I move on from there and don't think much more of it.  However, reading more about the churches stance on divorce and how much easier it is to obtain one, I find I have become more appalled by the short marriages. It was said of the 2 year marriage that the relationship has "run its course."  If a divorce wasn't so easy to obtain would the couple have gotten married in the first place?  It's as though people get married now with the thought in their head, "if it doesn't work out we'll just get a divorce and start over with someone else."  If divorce wasn't so easy to obtain how many of these couples would work with someone to try and resolve their problems?  How many of these people would never have gotten married in the first place if they couldn't just end a marriage because it had "run its course?"

I know there are some situations that may make a divorce necessary.  But the relationship has "run its course" does not seem to me a valid reason for ending a marriage.  Elder Dallin H Oaks gave a talk on Divorce in May 2007.  There are a couple of things he said in this talk that really stood out to me:

"The concept that society has a strong interest in preserving marriages for the common good as well as the good of the couple and their children has been replaced for many by the idea that marriage is only a private relationship between consenting adults, terminable at the will of either."

"The weakening of the concept that marriages are permanent and precious has far-reaching consequences. Influenced by their own parents’ divorce or by popular notions that marriage is a ball and chain that prevents personal fulfillment, some young people shun marriage. Many who marry withhold full commitment, poised to flee at the first serious challenge."

We should take these things to heart.  Marriage should not be a fleeting thing, it should not be something we get into until it has "run its course."  it is a commitment between you, your spouse, and God.  And if you do it right, seek help and guidance when things get rough, if you both remain honest and uplifting to one another, if you both repent when needed, and stay worthy of the temple blessings then the course your relationship runs will be an eternal course.  And I think if you love someone enough to marry them, to have children with them, and to want to spend the rest of your life with them, shouldn't you love them enough to want to be with them for eternity too?

Lessons I've learned

Over the past few weeks I've been learning more about The Family: A Proclamation to the World.

There were always things that I was on the fence about, and somethings I still am.  But reading different talks from the Apostles has really helped me to think more clearly on some subjects.  Two things that have stood out to me the most so far are, who the proclamation was meant for and how important gender roles are.

Firstly, this was not meant just for the members of the church.  The Lord means for all his words to apply to all the world.  That would be like saying that the commandments are only meant for this who believe in God.  But just because you don't believe in something, doesn't mean it's not true.  Just because everybody thought the world was flat doesn't mean it really wasn't.  Just because people don't believe in the Book of Mormon or modern day prophets does not mean this isn't the truth.

Second, men and women were created equal, but we each have our specific roles.  There are things only women will ever be able to do (like giving birth) and things only men are meant to do.  Without our specific roles in a relationship life would be chaos.  I have nothing against a woman having a career, or even earning more money than her husband.  However, I do believe the most important role a woman can ever have is that of mother.  There are things that children should be learning from their mothers.  There are things children should be learning from their  mothers, such as compassion and care taking.  These are skills every child should learn.  Yes men are compassionate, and yes they can be caretakers.  But these are skills that come more naturally to women, therefore it may be easier for women to teach these skills to their children.  Men can teach their children to be protectors.  Protectors of beliefs, of virtue, and of family.

In a talk given by Elder David A Bednar (Marriage is Essential to His Eternal Plan) he specifically says "Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity"  They are entitled, not that having a mother and father are a privilege for a special few.  But that each and every child born is entitled to a mother and father.  There are always special circumstances.  A spouse passes away, or one spouse leaves.  But that does not mean the children are not still entitled to the opportunity to have the influence of both a mother and a father.  The reason they are entitled to both is because each parent offers their own special skills and talents to raising children.  And some of those talents are unique to each gender.  As Elder Bednar puts it, "Because of their distinctive temperaments and capacities, males and females each bring to a marriage relationship unique perspectives and experiences."

Adventures in L.A.

This weekend Sarah and I went on our first adventure, taking advantage of the free flights we get with her job.  We flew into L.A. for the day just to explore Hollywood.  We purchased some combo tickets on the Madame Tussaud web site, giving us access to 4 different "attractions."  We made it safely through the L.A. traffic and parked at Madame Tussaud's wax museum (never to be confused with the terrible Hollywood wax museum), picked up our tickets, and made our plan for the day.

First, we had some fun in the wax museum.  It was fun to see some of the more recent celebrities (Sarah kept thinking they were moving).  But since we grew up on the older movies we really enjoyed seeing some of the older actors, and had fun posing with them.  I especially had fun directing Sarah with her poses, she takes direction very well.  She's in most of the pictures since I'm more comfortable behind the camera while she enjoys being in front of it, this is why we make a great team.  We finished up our time in the museum hungry so our next stop was a place to eat.

We had a few options for lunch, including the Hard Rock Cafe.  After we looked at that menu we decided the prices were too high for our little budgets so we headed over to Buffalo Wild Wings, or at least that's where we thought we were headed.  We ended up having to get directions and experienced walking up and down the busiest part of Hollywood Blvd.  After sharing a meal we headed over to our next "attraction," which was a behind-the-scenes tour.  They were away on a tour and the next one was at 4pm, so we had some time to kill.

We had passed the Hollywood Museum during one of our treks up and down the street, since we had already paid for tickets with our combo deal that was our next stop.  The Hollywood Museum is located in the original Max Factor building and still had some of the display counters in the lobby.  There were three levels to this building and we only had about an hour to see it all.  Usually in museums I like to take my time but since we were on a time crunch we had to speed through most of it.  I wouldn't mind going back again to spend a little more time exploring.

After the museum, we rushed over to the behind-the-scenes tour.  Normally this would include a tour of Grauman's Egyptian theater, but there was an event going on so we stood outside and learned the history of the theater and how Sid Grauman helped to change the film industry.  Sid built his theater to get the wealthier people to start attending movies, back then it was just the poor who paid a nickel to see a silent movie.  Sid also invented the movie premier, and up until he came along movie stars were simply movie actors/players.  We also learned that the entrance to the theater for the Oscars is located inside a mall.  They place red velvet curtains over the shop windows and the red carpet is rolled out.  It takes 2 weeks to set up for the red carpet, which covers the street, and the paparazzi stand on the sidewalk on the other side of the street.  These were just some of the things we learned on the walking tour.  Although we had a lot of fun, Sarah and I were tired and ready to go home.

We got to the airport and found that not only was our flight booked, but there were about 50 people on standby and we were only halfway down the list.  This meant we were not getting on the last flight of the night.  We talked about just sleeping in the airport and waiting for the first flight of the morning.  It turned out that the morning flight was also booked and had a waiting list.  So I decided we were renting another car and driving the 6 hours to get home.  It was a long 6 hours, we had to stop and sleep for at least 2 hours, but we made it to the Phoenix airport to pick up my car.  Go tot my house with about only 5 minutes for me to wash my hair, change into Sunday clothes, and get to the church to hear Daniel give his talk. I had to leave after the talk t get to a Scout Committee meeting at 10, then I had an hour to kill before going to see Jeffrey be set apart as a Deacon.  Once I finally got home at 1pm I lay down on my bed and slept until 6pm.  And that was the end of my and Sarah's weekend adventure.

What we learned from all this:

• Hollywood is dirty and nothing like in the movies (Ok, so I knew that from a previous experience)
• The "free" DVD's and CD's are not free and the giver expects a donation (otherwise they snatch it out of your hand)
• If you take a picture with one of the people dressed up they expect you to pay them (I am not willing to part with my money for a fake)
• You're not going to find any celebrities on Hollywood Blvd, unless your there for an award show (okay I already knew that too)
• The third driving lane, on the far right, is not safe to drive in as most people use it to park so you just shouldn't try to drive in that lane
• The most important lesson we learned...don't get the last flight of the day in case it is booked, and then find out the first flight of the next day is also booked.  Luckily we only live 6 hours away and were able to rent a car and drive home