Example of Great Leadership!!

Imagine telling the CEO of the company that you have been working for, for almost eight full years now; that you are leaving to pursue your career elsewhere. Well that is what I had to do today, due to a dream I have always wanted to pursue in IT and here I am with the opportunity. So I called Mike this morning and let him know I wanted to speak with him one on one and he made a joke that cracked me up; the usual great sense of humor from Mike. It made me smile all the way to his office and once I got there I knew I was doing the right thing in speaking with him face to face.

As I sat down in one of the chairs in Mike's office; I started to explain to him that I had an opportunity that I just had to take because of that dream I wanted to fulfill. Mike looked at me with no hesitation and said I am happy for you and I want you to succeed. He said if this is something you want to fulfill in your career go for it and if it does not work out; you always have a home here at EI. I only speak of this; because this kind of genuine friendship, respect, and leadership is so hard to find in today's world period. Mike showed me once again what it takes to be an effective leader and I thank him for that. I will always remember those kind words and make him proud by furthering my career with passion and education (READING).

Ravi

Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true or not, I can say for one that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem.
Abraham Lincoln

TV - Never will be the same!!

So in an effort to create a budget and really hone in on some ways to save money; we decided to ditch the concept of paying for TV subscriptions. There has been this whole idea a few years back on ipTV; what a novel concept right? Your already paying for internet service in most homes today and some of us are even tapping into VOIP technology; so why not use it to watch TV as well. Well we all know if corporate America can not make any money on this then it was not going to go well. Guess what that is exactly what happened and providers such as COX, COMCAST, AT&T, and many others started to raise a stink about this. The problem was and is that there is no way to bill for this type of service reliably just yet.

Well we took advantage of what I predict will be the next wave of the future for most homes and we have not paid a service provider to watch TV for the past six months now. We are doing this with a mixture of an over the air ClearStream 2 long range antenna and ipTV through a service called "PLAYON".

So you might ask well what are the pros and cons right? Well here are some of them for our family and I will start out with the CONS first. So if there is a specific live show that is coming on a channel that your not getting over the air; then you won't be able to watch it. But the next day it will be posted up either on HULU or whatever other channel it might of been as long as you have access to it through PLAYON. Also the whole rewind and fast forward concept is a bit slow and sometimes does not work at all that well only on PLAYON. Now for the PROS; I would start out by saying well the obvious there is no monthly fee; but a onetime fee of $100 for the ClearStream 2 antenna and $79 for PLAYON. Also you will not believe the amount of HD channels you get over the air for FREE and how clear they come in; it is just so awesome. With PLAYON if you miss a show the night before and you didn't record it; then you can watch it the next day once it is posted to that particular channel.

Now this took Carrie a little getting use to and I got the IT calls while at work about a few issues at first like some channels on PLAYON not working. After a few days after work of working out the kinks such as filtering through the channels that work and don't work; we were good to go. I can't say that we would have adopted to this right off the bat if I did not work in IT; but I do and I am all electronic.... SERIOUSLY.... :). The great thing about this is that it works and it works very well and we are happy to save now $100 a month.

Last thing I will say about this and I only want to brag a little because this is just so cool. Well when using an over the air antenna; traditionally you would connect it directly to your TV set(s) right? Not me I am using a product from Microsoft called Windows Media Center (MWMC) to deliver the over the air HD signal to the TV's through an XBOX 360. Now you would ask why do this; well you can now have full DVR functionality and there are some other cool things you can do to share music, photos, and videos. I am also using my XBOX 360 to deliver the PLAYON service to the TV's in the house as well and it works fantastic. Now typically to get this done you would have a PC in the home that delivers MWMC and PLAYON to your 360. Well I went a step further and I am running a virtual machine on my MAC Mini of Microsoft Windows 7 and it is the only PC in the house. This is cool because we can have the awesome experience of using a MAC and the Microsoft Windows OS with being so energy efficient and really you can't tell that the MAC Mini is even on; just simply amazing. Well that is all for now but like I said I can talk electronics and technology all day. ENJOY!!!

Just Around the River Bend...

Too much Disney...I KNOW! LOL :-)

Well, I really can't complain, life is pretty great! Hubby continues to work SO HARD and after some brief job struggles (quite the stressful few montsh) the Lord has lead our family to better a more stable place that continues to allow me to stay home and do what I do best, be a full-time Mommy! Little girl amazes me everyday with how fast she's learning & growing! I LOVE my calling in Young Womens and am getting ready for Girls Camp (coming up in less than a month)...Assistant Director baby...I'm in the big time now (lol!) Not to mention I'm taking a class this semester and am just two classes away from finally getting my AA, the first in my family to get a college degree, SO EXCITED!

But somehow with SO MANY blessings in my life I'm still feeling a void :( I'm pretty sure I know what that "void" is but have been avoiding those thoughts like the plague! I don't want Satan to have even a little sway on my positive outlook and attitude. Still, I have begun to feel the slight achings that seem all too familiar... After a corrective surgery and failed procedure I could have easily slipped into old emotions and downward spirals. However, I'm happy to report that was not the case I continue to push forward and live in the moment.

I feel, in my heart, the void is there to keep me humble and ever mindful that I must continue to have faith in & rely on Heavenly Father as I cling to the peace that only the Savior can give me. I continue to hope that it will be my time again in the near future... but until then the void will continue to be the reason for this journey of growth! Who knows...maybe my heart's desire is just around the River Bend :-)

Paging Jessie Spano!!!

"Time! There's never any time! I don't have time to..." Ok so if you were an avid "Saved By the Bell" fan you know exactly what I'm talking about. And if you weren't... why are we friends again?! LOL!! Just kidding!!!

Between Girls Camp, Young Womens, Family, Friends & Housework I seriously need some of those magical caffeine pills :) And I haven't even started my online class yet! Yet with with all that being said, I know I am SEVERELY blessed for my righteous endeavors and gaining great experience and patience through it all. Glass half full, glass half full :) LOL

However, my biggest challenge right now continues to be THE POTTY! Chandani is making GREAT strides in potty training and continues to surprise me everyday as she goes "pee pee" and does the ocassional (and much celebrated) "poo poo" like a big girl! Gotta love how motherhood changes the subjects of your previous conversations and blog topics :)

All in all, I would say the Lord has blessed my little family beyond understanding so far this year. And though we are asked to continue to walk a path of sadness and tested patience we know that the windows of heaven will be opened to us once again, in the Lord's time :) Which reminds me, anyone happen to have a "Celestial Watch" cause I do get curious from time to time. Awww...note to self... must ask the temple for one of their clocks (LOL!!!) Can't blame a sista' for trying!