The Story of a Nice Mormon Girl

You can help end child and sex trafficking in Cambodia today!

2013-06-12T11:36:00.000-04:00

I took this picture in the actual neighborhood where RiverKids families live. Can you imagine walking through this filthy water to go to your home every day? Or if your children lived in the shacks above that filthy water? These pictures weren't taken on some extraordinarily bad day. These were just every day scenes I passed.

It was heartbreaking to see how these kind, loving, innocent people lived. It wasn't their fault that they were born into a life of poverty with little hope of escaping. But I knew that the work I did in Cambodia would help several children escape poverty, and the horrible repercussions of child and sex trafficking, by giving them clean food and an education.

The wonderful organization I volunteered with, RiverKids, is making a REAL difference in Cambodia. They save children from a life of forced prostitution (sex trafficking) every day with the amazing programs they offer.

And today that wonderful organization, RIVERKIDS, receives matching donations from Global Giving. Your donation, no matter how large or small, will be matched up to 50% by Global Giving, and the entire donation (nothing lost to administrative or overhead fees in the process)- ALL 100% of it, goes directly to RiverKids!

Click here to donate: http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/feed-our-children-give-them-wings-to-fly/

You will probably spend more than $10 on lunch today. Consider saving money on lunch and donating the difference to RiverKids!! As unemployed and underemployed as I am I still manage to make a donation each year because I know just how much good comes from just my $10!

The mothers wash the food, clothes, and even the children in this filthy water. There is no running water in the homes. "Toilets" are just a hole in the floor that they squat over- the refuse dropping right down into the same water they walk through, and clean with.

Your tax-deductible donation goes 100% to RiverKids, and provides meals, education, and shelter for victims of human trafficking. I've been there and have seen the good RiverKids does first-hand, and can promise you that a donation as small as just $10 (OR MORE!) will give those families clean rice, and a chance at an education.

This little boy walked past my house every day. I saved my empty water bottles to give to him. He earns money for his family by collecting trash (recyclables) off the street. He is exactly the kind of child who benefits from RiverKids programs. With your donation, RiverKids would be able to provide his family with the income he will lose when he is enrolled in school (about $21 a month- he is lucky to earn even $2 a day). He will be provided a school uniform, meals at school, and an education. Not to mention, he will be at far lesser risk of contracting a disease like Hepatitis, or getting kidnapped, or injured.
A $21 dollar donation from you could really change his life!

Click here to donate: http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/feed-our-children-give-them-wings-to-fly/

After a street child or "river kid" collects the trash off the streets, he or she will bring it here to get weighed. They are paid by the pound- usually just pennies. This weigh station is located right in the middle of the slum shack neighborhood the families live in. Can you imagine if this was just a few steps away from your door?

Some of the women enrolled in a RiverKids program that teaches them useful skills like sewing that they can use to start their own businesses, or get a job in a factory. Without these skills these women have no choice but to turn to a life of prostitution. Many, if not all, of these women were forced into prostitution already (this is the definition of sex trafficking).

Click here to donate: http://www.globalgiving.org/projects/feed-our-children-give-them-wings-to-fly/

You can read more about RiverKids and what I learned and saw in Cambodia here- (articles written by me)
Fighting Trafficking in Cambodia Part 1
Ending Sex Trafficking in Cambodia Part 2

And my blog posts during my time in Cambodia.

The Mystery of Nannie Ferguson

2013-06-09T23:01:00.001-04:00

I think I have caught the family history bug. Unfortunately, with that bug, does not come a knowledge of how to deep family history research.
I have been researching the history of my family and their relationship to the Mormon Church, and have found interesting stories I have never heard before. Many family stories come with an oral history, and change from generation to generation. A few decades ago a family member recorded many of our family stories and published them as a collegiate research paper. I've used her book as my primary form of research.
I noticed throughout her book (written in the 1980's) that when there was a discrepency among the oral histories that she recorded each of them. During my review of her work I realized I could probably clarify some of the discrepancies with some of the more recent technological developments. Sure enough, within a minute of Googling, I was able to figure out the real names of a few people. One of those names was Ammon Mercer, the missionary that baptized many of the earliest members of my family.
Originally I was searching for more information about Ammon Mercer, in hopes of maybe finding a missionary journal that might shed some light on a few of the other open-ended questions. During my search I stumbled on something interesting- he had more than one wife! He was most definitely a polygamist. And one of his wives was Nannie Ferguson.
Why do I care?
Well, the family history I am researching is the Ferguson family!
Who is this Nannie Ferguson? And why have I never heard of her before?
The man who baptized my earliest Mormon ancestors married a Ferguson, and somehow this detail has never been mentioned before!
I am intrigued.
And I have gone on a search for more information on this mysterious Nannie. But I am thwarted at almost every turn.
Here is what I know-
She was born near Roanoke where my line of Fergusons hail from. This strongly implies she is related, but Ferguson isn't an uncommon name.
I have found her father's name, and her mother's name. her mother is a Poage. The Poage family are from right here in good old Back Creek. In fact, there are still a few roads and buildings named after them. Again, strongly implies they are from Back Creek, and therefore related.
Her siblings include multiple Williams and Henry's. Significance? It is a Ferguson family tradition (still going strong today) to name a son William and a second name with an H, particularly Henry. There is a long list of William Henry Fergusons. A very long list. Of all the evidence, this is the one piece that implies the most that she has to be related to my family.
BUT!
Her father is where things get complicated. I have his name, wife, and birthplace. What I don't have is where he died, or any of this siblings, or the names of his own parents. This is the problem. Without knowing who his father or siblings are, I can't figure out who he is related to!
I so very badly want to figure out if Nannie Ferguson is related to my line of Fergusons!
I've studied the dates I have tracked down very closely. All details indicate that Ammon Mercer met Nannie on his mission, married her, and took her back to Utah shortly thereafter. Sadly, it appears that she passed away a year later.
My guess is that she was a second cousin to my great-great-grandfather. But since I can't find the great-grandfather to either of them, this is nothing more than a guess. I think it is a good guess by the fact that a man named William Griffin Ferguson was one of the first people baptized in Roanoke, and he was the second cousin to my great-great-grandfather, William Harrison Ferguson. (See, I told you they really liked the name William!) And William Griffin was born in the same small town that Nannie was.
But alas, I'm stuck. I can't seem to figure out how to relate Nannie's father to William Harrison's father. All of the similarities in the world just don't matter if you can't prove them! (Did I mention Nannie's father is John W. Ferguson? See! Another W!!)
What kills me more than anything else that is in a family the size of mine (William Harrison has well over 2,000 descendants) that no one seems to have noticed Nannie before.
AAGH!
Darn you family history bug!!

PS- ignore the marriage date for Nannie and Ammon in the image above. That is the date their marriage was performed in a Mormon temple long after her death.

Hey You! Check out my new novels, "You Heard It Here First" and the sequel "This Just In!"

Devices, tablets, and computers

2013-06-05T01:24:00.003-04:00

After a week of vacation with lousy internet access, I came home with a long list of projects to tackle. My employment situation has recently changed, and now more than ever, I am a freelance writer. My laptop and an internet connection are essential to my livelihood. Without them I cannot work and cannot earn money.
On Sunday night my laptop made a flying leap off of the couch. I wasn't even on the couch to witness it. I did hear the thud as it landed though and feared for the worst. My laptop has not turned back on since. It is currently in the laptop hospital, where I hope and pray my documents and photos can be recovered.
With little other choice, I went out and bought a new computer. I had heard good things about the Microsoft Surface, and was intrigued by it. Half computer, half laptop? It sounded like it might fit my needs. $500 later, I took one home with me.
I was wrong. I hated it. It is actually a fabulous device, but incredibly impractical for someone like me who needs to be typing and working all day.
24 hours I took it back to the store for a full refund, and purchased a new laptop.
Laptops only come with Windows 8 on them now. If you have not yet had the experience of using Windows 8, you cannot imagine my frustration. It is the unwanted love child of Microsoft and Apple's ugly cousin. It's Microsoft pretending not to be Apple. And it fails big time.
And yet we are stuck with it.
It works best with a touchscreen laptop, and I was informed at the store that by the end of the year all laptops will be touchscreen. (So I bought a touchscreen, because I have no idea how to use 8 without it.)
But all of this got me to thinking. A friend made the comment that she didn't see why we had to move to apps. Why can't we just be happy with the way Windows used to work? (I would venture a guess that she's probably never used a Mac.) Why touchscreens and apps?
As I looked around the stores tonight at all of the different options, I was surprised how few actually pertained to me. Here I am thinking I just need a truly basic computer- Microsoft Office and an Internet connection. A webcam would be nice, and an HDMI port. And really, that's about all I ask for- a working computer. Or a computer I am able to work on, would be a better way of describing it.
And how do swiping or touchscreens make me more productive or a better worker?
In short, they don't.
And that's what hit me tonight.
Computers were originally designed to compute, and do work. And then along came the Personal Computer, or PC. They were intended to allow individuals to do work from home. But we added games to them. And then the internet.
And computers began to become gaming devices, entertainment devices, and media devices, that just happened to also have document writing or spreadsheet creation capability.
And then there are tablets, which are not designed at all to be working tools, or computing tools, but mostly entertainment devices (with rare exceptions), made most evident by the fact that they don't even have real keyboards. They aren't designed to be typed on for more than a few lines.
There is an entire generation growing up that don't think of computers as work devices, but as entertainment or personal devices. They don't think in terms of typing, but swiping and touching. And as I saw first-hand at the store tonight, that is what is sold now. It was harder for me to find a computer that was built just for work computing than it was to find an entertainment device. And as I work my way around Windows 8, I realize that even the operating systems have changed now.
There's a lot to think about there.

Hey You! Check out my new novels, "You Heard It Here First" and the sequel "This Just In!"

Survey of LDS Singles Regarding Marriage

2013-06-02T13:43:00.000-04:00

I'm collecting some data for an article (and maybe a future book) I'm working on regarding Mormon singles and marriage. The focus of the article will be on how marrieds perceive the challenges facing singles regarding getting married, versus how singles view those challenges.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/MVR2F7F

I would like to get a survey of lots of LDS singles, as well as marrieds! Can you take 2 seconds to answer these 8 questions? All information is completely anonymous!

I will be closing this survey in 1-2 days! Please take it if you haven't already!

And please feel free to share it in Facebook groups, or with friends, or ward list-serves. The more respondents and answers the better!!

I'll be closing the survey in a day or two.

THANKS!!

Back to Life, Back to Reality

2013-06-01T23:29:00.002-04:00

I am home from vacation.
I don't want to be, but apparently you can't stay gone forever, no matter how hard you try.
This was my first non-working vacation in... so many year I can't remember the number. Sad, but true. I've always worked on vacation. This was my first time to ever attempt to not work. I have to admit, it's a pretty nice gig this whole vacationing thing. I'm going to have to try it again sometime. It only took me about 5 days to really get the hang of not working or being on an agenda. I liked it!
It was a wonderful week away. I made several great new friends that I really hope to be able to see again soon. The hardest part really was coming home and knowing that it may be another 6 months or a year before I get to socialize and make friends again. And that really depresses me!
I re-calibrated my priorities and ideals while I was gone as well. I had a few small wake-up calls that really helped put a few things into focus. It was a very good and healthy week for me.

The Return of the Happy Dance

2013-05-29T14:56:00.002-04:00

Upon hearing good news I shared with them, two different friends sent me happy dances.

And this one-
(While there is nothing wrong with Jaden Smith and his dad rapping, the good stuff starts right about 1:30 into the video. And trust me, you want to watch to the end!)

I love that 2 different friends sent me these!

As for the happy news?
You'll just have to wait and see.

At the beach...

2013-05-28T16:10:00.000-04:00

I'm off at the beach right now. Maybe I'll get around to blogging soon. Maybe not. We expected to have wet, chilly, windy weather this week. That's what I packed for! But, darn it, would you believe we have nothing but sunny skies, and perfect temperatures. It's a rough life, but I'm doing my best.
In the meantime, if you really are just dying to hear more about my life, you can read an interview between author Rachel Terry and me on her blog!

Hey You! Check out my new novels, "You Heard It Here First" and the sequel "This Just In!"

What do you do in the summertime when... you have just been ripped off?

2013-05-21T11:17:00.002-04:00

In the past few weeks I have been ripped off not once, but twice, by clients. I was hired to do a specific job for a specific amount of money. I performed both jobs not just well, but very well. Both clients expressed satisfaction and appreciation for the well done work.
And yet neither has paid me.
I am in the process of taking the proper steps to recover what I am owed. In the meantime, I'm left with the emotions that come with such dishonesty. It frustrates me to no end that people do this sort of thing. Why would you hire someone if you have no intention of paying them, unless you really do have dishonest and quite frankly immoral or evil intentions? And how can you live with yourself?
To say the least, the dishonesty of these other parties has had a very negative effect on my life. I am a freelancer. I depend upon the work I do to make the money I need to support myself. When someone intentionally hires me, accepts my work, and then doesn't pay me, it isn't just some mere inconvenience. I don't have other forms of income coming in. It's the money that was supposed to pay for my food, shelter, gas, etc..
When I go into job interviews for full-time jobs I always get asked, "Why do you want to leave self-employment?" (Actually what they almost always insensitively say is, "why do you want to get a job now?" Because apparently working 50 hours/week from home isn't a real job.) The answer I want to give is, "I'm tired of getting ripped off by my clients, and I'm tired of working three times harder than I have ever worked before to make 3 times less money." But that is not considered a professionally appropriate answer, so instead I say, "I miss being part of a larger, dynamic team." (But I'm always thinking, "I really want a consistent paycheck every 2 weeks.")
So help me get back at the guy who hired me to write a 25 page e-book (10 pt font, single spaced) on how to use Facebook for small business marketing, and then didn't pay me, by buying, "Increase e-Book Sales with Social Media Marketing." It's not the same exact book I wrote for him. (I'm still trying to be somewhat honest. I said I would write it, he would pay me, and he would own the rights to the book. But since he hasn't paid me, I've made some changes, and decided to sell it direct myself.)
It's just 99 cents to buy. Use this magic little linky straight to PayPal, and I email you the PDF (or .mobi file if you prefer) book right back! (I swear to you this is a totally safe and secure link!)

PS- I don't say too much about my job hunting efforts around here. It's considered unprofessional to do so. But today I could just use the moral support from my friends.
I was interviewing last fall for some jobs, but nothing really panned out. I took a short break from looking, but have resumed my efforts again. In the past month I've had 3 really big disappointments. 3 different opportunities where it came down to me and one other person for an ideal job. And obviously in each case I didn't get the job. I'm reaching the end of my "able to handle so much rejection rope." (couple all of that with clients ripping me off, and you can start to get an idea of what it feels like on my end of this internet connection.)
Last week I had a job interview that was just... ridiculously bad. The interviewer talked about random, unrelated subjects for 20 minutes, and then said, "So you really aren't a good fit for this position. Why did you apply?" And this is after I have just spent 5 hours in a car to drive to the interview, not to mention close to $80 in gas for the travel. And that was the only question she asked me. She couldn't have asked me that over the phone and saved me the trouble?? Ugh...
Back to my point... I have [another] interview this week. And this job (what little I know about it so far), really does sound perfect for me. I'm excited about it. I am a very good fit for the position, and it is something I can see myself doing for a long time. Can you think some happy thoughts for me? Hope for a good interviewer who knows how to ask the important questions, and that the 500 crucial details I have to get worked out between now and then all come together. (Just one of them being getting paid!)
Thanks. I appreciate it.
Hmm... you know what? I just might go publish the Facebook for small business marketing book too. I can't really think of a good reason not to.

Time to get the gardening gloves out!

2013-05-14T23:44:00.001-04:00

My one big goal for this summer is to plant and grow a vegetable garden. This is far more challenging than it actually sounds.
For starters, in spite of the fact that I live on a mountain, in a fairly rural area, I have no place to plant my garden. Our yard is on the seriously steep mountainside. It goes straight down. It doesn't matter that there is an acre of nature back there. It's too steep, and too covered in trees.
Exhibit A: Our yard last autumn.

There is a little bit of room in the front/side yard to plant a garden, but there are deer and raccoons to be dealt with. And there are already a bunch of flowers planted there.
Exhibit B:

And let's face it, vegetables in the front yard is a little awkward.
And so I am forced to attempt container gardening up on the deck. But let me explain something here, this is also not as easy as it sounds. Our deck does not have stairs to the ground on the outside. It is only accessible from inside the house, and to Spiderman, and apparently a large number of raccoons. The raccoons have been known to somehow scale our deck that is a good 50-75 feet off the ground, bypass my ever-vigilant dog, and pull my plants out of the containers.
Exhibit C:

So I've invested in bucket gardening, vertical pallet gardening, deck rail container gardening, and just plain old container gardening.
Why so many different styles?
Well, that's where this story gets funny.
Last year I bought a Topsy Turvy Garden, planted a few tomatoes, and waited for the magic to happen.
And waited some more.
Nothing ever happened. My tomatoes never grew. The end.
A few weeks ago I hired a kid to come over and do a bunch of yard work for me. In the process he found some tomato seeds, and half a bag of potting soil. I told him to toss them all in the dead Topsy Turvy. And promptly forgot about it.
In the meantime I have put starts into a few buckets, and hung them up in trees in the yard. I put in green peppers, tomatoes, and strawberries. I've actually tended to them. 2 of them are next to the Topsy Turvy, but I never thought much of it.
Exhibit D:

(I have done a lot of trimming, mulching, cleaning, and improving in this area since this picture was taken. In fact, this is a 'before' picture. I will plant the 'after' picture when my new gladiolus pop up. (Assuming the raccoons don't kill them. Again.))

I also purchased several seeds and a start kit, and planted sunflowers, Roma tomatoes, sugar peas, and jalapenos. The kit said to put in 3 seeds per disk/start, because only half tend to actually grow. For once in my life, I actually followed the instructions. And I've tended to my little start kit like a very attentive mother bird. Until a few days ago it was growing on my kitchen table, and I couldn't help but go look at my little sproutlings multiple times a day.
Sometime last week I noticed a few green leaves sticking up over the top of the Topsy Turvy. That little handful of leftover seeds has easily produced 30 tomato plants!
I have counted up the starts in my kit that have actually come through, and I have a good 30-40 more tomato plants!!
70 tomato plants!!!
Exhibit E:

Heaven help me I have no idea what to do with that many tomato plants! (Keep in mind one tomato plant can easily produce more than 10 tomatoes!)
Not to mention, where the heck you actually plant 80 tomatoes when the obvious answer of "in the ground in your garden" doesn't work! And you have deer and raccoon problems!
And so you have multiple random container garden attempts!
Oh and there are a good 20 sunflowers popping up, about 10 sugar pea plants (which I just discovered will grow to about the size of a tomato plant!), and maybe, if I am lucky, 3 jalapeno plants. I'm not even sure that they are jalapenos. They might just be more tomatoes. Have mercy!
I also planted 3 more developed (not from seed) pepper plants- 3 green peppers, 1 sweet pepper, and 1 anaheim pepper.
And did I mention the 10 strawberry plants?
Yeah, I have been a little bit busy growing stuff!
This weekend I will move all of my seedlings to their new containers. (The sunflowers are going straight into the ground. I'm not going to try those in a container!) I've started to build my pallet garden, and well, let's just say, DISASTER! Total Pinterest Fail! Hilariously bad, terrible, ridiculous FAIL! There will be a blog post in the coming days illustrating just how bad and funny that fail was!
I realize that I could just throw some of the starts away, but for some reason that feels strangely unethical, like murder or something! Plus I'm sure a lot of them won't survive the transplanting. So I'm going to give all of my little babies a chance to live and give me food!
I'm in for a ton of work this summer to keep this many plants growing, especially with so many alternative container methods! But hopefully all this work will mean enough tomatoes to make the best darn spaghetti sauce ever more than once this summer, plus a few batches of summer salsa!
But here's the most awesome part, people! I HAVE GROWN A STRAWBERRY!!
Exhibit F:

We are off to an awesome summer.

Hey You! Check out my new novels, "You Heard It Here First" and the sequel "This Just In!"

I'd give my left leg to not write this post

2013-05-09T21:42:00.001-04:00

I'm sitting on the couch with my laptop burning my left leg. Why the left leg? I don't know. But that is the side of the laptop that gets hot and eventually starts to burn my leg. Thankfully this doesn't happen too often, only after I've been working on my computer for at least 12 hours.
Yes, I have been working on this thing for 12 straight hours. (No wonder I'm so hungry.)

I've resumed job hunting after a month long break. (Why a month break? Because it took less than a month for me to remember why I wanted to get a "real" job again, and then another week to talk myself into putting myself through this misery again.) Every time I have a job interview they inevitably ask, "So why do you want to leave self-employment and go back to work?"

And every time I hear that question I want to tell the truth, "Because I'm sick and tired of working 12 hour days that result in barely more than minimum wage. And it wouldn't be "going back to work." I've never had to work so hard in my life, for such a small payoff."

Days like today are why I want to "go back to work." There is one more very big reason why I am tired of self-employment- I am sick and tired of having to promote and sell myself! I would so much rather market another person or company. Marketing and selling yourself all day is just tiresome! Not to mention, a complete ego-killer. Except on the days it goes well. Then it's a big ego-boost.

But I'm not in this (this being gainful employment) for the ego-boost. I'm in it for the paycheck!

Speaking of paychecks, there is a stinkbug climbing along the ceiling over me. I can't reach it, not even with a broom. I know, I tried. And while I was up I got an ice pack to put on my left leg, under the laptop. It may be time for me to give in and buy a new computer. But to do that, I'm going to afford a new laptop, I'm going to have to several more extra projects. And that means more time burning my left leg. How much can my little left leg take?

And that people, is why I have resumed my job search.

And why you are feeling an overwhelming urge to save me a few hours of work tonight, and go buy my books- "You Heard It Here First" and the sequel "This Just In!"

Call the Midwife!

2013-05-02T19:45:00.001-04:00

The last 2 weeks have been crazy busy. We're talking no more than 1-2 hours of sleep, no time to reply to emails, no time to clean the kitchen busy. There is a new sister missionary that moved in here a week ago and I realized last night that since she's been here, the same pile of dishes have been next to the sink. I've let everything fall apart during this week(s) of insanity. Top all of that off with a heavy dose of insomnia! There have been more than a few nights where I just gave up trying to sleep and got up and started working again.
Not surprisingly, no sleep, high stress, and crazy high pollen counts have come back to bite me in the butt. I'm down for the count with another massive head cold/cough/sinus infection/whatever you want to call it. I've spent the last 2 days in bed spending some quality time with cough medicine and Netflix. I used up my one hour of energy today (a strategic combination of Dr Pepper, cough medicine, and waking up from a nap) to go buy more Kleenex. Nothing like a high pollen count to remind you just what a luxury Puffs Plus with Aloe really can be.
Speaking of quality time with my boyfriend Netflix. A few weeks ago I had more than one friend recommend "Call the Midwife" to me on Netflix. I put it in my queue to save for a rainy day, or next kidney stone. I'm glad I did! I haven't been able to sleep much with this stupid head cold (I really have never mastered breathing through my mouth. I just can't do it! Which makes it really hard to sleep!). So I watched the entire available season on Netflix in 2 days. And today, when I sadly finished the season, I googled it to see if there would ever be more eps, just to find out that there are, and you can buy them on Amazon. Yay!

You should watch the show if for no other reason than the fact that this adorable guy, George Rainsford, is on it.

So I bought all of the available second season, and I'm knee-deep into it already.
If you don't have Netflix ~~I don't know how you live~~ you can buy it/rent "Call the Midwife" from Amazon. I highly recommend it!

Hey You! Check out my new novels, "You Heard It Here First" and the sequel "This Just In!"

Launch Out Into the Deep

2013-04-28T23:16:00.001-04:00

“Grasp every ennobling experience available to you. Embrace every dimension of living that challenges you, educates you, elevates you. Live for purposes greater than yourself. Lose yourself in the service of others. Reach beyond the shallowness of selfishness, of complacency, of mindless conformity, and of indulgence… This is the promise: launch out into the deep, and your nets will be filled... Your worldly success will partly be a function of your choices and capabilities, but will also be subject to the vagaries of life and chance. Fortunately our relationship with God depends on none of that. It is entirely at our control. For He is always at the door and knocks for us. Our worldly success cannot be guaranteed, but our ability to achieve spiritual success is entirely up to us, thanks to the Grace of God.”

-- Former Governor Mitt Romney in his Commencement Address at Southern Virginia University, April 27, 2013.

Raise Your Glass!

2013-04-26T10:11:00.004-04:00

While sitting here drinking my morning DP, I came across this-

This is a screenshot of an infographic created by Cuvee Coffee, based on a survey done in 2011 by Dunkin Donuts, and if you substitute the word caffeine for the word coffee, you have my life.
Better yet, both of my professions (marketing and writing) are in the top 5. And while I would never actually call myself a financial professional, it isn't lost on me that I write about finances, giving me 3 things in the top 10.

Cheers, mates!

Numbers Don't Lie

2013-04-21T18:16:00.003-04:00

I have a confession to make.
I like reading and studying up on the stock market and the economy.
As you may know, I write for the stock market advice site The Motley Fool. When I first started writing for them it was a painfully stressful experience. I admit, I knew only about as much as your average non-investor knew about the stock market. (Which is to say I knew "buy low, sell high," and not much else.) There was a steep learning curve this past year!
But I've actually come to enjoy and appreciate what I now study and write about each day. I now understand why it is important to be able to understand the numbers. It isn't always about how much money you can making buying and selling stocks. Sometimes it goes much deeper and broader than that.
For instance, I recently wrote an article about energy drinks and soda. If you were to believe everything you read on Facebook or Pinterest, (or anything Mayor Bloomberg says), you might think that Americans are drowning in their soda addictions. Not true! The numbers don't lie! And the numbers show that soda sales are on the decline, and they have been going down for 3 years. Energy drinks, on the other hand, are increasing. So much so that companies not yet on the energy drink bandwagon are scrambling to get on it- case in point, Pepsi/Mountain Dew just launched "Kickstart" a morning energy drink.(Because that's what people need- Mountain Dew for breakfast.)
I've written several articles on fracking (more professionally called "hydraulic fracturing"). Again, if you believe what Matt Damon/Hollywood has to say on the subject, you might think that fracking is ruining the environment. Truth is, that about 4 years ago major changes were made to the fracking process. It is much much safer now. And it is done more efficiently. And as a result, several different industries are benefiting from it. And so is the economy overall. Don't be fooled thinking government did much to help the economy. Look at the way the energy industry has started to go up, and you'll see that the rest of the economy followed. And it all ties back to an increase in LNG and fracking.
The numbers don't lie. The numbers fascinate me. Sure, there are days when reading up on this stuff can put me to sleep, but for the most part, I like it.

Hey You! Check out my new novels, "You Heard It Here First" and the sequel "This Just In!"

What YOU Need to Know About New Blogger and Google+ Settings and Your Privacy

2013-04-19T12:43:00.001-04:00

Like many of my fellow Bloggers, I received an email yesterday from Blogger (Google- the owner of Blogger). As far as I know this is the first email I have received from them in 9 years!

Here's the email-

Writing a thoughtful post and seeing how people engage can be really rewarding, so we’ve made it easier to reach a broader audience and see more of their reactions.
Once you enable Google+ Comments, people can share the comments they make on your blog to their circles in Google+, helping you reach people that they know. And there's more: mentions of your posts on Google+ automatically show up right in your blog's comments, so you can see more of people’s public conversations about your content (and private conversations you’re part of).

I want to make sure my readers and friends know about this change. I have enabled the Google+ Comments, although I do realize I have a choice. I don't want anyone to feel their privacy was violated (although it certainly does have that feel to it). I've always been somewhat of an early adopter, and because I work in social media, I like to be able to test and experiment with these things personally before I attempt them professionally.

Like many of you, I find Google+ somewhat annoying and invasive. Just a few weeks ago I clicked on something innocuous, trying to look at something on Google+, (I was testing out a feature before I used it professionally), and it forced me to "add my friends back." One would assume this meant that my friends had added me first, and I should respond in kind. Instead, it suddenly added 200-300 people from my address book (hundreds of professional contacts I did not want to connect with)! And now, hardly a day goes by without getting 2-3 emails saying "this person I've never heard of before has added you back on Google+."

I'm not a fan of this site. I don't like how they keep making changes to one Google product, link it to another product, and then make it all tie in with Google+, forcing people to use it. For instance, this new comments feature.

However, in my experience, early adopting, and figuring out how it all works together, tends to work to my advantage (and others' advantage too, as I often seem to be giving friendly tutorials and advice!).

So forgive me for enabling the comments. Feel free to leave a comment here to test how it will work. I'm not sure (yet) if you have to be my friend, or in my circles, to make it work. (You can join me on the site here.)

One more thing to know-
If you engage with a post on Google+ (for instance here is one of mine- https://plus.google.com/118118311920343529956/posts/2Um7jXDJWZv ) and you leave a "plus one" or a comment, your response will partially show up on the blog post, even if you don't go to the blog post itself. Feel free to check it and try it. First go to my actual blog post - http://beta.fool.com/erinannie/2013/04/15/can-companies-be-a-great-place-to-work-and-a-great/30726/ and look at the social media bar on the left. You'll see the Google Plus icon with a number in it. Now, go back to the Google Plus link in this paragraph above. "Plus one" it, or leave a comment. Go back to the blog post, reload the page, and you'll see that number has changed. As far as I can tell, there is no way for the blogger to track those number backwards. Except of course it is trackable by going to Google Plus and looking for it.

If you are finding this blog post because of an interest in understanding more about social media marketing and ebook sales, check out my book-

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/295719?ref=erinannmcbride

Pro-Marriage, Anti-Marriage

2013-04-17T22:29:00.001-04:00

First, let me make this one point clear- I support the traditional family movement. I have read the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints' statement on marriage, and choose to endorse it. I want to make that clear, because everything else I am about to say, may lead you to think otherwise.

A little bit about me. I am in my late thirties, a product of the 1980’s and the Mtv generation. I grew up in the suburbs, in a family with a mother and a father who have been married over forty years now. I am the oldest of four children.
Most importantly, I know that my “traditional” upbringing makes me unique. I can think of few friends who grew up in similar environments, with a stay-at-home mom, a dad in the picture, and siblings. Most of my friends, by far the majority, did not have this same arrangement.
To the best of my knowledge, most of my friends were raised by a divorced mother. They knew their fathers, but his presence in their lives varied from person to person. Some had dads that lived in his own house in the same neighborhood, others had dads in far off places.
Single mothers who had never married, and yet “kept the child,” were still unusual, and mostly unheard of. It is my generation that would grow up to change that.
Each time I read another pro-family, pro- “traditional” marriage article, I want to argue with it, in spite of the fact that I try to be on their side. I often want to punch holes through weak, biased, straw man arguments.
If anything, I feel far more sympathy for the gay marriage supporters. But, I have made the decision to follow the prophet, keep the commandments, and in this case, that means I must accept the Church’s position on this issue. It may very well be the ultimate trial of my faith for years to come. I expect that it might be. But nonetheless, I choose it anyway.
Traditional marriage supporters often seem delusional to the opposing side. The arguments that a “child needs both a father and a mother” fall on very experienced, very deaf ears. I wonder if the traditionalists understand that? My generation- the generation with the political money, voting power, and the ones who have brought about much reform in the last 15-20 years, we don’t understand that way of thinking. We (the general we) were not raised in two parent homes, and we turned out just fine. The argument that in order to be smart, healthy, well-fed, loved, and cared for requires a father and a mother is inane to a generation that was not raised that way. Life experiences will always trump statistics.
If traditionalists want to convert or sway the other side, they have to understand that not only does the other side disagree with them, they have life experiences that prove the arguments invalid. All the “research” studies done by biased organizations (who knows how long ago), will never convince a college graduate raised by a single parent that they need both parents.

More after the jump =>

Wake me up, when .... ends

2013-04-14T23:50:00.002-04:00

I've yet again reached one of those weeks where my entire future could change with a simple phone call.
Or the call could come and nothing will change.
Either way, that call is coming.
And there is an expensive and painful dental appointment in my future.
Really, I'd like to fast-forward and get it over with. I'd rather just get to Friday and find out how it all turns out and not live in limbo all week.
But mostly, I just want to get to Saturday to see Doctor Who again.

Hey You! Check out my new novels, "You Heard It Here First" and the sequel "This Just In!"

Need Something to Read?

2013-04-10T09:10:00.000-04:00

"This Just In!" is available on Kindle and Nook for just $4. And for a limited time, "You Heard It Here First" is available for $1 (Kindle and Nook) as well. If you don't have a Kindle or Nook, you can still read e-books courtesy of Smashwords!

I'm looking for some book reviewers. I can't/won't pay for a review, but I will send you the e-book for free. (Or both books if you haven't read the first one yet!) In exchange, I ask for your honest and fair review to be left on a few different sites (doesn't have to be a blog). If you are interested, send me an email! erinannie at yahoo

Thanks!

A Single Mormon Woman Reflects on Women Holding the Priesthood

2013-04-05T00:14:00.000-04:00

Dear Friend,

Yesterday you asked about women in the Mormon Church holding the priesthood. I fired off some fast and too easy “internet responses.” I want you to know that your questions and comments were not ignored. In fact, I’ve thought about them quite a bit. I hope you'll forgive me my thoughtless responses yesterday, and accept my much more in-depth and thought out response below.

You raised important issues- why can’t women hold the priesthood? Why do men run the meetings? Why can’t women?

I’ve given this topic (and others I am about to address) a lot of thought over the years. My response today is not just the culmination of 24 hours of ruminating on current politics, but my cherished, deep-rooted beliefs, and understanding of the Gospel of Christ.

One of the key details that sets Mormons apart from other religions is found in a small verse in the Book of Mormon. As you know, we believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God, another testament of Jesus Christ. Many other religions scorn us because of this book. But anyone who has actually read it will know that there is nothing in there that conflicts or contests the Bible. Many of the commandments and scriptures are nearly identical to what is found in the Bible.

But there is one small verse or scripture that truly sets us apart. Mosiah 3:19 reads, “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.”

In my eyes, nearly every commandment given in scripture is a directive, suggestion, or instruction on how to overcome the natural man or our natural instincts. For instance, the Ten Commandments include no coveting, no stealing, no murder, obey your parents, put God first. We are taught from infancy not to murder or steal (hopefully). Why are we taught these things? Because it is natural to do them.

More after the jump =>

Will we see the Mormon Moment reflected in baptism numbers?

2013-04-04T19:15:00.002-04:00

Cebu City, Philippines Mormon Temple

If you are one of my [awesome, welcome, much appreciated, fun, very cool] non-Mormon readers, the following post will require a bit of explanation. Keep reading, I explain things. If you are a Mormon, go ahead and jump down to the bold words.
Every year the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hold its Annual General Conference in the spring, and the Semi-Annual General Conference in the fall. It is held in the same sort of format any business or corporation might hold an annual meeting- key speakers, addresses from general officers, and the reading of membership numbers. It is held in 5 sessions over 2 days. And it feels a lot more like a church meeting than a corporate annual meeting.
You can learn more about it here-

General Conference is upon us. Sometimes we watch conference in hopes of hearing answers to questions in our hearts and minds. Sometimes we watch expecting to hear answers to questions we didn’t know we have yet. But this year, amongst the spiritual growth and knowledge I seek, I will look for one much more tangible piece of information. A detail I have never given much thought or consideration to before.
The annual reading of the numbers. It’s usually ignored, overlooked, forgotten, or read while I take a quick bathroom break, or go off in search of snacks. It is rarely the moment in conference that brings much clarity or enlightenment. But this year it is different.
There are several sets of numbers read off during the “Statistical Report.” The number of stakes, missions, districts, wards, membership, convert baptisms, missionaries, and temples, are read for the general membership. And this year I will be listening for two specific numbers- number of convert baptisms, and the number of full-time missionaries serving.
The reason for listening for the growth in full-time missionaries serving is fairly obvious. With the age change for missionary service, it is expected this number will have grown significantly. I look forward to hearing it!
But the number of convert baptisms may not be as obvious. (It’s a little too soon to see results from the increase in the number of missionaries.) I want to see if the campaign of former Governor Mitt Romney, the resulting “Mormon Moment,” and the new Church public relations and advertising campaign, has resulted in new baptisms.
A few weeks ago I sat down and looked up the past numbers over the last decade for convert baptisms and number of missionaries serving full-time missions. In case you would like to follow along with me, here they are-

    Convert Baptisms    Difference in Year Before    Percent of Change
May-02                        292,612
May-03                        283,138                                            (9,474)    -3%
May-04                        242,923                                          (40,215)    -14%
May-05                        241,239                                            (1,684)    -1%
May-06                        243,108                                               1,869     1%
May-07                        272,845                                            29,737     12%
May-08                        279,218                                               6,373     2%
May-09                        265,593                                          (13,625)    -5%
May-10                        280,106                                            14,513     5%
May-11                        272,814                                            (7,292)    -3%
May-12                        281,312                                               8,498     3%

I see no obvious pattern or expectation for growth (or decline) in the number of baptisms from year to year.

What is interesting is the very predictable growth in numbers of overall church membership. Over the last ten years the number for overall growth is consistently 2-3%.

Year    Overall Membership    New Members    Percent of Growth
May-02                         11,394,522
May-03                         11,721,548                    327,026     3%
May-04                         11,985,254                    263,706     2%
May-05                         12,275,822                    290,568     2%
May-06                         12,560,869                    285,047     2%
May-07                         12,868,606                    307,737     2%
May-08                         13,193,999                    325,393     3%
May-09                         13,508,509                    314,510     2%
May-10                         13,824,854                    316,345     2%
May-11                         14,131,467                    306,613     2%
May-12                         14,441,346                    309,879     2%

And as for missionary numbers? Not a lot of growth, or decrease, over the last 10 years. It's a pretty steady number, that seems to only fluctuate with birth rates.

	Missionaries
May-02	60,850
May-03	61,638
May-04	56,237
May-05	51,067
May-06	52,060
May-07	53,164
May-08	52,686
May-09	52,494
May-10	51,736
May-11	52,225
May-12	55,410

I don't know that there has been enough time yet to see if the "Mormon Moment" (which is the culmination of the Romney campaign and the Church PR blitz of the past year, not to mention the Broadway musical, "The Book of Mormon") to have truly have quantifiable numbers. I don't know that the Church really looks for a return on investment (ROI) when it does its campaigns. (Mormons, "the worth of souls is great in the sight of God" brings new meaning here, when deciding how exactly how you would calculate the ROI. "If it so be that ye should labor all your days, and bring but one soul unto me...") And then again, maybe the "Mormon Moment" doesn't have to pay off or result in baptisms. Maybe it just results in higher awareness and understanding of Mormons? (The marketing professional in me is having a field day comparing these things to marketing metrics.)
What do you think? And what do you think we'll hear in the numbers on Saturday afternoon?

Happy 43rd Wedding Anniversary to My Parents!

2013-04-03T00:00:00.002-04:00

Happy 43rd Anniversary to My Parents!

Pie Chart of My Brain

2013-04-02T23:44:00.000-04:00

Do you ever have so many things on your mind that you have to make a list of them so you don't forget what you were thinking about? It's not even a to-do list. It's just a list of things to think on? Or is that just me?
Well, there you have it. That's my life right now. There are tons of things to think about, but not that much going on. Well, nothing beyond the usual activities that is. But my brain is on overload with things to contemplate. I think having so many things to think about is the result of not thinking about dating/love/one particular man.
I'm a serial monogamist, but I take it even one step further. I can't get over or give up a guy until the next one comes along. Even if the relationship is dead and gone, I tend to not move on until there is something to move on to. The heart and mind are willing and open, but something has to occupy my thoughts until there is something new to think about.
But this time it is slightly different. I'm not even sure if I have ever successfully done it before. And the odd part is that I don't know that I am over the last one. Nonetheless, my thoughts have moved on. And the pie chart that is my brain suddenly has wedges for dozens of other topics, of which he is only a very small sliver. (He used to be a very large piece of the pie chart.)
So behold, Gentle Readers of the Internet, the inner workings of my mind for the past hour-

Adventures in Self-Publishing

2013-04-01T15:31:00.000-04:00

I finished and published "This Just In" a few weeks ago. Shortly after that I bought and downloaded my own book, so I could see it on my Nook. Funny thing happened.
It wasn't right.
The first paragraph of the first chapter was wrong.
So I went to Amazon and checked, and to Smashwords, and every other way possible. Somehow I had managed to publish the draft version of my book! And not the final copy!!
Don't ask me how it happened. It's a long story. A lot of it has to do with always trying to do writing and publishing stuff in my "free" time, which tends to happen after midnight. You know what else happens after midnight? Mistakes. Not to mention, it was a result of originally publishing unedited serial editions, group sourcing the edits, compiling them into one, and somehow accidentally not paying attention to the thing I swear I pay great attention to, and probably just giving files stupid names. Really, it was probably all because of the file names, and then deleting the old files, because at one time I had about 15 different files of the same book, and it was getting confusing.
I have spent the last 2-3 weeks re-editing my book all over again. (So not fun.) This was a TON of work. And I raised the price of the published version so that no one would want to buy it, and did nothing to promote it. Thereby hopefully reducing the chances of anyone buying the embarrassingly bad published version!
(I hang my head in shame!)
But the good news is that the newly revised and edited version is now up and running again! (And the crowd goes wild!) A few tiny discrepancies were fixed in addition to the grammar. (For instance, I corrected Hank's age between books 1&2. No one called me out on it (thankfully it's an incredibly minor detail), but with the details given in the two books, he would have been over 100 years old. Oops. You know what else no one called me out on? (And this one cracks me up. And also makes me think I can't trust any of those people who claimed they edited it!) Some of my funnier phonetic mistakes. I do most of my writing really late at night. And sometimes I get sleepy while I write and make really odd mistakes, most of them phonetic. I think the best one I found in the book was that I typed coffin instead of often. And no one told me. You know what mistake I never made though? There/their/they're and your/you're. Another mistake I make and have to double-check no matter what time of day I wrote it- passed/past. And my high school French teacher would be proud to know that I was consistent in writing blonde for a girl, and blond for a boy. Even though in English all that matters is that you pick one and stick with it.)

More after the jump =>

The Prayer of the Righteous

2013-03-28T09:19:00.001-04:00

"The song of the righteous is a prayer unto me..." Doctrine and Covenants 25:12
Sometimes I think Mormons like to make problems for themselves. There's always something they like to protest, and sometimes they like to raise a fuss over themselves. And apparently I can't stop myself from adding my 2 cents.
A few months ago it was whether or not women should wear pants in church. Now it is the rumor that a woman might pray in our general conference next week.
Here is some history for my non-Mormon friends (and for my Mormon friends who are lost as to why is this even a thing).
First, twice a year the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds an annual/semi-annual general conference, the first weekend in April, and the first weekend in October. It is a 2-ish day event, with several sessions. It is broadcasted around the world via satellite, and streamed on radio and internet. The week before the October session there is a "Relief Society General Conference," (the Relief Society being the women's auxiliary of the church, that just by virtue of being a woman over 18 you are automatically made a member of), and the week before the April session there is a Young Women's General Meeting (that will happen this Saturday night). These 2 meetings are considered to be portions of the actual General Conference itself, just held a week earlier. There are 4 sessions of the main conference, and 1 session (held on Saturday night) called Priesthood session (for the men, as only men hold the priesthood). Nothing said or held in these sessions is a secret. Like I said, they are broadcasted via satellite (you can probably pick it up in your local community on a public access channel, or even on BYU-TV if you have the right cable provider), and they are even printed in a magazine for anyone to buy and read in May/November.
This general conference has been taking place since the 1800s. In the early days of the conference, prayers were usually offered by the general authorities of the church, and occasionally by local priesthood leaders. Later the tradition turned to returned presidents of LDS missions and visiting stake (congregation) presidents. These are all positions held by priesthood leaders, and therefore, are all held by men. (If you want to have the "why don't women get to have the priesthood" conversation, we can discuss it. But honestly, it's a subject I am passionate about (why women do NOT have it, and don't need it), and really, I don't care to discuss it.) More recently general conference prayers have been offered by members of the church’s expanding Quorums of the Seventy. Women do speak in these conference meetings. Women are by no means excluded from leadership positions.
There was, in past years, a common belief/misbelief in the Church that women could not pray in certain church meetings. In the church handbook that is distributed to every congregational leader (the bishop), there is a line that says women are not to open or conduct priesthood meetings. Now to me this makes perfect sense. Let's compare it to something not as confusing as what may appear to be mystical and secretive as the priesthood. (Which it isn't, it just may seem that way to some people.)
If you were going to have a meeting of let's say accountants, where you would conduct business pertaining to accountants, and it was a meeting of the Official Association of Official Accountants, and you had to be a certified official accountant to be in that meeting, would you invite a doctor to come in and open and conduct the meeting? Or would you ask a member of the official association of official accountants to open and conduct the meeting? Probably not. Especially not if there was a rule in the handbook that said that meeting had to be opened and conducted by an official accountant, right?
So going back to priesthood meetings. If you were to hold a meeting of priesthood holders, would you invite a non-priesthood holder to open and/or conduct the meeting for you? Probably not.

More after the jump =>

The Price of Being Single

2013-03-24T20:17:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I reached my breaking point. I was desperate for social interaction, preferably with other Mormon singles. My local area does not have a singles program, so I rely on friends in other towns to keep me informed of activities. And as luck would have it, there was a singles activity taking place near one of my friends.
I had to drive a few hours to get there. I left at 8:30 a.m. and got home around 8:30 p.m. I spent about $50 in gas, plus $10 admission, and money for food. All in all, this singles activity took up 12 hours of my day, and cost me about $75.
$75 is a lot of money for a social outing, but especially so in my underemployed condition.
Was it worth it? Well... not really.
The activity itself was okay. I got to see my friend and chat with her, and that was nice. I don't think she will be offended though if I say that I wouldn't normally spend $75 just for the chance to hang out with her. I met some nice people at the activity, but nothing really important or interesting. It was mostly just chatting to pass the time. There were 15 women and 3 men there. If you are a Mormon single over 30, and not in a singles congregation, you probably are impressed with that number. 3 whole men! That's not a bad number! If you are not over 30, Mormon, and single, (or you are in an industrious and active singles ward), you probably are shocked that I would drive a round-trip 6 hours and spend $75 for those odds. Such is life as an old maid Mormon.
As for me, I just kind of feel like it wasn't a good use of my funds. It did get me out of the house, and I did get to see an historical site I have never visited before, so I can't complain too much. But mostly I wish I had my $75 back to buy a new dress or put into savings.
This is the cost of being single. You have no choice but to invest financially and hope for a payoff. But after so very many years of being single, I can't help but feel like I have made some very poor investment decisions. And maybe I should save my money rather than throw it after big dreams with poor returns.

Hey You! Check out my new novels, "You Heard It Here First" and the sequel "This Just In!"