Jan-Mar of 2018

January 2018

Michael cut off his tungue.
We wonder if he can feel pain because he was sucking on a lemon the next morning.

February 2018

We went under contract on a house on February 23.

March 2018

We closed on our first house.
Melissa's Grandmother, Monique Rollins (Grammy), Died on March 8, 2018.
Friends, the Beus Family, moved us into our new house while we where away in Boise ID for the funeral.

We Get Each Other

Brandon got back from the chiropractor and wanted to check if laughing still hurt.

I illustrated what happened next.

Open the image in a new tab so you can enlarge the image to read it.

Freedom or Stability?

Earlier this week my history class was discussing the Roman Empire.  One of the questions that my teacher brought forward was what is more important, freedom or stability?  About ten students answered and they all surprised me.  One after one, they responded that stability in a nation is more important.  There were maybe two that said that both were needed.  Upon hearing the question a Benjamin Franklin quote came to mind:  “Those who would give up essential liberty (read freedom) to purchase a little temporary safety (stability, security) deserve neither liberty nor safety.”  Have they all forgotten what this country is founded on?  Our Founding Fathers built this country on the basis of personal and individual freedoms.  The Bill of Rights itself lays out what they believed to be some of the most important rights as American citizens.  We have the freedom to say what is on our minds, the freedom to worship God in our own way, the freedom to defend our families.  Stability means that you know what is going to happen, you're sure about things.  Prisoners have stability because they can do the same things day after day and not worry about much change.  Slavery provides stability.  Living off of others means you don't have to worry about where your food and money will come from.  

Looking back even further into our past we have the great war in Heaven.  Our Heavenly Father presented a plan to all of us.  His plan was for us to come to Earth, use our free agency to learn and grow, then return to His presence.  This plan was to be accomplished through a savior and redeemer, giving us the opportunity to choose repentance.  Another plan was offered.  This plan consisted of our agency being taken away, but every single child of God was guaranteed to return to His presence.  The scriptures say that a third part of the hosts of Heaven chose the plan of stability.  They chose to give away their freedom for the knowledge that regardless of what happened, they were guaranteed the ticket to return home.  Why is freedom so important to Heavenly Father?  Why does it play such an essential part of His plan?  Why does He want it to be important to us?  Why are so many of us ready and willing to give away our freedoms to gain a little stability?

Through the proper use of freedom, it is possible to gain stability in this life.  But once you have lost that freedom for stability, it is very difficult to gain it back.  By the way, it turns out that one of the reasons for the fall of the Romans is because the people relied on the stability of the government for their livelihoods.

What would you give up for stability?

What would you give up for your freedom?

Since February

Brandon was flooding his Facebook account with gun related posts and since he spends so much time thinking about guns I thought that he should write a blog instead of spamming his friends and families news feeds with his gun related thoughts. Instead of just having a gun blog he decided to make an us blog. He posted four times in February and since we share the blog he has been waiting for me to post something.

I felt obligated to write my first post as synopsis of my life to match Brandon's first post. But I guess I'll save that for later because I still have not gotten around to writing it.

Since February:

March- Kaelyn had her first birthday.

April- I graduated from Brigham Young University with a Bachelor of Art. 

July- Attended two Mitchell family reunions. 

August- Attended my cousin Stephen Rollins' wedding in Saint George Utah.

Now it is September. Brandon is back in school and even thought I have had all summer I am still learning how to keep my house clean.

Upcoming Events:

October- Brandon and mine 3rd wedding anniversary. (Our plan is to go 4-wheeling in the mountains)

November- Thanksgiving in Iowa with Brandon's brother Steven and his family. The plan is to get there by train. Should be an adventure!

December- Christmas with my family

January- Our second child is due. :)

That's is what we are up to.

Piers Morgan: "Why would any American need an AR?"

A couple weeks ago, CNN's Piers Morgan made headlines when he started his anti-gun rampage.  Since then, he has asked many famous people on his talk show exactly why any American would need such a gun as an AR-15.  I would like to give my reasons as to why they should not be banned.

1.  Great home defense weapon.  Many, if not all, of you know that one of the biggest focuses in my life is the defense of my family and those around me.  The absolute worst thing that could happen to me is to know that harm came to others when I could have stopped it.  The AR platform is extremely versatile and easily customized.  This makes for a great home defense weapon because ANYONE can shoot it.  Our VP Joe Biden recently said to his wife “You don’t need an AR-15—it’s harder to aim, it’s harder to use, and in fact you don’t need 30 rounds to protect yourself... if you feel threatened, go get the double barrel shotgun, run out to the balcony and fire two shots.”  A shotgun is a good home defense weapon.  You aim in the general direction and tiny metal balls fly out in a scattered pattern.  The problem though, how many women feel confident and comfortable shooting a 12 gauge shotgun? I know some guys that aren't man enough to shoot a 12 gauge.  The recoil can be seriously painful for some people, especially smaller framed women.  The military originally adopted the M16 (full automatic version of the AR-15) because it was light, easy to aim, low recoil, and anyone could easily fire it!  Can you describe a 12 gauge shotgun in the same way?  I don't think so.  The other problem with Uncle Joe's logic, it is illegal in many states to randomly fire ammunition into the air.  In fact, it's a felony in the state of Arizona.  Did our vice president just advise his wife to commit a felony?

2.  Ammunition is (was) cheap.  Most AR-15s fire the .223 Remington or 5.56 Nato round.  For all intensive purposes, they're practically the same round.  This round is used extensively in the military and thus is very cheap and widely available.  Before I advise anyone to keep a loaded weapon next to their bed for protection, they must become extremely familiar with said weapon and practice regularly.  Practicing regularly is much easier with cheap ammunition.  That's why I carry the 9mm, I can actually afford to practice with it.  

3.  Combining 1 and 2, anyone can easily train with it in order to prepare for worst case scenarios.  The same can be said about .22 rifles.  They are also cheap to buy and shoot, but the .223 just has that much more power behind it to make it effective.  Plus the AR just looks scary.  One of my favorite features on many ARs is the collapsible stock.  This means that I, with my long arms, can comfortably shoot it.  At the same time, my 9 year old nephew can also shoot it.  The more everyone shoots it, the better prepared everyone will be.

4.  A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed

"No free man shall ever be debarred the use of arms. The strongest reason for the people to retain the right to keep and bear arms is, as a last resort, to protect themselves against tyranny in government"

-- Thomas Jefferson, 1 Thomas Jefferson Papers, 334
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
-- Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759.

"The very atmosphere of firearms anywhere and everywhere restrains evil interference - they deserve a place of honor with all that's good"

-- George Washington

"One of the ordinary modes, by which tyrants accomplish their purposes without resistance, is, by disarming the people, and making it an offense to keep arms."

-- Constitutional scholar Joseph Story, 1840

"Among the many misdeeds of the British rule in India, history will look upon the act of depriving a whole nation of arms, as the blackest."

-- Mahatma Gandhi

I love this one:

"As to the species of exercise, I advise the gun. While this gives [only] moderate exercise to the body, it gives boldness, enterprise, and independence to the mind. Games played with the ball and others of that nature, are too violent for the body and stamp no character on the mind. Let your gun, therefore, be the constant companion to your walks."

-- Thomas Jefferson, writing to his teenaged nephew.

"Taking my gun away because I might shoot someone is like cutting my tongue out because I might yell `Fire!' in a crowded theater."

-- Peter Venetoklis

...Virtually never are murderers the ordinary, law-abiding people against whom gun bans are aimed. Almost without exception, murderers are extreme aberrants with lifelong histories of crime, substance abuse, psychopathology, mental retardation and/or irrational violence against those around them, as well as other hazardous behavior, e.g., automobile and gun accidents."

-- Don B. Kates, writing on statistical patterns in gun crime

"Today, we need a nation of Minutemen, citizens who are not only prepared to take arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as the basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom."

-- John F. Kennedy

"A militia, when properly formed, are in fact the people themselves ... and include all men capable of bearing arms."

-- Senator Richard Henry Lee, 1788, on "militia" in the 2nd Amendment

"...quemadmodum gladius neminem occidit, occidentis telum est." [...a sword never kills anybody; it's a tool in the killer's hand.]

-- (Lucius Annaeus) Seneca "the Younger" (ca. 4 BC-65 AD)

False is the idea of utility that sacrifices a thousand real advantages for one imaginary or trifling inconvenience; that would take fire from men because it burns, and water because one may drown in it; that has no remedy for evils except destruction. The laws that forbid the carrying of arms are laws of such a nature. They disarm only those who are neither inclined nor determined to commit crimes. 

-- Cesare Beccaria, as quoted by Thomas Jefferson's Commonplace book

No kingdom can be secured otherwise than by arming the people. The possession of arms is the distinction between a freeman and a slave.

-- "Political Disquisitions", a British republican tract of 1774-1775

The spirit of resistance to government is so valuable on certain occasions, that I wish it always to be kept alive. It will often be exercised when wrong, but better so than not to be exercised at all. I like a little rebellion now and then. It is like a storm in the Atmosphere.

-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Abigail Adams, 1787

& what country can preserve its liberties, if its rulers are not warned from time to time that his people preserve the spirit of resistance? Let them take arms.

-- Thomas Jefferson, letter to Col. William S. Smith, 1787

"To disarm the people... was the best and most effectual way to enslave them."

-- George Mason, speech of June 14, 1788

Need I say more?  A lot of quotes from our founding fathers talking about the American citizens maintaining the right to bear arms, not for hunting or sport, but in defense of our country from our own government.  If they expect us to be able to properly control our government, they expect us to have the weapons capable of doing it.  Single shot .22s simply will not suffice.

Changing Standards?

A couple days ago, I was sitting in class listening to my Quality Systems teacher talking about weights and standards of measurement.  I started to ponder on the meaning of the word "standard" and how it applies into daily living.  A standard serves as the basis by which all other things are compared.  The picture above shows a few weights, the largest being the kilogram.  The kilogram has remained the same for hundreds of years and most likely will remain the same for the next couple hundred years.  That's exactly what makes it a standard of measurement, it does not change.  This is in great contrast to the methods of measurement in biblical times.  The cubit for example, was the distance from a person's elbow to the tip of the fingers.  Now I don't mean to brag, but my cubit is longer than the average person's cubit.  Other examples include inches and feet.  Don't quote me on this, but I heard that the inch was supposedly the length of some king's nose and the foot was the length of some other king's foot.  Such precision!  All three of these measurements at one time were simply relative to the person and the situation.  Fortunately, mankind has been able to standardize these measurements to make them easier for comparison purposes.  Now the real questions, can standards change and why does it even matter?

Take a look back 50 years (if possible).  What has changed in this world?  In the media alone, 50 years ago it was extremely rare to ever hear vulgar language.  It was much more rare to see single, teenage mothers.  People knew and had respect for others.  Divorce rate was low.  Criminals were punished according to their crimes.

Now.  Drug problems everywhere.  Everyone should experiment.  Gang problems everywhere.  It's okay, he's just acting out.  Pornography all over the place within reach of little children.  It's okay, he's just a little curious.  Boys will be boys.  Language, violence, bloodshed throughout the media.  Hey, I didn't teach them those words.  Half of all marriage end in divorce.  I just don't love you anymore.  More and more couples living together without getting married.  I just don't want to commit to something that is bound to end.  Single, teenage mothers raising children by themselves because the men leave or didn't care to begin with.  Remember that one night?  People falling out of love faster than they fell in love.  It's just not the same as it used to be.  Peoples' clothing gets tighter and more revealing.  I wear a bikini because it's more comfortable than a one piece.  AND THE WORLD SEES ALL OF THIS AS NORMAL AND FINE!

What happened to our standards?  I have heard people say that standards and morals are relative, they just depend on the person and the situation.  WRONG!  What are you measuring against?  Are you measuring against someone's nose or foot, or are you measuring against a standardized kilogram?  I was taught from the time I was a baby that our standards are based on God's law.  God is as the kilogram:  infinite, eternal, non-changing, the same yesterday, today, and forever.  Is man more powerful than our Heavenly Father that they can change His law?  I wouldn't even dare to attempt it, but that is what the world is trying.

Please don't mistake me for a "I am holier than thou art" type of person.  I am not perfect, but I believe that I was taught proper standards and principles based on God's law.  Sometimes I fall short and I make a mistake.  That is why Heavenly Father, in his infinite wisdom, sent his son Jesus Christ to atone for our sins and allow us the opportunity to repent.

Now I ask each of you to take a look at yourselves.  What are you measuring your life against?  Are you basing the comparison on eternal principles of truth or on a passing fad?

The Night of the Living Jaws

Two posts in one day, wow I must be bored.

Due to my job as a security officer, I'm not allowed to talk about my job very much.  However, every now and then I have a good story.  This one I call "The scariest night at the studio" or "The night of the living Jaws."
Since I started working here over a year and a half ago, I have worked every Friday night from 5 pm to 4 am.  One afternoon last year, I show up to work like normal at 5 pm.  The guard in the booth asked me if I had seen the police bulletin, which I had not.  He shows me an official document from the police department.  They're searching for a man that is 6' 8" tall, mid 30s, schizophrenic, off his medication, looking for guns, and I quote "intending to kill someone."  To add to this lovely mental image, the bulletin had his mug shot and he literally looked like Jaws from the old James Bond movies.
I'm not very heavy, in fact I'm pretty light weight, but I do have a height advantage.  Because of my height, I'm fairly confident in my ability to defend myself.  Things don't typically scare me.  Schizophrenic off medication... a little scary.  Schizophrenic that's off medication and bigger than me... pretty scary.  Oh yes, forgot to mention, he was reportedly hiding out in the woods on the studio property.  Scared?  Heck yes!  I had to spend 11 hours at night by myself on the property making regular checks through the forest area.  I'm pretty sure I didn't even blink that whole night out of fear that he would jump me.  While making my rounds I would imagine(?) seeing him at the end of a dirt road or imagine him jumping out from behind a tree to attack me on my little electric cart.  Fortunately, I made it through the night alive.  The next guard came on duty at 4 am.  I told him about the bulletin and the night's events.  He just thought that I was joking.  After changing out of my uniform I noticed that he had already left to do his hourly rounds.  Completely relaxed I headed out to my pickup to go home.  I opened the door.  Suddenly there was a loud "thud" on the outside of my open door.  My thoughts:  something fell out of the tree and the wind pushed it horizontally into my door (no wind)... well maybe the other guard is playing a trick... why take the chance?... get in, get in, close the door! I quickly turned on the headlights and saw nothing but the grass and trees.  I quickly left for home to attempt sleeping.
I returned that evening for my next shift.  The guards told me that a couple hours after I left, a few police cars showed up full of officers to do a manhunt.  It took them about two hours to find him sitting on the side of the Provo River (the studio's property line).
It has been proven that he was on our property throughout the night.  The guard wasn't playing a trick on me, so did Jaws throw something at my door to get my attention or was it something else?

Anyways, that's probably the most eventful thing that has happened to me as a guard.  Fun stuff.