If they build it...we will come!

This year has been pretty awesome so far! Johnny and I are hard at work in our master's programs and are working hard in our jobs. I decided to take a break from school at the end of this month and focus on Johnny getting his master's degree...he can't wait until he thinks he can go by "Master Johnny Mills".... :) I will be graduating with my Master's grad certificate in HR at the end of June. That way, if I do want to go back to school later, I will only need to go for one year to get my MBA.
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We also are in the process of building a town home. Below is a picture of the model. We will be on an end unit so it will be great to have a little bit of side yard and to only share one wall while still getting an awesome deal! Side note...it is up from where they are building the Traverse Mountain Outlet Mall...this is good news for me and bad news for Johnny :)

We also picked out our colors a couple months ago. The main floor bathroom and kitchen counters come with granite at base price so I am excited for that. We are also getting darker cabinets throughout the house and a fireplace on the main floor...super cozy during the winter time for sure :)



So far it has been kind of frustrating because ground was supposed to be broken in May but now the construction company should be breaking ground on Tuesday, June 12th and they said our portion will be finished by August 31st, so we will see. I am so antsy to get into our new home and hope that we will be able to call it HOME SWEET HOME sooner rather than later! :)

My dad said that building/buying a house is a pain, and so far he is right. He says that when we move in and spend the first night at our new place...it will have all been worth it. And parents are always right... :)

In conclusion: If they build it, we will come.

Everything happens for a reason :)

This weekend was definitely bitter-sweet for Johnny and I. We went up to Rexburg this weekend to see Kim, Josh and Morgen. It was a lot of fun being able to see my family :) When we got in on Friday, I had the opportunity to go clean the Rexburg Temple sealing rooms with Morgen and I believe that it helped me to cope with what happened next. On Saturday night around midnight, I got really sick and could not fall asleep...a couple hours later, I miscarried our Baby Mills at 9 weeks. I was definitely in shock at first, but over the last couple days, I can't help but feel peace within me.

I know that everything happens for a reason. Johnny and I feel blessed for the love and support of our family and friends and we know that this experience will help us to better prepare for the future. We know that this isn't the end of the world and we know that when the time is truly right, we will be blessed to have children come into our lives. Until then, we will continue to be optimistic and look to the future. As Johnny always tells me, "Find joy in your journey".

Social Networking banned at work???

With the world getting more and more tech. savvy more people are turning to the internet to share their messages and sell their products. However, statistics from Robert Half Technology show that 54% of companies still ban their employees from using Twitter, Facebook and Linkedin!

While it may be true that employees may use these social networking for their personal lives, social media is becoming more and more widely used for public relations, advertising and marketing. I think that if social media could help promote the company's products or help spread a message about the company's values, it would be good for all employees to be on these social networks.

Other statistics from Nucleus Research have said that companies allowing Facebook in the workplace drops employee productivity 1.5 percent. I think it is important to know that giving employees full access to social media won't increase productivity unless they know the reasons why the company allows it. Companies should have:

• an understanding of the benefit of using social media to better the company by having meetings and tutorials on how to use these tools.
  
• rules and guidelines in using social media at work. Perhaps only using social media for research and company purposes.
  
• all employees keep a twitter or blog that talks about the company in a good light.
  

To ban social media totally may not help a company. It could paralyze them. Companies that are succeeding in this world are the ones that are adapting to new technology.

For example, Comcast now uses Twitter in providing customer service because that is where the conversation is headed. People don't call 1-800 numbers as much because there is a stigma about automated voices and unhelpful customer service people. They vent about the service, provided or not provided, on their social networking sites!

Indeed, employees need to actually "work" on the job, but once companies realize where the conversation is headed, they should not fight it, but join in!

Citations:

http://www.businessweek.com/managing/content/jan2009/ca20090113_373506.htm
http://www.wired.com/epicenter/2009/10/study-54-of-companies-ban-facebook-twitter-at-work/

An Introduction to Communicationism

This summer, I was home from college working. I came and sat in the living room one night and looked around the room at my family members. There in the corner by the fireplace and wide-screen, high-def. TV sat my 16 year old sister. She had one headphone in her ear, one eye at the TV and the other on her computer screen where she checked email, chatted with friends and checked out her Facebook account. While all this was going on, she also was texting on her cell phone.

I couldn't help but laugh at how silly she looked trying to multitask with all those forms of communication devices. I looked back at when i was younger. I remember when my father brought home our first family computer and put the program AOL Online on it. It was beautiful! I remember entering my sign-on information and leaving to do something else for 20 minutes because of the dial-up connection, but I was fine with that!

It's amazing to see how far we have come in this world. Before the Guttenburg Printing Press, books were scarce and therefore, ideas themselves were scarce. What a miracle it is after more than 600 years later, that we have countless ways to communicate and share ideas.

dusting off the blog

Ok. so i am going to start being an awesome blogger and try posting a few times a week instead of a year and a HALF at a time! :) So in the last year and a half, I got married to the most wonderful man in the world, Johnny Lee Mills! I am really happy to have him in my life and to be able to start building our life together in our shoe box. :) It is a rather nice shoe box so I don't complain! We just call it that! :)

Right now, johnny and I are finishing up our last couple semesters of school. Johnny is taking 18 credits a semester, working part time and has a major calling in our ward at church. I can't believe all the sacrifices he is making for us and our future! I am very grateful for him! We are looking forward to graduating in July!

The scary part for me is not knowing where we are headed after school is out, but i know the Lord will direct us for the greater good! sidenote: i miss my family :( hahahaha!

In other news, Nicole has turned 16....scary! I still remember her as my short, bright, blond-haired, blue-eyed sister skipping home from school. Now she is growing up into a beautiful and talented young lady! *tear*

Kim has been having such a good semester in all of her classes and just found out she is going to Europe next fall semester! I am very excited for her. I also told her I would give her some money to buy me something European! LOL! She always picks out the best things so I trust her to pick me out something that I would like! She is awesome like that!

Kristi is in middle school now! What a big step she has taken! I am very proud of her for all she does! She is beautiful and sweet! I also really admire her singing talent and the time she has taken to improve her other talents...her guitar playing! She really admired Kim playing the guitar, so she decided to pick it up! She got a guitar for Christmas and she was so thrilled, that she started crying! I didn't expect that-She is truly inspiring!

Previous Writings...

These entries below were written before we had this blog set up!

March 29, 2009

Yesterday, Johnny & I recieved our endowments. It was a wonderful experience. It was good to see so many of my family members including my grandparents, cousin and aunt and uncle there to support me. Also, i was so happy that Johnny had friends there to support him as well. They are good guys and I am glad they could be there for Johnny.

Then today, I went up and bore my testimony about the temple and the truthfulness of the teachings inside therein. I also talked about how i knew christ had suffered for our sins. I related the atonement to something i read in a book called "Man´s search for meaning". Viktor Frankl said that without meaning in life, our suffering would be pure suffering and nothing more. But once the suffering has meaning to it, it becomes sacrifice. This was a powerful statement to me because i related it to the atonement Christ performed. It was sacrifice because there is meaning to his suffering; so that we may become whole again and perfect.

After my testimony, Johnny went up and bore his testimony and it was very sweet and wonderful. He talked about his experience at the temple and what a blessing it was to have people around him to share it with. What really got me was when he said he thought he would never have a family to go through the temple with, but now look at him!

We have just under 2 weeks left until we are married and we are getting more and more excited to be sealed together for time and all eternity!

March 26, 2009

Today is the start of our blog! Johnny and I are getting married in 17 days! It's so crazy to believe how fast time has gone over these last 7 months! We have been studying and trying to get wedding preparations complete for the "big day"! Johnny has been working really hard in school along with a job and full-time church calling (until Sunday when he got released from his executive secretary job)! Things are finally coming down to the wire so these next two weeks will be filled with laughter, tears, no sleep and quick meals!

Johnny and I are also really excited because we have the opportunity to go to the temple to recieve our endowments! It will be wonderful to have that experience and we are looking forward to it!

I need to get better at updating this thing...!!!