How sweet the feeling!

It has been a long time since I blogged. I was under the impression that I would have plenty of time to blog and also work and go to school full time. I was wrong.....dead wrong. So I stepped away from the blogospehere and buried my nose in the books. This book in particular. 

I went back to school to obtain my Bachelors degree in Forensic Accounting, and am thrilled to report that I graduated a few weeks ago.  YIPEEEE!!! I should have completed this degree many moons ago but didn't, and there is no sense crying over spilled milk. I've done it now and am very proud of myself. 

I get asked a lot what a Forensic Accountant does. Well here are a few definitions for you that should help. 

Forensic accountants are trained to look beyond the numbers and deal with the business reality of a situation. They are frequently used in fraud cases.


Forensic Accounting utilizes accounting, auditing, and investigative skills to conduct an examination into a company's financial statements. Thus, providing an accounting analysis that is suitable for court.
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I am a people person and so the accounting field wasn't something I thought would be social enough. My dad is a CPA and I also have a younger brother who just passed the exam and is a CPA also. You can certainly say I come from a family of bean counters. I steered clear of accounting but the Forensic aspect of it has become a highly sought after degree. I looked in to it and decided that I would be a great Forensic Accountant. What a great learning experience it has been. I enjoyed all my classes and looked forward to the lectures. I set a goal to get nothing less than A's and am happy to report I achieved that goal. IT WAS NOT EASY.....but I never wavier(d) and stuck to it. I spent many, many early mornings studying. ( I am not a night person but rather a morning person) Going to school while working full time and still being a father was a difficult task. My family was extremely supportive and my wife in particular was a stalwart. She would always ask me how school was going and if I needed to study. She tried very hard to make sure the home was a place for learning. You can never thank a supportive spouse enough, all you can do is live a life worthy of her sacrifices on your behalf. 

This is my beautiful wife

Now.....no rest for the weary they say ( I think), so starting next month I will begin graduate studies and get my MBA. My ultimate goal is to become a CPA also and in Utah you need a masters degree to qualify for the CPA exam. So the journey down the road of higher education is not over for me. I am not sad about that either, I like to learn and love to read and watch documentaries. This was not always the case. In high school I liked the social aspect A LOT more than the learning angle. It was a fun party for me and homework and studying was only getting in the way of my awesome social life. It's a good thing I broke that bad habit and took education seriously because my Bachelors degree would have eaten me alive. Much like a fire breathing dragon consumes everything in front of it.

I wasn't going to post a picture but that is a very good picture to assert my feelings. 

It has been fun to blog again, and of course my life has not consisted of only school since my last blog. I have a son driving now, a 14 year old daughter that is darn gorgeous and last but definitely not least is my little 4 year old Kynleigh. She is a fire cracker and will keep Caryn and I young. 

My wonderful kids!

Birthdays

All three of my children have recently had a birthday. It makes a father reflect on how he is doing and think back to where the past year has gone. My son turns 15 today. He is a great young man and really the best son a father and mother could ask for. He works very hard at all aspects of his life. He gets great grades in school and excels on the soccer field. Many times his team will turn to him for leadership and direction when the going gets tough. He doesn't like the attention and would prefer to be in the back ground and let the others have the attention. Sometimes that isn't easy when you are a bright shining star. Happy Birthday son!

                                                    
Speaking of bright shining stars my universe would be incomplete without these two stars. Brieanna turned 13 in September and Kynleigh turned 3 also. What wonderful girls these two are. Brieanna is a wonderful teenager and always does the right thing. Many times she will point out that she would rather make a different choice because that is what she feels the Savior wants. She also is the balancing rod in the family. Her parents appreciate her for that.
Kynleigh is all over the place and a typical 3 year old. I am keeping my eye on her extra close because I think she is going to be my child that stretches me the furthest. She is extremely bright and knows all the letters in the alphabet and can also write her name. She also is able to speak very well and tries to reason with you.  It reminds me of a lawyer offering a plea bargain. This picture I have posted is of her and Brieanna at Lagoon (local amusement park) Kynleigh is very brave and will ride all the rides you put her on.  Her outlook on life is very free and easy. She will probably pull up one day at a family reunion riding a Harley motorcycle and introduce us to her "friend" Slash and his buddy Knuckles. Regardless she is the last of the Domans and provides our family with pure abundance and joy.

Patience

I am not a patient person at all. My family will confirm that and easily provide you with numerous examples. I need to learn patience though. After spending 39 years (almost) on this earth I think I have finally learned one of the most important factors to being a successful person. You must be patient.
 

So how do you learn patience. Is there a manual? A class I can take? People told me that my kids will teach me patience but that hasn't happened. Either I am really clueless or I have the best kids. (it's the latter, my kids are pure gold)


I've ponder this patience thing all day and have realized I am just going to have to be patient while I learn patience.

Weekend thoughts

Today is my step dads birthday. I would be remiss to not start off the blog today and send a shout his way and wish Barry a happy birthday. I hope you get to ride your horse all day long and maybe even get to go rustle up some grub at your favorite choke and puke.


Beary riding a horse :)

Weekends are fun. I like them. I am always busy so rarely do I get to be lazy but I'm doing things I like to do. Tyler had a soccer tournament this morning and the wind was blowing very hard. My mom HATES the wind and I HATED the wind this morning. It made it very cold and then I get grumpy and want to kill baby seals and stuff like that.

You better hope I'm not grumpy my little fury friend.

I had a good week at work. I have a wonderful job as a financial planner. I help people afford to go to college. It's the type of job that suites me very well. I get to meet people everyday and talk with them. I love to talk. One part of the job that can be hard is choosing to take the moral high ground. Now hear me out here. I am in no way perfect and trust me, The moral high ground has not been my choice at times BUT when you deal with peoples money you really have to choose the moral high ground. Ask Bernie Madoff for some examples if you need them.


I make it a point to be very honest with my customers and try everything in my power to explain things to them in basic language so there is no misunderstanding. I witnessed this week the opposite and I knew that the moral high ground had not been chosen. One of my co-workers took the blame for something that they had no part in but to protect her boss(he's my boss also) she made the decision to "fall on the sword" I had a very hard time watching this and not saying anything. I don't have a dog in the fight so I have to be careful about my involvement. I did however talk to the boss before leaving the office yesterday and gave him a challenge to think about what he did over the weekend and then on Monday he can make a decision to choose the moral high ground or not. I hope me makes the right choice. It will be a hard choice because he will have to admit guilt and eat crow but the dirty laundry can then be put in the wash and he can move forward with a clean conscience. Maybe that was a bold move on my part but it would have come at no surprise to him that I would speak to him about it. He knows I will not condone poor behavior. So that is my weekend thought. A little deep and troubling but sometimes the Lord will put challenges in front of us and let us respond. It's great to have free agency and when the correct choice is made you are truley free.

Happy St. Patricks Day!

I'll use a green font since it is St. Patricks day today. I hope it's a great day for everyone and you get to enjoy as many pints as you want. Caryns Cuties (Our daycare business) is having green pancakes this morning to celebrate. They also will be making green cupcakes later this afternoon. I told Caryn to feed the kids Corn Beed and Cabbage for lunch but she said that would not be a good idea. As for me I will have me a big heaping bowl of creamed spinach for lunch. YUM!

I felt like this yesterday. Just didn't have a lot of motivation. I slept horribly on Tuesday night so I didn't even get to the gym yesterday morning BUT that was yesterday and today is a good day and I feel GREAT. I hit the gym this morning. 5:30 am is a good time to see the world. My daughter brieanna goes with me and so does my son Tyler. It's a great time. I have a love affair with the treadmill. We are tight.
March Madness begins today. I am very excited about that. I have filled out 4 different brackets and I am bound to get my picks right on one of them. It's a great time of the year!

INTRODUCTIONS

Welcome to my blog. I have thought a lot about starting a blog but always felt that it might be more of a "girl" thing. Well I am no girl! I am as manly as Rosie O'Donnell.



Whoa!

 Man that Rosie is a long stretch of bad road if you ask me. I just puked in my mouth.
ANYWAY! So here we are, just you and I, maybe your naked maybe your not. I was naked but when I posted that pic of Rosie I put my clothes back on. It just didn't feel as nice as before. This blog is going to be fun. I hope it will be funny and also I hope it is uplifting. My humor is different. I am very witty but also like to change on a dime and become serious. You'll have to do your best to keep up.



So lets begin!

Yes I am only able to see out of one eye. I have a birth defect called Toxoplasmosis. My mom gave it to me when I was in her belly living rent free. It can come from all sorts of places and my mom didn't give it to me on purpose of course. Most people who have gone to school for a long time think it comes from cat poop. I don't doubt it. I hate cats and think they should only be near me if hot off the BBQ with a side of corn on the cob.



You can hold a lot of BBQ cat in there I bet

Now for all you cat lovers out there....simmer down! I've never eaten cat before (I have had Chinese food though) I think cat has a lot of Carbs and Sugar so I avoid it. Which leads me to my next ailment. I am Type 2 Diabetic. I was diagnosed about 2 years ago and it was a big kick in the trunk and berries. I really don't know why it was a surprise though. I drank Mt. Dew by the gallon and ate like I was Joey Chestnut.



Meet Joey

So really it's my own fault, in fact almost everything that happens to us in life is our fault. The Diabetes is nasty and I fight with her everyday. How do I know Diabetes is female? I don't but it's a good guess. I was digging my own grave with a fork before the 'betes. Now I make a large effort everyday to watch what I eat and make sure I don't over eat. It's a lovely situation.

Well it's time to end this post. It was nice to meet you and I hope to see you often.