What are your odds? I am amazed at the possibilities.

Are you:

> Unemployed?
> Under-employed?
> Not enjoying your day job?
> Interested in doing something different?
> Making as much money as you want to make?

If any of those questions fit you, and you're female, then this note could be a potential life changer for you: but, only if you are serious about what I'm about to lay out. Consider this scenario - What are your odds in your CURRENT employment situation that you will be making say $7,000-$10,000 a month 3-5 years from now? What I've learned from my wife's experiences with starting her own Network Marketing businzess in August 2011 is the following:

> If you enjoy throwing parties with your family and friends
> If you are very outgoing
> If you love to talk and meet people
> If you believe in your product...

Then you can be very successful in the Network Marketing arena. (It's a well known fact that being good at sales -of anything- can lead to very high income due to commissions)

In mid-July, my wife signed up to sell a line of products from a company that specializes in purses, totes, lunch bags, organizers etc. She had her first "Party" on Aug 1, 2011. About 10 of her friends showed up. The party lasted from 6:30-8:30 PM.

She sold products and as a result earned a $200 commission check. Holy Cow! That's $100/hour for hanging out with your friends and getting to eat some snacks. Not to mention getting some free products of her own just from hosting the party!

With the current state of today's economy, why rely on an employer to pay you, when you can earn more money, working from home, setting your own hours, and having fun? For the Stay At Home Mom, this is a fantastic way to add to your household income. For the working mom this is also a great way to bolster your income by doing this on the side.

As I said earlier, you must have the ability to get out there and talk to people and sell your product (by hosting parties, and helping your friends, and their friends host parties). The process is pretty simple.

The final though is this - Think about how many people you can help if you had more money. Not only that, you are actually helping your family and friends by providing them a means to earn money in a down economy as well. There are a lot of people in our community who are still in distress from the April tornadoes. Being able to provide financial assistance to local churches and organizations who are actively providing relief efforts is a tremenduous blessing. We have personally been working with 3 Decatur churches off and on since April, and now that we have this extra income, we'll be able to help even more. It's not -all about the money- , but honestly if you don't have any money, it's hard to help in times of need (think Food and Supplies).

Let me know if you'd like more info!

1 month into it.

A lot has happened since the last post. On March 25 we paid off our house. That's the biggest news.

Brayden is really talking a lot now. Today Grandpa and Grandma got him a bike, but had to order it. It should be in soon. This morning was the first time he said "I love you" as I was leaving for work. I love that little guy so much!

I've gotten a bunch of new furniture for the home office. Jawana and I put it together. It looks awesome.

Also over the past month, I've pretty much gotten rid of just about all my old music gear and just last weekend, sold both of my old camcorders. I'm trying to get rid of stuff obviously, while raising money to get new stuff. I've still got to get: a new keyboard - looking at the Yamaha Motif XF8, build a new computer, and maybe get one more camcorder to go with the Sony NX5U I recently got. Fun times.

Growing up too fast and hacking phones.

For Christmas, my wife got me one of those custom calendars from like wal mart that has family pictures and such in it. I was looking through it and can't believe that my son will be 3 years old this year! Man, I just love that little guy so much!

You'd think that with me, being the multimedia producer that I am, I'd have kept a better record of his years of life thus far. But alas, I have not. I have spent several days trying to get together all of his pictures from his first 2 years of life, so I can make a picture book. My plan is to do one for each year of his life, and I'm gonna be 3 years behind if I don't get caught up! This is going to be a fun project! I have to do the same thing for video too! Lots of work to be done.

In other news, I'm still writing some custom curriculum for a photograhy training class I am planning on teaching ... one day. I had hoped to kind of be further along than I am right now, but we've had a variety of goings-on that have kind of delayed me.

In even other news, I  think I'm going to slightly re-do my website (http://www.kyleroot.com/) so I can feature both the photography class, and maybe go ahead and start offering guitar lessons too.

So, last night Brayden and I built a block structure. That was so much fun. He was very helpful. We also played Wii Bowing and Mario Kart. He is  so addicted to video games already. I hope he doesn't like get ADD from it. I've got to get back to working on him with his coloring and drawing. I've been kind of a slacker over the Christmas holiday.

In even other news, I'm such a geek, I hacked my cell phone (Palm Pre) so I can use it as a wi-fi hotspot. So now, wheve ever I go, I can get online with my laptop if I have a 3G signal, which is about everywhere I go. I also got a couple apps that let me overclock the phones processor from the stock 500MHz up to 1GHz. That thing zips along now! I hope Sprint makes this area a 4G region soon and that HP/Palm releases a 4G smart phone. I'd be all over that. Sure the original Palm Pre is a little lackluster being 2 years old, but the Operating System (WebOS 1.4.5 currently) is pretty good. It's much more intuitive than Andriod IMO. It's hard to compare it to iOS because that is on Rev 4 already. But still, even at 1.4.5 it can do stuff that Apple's Rev 4 can't so go figure. Apple makes great products, but they are just too limiting for me and my needs.

Guess I'm going to get back to some graphics work now.

Happy New Year!

2010 was an exciting year for me and 2011 is going to be even better.

I have been toying with the idea of teaching a photography class and still in the back of my mind have the idea of one day teaching guitar. I probably should have done guitar first, but with the proliferation of digital cameras, it seems to make more sense to offer a beginner's photography class and teach those who don't understand how to use their point and shoot or DSLR.

In other news, my wife's foot went through the ceiling into the kitchen was we were cleaning out the attic yesterday, so my new year's day is going to involve trying to find a sheet rock repair guy and painter.

Here's something else house related: we hired a house cleaner. I can't believe it. I was always against hiring someone to clean house. I thought it was just unnecessary. But after having her here (she cleaned all day from 9 to 5), it freed up so much time, for us. I mean, it's not like we don't clean either, but having someone there to do it seems like the thing to do.

On Saturday, Shayla some friends over and we went to Huntsville. It was New Year's day and everything closed at 6:00. Is that normal? When I worked retail I don't remember closing early on Jan 1. It would seem to me if you are in business, you'd want to stay open when everyone else is off to benefit from the shoppers.

On Sunday, we tried Huntsville again. We went bowling and then did Krispy Kreme. Yum!

Today, I was off work and I spent most of the day upstairs cleaning up the studio. This afternoon we got some stuff ready for donation and I dropped it off. My parents came over for dinner and we hung out.

Water in the city of Decatur is out today. So, that makes things interesting. Fortunately, I live by the boyscout motto "Be prepared" and we keep about a 2 week running supply of food and water on hand for emergencies. I highly recommend everyone do that. Bottled water is cheap (2  -32 packs at Sams Club for like $8). We also keep instant breakfast shakes on hand by the box (22 per box I think it is). We also keep assorted Granola bars and snacks in a rotation, along with charcoal and fire stuff in case we need to cook. Just be prepared!

Buying stuff.

I travel a lot. A couple years ago I remember saying that I thought buying stuff when you are on business, and bringing it home (you know airport trinkets, stuffed animals etc) was a waste of money.

Well, my son was born, and now I actually look forward to buying him something and bringing it back for him. My, how times change. lol

The Hard Life

Of course it's anedotal, but I've been on this audit now for 3 days and I am so glad I do not work in a factory/production line environment. Do what you gotta do, obviously, but man if people knew what a hard road it is if you don't make some educational choices while you're young...I'm not saying there is anything wrong with being a laborer, but there are certainly some better positions to be in.

In other news, I've seen some friends and acquaintances complaining about their health care plans changing and premiums going up along with higher deductibles. I'm guessing this is a result of free healthcare America is getting. Sometime. Eventually in about 4 more years.

I'm liking this lady who stood up and confronted Obama at that townhall or whatever it was earlier this week. I think a lot of people are realizing now that, "Hey things aint all rosey!". But at least the recession is over, right?

What is the real unemployment number? Does anyone know?  The media always reports the 9-10 percent number, but then there is this U-6 measure which is supposedly more accurate. So why is this one not discussed? It's 16-17 percent.

Social Security is a stupid idea. You and me paying for someone else's retirement is what it amounts to. 15% of our paychecks go to this. If you make $40,000/yr, that's $6,000 going to a retirement pool that in all liklihood no one my age (35) will ever see. What a waste. Every man for himself is a much better approach on the retirement issue. Even today, with $6,000 I can invest it and end up with more for retirement.

The new way of life.

One thing that has always been true, if you work 40 hours a week and that's it, you are likely never going to be above average.

In order to succeed and be financially well off there are two fundamental concepts the American people need to realize. First, you must learn to be content with what you have. Trying to keep up with the Jonse's is not wise. However, trying to better yourself and financial situation for your family's sake is wise. Second, you will need to work more than 40 hours a week to make that happen. Maybe even work 2 or 3 jobs and take some classes on the side.

Due to the economic situastion we find ourselves in (which Mr. Obama is not helping in any way), many Americans are now working 2 or 3 jobs just to survive! How many jobs are you working?

Also, you need to be in school or getting training. This is a knowledge based economy. The more you know, the more you make. It's a very simple concept.

So get out and learn something!