Small Claims Court

Have you ever been to small claims court?  I hope not, but if so, you are not alone.  I had to go to small claims court today...not a fun process, but super super grateful for the country we live in that allows us such liberty.  On my way I couldn't help but think of the many people who live in countries where they are not given such liberty or whose government and leaders are corrupt.  I was filled with gratitude for America and the freedom that our founders set up for us and that so many men and woman have given there life for.

Long story.  Our condo had a toilet flood in December and we were told that the downstairs tenants didn't want to do recommended dryout in there bathroom for a month.  They claimed they were happy with the bathroom but wanted a kitchen spot on their cabinet fixed which they claimed was mold spreading.  We got someone in to fix the kitchen and lo and behold the spot they swore wasn't there prior to the flood and they could visible see spreading each daily was indeed not a result of anything having to do with water or the flood.  There was no spot on the top of the cabinet or ceiling.  As soon as they realized we didn't have to do the kitchen, they stated they wanted there bathroom redone that had no visible evidence of damage on the walls from the flood but had high moisture readings.  They wripped out walls of the 1960 bathroom, found mold spots and redid the entire bathroom.  Like $8000 remodel for old, gross, small bathroom.  As well as 2000 for fans that this super expensive restoration company brought in that they turned off because they were too loud at night and they couldn't sleep.  Grrrr....can you see the aggravation.  Note to readers...DON'T buy an old, broken down condo with HOA fees that are the price of a house mortgage in some states.

I was given advice by experts and our property manager that I was not responsible for mold abatement and damage due to the delay.  The landlords didn't think that was fair so we went to court to hash it out.  I wanted to do mediation, but they denied it.  I said I would pay for the further dryout but thought we should come to a fair resolution.

This all occured over Christmas and Tyler's surgery which added a TON of stress to my life.  The first real time I had anxiety over something.  They are good people, but in my gut I felt like they were just not being 100% honest about the entire situation.  I don't think they were intentionally being dishonest, just taking advantage of a situation which I feel they had every right to take advantage of just in a more timely manner and got so wrapped up in there cause that convinced themselves of a slightly altered truth.

So we went to small claims court.  We shall see how it goes.  I didn't document everything in writing along the way so it was basically my word against there word.  They claimed it wasn't fixed because I never brought someone in when in reality it wasn't fixed because they said they were happy.  But I trust that the judge will be blessed with discernment. And if not, recognize that all I could do was be truthful and move on.  Small claims court was actually not a bad experience.  I remained calm and felt grateful for the opportunity to defend myself.  It is pretty casual and pretty chill.  I felt our judge was genuinely there to help everyone involved come to a fair resolution.

So here is what I learned in the process....
1. Don't buy a condo.
2. Get out of a condo whose downstairs neighbors have you do something drastic to your condo or there condo every few years.  A couple of years ago they had us redo our floors which we did because of noise,  They claimed we didn't put in the new flooring and made up the invoice because there was no noise reduction...I had to go back and send pictures.
3. It is time to sell the condo.  Huge Blessing.  I don't know if we would have ever made a decision we felt we should be making for a long time without this little kick in the pants to move towards selling our condo.  The Lord works in mysterious ways sometimes.

While that was a huge life lesson, here are the real blessings.  The ones that I needed to learn that made this whole process worth it.

1. Empathy.  I prayed to understand my mom better who is going through cancer and thus anxiety.  People deal with real, full blown anxiety.  I had never had anxiety before.  Sure I had worried about tests or surgeries, finances, if my kids would ever outgrow a naughty stage.  But this was anxiety that kept you up at night worrying and consumed you that made you unable to function.  I relied on the Lord and one day when I felt I learned empathy and the power of anxiety I prayed for the Lord to take it away and He did.  I recognize that the Lord answers prayers.  I recognize that I am soooooo blessed that I usually don't have anxiety.  I have my fair share of trials, but I think anxiety would be a trial I just couldn't deal with.

2. Just Judges. How wonderful it is to have courts.  I read the book of mormon and first hand can appreciate the importance and blessing of having righteous judges.  Judges who will listen to both sides and come up with what they feel is the correct judgement.  Of course the system isn't perfect.  We are all human, some people lie, some people are falsely punished but it is a pretty incredible country we live and profession to be a part of.

3. Eternal Viewpoint.  This has no eternal consequence.  I was worried about money.  Insignificant in the entire scheme of things.  Danny gave me a blessing which said that the outcome is eternally insignificant.  The first case we heard was a woman whose husband left her and spent 10000 on his girlfriend.  It got dismissed to small claims court, but my heart went out to there kids and this poor woman who was dealing with something far more difficult than a flood.  So grateful I have a strong marriage.  So grateful the things that I am blessed with the things of great significant worth; the gospel, my marriage, my temple covenants.

4. Save.  So grateful Danny and I are savers.  This could have been way more stressful if we were not living within our means and saving for a rainy day.

5. Employment.  So grateful Danny has a job that allows him to support our family.  At times it seems unfair that I have friends who have been dealing with unemployment or underemployment for far too long.  It makes me realize how much more I can give to help others.

6. The Lord places people in your path to help you.  A friend gave us legal advice and I am so grateful for her taking the time to listen and give some suggestions.  I am blessed with great friends who are always so willing to help. Reminder to always help a friend in need.  Thanks Dani!

7. Get insurance advice.  We thought we were adequately insured which we weren't.  Great life lesson. Grateful it wasn't worse than it was.

8. Record Notes.  Danny is so good at this because he is a dentist.  I always thought he went a little overboard with his miticulous patient records.  Not that I ever have seent them but he tells me how he makes sure to include the details so that when patients come back and forget what he suggested he can go right to the notes.  I am a relatively naive person who always thinks that everyone is going to be fair and honest.  I lent an ex-boyfriend money a long time ago and just assumed he would pay me back....wrong!  Naive.  I guess I didn't learn my lesson that time since I didn't record conversations or recap conversations in emails.

9 . I found a new favorite conference talk. Mountains to Climb.  I love the words of the apostles. I can;t tell you how many times I read this talk and each time I was filled with peace and a reassurance that everything would be alright.  Here is an experience he shares,


"So one night I prayed for a test to prove my courage. I can remember it vividly. In the evening I knelt in my bedroom with a faith that seemed almost to fill my heart to bursting.

Within a day or two my prayer was answered. The hardest trial of my life surprised and humbled me. It provided me a twofold lesson. First, I had clear proof that God heard and answered my prayer of faith. But second, I began a tutorial that still goes on to learn about why I felt with such confidence that night that a great blessing could come from adversity to more than compensate for any cost.

The adversity that hit me in that faraway day now seems tiny compared to what has come since—to me and to those I love. Many of you are now passing through physical, mental, and emotional trials that could cause you to cry out as did one great and faithful servant of God I knew well. His nurse heard him exclaim from his bed of pain, “When I have tried all my life to be good, why has this happened to me?”

I am not quite ready for another trial right now.  I need some time to recoup, decompress and focus 500% of my energy on my family.  

That is the end of my novel.  I am impressed if you made it this far.  This is like a journal for me.  I hope somewhere along the way you learned something from my experience. If so, it made this entire thing worth it.

I am grateful this is behind me and it is time to move on.  Now we just wait for the judgement and pay what the judge deems fair.  I am not worried about that.  I shared my viewpoints and was honest and the rest is out of our hands.  Grateful to move on.  Grateful for the lessons.  Hopefully I can remember them so I don't have to go through something like this again.  The scary part is I know the trials of life just get harder.  Sometimes I want them to just stop, but then I know that I probably wouldn't be growing as much and relying on the Lord.  If it was just that easy to remember as we are going through them.

Mormon.Org

My in-laws are serving missions in Las Vegas and started a blog which I think is super cool.  I suggested that they should add a mormon.org link to there page for those interested in finding out what we believe.  Then I realized I can't give out advice and not do it myself.  I went here to find a link in case you want to add one for your blog.  For those of you not LDS, mormon.org is a site where mormons talk about what they believe and why.  I think it is super cool to see such unique testimonies and the many ways we come to Christ.

Krey Coyotes

School is back in session.  Scott is in first grade with Mrs. Shirley.  He was a little bummed he didn't have any close friends in his class.  Luckily Scott is good at being a good friend and making friends.  I told him he would know at least one person from last year and it was a great opportunity to make even more friends.  Sure enough Hunter and Elisia are in his class who he was good friends with last year and he is making new friends and gets to play with his buddies at recess.

Mrs. Shirley seems so nice.  She has two older kids and I know will be a great teacher for Scott.  Parents have told me she does a play and a lot of fun, creative projects. and is "old school" whatever that means. Today when I picked up Scott she said he was such a great friend, good listener and such a leader.  Scott is so good in class which I am grateful for.   Most importantly, I just want him to be a good friend and enjoy reading more this year.  He doesn't love to do anything that is hard for him and reading is hard. cFirst grade is a big jump up from Kindergarten.  They go from 8-2 which is a long day.  When I picked up Scott today he was emotionally and physically done.  He melted down because his dad didn't pick him up like planned, which is reason for being upset but not a meltdown.  His teacher asked what was wrong and I explained tired, tired, and in need of some food.  As soon as Scott gets home I need to feed the boy or his blood sugar makes him into an over-emotional 6 year old.

He gets coyote cash (fake money to buy junk with) for being good and has to give it away if he uses the bathroom during class.  Scott is so motivated by any reward so told me yesterday he had to go to the bathroom so bad in class but didn't so he could keep his cash.  I told him to get in the habit to go at lunch so we shall see how that goes.  He has a hard time remembering things.  Last year I can't tell you how many times he went back to his classroom for a hat, sweatshirt, toy, etc.

I am grateful Scott loves school!  Yeah!

Tyler is in Kindergarten with Mrs. Fulgelstrom.  We enrolled him in pre-school this summer and he did surprisingly well.  Big shocker for us.  He was sad the first week or two but once he got comfortable had a great time.  We decided to try out kindergarten with the reality that he would probably repeat it.  A lot of the decision was based on having him conveniently at the same school as Scott, 5 days a week.  If it doesn't work out, I will find an alternate route.  Day 1 went GREAT!  No tears, listened well, had fun.  Day 2 not so great.  He got upset over something and didn't want to participate.  After recouping he did well again.  He likes it and comes home and tells me about all that they do.  He likes the learning part just has a hard time with the social part and controlling his emotions.  We shall see how it goes.  I will keep you updated.

I am grateful he has a great, patient teacher.  I am grateful he enjoys going to class and enjoys what he learns.  I am just praying that he makes one friend to be his buddy.  Yesterday all he wanted was a friend.  He has made some great friends at the pool and it makes me so happy.  Thinking of Anne with an E, "everyone needs a bosom buddy."  Praying super hard he finds a buddy.

Grateful for Krey.  It is a beautiful campus, filled with great people, great teachers, great parents and walking distance from home.  I actually think it is faster to pick up Scott in the car or on a bike then drive through the INSANE car loop to pick up the kids.  Someone should warn us parents that the pick up walking area is not for the claustrophobic either.  Poor Kira gets dragged along during her nap and always gets woken up and instantly becomes a very sad toddler.  Need to figure out schedules a little better.

McMillan Boyz

Hi, I'm Blake

A bird's gonna land on that lower lip

Too into iPhone to care about his picture being taken

I think the anti-whining campaign is helping Tyler.  He's been into saying naughty words, though, and our strategies of dealing with that are not that effective.  He's gonna make a great boss someday because he likes ordering people around and yelling.  Hopefully, his employees don't quit because of his temper.

Glen the Dentist and Dad

Danny's dad retired from dentistry after practicing for 34 years.  He is going on a mission for a year and sold his practice to Danny's brother in 2007 so it was time, however, bitter sweet for him to move on. 

His patients made him a beautiful book of memories.  It was so neat to see and inspirational of the dentist and practice Danny aspires to have in his career.  The thing that people remembered the most was his generosity with his time, talents and success.  They remember the late night calls to come into the office and working with them to afford their care.  It was evident that his career was about the people as much as the teeth.

We celebrated fathers day while we were there and it was a neat way to honor Glen as a dad, father-in-law and dentist.

Here are a couple of the highlights that I remember...

David has been blessed by his loving example in the office.  Glen always sought to understand others with a loving and understanding heart.  There is never reason to get upset.

Danny talked about how his dad taught him to work.  He helped him figure out how to fix things.  Danny and his dad are similar in how they can be faced with any problem and figure it out.  

Michelle talked about daddy-daughter talks and how he took time to get out his notes and ask her about how things were going.  Taking time for just her.

Lisa talked about how her dad made her feel pretty when she was down and how her dad never got mad even when he had reason to get mad at a mistake she made.

Lindsey talked about going through some hard times together and how her dad was there for her.

I am grateful that so much of Danny was learned from Glen.  I am convinced they were hanging out together before this life learning how to fix teeth and cars together.  Danny has the same never-ending patience as his dad.  He always remains calm.  Perhaps the greatest gift Glen could give to his son is introducing him to a profession that he loves.  That is one of the greatest blessings we have in our family.

Utah

 Danny's family gets together once a year for a summer vacation. This year we went to Midway in Utah which was a lot of fun.  Danny's parents are leaving on a mission tomorrow so it was extra special to be with them before they venture down to Las Vegas for a year to serve the Lord.


We stayed in a cute little town called Midway.  It is of Swiss origin as you can see from the adorable chapel.  We stayed in a beautiful house on a golf course.


A couple of highlights of the trip for me...


The best part of the family vacations for me are for the cousins to hang out and get to be with Danny's family.  Living in California doesn't give us that much time to hang out with his family so I love talking and getting to know and learn from them. 


Hiking to Cascade Springs.  The waterfalls were beautiful and company was so fun.  We didn't make it around the entire loop since it was pretty hot and my little ones would rather play in the water and look for bugs.  The highlight of the trip was coming down and looking for animals in the shade.


Alpine Slides.  I love Park City!  It is such a cute little ski town.  Danny and Scott went on the zip line and Alpine Slide.  Kira and Lindsey and Glen and Tyler went down the slide.  I stayed with the babies and Juliann at the bottom.  I used to love going on rides and such and now I love watching my kids go on them.  How things change!  It was a beautiful day and the kids had so much fun!


Boating!!  So fun!  Scott had a blast on the tube going as fast and crazy as possible as he could. He outdid me and his dad.  He had fun the knee board and did great. Tyler was more timid and only go if an adult was with him or if they were going slower.  Kira went on the knee board a little before getting too cold.  We went boating in Layton which was so much fun and so warm.  The kids and adults had so much fun.  We went a second time in Midway which was freezing and hence not as much fun but still a good time.  Makes me want to get a boat when we eventually get a house.  I went paddle boarding which is a little slow for me but a good arm workout.  Too bad it reminds me I still have a bad shoulder.  The best part was seeing Jade and Scott learn to get on their knees on the knee board.  They are such a good pair and it was fun to see them smiling on the water together. Good times!


Thanksgiving Point.  Went to the dinosaur museum which was so fun!  At night we opted to stay at the museum a little longer instead of a counsins ring ceremony.  We had a fun lunch and found the cutest kids section.  The kids loved casting dinosaur bones.  Afterwards we went to Brayden's reception which was a lot of fun.  It is always fun to see Danny's aunts and uncles and get to know them better. The kids were spent by that time so they didn't have as much fun.  We were all exhausted after a fun filled day.


Uncle Adam is the Uncle with all the toys.  The kids made rockets and blasted them with a compressor and had so much fun.  We placed lights on them and watched them launch into the air. So fun!


Fish Farm.  Ended the trip with the fish farm.  I woke up early and packed up and miraculously had time to go with the kids.  So glad I got to go.  I learned so much and it was fun to see the kids so interested in the fish.  Who woulda thought?


Great times!!  Can't wait for more family vacations.

Gym Classes

I have loved trying classes at the gym.  They are so much more fun for me than working out alone.  I am one who gets easily bored and lazy on my own.  In case  you didn't know, I am an extravert and enjoy being around other people which makes it fun.  Danny came with me the other day which was fun.

The first time I took a class I couldn't walk or move for a couple of days.  Now I can lift a little more and don't get quite as sore so it is progress.  Now I just need to learn to eat a little healthier.  The thing about working out and nursing is that I am eating all day.  Often a ton of brownies because I am so hungry.  I know it would be good for me to eat healthier and give me more energy. I just need to get into a rountine.  Someday I will make it a goal.