If Everyone Else Were Jumping Off a Cliff...

Warning for those of you who are easily offended, this post may not be for you. You are now proceeding at your own risk.

Housing Prices

Hello boys and girls! Let me tell you a story! When I was 14 years old my mom, brother, and I moved to San Diego. That was the summer of 2000. Does anyone remember what 2000 was like? One memory I hope that remains with me my entire life came in October 2000 at a church meeting. This quote (actually from 2001 but very similar to what I heard in 2000) comes from Gordon B. Hinckley, the president (at the time, he passed away in 2008) of my church:

"The economy is particularly vulnerable. We have been counseled again and again concerning self-reliance, concerning debt, concerning thrift. So many of our people are heavily in debt for things that are not entirely necessary. "

When I heard this, I wanted the people around me to take heed immediately but even after a few months in San Diego, I knew they wouldn't. The results around me in San Diego were amazing. Housing prices were increasing at a crazy amount. I remember one day while in my kitchen thinking, "These prices are not sustainable when wages are not increasing at a similar rate!" Yep, typically 14 year old thinking, right? It wasn't about girls, it was about California housing prices. I told my mom that the bubble would pop in the next couple of years.

Well, I was right about it popping, not very good about the timing. It actually took 7 years.

11 years later I often think about all the resultant suffering. God gave us a Joseph-in-Egypt-type 7 years of excess but too many people wasted it on "things that are not entirely necessary." Very sad. While I could be worrying about the Jazz and their new coach or where Carmelo is going to go, etc, I focus a few minutes everyday on where I want my life to turn out. I am so thankful to live in a country (and a certain part of that country) where I have limitless options and potential if I'm willing to put in the work.

As I have heard and read anecdotal accounts of these hard times, I had an idea pop in my head. Some of you won't like what I'm writing and that's ok. I would be mad too! So in 2007, housing prices in most, if not all, of the country declined at an historic rate. This drop is continuing. My idea was that this wasn't the first time in mankind's history that this has happened. Where have I heard of something like this before?

JAPAN!

Ah yes! The land of the rising sun! I have spent a total of 3 hours in Japan (Nagoya airport) on my way to Taiwan for my church mission. I felt like I was in an episode of the Jetsons. Very modern (at least 10 years ahead of the US in everything) but I digress.

A lot of you might be too young to know this (I am one of these people) but there was a time that Americans feared the Japanese were taking over--that time was called the 1980's. The Japanese were buying American real estate (Pebble Beach Golf Course is one famous example) and Americans didn't like it. Congress was probably glad they passed the Foreign Investors in Real Property Tax Act in 1980 to at least get a cut of the action!

Eventually the 1980's came to an end and so did the Japanese real estate bubble. The following chart shows Japanese real estate prices between 1980 and 2005. This chart comes from efinancedirectory.com:

Sorry for the smallness! So between 1985 and 1990, Japanese home prices in the 6 largest cities jumped from around $125,000 to $325,000 (that's a 160% jump in 5 years). The interesting part is what happened after 1990. While this chart is out of date, it shows that 15 years after the peak, housing prices have not gone up once! Maybe you remember the line everyone in the U.S. was being fed, "Real estate always goes up! It's not like we are making any more land!" (Unless you are in Holland, Singapore, or Hong Kong). Just ask a Japanese about that.

Now for the part that might make you made if you bought a house between 2005-2008. This chart shows U.S. housing prices and is also from efinancedirectory.com:

Does this chart look anything like the Japanese one? Maybe cut it in half and it will look more familiar. I just want people to be a little bit skeptical of the realtors on TV who claim a turnaround is just around the corner, it is possible they are right but just as possible they are very wrong.

Finally, back to what I was saying. Megan and I discuss our future together and what we want it to be. Others don't decide it for us. There is no one I trust more in this world than Megan and no one I trust less that someone who wants my money. Please keep this in mind as I share one of the best quotes I've ever read about this subject. The author of the following wisdom is Kris Calhoun, he wrote this freelance article for Yahoo!:

"My House

The home I purchased in 2008 is probably the worst thing I could have done to hurt my financial future. With hindsight being 20/20, it's easy to look back now and say, "Well, that was a bad move." But at the time, and in the location my wife and I were looking, it appeared that things were leveling out and home prices didn't have much further to fall.

About 20% in reduced home value and two property tax increases (plus a reduction in our homeowner's exemption) later, I'm kicking myself for ever allowing myself to be talked into home ownership (I've always been more of an apartment kind of guy). At the time, my wife and I thought we were doing things the right way. We put a nearly 45% down payment on the home, took out a 5.35% fixed rate, 15-year mortgage, and made extra payments along the way.

It wouldn't be such a terrible thing if we could ride out the storm for five or ten years in hopes of recovering our losses, but we really don't like the area we chose and have found that home ownership just isn't for us (I worry about things constantly and am afraid to go on vacation anymore for fear that something will happen to the house).

So now, for our mental health and happiness, we have put our home on the market and done so at a much lower price than we purchased it for. If it ever sells, it will set me back significantly in my retirement plans, but even I will admit that being happy is sometimes worth more than money -- depending upon the amount of course."

I feel bad for this guy but I'm glad he's now doing what he really wants to do. It just took tens of thousands of dollars to figure it out. So if you are reading this and still can choose what you want to do, remember that you don't have to be like everyone else. "Everyone else" (Japanese or American) got burned. You don't have to join the party to fit in. You can rise above "Everyone else's" mistakes.

As Henry David Thoreau said:

"If a man loses pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured, or far away."

Happy New Year (Some Good Music)

Happy 2011 everyone! It seems like yesterday that people looked at us funny when we'd say "We're graduating in April 2011" since it was so far off, but now it's less than 4 months away.

Megan and I went to Anacortes for Christmas. I replaced a broken window in Megan's parents' house. I felt like such a man learning how to caulk a window after watching a Youtube video, you know, the old fashioned way men learned how to do things.

We also went to Vancouver, BC and ate great Taiwanese food! I don't know why it took me three visits to Vancouver to realize I taught several people in Taiwan who used to live in Vancouver, but I got my Taiwanese food. My favorite part was telling the Canadian border guard the name of the restaurant we were going to find since I only knew it as "老黃牛肉麵" I had to think quickly to translate it.

We also moved into our new house in South Provo. Edward, our dog, moved with us from Washington and he loves it here. I love having him too. There's nothing quite like having a dog living in our home.

One last thing has been on my mind for a while. I love good music and thank my mom for introducing me to great artists as a young child. Megan and I have similar tastes and I'm very thankful as well for that. One problem over the last 6 or 7 years is called, "The Radio" and on this problem are thousands of talentless artists allowed to transmit their horrible "work" to the public.

I'd like to remind anyone who has forgotten what real music sounds like, yes it's old, but guess what? It's way better than 99.93782723729% of what you hear on the radio today.

Go to Youtube right now and listen to these songs!

Turn Your Lights Down Low--Bob Marley and Lauryn Hill
Doo Wop (That Thing)--Lauryn Hill
Ready or Not--The Fugees (swear word alert)
My Boo--Usher and Alicia Keys
Unbreakable--Alicia Keys
You Don't My Name--Alicia Keys
If I Ain't Got You--Alicia Keys
Video--India.Arie
Stay With You--John Legend
I Can't Write Left Handed--John Legend w/The Roots (or Bill Withers, if you prefer)
Almost anything made by Jack Johnson and Coldplay.

Now listen to the radio again and your head will explode!

Happy 2011!

Finding Time

Today in Elders' Quorum we had a lesson on love for God, wife, and the members of the Elders' Quorum. My favorite part was talking about loving our wife. God teaches us that we are to love only two people with all our hearts (God and our spouse). So that means you can't love your wife too much because its impossible! Glad I can't go wrong in some area of my life.

So I got annoyed when I heard many of my fellow quorum members complaining about not having any time to spend with his wife. Maybe someone reading this can explain this one for me, but many of those in the room don't have a job (or have their wife work) and major in something easy. I know I shouldn't judge but it's a little annoying. Megan and I have tough classes, work 20 hours a week, and we still have more time than we know what to do with.

As my favorite Young Men's President taught me, "You make time to do the things you want to do."

One last thing, to show your wife you love her don't buy her jewelry like all the radio ads suggest, but take her on a trip...to anywhere! Unlike jewelry, you won't ever worry about losing it and the relaxation will increase your love. Trust me on this one.

Everyone enjoy their Christmas! We move out the 18th and will be "homeless" until we move into our new place on New Year's Eve with Edward, our dog! Can't wait!

Grateful

I guess it is a little early to break out the "I'm Thankful For..." speeches, but I'm going to do it anyway. I am very happy lately and most of it comes from being married to Megan. Two years have flown by and I'm very excited for the future.

Today I finished reading a book called, "The Alchemist" by Paulo Coelho. It's amazing. I had several good friends recommend it so being the cheap Mormon that I am, I borrowed it from one of those friends instead of buying it myself. :)

If you haven't heard of it, it's about the story of a boy who desires to live a life more fulfilling than what is offered in his hometown. That's all I'm going to say, you need to read it yourself.

One of my favorite lines summarizes how I've felt about a few people who influenced me but I'm sure they wouldn't recognize me if I passed them on the street. In "The Alchemist," it reads, "He thought of the many roads he had traveled, and of the strange way God had chosen to show him his treasure. If he hadn't...he would have never met the Gypsy woman, the king, the thief, or...well, it's a long list."

A couple of days ago, I made my own list so reading this line really hit me. I think about how lucky Megan and I are to meet so many people from all over. Here are a few.

Balinese/Indonesians

• The Laundry Lady who spoke very little English but had the only dryer in the village we stayed!
• The crazy dude who I paid 4,000 rupiah (40 cents) to give me a ride on his scooter back to our hotel.
• Widhi, our dive trip salesman who accidentally offered us a lower price than I just offered. Haha! A good guy who had recently married.
• Made, our crazy taxi driver who was named the world's best taxi driver by National Geographic (not a joke, he had the article to prove it). "Friends first, money second" was his line.
• The teenage girl who worked at the Internet cafe we stumbled upon in Denpasar. We saw the sign that said, "3.000 Rp/jam" and Megan said, "Now if we only knew what a jam was." I remembered the McDonald's sign that read 24 Jam 7 Hari so we went inside. The girl was very surprised to see two white people in her cafe. She looked at Megan and told Megan her name and Megan reciprocated. A cool experience.

Singaporeans

• The old Chinese guy originally from Penang who had lived in Singapore for most of his life. He sat next to us at the bus stop at the airport. He "helped" us get to our destination (but not before we went the long way). Megan mentioned how his English sounded just like the way old Chinese-Hawaiians speak.
• The hawker centre Chinese guy on Joo Chiat Road who made awesome dumpling soup. He was amazed I spoke Chinese. I paid and then went to the other side of the seating area. I watched as he tried to deliver the soup to the only other white guy in the place (who already had his food). Just like the Taiwanese say, "We all look the same."
• Megan's mission friend, Tiffany Lai, who took us around. We went to Little India, the Arab Quarter, and Bugis. At one point there were some Traditional Chinese characters written on a building. She couldn't read them (Singaporeans read Simplified characters) so I translated them for her. Pretty funny that a white guy had to teach a Chinese person how to read Chinese!
• The Malay kampung hawker centre we walked around before heading to church. All Malays except for Megan and me! Amazing iced drinks for S$1!
• My good friend Nathaniel's dad happened to be in Singapore for business and we ended up at the same ward! He took us out to dinner at Clarke Quay and walked around with us and told us about his experience living in Singapore as an expat.

Malaysia

• The security guard at our hotel in Kuala Lumpur. He locked up our luggage in a side room after we checked out while we explored the city. He asked my name and I said, "Jordan." He said, "Oh, like the country!" Never heard that one before. He asked where we were from and then said, "Oh America, I'd love to live there, but I can't get the visa." Helped me realized how lucky we are to live in the US.
• The pack of boys in Kota Bharu who rode their bikes through the night market. They saw us and rode over toward us. They asked where we were from and said, "Welcome to Malaysia!" So cute.
• The keeper of the Internet cafe in Kota Bharu. When we tried to leave, he was nowhere to be found. We went to the street level and waited for a while. Finally he showed up, "Sorry, I had to take my friend home." Haha, yeah, your "friend," you mean girlfriend.
• Fatima, the old lady who mopped the floors at the McDonald's at KL Sentral. She did that all day. Crazy.

While you are bored, I am very thankful for all of these people. They've brightened my life. The best part about it is the fact that Megan and I have many more years to keep meeting more and more interesting people that we'd never have a chance to meet anywhere else!

Our Last Year

Hello everyone! Just wanted to give an update on our lives. Things are going really well for us! We started our last year of school a couple of weeks ago. I can't believe it's almost over. A poster at school really delivered that it's coming to an end.

"Parents' Weekend--October 22-24"

I still remember Parents' Weekend of my Freshman year. My dad flew out and I took him around campus to see all of the new and updated buildings since he left in 1985. I'll never forget hearing that he was proud of me, a very touching moment. Right after the moment had passed and being Captain Tactful that I am, I asked him for $1 so I could do laundry. :) Haha! Thanks Dad!

But what struck me was thinking that the next Parents' Weekend for me will be 20 years from now when our firstborn goes to BYU and lives in Heritage Halls. It's a crazy thought.

Next, Megan and I are excited to know that I received a full-time offer of employment to work at KPMG after graduation! Leaving Portland was sad, but knowing we'd be back made up for it. I really love Portland (including it's weirdness) and can't wait to be an official Oregonian. Our first day back to Utah really helped seal the deal. Leaving Portland's dreadlock, unwashed hippies and coming back to the self-centered, too much make up Utah girls was the biggest adjustment. While Utah is my home state because it's where I grew up, I now consider Oregon will be my true home.

Well, that's it for us! Thanks for reading!

Twilight...

I caved...I gave in...I read the Twilight series. I read it and didn't vomit as originally expected. Quite the opposite...I liked it. So here's what I thought:

My overall impression was very favorable. I really enjoy the way Stephenie Meyer writes because you can feel for the characters, feel as the characters, and really associate with the emotions they go through. She writes so that you can put yourself in the story as an objective third party or even as one of the characters. There are a lot of people who write with the intention of making the story seem wholly "other" and flowery and still unknowable.

While I cannot truly say I understand what it is like to be a vampire, I can understand frustration, self-depreciation, love, learning, struggle, inadequacy, and even loss. These emotions and experiences are all throughout the novels and speak to anyone who reads the stories. If you look merely at the surface (there is a human girl who falls in love with a vampire...purely fictitious and ridiculous) and read it purely for laughs, that's what you'll find; you won't like the story. However, if you read it with the intention of seeing the reality of a girl falling for a guy she thinks is way out of her league and empathizing with what each of the characters can and do feel in their situations, you'll definitely find relate-able characters, excitement, and even reminders about your own life and reactions to what you've experienced.

Any further than that...and...I'm...struggling for words.

Oh, and the last book was a complete let-down. "It's starting." And then what? What the freak, Stephenie, it never really starts and then it comes to a disappointing climax...because there was no climax. Uh...yeah...whatev.

I read "The Host" and liked it too. Similar reasons. The End.

Buying Local

Hello everyone. We've been in Portland for about a month and we have a month to go. I love living here and working at KPMG. I like the people in my office and enjoy the work I do. I'm looking forward to living here full-time and becoming a real Portlander.

Today I had a couple of thoughts pop into my head in between doing tax returns and wanted to share them with you.

1. I lived in Iowa this summer so I could learn to love strange accents. Last year I cringed whenever I heard the Minnesota "short a" and "long o" sounds. This year? I sometimes hear the Northwestern version of the same thing but this time I don't let it bother me. I always thought that the NW didn't have an accent but I am wrong. It sounds like locals are from Eastern Canada for some reason.

2. Vietnamese people are awesome. I also didn't realize that Portland has a huge Chinese and Vietnamese community. That means lots of cheap, good food for us! I had Pho for the first time while at training in LA and then again when I came home and I love it! I also got a haircut today from a Vietnamese lady for only $7.

3. Portland is split up into 5 "quadrants" NE, SE, SW, NW, and N. Yeah, it's weird, but we are in Portland. At least we don't call ourselves the Quad Cities when there are 5/6/7 cities. We live in Southeast. Northeast is rich, Southwest is suburban, NW is gentrified, and N is scary. SE has enough nice with enough crazy (one word: Hawthorne) that I really like it. Yeah half of it is rusting away, but I love it anyway.

4. Oregonians sure have goofy ideas on how to fix the bad economy here. One I hear a lot is to "buy local" which means to buy an overpriced Chinese product from a local store instead of from Wal-Mart. Yes, I know it means to buy local products from locally owned stores, but guess what? Not much grows in the winter anywhere in the USA so hope you had a good last dinner in October and can make it last until May.

However, I do have one area in which I agree that "buying local" helps out the individual. They are called entrepreneurs and they are the reason America has an amazing economy. Sometimes the person you pay for a service is the owner and only employee of a business. That Vietnamese lady I talked about before was great. I knew all of my $7 was going to her and her business. If I spent $14 at Great Clips closer to my house? Well, part goes to the employee, part to the owner, some to the franchise owner, etc. That franchiser uses that money to run TV advertising. That means some of my money goes to California and that's not acceptable! So find a place where you can help someone who does a good job and keep your money in Oregon instead of the alternative.

Thanks for listening.