Monday, October 29, 2012

A Really Fun Day

This past Friday, the kids were off of school for a teacher work day.  I knew the day was going to be cold and cold days are my favorite time to go to Silver Dollar City, so we decided to be spontaneous and go.  I hope that I tuck this day away in the file cabinet of my mind under the tab "best day ever" where only the best of memories go. 

We stopped to watch the glass blowers make things.  The guy standing on the left dropped the creation in the oven and shattered it.  Major fail.  It was sad.  The whole audience let out a collective "awwwwwweee."  He was making a glass pumpkin.
 Just the three of us, having a blast.
The train is always fun.  There is a show half way through the ride and even though the humor is used over and over, it's still funny.
We went through "Grandfather's Mansion" and no the below picture is not upside down.
No amusement park trip is complete without a funnel cake.
We watched the Cowboy Stunt Show, which was cheesy for the most part, but still fun.
Last.  Lindsey is obsessed with Caves and Silver Dollar City has Marvel Cave on it's grounds and they give tours.  Lindsey has been wanting to go for a long time and so I decided to give in and take the hour long tour.  It's pretty magnificent to see that water formed all of this.  The first picture is the ceiling in one of the cave rooms, and the last picture is looking down over a ledge at a room below.  I was scared I would drop my phone taking that picture, but obviously... I didn't.

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Venomous

The title of this post is basically how I feel about this election season.  Venomous.  Democrats and Republicans are at each others throats in the most hypocritical of ways.  I saw this tweet under the hashtag #vote on twitter.

I'm trying so hard to not get offended by everything that is posted about this election but it's so difficult.  What makes me angry about this post, isn't the fact that they think that President Obama should win.  It's the blatant racism.  The thing is, every person that is Caucasian and voting for Romney are being accused of being racist.  Why is it a difficult concept to grasp, that a majority of Caucasian voters are voting for Romney NOT because of the color of his skin, but because his vision for American lines up better with their beliefs, and that if Romney were brown skinned, he would still get their vote because of his belief system?  Is that so difficult to believe?

Furthermore.  STOP ASSUMING THAT YOU ARE THE SMART ONE BECAUSE YOU ARE VOTING FOR OBAMA!!!!!!!!!! Sigh.  That boils my blood.  There are very intelligent reasons to vote for Romney, none of which have to do with the color of Obama's skin.  I feel it's necessary for me to state that the following are MY opinions and I am not trying to sway you to think like me, the point of this is to SCREAM OUT! SHOUT OUT! that I am not casting my vote without having evaluated what I believe to be truth.  I encourage you to do the same.  Even if you think I am wrong.  I don't care.  I think you are wrong too (insert winky smiley).  The whole point of this is to say I am not a "dumb racist white woman."

Let's start with the economy: Obama has run up the debt $5 TRILLION! T R I L L I O N! The argument could definitely be put up that he inherited that.  WHO CARES!?  The fact remains that he didn't stop the debt from climbing... He didn't decrease it even by a penny.  NO, it went up.  It is still difficult to get a job.  Gas prices are soaring and getting higher all the time.  I can't vote for the man who promised "Change" and didn't deliver.

Let's move onto Foreign policy.  Libya.  I won't even say anymore.  Democrats can't argue that one away.  The explanation has shifted on that topic so many times.  We have been lied to and deceived, and without going into detail, we have all heard enough about it in the past month.  I am not a blind follower.  That aside, Israel is being shuffled to the side and being treated like the friend we don't want but have to keep for appearance sake.  Israel needs priority and needs America to be a true friend.  Egypt doesn't need to be told they aren't our friend.  I don't pretend to know a lot about foreign policy, but in real life, if I tell someone they aren't my friend... when they weren't my enemy... I don't see that going over very well for me.  Just saying.  President Obama hasn't shown me that he cares about our allies as much as he cares about not offending our enemies.

Healthcare.  I don't like "Obama Care."  I am not convinced it is the solution that we need.  Everyone sees it as free healthcare for all.  No, that is not what this is.  This is a requirement for everyone to have a healthcare insurance plan by threat of a fine penalty if they don't.  That is money out of my pocket one way or another.  This is a requirement for businesses to provide their employees with a healthcare insurance plan by threat of a fine penalty if they don't.  Guess what?  A lot of companies will take the penalty before shelling out the the money to provide the employees with that insurance plan.  I promise you that will happen. I will not let my vote support this.

Now onto some social issues.  Same Sex Marriage.  This is where I differ from a lot of Christians and Republicans.  America is known as "the land of the free" and we can't afford to be hypocritical on that.  EVERYONE deserves equal rights, even if their choices aren't choices that the majority of people would make.  Take this snippet from The Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."  There were not a list of exceptions to that.  We are all created by God and because of that, EVERYONE is entitled to unalienable rights (Not to be separated, given away, or taken away - the free dictionary).  The fact that this is even something that is being argued about baffles me.  Obama has shifted his position on this issue.  He came out saying he supports the traditional definition of marriage, but today, I believe he is saying he believes that marriage should be allowed between same-sex couples.  The fact that he has changed his view, which is allowable, I change my mind about things a lot, but it suggests to me that this isn't a priority issue for him.  To put your vote toward someone because of this issue might end in disappointment.  As sad as I find it that we claim to be a free nation yet keep freedoms from citizens, I can't put my vote to either candidate based on this issue.

Women's rights.  I do not like that women can kill a baby and consider it their right as a woman to do with their body what they want.  This is the way I see it; it is not only your body at that point!  That is a life!  That is a soul!  That is a future that is being snuffed out.  I can only wrap my mind around one excuse for abortion, and that is if the baby and mother will, in high probability and certainty, die if the pregnancy continues.  With that being my stand on abortion, I am not oblivious to the fact that some pregnancies happen through rape.  In that situation it is easy for me, a person who has never been in the position to carry a child in my belly that came about by such violence and violation, to say that adoption would be the ideal solution.  I can only imagine a fraction of the emotional turmoil that would come from a 9 month reminder of such a traumatic event.  The way I see it, though, is that life is still a life that didn't choose to be brought into this situation and I can't see the justice in destroying that life because of the evil that a man did.  I will concede that because I haven't been in that situation, I can't accurately say what I would or wouldn't do, but it is my natural inclination to preserve life.  Abortion aside, Women should definitely have access to contraception.  Birth control of all types should be readily available.  Preventing pregnancy is the only real way to prevent abortion, in my mind. In this situation, NEITHER candidate lines up with my beliefs on this issue, so I can't base my vote on this issue.  I don't think that makes me dumb.

These are clearly not all of the issues, but these are the ones that stand out to me.  Notice how race wasn't even a factor in all of that.  Open your eyes people!  Vote with your conscience, not your emotions.  Don't be bullied into a vote.  Know what you believe.  Find the person that fits best.  If that's President Obama, I may disagree, but vote for him.  This isn't about white vs. black.  This isn't about dumb or smart.  This is about voting with the best interest of America as a nation.  This about our future.  Let's stop the cat fights.  Let's stop the ridiculous assumptions.  The person voting for Obama isn't any better than the person voting for Romney.

I understand that I likely wrote all of this out for no reason.  Nobody is going to listen to an obscure blogger.  Nobody is going to realize that the hate they claim is represented by others is coming out of their mouth too.  Nobody is going to realize that the racism that they claim is represented by others is being represented by them too.  This election season is eating at the very core of me and making my heart heavy.  I can't believe that we have come to this.  Disagreement doesn't have to mean hate, unless you allow it to.

Vote.  Know what you believe and Vote. 

(Reply Rules:  Any hateful replies will be ignored and possibly deleted.  Mature discussion with opposing view points is welcome.  Any hateful replies that demean democrats or republicans will be deleted since the sole purpose of this was to point out how ridiculous that is.  Please be mature.  Please be respectful.  Thank you.)




Saturday, October 20, 2012

Galloway Trail

One of my favorite things to do is walk the Galloway Trail.  It connects to the Nature Center and it's a really lovely walk.  Today, Dave and I took the kids for a long 4 mile walk.  We took a TON of pictures and a lot of fun shots came out of it.  We are really enjoying Autumn.  This years the yellows are so vibrant. 
What sort of things are you doing to get out and enjoy the Autumn Season?

Thursday, October 18, 2012

I Have Decided Once and For All.

I have tried to make this decision before, but now, I am going to put it on this blog, so that I have a better chance of sticking with it.  I am going to stop drinking any fluids except water with the occasional milk, coffee, tea and 100% fruit juice.  My kidneys have been bothering me lately and I know that it's because the bulk of my fluid intake involves artificial dyes, loads of sugar, and other bad things contained in sodas.  The only reason that I drink soda is for flavor... definitely not nutrition.  I want to make this a permanent change.  No soda.  Only water.  Has anyone else made this change?  How are you doing on it? 

Sunday, October 14, 2012

Photo-outing Fail.

The colors are so pretty right now.  Looking outside is like looking into a box of fruit loops.  I decided I better take advantage and get some pictures of the kids while it's still fairly warm and the trees are spattered with color.  Things definitely didn't go as planned ha.  I got a REALLY good picture of Lindsey though, so not all was a fail.

Bren can't cooperate with the camera.  Even if I offered him a bunch of legos.  He still wouldn't ha.
 I think maybe if Daddy would have been there he could have made this happen...
 Now this one is pretty.  I don't get that many good pictures of Lindsey.  She is easily distracted and either looks away from the camera or squints ha.  This one turned out perfect!
 Ah.  Still no real smile, but good enough.
 It was so bright and sunny.  Still a pretty site out there.  Beautiful yellows this year.
 ... and on the way home, I took this one.  Welcome Fall.  You were missed and will be missed when you are gone again.  3 months for this season is just too short.
Hope that EVERYONE has had a wonderful Sunday.  I know I did.

Saturday, October 13, 2012

Avery is 10 months old!

I have finally gotten around to taking Avery's 10 month pictures.  I have been so crazy busy, and I am actually cutting into some homework time to do this.  I really wanted to get her pictures outside because the colors are getting so pretty right now.  I'm thinking that I will likely take all the kids out to take pictures and maybe bring along the tri-pod to get some "family" shots.

Here is what Avery is up to right now:
  • She is in the 97% in all measurements.
  • She is standing up and cruising around furniture.
  • She is saying "ma ma ma" and "Da da da"
  • She loves those little fruit squeeze pouches.
  • She STILL loves Mumford and Sons.  
  • She is in size 18 month clothes
  • She is beginning to cut some molars
  • She clicks her tongue... SO CUTE 
Now for the photobomb:

Friday, October 12, 2012

The Birthdays

I am just now getting around to posting some pictures.  It's been a nightmare, really, this picture thing.  To explain, I used to have Photoshop CS4.  I obtained it through my brother, who is now in Texas.  It was on my desktop, which I gave to a friend who really needed a computer.  I really didn't think about how much I used the program until I let go of it.  I thought it would be fairly simple to find a replacement editor as long as I shot in jpeg.  I am not doing this for hire anymore, so RAW wasn't necessary.  Long story shortened.  I forgot to switch my settings to jpeg for the party, and all my photos were in a RAW format.  I have been scouring the webs for free RAW converters.  Pardon my french, but all were CRAP.  So, I began the search for an affordable software.  Lightroom 4 was recommended, BUT, I blog... I create graphics for my blog.  Lightroom is purely a photos editing software.  A good one, but really limited.  It looks like Elements is where I will likely end up.  I downloaded the 30 day trial from the Adobe site and I am temporarily back in business.  It has a RAW editor similar to the one in CS4 (Adobe Camera RAW - ACR), minus a few bells and whistles.  Overall, elements is PERFECT for the hobbyist that I am.

ON TO THE PARTY!  Here are some photos from the birthday festivities.  It started out with me taking the kids to get donuts in the morning.  Nothing says happy birthday like fried carbohydrates coated in more carbohydrates.
Then I spent the morning baking cupcakes
Then after I picked the kids up from school we went home, ate dinner, then headed off to their favorite park... Nathanael Greene.  None of their friends that they invited came.  It was sad, but they had fun anyway.  We had WAY too many cupcakes, but they were good.  We had way too much soda, but that's okay too ha.  Daddy let Avery have her first ever cupcake before her 1st birthday ha.  She was a mess!  She obviously likes cupcakes though.  Overall, it was a great time.  The kids had fun and got some fun presents.
  ... and that's all... bye bye!