Politics, Not as Usual

I don’t often share political views on the internet (lengthy ones, at that). However, I'd like to do some sharing now--partly because I’m continuing to learn things about myself that I haven’t known before.  So I’m excited when I discover something new. Tonight I learned one reason that I refuse to affiliate myself to one political party. Do tell, you ask? Well, okay, you asked.

I’m an independent voter (see what I did there? No capital on independent, which means I’m not even affiliated with the Independent party).  I understand the merit of many different mindsets of both sides of Republicans and Democrats, and yet I don’t agree with any one party on a majority of the issues.  I grew up in a culture that oftentimes is homogeneous and unaccepting of any unfamiliar or differing viewpoints. I often felt pressured to think a certain way, or to not associate with “them.”  That pressure has never rested well with me, even though I have given into it at certain times of my life. As I’ve grown up (mostly), I have not lost my childlike ability to love people, to sympathize with them, and to truly relate to their viewpoint in some way. This bleeds into politics for me.

I’ve realized tonight, that rather than having to hide or apologize for not adhering to one generalized set of ideals, I’m going to embrace the quality of being able to relate with a wide range of viewpoints, and consider it a gift from God. Don’t get me wrong. I’m no Polyanna. I have issues that I feel strongly about and fight for. (And I felt like flipping off the driver who put me and my girls in danger today. I didn't, for the sake of the children, of course.) I see how torn our country is and how messed up politics and both political parties are. But overall, I see so much good in people. Just people. Sans politics. Sans labels. That’s where I’m comfortable.

What spurred this learning? Well, I’m so glad you asked. It was President Obama’s speech tonight. While I disagree with the Democratic Party on a handful of issues, I’ll hop on their side of the fence and agree on immigration. (I don't fence sit, but sometimes I fence hop. I can do that, because I think independently of political parties. So there.) I disagree with things President Obama has done in the past. And I really hate the Un-Affordable Healthcare Act in its current implementation.  Pertaining to the speech tonight, and immigration reform, I might disagree with the way he did it (I need more time to ponder and research). But putting that aside for now, I agree with the contents of the reform. And before you go turning on CNN, NPR or FoxNews for your 20 second sound bites, followed by extremely biased commentary (PBS Newshour is the least biased of them all. Boring? Can be. But I'm not watching news for entertainment), take a minute to listen to or watch the speech yourself in its entirety. Then ponder it. If what he claims is true, it makes sense to me, (minus his convenient referral to his ol’ buddy President Bush. What? Not the nation’s arch nemesis?) Illegal immigrants are not going to disappear-- not easily, and not without tax-payer money. And guess what? They are doing the jobs that a lot (not all, obviously) of our own American-born-and-bred society refuse to do. Again, I see so much good in people. But I also see a lot of laziness. A lot of “I’m too good for that” mentality. So many immigrants are supporting a large part of our country’s backbone. Not all immigrants are hard-working. I get it.  But deporting long-existing, law-abiding, illegal immigrants is not the answer to immigration reform. What about the criminals? They go. (Anyway, last time I checked, the majority of school shootings, drunk driving, and other crimes come from American citizens. I don’t think crime claims a monopoly on nationality.) If you listen to his speech, you’ll hear that he is not extending these benefits to future illegal immigrants. Makes sense to me.

 I agree that there needs to be reform. It needs to be more difficult to enter illegally, and not so dramatically difficult to enter legally. Mass generalized deportation? No thanks. Welfare reform? Yes, please. 

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/obama-announce-immigration-plan-thursday/

May 2012

Hi Friends!

Christmas card synopsis of our life:

Anna -- Just about to finish 2nd grade. Loves drawing, reading, crafting, playing outside, helping mom and dad around the house. She just got baptized in March and loves going to Activity Days. She is super helpful and is an awesome girl to have around!!

Brooke-- Almost done with Kindergarten! She had the best teacher and is excited for summer. Loves animals, bugs, helping mom cook, reading, and pumping herself on the swings. She is always happy and is fun to be around.

Leah  -- Loves storytime at the library and having her own friends over to play. She also loves to tag along with her older sisters in whatever they are doing -- and has become really fast because of it! She loves playing with dolls, being outside, and taking looooong baths.

Bart and I are boring. Nothing really new to report other than we bought our own house last fall and are loving it!

Here are what my cute kids look like now. :) More to come with summer!

Hello World

I am still here. With my family. We are happy. Mostly healthy. Enjoying summer. Missing family and old friends. Playing at parks. Riding bikes. Enjoying (ha!) sibling rivalry ALL SUMMER LONG. Loving our squishy 10 month old baby who is getting 4 teeth at the same time. Going on hikes. Experiencing things for the first time like the Boulder Creek Festival. So fun. Growing tomatoes and herbs in pots. Hating the neighbors cats for pooping in our pots and eating the birds at the bird feeders. Already wishing for another vacation (we went to DisneyWorld in May). Counting down days to Brooke's rainbow birthday party. Training for a triathlon in July. Watching the calendar fill up. Excited to go camping (other than my phobia of bears). Mountain biking. Sewing. Lots of sewing. Reading. Teaching Relief Society. Getting to know neighbors and new people. Spending more time outside than on laundry = piles. Lots of piles. And bathrooms needing attention. Wishing for a maid, or a Bewitched twinkle nose. Supervising playdates (at the moment.) Being grateful. For everything - my family, where we live, that we are employed, summer, green grass, Colorado skies and mountains, our health. Planning a trip to Utah. If you live there, I want to see you! Only 10 minutes. Not enough time for pictures. I make no promises since I break them. But I'll try to post some soon.

Top Twelve in 2009: #11 - Colorado

I am completely in love with Colorado! I never want to leave, and as far as we have a choice, we never will. (I hear some grandma's sniff-sniffing.) When we moved last year from one part of the city, to another part, I was devastated. Heartbroken. I had really attached myself to the place we were and the friendships we had made. Even though it was still in the same state, an hour away felt like we might as well be moving across the country. It was the hardest move for me that we've made so far (and we've moved a lot!) I was bitter and tearful, and blatantly decided that no other place would ever live up. The result = me withdrawing. 2009 was hard. I haven't felt like talking. I haven't felt like blogging because most of my feelings were sadness masked by a fake smile. And it's hard to mask that in writing. I can now safely say that I'm (mostly) over it! The sadness I mean. I'm still working on getting back into the routine of keeping up on the blog (as it's quite obvious.) While I still would move back in a heartbeat to our former town, I actually love where we are now. Not in the same way, but for different reasons. What makes it level ground is that it is still Colorado. People are still, for lack of a better vocabulary word, chill. No competition, no heirs, no makeup?, no problem. That's my style. Don't get me wrong. I'm not letting myself go or anything. I like to put on makeup. I look better with makeup. But there are just some days it doesn't happen and I don't have to feel self-conscious about it because people just don't care. It's more about being active and . . . normal, focusing on things that really matter. Wow. I didn't even sit down intending to write that. I was really wanting to post these pictures. Because, have I mentioned, I LOVE COLORADO!

These were taken last May. Bart and his awesome sister

Carrie took the girls hiking with some of our friends

while I was incubating

This is Brooke's best friend where we live. Aren't they cute? Carrie's girl Ruby is so cute! My girls love her.

Pictures just don't do this view justice

This is the same hike that I finally got to go on in September. Not quite as green, but still a beautiful views of the mountains. This is Rocky Mountain National Park. We went hiking and saw lots of elk. We love it so much we have an annual pass.

Top Twelve in 2009 -- #12

Last year was eventful, to say the least. Since I failed to document a lot of our family's (and solely my own selfish) thoughts and adventures/not so adventures in 2009, this little series will be an attempt to catch up.

#12 -- The Dilemma

I hate mopping. Hate. It. So, to my delight, Santa (aka Black Friday sales) brought me a completely mundane, anything-but-guilty-pleasure. Allow me to introduce the newest member of our family:

Gwelda.* She's my new steam mop. I knew when I saw the ad for her for more than 50% off that I would welcome her into our family. But I had no idea the extent of the joy she would bring to my heart. I have never smiled while mopping until I plugged the ole' girl in for the first time and glided her across my almost inferior floor.

Now for the dilemma. If stranded on a desert island (equipped with electricity, of course) would I take my steam mop, or my other favorite purchase of 2009:

This is Frank.** He keeps our food cold. Really cold. For a long time. No more last minute runs to the store for one lousy loaf of bread. No more shoving and prodding in the tiny freezer to make room for the half leftover ham. He's just blissfully sitting out in my garage, awaiting his next thing to freeze.

So, how is a house-whif, like yours truly, supposed to choose between two of the most functional things on earth? I love a clean floor that practically cleans itself without having nasty bucket water to dump out. But I really love food, and staying alive. A rock and a hard place, I'd say.

Which one would you choose, on a deserted island with electricty, gorgeous cherry hardwood floors, and lots of casseroles to freeze? Mop it? or Freeze it? * Gwelda's name is derived from a woman (other than my mother) who introduced me to one of the first times I felt pure joy in my young three-year-old life. My brother and I went to this 70 or 80-something lady's house to be babysat. She was sweet as sweet could be, and I have only two memories of her. First, sitting on barstools kicking my legs against the wall and munching on white bread peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and (sound choir of angels) CHEESE PUFFS. I hadn't ever tasted them before since my mother never bought such blasphemous food. With every processed cheese crunch, I smiled. Big. Thus, the connection with my steam mop. As for the second memory of Gwelda, well today it makes me smile. At the time, not so much. It was my first experience watching The Wizard of Oz. As a three-year-old I got a little scared of the wicked witch and ran to find solace from Gwelda. But to my horror, I found her in the bathroom taking out her false teeth. Which witch? I thought. Oh, bless her. **(Names have been changed to protect the innocent.) Frank is very likable. Friendly at first impression and able to joke around. I like people who can joke around. He also has fingers that remind me of sausages. And my husband likes sausage. So we freeze it to have on hand. I love Frank the Freezer.

A New Year

Don't you love a new anything? New slippers for a bitter-cold winter day at home; a new baby (especially mine); a new steam mop (is it sad I'm excited for that?); a new blog; and no matter who you are, we all get this one thing, totally cost free -- a brand new year. A fresh start.

Mine is going to be good. How about yours?