10 Years Ago Today...

Ten years ago today, I experienced one of the scariest days in my life: a horrible car accident that thanks to God above, me and my friend Kelly lived through. A man ran a stop sign as we were on our way to Norfolk to a wedding, sending our car across 3 lanes of traffic and far into a ditch. I was driving and was sure that when I looked over after the car came to a stop that I was sure to find my friend seriously injured or even dead, as it hit her side. Thank God she was not. She was concsious, bleeding and had the car embedded on her legs, but conscious. We landed outside of a pizza hut (Madison, NE), and the customers in there came to our assistance within seconds. A man gave Kelly the shirt off his back to press to her bleeding head. In the whirlwind of it all, she took my hand and started to pray (that is how amazing and committed she is). Shortly before the ambulance got there, I noticed something was seriously wrong. My stomach was starting to bloat and I started to "black out"-I remained fully conscious but when my eyes were wide open, all I saw was black. But when I heard the voice of the paramedics, my sight came back...I think because I knew help was there, it was going to be okay. They transferred us by ambulance (lights, sirens and all) to the Norfolk hospital and after some tests were completed and while Kelly was getting treated for her numerous injuries, they found out I was bleeding internally and would need to be life-flighted to Omaha. As if I wasn't scared enuf already...I was transported to the helicopter by myself-having to say a tearful and fearful goodbye to Kelly, her mom and some of our NCC friends that had gotten there. I was helicoptered to Omaha and kept there for a few days, some of them in ICU to monitor the internal damage to my liver and spleen. I also broke my left wrist, had a deep cut from my seatbelt (which saved our lives, I am sure!) and some other strained muscles. This is not to mention the amount of windshield glass I had all over my body-in my mouth, etc. In the following days, I had the most amazing support from my family and friends-some who traveled many miles to visit me. And of course, my now husband, Dan-who drove back and forth numerous times during that week to stay by my side.
I am indebted to those amazing EMT's and doctors who tended to us that day, as well as the citizens who stayed by our side thru the chaos. We came to find out later that our car actually started on fire not long after the jaws of life got Kelly and I out. Also that the impact of the accident actually made a cut into the cement on the highway. Also found out out the other driver had been thrown out of his car, but walked away with a broken arm.
And I must mention my parents, because what a dreadful day for them-one to receive that phone call, but then after a 3 hour drive to arrive at Norfolk to be told I was no longer there and that they needed to drive a few more hours to Omaha before they could get to their little girl to comfort her. A parents worst nightmare, I am sure.
The outcome of this day could have been a LOT worse-I believe God was watching out for us-I believe that we did not roll and that there were no other cars in the 3 lanes we crossed because He had a plan for us to stay on this earth longer. Had those things occurred, it would have been a (potential) tragedy. While it has been 10 years to this day, I must remind myself everyday that God kept me here for a reason....I must not let Him down. I think of this day often-sometimes to remind myself of how lucky and blessed I am, but sometimes because I simply can't get that moment of impact out of my head. I can close my eyes and relive it in an instant. It sticks with you forever. And that is okay-becuase while I may be a very paranoid driver sometimes (especially if I see drivers making fast stops to my right at intersections, my heart seriously starts to pound), and my heart skips a beat when I see an ambulance, I am okay having those reactions because it keeps it real. It reminds me that we will not be here forever and so while I am here, I need to do the right things. The things that honor God and his goodness. Something I strive for every day.

Why Politics?

I am currently taking a scrapbooking class at Big Picture (www.bigpicture.com) that is about documenting "me"-my family, my hobbies, etc...a little weird to do as you get used to scrapbooking your kids, etc. but great to do so that I can be documented FOR them as well. Anyway, one of the challenges is to scrapbook about my politics and while I have been thinking about how I want to approach that page, I have been thinking deeply about why I am so into politics right now and why I have chosen to be so outspoken about my beliefs:

In the last few weeks, I have noticed that I have lost about 4 Facebook friends-one I know for sure because of my political posts (blogged about that a while back-he was extremely mean too! Totally unnecessary!) and I am not sure of the others, but the assumption is pretty safe. That is all fine and dandy-I don't care now, but at first my thoughts were that maybe I should stop posting political posts, stories, etc. because I was losing those friends. But then I realized that it should not matter. And here is why:

It is my duty as an American to stand up for this country and the values that it was founded upon. My DUTY. This country has gone so far from where the founding fathers could have ever imagined and it is time to bring back the traditional values in which they believed in and implemented within the Constitution. It is my duty to point out that President Obama is implementing policy and debt that is extremely harmful to our country and future generations. The way I have chosen to do this is thru facebook/twitter/blog because TOO many people out there are uninformed and if something I write will spark the interest, it is totally worth losing FB friends. Take the last election-Obama was elected because he was a rock star, because he was cool, and was going to be the "1st black President." He was elected because the media had done such a good job at annhilating President Bush (hope and change!) and Sarah Palin (stupid conservative), and lifting up Senator Obama (like a god). The media did not question Obama on ANYTHING. I guarantee if every voter truly knew his record, his ideology, his plans for our country-he would not have been voted into office. TOO MANY ARE UNINFORMED!

However, the tide is turning. As more Americans are paying attention, his poll numbers are decreasing greatly. He is losing support and confidence because it has finally become obvious how radical left he really is. It has become obvious that he is not a miracle worker, but the opposite-he is implementing policies with the beliefs that we should spend more money to avoid bankruptcy (stimulus is failing, plus has never worked!), policies like Nationalized health care (not working in other countries, or in Massachusettes for that matter!), and Cap and Trade (also not working in other countries, or states like California within our own country!) all making things worse in this great country of ours.

So while I am not the type to run for an office, this is how I have chosen to get my opinions out-out of a sense of obligation to this great country. I am not mean about it (sometimes passionate, but not mean), I still respect President Obama and pray for him as our President, but I feel that if I can do a little to inform those who may not be so informed, then it is all good-even if I lose some friends in the process. After all, if they can't summon up the courage to have a decent debate, or even just have the ability to simply ignore the posts and look past my politics-then were they really a friend?

This is why I scrapbook.

I am currently taking an online scrapbooking class (bigpicturescrapbooking.com) that is about using vintage supplies for scrapbook pages. One of the challenges was to use a vintage milk cap, and that challenge led me to make this page. This photo is of the Gardner farm in Bloomington, Nebraska. My great-grandfather Charles Gardner built this house, and my Grandfather and father both grew up in this house. I spent a lot of time in this house, until my Grandfather passed away and the farm sadly left the family. It is approximately 100 years old. In talking to my mom about the history of the house, it led us to talk about other details of the lives of my great-grandparents, reasons why they settled in Bloomington, etc. and that, my friends, is why I scrapbook. To keep these memories alive. To keep my ancestors and their accomplishments alive. To relive special times in my own personal history. Love this amazing hobby.

Hypocricy

The word "hypocricy" has been used in the news a lot lately. While I don't know if I have it spelled right (it just doesn't look right, does it?), I want to point out a few things:

Yes-Governor Sanford is a hypocrite in preaching family values, in preaching against Clinton when he had his affair, etc by having an affair himself. But he is human. He is a sinner, like ALL of us. What cracks me up is that for the left and the media, it is better to be one of no values than to be one of values, who will inevitably fall. Sounds a little backwards right?

Well, hypocricy just doesn't apply to all of the politicians that are cheating on their spouses...remember, they are on BOTH sides of the isle. The IMPORTANT hypocricy that should be pointed out right now should be that of the Obama administration and liberal side of the aisle.

For instance...there are numerous stories right now of left wingers (in government and media) calling Conservatives "terrorists" and that the Repubs who voted against Cap & Trade committed "treason." Huh? What happened to dissent being okay? What about the democrats (30) who voted against it? All thru the Bush admin. the left fought for the right to protest (over and over and over and over) the Iraq War because dissent is "healthy" and "patriotic." So, it's not now that the Repubs are the ones dissenting? Not just on Cap and Trade, but on most of Obama's very liberal, radical policies? Hypocritical? Yup.

What about this transparency thing? Obama constantly nailed Bush for not having a transparent administration, and promised one throughout his campaign. And while it feels like he is transparent because he is on TV ALL the time...he isn't. Take for example the Stimulus bill and the Cap and Trade bill...both completed and rushed to vote without anyone getting a chance to actually READ them! The Cap and Trade bill-was 1500 pages and was not released until the afternoon before the day of the vote. Then, at 3am, a 300 page ammendment was added! Transparency? The Republicans didn't even get a chance to read the darn bill! Obama promised all legislation would be out to the American public 5 days before it was voted on, so we would have a chance to give feedback to our congressmen/women. Not happening. Remember the whole AIG thing with the bonuses? Well, that was in the Stimulus bill-that they would still get the bonuses...yet when it happens, AIG gets lambasted. No-not the Congress who didn't read and passed the bill okaying the bonuses, but the poor CEO who volunteered to work for a $1/year to get the company back on track. Ridiculous!

More hypocricy? Feminism. The feminist movement thru the years has boasted of their ability to be a voice for women. To help women climb the ladder and to fight sexual discrimination. Then came Sarah Palin and Carrie Prejean. These women were lambasted by the press, by liberal bloggers, by people like David Lettermen...Where were all of the feminists out there to stick up for them? The National Organization for women? Lately, there was also a controversy over an article on Playboy's website, where one of the male writers made a "Conservative Women Hatef--- list", simulating the rape of 10 high profile Conservative women. Again, where were the feminists? Silent. If these women had been liberals, the media and the women organizations would have been up in arms. Do you know who has stuck up for the above mentioned women? Men. Yep-men. Men like Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly...Interesting-aren't white men the root of all evil?

More hypocricy? Supreme Justices...it was totally okay for the left to completely annhialate Conservative nominees, using race and other personal attacks to denigrate them. Yet, when the right questions Sotomayor's past comments and evidence where she uses race as a factor in her decisions, the Republicans are lambasted for bringing it up! She also said that she was outright more capable of making right decisions because of her race and her background. If a Republican nominee said this, can you imagine!!!

More hypocricy? The liberals KEEP talking about slavery and how bad our country is because of this horrible part of our past. In fact, Congress just passed another formal apology for slavery in this last session (they have time for this???). YET-while slavery was horrible, these same people fight for the right to kill babies via abortion. With slavery-a war was fought, Martin Luther King, JR. and others stood up and were able to verbalize and fight for their rights...which thru the civil rights movement, they got. These babies don't have a voice. And they are being MURDERED, not just enslaved and denied rights. They are being denied the right to LIVE. Look at the babies Dr. Tiller was killing-they were late term and could have lived outside of the womb at the time they were aborted! And this is legal! Back then slavery was legal-not right, but legal. It was the way of life then. Well, now, abortion is part of our culture and I can't believe that people don't see the hypocricy in being okay with one and not the other.

Ok-last one. The ACLU-a very liberal organization who on a very regular basis only fights for causes that helps the liberal agenda. They are up in arms about the interrogation photos, blah, blah, blah...and very much against the enhanced interrogation. However, I have yet to hear a solution?? Rather than catch the terrorists and interrogate them, should we just shoot them then (since they are caught in the middle of a war)??? Human rights? Do you have more rights when you are alive and being interrogated or when you are dead? If that is not their answer, then what should our armed forces do? Let them go? Arrest them, read them Miranda rights, then (as would happen in this situation) let them go? Let them go to help plan their next attack? In Bill O'Reilly's book, Culture Warrior, he talks about numerous cases of hypocricy where the ACLU sticks up for the rapists instead of the responsible parents, etc.--very hypocritical, like NOW, in that they only speak out for liberal causes, and leave the conservative ones in the dust.

So...enuf of Sanford...he made a mistake and it is between him and his family. Leave him alone. Want to talk hypocricy within our government? Lets talk about real issues. Real issues that affect lives of all Americans. We need to take our "Obama" blinders off. We need to pay attention to the lies we are being told on a daily basis. We need to be aware of the outstanding amount of corruption happening right now-ha! that is a whole other post (ACORN, numerous members of congress up to their necks in corruption...) We need to stand up and fight against the hypocricy that is out there!!!

In love with this photo...

In love with this photo...I don't know if it is because it is a close up, or if it's her gorgeous eyes...but I am glad I picked up the camera and caught this sweet face. Love you Mallory!!!

Fathers Day

Yesterday ended up being a pretty busy day, but I wanted to go ahead and write a quick note thanking the 3 amazing fathers in my life: my Heavenly Father, my earthly father, and the father of my 2 beautiful girls. First, I want to note how lucky I am to have the best husband and the greatest father to Keaton and Mallory. Dan is truly amazing and I am very blessed to have him in my life. The girls adore him and the reason why is obvious!

Secondly, while my time with my dad was waaay too short, I am blessed to have had him as my father. He was amazing-kind, funny, dedicated, a hero in many, many ways. I miss him so much and look forward to the day where I will see him again.

Lastly and most importantly, I want to thank God, my ultimate Father for all of the blessings in my life, especially the 2 wonderful individuals mentioned above. I am so very blessed.

Valuable Lesson from BAD TV show...

I just caught a few minutes of the show "I'm A Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here" and realized something interesting...that like the settlers in Jamestown, the participants are learning one lesson: socialism does not work. A couple of them were complaining about how a couple were doing all of the work, yet they all had equal access to the fire, food, etc. Wow. Such a profound concept on what I consider a pretty bad TV show...because when this happens, chaos ensues...in Jamestown it was the same way. All of the settlers shared equally the fruits of the labor--the problem was that some of them got lazy and realized "hey, why should I work hard, I still get the same amount of food no matter what I do"-thus a small portion of the settlers ended up doing all the work, yet not getting any increase in their result...sound familiar (taxes)???

This mindset is where we are heading with the "redistribution of wealth" philosophy. People who are working hard to earn what they have will be punished monetarily in order to provide for those who do not have as much. Now, I am not saying that the poor do not deserve assistance---but what if they are drug addicts or gambling addicts? Should my money be going to them with no limitation??? Is that truly helping them??? NO-what helps these people is teaching them personal responsbility. Teaching them how to work hard to earn what they want. Teaching them that taking the easy way out is not always the best way out.

President Obama, as he showed during the campaign, believes in the "share the wealth" philosophy...do we not learn from history??? From other countries??? Socialism fails every time, yet that is where our country is heading. This truly worries me-with all of the bailouts, ownership of car companies and enlargement of government...our country is heading in a dangerous direction.

Tolerance

Ok, so as I have become interested in politics these last few years, one of the words I have heard often is "tolerance." Generally a word the liberals use to describe themselves. Tolerance is what it is about-of homosexuals, of different races, etc. While it sounds all fine and dandy-I have found one thing-they aren't as tolerant as they seem. They aren't tolerent of Christianity or religion. They aren't tolerant of those who have opposing viewpoints or disagree with their world view. In fact, if their view is opposed-those that don't agree become bigots and no longer is tolerance the way to go.

This has become very clear in the media lately in the case of Miss California. She was viciously attacked because of her view on gay marriage. What happened to tolerance? Is she not entitled to her own opinion? her own view? She was very respectful, did not put down the gay and lesbian community-she just simple stated her belief-which is the same belief of President Obama and a majority of Americans. But where was the ACLU? The National Organization for Women? Oh yeah-they are liberal organizations and will only stick up for the person if they agree with their philosophies.

I have been very aware of this "culture war" for a long time-thanks to Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity and those that shed light on this hatred of opposing viewpoints. I have said from day one that I will not treat Obama as Bush was treated. Man, he was HATED and constantly demeaned-and then it was okay to dissent-oh, but not now!!! Now, dissent is "intolerant"-we are racist and stupid if we don't agree with Obama and his policies! And if we approved of President Bush-oh man, watch out!!!

This is on my mind because yesterday I decided to "commentate" the Obama and Cheney security speeches on twitter (which then updates my facebook status). This issue has been very appealing to me for some reason-9/11 impacted me greatly and national security is a very important issue. Anyway, at the end, one of my final posts was a thanks to Pres. Bush, VP Cheney and the Troops for keeping us safe since 9/11. And I got a response...from a liberal. And you know what-I don't mind disagreement, I don't mind opposing viewpoints...I welcome it actually because I would love to have a civil debate on the issues. But the response was hateful-about how Pres. Bush did nothing, blah blah blah...and it ended with "screw bush"-then that person updated his status to say he hated stupidity and people who choose what they want to hear versus what is actually being said, etc-obviously responding to me. This is exactly what I am talking about-tolerant unless you don't agree with their world view. All of the sudden I became stupid because I supported the Bush Adm. No way did I know what I was talking about...after all I have not only self-schooled myself on politics and all that surrounds it for the last 7 years...After I wrote a strong but respectul response, he deleted his-fine. I know that people who are that far left can't be swayed or argued with. As O'Reilly says-"walk away." But I'd like the anwer to one question-what happened to that "tolerance" word. Do I not have the right to voice my opinion on MY facebook page? On MY twitter account??? It was a simple thank you message-not even a message that is controversial!

I struggled for a long time on whether or not to tackle political issues and stories on facebook, twitter, etc. And I ultimately decided "why not?" It is something I am passionate about and why hide my views? Yes, politics can be controversial, etc. but you don't have to read the stories I post or the opinions I express...I just find it funny when those that don't agree respond with hate versus intellect.

On a funny note-this was the same person who posted that the Twilight series sucked and that I should not read them. After I read all 4 books in a week, I knew we were obviously of different minds. 8 )

So my main message is this-we are all going to disagree at some point, can't we just do it in a civil manner? Do you have to tear down those who disagree with you?

5 Years...

I recently did this fun mini-album for a Big Picture class and it led me to reflect on Keaton's first 5 years. It was sooo fun documenting her thru the years!!! Some of my reflections (in no particular order)
-She was a "nursing baby" in that she wanted to nurse all of the time!

-She was a good baby-very content (once we got the nursing schedule under control).

-It took us a while to get her to sleep in her own bed, but that was more our fault than hers. 8 )

-She was and is a fast learner-the abc's, numbers, actually memorizing books...now we have moved on to writing, tying shoes, and cleaning her room. 8 )

-From day 1, she has been the sweetest thing. She randomly tells us she loves us all the time and is a snuggler too!

-She despises the car wash!!!

-She is just funny (got that from her dad)-a lot of "Keatonisms" that I have documented thru the years...all of her preschooler teachers have mentioned that she cracks them up on a daily basis. I hope her kindergarten teacher is ready for her...LOL

-She is very creative-she loves to paint, make crafts and NOW...scrapbook! Ha, Dan is loving that!!! 8 ) Right now she is into card making, she makes cards for us, her friends...in fact, they are taking over our house!

-She has 2 best friends (Ellie and India) and it is going to be so much fun watching them grow up together! Hopefully they don't get into too much trouble!!!

Just some random thoughts. She is growing up waaaay too fast, but each new "stage" brings with it a new set of joys. Love this girl!!!

Busy, busy...

May just started and it has been a busy month so far!!! Keaton graduated from Preschool, our god-son Joe received his first communion, Keaton had her pre-K physical (shots-didn't go over so well, but ice cream at Dairy Queen afterword made it all ok!), Dan started golf league, we had our last Couples Bible Study session (until the fall), and oh-last weekend was "National Scrapbooking Day", so that means some fun scrapbook shopping on QVC. 8 ) Ok, the last part there wasn't so "busy" but something I look forward to every year. 8 ) I did get to scrapbook some last weekend-did a little mini album that I need to put some finishing touches on, but mostly I have been working on a graduation album I am doing for my sister-in-law. It is a gift for her nephew who graduates in a couple weeks and I will be going to Denver next weekend to take it to her...and to spend the weekend with Angie to scrapbook and hang out-can't wait!!! 8 )

The next few weeks are also full of rehearsals, pictures, etc of Keaton's first ballet/tap recital which is at the end of this month. It is going to be super cute, will definetely post pictures!!! Hopefully she will do as good as she did at her graduation performance-performed like a pro, not too nervous or anything!!! What a difference a year makes! Last year, she just stood up there and would hardly move! 8 )

I have been a bit under the weather these last couple weeks (of course it started the day that Dan left to be gone for 6 days!!!). Now, I think what is still hanging on is actually allergy related. Weird. I have never had allergies. I took an allergy pill last night and it completely knocked me out, so I will just have to live with the "fullness", plugged ears, and cough. Oh well. It could be worse.

My last couple posts have been politically motivated...or you could say frustration-motivated. Part of my daily routine is to watch the news, and occasionally to listen to Rush and Hannity on the rado. I joke with Dan about how I am a stay at home mom who chooses to watch Fox News over soap operas. 8 ) But actually, politics is its own soap opera...you have secret love affairs, corruption, greed, money...all of the things that make up a bad soap opera. On a serious note though...I am really frustrated with the Obama administration and the way they are handling, well...everything. He is so extremely radical and while he can talk smoothly (with a teleprompter anyway), his views are farther left of most of Americans. I just hope Republicans can win back some seats next year. And all of this talk about the Repubs being too far to the right-that is nonsense!! Of course the Dems want us to move left...because then we would be Democrats!!! I know it would be ideal for us all to just give up and agree with the Democrats, make it a one party system-but that is not good for the country! I laugh when they say we are a party of "no"-well, the conservative ideology and philosophy is completely opposite of that of the left, so of course the Repubs are going to oppose their policies!!! And why are they complaining? They pretty much have full control now! Oh, and can't one make the argument that the right has not moved farther right (which is not true, look at Reagan!), but that the left has become more liberal??? I could definetely make that argument. And the sad thing is-the consistent trend is the more liberal, the more intolerant (funny being they are the party of tolerance...unless it is about religion or about disagreeing with their world view) and the more hateful. Look at what is happening to Carry Prejean (Miss California). I post almost a story a day (and could do many more) on my facebook account that shows how crazy things are right now in the political realm. (I generally use thefoxnation.com which is a great website for news-but also check out CNN and other news organizations on a regular basis).

Well, I will quit the "soapbox"-8 ) I should probably go get dressed for the day-after all, it is only 11:00. ha ha. I love days when we have nothing going on!