John + Samantha + Lucas + Olivia

My Blonde Leg Hair

2012-02-28T12:21:00.002-08:00

I noticed this long blonde hair growing out of my thigh when I was blow drying my hair a few weeks ago, but couldn't find it later on to pluck it, so I forgot. John noticed it in the car. :) He's apparently grossed out about it (which makes it all the more fun for me) but considering all the gross things he has and does, I don't understand how my sexy leg hair is offensive lol. He wanted to badly to pull it out while he was driving but I wouldn't let him. I said, "you'll hurt me and not even get it out...besides it's growing on me." haha...

I shaved it last night. :(

Fun Stuff

2012-02-28T12:17:00.000-08:00

We have been getting used to the new area we live in, and we found a couple nice parks. The first one was mostly walking trails, but it was funny because it was full of "NO" signs for ridiculous things..like "no playing on field" or "no golfing of any type on grass" or "no climbing trees" or "water is for drinking only" above water fountains...darn I was going to do my laundry! We had brought our awesome bubble guns to use and I was expecting to see this:

So we walked a few trails at the "No" park, and showed daddy how we play cars...here we are getting gas :). It's so cute when they go "wee ooh weee ooh" and then say "firetruck!" and pull over to the side lol. I'm teaching them to drive now!

Then John and I had a bet. Every time we drove to and from this house (for the move etc) we saw this Softball /soccer/football field park. I swore I saw a huge jungle gym for kids too---John laughed and said "you're wrong. there's nothing there for them. Didn't you look and see it was just muddy baseball fields?" And once we got bored with the "No" park, I told him to just drive there and see who's right. We bet dinner (he wins= i make him what he wants, I win= he makes me what I want...he doesn't cook...so I knew it would be eating out lol). So we get there and he's like "Damn! Why are you always right!? I thought there wasn't a park!"

It was an awesome and clean playground :) And it's closer to our house!

Had to do a Tebow-shot :)

John....never gonna grow up :)

Finally wore these kids out...he fell asleep on the couch til it got dark...and we turned the lights off and howled til he woke up lol. He was kinda scared but knew it was us lol. It's fun to play hide and seek in the new house--but when it's Lucas' turn to hide, he lays on the couch covering his eyes laughing excitedly like we can't see him lol..then he jumps out and tries to scare us. He'll learn pretty soon. Took him forever to find me :)

The Revealing

2012-02-27T07:59:00.002-08:00

I feel like we lost ourselves the past 3 days--we have been so busy moving and cleaning and installing...we lost all sense of time and place...our bodies ache, but the house is done!! There are few little things we need to do/buy, but we will do them one at a time. We are very pleased with the way the house has turned out, and can't even see it as the same old dirty house we first walked into in November, and walked out thinking, "ugh...no it's not what we thought...too much work and cleaning..."
It is very fulfilling to have truly made this our home. I really think making those dorky paint drawings assisted us in figuring out what we wanted to do with 2760 sq ft of house. John has worked so hard and I am really proud of him; not just at home with moving and caring for the kids with me, but at work too. His coworkers compliment him all the time and he's been given some great gift cards for dealing with stressful situations with the pipeline. And the cherry on top is that he actually likes his job :)

Here is the house in 3 videos:

Lucas hit the ball into Olivia....but she was okay :)

I took pictures, but they don't really show the house as well as the videos:

We got a few things left to do this week--security system, dishwasher installed, and some large furniture deliveries from Ikea. More pictures when that comes. We are eventually going to repaint (spray) all the doors too, but for now we replaced all the knobs. Come visit Texas!

Thank You Greggy:)

2012-02-22T14:36:00.001-08:00

this argument is made all the time...people don't understand what they're fighting for. Or rather, they don't want to understand. Calling me racist, for being against genocide. hmm.

Am I hard of hearing

2012-02-21T14:39:00.000-08:00

I have been watching "The Voice" and I just don't understand it. First, yes, I may be a little bitter from not making it (I auditioned last summer). The premise of the show is that it's a talent competition that is supposed to be based on your voice, and your voice alone...not your look, age, sexual preference or sob story...but to me, watching every contestant, it seems to have resulted in the opposite....contestants were chosen because of everything but their voice...and especially so if you pronounce words wierdly.

There have been a few really good singers, but most of them are pitchy. And I am disappointed in Blake always getting so excited for wierd voices...and it annoys me because it's not a unique singing capability that came naturally....it's an intentional 'accent' that doesn't really make sense. example:

She's so pretty..I wanted her to be good but how could you listen to that pretentious singing and not cringe!? She's a lesbian, so that obviously scored her some points for the audition. She's a model--more points. But the voice?! I get it--she's trying to sound like Eartha Kitt mixed with a british baby having a seizure, but I don't find that to be talent. Who knows--she may just have a good voice if she would relax and not try to sound 'cool'. Even if she had actually chosen a good song it would've been unbearable without the 'mute' button.

Same here:

I haven't heard Blake's music or his wife's but I hope it sounds nothing like what he claims is amazing. This girl scores points for those nasty dreadlocks...you know they have to wreak. John and I both really don't like this "lazy song" but her voice was boring and she was sharp a lot of the time. ya yayayayayayaya. guess that's talent today. After hearing another video of hers on youtube, she has an alright voice but the performance and song choice on the voice sucked to me.

There were some good ones, my favorite being the army girl Angie Johnson:

As far as the other show, American Idol, there were so many good singers--I have no doubt that I don't belong among them! But there were some exceptions that I don't understand. Jennifer Lopez seems to think this girl who lays her southern accent on way too thick, sounds like Reba!? I don't hear it...just because it's country? Maybe it was just this performance that I didn't like with all the growling, she probably has a good voice.

Another country singer that has survived all the cuts for some reason is this guy...he's annoying when he's not singing, and when he is. I think because of Scotty Mcreary's success they think any old cowboy hat guy will do. He sucks. Watch this group performance and tell me at 00:38 sec that this guy belongs on the show...

and then watch the Philip Phillips guy after him...so annoying with the fake-seizures guys! geez.

This guy is trying to be like that actor from "My So-Called Life" who is now in a band..that sucks. I am just too easily annoyed with the dramatic faces and hackneyed antics that it apparently takes to make it.

My favorites so far:

this guy is so good and I like his tone:

This girl is just...makes me so freaking jealous that it's so easy for her:

And Lauren Gray is good too.

This guy's ADD-behavior is annoying but I like his voice:

I liked his group performance---this girl Elise is awesome:

This girl Jessica Sanchez was pretty good--and I like this Buddy Holly song:

And I know there's no arguing that this guy is good...but I just don't like him. That's mean huh?

So anyway, i just wanted to share what I thought of this years contestants. American Idol has the best voices and talent....NBC's The Voice is just annoying.

Ron Paul-bot

2012-02-20T19:39:00.000-08:00

I really hope Ron Paul continues this momentum. I know Santorum is really creeping up on Romney, and many conservatives like him. I know he's Catholic and pro-life and all about family etc. But if you really look at his voting record, branding him a conservative, socially OR fiscally, is a misrepresentation. Unfortunately, many of my conservative peers are so desperate for a 'conservative' to replace Obama that they don't dig a little deeper to understanding the issues. Santorum is someone I would've supported a few years ago,without looking at the bigger picture. This guy's distinction between Santorum & Paul pretty much sums it up:

You all already know how I feel about Obama essentially mandating churches to offer insurance policies with contraception/abortifacients, and then 'accomodating' them by mandating that insurance companies themselves cover it 'for free'. And it's not because I am Catholic. I do agree with Santorum that contraceptives harm women (odd that he supported contraceptive funding to Planned Parenthood in the past...), but in the bigger picture, this affects ALL faiths, because it is blurring the lines between church & state. When Ron Paul says harping on conservative social issues is a losing position, he isn't saying he doesn't agree with conservative stances...he in fact does. Basically, arguing with liberals about the morality of social issues is attempting to treat the symptoms, not the root cause. The root cause, which should worry each and every American, is the attack on civil liberties. And the best method to preserve liberty, is as this guy Woods says, through subsidiarity--which basically means that every issue should be addressed at the lowest level, and if it cannot be resolved, move up one notch to the next level...and the first most local level can in some cases, even be parents... to local, regional, state, federal. Which is the opposite of what has been happening lately....everything has been directly mandated by the federal government under the guise that they are really looking out for you. It's really about control.

When you support the kind of government that can unilaterally decide such relative issues as what is 'healthy', what a 'good' doctor is, what an 'efficient' car is, who should pay for who's care, what opinions are taught to your kids as fact, and who can marry, you are supporting tyranny.

Santorum has voted to waste so much tax $ on unnecessary tasks that should not be on the government's to do list.

I agree with the 'ground up' approach not top to bottom, to affect the change you want...which should be in the hearts and minds, not mandated and subsidized.

I can't even put it in better words than this guy Tom Woods. He is spot on. He is a true Catholic--stays true to his values, while getting past all the emtpy rhetoric, and straight to the heart...you don't have to be Catholic to understand what is right, what is fair, and what is best for all of us. You don't even have to call yourself conservative. More than anything, to me, Ron Paul's stances are humane.

Stromboli!

2012-02-18T17:50:00.000-08:00

After making that Spaghetti bread last month, I have wanted to make a Stromboli. I did today and they were delicious! Olivia and I ate a whole one today :) Lucas only liked the bread, and daddy loved it too when he got home from work.

I made the same bread recipe with the bread flour I had, and I let it rise for the full hour. I put thyme and olive oil on the outside. I separated it into 2 pieces and rolled them out flat to fill with:
-spinach
-mushrooms
-yellow squash
-low fat mozzarella cheese
-low fat cheddar
-thin sliced deli pepperoni
-thin sliced deli ham
and I decided to use pre-made Ragu pizza sauce this time because I didn't feel like making my own and didn't really need that much. I brushed it with light butter and put some parmesan cheese on top to bake for 35 minutes.

It was warm and juicy on the inside and crispy on the outside. I liked the thyme seasoning. I didn't fill it too much, and actually didn't use that much meat, but the pepperoni made it delicious. I think I'll look for turkey pepperoni next time to make it a little more healthy. Needless to say, it's all gone!

I used all the veggies I had in my fridge and they all meshed well with the sauce and meat. Gonna be making these regularly, and it's something easy for John to take to work and re-heat! Proud of myself...I'm not a very good cook, so anything that didn't come out of a box feels like a big deal to me--when it tastes good! :)

Humble Home Progress 9

2012-02-18T09:41:00.000-08:00

Yesterday they finished the floors! So happy to be done with walls and floors...now we can work on the little things :) I am so impatient, but I work hard to get things done quickly so I think that has helped speed up this time line of events. I devoted a lot of time to searching out the best products, prices, services, paint colors and appliances, and we negotiated better this time around, than last time we got a house/appliances in VA. It is very fulfilling to see this outdated and dirty house reach the potential we have envisioned since November. Every step we took, made it feel like it belonged to us more; it took a while to fully feel we could say, "yeah, lets move in and make this our home." But we are there!

The pictures aren't the most clear because there was a lot of sawdust and regular dust from removing the carpet and all the various work being done, so when I used the flash it showed all the little dust orbs, but without the flash it's a bit blurry... but you can see the huge difference. I wanted to clean the floors so badly yesterday but we don't have a swiffer sweeper thing yet. This thursday lowes should be delivering and installing all the appliances, so we will be going out there on wednesday evening after mass to stay the night, clean and bring some of the boxes I packed.

This is the hallway leading to master.. they were still installing the carpet:

Lucas did this dollar store puzzle all day!

While they installed the carpet, we installed these Faux wood 2" blinds from Lowes called 'Levelor' blinds. They can cut them to any width, but you have to adjust the length by removing slats. We didn't as most of them were close to the correct length. We put them up in the living room, kitchen, utility and most importantly in the master bath.

I forgot to get a picture of it but then we installed the new light fixture in the master bath, but it's not as secure as I'd like. The little decorative balls that only screw down a little bit, are all that's really holding the light up, and in addition to the unevenly installed power box, it's not as secure as I'd like. So we are going to buy 2 extra little hex nuts to secure it, and then screw the balls on top of them.

And the carpet:

left= under stairs closet.

right= master closet.

Carpet in the game room :)--must be comfortable--olivia fell asleep on it pretty quickly !

No more squeaky steps either!

And lastly, John installed this new Kohler toilet. They are never fun to install and I never feel very sure that the wax ring created the perfect seal, but I think we did it right and it looks nice. 2 more to go!

Just before leaving, we started replacing the door knobs with new brushed nickel knobs...we replaced 9 when our drill battery finally died. I really wanted to finish but it would take too long and cause carpal tunnel syndrome with a regular screwdriver lol. So we called it a night and went home. But all 4 of us actually wanted to stay...like we feel it's our home now. John works til wednesday night so thats when we'll be back with more stuff. I hope we can move all our stuff without needing any help, but I also don't want either of us to throw our backs out. That just means I have to disassemble more than I wanted to, but we don't actually have that much stuff so I'll start on that today. Will donate some toys and clothes too- that should help!

And here's a walk-through video with the new floors (had to stop in the beginning..flooring guy had me sign forms):

Humble Home Progress 8

2012-02-15T21:22:00.000-08:00

We went by the house today to finish installing the new ceiling fan and light in the game room. They have finished installing the vinyl floors in the kitchen, utility, and bathrooms, and I like it. They have put down cement to 'float' the uneven ground to create an even surface for tomorrow's laminate installation. Then friday they should be completing the new carpet and be done. In the meantime, we are trying to tie together loose ends for the transition, and prioritize the true "needs" and "wants" when it comes to what is required to actually move in.

After a disappointing tax return earlier today, and notification that our tenants in our rental will be deployed to Afghanistan in 2 months, it has further consolidated our 'needs' list lol. But I know everything we want will get done, just little by little...and more overtime for John :(

Some pictures from today:

The bare floors are even an improvement over the ugly blue huh?

Can't wait to see the dark laminate pull it all together.

This is the upstairs bathroom.Clean new floors! Clean new bath yay!

This is the downstairs half bath. This sink has stuff stuck to it so I will have to get some heavy duty cleaner and pumice stone to scrub it, but it could look nice.

This is the utility room. I think white appliances will look great in it.

Doesn't the flooring look good against the olivewood color?

This is the master. Going to order blinds for this window tomorrow...that's definitely a 'need' if I don't want the neighbors seeing me naked...which I don't FYI. Oh and I never said anything about the sink--we have no idea why one of the cabinet doors is bare...it's gonna suck trying to find the exact match of spray paint to match the others.

And we still don't like the blue in the potty room...probably will paint it some other leftover color.

This was not as easy as it seemed to install, but we like it and definitely needed a working fan up there. And now there is enough light in the room too. Can't wait to see carpets and then get the new modular couch.

Friday we intend to buy 3 new kohler toilets and install them. Another need :)

More pictures to come on friday...

Bubbles & Puzzles

2012-02-14T22:14:00.000-08:00

First--this morning I received this beautiful bouquet for Valentine's Day. John knows I like stargazer lilies--let's just hope they don't aggravate my horrid allergies when they bloom! Very sweet though and a nice little note too. Tonight is his last over night shift for a while, and we are about to move into the house so I really didn't expect anything :)

So while he slept I took the kids to the grocery store and also to the dollar store. I was a few days late and got to thinking I might be bringing another Hodge into the family---we aren't trying, but it's always a possibility! (no matter how inconvenient the time, I think we always get excited and wrapped up in the possibility so easily :) Then the kids picked out these cute balloons to give daddy for V-day. I got them some bubbles too. Oh, and no we're not pregnant--got my "visit" right after I worked out today lol.

After I got back from the gym, the kids woke up and immediately wanted to give daddy their balloons...by give, I mean, allow daddy to look at them play with them. Then we invited daddy to go to the park to blow bubbles for a bit before work. Daddy was really good at making lots of bubbles and they really ran around popping them and it was warmer today so Lucas' face got red quick!

Didn't even know I caught this! lol.

Isn't my baby girl so beautiful!?

This is her little bowl-legged squat she does before breaking out in dance...it's like she pausing to hear the rhythm before grooving lol.

A variation of the pre-dance squat lol..

He really went after these bubbles full-force...with his hands, then his body...and eventually by throwing his wand.

It's funny that we were on a tennis court because the way they were hitting the bubbles almost makes it look like tennis!

Happy Valentine's Day!

And here's my boy Lucas concentrating real hard on his puzzles. Santa brought him these cars puzzles, and after seeing he could do them all by himself, I bought these Thomas ones. He now does all 7 puzzles on his own--some take longer than others, but he's really good and it's great to see him focus quietly on it, and then see his proud smile afterward.

Here's Olivia getting bored of watching the puzzle-builder lol...she didn't take a good nap and just devoured some of the zucchini chocolate chip cookies I made. I was trying to get her to do what she always does in my lap--point out all my body parts, mostly facial features. She tried lol...

Tomorrow we get to go check on how the vinyl floor looks, and they begin the laminate! Pictures and video to come soon :)

Some Old Fun Stuff- My Valentine*

2012-02-13T21:46:00.000-08:00

Feeling sentimental/nostalgic again :) Our computer is full of Lucas and Olivia memories that I love to look over (and I would like to put together a good set of pics showing their growth someday when I have more time), but there are some old little files with pictures of John and I early on in our relationship and marriage. It's always fun to look back at where and who you were, and all that you have been blessed with. I also notice dumb stuff like my weight fluctuations and that I am actually thinner now than in our 3/4th years of marriage lol. But they also serve as a reminder of all the opportunities yet to come, to make more beautiful memories as a family, and to continue to grow in love and respect for each other. I feel we have made each other better versions of ourselves with every year we have been together. :)

When John and I were confirmed in the church and had our marriage convalidated in Easter 2008, our sponsors (who are also now L & O's godparents) gave us prayer journals. I have kept that same journal and sporadically written in it for the past 4 years. Reading back over all my worries and hopes and seeing that everything indeed worked out better than I could've imagined at the time, is so reassuring. It's almost like learning to be grateful the "easy" way, as opposed to the hard way...by having something taken from you.

There's no real rhyme or reason for my choice of pictures to share--just some of the few pictures I have on my comp. We didn't have a digital camera for a while so I don't even have that many..and they aren't the best pictures, but it's what I have :) I may have even shared some of them before. oh well !

Even through the rough times and events in our relationship, there was never any doubt in my heart about John and I, and our future. We sure have changed a lot though! There's no accounting for style btw. :)

2000/2001 High school-ironic, as John is in background. Mr. Derse's class junior year. I still am amazed that Mr. Derse ended up moving from CA to VA and becoming my little brother's math teacher!

Dating 2002, John was best man at a friend's wedding.

Love this pic. John holding a pinata on a swiffer sweeper for Norman's bday. That's my family! In good old littlerock.

Saddest day..John left for boot camp Feb 2003. Felt empty. 18 yrs old, impatient, and felt like I would never see him again.

John visit on leave--at Dodger game with Grandpa Charles and my brothers :)

John on leave at granny's house for lunch. What am I wearing? who knows. We went to Radiohead concert in San Diego.

Signing our lives away to each other. Las Vegas 2004.

Our first apartment, Saratoga NY. Our first car.

Camping trip.Rain, Period, drunk friends lol. And my portable toilet! (and a speeding ticket for johnny :)

Canoeing in Lake George, and dinner with friends in Albany. When we just couldn't get enough of each other :)

Trip to New Jersey to visit a military mom friend. Still too young to gamble but fun to walk around Atlantic City!

Visiting navy friends--bored with their drinking games. I used to add things to their drinks to make it more entertaining- dares with soy sauce and bacon bits is all I remember...and someone barfing over our balcony.

Now this was fun--every weekend we used to drive to john's friends place in Amsterdam NY and he had 3 rooms going for a progressive poker tournament. I got second place this night, out of ~30 people. Couple hundred bucks :)

Before my true babies came along, I actually loved our dogs believe it or not lol. I have no patience for them anymore. John does though :)

Excited to have a real winter...John trying to get some of the snow off the balcony :) Soonafter, I started working for post office and hated snow.

Before the dogs, I started trying my hand at a little gardening on our balcony. Was rewarding! And the pic on right is us somewhere around Lake George going tubing down a hill. Was really fun but tiring. I also was obsessed with wearing colored contacts at the time..

Taking my new puppy to a republican rally. He ate a cigarette butt and got sick...I think we ended up paying a bunch of money for a vet bill lol.

We had some really nice parks in upstate NY, but my allergies were so bad that I sometimes wore my michael jackson mask lol.

At the state park again--it was so exciting to see deer the first few times.

Renting a boat from MWR for the weekend at Stewart's pond. Fond memories of this pond/lake. Hard to think of myself before I was a mom. No responsibilities! Almost like having no purpose. Now, I would feel lost without my babies :)

Our first time to Williamsburg VA--2 yr anniversary. Look how cute John looks! :)

Our cottage we rented at King's Creek.

This was our final drive down to Williamsburg from NY...we bought our first house. This was a stop in Jersey at Rutt's Hut--famous fried hot dog joint. The start of our touring the states for famous food places!

At a park in Newport News Va renting bikes. I loved making John do random stuff with me :) Still do actually!

This pic is pretty bad. I mean, we look like crap, but it's cute to me. I was pregnant with Lucas and my mom and Norman had moved in with us for a while from CA--and we enjoyed playing Norman's guitar hero, and watching Norman in amazement too :)

Susan told me something that kinda stuck in my head the other day. She said it's amazing to think about how our kids will think of us in the way we are now, when they are older. When they describe their childhood to their own children. It's a great way to look at things we do everyday and always find meaning and peace. I think it will be fun for L & O to see how our love evolved and see us in our whimsical and immature times too. That also makes me sad though, because it reminds me that my kids will never have a memory of their own, about my dad. I think about how excited they would have been to visit with him, and all the funny things he would've said or sang. But that's why I must keep the pictures and stories of him fresh in my mind and heart to share with them when they are older.

I am so thankful that John was there to meet my family as we were growing up. And that my dad truly loved John and was happy for us. That John liked his sense of humor from the beginning---and I mean our first date, when dad walked around with his cane and in his underwear after taking a shower.

Anyway, these are some good memories of our story before we became responsible for our adorable kids- I hope it was interesting to you who read me.

I would love it if all you fellow bloggers did a similar post of you & your significant other, or you before you were a mom :) Do it for yourself! (and for me haha :)

Good for her

2012-02-12T00:20:00.000-08:00

A little delayed, but still noteworthy...Former VP of public relations for Susan G Komen resigned, amidst the Planned Parenthood bullying for their $680k/yr donation. Karen Handel says,

"Planned Parenthood unleashed a premeditated and vicious attack not only on Komen, but also on Ambassador [Nancy] Brinker as well," said Handel, who in 2010 narrowly lost her bid for the GOP gubernatorial nomination. "The orchestrated assault did not happen overnight. It was long in the making."

Good for her. She didn't even instigate the initial pulling of funding from PP--she just was responsible for trying to keep Komen neutral on controversial issues, and focus on breast cancer awareness, research and treatments. Planned Parenthood and the abortion industry are more powerful than you think.

And now our president Obama, one of the biggest hypocrites ever (and never is he confronted with any contradictions...i.e. his super-PAC declaration) wants to require all religious institutions to pay for insurance policies that cover abortifacients for their employees. Then when the churches fought back, he "accomodated' (he demanded that it not be called a compromise..) them by requiring that they point their employees toward contraception that will now be covered free by insurance companies...because that's what our country fought for...free contraception.

I just don't understand it...why the hell is Obama SOOO obsessed with undermining values? Do you think that the president of the U.S. should be pre-occupied with abortion, contraception and abortifacients?...and worse, forcing taxpayers to foot the bill? Besides his "Obamacare" mandating tax funded abortions, his requiring insurance companies to cover contraception free, is only going to increase the costs of EVERYTHING else to compensate....thereby, WE foot the bill...Once he selected Kathleen Sebelius as his secretary of health and human services, I knew he would always be devoted to evil. She was best buds with Tiller the Killer.

I think people like to talk about 'separation of church and state' when it suits their cause---meaning, when they are offended by businesses and buildings and airports with Christmas decor. When a state park has a cross in it. When a county seal has anything remotely Christian in it. But when they want to butt in and demand that churches lose their values and even try to run them, as when they tried to tell a church it could not fire one if it's teachers who became unfit for her position and was replaced during leave (due first to narcolepsy, and then her attempt to sue, went against her Evangelical Lutheran church's teachings wherein disputes are handled within the church). The supreme court decided 9 to 0 that the government had no right to be involved with a church's personnel.

The things Obama chooses to be priorities are ridiculous. And then to constantly hear him claim the 'other side is playing politics', or to hear his white house press sec Jay Carney wiggle his way out of answering questions...You almost feel bad for this guy and Gibbs when you see them in over their heads...as is Obama.

Here is a boring video of Jay responding to claims the mandating religious institutions to offer insurance plans that cover contraceptives...and how forcing churches to go against their faith isn't a "constitutional rights issue." You can almost feel Obama watching the video and saying "whew! I'm glad I never have to answer for any of the ridiculous shit I do and say!"

I just find it peculiar what he focuses on...as if in the terrible state that this country is in, women are saying, "man, my husband and I can't find work, our home is worth tens of thousands less than we owe....I really wish my birth control pills were free-that would solve everything!"

But it's really no surprise...before he was even elected, he said what his FIRST priority would be:

That's what you want to hear when you're choosing the next leader of the free world huh?

If Ron Paul could miraculously win, he would reign in not only wasteful government spending, but government intrusion. Quit telling us how to live our lives! Quit subsidizing the taking of lives!

Humble Home Progress 7

2012-02-11T23:25:00.000-08:00

I took this video Friday night. I wanted to do a walk through video of everything before the new floors started to be installed monday. You can hear Lucas in the beginning whining about the potty---he hates leaving things behind...well, he actually hates leaving period. They both are so excited about going to "the house", he wants to bring everything with him there, and bring it back everytime. Pretty soon we will be renting a Uhaul and putting all our stuff in for good!

I may just be pessimistic, but I am expecting things to go wrong with the flooring installation. I hope it goes well and stays on time. According to their estimations, everything will be done by friday. They have a different team for each material, vinyl, laminate, carpet etc.

Today we went out for a few hours to quickly finish last tasks. We got some of it done...We sanded and painted half and guest bath, and put up the light fixtures..I believe they are secure enough, but the outlet boxes are all uneven and weren't installed to be flush to the wall. Just frustrating when things don't line up perfectly. We were trying to install the bigger light fixture in the master bath, but some screw and hex nuts were missing (found that out after John frustratedly took it out on me!) I hate going back and forth to these stores when they are missing pieces etc..Will have to replace it after floors...at least that bathroom has a lot of light from the window--so the installers can still see what they're doing.

The last task we took on was the game room ceiling fan..it was lot of weird directions that seemed to be loosely translated and confusing. We need to trim the overly long wiring to fit in the flush to ceiling mount position, so we had to put it off til monday or tuesday (the flooring people will only be doing the kitchen/baths/utility then).

We have so many things to buy and do, so I have been obsessed with making lists over and over. Hard for me to stay focused without them. One task that I would like to do and from what I've researched shouldn't be too expensive, is to buy this Wagner spray painter:

and take off all the doors and put a new coat on them in the garage. I also looked up deals to replace all the ugly and dirty brass door knobs throughout the house. The knobs would be ~$160, and the sprayer is only $68. John is also going to work on replacing the actual light switches, and of course the lightswitch covers. I'd say those are the most germy parts of a home.

And the appliances I think we will buy through Best Buy if they do price matching (they have the brands and models we want, but there are some sites with cheaper prices). We also looked into replacing blinds and curtains etc. I didn't realize how expensive 2" faux wood blinds are. Lowes and Home Depot were really expensive and the sizing didn't match up. So I looked around online for a while and this site www.selectblinds.com seem to do great business and do custom sizing fairly cheap. But I think the best deals with the best reviews and customer service, would be JCPenney. So we are going to try them out.

And of course we are taking that trip to Ikea to get a big modular couch for the game room. We decided we wouldn't buy a new TV. We will just have the TV up in the game room, and so the living room will be without one. Which is good because the babies will interact more and we can listen to music and play together without the TV always on. It will also help with bad eating habits I have...I don't watch much, but when John and I do, I have to be eating something!

Gonna call ADT for security system too. The lists are endless, but we are very grateful and excited. Thanks for tuning in!

Humble Home Progress....6?

2012-02-09T21:49:00.000-08:00

We went back out to the house this morning to finish up painting---we also had the home warranty send out a plumber to replace the broken sink faucet---the sink is covered in paint right now (cleaning begins tomorrow) but the new chrome faucet is much better than the broken old dirty one before. They also added a brand new sprayer!

I taped off the utility room and painted it the Olivewood color I liked.

Then I decided to check out the baseboards, trim and shelves in the master closet--as I hadn't really looked in there too much. It was just as thrashed and dirty as the rest of the house. And on the top shelf there was trash, pamphlets and clothes...and what I believe to be roach poop..yuck. I threw the trash out, scrubbed the shelves lysol cleaning spray, but they didn't look bright and clean---and I didn't want to put my clean clothes and things in there as it was. So I took on the task of repainting all the shelves, door frame and baseboards this bright swan white color. I didn't take before pics, but it was worlds better after the white paint---I would put my things in there now!

Then I used the rest of the gallon of Olivewood for the closet. I didn't realize how much time had passed, and all of a sudden it was 4pm! John had worked overnight so he was sleeping upstairs while the babies played. We went to lunch, and then the babies took a nap so we worked some more. John pulled the last dirty toilet and touched up the baseboards in the half bathroom. I touched up more baseboards in the kitchen (all of them are bad, but there was one that their dog seemed to love...).
The LAST room to paint...tomorrow:

Tomorrow we will clean up everything and get all our stuff, and paint supplies and tools into the garage so the flooring can begin on monday. We have also collected so much garbage, so we will take it to the dump. Then we are getting our taxes done, and that will be it!

I need to take measurements of all the windows for blinds and curtains. And then we will shop around for appliances. Can you tell I am anxious to get in there? Gonna start taking apart shelves and our bed soon. I think we will rent a uhaul and move our stuff ourselves...Thank God we didn't get an upstairs apartment :)

Ignorance is Bliss?

2012-02-08T09:01:00.000-08:00

My Olivia :)

I just read this article about a new law here in Texas, that requires abortion clinics to show patients a sonogram, detail the anatomy with the audio of the heartbeat being optional. Although I doubt many clinics are actually following through with it, a few have and claim it's a form of bullying!!
http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/article/Abortion-sonograms-draw-strong-reactions-from-3134070.php

Can you believe that? All they are required to do is describe what is in you, show you with a sonogram...basically inform you so you can make an informed decision! How is that bullying? I can't believe people can be so dumb and ignorant to think that giving information is bullying. Women cannot see inside themselves, and maybe viewing the sonogram will help them to re-consider this heavy decision.

I wonder why so many patients turn away from the sonogram, or turn the volume down. It's not as if the screen is showing a pro-life protest, or religious icons, or preaching opinion....this is MEDICAL FACT. Nothing subjective. Pure data. Uh duh...they are denying reality, and the abortion industry will always condone that.

Here's a quote from an abortionist who is angry that she has to inform patients:
"These patients are livid, they are hurt," said Tram Nguyen, director of Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast, describing recent scenes at her Houston clinic. "They feel that we are the ones being condescending and questioning their decision when we are just messengers."

Her patients are livid and hurt...to face the reality of what they are paying this nut to do to them! When pro-choice people say "it's never an easy decision.." I wish they would explain why...if they truly believed nothing is wrong with abortion, why is it such a big deal? And why would learning more about your decision be harmful?

I just don't understand people's logic in saying this is bullying...as if a woman who subsequently changes her mind due to viewing an ultrasound of her baby, gives birth, and then raises or gives them up for adoption is going to say, "HEY! you tricked me! I regret not killing this kid!"

To anyone with a brain, the pro-choice side is obviously more comfortable keeping women ignorant to keep their precious murder rights and keep the abortion industry rich.

Here is my ultrasound of Olivia...I was on progesterone and worried about miscarrying again. See her jump around and have hiccups! I WAS ONLY 12 WEEKS PREGNANT HERE:

Some cute stuff

2012-02-07T21:07:00.000-08:00

I haven't been taking many pics or video lately. Things are hectic with the house, my allergies, and just taking care of business with these 2. But there have been many little things I wanted to share and remember, so here are some.

I have been trying to record Lucas doing his Cars puzzles all by himself, but everytime I get the camera he acts incapable and says "help mommy!" He does all 3 by himself. They are each 24 pieces. I was impressed:) I took them to the library today and he did a bunch of puzzles in the play area too. They love getting new books.

Lucas even started "reading" with me; he remembers words that I wait for and he fills in the blanks. His favorite was:

He can be so sweet. He's aggressive like most boys, and unwilling to always share, but he's very sweet too--lately he's been coming up to me saying "mommy? pretty dress! pretty hair!" (i never wear dresses, but I get it lol) He also misses daddy on these crappy night shifts--when dad's gone at work in the afternoon, Lucas demands to see daddy and when I say "he's at work baby--he'll be home in the morning", he says "NO! daddy's sweeping!" And John has to sleep most of the day before going back in at 5pm, so Lucas is really deprived of their boy time---gonna fix that once he gets a day off since we are pretty much done with the painting. They'll probably go to a movie.

Olivia is so darling...but also defiant. She's very smart though-- it shocks me how well she remembers things. Once you tell her what something is, her memory locks it in and she uses it perfectly days later even. This was cute--the other day I pointed out her big birthmark on her thigh and said, "whats that? go clean it off!" and she kept trying to wipe it off! lol. Here she is asking daddy to help:

Then she found this glove (tried to get her to wear her hat and gloves when we visited Kansas City..she wouldnt') But she wanted to wear this one glove all day yesterday....then after her bath when I put her in her bed, she screamed like she was in pain and cried...for her glove! she was so happy to wear it to sleep lol. She even had breakfast with it on, so now it has food all over it...

She likes to copy what I do...it's fun. Dancing, exercising whatever. I was doing these pelvic thrusts on the edge of the couch to stretch my back (been hurting since painting) and she did it right next to me. She says "eh-sizing mommy?" (exercizing) Also she was doing pushups against the wall with me earlier!

She is also attempting her ABCs (she and Lucas make up letter but they rhyme with the real thing haha).

I was trying to get some cute pics with her and her glove, when all of a sudden Lucas wants to be photographed (never does!) and they kept getting too close to me--that in addition to my stupid camera flash that always waits so long til they arent looking anymore to be charged..ugh..hate this camera:

That's all I got for now. Thursday we will be back at the house to paint last 3 rooms, do last minute touch ups, have kitchen faucet replaced, and remove the last toilet. Next week the flooring begins! After that, we buy appliances and move our stuff in...Can't wait.

ugh.....a sad update on SGK

2012-02-04T07:46:00.000-08:00

Well, after writing my blog last night about the Komen foundation pulling their funding, I happened to read Dr. Laura's blog on it and see that under pressure from liberal groups who supported Komen, they have decided to REVERSE that decision and continue giving money to Planned Parenthood!!!!!!! After all those donors gave money because of their pulling funding, they are reverting back to supporting evil...because they themselves are supported by liberal money. So frustrating that it's really all about money. Boycott is back on.

Read the Dr. Laura article here.

Apparently even Dr. Laura was unaware of the Komen/PP association.

And she also goes into explaining the PP statistics that only "3% of their business is actually abortion.." and how the Alan Guttmacher institute (funded by PP...) massages the numbers. They know their main business is abortion, the abortion pill (plan b) and contraceptives...not any adoption referrals, or help becoming pregnant, or cancer screening etc. This reversed decision in my eyes makes SGK even MORE offensive; what a slap in the face. I wonder if they're actually making any progress in cancer research, when they seem to be preoccupied with pleasing liberal groups to get their money, only to give to PP...that's propaganda at it's worst.

ALWAYS check the pink ribbon...if it says Susan G Komen, buy generic.
PLEASE call Komen to express your disappointment--1-877-465-6636

For a list of their sponsors/corporate partners click here.

Humble Home Progress 5

2012-02-03T21:21:00.000-08:00

Having a snack :)

We went up to the house yesterday morning and stayed overnight to try to finish the aforementioned tasks...and I am proud to say, we got more done than I thought we could!

I again only got 4 hours of sleep, but my mind is actually more at ease because my OCD about getting this house ready to move in, is a bit alleviated. I finished up the master bathroom, but my patch jobs weren't very well done, so they are obvious. And we installed the light fixture, but it's too small for this big vanity so we will be getting a bigger one. We will choose a mirror soon.

Then John took out the toilet in the little master potty room lol, and I painted the trim because it was nasty....when you're in a bathroom, you can be sure what each little yellow, brown, or red spot was....disgusting. Then I painted it this light blue color I bought a while ago...not sure if I like it but we are gonna wait til the new floors are in to see whether we will paint over it or not. John also spray painted the linen closet within that potty room, and I told him he should stop because the fumes were so strong...needless to say, he didn't feel good a few hours later and had to sleep off his headache.

So I began painting the living room-- John did a great job taping everything off--we work a good team! (he called us a "hot and sexy paint team"...yes, we are thinking of starting a business lol). Getting on the huge extension ladder was scary as hell and hard. But with this awesome new tool, I was able to do it faster and less strenuously than with a roller:

These walls were higher than I thought...the extension ladder and extension pole were definitely a work out!

This tool cut our painting time in half! no more edger or roller and the paint goes on smoothly. Highly recommend it.

I worked until 3 am on the huge foyer and chimney.

John took out the dirty washer and dryer and cleaned out this utility room. He painted the trim and the shelves, so all we have to do is paint the walls.

To be finished next week :)

BEFORE:

AFTER:

After the toffee accents:

The babies napping :)

Today I filled in all the "toffee" accents, the hallway to garaged, the kitchen and the nook. I love this "olivewood" color in the kitchen/nook.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

I touched up mistakes as best as possible and removed all the tape and we came home this afternoon.

I am so happy to say, that all we have left to do is:
-paint master closet
-paint downstairs half-bath (had to wait because we need at least one toilet working! lol)
-paint utility room.

Then all we need to do is clean up and call the flooring to be installed. It's already paid for so I am anxious to see it all put together already! The paint made this house brand new....I mean it looks great and that was 50% of the purpose...the other half was to have a sanitary layer over all the crud.

And the kitchen sink faucet will be repaired (covered by home warranty minus deductible) next week-with a new chrome faucet and sprayer! We have lots of things we will need to buy and install, but we are pretty much ready to have the floors put in. John will be working nights the next 5 days, so we will go back up on thursday to do our last painting, touch ups, and clean up. Not to mention get rid of all the trash we made. We have a bag of unused things we didn't end up needing from Lowes/Home Depot to be returned too.
Can't wait to get in that house!

After floors we will gradually move our stuff in, and buy new appliances. Still shopping for best deals. I will not be getting a front-load washer--what a bad design. But we won't be getting the top of the line stuff like we did last house---this will eventually be a rental too. I am so freaking impatient...can't wait til thursday to be DONE!

Susan G Komen-Victory!

2012-02-03T20:36:00.000-08:00

So we have been at the house the past 2 days, but I have been wanting to post about this....my friend Jenny knows me so well she texted me this AM at 7:30 asking why I hadn't blogged about it yet lol. She knows me too well :)

So Susan G Komen, a breast cancer foundation established in the 80's, has long funded the evil abortion industry leader, Planned Parenthood...supposedly on the grounds that they offer mammograms and testing for cancer....first of all, Planned Parenthood does not have the capability to do mammograms or testing; all they do is refer you to a place that can. Secondly, associating yourself with a company that benefits from murdering babies, no matter how much good they might do, is inexcusable to begin with. Why give money to such a controversial business, who's intent is NOT to decrease the amount of abortions, but increase? And at taxpayer's expense? There is no definitive data to ascertain whether or not abortions are related to breast cancer, but there is certainly speculation about it--so why give money to them?

It really bothered me because people who don't really look into it, may have seen the Susan G Komen foundation as a good cause to give money to, or buy their sponsored products. And they had many sponsors. I was even so frustrated going to the store seeing pink ribbons on every box or can of food, that I boycotted certain brands for a while. I stopped going to Old Navy and called them to let them know I will no longer buy from them if they give money to SGK, and that they should consider a better breast cancer foundation. I called Boar's Head--my favorite deli meat vendor too.

Well apparently I was not alone. Susan G Komen has pulled their funding of Planned Parenthood! In the 2 days after pulling the funding, Susan G Komen's donations increased by 100%! I am glad to know people care and that when everyone speaks up, we can change things. Now if only we could get the damn government to stop funding abortion!

Any company that gives money to Planned Parenthood should be boycotted--their money (and their consumer's) is going directly toward providing more opportunity to kill babies. Specifically in low-income urban areas across the U.S., rife with black kids getting pregnant over and over.

Anyway, I am happy SGK pulled the PP funding...but they took so long to do so, and only on the basis that they suddenly realized PP can't perform mammograms. But this is how a free society works--the government bureaucracies shouldn't determine which companies survive, or what they do with their money--the market does. We the people hold the companies (and the government) accountable. So do it!

Humble Home Progress 4

2012-02-01T21:57:00.000-08:00

Today was a frustrating day...little painting, mostly small, but necessary tasks that were time consuming. We had a "rent-a-husband" guy from Ace Hardware come out to give us a quote on putting a small fence through the back yard to fence off a dog run, and a quote on installing 3 new toilets, and on painting the high walls in the living room/foyer. His price was basically $65/hr, which makes me hesitant...I mean, wouldn't he work as slow as possible? idk. We decided to at least attempt the paint ourselves, and we will probably have the Ace guy replace the toilets and put up the fence later on.

First thing I did was finish up painting the master bath--all except for one wall, where we took out the lighting fixture (it was that ugly strip of round bulbs..like all 80/90's bathrooms had..you know, the "im a movie star" dressing room lights.) So after removing that, we saw there were 2 large holes to be patched. Still waiting for it to dry so I can sand it--so that wall will be painted tomorrow.

I spent a lot of the day doing correctional crap...I am astounded by the previous owner's..not only the dirtiness, but the carelessness--they obviously took off outlet covers to paint, but didn't care about paint getting on the sink, tiles, bath, shower baseboards and trim....it literally looks like wherever some paint dripped or ran, they decided to just paint another line. No matter what tools/sprays I used, I couldn't get the paint off the grout/caulk in the tile, so after all that trouble, I decided to just put a thick bead of caulk. It's good enough, but i have to touch up some of my paint along the edge (came off from scrubbing).
Befores:
The pictures make the paint look more green, but it's the same color as the accent in the master.

They painted part of the door frame too. These baseboard pics don't look as bad as they did in person...looked like a dog continually peed on them, and scratched them up. And apparently this bathroom has been painted 3 different colors before...all of them leaving messes somewhere.

I patched up these holes and we bought new light fixtures...to do tomorrow after sanding and painting.

This orange paint just made the room look horrible after all that work...

After:

Retouched and caulked:

Caulking was not easy..what a mess. Ended up using tape too.---need to touch this little bit up at the top of the shower though.

I'll do better pictures when it's all done.

Doesn't this make you wanna jump in and shower!? I wonder what these people looked like...yuck.

Then we took a break to go to Lowes and get more miscellaneous stuff...John bought some replacement planks for the back fence (to keep those big dogs from eating Tyrone or Shmoopy.) Then he got some top soil and bricks to fill in holes where shmoopy was digging under the house..
And all day John took on the huge task of taping the big walls....using the new extended ladder..he was nervous...I was nervous...but he did it! He only let me show this picture if I blocked out his body lol. He had his shirt off because it was so hot and humid today and he was sweating bullets up there!

Then I took down the living room curtains...They had 8 anchors per window...AND they drilled right into the METAL frame supporting the window...which explains the cracks and uneven-ness of the walls surrounding the holes....Why would they continue drilling through the metal frame (instead of moving one inch up or out..) when they saw the walls bending and breaking?! It was a bitch to get those anchors out in one piece. Filled the holes--will sand tomorrow.

Tomorrow's task:

I hate the bathrooms...always find unfinished work. Tomorrow's first tasks will be:
-sand hole patches in master bath
-touch up baseboards under/around vanity
-paint main (mirror) wall
-attach lighting fixture
-sand hole patches in Living room
-paint kitchen, start cutting living room
-clean out bath of debris
-call plumbing...
So, after all the work when we were getting ready to leave, I brought all my brushes to be cleaned in the big kitchen sink...I went to move the faucet head to rinse out the other sink, and something popped and water sprayed everywhere....Everything in this house is retarded. We got mail today saying we have an automatic 1 yr home warranty so I called to schedule a technician to check the sink out-it says we have a $100 deductible, so I think it's worth it. Pretty much everything needs to be replaced...and we probably will, little by little. At the price we paid, it will still be worth it.

John's tasks:
-finish taping up foyer/living room
-take out master toilet, plug hole (he's an expert at that ha..ha..)
-tape up master toilet room
-spray paint pantry shelves, linen shelves
-begin cutting kitchen
-remove washer/dryer (put in garage)
-tape utility room
-remove lights from half bath.
-replace light switches/dirty plates.

And the "wanna-do, but don't know if we can afford yet..in time or money" list:
-replace all door knobs
-replace locks
-replace blinds
-get new windows
-get air ducts cleaned/checked
-install garage opener
-new mailbox
-buy new bathroom mirrors
-remove all doors and repaint/spray them
-clean out all drawers and shelves and put down clean liners.

will think of more tomorrow I'm sure.

Humble Home Progress 3

2012-01-31T21:43:00.000-08:00

We decided to stay the night last night after John got off work, so we brought the dogs and a bunch of supplies. It went as predicted--Olivia and John went to sleep pretty quickly, and Lucas visited me sporadically to see what I was doing. He eventually got in bed with daddy and went to sleep.

I lost track of time. I worked on this nasty upstairs bathroom. Good news is our makeshift plug worked; I didn't detect any methane gases. We are anxious to put new toilets in but we have to wait for the flooring...which is waiting on our paint...
I taped up the nasty baseboards and trim:

gross...

Then I painted, and touched up with second coat:

When it dried, I taped along the wall to paint the baseboards. I put a thick coat of satin "ivory tower" paint and I think it looks a lot better.

We also took out this unnecessary and bothersome door and cleaned up the frame.

At that point, we could officially say the upstairs is all painted!
So I touched up the baseboards in the formal dining room, and used my tiny brushed to get in between the chair railing. Then I decided to start the master bedroom.
I took out the ugly dusty curtains which had heavy duty rails..with 4 anchors...pried them out, sanded, filled the holes with this cool pink stuff (turns white when it's ready to sand/paint), took off the outlet/switch cover plates (probably one of the germiest of places in a home..yuck) and taped up everything. Was too tired to embark on the painting. Saw the clock was 3:30am, so I moved Lucas over and slept on the aerobed pretty comfortably too!

John took this to prove to co-workers that he 'made me paint the whole house' lol.

But I got up at 7:30am and got back to work. John helped me tape up the tray ceiling since we decided it needed paint too. As I was painting the master bedroom this "seal gray" color, I wanted to do some kind of accent, so I decided to tape off either side of the main wall and paint the center this "soft suede" color. John had doubts because it was hard to get a straight line, but changed his mind when he saw how good it looked: (and that it still felt 'masculine' haha).
Before:

After--getting crazy with the cheese whiz lol...my last minute decision. First time trying a 'design' with tape:

Then we began my least favorite task...another dirty bathroom. But the master bath and half bath ceiliings were painted this wierd orange-y color...which made the room feel small and dark, so we painted the ceiliings white...painting ceilings sucks!
We removed the heavy mirror, filled holes, sanded, and taped--ready to paint walls tomorrow. But we had to come home today to get cleaned up and get better rest. Even with virtually non-stop painting and going up and down stairs (I always seem to need something on the opposite floor..and then when I get there, I forget it. lol) I managed to eat quite a bit. So even though I was exhausted and feet and back ache, I decided to get a quick workout. Back in the AM to hopefully start the big walls/big foyer....scared to use the extended ladder!

The kids ate, slept, pooped, and played a bunch. They love going to "the house" (Lucas cries when we leave saying he wants to stay!)
Olivia loves being in this pack and play...like it's her personal castle...then Lucas jumps in to bug her lol.

He's getting really good at these puzzles!

Lastly we took down the ugly kitchen/nook curtains and filled the anchor holes..taped it up and it's ready to be painted...not sure what color yet lol.

Our messy kitchen...

Tomorrow? maybe..

I'm Jealous

2012-01-29T19:02:00.000-08:00

so jealous...i used to play this song at open mics when i lived in Canoga Park CA...I wish it sounded like them. These guys are so talented I can't get over it. They covered my favorite zero7 songs too...wish I had all the equipment and software...it's depressing at first, then inspiring. I wish I had something better to record with than my digital camera. Maybe someday :)

What this guy does with the layering of all those instruments is amazing, and her voice is spot on!

Stay.At.Home.Mom :)

2012-01-29T15:52:00.000-08:00

My true talent:

Everytime I am dancing to this song, I think John probably feels this way about me :)
Olivia was dancing to it earlier but I didn't catch it, so I put up some video of them doing their circus dance from "Coraline" :) Another favorite (of mine too!):

Funny People

2012-01-27T22:18:00.000-08:00

Everyone's sleeping and I am watching a movie I happened to record the other night. It's called "Funny People" with Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen. It's really different...I mean, I guess I haven't watched any real movies lately other than "Kung Fu Panda" or "Finding Nemo" etc, but this movie is really funny and dark. I haven't finished it yet but I recommend it. I know John will enjoy it when he has time off to watch it with me. It also has that girl that is in all those romantic comedies never as the star..Leslie Mann. I just read she's married to Judd Apatow so that explains why she's always in his movies. Anyway, I think she's a good actress.. I especially liked her part in "The 40 yr Old Virgin"--I had a friend that was just like that character lol.

Okay that's all. :)

If you didn't see my friend on Idol last night...

2012-01-27T09:18:00.000-08:00

My eyes look wierd huh? Must be the Red Bull....or the whip-its we did with Demi Moore that night.

Last August I waited 13 hrs to be initiated into the elite group known as AIR--American Idol Rejects :) BUT I feel fortunate that out of the thousands in line, I was next to Kristine Osorio. We had a lot in common and it made the time go by faster. She's really good! I remember getting the texts every time she got through to the next round--so exciting! Then we went out to dinner before she went back to Amarillo. I haven't heard from her lately, so I'm not sure if she's still in the competition (fingers crossed!) but I know she got to Hollywood :)

Here's her clip from last night:

Damn I can see the weight difference from August til now...15 lbs difference :) I had just started WW the month before.

Here's a little clip of the night we went out to celebrate. We went to a club/thai restaurant and waited a while to get a table but the pad thai was really good.

Her good friend Samantha was a blast too. And Jasmine was another gal we met in line. Also a great singer. I am re-thinking my audition and the choices I made--if I decide to try out next season this summer (which would be my last chance at age 28) I would definitely pick a better song and wardrobe..I don't know why I picked the song I did--especially without my guitar! Maybe I'll get better and give it one last shot :)

But man how exciting to be right in front of Jennifer Lopez (pronounced "Hennefare Lopayz..taco flavored keesses!") and Steven Tyler! I wish her luck and hope she lets me ride her coat tails! ha :)

A little early..but call in if she makes it! I've never voted on American Idol before, but I would if she made it. Good luck!

Spaghetti Garlic bread recipe

2012-01-26T18:37:00.000-08:00

Today I decided to try this recipe I saw online. I needed to go grocery shopping anyway, but I usually wait for John to be home to help me with L & O which can be difficult in the store. I wanted to surprise him with this recipe so I went alone. It wasn't too bad, but they just got a cold so I wanted to hurry back and let them nap.

No stores or deli/bakeries had fresh dough to make bread, so I made my own with some rapid rise yeast and it turned out great! I first made John's grandma's spaghetti recipe with mini-meatballs so they cooked quicker. I let the sauce simmer for a few hours and used a little more paste to make it thicker. I made some spaghetti and mixed it in the sauce. Then I made the dough and let it rise for almost an hour. I rolled it out and cut slits on either side. Then I put spaghetti and meatballs and sauce down the center, with cubes of mozarella cheese on top, and braided the slits to close it up. I brushed the top with egg white and sprinkled parmesan cheese, parsley, paprika, and garlic bread seasonings on top. Cooked it for 35 min at 350 degrees.

John came home from work and has caught the babies cold, so he wasn't feeling well, but he really liked it and ate a couple servings before going to bed early. Lucas won't try it--he's pretty sick. Olivia was sick yesterday and seems much better today. Here she is enjoying dinner:

I packed some up for John to take to work :) Next time I'll get some good pepperoni or salami from the meat market and make strombolis!

Humble Home Progress 2

2012-01-25T19:27:00.000-08:00

John had 2 days off and we spent almost every minute of them on the house! We are both anxious to move in, so we are working as fast as possible.

We got a great deal on the house....yes...but, the previous owners never cleaned! And the lights in many rooms are so dim (25 watt bulbs!) that I wonder if they just couldn't see the filth they were living in. But for me, I don't want to feel like I am in a hotel, in my own home....so we are re-doing the bathrooms throughout the house. Instead of paying thousands to install new baths, I found a company online that does resurfacing: www.tubsandtops.com We had a guy come out yesterday morning and resurface the master bath, master shower, and upstairs tub for $600! Look at how clean and white they are---can't use abrasive/bleach cleaner on it though:

Haven't painted in there yet...and we definitely need blinds...neighbors window looks right in!

John went and bought this ladder that extends to 22' so we can do our big walls soon (gonna be scary to be that high...hope it looks good though!) and I needed it to reach the crown moulding in the office(especially to tape it off--but at least that meant I didn't need to tape the ceiling. It's hard to see with the light on in there because it casts shadows, but we will take it out and put in a ceiling fan soon, since it won't be a formal dining room anyway. The colors are dramatic, and John didn't like it when I first started with the light green, but when I was done, said he took it back :)

And then after second coat:

I like the colors and think they will look better after the dark laminate wood floors are in. I still want to get that tree branch decal too. The colors don't look exactly like the pictures--they aren't as bright or lime-greeny...it's called "soothing green tea" and "dark olive".

I finished my second coat of the gray in the upstairs bath, and was about to start taping off the inner bathroom room, with the actual tub and toilet, when I noticed how filthy the walls and trim and baseboards were....caked on pee..obviously a boy splattered his pee everywhere while standing...disgusting. I couldnt' even scrub it off, so I was about to paint the baseboards and trim white, but asked John to take the toilet out. It was a long process.....with multiple trips to the store...the bolts and pipes and everythign is corroded...it was like it was never washed. He was able to take it apart and put it in the garage, but the hole was an odd size so the rubber stopper we bought:

didn't fit....and we didn't want the house filling up with methane and stinking when they installed the floors so we had to just stuff it with a towel. so gross all the wax from the seal, mixed with dirt and you know what...yuck. The carpet is just as gross..we keep finding earrings and bugs and hair and trash...I feel bad for the floor installers that have to haul all this dirt and nastiness away...but they're getting paid well :) The house was built 10 yrs ago, so it's collected a lot of filth. Can't wait to get the new floors and new toilet and paint in. That bath is pristine though! Sadly, the other 2 toilets are just as disgusting (as well as the baseboards.) Anyway, I like the gray I painted in the bathroom. We took down the big mirror for me to paint, and since its old ugly and heavy, we are gonna buy new vanity mirrors to put in there. I was thinking these:

But it'd probably look better to get a white framed mirrors huh?

Before:

After:

So we are almost done with the upstairs...toilet held us back today. But John has a good amount of time off after the next 5 days, so we might just stay the night on the aerobed, especially since we can use the bath and shower now...it's a little far to drive 45 min each way after painting 12 hours, only to drive back again the next day. And with gas prices going up (thanks Iran!) we should stay up there a few nights to paint...but that means I need to make better choices even though we are eating out since we don't have a fridge yet.

Oh and we decided to take the dogs with us today so they wouldn't sit in the crate the whole time at home. They enjoyed the house but of course stupid Tyrone had to poop in the house as soon as he came in. They also liked the yard, but it POURED all morning so it was like a sea out there.

My feet ache, and my calves won't stop cramping. My shoulder blades hurt and my hands are calloused. And now we are home and hungry!

And I bet you're wondering how the kids did this whole time lol.. Well, we took turns tending to them, but we had a little TV with their dvd's on, and they played with their puzzles and coloring books on the aerobed. And occasionally ran through where I was painting and touched the wet paint...lol, but they did well, and love being at the new house.

Oh I also finished up the guest room closet--and I think it made the room look bigger. I did some touching up of where the previous green paint went over on the ceiling or baseboards. It made the room feel more finished:

new floors new floors new floors....clean house clean house clean house! Soon :)
I'm so impatient...I can't wait til next tuesday when we can get back to work. Meanwhile we just got a notice from our apt saying our lease is almost up (March) and will automatically renew at $500 MORE than our current payment...AND that new management requires renters to buy renter's insurance. Good thing I have a signed copy of my notice that we are moving from a month ago. It's so convenient that they apparently "lost" it. Gotta get outta here and into the house soon!

Lo Que Callamos Las Mujeres

2012-01-23T12:43:00.000-08:00

I just got back from a walk to the park with the babies, and the channel happened to be on some spanish channel. I put the babies down for their nap and told John was about to go workout, but I got sucked into this show lol. I have retained a little spanish from high school, but its fairly obvious what's happening in this episode---an unwanted pregnancy, and a girl contemplating abortion. It's pretty interesting to watch a show in another language! I also had google translate out, so I could grab words here and there to make sure I know what's going on.. (i.e. "verguenza"--shame, "barbaridas"--lot, "embarazada"-- pregnant, "hijo"--son). I think I am gonna stay for the end or record it just to see what happens, but from the look of it, it seems to be cautioning women against it--although the girl's friend keeps trying to tell her it's safe and legal etc, but it looks like her cousin just died because of an abortion so she may have changed her mind. The episode is called "Madre, No Delincuente." (Mother, not criminal).

This would never have been written for any major American network shows. It would have ended with no regrets and happiness...okay really though, I gotta work out and stop watching telenovelas! enfarto!

Attabator

2012-01-20T21:34:00.000-08:00

I was just looking through some of the pics and video Susan took on the days she babysat so we could paint the house, and there are lots of cute ones. This one is of their walk to the nearby park on the bayou. It was around naptime and they were getting sleepy on the swings--the dialogue is particularly entertaining from 1:45 on :) I will have to do some kind of video montage with all the cute clips during her trip soon.

Oh and just a little update---Susan's slumber parties have officially broken Lucas of his pacifier dependency to sleep! It was long overdue, but we were waiting til we were moved into the house since he had already left marks on the walls and door and screamed relentlessly when we tried a few months ago. I am so surprised and glad that it was so easy. His bedtime demands are now just his blankie, his car's pillow and blanket (he has to have his head directly on the odd shaped car pillow lol) and his snake..named 'Snake the snake.' And as long as I read a few books each night, he goes to sleep very easily. It's a big load off our minds, as I was worried it was affecting his teeth. Now that he's fully potty trained, I feel like we have made a lot of progress. I guess as evidenced in this video though, his speech needs some work!

Humble House Progress

2012-01-17T11:58:00.000-08:00

For the last 2 days that Susan was here, she graciously babysat the kids while John and I began painting the house. It is such a long process with so many different surprises and extra trips to the store. But it's much cheaper to do it ourselves, and is a fulfilling task--you see results right away and typically get a little better at it each time. We decided to aim for completing all of the upstairs first, so we bought all the different paints we would need for that floor (ended up getting 16 gallons---didn't use it all though). We bought all the supplies we needed, and brought our step ladder and drill and cleaning supplies. I tried to learn from the mistakes I made in VA in painting that house. That house was ~1600 sq ft and all one color. This house is ~2760 sq ft with lots of angles, and I tried to be a little adventurous with the color schemes in each room. Fingers crossed that it will look good. The great thing was that we didn't have to waste time and energy worrying about getting paint on the carpets since they're all goin---I got pretty sloppy!!

My camera can't really convey what a difference the paint made...so come visit! The fresh paint makes the house look and feel new! The blue carpet still throws it off a little, but as soon as we get this paint done, the floors are out!

A walk thru...not sure what is more accurate to see the results...probably a mix between pics/video...I also wanted to show the layout of the house since the pictures are kinda hard to put together in your mind:

A short one of the upstairs bath:

And the first floor before:

The first step was to clean the baseboards. I didn't bother scrubbing too hard because they were dinged up and the previous owners got paint on most of them. So I figured after we finish painting, we would do a little touching up with some off-white paint, and then re-caulk the baseboards neatly, to cover up their paint. We will also have to paint a little off-white to cover up where they got paint on the ceilings.

After the cleaner dried, we taped up everything we could, and unscrewed outlet and switch plates. Then I used this :

which was alright...I was looking for a roller with a flat edge-guard type thing to do a straight edge or corner...guess it hasn't been invented yet. The edger worked fine, but this house has textured walls, and all the corners and areas where walls meet ceilings at all different angles etc, it was all uneven and bumpy. Sometimes I let one wall dry after painting, just to be able to put the tape directly on that wall and create my own straight line. Basically after cutting each wall in with the edger, I had to use a smaller brush to fill in the cracks.

We were looking for an electric paint roller machine but they only had sprayers at lowes and home depot, so we tried out this roller with a pump tube. It worked pretty well the first time with the "Toffee Crunch" color in the game room, but no matter how much time we wasted cleaning it, it didn't work the next time because there wasn't a complete tight vacuum to be able to suck up more paint, it just kept sucking in air. So rather than waste precious baby-less time messing with it, we did the rest manually. We are sore in our legs and feet, and have callouses but I say it was worth it :)

First we did the game room. I decided to do an accent wall for where the TV will be on the wall. I picked a gray color. For the rest of the room (and probably will use it downstairs too) I picked this "Toffee Crunch" color.

Game room Before:

Game room After:

Music room Before:

Music room After:

Then the little room off the game room, I call the music room, we painted a darker gray. I think it looks good against the white trim and white french doors. The ugly carpet makes it look blue so once the carpet is in, I am sure it will all come together..here's the carpet we chose:

Oh! Also, when I picked the colors, I was using Behr's color palette, but when we got there and saw samples of how well Glidden's all in one (primer included) covered in one coat, we decided to get it--was also a buck or two cheaper than Behr. So they did color matching with the Behr colors I picked. Glidden worked very well; most colors only required one coat. Only the light yellow color in the kids' room needed a second layer. Their room had these gnarly flames, but we took off the red tape and painted over it all with "Gobi Desert" and really liked the color. I picked this manilla tint color to go with it--I like the combo...but Lucas was PISSED that we erased his flames lol. I am gonna put a better decal on it soon though!

Also, the dark purple didn't seem to adhere very well in the guest room over that horrid green...I started wondering whether the paint the previous owners used in that room was possibly oil-based or something? idk. I put two layers and I think it covered well. When I opened the purple paints for the guest room, I started regretting picking such dark colors. But John and I are trying not to judge anything fully until the paint is fully dry and everything is put back in place, with the new floors.

Still wet and has tape--may have to do second coat on lavender color...

Today was very overcast and the lights in the bedrooms are dull so it was hard to see the colors. I hope it looks good...dont wanna have to paint over all that dark purple! John started taping off the fairly large closet in the guest room, but I didn't start painting it yet. not sure what color to use yet. Don't want to use that purple. Any color suggestions?

The hallways we used that "Gobi desert" color we liked in the kid's room. I think it looks really good in the hallways especially with the recessed light. Also used Gobi on the stairway.

The bathroom upstairs is gonna suck...a lot of painting in between narrow spaces etc...I think I will use that gray color from the game room accent wall. After that, the whole upstairs will be done!

I am gonna work on my drawings tonight to pick out a final color scheme for the first floor. Once John has some more time off, we will take turns painting and entertaining the babies. It's pretty fun actually! It's really exciting to be transforming this house together and I'm so grateful we found this house when we did. :) I think having all this room will make me a better wife...I'll be more inspired to clean and organize and cook! The kids and dogs will have room and a yard. John will get his lazy boy! lol. Thank you Texas!

And thank you Susan for really getting us that head start on this project. We hope to see you in another few months and have the house ready for you to really have a dance party with the kids. :)

Kemah with Susan

2012-01-14T21:17:00.000-08:00

Today we went to Kemah--was the perfect day for it. The weather had been windy and cold, but today was warm and sunny with a light breeze. We enjoyed games, food and rides!

And here's Lucas' new girlfriend--a girl was celebrating her quincinera at Kemah and looked like a disney princess--you can see how excited Lucas was to take a picture with her :)---Olivia's face was pure elation too!

Gonna miss Kemah when we move...gotta find some new fun things to do throughout the year :) Can't believe it was a year ago when we first came here and lived in a hotel, visiting Kemah for the first time...it became an almost weekly thing.

Gonna miss Susan too--Lucas is gonna have a hard time getting to sleep after she leaves tuesday :( But she is probably coming back around May, so the house will be ready for more Susan fun!

The Berthday Bash

2012-01-14T20:29:00.000-08:00

The Almost-Too-Much Birthday Kiss lol.

We celebrated a group birthday party on friday-- Olivia turned 2 on 1/6, Lucas turned 3 and daddy turned 28 on 1/12, and Susan will be 32 on 1/18. There are even more January bday's on John's side!

We went and jumped at the Fun Max Jumpin place first--tried to get them tired so they would behave at dinner. It was fun for all of us!

And delicious Barcena's Mexican dinner:

She was very whiney most the dinner, but shut up while she ate her beans and rice and fruit!

Our friends Monica & Josh joined us too--I didn't really organize it very well and got the dates confused, so I am glad they still made it :) Thanks Monica for taking some great pictures!!

This was the cake I made--found an easy homemade frosting recipe, and got some food coloring. When I realized how dorky it was looking, I decided to make it un-dorky, by spelling it bErthday lol. You know, that theorem of 2 dorky's cancelling each other out :)

Had to let Olivia blow one out :)

They got some Zhu Zhu pets to go with all the accessories grandmama just sent them--they were very excited! Also got some new Veggietales/Minnie Mouse coloring books.

The Birthday Gang

Happy Birthday all you weirdo Capricorns!

The House

2012-01-14T19:59:00.000-08:00

We went out to show Susan the house and also to let Flooring America measure the house...didn't realize he would take 2 hours to measure our overly geometric-shaped house lol. But here are the floors we picked out:

The carpet will be in the master bed and closet, and then all upstairs, and on the stairs. The laminate wood will be all downstairs.

All the bathrooms, kitchen, and utility room will have this vinyl since it's more durable against water damage (and since we are most likely going to move and rent this out in a few years, we need durability!)

This is how possessive Lucas is with Susan--always keeping her at his side and holding her hand :)

This is Olivia's new boyfriend: the pillar in between the kitchen and living room..don't know why she wanted to kiss it!...and I don't know why John's butt is in the pic either lol. Not intentional!

Then on the way home we drove by John's work to show Susan how beautiful La Porte is lol.

We just now picked up all the paint and supplies, to start tomorrow. Once we are done, we will schedule the flooring. Already paid for and ordered---can't wait to see it all come together...hope my painting skills, and color scheme's work...:)

Susan Has Arrived :)

2012-01-14T19:45:00.000-08:00

Susan flew in on Wednesday and Lucas and Olivia were very happy to see her. But, it's obvious Lucas really remembered and missed her, as he hasn't left her side since she came. He shares his comfy big bed with her, so I know when she leaves he will be hard to put to sleep, and will miss her a lot. She is probably going to come out again before summer though, when the house is ready. Here they are at the airport terminal:

And giving a tour of her room :)

Then we had lunch at the meat market--delicious bbq.

And that night we had a little dancy time :

Was About To Go To Bed...

2012-01-10T21:17:00.000-08:00

..but I saw this video and thought it was pretty funny:

"How to trick people into thinking you're good-looking" :)

Isn't this hot!?

2012-01-09T20:02:00.000-08:00

Once we get settled in and have some money to spend lol, I really want to get a drumset. This looks so fun. Isn't this girl cute? Especially starting at 2:44

Thank you Grandmama!

2012-01-07T10:29:00.000-08:00

My mom sent us some more toys for the kids' bdays this month--Can you believe I have TWO 2 yr olds!? for a few more days anyway :) They were so excited to see boxes at our doorstep---they've been getting spoiled with all the Christmas stuff they got throughout last month, and their birthdays extended that! Here they are enjoying part of their loot (apparently there's more to come lol):

Some New Covers

2012-01-03T22:12:00.001-08:00

This one is a cover of Zero 7's "Spinning". I know my music videos are all pretty boring, so I decided to use the kids toys to direct a high budget one. It was awesome fun--and the babies watched confused lol. This one is a cover mashup of Zero 7's "The Space Between" and Boz Scagg's "Lowdown" (slowed down a lot). After layering the guitar and harmony tracks, I decided to dare myself to do a vid without the guitar. Still used a mic. It was fun---another high budget one with the backdrop and all. :)

Thinking Outside of Your Ass

2012-01-02T22:37:00.000-08:00

I have been trying to get up the energy and focus to do this blog. It is a collection of the many arguments I've had over the years about abortion.

A little background, for those who don't know: For some reason it became a big deal circa 2001 after overhearing some students in my high school talking about abortion and how it's the woman's choice. All of them agreed, being the teenaged-feminists they were--even kids that were very Christian in faith. I don't know how it ended up being so important to me, as although we were loosely Catholic in my household, it was never forced on me, but from then on I decided I was going to talk to everyone I could about it and get answers. The more I did that, the more disappointment I felt...in so many people I had looked up to and respected, the sadness of their ignorance and/or indifference to the murder of babies, sort of made me 'grow up' and stop fearing authority (at least in my lame high school). Teachers that I admired, were now shaded with, well...death, in my eyes. After getting in trouble for wearing my pro-life shirts (was even scolded and taken into the bathroom to turn my shirt inside out by a security guard) I contacted the Thomas More Law Center who wrote a letter to the school demanding they allow my shirts---which by the way, only said "Abortion Sucks" or "Abortion is Homicide". I carried my legal paperwork in my bag around school just in case. However small that seems, I am proud to have my peer's (whether they hated me or not) remember that about me rather than something inconsequential. It empowered me to think for myself. (And to think that the bully, who mocked those shirts, became my super-intelligent and compassionate husband who has emboldened my position, and inspires me even more, is amazing to me*.) I was even mentioned by Dr. Laura :) If you search my maiden name "Gallardo" you might still be able to find press releases. That was fun to search my name back then!

I don't even think this guy was pro-life lol..I still made him hold my sign :)

My dr. seuss pro-life shirt.

This shirt I wore (before legal defense) said "I'm sorry, does this offend you?" lol..getting an attitude with the security guards lol.

This was jazz band--so fun! My sister and I even did a song at the school talent show calling out the principal for being a liar (about ever having me in his office and telling me I couldn't wear my shirts..) Hey, I was a little drama queen lol.

Okay so basically I wanted to write a blog comprising all the arguments I've had over the years. I used to have long drawn out debates online and in person--neither side backed down, but eventually it just turns into them personally attacking me (which sometimes hurt, but ultimately it meant they gave up). I haven't done it in years...pretty much since becoming a mom, because I have no energy. Believe me it is SOO exhausting, mentally, emotionally and even physically. I also avoided it because it always leaves me feeling that the world is hopeless. But every now and then I'd hear news about it and hear people's thoughts and they frustrate me so. I know most people don't know or care about the details of the issue; they stay on the surface with terms like "women's rights" instead of digging just a nano-meter deeper and defining what 'right' they are agreeing with. After a while, I realized the best way to cut through all the crap in an argument about abortion, is to actually ask the 'pro-choice' person questions. I don't even have to defend my stance typically, because they aren't able or willing to answer simple questions--which shows you how much thought they've really put into their position. But I don't care how annoying it might be, I will never stop trying to inform people what I learn. I feel the tide is starting to turn because it's getting harder to deny truth about life. By sharing the main arguments I can remember (and some recent ones), and why they are wrong, I hope to get people to face their own beliefs, or lack thereof. I have known people and had friends who have had abortions. I feel horrible for them, and wish I could help them. I know that regardless of what they say, they are paying a heavy price and feel demeaned, not empowered. While women who make that decision do have to eventually be accountable for it and I believe, work to help other women from making that decision, the culprit is really the abortion industry: the doctors who perform them and lie to women, and the ones in power defending their right and funding the industry. It's never too late to change--many former employees of Planned Parenthood have quit and some even exposed the sad details of the business. If you have had an abortion, please get involved with the silentnomoreawareness campaign. Once you become educated about any given issue, you have an obligation to do something.

Where to start? I suppose the most common one is 'what about rape/incest?'

I thought the religious right believe that a child should have a mother abd a father? Well guess what, a child born out of rape, will never want anything to do with their father!

cujomade101 4 hours ago

(yeah--I can definitely see the baby peeking out his mom's vagina saying, "welp, oh i'm one of those? ok yeah go ahead kill me."--can't stand when people try to turn murder into an act of charity. After all, my dad was a product of rape. He had a very loving mother and a wonderful, adventurous and full life. )

It's so easy to think about the atrocious act of rape and say, 'hmm, yeah, that's totally not fair. The woman shouldn't have to deal with that baby.' Stop for a minute. That kind of thinking is like applying a 'merit and demerit system' to life; because she was wronged, she should get a

get out of jail free' pass. First off I would ask, if in cases where the woman wasn't raped, if she was just careless, is it wrong then? Usually when they ask 'what about rape', they are saying, "yeah abortion is wrong, but.." If you accept that abortion is wrong, that it is murder, the circumstances with which the baby was conceived, don't change that. The intent behind the act of sex doesn't determine that baby's value. Besides, telling a victim of incest/rape to cause another victim, isn't going to help anyone. No matter how uncomfortable 9 months of a pregnancy and birth can be, it cannot compare to the baby's plight being diced up or burned from the inside out with saline.

Remember this statistic--abortion in the U.S.-- less than 2% of abortions are because of rape or incest. And almost half of abortions in this country are repeat ones...

This was my initial comment in response the people who made the actual video...a backward and very ill-informed wanna-be political channel called the young turks:

Right...because killing babies is justified by rape? How callous can you be to say a baby being a "rapist's kid" determines their value. Open your eyes. It's not about the circumstances of conception---the right to LIFE is the most important basic right.. but you all like to act blinded by 'women's rights' rhetoric, and somehow incorporate murder into a "right to privacy." If you are so sure abortion is a right, go to this site and see video of what you support abortion no dot org

jsnukem

@jsnukem Your posing as "protectiors of unborn life" is DISGUSTING!

The abominable crimes Agent Orange part I+II are unpunished yet you rightous US fundies kill doctors and dare to infringe upon womens rights.

RegioLunar

@RegioLunar ---irrelevant assumptions and attacks aside, what do you think abortion is? Do you think it is killing?

jsnukem

@jsnukem "irrelevant assumptions and attacks aside,"

You idiot fairy tale?

In case you´re realy too retarded to KNOW what this agent orange crime means go google it!

RegioLunar

@RegioLunar --i'm talking about you're assumptions on my stance regarding a separate issue (apparently you're favorite, agent orange) and saying I kill doctors. Those are irrelevant and inaccurate assumptions...still waiting for an answer...

jsnukem

@jsnukem I´m not interested in your phantom debates! In case you´re not a laughably retarded 12 yrs old you will face reality that matters.

Go punish your responsible US citizens maybe then the rest of us is inclined to stop regarding you as fundie religious nuts armed to the teeth!

RegioLunar

@RegioLunar --alright. I guess you forfeit...baseless attacks show you have no answer to my very simple question. Thanks for showing the readers how illogical your side is. :) Happy new year!

jsnukem

They couldn't even answer as to what it is they are defending. And it's always the pro-choice side that LOVES bringing up God and religion. I never need to in a simple debate about abortion.

Same answer applies to people who time and time again say, "yeah one abortion is fine. but three? come on! That's wrong." If it's murder, even one is wrong. That one life taken, hurts the mother (and father) for a

lifetime.

I remember hearing a guy say, "the baby won't remember it since they die." Besides the total irrationality behind trying to justify murder with the fact that, they will be dead, and therefore not recall being cut up, I can't stand the thought of excusing something based on whether it will be remembered or not...what about the CURRENT pain and torture the baby feels? And the life of possibilities stolen? Weird argument, but this is why I am showing you the things pro-choice people come up with when confronted.

I hear about 'overpopulation.'

Overpopulation is going to happen, and they want to stop abortion?

blackbird309 27 minutes ago in playlist Uploaded videos

Okay, this is one of the most frustrating excuses ever. First off, if you want to get all scientific, the world isn't close to being overpopulated. The fact that the powers that be waste money and enforce policies that shrink the middle class, and cause rampant unemployment and foreclosures, doesn't mean we are overpopulated. Especially in this country, we are actually being outnumbered compared to other countries. (And there isn't a shortage of commodities and resources to support more life---there are only stubborn bureaucracies that squander/block them.) Which is why only in this country, are the poor, obese. Aside from that fact, EVEN IF it became a concern, a civilized democracy would never resort to killing babies as any sort of solution.

The argument that abortion is equivalent to contraception methods like condoms, and the pill...look up the word 'contra-ception'. Before conception. Abortion always happens after conception...after life has been conceived. (this one's for another blog, but even the pill isn't always contraception...if you look at the purpose of the pill, it is to keep the uterine lining thin enough that a fertilized egg (read--'embryo') cannot implant itself and stay alive...which causes a heavy period, in which often times the embryo is too small to be noticed, when it is flushed out with menstruation.)

And most of the time especially on youtube, I get people telling me to stop saying 'baby'--informing me it's a 'fetus'.

This is funny to me. I don't care what you want to call it. Here's a little bit of the convo I had earlier--my name is 'jsnukem.':

Fetus--from the Latin foetus, meaning "offspring." It's a developmental stage of a human being, as in toddler, teenager, adult etc. Doesn't matter what you want to call it. It doesn't magically turn into a human after coming out of a vagina.

jsnukem

The obvious moral distinction is that a toddler, teenager or an adult are capable of suffering. Until the nervous system develops a foetus is incapable of thought or suffering.

Now if you're about to say "But what about after the nervous system develops?", well then now we're having a debate as to WHEN, not IF an abortion is morally permissible.

MrCommentingisfun

@MrCommentingisfun --so, in your opinion, there is a point during the pregnancy that it is in fact a baby, capable of suffering? When exactly is that point?

jsnukem

You're very fixated on whether or not its a "baby". That's a label, and is unimportant.

As for when it becomes capable of suffering: that's a very good question. Even once the nervous system develops we're faced with all sorts of other questions: is the brain well-developed enough to allow the foetus to experience pain, or fear?

A woman, on the other hand, is fully capable of suffering through, say, being forced to have a baby she doesn't want.

MrCommentingisfun

@MrCommentingisfun --so while you're philosophizing on when a fetus can feel pain, just keep killing in the meantime? Yes the woman suffers--especially when she's told it's okay to kill her baby for convenience. And even more so when she is maimed or killed in the process. Go see how respectful Kermit Gosnell was to women and babies. The most un-american idea ever.

jsnukem

It's amazing how much people want to assume about a baby's, or excuse me, a fetus' thoughts or 'self-awareness' or ability to feel pain. It's like dr. kermit gosnell saying "It's just reflexes," when a baby is squirming while he cuts their spinal cord." I don't understand how people can say a human life is not worth as much as a person's lifestyle. They like to (un)answer everything with empty philosophical 'nothing can ever really be known' Master Oogway BS. lol.

@jsnukem

Can we stop with this "killing babies" nonsense? A foetus is not a baby. if you think you have a sound moral argument you shouldn't have to resort to this kind of hyperbole.

A question to my pro-life YouTube counterparts:

How do you morally distinguish between abortion (which prevents a baby being created) and:

A) Using a condom (which prevents a baby being created)

B) Refraining from having sex (which prevents a baby being created)

MrCommentingisfun

@MrCommentingisfun ---so mysterious blob of tissue magically becomes a human after being pushed out of the birth canal? also, look up "fetus" ...and "hyperbole" while you're at it.

jsnukem

@jsnukem It is a matter of when we consider it a human being. A single cell is not a human being yet, 100 thousand cells is still not a human being. Is the legal limit for abortion too high? maybe. But not all abortions are "killing babies".

RHawkeyed

@RHawkeyed --so your stance is basically, to not take a stance? Let me know what the magical mystery number of weeks is for you to say "okay! your oddly bulging belly has actually become a human baby". If you can't determine where it is, why would you stand by it being legal?

jsnukem

@jsnukem There is no magical mystery number, and I believe the legislation takes this into account, the later the abortion the better reason you need for it.

My opinion:

Morning after pills are perfectly fine. Of course one should use condoms, but sometimes they break.

Second trimester should be avoided, or you better have a very good reason for the abortion, and for not having it done sooner.

A third trimester foetus is a baby, but the mother takes priority if her life is in danger.

RHawkeyed

So it's now a sliding scale..how hilarious..in the tone of a disciplining father:

"you'd better have a very good reason!"

Such a concrete and precise stance to take huh? As if you can kill just a little bit. It's not full on killing if the baby is this big, right? But one more inch, and you have some 'splainin to do! That's severely defining deviancy down. I guess it means that the bigger the victim is, the bigger the crime. Or the older you are. Or how much these all-knowing people deem your self-awareness to be.

@jsnukem the problem is to define what a human being is. Using the word soul does not make it any clearer in case you were going to do that.

There is a lot going on in the head of a baby, but there is not really anything completed before birth, only foundations are laid.

You probably feel very secure in your religious (I assume) definition of life, but do you really understand it? like really really understand it? (I don't expect an answer to this one, just please think about it)

RHawkeyed

Read that again. If anyone is a religious whacko, i'd say it'd have to be the person who keeps bringing it into a debate based on science, logic, and basic decency. Do you sense the moral relativism yet? The conversation filled the exact purpose I wanted it to; to show you that it will always turn into the pro-choice essentially saying there is no right or wrong. BECAUSE that's all you have left to defend senseless murder--it's easier to generalize everything and say my religion inhibits my ability to comprehend "life", at least on the level that this genius does, than to face that you are supporting dicing up babies.

Another argument that I hear, which is almost embarassing for me to confront because the people that say it don't fully think through what they are saying, and they are usually good people. Just very misled.

"What if there is something wrong with the baby? or a genetic abnormality/defect? or down syndrome?"

That person is unknowingly defending genocide. The justification for wiping out a people based on their physical/mental handicap.

That's where I stopped. Mainly to build a couch fort with the kids, but do you see how exhausting and mistaken people are? Nonetheless, these discussions need to happen.

Also, know that whenever you see Sarah Mclachlan asking you to donate money to help abandoned and hurt animals, remember that she is vehemently pro-abortion. She won't even allow pro-life vendors to sell anything at her feminazi "Lilith Fair" concerts. How can she be so blind to her own hypocrisy?

And contrary to what Obama said,

"I don't want my daughters to be punished with a baby for a mistake."

a baby is not a punishment.

If you are disgusted by my previous post on Dr Gosnell, realize that THAT is the dirty truth of all abortion at any stage; it's all about making money and doctors know they are killing.

Please join the discussion if you'd like.

By Request

2012-01-02T00:29:00.000-08:00

I've been asked my views on the Republican candidates recently. I really don't know a lot about all of them, but this is my take on it all.

Let's start with Herman Cain. I liked his pro-life values and his successful business background. I liked the way he spoke (at least initially) directly and confidently. The more he was tested though, the more his weaknesses glared at me. He is not only unprepared for a political career, he is apparently a chauvinist perv too. He didn't have any solid plans regarding foreign policy---all he really had was his 9 9 9 plan for the economy. Pfft..done.

I initially really liked Rick Santorum because he seemed very conservative. And perhaps he is. He isn't going to win this primary, and definitely doesn't have the appeal necessary to oust B.O. My opinions on a few conservative issues has changed--or at least what is currently being defined as conservative. More on that later.

Michelle Bachmann. Sweet lady. Good heart, but I just don't think a woman (especially a pro-life woman) will ever be respected enough to be president. And I've never been too impressed by her in debates. In fact, the only thing I ever remember her saying over and over in her Minnesota accent is "as president of the United States of America I would do that..." Wasting precious time saying those 12 unnecessary words every time instead of directly answering the question and proving her stance/plan is better than others'. Add to that the controversy of her husband running a 'pray the gay away' type camp....not worth my vote. As previously noted, any candidate that makes gays an important topic (whether for or against) is not gonna impress me. You're either catering to the idiots that make 'gay rights' into a civil rights fight on par with racial segregation or the Salem witch trials....(BTW, can you do or read anything without being bombarded with gayness? It's as if it's discrimination not to be talking about homosexuals 24/7)..or you're making a joke of yourself with the 'pray the gay away' stuff. Whoever cares so much about this issue, has too much time on their hands but is too lazy to find a real issue to fight for, that might require a little more effort than slapping a rainbow sticker on your Subaru.

Mitt Romney. I've always sorta liked the guy. Just sorta though. He's the "..well, if we have to.." candidate to me. He does well in the debates. I just don't believe his stances to be sincere. I think especially coming from Massachusetts, he has had to change stances according to who's asking, and who's paying. His health care plan, which apparently Obama-care was modeled after, is questionable. I know his response would be that his model worked at the State-level, not necessarily Federally. The fact that he only recently claims he is pro-life, just seems all too convenient---I don't believe he would appoint strictly pro-life judges.

Rick Perry..ugh. Before I knew him, I liked him. lol. I mean, when I first heard his name being said as in the presidential running, I was hopeful. As a new resident of Texas, I can say this is the place to be. He has done a good job keeping this state afloat in a drowning economy. But again, the more I see of him, the more ridiculous and unprepared he seems. I get nervous when he speaks. In the debates, he seemed really umm...immature..like his answers weren't well-thought out and confident. It seemed like he was cornered and then just spewed out things that were irrelevant character attacks. I didn't like his attempt at mandating the HPV vaccine...His ad emphasizing frustration with "gays openly serving in the military" was the straw though. I guess there weren't any bigger issues on the table huh? Glad he has done a lot for the pro-life movement on the state-level, but that's where he should stay.

Newt Gingrich...I really liked Newt. Even back in 2007 I was hoping he would run. I didn't know a lot about his record (professionally, or otherwise...) but everytime I heard him speak or read his books, I was impressed with his knowledge. He did so well in the debates--his answers were poignant and delivered with calm confidence. His personal life is disappointing but didn't necessarily discount him as a candidate. The fact that he was Speaker of the House and had numerous ethics investigations is bothersome. He isn't something fresh and new. He's smart--I just don't quite trust him.

And Ron Paul. To be honest I sort of disregarded him in the beginning. Although I liked that he is pro-life and delivered thousands of babies as a doctor, his extreme views and support from annoying kids that just want to do drugs, turned me off. In fact, I even now see that Fox News really doesn't like him. Everyone on both sides treats him like a stigma. Which in addition to my disappointment in the other candidates, led me to investigate a little more.

If you ever see him in the debates, I think you'll agree that he is sort of like that grandparent that doesn't hold back--brutally honest at times. He's a guy that doesn't change his tune according to who's listening. He knows his stances in and out, no matter how many times people try to poke holes in them because they aren't understanding. After looking at the reasoning behind his polarizing views, you will see that they are actually the most faithful to the constitution and to American prosperity. It was hard at first to see things as they have been presented on the surface forever, and then acknowledge that the basis for those things was backward. This is getting too vague huh?
Well, basically Ron Paul's motto is as long as no one hurts another person, let people do what they want. The government's intended role has been laid out, but it has been given more and more power and control, that has led to a totalitarian way. Lead by example not force.
Here's a very educational video on why he takes the 'isolationist' stance he does:

His stance on making drugs legal---his argument is that most prisons are filled with people who had non-violent drug charges..How much money is being wasted on incarcerating people who committed non-violent drug crimes? He says making drugs legal won't result in everyone going to do heroine. He asserts that telling people "this is bad for you, so it is illegal" is not the American way-that it's a slippery slope to outlawing fatty foods, or any given thing deemed to be potentially harmful. To Ron Paul, you have free will to make bad decisions as long as you take responsibility for it. I agree.

His stance on foreign policy was a little odd to me. But it makes sense. He wants our troops home to protect OUR country. He wants to stop wasting money on wars and keeping troops throughout the world for no purpose. He wants to trim the fat---although I agree the troops need support, respect and good pay, there is a lot of wasted money and 'jobs' in the military. Watch the video and see--Ron Paul has received more donations from veterans than all the other candidates COMBINED. They appreciate that he listens to them.

Even his somewhat scary stance on 9/11 is understandable now. I don't think he ever said we 'deserve' to be attacked--but he basically shows that it was inevitable given our interference which began in the 50's. I never knew all this stuff. It is a little less scary to think that the Al-Qaeda just wants us out of their country, than wanting to kill us just because we are 'successful' or because of our Western values etc. If we could pull all our troops back in, reinforce our borders and strengthen our economy by cutting all the wasted foreign aid (because it isn't going to the people who need it---and those efforts would still be made by the private sector) our country's success might have a domino effect---to lead by example, not force. Our status hasn't improved in the world, no matter which party was in control--and yet billions are still being wasted on other countries.

He seems to have been predicting the troubles we are currently facing for decades. It's obvious how frustrated he is because as a member of Congress he has been trying to stop the wasted dollars--and he was always alone. Saying no to wasteful bills regardless of their popularity. He intends to cut a trillion off the deficit if he wins, and to do away with a few top governmental agencies that are wasting tax money and not serving their intended purposes. The primary reason being that the government was not intended to mandate health insurance, education or environmental policy, and most importantly, the Federal Reserve (but I think with the Fed it would have to be revamped, not totally done away with)--these are all issues to be dealt with at the state level. The government's job is to preserve liberty. Basically providing equal opportunity--NOT equal outcomes.

I liked this guy's take on why Ron Paul isn't racist--basically Ron Paul said he wouldn't vote for the Civil Right's Act ---seems racist but it's not. A business' success is determined by the free market --me and you--not the government. If a business were to only cater to whites, they would go out of business next-door to the business selling to everyone. Again, free will to make dumb decisions. If you can ignore this guy saying "know what I meen?" over and over, watch it--he's smart:

And I hate the daily show. Don't like Jon Stewart, but this was pretty good:

What do you think? He's changing more and more minds with his conviction and honesty.

Consider me a conservative-libertarian. :)