The Last Blogger Standing

Rescue Puppy

2013-05-04T10:36:00.002-07:00

Click to contribute to Save Margie.

Meet Margie. She's 3 months old and has had quite the story. We know she's a lab mix, we're just not sure with what, but we suspect it's a Great Dane mix because she's tall and lanky instead of stocky like a Staffordshire Terrier. She's absolutely been an angel the last week we've had her. Her only problem is she can't breathe well. Her right lung is hyperinflated and obstructed so the air can't escape. We are trying to raise money so we can fix this for her and help her live a long, happy life. She's made friends with Shamus, who we thought would never like another dog except as a snack, and LOVES chewing on his bones and other various toys (she's teething!) We are doing our best to keep her healthy until we can fix her lungs, and have been lucky enough to get some more weight on her skinny bones. She's even grown about a pound this week and outgrew one harness. She's very smart and deserves the same chance that all rescued pets get: life. We aren't giving up on her vibrant personality until she's ready, and we hope that you can contribute to Miss Margie's health and well being. Please follow the link to contribute. Any amount is helpful and every penny appreciated beyond what words can explain.

Thank you,

Krystal & Drew Nelson

Alternative Music

2013-02-12T18:15:00.000-07:00

Emotion. A little angry, a little sad, a modicum of happiness and a heaping helpful of frustration. What do I stand for? Today, I don’t know. Today, I am incapable of motivation. Incapable of one emotion. Incapable of pushing through it. A moment. I just need a moment. A quiet corner without chewing, without talking, without money and hunger and thirst. Beneath primitive needs, beneath cultural needs that just aren’t necessary. Where am I today? What do I do to get back to good?

I push you away. I pull myself the opposite direction then yearn for some warmth.

I can’t tolerate the cold yet it’s the only place it seems to be quiet.

I fall to my knees and sink in.

A little down, a little cringe, a modicum of happiness and a heaping helpful of resentment. What do I stand for? Yesterday, I thought I knew. Yesterday I had a goal. I’d made a decision, I could push through. I was focused and prepared for anything…but today. Today I need a moment, just one minute to myself to find my voice and scream. The only thing that runs constant is music…a little melody to narrate the story of my life, one that only I can hear. Where do I go to get back to yesterday?

I push myself away, then pull everything behind me and drag it down.

I can’t tolerate the cold, yet it’s the only place that makes warm feel warm enough.

I fall to my knees in my dreams and keep falling.

A little tired, some relief, a modicum of relaxation and a heaping helpful of expectation. What will I stand for? Tomorrow, what will I know? Today I have a goal. Tomorrow, I don’t know. I think I’ll begin. Begin to stand up, ease the bruising on my knees. Begin to breathe in after my scream, begin to sigh with relief. Today, I will turn up the music, turn up the beat, turn up the corners of my mouth and smile through. Today’s little melody will drown out yesterdays and I’ll get back to knowing one thing. I’ll know where I came from, and that I don’t want to go back.

I push myself. I’ll pull myself up.

I can’t tolerate the cold, but I’m warm enough for now.

My knees are weak, but I won’t fall.

Today I will dance instead.

Renting out my beloved townhome

2012-08-01T10:01:00.001-07:00

http://t.co/KO02qH7i townhome in #mesa for rent, close to #lightrail, #MCC, #ASU and freeways, owner/agent is Krystal! -- Krystal J Nelson --

Why I'm letting my hair go gray...

2012-03-22T18:54:00.000-07:00

I turn 27 on Monday...I've been going gray for almost two years (that I've noticed) and haven't dyed my hair since October, a few weeks before the wedding. I even started parting it on the opposite side of my head about a week ago, for the first time since high school! Yeah, I'm a rebel. I was kind of worried about it at first...the first gray hair in the top right corner of my forehead, right on my part, appeared in August 2010 after probably the most tumultuous and rewarding couple of years I've ever had. I worried it was from stress, anxiety, hormones, lack of hormones, bad diet. I worried about worrying too much (it's my specialty :D) then worried some more.

I'll never forget the first time I noticed it...I even took a picture and posted it to Facebook so I wouldn't have to suffer alone. It grew out about a half an inch and stuck STRAIGHT up! Talk about obnoxious...
I told a friend. She told me to pluck it.
I told my mom. She told me that's why she dyes her hair.
I told my husband (boyfriend at the time). He said "waaah! I've had grays in my beard for years!

Ok ok. So I started dying my hair again. I stopped dying it when I started college and couldn't afford to have it kept up, but I could afford it now. My natural color is very pretty, but kind of drab with my skin tone if I don't get a little sun light once in a while. (That's been my excuse for dying it since I was a teenager LOL.) Working in an office made that next to impossible so aside from looking washed out, exhausted, and drab, I had a Vitamin D deficiency. Ok....time to make a major and positive life change.

So I dyed it.
I dyed it to stop getting the "wow, you look tired" comment from my co-workers and friends. I dyed it to stop getting the "you need makeup" from my man.
Then I dyed it to cover the one gray hair.

Well, my hairdresser is no longer my hairdresser and I've been too lazy to color my hair since October. Needless to say, the gray hair multiplied and I now have gray hairs! Even more, they are curly, course, and WHITE. All the time I had been coloring my hair I didn't notice them slowly creeping into my scalp line, becoming ever more obvious when I pulled my hair up. So I don't use a mirror to check out the back and underneath of my hair, sue me!

After a little anxiety, an hour of prodding and poking through my hair to see every last one of them and counting them for Drew (poor Drew just sat and talked me through it), and reading countless articles about why I'm going gray so early, I'm feeling much better. Turns out, I do have an underactive thyroid and am now on meds for it. Unfortunately, the hair is already gray so there's no going back. I'm oddly comfortable with it now though. I've become sort of attached (I apologize) to the cute little curly hairs on my head. Luckily I've also decided to grow my hair out and have become lazy and don't style it as often. It looks good though. Very relaxed and summery. In fact, I feel more comfortable with my face, hair, and body than I have in a long time. Just part of getting a little older I guess. At least I still look young....I have my momma to thank for that one <3

Downtown Mesa's Spring Training Haven

2012-03-15T21:46:00.001-07:00

Downtown Mesa's Spring Training Haven

This place is great! Visit my page here to see this and all the happy hours I've reviewed so far. Bookmark the page and stay tuned for more to come! Cheers :)

Life gave me lemons...

2012-03-15T19:56:00.003-07:00

A new friend, Sally, has a lemon tree...and with this tree, too many lemons. I offered to take a few off of her hands to juice, then use to preserve the apples I have so they don't brown and sour while drying in my dehydrator. Thinking I'd have maybe 10-15 to pick up I drove over to her house to retrieve my next project. HOLY COW! She set out a H U G E bag of lemons for me...What do I do with all of these lemons? Well, as the saying goes, I made some freakin' lemonade, duh!

After perusing the interwebs for a recipe I ran across a recipe for Candied Lemon Peels. At the end of the recipe you're left with what's left of a simple syrup. So being savvy as I am about not wasting anything I clicked around a couple more times and found a Perfect Lemonade. The recipe calls for a Simple Syrup and uses what is left from the Candied Lemon Peel recipe. I compared what I was making for the peels with what I read on the eHow site to memories of my mother making syrups, candies, and other yummy treats about 15 years ago (phew, that was exhausting!).

For the next hour I peeled, boiled, drained, poured, boiled, stirred, simmered, cooled, boiled, drained, and tossed me some lemon peels. While waiting for the peels to boil down I juiced 5 large lemons, made ice cubes, and rinsed the dust off of my glasses and pitcher. Not only did I enjoy myself, I get to publish everything online to share with my friends and family for a little entertainment. For a simple how-to with pictures read my post here: A Rebel's Relics. It's pretty cool and I had a blast taking pictures in my lovely little kitchen.

Bon Appétit!

Brewery coming to Mesa's downtown Main Street

2012-03-07T21:36:00.001-07:00

Brewery coming to Mesa's downtown Main Street

I am proud to announce that a brewery is going to be near us in Downtown Mesa. This excites me...I love that commerce is coming to the area, tax dollars will be earned by local and visiting patrons visiting the area, and of course, the beer! The spot is perfect (just chatted with peeps last week about how the area will explode with the lightrail extension). So Booyah! When it opens you can be damn sure I'll be there to review the happy hour, and I'm hoping they add a kitchen so we can have a snack with our beer that doesn't involve Chex Mix. Nothing against Chex Mix, just don't like sharing with dirty hands LOL. Cheers!

Downtown Tempe rolls out high-tech meters

2012-03-05T13:52:00.000-07:00

Downtown Tempe rolls out high-tech meters

My jaw just hit the floor. Some of these meters along Mill Ave have been there for a few months (way to be slow, if at all, ABC15) but now they're expanding operating hours until 10pm Monday through Saturday. For people who don't plan ahead that is awesome. For the rest of us who rely on getting the awesome spot out in front of Robbie's or across the street from Rula Bula this sucks! Fortunately the free lot is still free but it's a longer trek in the cold New Year's air or scorching summer heat. Of course this will force us to use the Metro Light Rail more, and help our waistlines. Tempe, word of advice to ya, if you have people complaining about available parking, add public parking and help local companies and multi-unit housing in the Mill Ave District area offer parking at affordable rates to local patrons. No sense in scaring people away by charging $20 to park for the day or risking a ticket if they don't watch their meters (even with the phone option). Tsk tsk City of Tempe. Where are your priorities? Oh that's right...cash flow...

Selling Out

2012-03-05T13:36:00.002-07:00

I sold out a little today...I signed up to "Monetize" my accounts on blogger. I'm not ashamed though, a girl has to make some dough and be a little creative from time to time to get the bills paid. It's part of my new journey into writing, sharing, creating, and eventually, earning a living doing what I love. The best part is I'm finally happy with myself. The person I have always been gets to overpower the person I was hiding behind in order to "get by". Not to be cliche but I am taking the bulls by the horns and it. is. awesome! March is also my power month so I expect to have continued success in my endeavors through the next 30 or so days. Then it's birthday week, Vegas, and my lovely husband Drew is turning 30! I'm very excited to share this awesome time with everyone...so stay tuned :)

A New Location, Same Ol' Vibe

2012-03-05T13:16:00.000-07:00

A New Location, Same Ol' Vibe

Follow the link to my newest article and head out to Mesa for a burger and pint :) Cheers!

2012-02-28T12:40:00.002-07:00

This picture makes me happy. Today is about half as good as the day we got married. We just helped Drew's mom close on a house in Chandler, I'm getting ready for school, following my dream writing and making as many steps as possible to reach all the amazing dreams I've been thinking about for my entire 26.9 years. Oh yeah, and March (my power month) is coming!! I'll be 27 in 28 days, my husband will be 30 in 32 days, and we're going to Vegas baby :D So bring it on life...maybe not everything all at once, but I know I can handle whatever comes our way this month. Now, I just need to find a little more time to embrace my creativity in between all of the other things I'm working on. Off I go now! My herbs are almost dry, I have apples to cut and prep, and appliance shopping to do with mama Liz. Oh, and happy hour is at 4.

Exploring career opportunities...from my laptop

2012-02-21T20:02:00.003-07:00

I'm official! I had an article that I WROTE all by myself published on something other than my blog or Facebook (click here). It may not be the most lucrative part of my career yet but my dream is on it's way to coming true. The best part about having something of mine published is the part where I feel like my life is finally going in the right direction, minus a few bumps and dead ends for a change. Don't get me wrong, I get the importance of the wrong turns and fender benders along the way, but it's so much easier to breathe and enjoy my little successes when I'm not caught in the hurricane force crosswinds life has a tendency to offer.

Uh oh, Pinterest has captured me

2012-01-08T01:15:00.004-07:00

I'm pretty sure I'm the only person who will look at it, read it, and/or enjoy it...but I'm enjoying the HELL out of pinning me, myself, and my favorite things on Pinterest. A friend introduced me to it before the wedding, and I refused to let it get a hold of me. Well it's late now, I'm up, can't sleep...and what do I find? An "invite" on my FB profile from a Beck sister, so naturally I click. The rest is history. I've been sucked in to sharing how i feel about various nouns and verbs on the interwebs. Not sure how people will react to it...kinda care but kinda don't...I am honest. I can't hide who I am and how I feel. I'm glad I feel. I've been numb. I never wanna go back there. So stay tuned, it could get interesting! Oh, and feel free to like and share what you like. I care.

Stationery card

2011-11-18T14:53:00.001-07:00

Favorite Things Christmas Card

Create personalized Christmas cards. at Shutterfly.com.

View the entire collection of cards.

11-11-11

2011-11-18T13:17:00.001-07:00

Click here to view these pictures larger

A Veil

2011-10-24T15:48:00.004-07:00

A bride's veil. A tiny piece of fabric woven just so...worn to signify in ancient times purity, to keep the devils and bad spirits from taking a virgin's soul.

A bride's veil, short to signify flirtation, sexual innuendo, playfulness. Aa long veil used to enshroud a woman, a sense of mystere is evoked as attendents await the moment the layer is pulled back to reveal the beaute. So as women, a generation filled with women who fight for equality and recognition, do we don our veil of uncertainty at a proud moment? Why do we hide our true faces from our guests? What secrets are we hiding from ourselves that we wear our veils? What are we afraid of?

18 Days and Counting...

2011-10-24T00:49:00.002-07:00

I love October. The weather is charming and beautiful, the sun is the perfect shade of warm, the sky the brightest blue, the grass is just elegant. I feel like everything is coming alive after a harsh winter (read: summer). I'm glad I finally have the confidence to enjoy days like today...it made a regular Sunday afternoon so much easier to enjoy. The half a dozen friends and a couple of fancy beers surely helped and I feel much calmer, and even sleepy for the first time in a few weeks.

I'm 18 days away from tying the knot with my lover boy. Yep, less than three weeks away from our big day. I'm VERY excited, a little nervous, and my mind is racing a mile a minute with all of the things I have left to do. I'm glad I took on so many project early on though...I feel as though our wedding is more personalized this way, like I'm more involved than someone else doing everything for me, leaving me feeling a sense of accomplishment. I think this is the most important aspect since I feel so drab and lacking in accomplishments in my day job. It's so unrewarding to be a drone, doing the same thing over and over, day in and day out at the same miserable place after the same miserably slow drive every morning and evening. Sure, efficiency is something of a high for me when I find the perfect rhythm...but it's also when things become mindless and unchallenging the most. I need some spice in my life or I may just go crazy.

This must be why I feel the overwhelming need to keep learning new arts and crafts, to master the art of cake baking and decorating in two diet dialects in less than three weeks, and to sew Halloween costumes for everyone I meet in one week. Totally realistic right? For those of you I've promised a cake tasting party, don't discount me just yet...I have a habit of surprising people when they least expect it. So in the meantime I'll continue doing research on the web (this thing is so awesome, I can do anything if I give myself some time to read and learn, and watch a Youtube video!), then try, and hopefully execute my goal instead of failing. *sigh* On that note, I think I'll get some rest before I turn the kitchen into a war zone testing out the latest version of gluten free chocolate cake and Italian buttercream frosting ala Martha Stewart. You know with her name on a recipe it will include the use of multiple appliances, a candy thermometer, and multiple tries to get it juuuust right. But I'm feeling positive and good. I can do anything, remember?

Exhausting

2011-09-13T18:35:00.003-07:00

What a week.

I lost my best friend two days ago. Wooby. He was 18. Yep, my cat was 18 years and 2 months old. Most people will never understand what he meant to me...I'm still discovering some of my feelings. But ultimately, I miss him. I miss how he purrs when I hold him. I miss his little coo he would make when he saw me getting his food out for him. I miss how he would yell at me in response to my questions. He would follow me around the house, we'd chat, cuddle, play, I'd rub the white hair off me after he rubbed it on. I miss how he'd lick the tears off my face when I cried. Especially because I'm spending some time crying about him now...and I don't have someone I can hold that comforts me quite the way he did.

I knew the time was right when he turned down his food and could no longer get himself up into a standing or sitting position. I knew when he looked at me and meowed the painful meow while Drew drove us to the vet. I knew the moment he took his last breath and laid his head on my stomach. He looked at me then as if to tell me "thank you". I cried again.

In fact, I've spent a lot of nights crying over him. He was the little engine that could, lived MANY lives longer than he possibly should have. Between bloody battles with other cats in the neighborhood, dark nights crossing a busy street filled with teenage drivers, a couple of poison incidents, colds, fevers, heat stroke...I believe that it was because we had only each other that he knew to keep fighting. And I cried every time thinking I'd lose him. This time, well, I feel that maybe he knew I had someone else to take care of and to take care of me. I think he knew it was time to move on.

We get to pick up his ashes this week...I have an urn to place them in and the last paw prints of his from when he died. I've been meaning to get them since I was little. I'll get a tattoo with them on my chest so people will finally know that the little cat (not a kangaroo) is for Wooby. There will always be an empty space where his food bowl has been for years. I don't know how long until I stop cuddling with the pillow where he used to lay. I wonder when the other animals will stop looking for him in his hiding places. I'm sure I'll cry from time to time. And I do know that I will always love him.

Inspired

2011-07-26T00:09:00.002-07:00

"How was your day?"
Oh, same ol'. How was your day?
"The usual. What's for dinner?"
Not sure, probably something in the freezer. What sounds good.
"Not that hungry. I'll figure something out."

Our life, our conversations, our intimacy, our emotions. This is the exact point at which they became moot, non-existant, avoided. So we sat. And we watched sitcoms and movies and commercials, and more sitcoms. And we forgot to talk. But we fought. We remembered to do that.

I'd wander back inside my thoughts and explore for a few hours after the fight ended and he disappeared after slamming the door. It's always more peaceful in here, even though my thoughts are always in a state of turmoil. It's oddly calming, even the anxiety is relaxing. It reminds me that I can feel...even if the feelings are only dreadful and dark. So I swallow the big white pill that I know society has forced down my throat, with my dirty, foul-smelling tap water, chase it with a benadryl, and lay back to watch the fan spin.

*ring ring*
Hello.
"Valerie?"
This is she.
"Hey is Lisa, you have a minute?"
Of course, how are you?
"Great! Hey, I have an opening. It's for a design firm in Scottsdale. They need a receptionist. The position is long-term temp."
Ok, where in Scottsdale.
"North. Way North."
Ok, does it pay well? What are the hours?
"It pays very well, more than what you're minimum is. It's 8-5, Monday through Friday. They need someone today. Do you think you can be there at 10?"
I need to shower. I can be there at noon.
"Great, ask for Myra Allen. I'll email you directions."
Awesome, thank you. I appreciate the call.
"Oh, well, just to let you know...they don't have the, um, greatest retention rate. So if you don't like it, well, I completely understand."
I'm sure it's fine. It sounds easy enough.

*ding*
"May I help you?"
I'm looking for Myra Allen. Is she available?
"No. Are you the temp?"
I am, yes.

My first day of my new (temporary) job. It's July 2010 and I've been through the toughest two years of my life. No steady job, can't pay the bills, unemployment runs out, boyfriend is tired of paying the rent and utilities alone...so I succumb. It's not so bad really, the pay is pretty damn good and although there aren't benefits, I at least have my COBRA for a few more months. Plus, there's always an opportunity the temp job will turn permanent. At least that's what these agencies have been telling me for two years.

"We do soft transfers here. Do you understand?"
Yes, I'm familiar.
"Have you used a multi-line phone system? We have ten lines."
Yes, I have.
"Ok, here's your login, here's my extension. Let me know if you have any questions."
Where's the restroom?
"Straight forward. There's a fridge in the kitchen for your lunch, which you'll take at noon."
Great. Thanks!
"Notify Elaine and Lorraine when you're going. If they're not here, you'll stay to cover phones until they get back."
Ok, sounds great.

It's a pretty sweet gig. I get paid twice as much as I did managing retail and being on my feet all day. And all I have to do is answer the phone calls, transfer them, and get back to my Facebook account. And stay awake.

Two hours later, three calls. More coffee. More Facebook. Oh my god my brain is going to turn to mush. How long can I handle this?

"Hi."
Hello.
"'Mornin'"
Good Morning.
"Do you know if there are any York Patties?"
I don't, let me check the candy drawer.
*ring ring*
How may I direct your call...one moment please...he's away from his desk, would you like his voicemail?
"I'm not sure what kind of chocolate I'm in the mood for today, any suggestions?"
Kit Kat?
"It's just my after lunch snack."
It's ok, I like Snicker's too.
*ring ring*
He's unavailable this afternoon, would you like his voicemail?
"I'm just taking a few pieces for my son, he got an A on his test today!"
Congratulations.

It went on...for six weeks. The extent of my conversation was to answer and transfer phone calls, and to advise on the next guilty candy jar visit. Kill me.

Not everyone understands what it's like to be a temporary employee. More people know now in the down economy than ever before though. There are more of us now, waiting, staring blank at the ceiling, wasting our potential and craving sudden death by building collapse or heart attack at 24. Only the lucky few get out alive, or dead, depending on preference. I remember that call like it was today. Jumping out of bed after watching the fan spin for a half an hour after he left for work angry at me again. I know I've failed, I feel like I've failed, people look at me and treat me like I've failed. The foodstamps and unemployment cancellation letter and credit card default letter remind me, constantly, that I've failed. If the walls could talk they'd remind me that I'm still failing even as I'm hoping, wishing, and applying to every job in the Phoenix Metro Area. Fuck my life.

"Good Morning."
'Mornin'
"Bob in yet?"
Haven't seen him.
"I need you to run to the mailbox."
Ok, I'll do that now.
*ring ring*
May I ask who's calling? One moment please.

Day, after day, after day...so I start writing again. I think, wow, my life is so boring, if I could just insert my satirical comments and know someone, somewhere is laughing, I would feel like I have some potential. Anybody? I wish I lived in a TV Sitcom script...life would be so much easier...

Bridezilla has made an appearance...

2011-03-31T19:41:00.002-07:00

It's a wonder anyone ever makes it to their own wedding without a wedding planner. The big things are easy, but the details? That's where everything seems to become overwhelming. Only a few times in my life have been more stressful than deciding which invitations I want, finding one I like that Drew likes, finding wording that we both like that doesn't offend family/friends/kids, arguing about the semantics, and then losing the spot you want to say your vows and having to start all over again.

Now that we DON'T have that out of the way lets get to the shoes!

Apparently every bride has smaller feet than the size they usually wear. Which means those of us who already wear 10s get to choose between size 11 atrocities without any style, no comfort, and they don't match ANYTHING for under $200. It's a good thing I didn't have to pay for the lengthening of my dress because it's a fucking quest to find the right pair of shoes.

The good news is that my dress, the bridesmaid dresses, and the grooms tuxes have been picked out. Now we just have to fit Drew into one :)

Ok, I'm still excited <3

Candy Addict

2011-03-26T19:02:00.002-07:00

Anyone that knows me OBVIOUSLY knows how MUCH I love Mill Avenue in Tempe. It's where I instantly fell in love with the city; Hippie Gypsy, Metalhead at the Library on Thursday nights, Rula Bula and their craic...it's where I met the love of my life and where we celebrate our anniversaries, birthdays, holidays...and where we'll be getting married!

This weekend is Tempe Festival of the Arts. I only know because of Facebook (go figure). So since I've missed it every year since moving here (except wandering through the tents in the middle of the night after a Slice's visit) I finally had the day and time to go! To celebrate our birthday weekend we decided to ride the light rail in and wander around for a few hours.

I found several great booths to visit, several online shoppes to keep in mind, and a few beautiful necklace ideas for the wedding. On our travels and right after visiting the new taco shop and being mildly filled we stepped outside of the swing gates to the brick sidewalk.

And there it was...Candy Addict. The whole store filled with the candies and influences of many generations of kids back when penny candy was really just a penny instead of a dollar. Back when the candy cigarettes and chew were acceptable, before drug abuse education and rehab. I got a little teary eyed, not gonna lie. I was choked up just being in the store with all of my favorite candies from when I was a kid, things I haven't eaten in over a decade! Being that it's my birthday and I'm already feeling another day wiser and more comfortable in my skin I was already in a wonderful and emotional mood.

I then happened upon the bulk candy aisle...I went a little nuts. $15.66 later I walked out with 2 lbs of candy, two of each flavor, one for me, one for Drew, so we can experience each other's favorites as a child together and enjoy the memories together. But hey, birthday money rocks and all of the bills are paid so why the hell not!? My shoulder is a little sore from the added baggage in my purse being carried around for hours during our stops and visits but just thinking of the quality time that I'll be able to spend with my future hubs is more precious than money can buy.

Whoa! Where did the time go?

2011-03-24T22:41:00.004-07:00

So it's obviously been MONTHS since I've had the opportunity (made the time) to update this page. A lot has happened since last July. Lawsuit settled. Painted walls. Moved back into our home. Spent a weekend away for the new bathroom installation. Got the full time position at work. Sold some homes. Drew and I both got promoted. Drew got some landscape side jobs. Thanksgiving with BOTH of our families meeting for the first time. Christmas (just the 6 of us). New Years in Glendale with great new friends. Engagement in January. Grape Ring Pop! Real Ring shopping. Ring design and finish (oh the anticipation). Countless nights out with great friends. Wedding dress shopping. Janella's my maid of honor. Kurt is Drews' best man. Wedding dress purchased. Bridesmaid dresses purchased. And now our birthdays.

No wonder I'm tired!!!

There are a dozen other things that have happened since my last update and are currently ongoing. My oldest nephew Travis is battling a chronic pain disorder at 17. Research and advice will be shared periodically.

My baby brother and his wife celebrated their one year anniversary....and their first pregancy! They are expecting a precious baby girl in August, just in time for my sister's birthday and our 3 year anniversary of our first laying eyes on each other. And my proclamation of "I want that one" when first seeing Drew. It's amazing the pathways life offers.

Anywho, it's been a long week and I'm off to bed. I must rest up for birthday weekend, which starts promptly at 8am Friday March 25th :D

Night all!

A Call To Action

2010-07-29T16:04:00.005-07:00

Lately I've been having feelings that it's time for people to stand up to the government on a local, regional, and national level. It's long overdue for people to fight back, exercise their human rights, flex their knowledge of what is right and what is wrong, and to enforce their constitutional rights given to them from 12 men fleeing persecution. I'm talking about freedom from insurance, corporations, racism, wrongful prosecution, persecution of religious or non-religious beliefs. I'm talking about avoiding enacting ridiculous laws that make hate official. History has long told stories of hate, racism, genocide, civil unrest, and encroachment and history will tell many other sides to the stories that involve fighting back, winning and losing, families torn in the process, and lives lost in vain of mad men drunk with power,men (very few women) who have raped, pillaged, and plundered for centuries.

Recent history (decades) have given us advancements as a species, has lain out what each of us knows is right, what should be repaired, and what never to do again. Apparently, Arizona, known for bottom of the barrel education, didn't read about that in their outdated history books, approved by educators and state and local governments run by old, racist, leaders with political agendas catering to the offensive. They must not have learned that it is WRONG after living through the 50s and 60s, they must have forgotten the atrocities that one race afflicted another with. They didn't learn their lesson. They didn't pass human rights down to the next generations. They didn't sit around a dinner table or a campfire and tell of fights for human rights. They didn't educate.

Now, we're there again. Arizona's elderly state government leaders crafted a bill to allow racism legal. So much for the Civil Right's Movement. So much for Rosa Parks. So much for Dr. Martin Luther King. So much for tomorrow.

These horrible feelings of fear of skin color and nationality are what will end the world, are what will end in nuclear war, are what will end humanity and the planet we ruined in greed. They will be the death of us.

Unless we turn our attention to righting the wrongs, educating the uneducated, and teaching the next generations to learn from history so as not to repeat it, we will be doomed. This must start with a protest. Action. Voices. Loud voices. Loud enough for the pent house dwellers controlling our money, freedom, and "voice" to hear us tell them 'NO'. It's unfortunate that we allow ourselves to be shoved so far down rich throats (or up rich ass holes) that we don't see the entrance to the cave closing behind us. We need to put down our lanterns and safety nets and turn back, take control, and reform the way we live. The right path will be illuminated naturally then. If we don't learn soon, we will never have the opportunity and the next great generation of change will die in vain at the hands of brainwashed, gun-weilding, government enforcers and America will be no more.

If you don't act, the wrong power will and you'll never again have the opportunity.

Racism Running Rampant

2010-07-15T15:40:00.004-07:00

Wow. That's all that comes to mind when I read this. And the fact that I'm SO happy I don't live in Utah any more...not that Arizona is ANY better these days. It's not that I don't agree that immigration reform is needed, we're just way too late to start kicking people out who we've let live and work here and raise families here in the US for the last 20 years. No I don't like paying for others benefits such as health care, food stamps, housing assistance...but I don't care if you're a citizen of this POS country or not! I understand that there are rough times that people need help. That's why unemployment, WIC, food stamps, etc were created! I have a problem with the people who abuse these safety nets, no matter where you come from, and use them to abuse the system and/or have too many kids.

Then you have the shitty employees the state hires (who, by the way, are the BIGGEST, FATTEST, most disgusting people I have EVER seen). I have NEVER seen any of these people treat anyone in the state office with respect. I've seen many of them go fishing for doughnuts and candy and sodas, not on a break, not out for lunch, but ON THE JOB!!! Talk about wasting funds. The woman who anonymously called in these alledged illegal immigrants has probably consumed several as a mid-afternoon snack.

If it's true that a state employee, the same woman who "called in" the illegals complaint, created this list, I think she's absolutely wrong for accessing confidential information, regardless of the reason! It is not her right, nor her position, to act as the martyr for the racists. And just in case you can't wrap your head around the wrongness of this action, how would you feel if someone took your bank account information, saw you purchased alcoholic beverages, and sent out your name on a list that you were wrong? It's not the fact that you partake in a program (alcohol imbibement or state medical care during pregnancy), but the fact that someone took your personal, confidential information and slandered your name in public. I can almost guarantee that most of these people on this "list" aren't illegal, just of Mexican descent or Hispanic heritage.

Our current government and current activities within the state governments has caused a panic atmosphere among the residents of the states and of the US as a whole. Immigrants and emmigrants have been coming for centuries to our country for safety, opportunity, education, the weather, and to avoid persecution in their own countrys. In fact, the Founding Father's of our nation were NOT all born or raised here. They came from other countrys. The Statue of Liberty, given to the US from France states:

"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door."

How do you discern the difference between this statement upon which almost all of our ancestors came to this country to provide us with this great life (of unemployment, starvation, bad health, obesity, depression, dependence on drugs/alcohol, war, PTSD) and the Mexicans who are coming here to do the same as we did in the last two hundred + years? Can you blame them? Our drug war isn't as pronounced or as dangerous as theirs, we earn more money (spend more too), and live in cleaner housing (as long as we're not poor, inner city, and a minority). Oh wait, doesn't seem like it's much better here...so why do we stay?

Must be the weather...

Making Lemons from Lemonade

2010-07-06T16:08:00.005-07:00

Tomorrow I have to go to arbitration, to defend why I wouldn't allow a company, strike that, a corporation, to piss on me and wipe their muddy shoes on me anymore. I have to defend why I won't sign a contract stating that I will accept liability for something I never did in the first place. I have to defend why I have a right to own a home, and to live there (should I ever get that right back). I have to defend why I have any rights at all, to an insurance company. Which is precisely the reason I will lose, lose my home, my financial stability for my family, my future financial endeavors, all gone. Gone because I filed a claim because my insurance company and HOA refused to do what they were obligated to do in the first place, refused to do what I pay them monthly and yearly to do.
And they won.
Even if the paper we signed says they will pay and I will get a dollar amount I've still lost. I've lost 7 months of my life to stress, fighting, anger, sleepless nights, nightmares, a death, and frustration. No matter what happens tomorrow, I will never win anything back. I will never regain that which I've lost. And I will still lose my home.