Stop and Think

Okay, raise your hand if you've ever seen this picture. If you didn't raise your hand you either don't watch the news, don't read the news, don't have email, or don't have a Facebook account. This picture has circulated ever since Obama was elected President and I can't believe people are STILL posting this on Facebook. Are you kidding me?

The claim is that President Obama won't put his hand over his heart for the National Anthem, basically because he is Muslim. And he is so evil and a socialist and trying to destroy our country from within and ICAN'TBELIEVEHEREFUSESTOPUTHISHANDOVERHISHEART!!!!

I try not to get into politics on this blog, mainly for the reason that I don't know enough about politics to talk about them, but this is just interesting to me. Growing up, I was taught to put my hand over my heart during the National Anthem. I still do it as a reflex. I don't know why we do it, we just do.

Last weekend when we were at the tractor pull, they played the National Anthem before starting the races. As I looked around, I realized approximately 90% of people did not have their hands over their hearts. Lots of people didn't stand up. Some people carried on conversations during the song. I actually felt awkward that I was one of the few with my hand over my heart, like I was suddenly unsure that was the "correct" thing to do!

It made me stop and think back to when this picture was really prominent on the internet (usually followed with something like, "Obama MUSLIM hates America!!" or something else ridiculous). And I realized I'm not even sure people are being taught to put their hands over their hearts for the National Anthem anymore. Does anyone know? Anyway, I asked Stephen on the way home from the tractor pull about it (he's military) and he actually said to him it's almost reflex to simply stand at attention, because that's what they do in the military rather than placing their hands over their hearts.

Talking during the song? I think that's a little disrespectful, but I'm not going to judge you.

Not standing during the song? I mean, I really think you can get off your toosh for two minutes out of respect, but again, I won't judge you.

Not placing your hand over your heart? Obviously this is only a big deal when our President doesn't do it for whatever reason. Again, I won't judge you.

I'm not getting into politics and respect for the military or respect for the country or any of that. Actually the reason I'm writing this post is for you to stop and think before posting a dumb picture like this on Facebook or some other social network and writing "People, see this man is not American... please get him out of office."

Don't embarrass yourself. You might not like Obama. You might not have voted for him. You might have voted for him and now wish you didn't. All that is beside the point. He is our elected leader, and you're supposed to show respect for your leaders. Actually, Romans 13:1 from the Bible (NIV translation) hits the nail on the head:

Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God.

I guess it just makes me irritated when people put stupid things like the "no-hand" situation in emails or on social networks, and then I go to a public event and see 90% of the population do the exact same thing and no one says anything to those people.

So please, please, stop and think before you send out that email, or put something on Facebook. And if you dislike the people we have in authority, I suggest you do two things:

1) pray for them.

2) vote.

I wrote this post after a VERY long night and re-read it 24 hours later. Not all of it makes sense to me (based on what I was actually trying to get across) but I'm still going to post it. If I need to explain anything I was trying to say, please feel free to comment (not bash me!) and I'll try to clarify my meaning.

Family Time!

Tonight was one of our family Christmas parties. Jenn and Matt graciously hosted and I had a fantastic time! It was Claire and Brianna's first Christmas party! Claire was so unimpressed that by 6:30 she was fast asleep. Brianna fought a good fight but as soon as we got home around 8:40 she went straight to bed without a bath or dinner. That sounds like a punishment but it's not.

Last Friday Gail stopped by to see us (I didn't get ONE picture!!) and got Brianna a precious ornament and a cute Christmas bib. If I ever get around to taking pictures of my new ornaments this year I will definitely post that.

Tonight Joy gave Brianna a Christmas present. She got a bracelet, a cute outfit, and a handprint ornament kit. I will post pictures of the handprint ornament when it's complete!

Dad pointed out that I gave mom something today. Ronzoni pasta has been on sale at Lowe's, and with the 75 cent coupon doubled it's free. Mom's coupon beeped when she tried using it, whereas I got lucky with cashiers and each one typed in the amount the coupon was supposed to ring up as. So when I got yet another free box today, I left it in mom's kitchen. I wondered how long it would take her to notice it.

I also had a funny experience in Lowe's Food today. They have some of the nicest employees. I was searching the juice aisle for the best price when one of the stockers said, "Can I help you find something?" They always ask that to be polite, so I just said, "No thanks!" and turned back to the juice. This guy, though, said, "Oh come on, let me help you!" I kind of laughed and said, "That's okay - I'm just comparing prices." Then he said, "Well if you won't let me help you, then why don't you help me!" He was unloading juice onto the shelves. I kind of looked at him for a few seconds, then I set down everything in my hands and I said, "Okay." He just looked back at me and said, "What?" I said, "Okay, I'll help you. What can I do?" He just laughed and said, "You're really gonna help me?" I was like, "Sure! Give me one of those!" He said, "Nah, actually I'm stopping now because the shelves are full. But you just made my day! God is going to bless you!" And I said, "He does bless me!" He got this big grin on his face and said, "Man, are you married?" I said, "Yes." He said, "Oh man, he is so lucky!" I said, "No, I'm the lucky one." He said, "No, he is the lucky one! Do you have any children?" And I said, "Yep, we have a baby!" He said, "Ohhhh man, you are blessed!" I was like, "Yeah, I know!!"

Anyway as he was walking off I said Merry Christmas to him and we actually had a whole other conversation about how commercialized Christmas has become. It was really funny. As he walked away he said, "Oh man, you just blessed my day!" It just made me laugh. I love things like that.

Isn't it said that I can think of a handful of Christians that don't even like the Christmas season? I bet everyone knows one person that begins to cringe on December 1. That is just so absolutely sad to me. Parties, presents, money, crowds, have all taken the meaning out of Christmas. If you're so busy during December that you dread it, and that you can't even enjoy Jesus' birthday, you need to step back and look at the things you're saying yes to in my opinion.

I love December and Christmas. I love that our families do parties but not presents. I love spending a week or more in Georgia with our family there. I love knowing that on December 24 you can find me behind the piano at Stephen's grandmother's, singing carols until my voice is gone. I love doing a Christmas cantata for church. (And you know what? If I'm too tired or busy to make it to a practice, I don't kill myself trying to make it. The show will go on without me.) I love watching the kids Christmas play at church even though my child isn't in it. I love caroling. This year instead of going caroling with the youth group (we're going bowling instead) we are visiting a friend in the hospital and singing whatever carols she wants to hear. She is like another grandmother to us and has been in the hospital since before Thanksgiving. Truthfully she will probably not come home from there. I had the idea to go sing carols to her because I know it would make her more happy than anything else we could do for her. I can't wait to see her face when we show up there Thursday night. Thursday afternoon I am taking a donated Christmas tree to the family we adopted for December through Fed By Faith. I can't wait to see the looks on their faces either. I love decorating for Christmas, even though this year it took six days instead of one. I love Christmas music - and around our house, that starts before Halloween. It's just so sad what people have made Christmas. I would rather spend the whole Christmas day with family and friends, eating, talking, singing, reading the Bible, than get any present you could offer me. I'd be willing to bet most people feel like that too.

I don't know what the point of that tangent was. I guess I just feel sorry for people who feel like Christmas is a burden. I know someone at church who was just talking about it yesterday, I guess it was on my brain.

I made wassail again this year, so there is the recipe if you want it. I guess I should also post that on my recipe blog. Okay, I'm done.

Giving New Things

Today I didn't even leave the house. It is really hard to give someone something when you don't even step outside. But, I persevered.

I gave Brianna apple juice and avocado for the first time today. No, we had never given her juice before. I know, it's a sin or something. Everyone has an opinion on babies and everyone wants to share their opinions. Half the people I know thought we were crazy for exclusively breastfeeding Brianna for six months. By the time she hit 3 months, I was hearing left and right that she should be starting solids anytime now. People were telling me about friends of theirs whose 4 and 5-month olds were eating solids and did I know I can start anytime? Why yes I did.

The American Academy of Family Physicians recommends that "all babies, with rare exceptions" be exclusively breastfed for six months. Heck, the World Health Organization even recommends continuing use of breast milk through two years of age, along with solids. It's just not the "norm" in the United States, sadly. I think it's because there are a lot of doctors that don't encourage it, and there isn't much support in the hospital system either. I don't know what other people's experiences has been with breastfeeding, but I considered Brianna to be a champ from the very beginning. When she was given to me just a few minutes after the delivery, she latched right on with absolutely no problem. The lactation specialist stopped by to see me and offered her number and wanted to stop by the house to help with lactation. I politely refused. I knew I could always call her if I needed to, but I wanted Brianna to have the chance to figure out her act too. I remember having a few questions along the way (Why does she hiccup so much after eating? How much spit-up is too much?) but nothing so major as to constitute a home visit. Any questions I had were easily answered by mom, Google, and my friend Debra. I think if I had had real issues I would have felt comfortable calling the lactation specialist, but not every area offers that type of service. Heck, we even took an entire class on breastfeeding before the delivery. I didn't remember anything from the class, but it was interesting anyway. It just made me more sure I wanted to breastfeed.

Anyway, so yep, we were insane for waiting until Brianna was six months old to give her any type of solid food. Even now, she is almost eight months, and she rarely eats solids more than once a day. When she does eat solids it's a very limited amount - usually between 1-3 ounces and then a lot of times I will even breastfeed her after that. I know, it is so crazy.

The problem with juice is that most juices are not even juice anymore! I mean, Juicy Juice which proclaims that it is juicy juice is not even mostly juice!! Pretty much every juice has corn syrup in it, or something along the lines of corn syrup. (Puts the child at risk for developing botulism. Yikes.) So I have to read labels really carefully when thinking about giving it to Brianna. Well, I guess I don't have to, but I choose to. I finally found some that I can give her - Walgreens brand that they had on sale the other day, and then Mott's brand which I also found on sale. So today she had just eaten but she kept acting like she wanted something else so I figured I would give her some juice. She loved it - I'm sure it's very sweet and delicious to her! I only gave her two ounces - I will try to never give her more than 4 ounces in a day until she is much older... like, years older. After she has juice I give her water to rinse it out of her mouth. She's got little teeth coming in and I'd prefer for them not to come in prepared with cavities. Also, something I usually do for myself and plan on doing it for her, is preparing a mixture of 1/2 juice and 1/2 water. That way it is still good and hydrating but the water is the good stuff that we really need to be drinking.

One thing I might do is make a fruit smoothie for her. Mix up some strawberries (I have some in the freezer) and plain yogurt in the blender - mmm mmm!!

Okay, I didn't mean for this post to become a soapbox. I was just trying to complete my post for the day. That is all.

By the way, Bri liked the avocado (don't ask me why) but after about 4 bites started crying to go to bed. It happens. She'll get some more tomorrow night. She has eaten every vegetable she can have before 8 months and several fruits and has loved all of them. She's going to be like her mommy, I can just tell.

When is it your business to ask?

Do you ever notice how much advice everyone has? It seems like every single person you run across in your life is dying to give you advice. I never really noticed that until I got married. I actually had a coworker tell me that I would be happy the first year of marriage and then the newness would wear off and I would realize that marriage isn't all it's cracked up to be. He was divorced. I received advice from another friend, who swore that we needed two bedrooms - because after a fight, we would need somewhere to sleep separately. He was also divorced. Twice. Let me just enter a side note here. I know plenty of divorced people (who doesn't?) and they tend to fall into two groups. One group are the divorcees who got divorced for whatever reason - maybe a good reason, maybe a really stupid reason. Whatever the reason, they learned from their mistakes and have better relationships because of it. The other group are people who got divorced for whatever reason - and learn nothing from it. They still think they know everything there is to know about marriage, and they want to tell you all about it. I'm really sorry if anyone thinks that is narrow-minded but those are the two groups I have always seen. Fortunately, I can only think of about three people that fit into the latter group.

I guess most people think you are supposed to pop out a baby after a year or so of marriage. I can't even remember when we started being hassled about children - that's how early it started. And I know tons of other couples who were going through the same thing (Jennifer wasn't very reassuring, as her and Matt were still going through that and they had been married longer than us). We are so fortunate, though, that neither of our families were the ones asking what our plans were. It was coworkers, church members, friends of the family that we would see once a year. If our families had been ramming it down our throats, I might have murdered someone.

When we started trying to get pregnant, we were determined not to tell anyone. The only people we told were Jenn, and my mom and dad. We knew that if people knew we were trying, we would be interrogated constantly. And truth be told, we weren't in that big a hurry, we weren't rushing anything, we were just trying. And whatever happened would happen.

But then nothing happened. Over and over again. And before, when people would nudge and wink and say, "So when are you guys thinking about kids?" I would laugh. But after a while, I would just grimace. Or roll my eyes. Fortunately, because we were trying, but not devastated to be having no luck, it was just irritating, but not really hurtful. But I don't think people realize how many couples try to have babies - not for months - for years with no luck. I couldn't tell you how many people I have found out over the past year are on fertility drugs, going to treatments, spending thousands of dollars on doctor bills and fertility clinics... and then someone comes up to them and says, "Aren't you going to have kids anytime soon?"

I realize that people don't mean any harm by asking this question. But I am curious to know - at what point did it become okay to question people about their sex life? Because that's essentially what you're doing. I know that if people realized the stress and pain that so many women go through every month, this topic would not be up for public discussion. This comes from a blog of a friend who has been trying to get pregnant after a recent miscarriage:

"Relax". That word sucks, in case you were wondering. As if telling me to relax will cure our problems. As if by taking a deep breath I will suddenly become pregnant and stay pregnant. The next person who tells me to just relax had better be prepared for a swift and painful kick in the shin.

So, I am stepping off my soapbox. I just want to say that I really didn't write this to offend anyone. And the people who have really frustrated me don't read this blog, so don't worry about that either. And of course, I want to be sure and point out that there is a difference between saying:
"So, are you guys thinking about having children at all?" - see how that is polite, well-meaning, not pushy?
and saying, "So, you've been married 3 years. It's time for you to have a kid." or "What are you waiting for?" - Can you imagine how that feels when you've been trying for months to get pregnant? Thanks for rubbing that in someone's face.

I've just seen a lot of people hurt with "well-meaning" comments, and I just think it would be refreshing for everyone to think first before bringing up sensitive topics. I realize that for most people, the pattern goes straight from marriage to children. But did you know that over 6 million women are infertile? And 25% of women go through some phase of infertility - whether it's 3 months or 35 months. So I beg you, think of what someone may be going through before you open your mouth. And not just about children. Think about the circumstances someone might be in. Before you rant about your husband snoring, think about the woman standing near you who lost her husband 6 months ago. Before you rant about your phone bill, keep in mind that not everyone can afford to keep their phone turned on, and at least you can make your payments. I learned that from experience. Just be more mindful.

/end rant.

Recycling is Fun! I promise!

I will blog very soon about our short trip to Georgia this past weekend. It could pretty much be summed up in a few words: great weather, football game, soccer match, Chili's, hanging out, UFC, lots of videos, HUGE KNOCKOUT, drive home, lots of sleeping, still tired.

But I do have a few UFC pictures I'll put up later, even though you people don't care about it like I do.

So today, I want to talk to you about recycling. I know most of you know the "usual" recyclables - aluminum, glass, plastic. But what about things that you just don't know what to do with? Like batteries? Cell phones? Random odds and ends? Well, listen close, children.

Backpacks - Did you get your kid a new backpack this year - even though theirs is still in pretty great condition? Well, if you're thinking about Goodwilling or tossing that backpack, hold that thought!! You could donate it instead to the American Birding Association. That's right, you can equip a bird watcher for only the cost of postage (probably around $6). Interested? Go to American Birding and check them out. Send donations to the address on the website there.

Batteries - I know, it is so easy to toss old batteries into your trash can. But why not just run them by a local store and let them take care of them for you? RBRC will help you find a local place to recycle your old batteries. For example, I could take mine to Radioshack, AT&T, US Cellular, Best Buy, and actually several other places.

Car - How long has that car been sitting in your back yard? I know there's a point where you need to just let go of it. You don't have the money to rebuild it, and it's just rotting out there! Well now you have another option! Junk My Car is an organization where you go online, enter your vehicle description, set up a removal appointment, and they pick up your car for you. FOR FREE! Or call 1-877-586-5692. You don't need a title, and the car does not need to be driveable. If it is going to cost you anything for them to junk your car, they let you know before they come so you can cancel. This service also goes for motorcycles, RVs, trailers, etc.

Cell phones - give them to me. I will give them to Friend to Friend and they will recycle them by deleting your information and programming them for 911. The cell phones are then given to women who are in abusive situations.

Crayons - Yes, even your kids old crayons are recyclable!! As they state on their website, Crazy Crayons takes "old, rejected" crayons and turns them into "fresh, new" crayons! Leave the wrappers on those old broken crayons and mail them to:

CRAYON RECYCLING PROGRAM

LAF Lines, Ltd.,

721 Village Road

Pelican Lake, WI 54463

Crocs - Look, I get that these shoes are comfortable. But really, there will come a day when you're tired of them. And when that day comes, ship them back to the Croc manufacturer. Really! They will take them back and make your old, worn out Crocs into new Crocs that are shipped out around the world to people who need shoes. Come on, it's for a good cause! The next shipment of Crocs is going to Haiti!

Crocs Recycling - West

3375 Enterprise Ave

Bloomington CA 92316

or

Crocs Recycling - East

1500 Commodity Blvd

Lockbourne OH 43137

Check it out

CDs - If you're like me, you make tons of mix CDs. And then you listen to them 5 years later and the music is awful! There are many ways to recycle CDs, especially if they are scratched or even broken. Don't throw them away!!

CD Recycling For Free will take your CDs and recycle them for you. Did you know that it's estimated that AOL has distributed more than 2 billion CDs? That is the natural gas equivalent of heating 200,000 homes for one year.

CD Recycling Center is another place for you to ship CDs, but I've never used them, and I think you have to register. It's still worth a look.

Dress - Remember that hideous prom dress you loved? Or that cotillion dress that was purple with beads and fluffy sleeves? I know, I loved it too. But it's time to move on. Instead of donating that dress to Goodwill or Fifi's, why don't you make sure it goes to someone who could really use it?? Operation Fairy Dust is a program that takes old prom dresses and makes sure they go to girls who really can't afford their own dresses. The link there actually goes to their sister programs, which are all the same type of programs but some of them actually have all the donations they can handle right now. What a great opportunity!!

Glue - Have you ever wondered what happens to your Elmers Glue after the bottle is empty? No??? Well let me tell you what should happen. You should recycle it!!! Elmers Glue Crew is a recycling program for Elmers Glue bottles. You simply box them up and take them to your local Walmart. Easy as that!

Wire hangers - Give them to your local dry cleaner. They'll be grateful.

Used holiday cards - That's right - that ugly Pioneer Day card someone sent you last year doesn't need to be trashed! Ship it on over to St. Jude's recycle cards program where the kids at St. Jude's can make some money for themselves!

Recycle For Breast Cancer - This is a great program, because it's totally free for you to use. They send you prepaid shipping labels and everything. Stuff that is recycled is anything from cell phones to printer accessories to cameras to copper pipe - pretty much anything electronic.

Now there is no reason for all that junk to be cluttering up your house! Donate it! Recycle it! Give it to someone who needs it!!

/end soapbox

A real post

First of all, let me just say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my favorite Granny who reads my blog! She doesn't look a day over 77! Just kidding. She is one day over 77 though!

So, I want to talk about this activity we did at Bible study on Tuesday night. It was very enlightening, and eye-opening. To understand it, you have to know the letters to the seven churches which is in Revelation 1-3. The short of it is, what would Jesus say to each of these churches? They each get a commendation, a complaint, a warning, and a promise. For example, one of the churches is Sardis. They are commended because there are many in the church who are still very strong in their faith. But the complaint is that they have the reputation of being alive, but spiritually they are dead. Their warning is that they need to remember the gospel and start living by it again, because they never know when their life will be over. And the promise to them is that the faithful ones will be rewarded in heaven for what they have done.

So our "assignment" Tuesday night was to write a letter to our church. We were to write this from the perspective of Jesus - what would He say to us? What are our strengths and what are our weaknesses? Well, I went to town on this. It was very easy to list many strengths that we have as a church, but also weaknesses, especially looking in my own life.

So if Jesus was writing to us, this is what I said would be our commendation:

• accepting and loving of each other and new people
• financially support ourselves and others (missionaries) (we don't do fundraisers)
• generous with money
• many are faithful
• when we're high on God, we're really high
• continually striving to do better (new programs, build our faith, etc.)
• generous with time; many servants
• many encouragers

There were many that others saw that I didn't write down. We went around the table and everyone told what they had listed. It was very uplifting and encouraging, and interesting to see what different people would put down.

If Jesus was writing to us, this is what I said would be our complaint:

• we need to continually check our motives (why we do good things)
• there is strife over insignificant things
• prideful
• lazy
• many have wrong priorities
• we continually quench the Holy Spirit (we're scared to worship)
• we're scared to evangelise
• we're scared to let go of worldly things and worldly goals
• we're mask-wearers
• we have many members who are not faithful

After I got done, Tony said if I wasn't a woman, he'd let me preach on Sunday! Hah! I'm not ashamed to put our weaknesses here for everyone to see. Every church has weaknesses, and knowing them is the only way we can face them and improve.

If Jesus were writing to us, I believe He would warn us:

Step up to the plate! Better yourselves every single day. Remember - your goal is to be more Christ-like.

If Jesus were writing to us, I believe His promise would be:

Don't be ashamed of me and I promise I will not be ashamed of you. I will be right beside you throughout your journey, to support you when you aren't strong enough to do it on your own.

This exercise was really awesome, especially the fact that we each went around the table telling our points of view. Unfortunately, there were only about 30 of us there. It would be really great to have more (or all!) of the church involved. Then we could really get to work on these issues.

So what would Jesus say to your church? Or to you as an individual? It's something to think about.