Stand FOR Something

I am interested in politics. I enjoy following the races and being a part of things. I consider myself a Democrat (at least most of the time). But as this election cycle is rounding up, I find a few things frustrating.

The Democrats need to find a spine in some areas. The biggest problem with the party and in my opinion why they are losing so many people, is that they are no longer standing FOR things, just AGAINST the Republicans. They need to find more candidates like President Truman to run for office. Someone who is not afraid to make hard decisions and to stand by them when they are wrong.

One of the elections that has impressed me this year in MN is the Klobuchar/Kennedy race. At least, I am impressed with Klobuchar. She has stayed on point most of the time. When he attacks her, she stands for herself instead of slinging mud back. He went dirty quickly after falling behind and has made up little to no ground. In fact, his latest ad has gone back to stating his beliefs instead of attacking. Maybe this should be a case study on the effectiveness of negative ads.

Finally, I am disappointed in the major media outlets. They are giving little time to all the races. Sure, they give glances during the news casts and the occasional poll. But they do not air any debates. I know that they are not great for ratings, but the more opportunities the people have to listen, the more they might be likely to choose to listen. The people did not suddenly lose interest, it happened gradually. And to get them back, it is probably going to take a chunk of time.

They also want to define people so badly that it makes people feel like there is no decicions left to be made. Enough with the red, blue and purple states. Let people form an opinion before you give them one.


Anyway, I am confident the process works when the PEOPLE are in control. We just need to be active and aware. And honestly, that does not take a huge amount of effort on our part. And I truly believe that there are better days coming.

Fall

I am not much for cold weather, but there is something about fall that is nice. It feels a little cleaner in the air. When the sun is out, the days are so pretty.

Plus you get to have fun in the leaves.

The girls and I were trying to have some fun in the piles Dad was making. It was a lot of fun in the end. Grace was not so sure in the beginning. And I was too worried about getting a picture of the two of them Once we mellowed out, it was great.

So, on the days before it is almost too cold to breath, get out and enjoy it. And your kids can make it so much better.

30

Well, it is now official. I AM 30!!!

It is really pretty good. As with most things, if I have too much time to think about it, I get myself all worked up. But, I really feel pretty good about this age.

I am happy in family and life. I am blessed with a great husband, beautiful daughters, family, security, and many other things. I am satisfied.

So I drive a minivan ;-). Could be worse things. Plus, the kids seem to like it.

Anyway. I am 30 and loving it.

Thank you

I just wanted to thank people for the outpouring of prayers and well-wishes for my Uncle and his family. It has been a really hard time and will likely be for some time.

Since calling off the search, my aunt and cousins have really had a rollercoaster of feelings. And they are still feeling a little in the middle of it. It is really hard not to have an ending. But I just talked to them and they are confident that if they look at things one day at a time, they can do it.

Last night they met with the men hunting with him and they had a great but hard experience. They had kept a really good journal and took a lot of pictures. Charles looked really happy and that was such a comfort. God is sending the family some things that are making it all bearable.

Their pastor told them something perfect. He said that we may not know where he (Charles) is, and that is hard. But God knows and He is taking care of him. And in the end, that is all that really matters. This thought has been really comforting.

So thank you, for holding us up with your thoughts and prayers. It is appreciated more that you will ever know.

More Prayers

My Dad just called and they called off the search. He couldn't really talk but he said that they have done everything twice and found absolutly nothing.

Please remember my aunt and cousins. They had been married almost 40 years. She is not doing well (as you can imagine).

Thanks for the support.

Prayers Please

My family and I need your prayers please. My uncle has been missing since Wed 10/11. He is hunting in Wyoming with some other relatives. He went out to his spot and has not been seen since.

They think that they may have communicated through shotgun firing the first day but they have not had anything else. It has been pretty positive until last night. The authorities have been looking since Wed. And Sat. many people to who did not even know him volunteered their time to try and find him.

They are getting ready to change the mission of the search from search and rescue to recovery soon. He is a really good outdoorsman and would know what to do. But the lake of any sign of him suggests that he may have become disoriented.

My aunt and cousins really need your prayer support. As a family, we are asking as many people as possible to pray for resolution. We feel that we can come to terms with whatever God has planned but the limbo is becoming really difficult.

Your prayers are truly appreciated. Thanks

Find more reasons

I have been busy the last couple of days. I have actually been cleaning my house. I keep a neat house, but I do not enjoy cleaning. But, I have a reason this week. My husband is throwing me a party and I am so excited (and I did the cleaning for him because I am really grateful for all the work he has put into this for me).

This particular party is for my upcoming 30th birthday. I am so excited to have everyone around, family and friends are going to be around and I love it. I think it may even be worth turning 30 for.

But, I really think I need to find more reasons to throw parties like this. I enjoy putting them together. I enjoy them as they are happening. Even the cleaning up is not so bad.

I guess my point is that we need to find more time and reason for enjoying life and the people around us. It is really time well spent.

Knitting

When I was a kid, my mom needed to keep us occupied with something. Not that I can relate to this at all ;-) So one day she taught us how to knit. Not that we really ever made anything, but we would work on it from time to time and it kept us busy. As I got a little older, I kind of forgot about it.

A couple of years ago I decided to try it again.

And now, I have decided that I really enjoy knitting. This is no longer something that old women do even if I am ALMOST 30 (12 days left). But it really is fun. And given the right information and setting it can even be youthful.

This is the book that my sister, Anne, gave me when I rediscovered knitting. And it have been really fun. I do not need it all the time, but when I get courageous enough to try something new, Debbie Stoller is right there. I also linked her website if anyone is interested. She has free patterns and other fun things.

The cool thing is, I am able to make things for people and it feels good. I have always enjoyed giving gifts, but making them and giving them is so much better.

I know not everyone thinks that they have time, but it is really good stress reliever. And you do not have to be constantly doing it to be good at it. I have not knitted in months and it is (as they say) just like riding a bike.

It feels good to have a hobby. I would love to hear about yours.

Yeah Me

I have just finished my first knitting pattern. I made a hat.

Up until 5 minutes ago, I could only knit scarves. Now, I can add Hats to my repetoire. I am a little excited. Not that you can really tell in this self potrait.

I had been to scared to try it but I finally jumped in. You know how it is right? It seems a little too much. So you wait, and wait and then you are ready to try it. Most of the time it turns out to be fun and rewarding. Plus, it may not be that hard. I was able to knit this in 2 days. So, things can also be easier that we think

I must admit, it may be about more than the knitting. Or maybe knitting can apply to life. Regardless, these models look much better in the hat than me.

Husbands

Sometimes I feel trully blessed in life. And when I think about my husband, I feel not only blessed but grateful. I know that many of you probably feel the same way.

What I find interesting as well, is that I can also forget about him. I get sucked into being a mother. I fall into those pitty parties that we all have from time to time. I just get lazy about my life.

Luckily, it has never lasted very long and I have a husband who is patient. Of course, he goes through those periods too where I am not the top priority. But in the end, we always come back to each other.

As a new mom (both times), I found it really hard to find that balance. And as a stay-at-home mom, I felt like I was "on the job" all the time and never relaxed. I was really conflicted about it until one of our pastors came to my Mom's Group. He explained that if you want your kids to be taken care of, you need to take care of your relationship first. If as a couple your are fine, then your kids will be fine too.

It is really amazing how that never dawned on me until someone told me. Kris and I were talking the other night and we feel rally good about our marriage. It is strong. But that does not mean it is perfect. And thank goodness because it is also not boring.

I guess me point is, whatever effort you put into your marriage is worth it. If you care for it, it will grow and be fullfilling. And it will also make you grateful that you have something so important to you that you are willing to fight for it.