My little diva- love it!
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Manicure
Eva had her first experience in a real nail salon today! Okay so to be honest it wasn't a real manicure where they clip your cuticles and all that, I think we'll hold off until she's 5 for that ;-) But she did pick out her own, very sparkly polish and sat like such a big girl while the nice lady painted two coats plus a top coat on her nails.
My little diva- love it!
My little diva- love it!
Birthday Party
This morning we went to Eva's very first birthday party of a friend who is not the child of one of mommy's friends, i.e. her own friend from school! It was at the same place we had her 3rd birthday party, an indoor play place in New Brighton, and it was so nice to meet moms and dads of some of her classmates that I haven't met before. A number of the parents dropped their kids off for the party; I was that hovering mom of a 3 1/2 year old who stayed the whole time. I guess that's the down side to having kids age 3-6 all in the same classroom, friends are at different levels of independence from the parental units. At any rate, I used the time to annoy Eva with my camera- enjoy!
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| She spent the first 45 minutes we were there playing teacher and reading to me... only my child would forsake the running, jumping and screaming with other preschoolers to sit and read |
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| Look at her nails to see why we high-tailed it to the nail salon right after this! haha |
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| LOVE this one |
Friday, January 6, 2012
Something Wicked This Way Comes...
The following is an article from CNN, it highlights fairly well just how scary Rick Santorum is and why we will be moving to Canada or New Zealand should he ever be elected. Keep in mind, I consider myself a pretty devout Christian. All of my blog followers know I post about Christian topics frequently; I strongly believe in God, we are active in our church, I went to Bible camp growing up, spent 12 of my 17 years of education at a Christian school... yadda yadda yadda... but hiding behind the Bible to promote hate, fear and discrimination is reprehensible.
_________________________________________
There are two Rick Santorums: The first one I might not agree with, but the second one truly scares me.
"Santorum One" pushes for less government regulation for corporations and shrinking the federal government. You may or may not agree with these positions, but they are both mainstream conservative fare.
Then there's "Santorum Two." This Santorum wants to impose conservative Christian law upon America. Am I being hyperbolic or overly dramatic with this statement? I wish I were, but I'm not.
Plainly put, Rick Santorum wants to convert our current legal system into one that requires our laws to be in agreement with religious law, not unlike what the Taliban want to do in Afghanistan.
Santorum is not hiding this. The only reason you may not be aware of it is because up until his recent surge in the polls, the media were ignoring him. However, "Santorum Two" was out there telling anyone who would listen.
He told a crowd at a November campaign stop in Iowa in no uncertain terms, "our civil laws have to comport with a higher law: God's law."
On Thanksgiving Day at an Iowa candidates' forum, he reiterated: "We have civil laws, but our civil laws have to comport with the higher law."
Yes, that means exactly what you think it does: Santorum believes that each and every one of our government's laws must match God's law, warning that "as long as there is a discordance between the two, there will be agitation." I'm not exactly sure what "agitation" means in this context, but I think it's a code word for something much worse than acid reflux.
And as an aside, when Santorum says "God," he means "not any god (but) the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." So, if your god differs from Rick's, your god's views will be ignored, just like the father is on "Keeping Up with the Kardashians."
Some of you might be asking: How far will "Santorum Two" take this? It's not like he's going to base public policy decisions on Bible passages, right?
Well, here's what Santorum had to say just last week when asked about his opposition to gay marriage: "We have Judeo-Christian values that are based on biblical truth. ... And those truths don't change just because people's attitudes may change."
Santorum could not be more unambiguous: His policy decisions will be based on "biblical truths," and as he noted, these "truths" will not change regardless of whether public opinion has evolved since the time the Bible was written thousands of years ago.
Imagine if either of the two Muslim members of Congress declared their support for a proposed American law based on verses from the Quran. The outcry would be deafening, especially from people like Santorum.
One of the great ironies is that Santorum has been a leader in sounding alarm bells that Muslims want to impose Islamic law -- called Sharia law -- upon non-Muslims in America. While Santorum fails to offer even a scintilla of credible evidence to support this claim, he continually warns about the "creeping" influence of Muslim law.
Santorum's fundamental problem with Sharia law is that it's "not just a religious code. It is also a governmental code. It happens to be both religious in nature and origin, but it is a civil code."
Consequently, under the Sharia system, the civil laws of the land must comport with God's law. Now, where did I hear about someone wanting to impose only laws that agree with God's law in America?
So, what type of nation might the United States be under Rick Santorum's Sharia law?
1. Rape victims would be forced to give birth to the rapist's child. Santorum has stated that his religious beliefs dictate that life begins at conception, and as a result, rape victims would be sentenced to carrying the child of the rapist for nine months.
2. Gay marriages would be annulled. Santorum recently declared that not only does he oppose gay marriages, but he supports a federal constitutional amendment that would ban them, invalidating all previous gay marriages that have legally been sanctioned by states and thus callously destroying marriages and thrusting families into chaos.
3. Santorum would ban all federal funding for birth control and would not oppose any state that wanted to pass laws making birth control illegal.
4. No porn! I'm not kidding. Santorum signed "The Marriage Vow" pledge (PDF) authored by the Family Leader organization, under which he swears to oppose pornography. I think many would agree that alone should disqualify him from being president.
To me, "Santorum Two" truly poses an existential threat to the separation of church and state, one of the bedrock principles of our nation since its inception. Not only did Thomas Jefferson speak of the need to create "a wall of separation between church and state," so did Santorum's idol, Ronald Reagan, who succinctly stated, "church and state are, and must remain, separate."
While there may be millions of Americans who in their heart agree with the views of "Santorum Two," it is my hope they will reject any attempts to move America closer to a becoming the Afghanistan of the Western Hemisphere.
~Dean Obeidallah
______________________________________________
_________________________________________
There are two Rick Santorums: The first one I might not agree with, but the second one truly scares me.
"Santorum One" pushes for less government regulation for corporations and shrinking the federal government. You may or may not agree with these positions, but they are both mainstream conservative fare.
Then there's "Santorum Two." This Santorum wants to impose conservative Christian law upon America. Am I being hyperbolic or overly dramatic with this statement? I wish I were, but I'm not.
Plainly put, Rick Santorum wants to convert our current legal system into one that requires our laws to be in agreement with religious law, not unlike what the Taliban want to do in Afghanistan.
Santorum is not hiding this. The only reason you may not be aware of it is because up until his recent surge in the polls, the media were ignoring him. However, "Santorum Two" was out there telling anyone who would listen.
He told a crowd at a November campaign stop in Iowa in no uncertain terms, "our civil laws have to comport with a higher law: God's law."
On Thanksgiving Day at an Iowa candidates' forum, he reiterated: "We have civil laws, but our civil laws have to comport with the higher law."
Yes, that means exactly what you think it does: Santorum believes that each and every one of our government's laws must match God's law, warning that "as long as there is a discordance between the two, there will be agitation." I'm not exactly sure what "agitation" means in this context, but I think it's a code word for something much worse than acid reflux.
And as an aside, when Santorum says "God," he means "not any god (but) the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." So, if your god differs from Rick's, your god's views will be ignored, just like the father is on "Keeping Up with the Kardashians."
Some of you might be asking: How far will "Santorum Two" take this? It's not like he's going to base public policy decisions on Bible passages, right?
Well, here's what Santorum had to say just last week when asked about his opposition to gay marriage: "We have Judeo-Christian values that are based on biblical truth. ... And those truths don't change just because people's attitudes may change."
Santorum could not be more unambiguous: His policy decisions will be based on "biblical truths," and as he noted, these "truths" will not change regardless of whether public opinion has evolved since the time the Bible was written thousands of years ago.
Imagine if either of the two Muslim members of Congress declared their support for a proposed American law based on verses from the Quran. The outcry would be deafening, especially from people like Santorum.
One of the great ironies is that Santorum has been a leader in sounding alarm bells that Muslims want to impose Islamic law -- called Sharia law -- upon non-Muslims in America. While Santorum fails to offer even a scintilla of credible evidence to support this claim, he continually warns about the "creeping" influence of Muslim law.
Santorum's fundamental problem with Sharia law is that it's "not just a religious code. It is also a governmental code. It happens to be both religious in nature and origin, but it is a civil code."
Consequently, under the Sharia system, the civil laws of the land must comport with God's law. Now, where did I hear about someone wanting to impose only laws that agree with God's law in America?
So, what type of nation might the United States be under Rick Santorum's Sharia law?
1. Rape victims would be forced to give birth to the rapist's child. Santorum has stated that his religious beliefs dictate that life begins at conception, and as a result, rape victims would be sentenced to carrying the child of the rapist for nine months.
2. Gay marriages would be annulled. Santorum recently declared that not only does he oppose gay marriages, but he supports a federal constitutional amendment that would ban them, invalidating all previous gay marriages that have legally been sanctioned by states and thus callously destroying marriages and thrusting families into chaos.
3. Santorum would ban all federal funding for birth control and would not oppose any state that wanted to pass laws making birth control illegal.
4. No porn! I'm not kidding. Santorum signed "The Marriage Vow" pledge (PDF) authored by the Family Leader organization, under which he swears to oppose pornography. I think many would agree that alone should disqualify him from being president.
To me, "Santorum Two" truly poses an existential threat to the separation of church and state, one of the bedrock principles of our nation since its inception. Not only did Thomas Jefferson speak of the need to create "a wall of separation between church and state," so did Santorum's idol, Ronald Reagan, who succinctly stated, "church and state are, and must remain, separate."
While there may be millions of Americans who in their heart agree with the views of "Santorum Two," it is my hope they will reject any attempts to move America closer to a becoming the Afghanistan of the Western Hemisphere.
~Dean Obeidallah
______________________________________________
Monday, January 2, 2012
For Baba
Calling All Grand Mothers
We have to live
differently
or we
will die
in the same
old ways.
Therefore
I call on all Grand Mothers
everywhere
on the planet
to rise
and take your place
in the leadership
of the world
Come out
of the kitchen
out of the
fields
out of the
beauty parlors
out of the
television
Step forward
& assume
the role
for which
you were
created:
To lead humanity
to health, happiness
& sanity.
I call on
all the
Grand Mothers
of Earth
& every person
who possesses
the Grand Mother
spirit
of respect for
life
&
protection of
the young
to rise
& lead.
The life of
our species
depends
on it.
& I call on all men
of Earth
to gracefully
and
gratefully
stand aside
& let them
(let us)
do so.
~Alice Walker
We have to live
differently
or we
will die
in the same
old ways.
Therefore
I call on all Grand Mothers
everywhere
on the planet
to rise
and take your place
in the leadership
of the world
Come out
of the kitchen
out of the
fields
out of the
beauty parlors
out of the
television
Step forward
& assume
the role
for which
you were
created:
To lead humanity
to health, happiness
& sanity.
I call on
all the
Grand Mothers
of Earth
& every person
who possesses
the Grand Mother
spirit
of respect for
life
&
protection of
the young
to rise
& lead.
The life of
our species
depends
on it.
& I call on all men
of Earth
to gracefully
and
gratefully
stand aside
& let them
(let us)
do so.
~Alice Walker
Sunday, January 1, 2012
Resolutions
I have 5 resolutions for 2012:
1- read to Eva for at least 300 minutes every week. I say by week because I know with going full time at work and still taking 6 credits and working part time at the restaurant it might not always work out to get the minutes in I want on a daily basis but 300 a week works out to be twice the recommended amount for a preschooler.
2- Continue to lose weight.
3- Improve my yoga skills.
4- Decide where we want to send Eva for school by the end of 2012. She'll be 4 1/2 and it will be time to enroll her in the beginning of 2013 so we either need to live in the district of a school we like or decide what private school to send her to.
5- Take a trip somewhere. I haven't decided where yet but I want to go somewhere far and fun, Jason and I have never gone anywhere together except for our honeymoon and that's just not right.
1- read to Eva for at least 300 minutes every week. I say by week because I know with going full time at work and still taking 6 credits and working part time at the restaurant it might not always work out to get the minutes in I want on a daily basis but 300 a week works out to be twice the recommended amount for a preschooler.
2- Continue to lose weight.
3- Improve my yoga skills.
4- Decide where we want to send Eva for school by the end of 2012. She'll be 4 1/2 and it will be time to enroll her in the beginning of 2013 so we either need to live in the district of a school we like or decide what private school to send her to.
5- Take a trip somewhere. I haven't decided where yet but I want to go somewhere far and fun, Jason and I have never gone anywhere together except for our honeymoon and that's just not right.
 |
| Namaste |
Cool New Tool
I learned from a co-worker who uses blogspot that when viewing photos you can simply click on any photo in a post and a slide show will come up. You can then click through all photos in that post in full screen mode. You won't see any captions that I may have put on a photo or see photos from other posts but you can easily switch in between slide show and standard view mode.
Click on the "click here" right below this sentence to being the inspiration slide show - enjoy!
Click on the "click here" right below this sentence to being the inspiration slide show - enjoy!
Hello 2012!
Happy New Year everyone! This year flew by so fast... not even sure where to begin. This weekend has been a very fun one. Friday night my very first high school friend, Lindsay, got married to a wonderful man at the Cathedral of St. Paul in (you guessed it) St. Paul. The ceremony was followed by one of the most fun receptions I've ever been to. Can we say open bar with premium liquor, melt in your mouth prime rib and Boogie Wonderland as the live band! I was a complete space cadet and didn't take any photos. Me, of all people, the photo snapping blog slave paparazzi didn't take any photos, but I'll try nab some from Lindsay's facebook page if I can. I took Baba as my date since Jason wanted to stay home and watch the UFC fight with all the men folk. Us girls had a total blast and my feet throbbed the next morning from so much dancing.
Last night Jason and I went to a NYE + going away party for our friends Tina and Tim who are moving to Florida. I'm going to miss Tina a ton but last night was a complete blast and now I have an excuse to take Eva to Disney World! We played beer pong and flippy well past midnight and finally made it into bed at a ridiculously late hour. Thank God Baba took Eva over night. Now today we're just going to relax and spend some low key family time together.
Many great things happened in 2011 and I plan on making 2012 even better- happy New Year everyone, make it great!
Last night Jason and I went to a NYE + going away party for our friends Tina and Tim who are moving to Florida. I'm going to miss Tina a ton but last night was a complete blast and now I have an excuse to take Eva to Disney World! We played beer pong and flippy well past midnight and finally made it into bed at a ridiculously late hour. Thank God Baba took Eva over night. Now today we're just going to relax and spend some low key family time together.
Many great things happened in 2011 and I plan on making 2012 even better- happy New Year everyone, make it great!
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| Here comes the Bride! |
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| Matt and Tina |
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| Battleshots |
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| Beer pong action shot- we kicked some serious butt |
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| I am the flip cup champion! |
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| Tina don't leaveeeeeeeee! |
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| Tina and Tim- you will be missed but it's not goodbye, it's see you later :-) |
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