AMERICA

Okay, so I have a lot of free time at work and so I decided to go on the Internet and type in American Fun Facts. I love weird statistical facts. I ended up coming across the following things.

And I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me. ~Lee Greenwood - I love this. Its so simple. To where at my least knowledgeable point I know I am FREE. I can choose what to believe it, to do with my day, and become who I want to be. I think we take this for granted. How often do we take a step back and look at our everyday choices and ask ourselves if we will go to jail for them. When I say everyday choices, I mean the clothes we put on, or the way we wear our hair, or the music we turn on and rock out to.

I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him. ~Abraham Lincoln

My God! How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy! ~Thomas Jefferson - I think we have lost sight of this. One example is taking God out of everything. This country was founded upon Him. No one is forcing you to say the Pledge, just stand up, put your hand over you heart, and show some respect for your country, and for the men and women who died so that you could have the right not to say the Pledge of Allegiance. Do you know how many people are doing everything they can to get here? Do you know the sacrifices they are making so they can have that freedom? No one is forcing you to stay, its your right to leave.

As Americans, we have our own culture, our own society, our own language, and our own lifestyle. This culture, called the "American Way" has been developed over centuries of struggles, trials, and victories by millions of men and women who have sought freedom.
Our forefathers fought, bled, and died at places such as Bunker Hill, Antietam, San Juan, Iwo Jima, Normandy, Korea, Vietnam. We speak English, not Spanish, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese, Russian, or any other language. Therefore, if you wish to become part of our society, learn our language!
"In God We Trust" is our national motto. This is not some off the wall, Christian, Right Wing, political slogan - it is our national motto. It is engraved in stone in the House of Representatives in our Capitol and it is printed on our currency. We adopted this motto because Christian men and women, on Christian principles, founded this nation and this is clearly documented throughout our history. If it is appropriate for our motto to be inscribed in the halls of our highest level of Government, then it is certainly appropriate to display it on the walls of our schools.
God is in our pledge, our National Anthem, nearly every patriotic song, and in our founding documents. We honor His birth, death, and resurrection as holidays, and we turn to Him in prayer in times of crisis. If God offends you, then I suggest you consider another part of the world as your new home, because God is part of our culture and we are proud to have Him.
We are proud of our heritage and those who have so honorably defended our freedoms. We celebrate Independence Day, Memorial Day, Veterans Day, and Flag Day. We have parades, picnics, and barbecues where we proudly wave our flag.
As an American, I have the right to wave my flag, sing my national anthem, quote my national motto, and cite my pledge whenever and wherever I choose. If the Stars and Stripes offend you, or you don't like Uncle Sam, then you should seriously consider a move to another part of this planet.
The American culture is our way of life, our heritage, and we are proud of it. We are happy with our culture and have no desire to change, and we really don't care how you did things where you came from. Like it or not, this is our country, our land, and our lifestyle.
Our First Amendment gives every citizen the right to express his opinion about our government, culture, or society, and we will allow you every opportunity to do so. But once you are done complaining, whining, and griping about our flag, our pledge, our national motto, or our way of life, I highly encourage you take advantage of another great American freedom: THE RIGHT TO LEAVE!
Another thing: To those who do complain about the usage of words like 'God' and 'American' and speaking the language of our great nation, try going to another country and speak against what you don't like. You will more than likely end up jailed or even killed.
In America, you take your right to complain for granted. The more patriotism that is removed from where our children are taught, the less our children will learn about what it is to be an American and our nation's spirit will slowly be killed. Keep patriotism alive! - this is unknown.

On a lighter side, Fun State Slogans

I added this because I first read Louisiana's and smiled, then I read Utah's a laughed, and then the rest and thought they were pretty funny also. Texas and Mississippi are pretty good. Alabama: Yes, We Have Electricity

Alaska: 11,623 Eskimos Can't Be Wrong!

Arizona: But It's A Dry Heat

Arkansas: Literacy Ain't Everything

California: By 30, Our Women Have More Plastic Than Your Honda

Colorado: If You Don't Ski, Don't Bother

Connecticut: Like Massachusetts, Only The Kennedy's Don't Own It Yet

Delaware: We Really Do Like The Chemicals In Our Water

Florida: Ask Us About Our Grandkids

Georgia: We Put The "Fun" In Fundamentalist Extremism

Hawaii: Haka Tiki Mou Sha'ami Leeki Toru (Death To Mainland Scum, But Leave Your Money) Idaho: More Than Just Potatoes ... Well Okay, We're Not, But The Potatoes Sure Are Real Good

Illinois: Please Don't Pronounce the "S"

Indiana: 2 Billion Years Tidal Wave Free

Iowa: We Do Amazing Things With Corn

Kansas: First Of The Rectangle States

Kentucky: Five Million People; Fifteen Last Names

Louisiana: We're Not ALL Drunk Cajun Wackos, But That's Our Tourism Campaign

Maine: We're Really Cold, But We Have Cheap Lobster

Maryland: If You Can Dream It, We Can Tax It

Massachusetts: Our Taxes Are Lower Than Sweden's (For Most Tax Brackets)

Michigan: First Line Of Defense From The Canadians

Minnesota: 10,000 Lakes ... And 10,000,000,000,000 Mosquitoes

Mississippi: Come And Feel Better About Your Own State

Missouri: Your Federal Flood Relief Tax Dollars At Work

Montana: Land Of The Big Sky, The Unabomber, Right-Wing Crazies, And Very Little Else

Nebraska: Ask About Our State Motto Contest

Nevada: Whores and Poker!

New Hampshire: Go Away And Leave Us Alone

New Jersey: You Want A ##$%##! Motto? I Got Yer ##$%##! Motto Right Here!

New Mexico: Lizards Make Excellent Pets

New York: You Have The Right To Remain Silent, You Have The Right To An Attorney ... NorthCarolina: Tobacco Is A Vegetable

North Dakota: We Really Are One Of The 50 States!

Ohio: At Least We're Not Michigan

Oklahoma: Like The Play, Only No Singing
Oregon: Spotted Owl ... It's What's For Dinner

Pennsylvania: Cook With Coal

Rhode Island: We're Not REALLY An Island

South Carolina: Remember The Civil War? We Didn't Actually Surrender

South Dakota: Closer Than North Dakota

Tennessee: The Educashun State

Texas: Si' Hablo Ing'les (Yes, I Speak English)

Utah: Our Jesus Is Better Than Your Jesus

Vermont: Yep

Virginia: Who Says Government Stiffs And Slackjaw Yokels Don't Mix?

Washington: Help! We're Overrun By Nerds And Slackers!

Washington, D.C.: Wanna Be Mayor?

West Virginia: One Big Happy Family ... Really!

Wisconsin: Come Cut The Cheese

Wyoming: Where Men Are Men ... and the sheep are scared!!!

I am Proud to be an American.

I am thankful that I was blessed to be born here.

Happy 4th of July.

"The Things that the flag stands for were created by the experiences of a great people. Everything that it stands for was written by their lives. The flag is the embodiment, not of sentiment, but of history." -Woodrow Wilson

Branching Out

Last night for FHE we had Ward FHE. We played Olympic games. Well that's what the title of FHE was. We had a relay race, which I had to carry a egg on a plastic spoon for a distance. There was a watermelon eating contest, tire toss, tug of war, and other games. There was also a dessert contest. Sounds fun right?? well it was, but I had to go by myself. Most of you would be okay with that but for my it was a big deal. I can do somethings on my own but when I don't really know anyone it is incredibly difficult. My roommates were not there, Diane was practicing in the garage with her band, and Cindy is in PA with her family. So I talked myself into it all day. At the moment of truth I grabbed my dessert and ran out the door before I could think to turn back. Once I got there I place my dessert on the table and started to freak. I didn't know anyone. But then a few people that are in my FHE group came over. It was difficult throughout the night meeting people, and standing alone at times. But I did it, and I had a pretty good time. Oh, and I won 1st prize on the dessert contest. I made Caramel Apple Pecan Cheesecake. Everyone asked if I had bought it, and when I said I had made it from scratch people were amazed. I loved it.

Small and Simple things

This weekend was full of small and simple things. It made me realize to take a step back, quit riding the guys bumper in front of me and look for the small things that really do make life worth it.
This week at church was great. The General Presidency of the church sent out a letter, that was read last week, stating that in Sacrament Meeting they would prefer for those speaking to the congregation to not ask them to look up scriptures, or turn to such and such page. This week during the talks I was paying close attention to see if someone forgot. No one did, but the point is that without the noise of the pages of the scriptures being flipped, you could really hear the speaker and the spirit confirming what was said. One Friday, Diane and I rented a movie. It was one of those movies that's only great when there is not thinking involved, and it is really late at night. At the end of the movie, well the last line of the movie was ' Scatter,....It's like the Titanic, but with bears.' The scene was that a bear had gotten lose in a basketball arena. Maybe you just had to be there. Saturday, while I was at the pool, multitasking, not just laying out but reviewing math for the placement test I have to take before August. I got a call from Diane. She had locked herself out of her car. I almost didn't answer the phone b/c I did not recognize the number (her phone was in the car also). After picking her up we explored the options so that she could get her car back. Her parents had sent her a spare in the mail a few days before so we checked the mail and by some miracle, it was in the mailbox.
When we went back to the pool, we met up with a couple of old friends, and can I say it is great to hear that you are missed.

Courage in Rainbow Bottoms

This summer my roommate Cindy and I bought a Seven Peaks Water Park Season Pass. They had a special for students. I had never been and figured buying a pass was the same as going twice so why not. We have enjoyed our after work and Saturday visits. She is a teacher and makes me want to change my major to teaching just so I can have the summers off to swim. I know dumb reason esp. since I am so far along. One joy of going to the pool is that we get to see Provo's finest. By no means do we look like Barbies, but I think we realize this and dress accordingly. Plus we are Judgers. We have gotten to the point of all we have to do is say the other persons name and maybe a direction and then we both start laughing or smile or wonder what their thought process was. We justify ourselves in the probability that there are other people saying the same stuff about us. We were able to get a photo of this guy. This guy must have very high self-esteem to say the least. It was difficult to get a picture, 1. we didn't bring a camera (a little too obvious) 2. it was the camera on my phone, and 3. people are constantly moving. But thankfully Cindy got the job done. ENJOY....hopefully as much as we did. If you can't see it click on the picture and look dead center.

Manda's Special Day @ Texas Roadhouse

So for Manda's Special Day we went to Texas Roadhouse. We dressed up as cowgirls. After dinner we went to walmart, Manda needed shelves and after walking all over the Sandy (south town mall area) Walmart we ended up buying Formula for Sam, b/c it was on sale. So there we were in the express checkout dressed as 4 cowgirls buying 2 cans of formula. OH and another funny story of the night was pretty much everywhere we looked people were picking wedgies. One very obvious one was at the Walmart. Picture this is you will.... All of us in a horizontal line across the main front walkway of walmart- the walkway between the registers and the clothing- and right in front of us is a lady and she was going to town picking her wedgie. Now this was after dinner and many jokes so we were already laughing. We tried to stop but jsut couldn't help it. Overall this was a great party. Here are a few pictures from the night.

Parade of Homes

This week and last week have been the Utah Valley Parade of Homes. I have gone to 22 of the 28 and I am hoping to finish this weekend before Manda's Special Day (birthday). Some of theses are from the St. George Parade of Homes that were done in February. I like several different styles and I want to incorporate them in to my future house, so I take pictures of ideas that I like. It is also nice to see what they have out there and the endless possibilities there are. I will post more after I visit the other homes, including the one I designed!!!!
love the idea of the sink, not a fan of the faucet. (St. George)
This was the view from the living room. from the white concrete floors, to the drop off pool to the view of the mountains. This house seemed cold, and very modern. I like the view but not at the cost of glass walls and no carpet or wood. (St. George)

This was the master bathroom. All glass and mirrors. I loved how clean it was but the downfall was- a lack of privacy and water residue and fingerprints- a mess to clean up; But great idea. (Utah County)

Oh, how I want this house. All it needs is a huge tree with a swing, and a picket fence. (UC)
Rock wall with a pit, great idea, the other part of the basement was a basketball court decked out in BYU. (UC)
Simply, I LOVE this house, not in the parade but next door to a house that was. (UC)
Chandelier (St. George)
This style is very popular in the parade this year. They have it at different levels, but it seems to be in every home. (UC)
Pirate ship bed. (UC)
The little details. I think this would also be great if they did the family monogram. (UC)
Again same room, not really noticeable but great details.

Almost There

So, I am like 3 semester away from being a college graduate. I can't believe it. If someone would have told me 6 years ago when I moved to Utah, that I wouldn't reach goals that I set for myself but that I would accomplish things I never thought of I would have told them they were crazy. Yes I know I will graduate college after 7 years after graduating High School; but let me explain: Moved out to UT -Sum/02
Worked for a year (deciding on what to major in) -Sum/03
Dated a guy - took 9 credits just to get my feet wet -Fall/04
Dated another guy- threw everything to the wind -Sum/05
Worked for a year- getting life back on track -Fall/05
Started School -Sum/06
Stressful Job, Parade of Homes, and Libby's pg w/ Miles and James (i know really didn't affect me but kept keys handy for emergencies) -Sum/07
School -Fall/Winter 08
I keep hearing the line from Tommy Boy:
Tommy: Did you hear I finally graduated?
Richard Hayden: Yeah, and just a shade under a decade too, all right.
Tommy: You know a lot of people go to college for seven years.
Richard Hayden: I know, they're called doctors.
I'm in no way going to be a doctor, but like Tommy I feel graduating, no matter how long it takes or how many speed bumps get in the way, the fact that you graduated is what really matters. So I am driven to succeed. It's getting to the point where the last semesters are planned out for me. An example of this is I have to take accounting but can't until I fulfill my math requirement. So this forces me to take math this coming fall. I have not taken math much less thought about it since I was a junior in High School. I have used math in the past 6 years but not to the extent of diving into something new everyday. I was able to find a practice test to study before I go and take the placement tests. I opened it for a second and randomly selected a problem or two, to see if I could do anything, trying to find a starting point, and I did it. I checked my answer and I got it right. I guess somethings really do stick. I have yet to actually sit down and dive into that practice test but in the next week or two after Parade of Homes its back to the grind.
I do watch crappy TV late at night. It is usually Friends, Sex and the City or Will and Grace, its my flip to when nothings on or what I am watching has gone to commercial. Last night I was watching Will and Grace and there was the scene of Grace and Will talking in their apartment...
*knocking*
Grace: who is it?
*more knocking*
Grace: *louder* who is it?
*more knocking*
*Grace opens door*
Karen: honey, i don't yell

My bosses office is next to mine, separated by a wall, but easily heard threw. Today right as he was hanging up the phone I yelled asking him a question and I remembered what Karen said. I quickly got up and went to his office and asked my question. I also told him about the Will and Grace quote and he just started laughing and told me to remember where I work. Its okay to yell, it's a loud place. As I thought about what he said I remember something my mom would always ask us- 'were you raised in a barn?' I guess my manners have slipped and I need to put working on those back on the to do list.