Encouragement

Those who know me know that I go through some serious ups and downs.

Over the years I have had some amazing friends who have helped me through the lows by encouraging me. Rox, Lara, Lauren, Bucket, and Constance to name a few (but most definitely not all).

I have been in a low for about two weeks.

My sweet hubby doesn't understand how I could have a low.

He thinks I'm amazing.

He sees everything I refuse to see.

I've signed up for two marathons. The Houston and The Woodlands.

These will be my first ever full marathons.

Since I've been in a low it's been really hard for me to motivate myself to run.

I tell myself "You won't finish anyways and it's only 4 miles" or something similar.

Today was a particularly bad day.

To help encourage me my amazing hubby surprised me with a brand new iPod shuffle!

My old iPod weighs probably around 5 pounds and takes up pretty much my entire right arm.

I can't tell you how excited I was (am)!! I just lost five pounds and gained about 2 minutes a mile just from losing that massive thing.

notice the size difference.

Woot!

So I quickly added all of my favorite running songs, charged up my Shuffle whilst the hubs took me to sushi (yum), came home... still wasn't charged... took a nap (yes, at 6:00 pm), woke up, watched Obama lie to the country, and then went out for a 35 minute run.

Background story:

Rob is a groomsman in his close friend Sloan's wedding.

The bachelor party was this past weekend.

They played basketball and paintball, they swam, they did all sorts of manly things.

Rob came home EXHAUSTED, incredibly sore, and a little beat up.

For some reason it really encourages me to have Rob there while I run.

He likes to do sprints and doesn't enjoy the slower, longer runs.

He wants to go fast (to semi-quote a young Ricky Bobby).

So he'll run every other lap with me.

I knew that he wasn't going to want to run with me because of how sore he was so I asked him if he'd just come, sit, and watch me run.

Weird.

I know.

But it helps me for some reason.

He was DEAD asleep when I woke up from our nap so I decided to leave him and not wake him up.

He ended up waking up while I was feeding Wyatt.

I told him I was going out for a run and he said that he was too exhausted to join.

I 100% understood.

Out I went for my run.

About a mile and a half into rocking out to my new iPod Shuffle (and running) guess who shows up!

My sweet, amazing hubby!

Even though he has a GI-NORMOUS blister on his foot, incredibly sore muscles, a penchant for running fast, and an insatiable need for a nap... he came out to run with me!

I finished up STRONG. And it felt GOOD.

My handsome hubby was there to encourage me because he loves me :)

Thank you, sweet husband, for your continual encouragement :)

You're amazing.

And I'm the luckiest girl in the world :)

Oh. And he drew this adorable picture on the wrapping paper :)

And some how even IT encouraged me to run! She just looks so happy whilst running! :)

... yes... whilst.

Say what?

I haven't posted anything since Christmas.

Don't get me wrong - I've had some fantastic ideas and I've really wanted to... I just haven't.

I am so mad right now I HAD to blog. So You Think You Can Dance is on and I'm not even watching it.

I'M MAD.

Today our President held a Twitter Town Hall.

Twitter account holders wrote the President questions with the #AskObama tag on it.

The questions were given to the President based on how much internet traffic it rendered.

I submitted 5 questions:

1. Why have your polices failed to improve unemployment? #AskObama

2. It's been nearly 3 years since you took office and the American quality of life is worse in virtually every category. Can you provide insight about what you feel is better since 2009? #AskObama

3. You voted against the debt ceiling in 2006. Now you predict economic disaster if the debt ceiling isn't raised. What's the difference between 2006 and now? #AskObama

**If you'd like to read his statement about raising the debt ceiling click here. It's quite interesting. He says that a failure of leadership is the cause of having to raise the debt ceiling. The last 2 paragraphs are also interesting.

4. Where did the stimulus money go? We spent almost one trillion dollars - surely there's something to show for it? #AskObama

5. What exactly is a "Job Saved" and how do you determine how many jobs have been saved? Why has nobody ever heard of this term until you? #AskObama

Anyways...

During the Town Hall he stated that White House staff had had their salaries frozen and had not received a salary raise in 2.5 years. Watch this video but hit pause after 18 seconds.

So he says that they have not seen a pay raise in 2.5 years.

Here is the Annual White House Salary Report from 2009.

Here is the Annual White House Salary Report from 2010.

Here is the Annual White House Salary Report from 2011.

All you have to do is look at the first employee (he is the second employee in 2009) Adam Abrams.

He goes from $65,000 to $70,000.

Gawker has published an article and a photo (below) of the top 20 White House raises. Two White House employees saw a more then 80% salary raise.

(click to enlarge)

EIGHTY PERCENT.

Un-pause the movie and watch the rest.

Oh c'mon. It's 20 seconds.

He. flat. out. lied. to the American people. He didn't fudge the truth. He didn't stretch the truth. He didn't speak in "PC."

He. Lied.

What's more disappointing ...

is that a lot of people are going to believe him.

I need a glass of wine.

All is well with the birth of Jesus Christ.

O Holy Night! The stars are brightly shining,

It is the night of the dear Saviour's birth.
Long lay the world in sin and error pining.
Till He appeared and the Spirit felt its worth.
A thrill of hope the weary world rejoices,
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn.
Fall on your knees! Oh, hear the angel voices!
O night divine, the night when Christ was born;
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!
O night, O Holy Night , O night divine!

Led by the light of faith serenely beaming,
With glowing hearts by His cradle we stand.
O'er the world a star is sweetly gleaming,
Now come the wisemen from out of the Orient land.
The King of kings lay thus lowly manger;
In all our trials born to be our friends.
He knows our need, our weakness is no stranger,
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!
Behold your King! Before him lowly bend!

Truly He taught us to love one another,
His law is love and His gospel is peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother.
And in his name all oppression shall cease.
Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we,
With all our hearts we praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we,
His power and glory ever more proclaim!
His power and glory ever more proclaim!

Bridalplasty

Is a show on E!

There are two things that I want to talk about concerning this show.

I don't know which to start with.

I'll start with a brief explanation of the show:

Newly engaged women compete in various "wedding to-do's."

Before the show began the women made a "wish list" of plastic surgery procedures they want to have done before their wedding day.

They compete for these procedures.

If they win a competition they get to have one of their plastic surgeries from their wish list.

Sick.

It's hosted by this woman:

Apparently, this is what brides should strive to look like.

I know I wouldn't want anyone to be able to tell that I was smiling unless they looked at my mouth and saw the small curve that the botox allowed.

Oh, PS, she's divorced.

Great "Wedding Show Host" pick, E!

I digress.

Topic #1: "I am a well writer and a well speaker."

Embarrassingly, I watched one episode last night and the to-do was writing wedding vows.

The women, sorry, Brides had an hour to write the vows that they would use on their wedding day.

They were scored by how similar their vows were to the vows that their husbands wanted to hear (the show asked their fiances to write down five vows that they wanted to hear from their wife-to-be).

Just like a good reality TV show, they interviewed all of the brides and asked what their thoughts were on the competition.

Some were nervous.

Some were excited.

Some had no idea where to start (that would be me).

One woman said this, (The beginning of this quote is not a direct quote. Unfortunately, I don't remember her exact words...until the very end)

"I'm not nervous about this competition. I love writing and talking. (here comes the exact quote) I am a very well writer and a very well speaker."

I'm sorry?

"A very well writer and a very well speaker" ?

I don't even KNOW where to begin on that!

I'll state the obvious and move on.

Obviously a very well writer and a very well speaker.

While you're writing all of your Thank You notes why don't you send one to your high school English teacher as well?

She deserves one.

Topic #2: What has a wedding become?

OK.

This show is pretty disgusting.

I think we'd all agree to that.

Don't get me wrong, I have my list that I'd love to have done before I marry the man of my dreams, but I'm not actually going to do them.

OK, maybe I would if I had the money.

BUT STILL!

What caps off my disgust with this show is what the host says when a contestant is kicked off:

"I'm sorry, (enter bride name here). You are no longer in the running for your dream wedding. Your wedding will go on, it just won't be perfect."

"It just won't be perfect" ????

I'm sorry, I thought that a wedding was about marrying the person you're in love with.

As long as Rob is standing at the alter when I get there...(pause in an attempt to hold back the vomit caused by my disgust with the show).... my wedding will be perfect.

What is E! teaching girls a wedding is about??!

What IS a wedding about to those who don't have Christ?

I'm just so appalled that I don't even know what to say/type/think.

I don't need a boob job, a chin implant, and liposuction of my arms, thighs, and knees to have a perfect wedding.

Not that I've thought about it or anything.

I don't need all of those things to have a "perfect wedding."

I don't need all of those things to feel beautiful on my wedding day.

Rob makes my wedding day perfect.

Rob makes me feel beautiful EVERY DAY.

What are we teaching youth?

South Pacific

Is not where Rob and I are going on our honeymoon.

But the musical by Rodgers and Hammerstein has a scene that comes to mind whenever I think of Rob.

The character Nellie (see below), played by Mitzi Gaynor, sings a song titled "I'm in love with a wonderful guy."

"Cheasy," you say?

"Yes," I answer.

But... it's... just... so... true!

Here is a youtube video of the song.

I just can't help but sing this song!

Especially the ending when the bevy of women come up from the sea and help Nellie sing that she's "In love, I'm in love, I'm in love, I'm in love with a wonderfuuuuuullllll guuuuuuuuyyyy!!"

He makes me want to turn cartwheels and do some goofy dance on a boat.

Who WOULDN'T be in love with this guy?

He makes me feel like this:



and I cannot WAIT to marry him!

It's Bush's fault, right?

I have a serious political crush on Michael Berry.

Sorry, Rob, I love you very much.

I read this on his page and thought that it was awesome:

Obama's "Inherited Deficit”??
I wanted you to see the graph. It's very enlightening.



The Washington Post babbled again today about Obama inheriting a huge deficit from Bush. Amazingly enough,..... a lot of people swallow this nonsense. So once more, a short civics lesson.

Budgets do NOT come from the White House. They come from Congress, and the party that controlled Congress since January 2007 is the Democratic Party. They controlled the budget process for FY 2008 and FY 2009, as well as FY 2010 and FY 2011. In that first year, they had to contend with George Bush, which caused them to compromise on spending, when Bush somewhat belatedly got tough on spending increases.

For FY 2009 though, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid bypassed George Bush entirely, passing continuing resolutions to keep government running until Barack Obama could take office. At that time, they passed a massive omnibus spending bill to complete the FY 2009 budgets.

And where was Barack Obama during this time? He was a member of that very Congress that passed all of these massive spending bills, and he signed the omnibus bill as President to complete FY 2009. Let's remember what the deficits looked like during that period: (below)

If the Democrats inherited any deficit, it was the FY 2007 deficit, the last of the Republican budgets. That deficit was the lowest in five years, and the fourth straight decline in deficit spending. After that, Democrats in Congress took control of spending, and that includes Barack Obama, who voted for the budgets. If Obama inherited anything, he inherited it from himself.

In a nutshell, what Obama is saying is - I inherited a deficit that I voted for and I voted to expand the deficit four-fold since January 20th.

Wisdom Teeth

Why are they called "Wisdom Teeth?"

Is it because they come in when you are older and wiser?

Is it because you are wise if you get them taken out?

Nevertheless, they are a beast to take out.

My poor fiance's were growing sideways into his nose.

He had them taken out today.

Here are links to video footage taken on the way home (they were too large to add directly onto my blog)

Video #1

Video #2

Video #3

Unfortunately, I didn't get the following exchanges on video:

Rob: How did I get in the car?

Me: We wheeled you downstairs and put you in the car.

Rob: They did the operation IN THE CAR?!

Me: No, sweetheart.

Rob: Where's my phone?! I need to call the President.

Rob: Did they give me prescriptions?

Me: Yes.

Rob: Do they think they will help me to catch fish?

Me: Yes.