Wednesday, April 27, 2011

An Open Letter To Donald Trump


Dear Mr. Trump,

I am a big fan. I have not missed a single season of The Apprentice, or Celebrity Apprentice, since it's inception. I'm writing this letter to talk to you about your Political aspirations. First of all I must touch on the subject that seems to be the only thing you are willing to talk about these days. Birth Certificates. I am a Mother of four great kids. Two of them were born in the fifth largest city in the United States, Phoenix, Arizona. The other two were born in a suburb of Detroit, Michigan. All four of their Birth Certificates say "Certificate of Live Birth" on them. That is what we were issued. And they are official. And if they ever choose to, they can run for President of this great country of ours, and would make great Presidents I must say, of that I am sure! :) What I'm not so sure of is why this is of such importance to you, regarding President Obama, who I'm not always a big fan of, but had proven a long time ago that he was born in Hawaii, which is part of the United States of America.

Speaking of documentation. If you do choose to run for President, are you willing to show all that may be needed? For instance, I don't know where you born. And wouldn't you have to show all financial documents as well. You might want to consider that before demanding others do it, if you are not willing to. Just food for thought. And not being willing to answer questions, or saying things like "none of your business" or "next question" only makes you look ignorant, which I do not think you are.

And on the subject of a Political campaign, I would much rather hear what your views are on the issues, rather than your opinion of Obama. Bad mouthing anyone, deserved or not, will not get you any votes from my household (we have four registered voters) or it sounds like most other registered voters. Smear campaigns only turn me & hopefully most people, totally off!

I would love to take this opportunity to let you know about some of the issues that are important to me. First of all is Education, why do we continue to cut the budget in the one area we can't afford to? We will pay someone with no education, who can bounce a ball, millions of dollars, yet those teaching our Children, our future leaders, get next to nothing. I manage a retail store with at least three part time employees who are teachers, or teachers aids who can no longer make it on their salary. That is appalling. Public Education should be the profession all our top graduates are vying to go into, for the pay, for the benefits & for the pay off of making a difference in the lives of students.

I think you have proven that you can run a company better than most, but does that translate into being able to run a country? I don't know. Have you ever been in the military? If not, what makes you qualified to be our Commander & Chief? There is more to being the greatest country in the world, than just what's in it for us. Making money can't be the bottom line when deciding which wars are right for us to take on. If you or someone you loved was living under a regime like in Libya or Iraq, you would pray everyday for a super power, like The United States, to come in & put an end to it. Whether or not we get anything out of it, is not the issue. We must do what is right. For all people, not just for Americans. The Bible says "to whom much is given, much is required." Are you willing to do what is required?

I live in Arizona, and some of the big issues in my state are Illegal Immigration, & Gun Control. This country of ours was founded by Immigrants. My ancestors & yours, I'm sure, came from somewhere other than America. And just because they signed a book when they landed at Ellis Island, does not mean that they left their country legally. This is the land of Opportunity & I pray it continues to be. Not just for those fortunate enough to be born here, for any who dare to dream of a better life for themselves & their families. I'm sure you can relate to & understand that. And I am all for those who wish to own firearms, to be able to do so. But, unless the reasons they choose to are not on the up & up, they should by all means be willing to endure a waiting period & undergo a background check. The Tragedy here in Tucson involving Congresswoman Gifford's, and the Virginia Tech shootings, would not have happened as they did, if that were the case. In both instances, the perpetrator, walked out of the store, the same day with guns and or ammunition. This should never be allowed.

These are just some of the issues that are important to me. I would need to know where you stand on them & which issues are important to you, before ever even considering to give you my vote. If this is all just a publicity stunt, then way to go! More power to you. If you are seriously considering a run for political office you probably need to stop ranting on & on about unimportant things. (Maybe you've been hanging out with Gary Busey too much as of late!) :) It reminds me of that old saying: Put up or shut up! (I can't believe I just said that to you) (or the pretend you, since the actual you, will never actually read this! But just getting it off my chest makes me feel better.) :) Just let us know when you make up your mind. Until that time, I will continue to watch your show, and route for my favorites to win! I'll let you know when the time comes if that can include you in a presidential race. But as it stands right now, like I've heard you say many of times in your board room; you've got to defend yourself. Let us know why we should fire someone else & keep you.

Sincerely,

Star*

Friday, April 22, 2011

Impromptu Family Photo Shoot

Well, my husband John is finding himself once again in need of updating his Resume'. And he needed updated Family photos to put in it. It's been a couple of years & the kids are much bigger now. (Hopefully I am not!) :) My manager asked me last week to switch days with her, so I found myself with an unexpected Saturday off. So we decided, spur of the moment, to take advantage of it & get some pictures.

A Cool Look on the Basics:
The Fam.

Just the Two of Us!

The Kidos.
We have a couple of really nice parks around here we thought of going to, but this is Arizona. And even though it is only April, we're pushing 90 degrees here & we didn't want our Family pictures with all of us squinting in the sun. So John suggested we go to the Parking Garage where we took some of Zach's Senior Pictures at. Good idea!

The Wall:

Lovebirds.

Baby Birds.

Chirping! :)

With the location decided I thought instead of trying to coordinate all our outfits to match (hard to do with 6 people!) the easier thing to do was have us all wear Jeans and a solid color top. A different color for each. Sounds simple right? Well Zach pretty much lives in Graphic Tees, he doesn't have many that are just solid, so he brought out his 3 or 4 choices. Lexi says "you can't wear the green one, I'm wearing green!" So then he tells Lexi (who of course is a Twin) "Are you gonna wear that face? You can't wear that face, Erica is wearing that face!" Haha.

Just for fun:

T.N.T.
(Twins in Teens) yikes!

Goofing off!
(What they do best!)

So off we went armed only with a camera that has a timer & a tripod! (no photographer) And, surprisingly I think they turned out really well. We tried to see who could come up with the most ridiculous poses to do. We took some of just the parents, some of just the kids, and some all of us together. We did some with a "serious" look (no smiles) some that are "kinda serious" some "smiling" and some "LOLing!" (big laughs) Hopefully you can tell which are which! :)

On The Stairs:

US!
Them!

John thinks we look like a band here!

The break down for the color coding is: John in Purple, Me in Champagne (Taupe? gold-ish?) Kyle in Red (and notice he threw in his "murse"! (Man Purse!) haha he's cool like that!) Zach in Brown, Erica in Pink (shocker!) & Lexi in Green! Enjoy.

That's all she wrote!

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Coolest Summer Job Ever!


Seems like just yesterday I was sending my youngest son, Zach off to school. Now he is coming to the end of his first year of College, & will being leaving us in a bigger way. He has his first ever summer job. And boy, it's a cool one!


He will be working at Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington State. You can see it in the distance from Seattle! Beautiful! He loves being outdoors and hiking. Very UNLIKE his Mother in that way! :)


He decided to apply at National Parks all throughout the western half of the United States. Since we live in Arizona, we wanted to him to be close enough we could possible go visit him while he's there. He didn't think he'd really hear from any of them. Being an Honors student & in Band, Choir & Sports, he never had the time for an after school job. So, he's never had a "real" job before, though he has put in a lot of hours "working" at Church. And both my boys have a very strong work ethic!


Mt. Rainier called him the week after they received his application & offered him a job. He will be working in a Lodge at the park. Doing Housekeeping, retail, stocking, etc. basically whatever they need him to do! I sure Hope he will bring some of those skills home with him! :) And he can do all the Hiking he wants to! (at no charge! Even if he wanted to summit!)


Oh, and have I mentioned that Zach is my one child who is a total home body?! He is content to just be at home. Over his Spring Break, he wrote out a schedule for the homework he had to do, dividing it up over every day of the week. (And he ACTUALLY stuck to that schedule! What kid does that?) He does the same thing with his exercise routine & practicing Guitar!


He's talked on & off about joining the military, I think this will give him a chance to see how (or if) he would like that kind of life style, of traveling & living with other guys you don't know. (besides your brother of course!) And he's gone for 3 months, not 4 years. He's been on Youth Group & School Choir trips before, but that's about it!


It will be an adventure for sure! He can bring his Guitar with him :) (but not his Long Board!) :( Plenty of books, good thing (like his Mother) he loves to read! We were going to have him start a Blog to keep us updated & share all he's doing, only to find out there is no Internet access on the Mountain! Ouch!


It will be strange around here with out him, that's for sure. He is so excited to go! He's researched the area & what animals he could see out there. He's really been paying attention to the news of late hoping there won't be a Government shut down, since that would mean all National Parks would be closed down as well! And he'd loose his first job before he ever started it! Now All that's left is to figure out how to get him there with everything he will need for 3 months! Including Guitar, Hiking & camping gear! Summer, Winter & rain gear! There is snow (& glaciers) at parts of the mountain all year long! Very different from Arizona that's for sure! I'm so excited for him and will miss him tremendously while he is off having the time of his life!

Saturday, April 9, 2011

Reunited!

This past weekend my Husbands Brother married his First Wife,
for the second time!



Jim & Molly got married for the first time in 1971.
They had a daughter and were married for 2 years.


Their daughter, Miki, is now a Mother herself.



They went their separate ways.
Staying in touch over the years of course, for their daughters sake.



Through the years that followed,
They both had other marriages,
other children.


Jim moved back to the state this year.
And their love was rekindled!


Their wedding invitation said:
This day I will marry my best friend,
again.


They had a small, casual, intimate ceremony,
for family & close friends
at my In-Laws home.



It was a beautiful spring day here in Arizona.


My Father-in-Law gave the Bride away,
to his own son.




John sang to them
Kieth Urban's Making Memories Of Us.



Molly made her own wedding cake!
Loved the topper! :)








It was a lovely moment in their history.
And a fun, family day for all!




Congratulations Jim & Molly
The living epitome of the saying:
"If you love something, set it free,
If it returns to you, it is yours,

if it doesn't it never was."



Here's to many happy years together!