My Thoughts On Inauguration Day;

I learned that when he says "Make America Great again", what he really means is Make America Rich. And as Kate Spade likes to quote Dorothy Parker "I've never been a millionaire, but I just know I'd be darling at it." I'd like to give it a try! So, go right ahead Mr. Trump! :) I was hopping his Inauguration Speech would be more Unifying, as opposed to Divisive, but I was once again disappointed. It was sad that there was less of a crowed than in years past. Though it is clear, we are a Nation divided, when just eight years ago we we're so United. And Proud to be Americans. Here is a little Post I wrote on that Inauguration Day!

My favorite part of the day was getting to see Elisabeth Dole. I'm a "Huge" fan of hers! (See what I did there?!?) I Love her, and It was so Amazing to see each former President, including our new President as well, make their way over to Bob and Elisabeth Dole to speak to them and shake their hands. It did my heart good! I was also very happy when Donald Trump Thanked Hillary Clinton for being there today. See, that wasn't so hard. I also should let you know that I am wearing my 'Madame President' shirt as I write this, and as I watched today, as it may be the last time that I get to wear it. Sad.

 A couple things I hope will change as Mr. Trump takes office; as you know, I Love Twitter and Social Media, but I strongly believe there is No place for mean tweeting, or bullying in the highest office in the land. Please stop. You have much more important things to worry about now. We're all counting on you. We want you to succeed. We want you to do great things. To Rise to the Challenge that is before you. And no, you didn't win the popular vote, which means the majority of Americans didn't vote for you. But that doesn't matter anymore. You are now their President. You must fight for them. People are fearful. And understandably so. They have heard terrible, awful things come out of your mouth, things about Women, Races of people, and entire religions.  It's up to you now to turn that around. You say you didn't really mean some of those things, well, it's time now to prove it! We are coming off an administration that whole heartedly supported Women. Who always took the high road, even when terrible things were said about him and his family. I am hoping you too, in your new position, can do the same. You have big shoes to fill. Will you be the champion for all Americans? Those born here, and those, like your own wife, who come here from other parts of the world. Our Children are depending on you. Be Great!

BFF's

 We moved into the house we're in right before my girls started Kindergarten.  At our Church they met Maddie & her younger sister Morgan, and they became fast friends! Their Mom, Tammy and I became friends as well. We spent many afternoons poolside and on outings with our girls. Tammy & I ran a Mom's Group together at the Church. Our kids never went to the same school, and even after we no longer went to the same Church, we stayed close . . .

 

I love this pic of the little cuties!

 Here they are a little bit older.

It's great when you can be friends with your kids' friends parents! We all love hanging out together! Our families enjoy getting together. Over the years we all have spent countless Holiday's together, every Halloween & New Year's Eve among them!

 Ringing in a New Year Together

 Us at Maddie's "Sweet 16"

 One of the MANY Dance Concerts we all went to! 

Girls supporting each other, become Women who support each other!!

 Beautiful Girls and their first Prom! 

It's also great when you find "Couple Friends!" Too many times, you'll meet someone you might like to hang out with, but the husbands might not get along, or vise-versa. But, thankfully that's not the case here.

At our oldest Son's Wedding! 

 Daddy/Daughter Diamondbacks Date!

 Happy Birthday to me! 

Happy Birthday to her!

 Tammy and I do have some things in common; Besides raising Brilliant and Beautiful Daughters! :) We Both love Reality T.V., especially American Idol! And could Fan Girl with the best of them! And we Love Movies, and have seen too many together to count! And have stood in line for Twilight and Hunger Games tickets while our girls were in school! Yeah, we're the "Cool Moms!" Though like all Friendships, we've had to overcome some hardships; namely She Doesn't Like To Read! (I know, right?!) Yet, she will ask me what I'm reading and listen intently as I talk nonstop about Books! Now that's a true friend!

Here we are waiting for one of the Twilight Premiers to begin!

Here's Tammy having her Favorite American Idol, Danny Gokey, sign her Boob! :0

(Okay, it was really her VIP Name Tag, but what are friends for if not to tease you?!)

We really do Sparkle!! 

As do our girls! 

Jay taking the girls out 4 wheeling! 

So, why the Blog Post talking about our 13 year Friendship? Because as long as we've known Jay & Tammy, Maddie & Morgan, they have talked about a dream they have to live on a tropical island. Now a lot of people dream of leaving the daily grind and living on a Beach somewhere, but who really does that? Well, they sold their big house and their boat. Rented a smaller house the past few years till Maddie Graduated from High School. They sold just about everything they had, and actually did it! Yes, our good friends have moved to Aruba! 

 Hanging out together before they leave!

 

 These four little girls are so grown up now!

We are so Happy and Thrilled for them, but we are sad for us. We text (or Facebook Message) and Facetime, but It's hard not seeing them all the time. My boys used to house sit for them whenever they went away. We have dog sat each others pets. Shared Birthday's and Holiday's. Gone to each others School Events. After they shipped what they were moving with them & sold everything else, we had them over for dinner once a week. I've always loved their big square dinning room table that seats 8. Our little table sat just 6, and with us adding 2 Daughter in Laws, we'd have to squeeze around it. Well, that big beautiful table is now ours! We think of them every time we sit at it!

 Dinner in the Square!

 Our last time together in their empty house

The Amazingly good news is that we will always have a place to stay on Aruba! :) It's been a huge undertaking to move out of the country. If you'd like you can follow along on their adventures and learn the ins and outs, and all the things you'd never think of, with a move of this kind on Tammy's Blog. Z Island Life. And we can all live vicariously through them together!

 Just hang up the phone! ;)

 Just don't forget where you came from!

So, now I guess I'll be taking applications for a new Best Friend! :)

Adventures In Interviews!

Before I started the job I have now, you could say I was a full time Job Hunter! I had lost my job in December (though I knew I wanted a new job, so I had actually started looking awhile before that!) I took the time during the Holidays off to be with my family, then soon after the New Year I started the Job Hunt in earnest! I sent out hundreds of Resumes. And from January through May, I went on over 35 Interviews! I am not exaggerating. I've also, being in Management, been the Interviewer, so I've been on both sides of the Interview desk. I'll share my tips on how to find available jobs, writing a Resume, and how to have a successful Job Interview, to land the job of your dreams latter, but now I just wanna share some of the many Adventures I had on all of those Interviews. Some were great, some were bad & some were down right disturbing. 

I've had Phone Interviews, one on ones, Group Interviews where one person interviewed several people at a time, or several people interviewed a group of prospective employees together, and where several people interviewed just me. I've been in a Group Interview, where we had to fill in a worksheet & number the items in importance, and then work together as a team, to decide on the order of items, then turn in our sheets so they could see how we compromised, and what items we thought important enough to go to bat for. When it comes to Job Interviews, I've been there, done that! I went on an Interview for an office job at a chiropractor's office, only to realize when I got there, with over 70 others, they were just trying to drum up new business. "Now obviously, we can't hire all of you, but to thank you for coming out tonight, we want to give you a free examination." How nice of them! Not! I bet they weren't even really hiring! And for an office job in a plumbing office, when I asked about their dress code I was told quote: "As long as you're not showing butt crack, I don't care what you wear. You can come to work in your pajamas if you want to!" Now grant it, they're used to dealing with Plumbers, but really? Come on now! I've been on Interviews where I had to put outfits together for different types of people. I had to merchandise shelves with any thing I could find in their store. And pretend to sell them something I may or may not know anything about.

I've had an Interviewer tell me "I've never met a Blogger before, I can't wait to look it up and read!" I wonder if she's reading this. :) And one, when she found out I liked to read asked me for Book recommendations & we ended up talking about books long after I knew that wasn't a place I wanted to work! For one of my interviews I was told "We just moved into a new office building, and we don't really use the front door, so just come on in through the back." I told my Husband, I would check it out, if it looked fishy in anyway, I wouldn't go in. But when I got there there were people all around, coming & going, so I felt pretty safe going in. I found myself walking through an Industrial Kitchen, saying "Hello?" as I rounded a corner I started seeing offices & found the person I was meeting with. She was dressed how I would dress if I were painting my house, old jeans & a ratty, paint splattered t-shirt. I thought "Did I get the Interview date wrong?" nope. She was expecting me. As with many Interviewers, she was unprepared. You would think if you looked over Resumes, took the time to call perspective employees, and scheduled an Interview, you would prepare for said Interview! I found, more than once that that was not the case. I've had those interviewing me, when they've seen on my Resume that I have a back ground in Management and have been responsible for hiring & firing employees have ask me how they were doing as an Interviewer, or ask for tips in Interviewing. And have even told me, "We should have hired you to come in and do all our Interviews for us!" Yeah, in some cases, they should have! But, back to my Interviewer in the paint spattered shirt, in the middle of our Interview, she leans back in her chair across the desk from me, says "excuse me", proceeds to lift her belly up & zips up her jeans. Oh my gosh! Let that one sink in for a bit.

On my many Interview Adventures, besides all the usual questions you're always asked, I have been asked some really strange questions, Like whether or not I like Led Zeppelin (I married a rocker, I'm not one! Does that mean I can't work here?) I was asked: How many yards in a first down? (Yes, I knew that, 10. But what does that have to do with the job? I have no idea!) I was asked what are my favorite Websites to visit? (Goodreads, Twitter) And believe it or not I have been asked a couple of really great questions, I love it when I'm surprised and am actually asked a question I've never heard before! One great question was "Which, if any, Employers Rules are okay to break?" I even said "That is such a great question!" (then I told about working where we had a rule, you have to throw away all Testers, and old product. But we would use them from time to time as prizes for contests we held for employees. And I once had a customer sharing with me how her house had burned down & she lost everything, and I broke the rules and gave her some products.) Another great question I was asked was "If you could cross one thing off your Bucket List, what would it be?" (Mine is Traveling to Greece! Why, you planning on sending me?!)

It is really a good thing that I, unlike most people, actually really like Job Interviews! I am not kidding! I love meeting new people. And what better subject to talk about than yourself, right?! :) People tell me "I hate interviews, I always feel like I'm bragging!" But the truth is you are there so they can see how you will represent their company. Can you sell them to potential customers? So sell! You have to look at a Job Interview like you are selling a product, the product just happens to be yourself! And hopefully, you have competent people interviewing you! :)

New Look, New Name!!

You might have noticed my Blog has a new look. When I started Blogging in May of 2008 I named my Blog Laughing Through Parenting, as my focus was raising my kids, at the time I had 2 kids in High School & 2 in Elementary School.

Over the years, as I've continued to Blog about parenting issues, I've also talked about Life in general, being a Pastor's Wife and Religion, going from an At Home Mom to a Working Mom, I've shared my Love of Books & Reading, even broaching the subject of Politics & Pop Culture. Just like in real life, I love to talk & my Blog is no different. :)

So, now my children are older (my Boys are now in their 20's & are BOTH engaged to be Married & my Girls are in High School) Click here to see what they looked like when I started Blogging. I Love being a Mom & will still be Blogging about my life and my Kids. Like with any Mom, Just try to stop me from talking about my kids! :) But since I talk about so much more, I decided to change my Blog name to something more all encompassing, so it's going from Laughing Through Parenting to Star4Laughs! And as always I will try to handle all the subjects I talk about on here with my signature since of humor.

Thanks so much to my Amazing Hubby who designed my new Blog Header! I really hope you like the new look & the new name. And will stick around to continue reading & sharing your thoughts with me as well. Because Laughing together makes the Joy that much stronger!

Five Years!

Five Years ago Today, I posted my very first Blog Post! Can you believe it?! A lot has happened in our lives in these past Five Years! I feel like we've been through a lot! And Thank You so much for coming along on my Journey!

To take a look back in time; Here's where it all started. We've come a long way Baby! :) You've watched my Teenage Boys become men, and my Baby Girls grow into Young Ladies! My kids were all so young when I first introduced them to you . . . see them here. When I first started Blogging my boys were in High School, and now they both have Associate Degrees! My girls were still in Elementary School, & now have just finished their Freshman year of High School! Together we've shed some Tears and shared a lot of Laughs along the way!

This thing called Parenting, can take a lot out of you, demand a lot from you, but you get so much more back than you ever thought possible! As a Mom, I've wanted to stop time. Keep my kids from growing up so fast. At least with having this Blog, I can keep the Memories close! (Or out in Cyberspace! Same difference!) :) So, what do you say; lets see where the next Five Years takes us?!

My First Time Guest Blogging!

A good Friend of mine, Chet DeRouen asked me to
Guest Blog on his site, Why Am I Gay? 

He has been very Brave & Courageous, yet Vulnerable,

as he Honestly shares his life & struggles.

He asked me, as a Mom, as a Christian, as a Pastor's Wife,

to share how I raise my Children to be Loving &
Accepting of others who are different than they are. 

Weather that be being Gay, or of other races, Handicapped, etc. 

I was very Honored that first of all that he thought
I had raised my kids this way! :) 

And secondly that He would Trust me enough to give me Voice on his site. 

Again, let me say how Brave he is! :) 

I've been overwhelmed by the response I've gotten on Facebook.

To be honest with you I was prepared for all the Haters
to sink their teeth into me, 

but thankfully that didn't happen! (not yet anyway!) :) 

So read it if you dare! 

Just click on the Title of the Post here:
Raising Kids Towards Love & Acceptance

And leave some Love & Laughter from our site to his. 

We're On Your Way!

I'm excited to tell you 

I've accepted a new job! 

It's with Avila Retail Company.

They have 8 specialty shops 

inside the Phoenix International Airport! 

I will be what's called a Shift Lead,

helping to oversee the 4 stores in Terminal 4. 

I now have a Parking pass for the airport! 

That in itself is worth the job! :) 

I had to be fingerprinted to be able to go through security. 

 It's funny, the airport is really just like a Mall,

Only the customers are pulling luggage behind them. :) 

I've already seen some very interesting things at the Airport! 

I can see a new Blog Series forming! :) 

I've always loved the Airport. 

And what a fun & ever changing place to work!

If you ever find yourself at the Phoenix Airport, 

stop by one of our stores & see me. 

We're On Your Way! 

3 Years!!!

I started Blogging in June of 2008. Just over 3 years ago!

As of late I've been doing very little of it.

Working full time, raising 4 kids, fitting in Date nights with my wonderful husband, finding time to spend with family and maybe a few friends, reading, trying to fit in some laundry now and then, keeping up with the world around me, well, you get the picture.

Though Blogging is very important to me, & something I LOVE to do, I just don't have the time in this stage of my life that I'd love to put into it.

Though it's never far from my mind. Or my heart.

I was just talking today with my husband & daughters about how I need (okay, make that want) to Blog more, and as today is my day off, I was thinking about possibilities I could Blog about, when it hit me.

I think I missed my Anniversary (or Blogiversary!) The Anniversary of when I started my Blog. I looked it up & sure enough, I was correct.

I launched my Blog in June of 08. It is now July, 2011. It's been 3 years!

I wanted to part some sort of Bloggy wisdom, but this is me we're talking about! :)

So, as I type, I'm coming up with 3 things I've learned in my 3 years of Blogging! (I'm certain there has to be at least 3 items I can pull out of the air, right?! We'll see.)

So, here we go . . .

3 Things I've Learned In 3 Years Of Blogging:

1. My Opinion Matters! (If only to me! And sometimes that may be the case.)
After all Blogs are for sharing your opinion. It isn't always the right opinion (except in my case of course!) But it is mine. And by choosing what Blogs I read, shows I care about that persons opinion. And I'm so Thankful for those who choose to read my Blog. Weather or not you agree with all my opinions, I'm grateful you take the time to read them & share with me your opinions on the matter at hand, weather it be Raising Our Children, Marriage, Politics, Pop Culture, Books or Movies, Travel, and any Important or Silly Subject Matter I choose to address. I can not thank you enough.

2. Writing things down helps to solidify them in Memory. (And at my age, I need all the help I can get remembering things!)
The other day my son asked me about something that happened years ago in his life and he couldn't quite remember all the details. I started telling the story in all it's details and someone asked "How can you remember all that?" I simply stated "I Blogged about it!" Even when I was younger in school or in classes at Church when I had to memorize something for a test, Bible verses, or lines for a play, the first thing I did was write it down. It helps you to remember it! Blogging has done that for me with events in my Children's lives! Another thing I am forever grateful for!

3. We're all the same! (only Different!)
As Moms, as Women, we're all basically the same. It doesn't matter where we come from, our age, how many children we have, Married, Single, we're all the same to a certain degree. We all want whats best for our kids. We may go about getting it in different ways. We may parent differently, some more strict, some by trying to be their child's friend instead of their parent, some (like me) who try to Laugh their way Through Parenting! :) There are any number of ways & we're not the same in the way we get there, but our intent is the same. And when I share whats on my heart as a Mother, or things that work well with my kids, or that haven't worked at all, I know others will be able to relate to it. And they do. And in turn, share with me (with us all) what has and hasn't work for them as well. And That's what this Blog has always been about.

So here's to many more years of Laughing Through Parenting together!

Me, today, doing what I love to do, Blogging!

300!

Yes! This is my 300th Blog Post! Can you believe it?! 300!

I officially Launched my Blog on June 6th, 2008. With my very first post Why This Blog. Seems like a lifetime ago, yet just like it was yesterday! Though I don't have the time to put into it like I would like to, I just love Blogging. I read that Blogging is a Continuing Conversation. I like that. I've been continuing this conversation for Two and a half years now! :) Glad you've stuck around & continue to converse with me. Or for those of you who are newer to the Blog, I'm so grateful you have joined the conversation. Another quote I've found is A Blog is a Tool that lets you do anything from change the world to share your shopping list. (haha how true!)

Google Analytics keeps track of everything like how many views my Blog has each month, and which posts they are reading, which web sites my viewers come from, key words people search for on Google that brings them to my Blog, etc. Most months are pretty much the same, I get viewers coming over from My Husbands Blog, from some Group pages for Pastor wives I'm a part of, from other Blogs I read & comment on. From Facebook and Twitter, and a few even find it on their own!

This past December I had over 1200 views! My biggest month EVER! And the funny thing is all I Blogged about that whole month was The 12 Days Of Christmas Movies! I wanted something fun & different and knew I wouldn't have much free time to come up with Blog Posts since starting a new job in a very busy store during the Holidays! (And you know how I love all things Christmas!) But, now, with all those people reading my posts, I'm wondering if I missed my calling in life & I should have been a movie critic! :0

My Number One read & commented on Blog Post continues to be Teens & Tattoos! It may slip into the number 2 slot for a month, then it goes right back up to the top slot! People are brought to my blog if they search for things like parenting Teens, Jr. Highers, Twins, Boys, Girls, Pastor's Kids, etc. (I guess I've got them all covered!) I see many people who search Thyroid Disease and find me. And the most (& pretty much only) disturbing thing about my Blog is there are people out there who search the Internet (pretty much every single month) for: mom son sex. And I think it is hilarious that Google sends them to my little Blog about trying to raise good kids! I'm sure those people don't find it funny, but do I care what they think? Um, NO!

But, I don't only "converse" about my kids & my life, People also find my Blog, by looking up information on Books or Movies, if I've Blogged about them, they get sent here! The most found in the Book category is my Lessons Learned From Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons. And the most found Movie is It's Kind Of A Funny Story. And you know, I'm always reading! There are so many more books & movies to explore! There I am back at being a movie critic!

So, who knows what my Blog will look like in 300 more posts! (or 100 for that matter!) With my kids getting older, things change. But, I will try my best to keep the conversation going! And I hope you will continue to join me, YOU make the conversation so much richer. I can't thank you enough.

Talk with you soon,

Love, Star*

Be A Fan!

Now you can become a fan of my Blog on Facebook!
I know, your super excited! Right?! :)

Well, one of my New Years Resolutions this year
was to create a Fan Page on Facebook for my Blog.
Hey, it's only almost the end of February & I've already done it!

(Well, okay, I've started it!)
(It's definitely a work in progress)

But, I wanted to post it on here so you can "Like" it to help me get it started!
Just click here to find my page!
Or you can always friend me as well,
After all it is called Social Media!
Let's be social! :)

New Year, New Books!

People who Love me know that I Love to Read, & that I Love Books! As I'm sure, does anyone who reads my Blog! I guess you could say I am an open book! :) So for the Holidays I received some books. (One of my favorite gifts!) The hard part is always deciding which one to read first! A good problem to have in my opinion.

My oldest son, Kyle bought me a large volume containing 7 Jane Austin Novels! Love her, but I've only ever read Pride & Prejudice. It's such a nice addition to my collection of books. My other son, Zach got me the book Lisa Ling wrote with her sister who was captured in North Korea, I've been wanting to read it & of course picked it out myself! :)

What I decided to read first is a book my Husband got me, that was the Oprah's Book club selection! Freedom By: Jonathan Franzen. An epic family saga that Oprah calls Exquisite, a Masterpiece. Says it will be "one of the best novels you have ever read." That is saying a lot coming from Oprah. But, if you look it up on Amazon it has just as many 1 star reviews as it has 5 star reviews. Interesting. I guess it could go either way. We'll see. I'll let you know.

And I can't wait to tell you about this next book! I'm so excited! When I first started Blogging I joined a couple of Blog groups. One of them was called Blogs Around the World. They would feature a different Blog each day & everyone would go read that Blog & comment. I "met" many interesting people from all around the world. But 1 in particular I really connected with. A young Blogger from The Philippians commented on my Blog the day I was featured. And I on hers the day she was featured. To look at us we didn't have much in common. Here I am in the states, raising 4 kids & trying to find the humor in life. She, living a much more glamorous life, traveling & finding the beauty the world has to offer. But we really hit it off & genuinely just liked each other. We continued to read each others Blogs & leave our comments. Even becoming Facebook friends! I think to her, I was an anomaly, having had a grandfather, I believe, who was a minister, she couldn't believe I, as a Pastor's wife, celebrate Christmas with Santa Clause & like U2! And I got to live vicariously through her fun & fashionable lifestyle!

Though we've never met in real life I consider her my friend. Her name is Charity. I've Blogged about her when her country was dealing with devastating floods. She writes Beautiful poetry & short stories. You should check it out here. (and there is always a link to her Blog on my sidebar) Well she recently had a book of her poetry published! How Awesome is that?! I'm so proud of her. I told my husband I wanted Charity's book for my Birthday. So, being the good husband that he is, he ordered it for me. I unwrapped it on Christmas night (which happens to be my Birthday!) & was looking through it. And as I read the Acknowledgments in the front of the book, in the very first sentence I find this: "My deepest gratitude to Koe Whitton-Williams and Jilly Nines for helping to make me a little wonderful, Star Forbis, Joy C. Brasington, Stacey R. Cannon for supporting my writings for so long and for encouraging me and loving me always," Wow! there it is, my name! I couldn't believe it. Zach said "wow mom, your the first one of us to get our name in a published book! your famous!" :) I couldn't believe it when I read it. I'm so honored. And I haven't really done anything other than like her & her writing. Which trust me, both of those things come easy. I know you will love her too.

It's a beautiful book, called The Sun Is Snowing, Poetry & Prose by C. JoyBell C. It's one I know you will want to have. And not just because my name happens to be in it! :) Some day Charity & I will meet face to face, and I will have her autograph my book for me! Here's a link to order it for yourself. I know you will love it & her as much as I do.

Tell me what you are reading this year!