Updates...

I swear every post I write these days is entitled "Updates". I need to be better at updating regularly so my blog posts can have more creative titles. But nonetheless, here are a few updates since I have blogged last.

Ryan and I are both a year older. Our birthdays are only 8 days apart. This year we decided to pick the day right in the middle of both our birthdays and take it off work. We had a wonderful day off to celebrate and it was awesome. We should celebrate this way every year because that extends both of our birthdays a little longer. :)

Two days after my birthday, Ryan's dad went to the ER because he had some pneumonia and was having difficulty breathing. Things progressively went down hill and he has been in the hospital on a ventilator for a month now. There are little improvements every day and we are hopeful that he will be able to breath on his own again, without the help of a machine, but it will be a long road. It's been a long month of visiting the hospital every day after work but we are choosing to remain positive and hopeful.

Ryan is also finishing up his first semester of grad school so he's been staying plenty busy. All the more reason it was nice to take a day off together. I am enjoying my evenings at home while Ryan is in school. Since we currently only have one car and he has it on school nights, I don't really get the chance to go out much. But the nights home give me time to workout and work on some projects that would otherwise be completely neglected. So I guess it's a win-win for both of us. I'm excited for Ryan and proud of him for pursing his education. One semester down, three to go. We can do this! :)

I hated the outcome of the presidential election and really struggled with understanding it for a day or two afterwards. I have no idea how we, as a country, can be in such a mess and people want to re-elect the guy who got us here. I know several people who would disagree with that statement and that's fine. This is just simply my own opinion. I do not like seeing the direction this country is headed but the day after the election as I battled with the many emotions I was feeling, I was reminded of a hymn that says, "We thank thee, oh God, for a Prophet, to guide us in these latter-days..." I know that no matter what this country goes through, if I follow the counsel of our latter-day prophet, and put my trust in God, I will be okay. Knowing that brings me peace of mind.

And last but not least, today, November 20th, is the two year anniversary of Ryan's baptism into the LDS Church. I cannot believe it has already been two years! He has made such a huge transformation in his life that it is impossible for me to even look at him and see the person he used to be. That person simply no longer exists. The gospel has changed his life and I am so grateful for the person he has become. It has been an amazing two years!

Health Care Reform...

I have given it a couple days to try and calm my frustrations on this matter of health care reform* and you want to know what? I am still angry. I am not a political junkie. For the most part, I have never paid much attention to politics or the way this country is run. I guess I should feel extremely blessed that most of the decisions that have been made up until now have never really affected me personally. But after this health care reform bill was passed it finally hit me that those days are over and it's high time I start to pay attention.

Am I the only one who is scared about the future of this country? I don't know, maybe I'm wrong to worry about my future. If I were to lose my job in a couple years time and therefore lose the health insurance that goes with it, I couldn't say if I'd be able to afford a private insurance plan. And yet I'd be penalized for that. I would get fined an undisclosed amount of money, which I probably wouldn't be able to afford either, all because the federal government says it's a "requirement" and no longer a "choice" to have insurance. Maybe I'm wrong to worry about any of that.

But I do have a question that I am hoping some of you can answer for me. When did this nation's values and principles change from "you have the freedom to choose" to "you are required forced to do what we say and if you don't do what we say, we'll fine you"?

I feel like I live in China...or some other communist country. What on earth just happened to my FREEDOM?

This is what makes me angry. America is supposed to be run by the people and our leaders refuse to listen to us. This country will not survive if our basic human rights continue to be taken away. I don't think I can continue to sit here and watch that happen. I don't think I can continue to be a simple bystander and watch the country I love fall to her death by the hands of our own leaders.

Well, now that I have that off my chest, I think I might go email the President and tell him how I feel. The secret service may throw me in prison so be sure to come visit me often...and don't forget to stash a paperclip and piece of gum in the bundt cake.

What? It worked for MacGyver!

*I should make it clear that I don't necessarily disagree with having some type of health care reform (at the state level, not federal). I do disagree with the way the federal government is pushing it on us and forcing us to have it.

Out of Patience...

As for the health care reform bill that passed last night, I'm not going to say much. It's not that I don't have much to say, it's just that I've already used up all my kindness with dumb people today (aka: the man who called me a coward). If I speak out on this health care matter right now, I'm afraid bad words might come out of my mouth. Therefore, I will leave you with this:

I am not happy.

Blah, Blah, Blah...

That's pretty much all I heard last night as I was listening to President Obama's speech. He talks a good talk, but his plans stink and everything that came out of his mouth, though it sounded good, was really just a bunch of false promises. His trillion dollar stimulus plan is NOT going to help this economy. At least not in the way he hopes it will.

And why on earth did his wife get a standing ovation? Has she done something so remarkable to deserve such a thing? All he did was mention "the first lady" and everyone jumped to their feet. Why?

I have one word to sum up the entire evening:

Whatever.

(So much for trying to be supportive, eh?)

Look for the Silver Lining...

Crash. That's about what I did last night when I passed a sign that said:

$3.86

That was the price for middle grade gas out by my parents house. When I filled my car up at that station two nights ago, it was $3.76. In less than 48 hours, gas jumped 10 cents! I wanted to croak. But then, when I was driving back to my house, I saw a sign that said:

$3.95

That was at the station kiddy-corner from my house. Two day prior, it was $3.81. So in less than 48 hours, that gas jumped 14 cents!

How economical is it for me to drive around the valley looking for the cheapest gas? Probably not very. But I am having a really hard time even forcing myself to pay $3.95 for gas!

I'm just going to say that I really miss these days:

And these days:

Heck, I even miss these days:

If you've ever seen Dan in Real Life, you may remember the scene where he's filling the car up with gas. As he's watching the total cost go up and up, he says:

"There goes Jane's college education, there goes Kara's"... The youngest daughter, watching from the car says "What about mine?" and he says, "Ah, you're good. Ah. Nope. Wait...there it goes!"

I'm sure we all feel that way and at times I get so frustrated with how much of my money is simply wasted on gas. I have no idea why we can't get control over this situation. What is wrong with our government?

But then I realized something. There are still people who are a lot worse off than me. I may not like forcing myself to pay $3.95 for gas, but regardless or whether or not I want to pay it, at least I know that I can afford to pay it. Sure, it may set me back a little and I may have to cut other stuff out of my budget (like books and DVD's), but I am no worse off.

I am lucky. I am lucky that I can afford to fill up my little 4-cylinder manual transmission car that (on last fill-up) gets 37 miles to the gallon. Some people can't even afford to drive anymore, or they can only afford to put $4.00 of gas in their car hoping to just make it home from their $8.00 an hour job.

I may hate the price of gas these days, but I need to remember to keep looking for that silver lining. I may never be able to afford a house, but I can keep my car running. At least for now.