Thursday, January 29, 2009
A Test and an Assignment
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
To Alarm or not to Alarm
Monday, January 26, 2009
NOT a Debate!!!!!
The first one is a bill called FOCA- The Freedom of Choice Act. I had not heard of it, but it basically takes away any and all limitations on abortions- including making it so if a 14-year-old wants an abortion, they don't have to tell their parents. This concerns me, and I am sure many of you as well, so I am posting a web link with a petition to stop the FOCA from continuing:
http://www.fightfoca.com/
The best thing to do, however, is to e-mail your representatives. You can locate them at
http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml
If anybody has better information on how to contact your representatives, feel free to post- but again, this IS NOT A DEBATE- either you want to do this or you don't, that is up to you.
The second issue is a certain man who I have mentioned before who happens to get paid millions to spread what I consider to be hate and lies. Well, his newest thing is that he hopes Obama and the economy fails. Now, any logical thinking person would say, "wait- if the economy fails, that could really hurt me." Today, over 70,000 people lost their job- TODAY! They are calling today "Bloody Monday" because of all the job losses- SEVENTY THOUSAND!!! How on earth can anybody be happy about that? It makes me sick!!! Again, this is NOT A DEBATE- either you like Rush and agree with him, or you don't, but I can't stand the fact that anybody out there is pushing for the economy to get worse and is actually getting air-time to promote what I consider to be un-patriotic views. So, I am pushing to e-mail companies that support him and tell them you think supporting the likes of him is wrong and that you will no longer patron their business. This is a site that lists his sponsors as well as their e-mails and such:
http://www.topplebush.com/boycott_rush.shtml
It is a slightly outdated list, but apparently many of the companies do still support him. Also, General Motors now supports him (which surprises me because he wants them to fail as well, so go figure!)
I don't care if you like Rush or not- THIS IS NOT A DEBATE- but, if you are as upset about this as I am, then you may want to send out e-mails, so I am MERELY PROVIDING INFORMATION SO THAT IF YOU WANT TO DO SOMETHING YOU CAN, AND IF YOU DON'T WANT TO DO ANYTHING YOU DON'T NEED TO! I have both liberal and conservative friends, and I am not trying to tick anybody off by either of these issues, I am just trying to give people an opportunity to take action on either issue if they so choose.
(I hope I am making my point that I am not trying to debate anybody, I am merely providing information, and either you can do something or not- but the information is there!!!!)
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Cloth Diapering?
If you are interested in trying out cloth diapers and order through them, they will give customers 5% off all purchases, and give back 5% of the proceeds to the Fischer's to help with their new expenses in having a special needs child. Jenny explains it better on her blog (website above), but if you want to check out the Denver Diaper Company, here is their address:
http://www.denverdiaperco.com/
You can also donate directly to the family on Jenny's blog- even a couple of dollars helps. But, even if you can't donate- you should definitely read Jenny's blog because you will come away feeling so inspired and grateful for all that you have! She is such a beautiful and inspiring woman! I love you, Jenny!!!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Silly Girl
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
My (shared) BYU Legacy
Well, Bill Clinton declared Martin Luther King Day as a national day of service, and while I was attending BYU I decided that BYU should have some sort of service day to honor that. They already did a candlelight vigil, but nothing in relation to service. I went to the student union (BYUSA) and pitched my idea: On the Monday holiday of MLK Day, instead of staying at home and doing homework, we would encourage students to come and give a few hours of their time doing service. We would provide breakfast, the service projects, and the transportation and all the students would have to do was show up. I happen to be a very good organizer, and I presented my ideas pretty well, but they said, "we love this idea, but don't get too excited. The most people we ever get to attend service projects are about 50." In my head I was like, "we're going to get 10 times that!" and I got to work.
I have to say this is a shared legacy, because by default my roommates and sisters became very involved in the project as well (by the time I graduated my roommates got very scared when I said the phrase, "I have an idea"- Ben is almost to that point, but not quite yet). I also had a wonderful committee, and we put in a lot of hours and got everything ready- not sure what to expect. Coming up with a name was one of the hardest parts- we considered "Neighborhood Awareness Day" and several others before finally settling on "Community Outreach Day." That first year, we had over FOUR HUNDRED people show up! BYUSA was totally shocked- they had never had such great success before, especially for a project that was in it's first year. I won an award for all of BYU for the best new program of the year. It was all over the news- it was such an awesome thing to be able to come up with the idea, plan the whole thing (with aforementioned help), and have it be such a huge success. And, I am proud to say, the tradition still continues. Here is a news article about yesterday's festivities:
http://newnewsnet.byu.edu/story.cfm/70752
I hope this legacy that I started continues and that someday if Audra decides to go to BYU, she can be put in charge of planning the program her mother started for one of the years she is there! It really is cool to think that something I started is still continuing to this day- even if my name has been forgotten, at least my program has not!
(I apologize if I sound a little prideful in this post- but I am a little proud of this. I think I have been able to do a lot of great things, and sometimes it is really easy to forget that when you're a stay-at-home-mom. I do miss the recognition of accomplishing goals and being rewarded for your work- and I truly envy you mothers out there who have been able to find the perfect work/mom balance so you can get that recognition that so many of us crave, but still be the best moms to your kids as well. And, I will just throw in, that on the flipside of that coin, I have the utmost respect for all of you working mothers- I think you guys have the toughest job in the world because you go out in the workforce and face the stresses and deadlines that come from that, and still have to come home and put food on the table! So, while I envy you that little freedom you enjoy, I also am in awe and have such respect for you because of the hard work you do!!!!)
(And, I know some of you thought I would post about the wonderfulness of today- but I think the events transpiring around the country today speak for themselves- though I look forward to reading about anybody else who is posting about today. I am sure virtually all of you, even if you do not like Obama, at least appreciate the historical nature of the day and the excitement in the air across the country. Happy Inauguration Day!)
Monday, January 19, 2009
Death For Dinner
Sorry the pictures are so small.
Ben also surprised me with these beautiful flowers:
It was really funny when we brought Audra home and she saw them. She started pointing at them and going "oohhh!" Apparently, she has very good taste in flowers- watch out future boyfriends!Thursday, January 15, 2009
Memory Lane
One of our running jokes is that Ben was late to our wedding (he went out for a big breakfast with his family). My memory tells me that he was about 5 minutes late from when we were supposed to meet with the people officiating the wedding. His false memory tells him that he was right on time, and I was just early. I am pretty sure I am right...
My veil would not stay in my hair- it kept falling out, and was rather annoying. My sister Stephanie was put in charge of veil watch. She did a great job!
After the wedding, we took pictures for a couple of hours. We were STARVING by this point, so we stopped at Arctic Circle with my parents for a late lunch. This turned out to be not a great move, because then we weren't hungry for dinner- and the dinner was amazingly good! We had a "formal" dinner as our reception at this historic building, The Lion House, in downtown Salt Lake. Everything was catered, and absolutely DELICIOUS!!! But, unfortunately, everybody got totally stuffed and couldn't eat the cake. So, we had tons of cake leftover. I still don't know what happened to it...
Really, though, I can honestly say that was the best day of my life- and I am grateful every day that I get to spend forever with this hunk of a man! Am I lucky or what?
You may ask, "how are you going to celebrate your anniversary tonight?" Well, it is quite exciting- I have a church meeting, but I will think about him while I am there. Then when I come home, we will watch The Office because that is our favorite show. (We are going to celebrate tomorrow night instead- I'll fill you all in later with our crazy getaway adventure- WITHOUT Audra!! Yippee!!!)
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
A Little Bragging
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Giraffes Stink!
She did, however, LOVE this guy:She was in her stroller, unbuckled, and as soon as she saw the polar bear, she jumped up and said "oohhhh!" and couldn't stop staring at him. It was very cute, and we were surprised because she doesn't seem to care about bears in any of her books- oh, well.
Here she is watching the bear with grandpa holding her:
And, she also really enjoyed the tropical exhibits- including the snakes- YUCK! It was neat because she could walk right up to the glass- she was the perfect height. She especially enjoyed the tropical fish with all of their pretty colors. They reminded Ben and I of our cruise- sigh. Someday we will get to go again...I think in this picture she is in front of the commoda dragons.Thanks, Arienne, for telling us about the free day! It was a blast, and surprisingly was not too crowded! It was a little cold, but not bitter so it was a fantastic day!Friday, January 9, 2009
Swim Fun!
They also have a lazy river so Ben put Audra on his lap and went around and around- she didn't like this as much as the slide (of course), but she liked Daddy holding her!We were there for about an hour and then about 50 kids showed up for a field trip. OK, a field trip to the local rec center pool???? I had a few problems with that, moms- let me know if you agree or disagree!!!
1. What kind of educational value is going to the local indoor water park? Unless they just finished a unit on seals and they were learning how to swim like seals, I do not understand how they can justify to parents that there is any reason a school could consider that educational. Now, I understand it is good for kids to have fun, but that's why I think they should have Halloween parades- not field trips to go swimming.
2. I found out it was a Highlands Ranch school that was going- that means, the kids can go to the pools for free anytime they want (and I am certain they have all been there a million times). Why do they need a field trip to go????
3. They have only been back to school for three days after Christmas break- do they really need a field trip that soon?
Luckily, we were ready to get out when they got there, but I just couldn't believe that a school could somehow justify the costs to go there for a school trip. Oh, well. If any of you want to join Audra and I for a day at the pool, give me a call! Audra loved it, and I am sure she will love going a million more times!!!
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Not A Gymnast (But maybe it's her coach- me)
She loved anything having to do with climbing- and there were LOTS of things to climb (and it was nice, because there really wasn't any way for her to get hurt!)
The balance beam was the hardest part- notice how I am holding her. She would shuffle along with me mostly holding her up. But, then the instructor came over and helped her, and she did just fine! So, I guess it is just me. I am not the world's greatest gymnast coach, I guess. Oh, and we didn't even try hanging upside down from the bar!
Her friend Shanelle is also in the class- and Shanelle is the rock star in the class! She might be in the olympics someday- she just walked right across the balance beam with hardly any help. I couldn't believe it! Well, I guess Audra can't be the best at everything...
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Unintendend Consequences
I got an e-mail yesterday about how after Feb. 10 no used children's clothes will be able to be sold at garage sales, thrift stores, on Craigslist or anywhere else unless each piece is tested for lead after a law was passed banning lead-based children's items. Thinking surely it must be a hoax, I did some research on it this morning, and have come to the conclusion that it is actually true. Here is an article about it posted in the LA Times:
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-thrift2-2009jan02,0,2083247.story
I am a little confused that this has not received more attention- there should be HUGE public outcry- this is absolutely insane! Can you imagine the landfills when all of us are forced to throw all of our baby clothes in the dumpster instead of passing them on to friends/family??? Also, don't our police have better things to do like arresting drug trafficers instead of worrying about baby clothes smugglers???
Organizations are trying to get Congress to clarify the law to exempt clothes, and here is a site where you can send an e-mail directly to your senators:
http://capwiz.com/americanapparel/issues/alert/?alertid=12274476
Because I do believe this is true, I think it is a major issue. I think the idea behind the law was to make children safer- who wouldn't vote on that bill? but that the unintended consequences will greatly afffect us all in a negative way. If you have information that this actually was a hoax, please let me know!!! Otherwise I might be going to the thrift store on Feb. 9 to buy lots of boy clothes (just in case we have a boy...).
And if anyone is having a girl who has had a boy and wants to swap clothes if we do end up having a boy, I am all for it!!!!
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Greatest Laugh
Well, here is a little video of the two of them playing together. They played this "game" for like 15 minutes- Audra putting the toys in the dolls hands, and Daddy dropping the toys out of the dolls arms onto the floor. You can really hear her laugh, which is the best sound in the whole world! It is so fun to see her character coming through- she really has quite the personality!