Just Wanted to Share

So, I wasn't going to do a blog post this week, but I found this video and so I thought I'd share.

If you're not familiar with The Fine Bros on YouTube they do some very awesome web series.  One of them is a show called Teens React where they show a group of teenagers a video from YouTube and then ask them their opinions on it.

So just today they posted a video where they had the teens watch that Rick Perry ad that I talked about a couple weeks ago.  I figured I'd share this because it's funny and insightful.

Hope y'all are having a good Holiday!  And we'll be back to regularly scheduled blog post (aka every Monday) starting Jan. 2, 2012.  So Happy New Year!

I'm getting political...

**I would like to preface this post by saying I generally hate talking about politics.  It does nothing but cause arguments and most politicians are shady characters. I almost always find going to the voting polls a decision between one evil or another.  But this topic deserved discussion.**


I'm a conservative by nature, not a crazy one (at least I don't think so) and any views that I have that might be seen as pretty far right winged, I mostly keep to my self.  And even though I am a Republican and all that, there are some candidates running right now that make me roll my eyes and seriously worry about this election year.  And today's eye roll goes to Rick Perry.


Yesterday he released this ad for his campaign.

Now, my dear husband ran across this article from TheBlaze.com this morning that showed the above ad and then a few spoofs.  After laughing at the very well made spoofs, I re-watched the ad and really listened to what Perry was saying.


I am appalled.  Did he really just bash the military?  I mean, really?  In essence I get the message, I get what Perry is trying to say here, but damn man, you a dumb-ass.


I'm proud to admit that I was glad when the Don't Ask Don't Tell thing was repealed (and if you know me, you know I'm not exactly pro-gay).  The way I see it, if men and women are willing to put their lives on the line to protect this country, it's citizens and it's freedoms then they have the right to sleep with who ever the hell they want.


And they also have the right to be treated well by the military.  The last thing someone needs is to be out in the field everyday, risking their lives, and then have to worry about being harassed at night in their barracks.  And for Rick Perry to say, "there's something wrong in this country when gays can serve openly in the military..." is just wrong, and ignorant.


Now, as I said before, I get what Perry is trying to say here.  There is a "but" at the end of that phrase and Perry tries to compare the discrimination that gays go through to the political correctness that has been put into our schools.  I see the basic point here, he's trying to say, "Why is one group being protected and helped and yet another group is being put down?"  He just chose a really piss-poor way to say it.


Of course, I've never been a Perry fan, there's a couple other times he's been incredibly stupid, but there's really no need to go into that here.  My point in this post today is to speak up for the part of the conservative/Republican party who do not agree with this kind of ignorant dribble.  Who are aware of some of the social issues in our great country but who know that pointing the finger at unrelated parties and issues is not the solution.  Comparing apples to oranges does absolutely nothing but make you look like a fool.


So tell me what you think.  Do you agree with Rick Perry?  Do you understand his overall message?  Is he just an idiot who really thinks this way or was this just some seriously bad word choice?  Give me your thoughts and opinions, I love to read them. :)  Oh, and don't forget to take a look at some of those spoofs, they'll make you laugh, promise.


Thanks for reading!  Happy Tuesday!

Book Review: Tell Your Time

A couple weeks ago I was looking at books and planners that could help me manage my time and get the most out of my day.  I looked through a lot of them, mostly through Amazon.  I was looking for something that was focused on stay-at-home moms, or even working moms.  But I found a lot of them to be a little too complex, or they were focused on people with lots of kids or a super demanding career.

I realized that I needed something simple and basic.  I only have one child right now, and he’s just two.  So there’s no school or extracurricular activities yet.  And since I’m a stay-at-home mom there aren’t a lot of demands on my time.  But I still have a problem with being focused and getting all the things I want done in a day.

Then I stumbled upon Tell Your Time: How toManage Your Schedule So You Can Live Free by Amy Lynn Andrews.  Here is the description on Amazon:


There's one thing I've never understood about time management books, and that is, why do so many of them take so much time to read? Have you noticed that? It seems to me a book about time management should be, well, short. To the point. Efficient.

So that's what I did in Tell Your Time. 

I distilled all of the time management, organization, scheduling and goal-setting tips I've gleaned over the years (that's a lot) into one easy-to-read, easy-to-implement, straightforward, no-nonsense ebook.

Remember, time management is like weight loss. There's no magic bullet. The basic principles in weight loss books are all variations on the same theme: eat well and exercise. Consume fewer calories then you expend. 

The same goes for time management books. There's no magic bullet. The basic principles in time management books are all variations on the same theme: make sure all your to-dos fit within the 24 hours allotted.

This book will walk you through a process—the one I personally use—that has helped many others. And it will do it in a fraction of the time and at a fraction of the cost.

Because I think you should live life living, not just reading about it.

Tell Your Time will help you identify the most important things—and the most important people—in your life. You will easily set goals and learn how to manage your time efficiently so no *thing*—or no *one*—falls through the cracks.

Oh, and by the way, during the writing of this book I finally figured out the answer to my question, you know, the one about time management books being so time consuming. A traditional publisher contacted me and offered to publish Tell Your Time as a "regular" book. But there was a catch. In order to justify the cost of publishing, I had to beef it up...and make it about 7 times longer. I was very grateful for the offer, but I declined. (By the way, if you want to hear that full story, find the Tools page I reference throughout the book.)

Tell Your Time packs a huge practical punch. Small time commitment, small price tag, huge benefit.

The description sold me pretty well and then I read some of the glowing reviews.  I decided it couldn’t hurt to buy it on my Kindle.  It’s only $3 and 30 pages long.

Well, the book delivered.  I read it in one sitting and then went on to the website TellYourTime.com to get the worksheets that are referenced through out the book.  The worksheets helped me a lot to figure out what were the most important aspects of my life and how I could be better at all of them.

Andrews is very encouraging as well as straight forward.  She tells you what to do, shows you how to do it and then tells you to get it done.  Plus, the way she presents it makes it very individualized and easy to adapt no matter what your life situation is.

I’ve been using these tips for a couple weeks now and I’m already seeing improvement.  I’ve already established some good routines and have found plenty of time in my days to get chores done, take care of Will, spend quality time with Daniel and even write.

So, if you’re looking for a short, simple time management plan I highly recommend Tell Your Time: How to Manage Your Schedule So You Can Live Free by Amy Lynn Andrews.  It’s available on Kindle, Nook and as a downloadable e-book, you can find all the information at TellYourTime.com

5 out of 5 Stars!

As an ending note: I really enjoy doing book reviews, so if you have any suggestions, please tell me.  Depending on what kind of volume I get will determine how often I do this.  I’m not trying to become yet another book review blog, but I do like to share those things that I love or are interested in.  So if you’d like to know my opinion on something, just comment here.

Thanks for reading!  Happy Monday!

I Return to You with Pictures!

So I really wanted to get some pictures of me and Will today but I can't find my camera, so I had to settle with my web cam.  Not the best pictures, but here you have it.

Aw, ain't I cute with flat hair and no make-up? Yay for lighting!

The necessary pregnant belly shot. I'm 20 weeks today. 

Will wanted to play with the camera too.

And the Happy Puppy

That's all I've got for today.  I'm working on a book review that I'll either post tomorrow or Monday.  I like doing book reviews, I'm thinking about doing more of them.  What think you?

Happy Friday y'all!

What I Am Thankful For

So, as most of you know, yesterday was Thanksgiving.  I got to spend it with my sister and some of her in-laws and we had a great time.  But, because we were there most of the day I didn't get to say what I was thankful for, so I'm going to take that opportunity now.

I Am Thankful For...

• My husband Daniel.  He spoils me rotten and takes such good care of me and Will.  He really is the best husband/father ever.
• My son William.  He is the joy of my heart.  He is so sweet and funny and he is growing up so fast and gets smarter everyday.  I can't believe he's two years old already.
• Being pregnant.  I know I complain about it a lot because I've been pretty sick this go around, but over all, I'm excited and happy to bring this new little life into our growing family.  I feel it is an honor, given to us women by our Heavenly Father, to have and bear children.  I am proud and grateful that I can.
• Our new life here in Colorado.  Daniel has a great job, we live in a decent area and we are in love with our new ward family here.
• My family.  My siblings both near and far who I can talk to and who I know, despite everything, love me.  And my parents, who did a great job raising me and are always there with advice and laughter.
• My membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.  I'm grateful for the peace that the Gospel gives me and the truth it teaches me.  I know I'm not always a perfect example of my faith, but I do try.
• Being a stay at home mom.  After having to work for the first year of Will's life, being able to stay home has changed me.  I'm happier and more at peace with my self and I love spending everyday with my Little Man, no matter how many times he makes me watch Cars with him.
• Being a writer.  I love to create new worlds and characters to populate them and then write fun stories about them.  The act of writing is exciting and frustrating at the same time, but I wouldn't have it any other way. 
• All my friends, both in real life and those I've met on the internet *coughAWcough*.  My life just wouldn't be complete without y'all.  You teach me, keep me grounded and make me laugh.
• And finally, I'm grateful for all those little things that we take for granted everyday.  Like having a car or electricity, the internet or food on our table.  There are a lot of people either in this country or around the world that don't have these comforts and we must never forget that it is a privilege to have these things, not a right, and we must strive to be worthy of them.

And that's all folks!  Well I guess I could go on and on, but I'm sure you have better things to do right now.  So thank you soooo much for reading and I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and continue to have Happy Holidays this year. :D

I'm A Pimp For What I Love

So I thought now would be a good time to pimp something that I've fallen in love with over the past few weeks.  I've been a big fan of Felicia Day for a while now and I am amazed at this new web series she's doing called Dragon Age: Redemption.  Now I'm not familiar with the Dragon Age franchise (as of yet) but this is one of the and well made web series I've ever seen.

If for some reason you've been living under a rock and haven't seen this yet, here's a link to the 1st episode.  There are now 3 episodes but each is only about 9 or 10 minutes.

And that's all I've got for now.  Happy Tuesday!

Because I'm tired of the last post

Because it's depressing and has a sad title. :)

Not much has been going on. I'm finally out of the first trimester and not feeling sick 24/7. Life is finally settling down into a nice routine that I can handle.

I had some ideas for a nice, long, somewhat controversial post last week, but I decided to scrap it. I've had enough discussions and stuff lately that get my blood pressure up.

But, if the idea of not hearing/reading from me terrifies you (come on, you know it does ;) ). Then go check out my writing blog, Kricket Writes. I'm going to seriously throw my self into NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month, click the link to check it out) this year and I'll be posting much more regularly on my writing blog.

That's all for now. Have a good Monday. :)

Sick Sucks

Quick little update here.

I was sick all of last week. If it wasn't morning sickness keeping me down it was a killer cold. I won't put you through all the gory details, just know I spent most of my time on the couch or hanging over the toilet.

But in good news, we finally got a dresser and now my entire apartment is complete. It's taken nearly a month, but it now feels like home.

I'm pretty sure things can only go up from here. :)

Thanks for reading and for all of your support!

Happy Birthday To Me!

Today is my birthday and I'm actually updating my blog on time. Go me! *fist pump* I'm turning 25, as one of my lovely sister-in-laws put it, I'm now a quarter of a century. So yeah I feel a little old today, and of course that isn't helped by this big announcement...

I'm Pregnant! :) Yep, I got baby #2 baking in the oven right now. I'm 8 weeks along and I'm due on April 20th. So I've known I was pregnant for a few weeks now. I found out the same week that we moved, but we decided to wait and tell people after I'd had my first doctor appointment.

So now I'm just going through the normal rounds of morning sickness and exhaustion. I wake in the morning and think, "Why did I let this happen again?" :)

And that's all folks! Thanks for reading.

Happy Puppy!

Late blog post is only a few days late, right?

Anyway, still getting used to all the new things here. It's all finally becoming normal to me.

In other, more important, news, we got a dog! We've been waning one for awhile but the apartments we were in in Utah didn't allow dogs. So we went to a local animal shelter and picked out this little cutie.

His name is Happy (that was the name he had and he responds to it so we kept it) and he's a 5 year old chihuahua. He is the sweetest dog I've ever met. He's a total cuddle bug and he gets along pretty well with Will. Which really means he just ignores him. :) Plus, since he's more mature he's already house broken and knows basic commands. I don't know how we got so lucky. :) He also plays well with other dogs. Can you say perfect dog?

Anyway, that's all I've got. Look forward to next weeks post, I'm planing on making a big announcement that I've been holding in for a while.

Well thanks for reading!

Now in Colorado!

Okay, so this has been the craziest past few weeks ever! I'll try to sum it up for everyone as briefly as possible.

So on Aug. 3rd we found out that Daniel got the job in Denver. We were very excited, I laughed and cried at the same time and there was much joy. That following weekend we went to visit some friends in Idaho. On Monday the 8th we found out that Daniel's start date was going to be the 22nd. That gave us exactly 2 weeks to find an apartment, get a moving truck and move. Not a lot of time. But we made it work.

Then on the 19th we packed the truck and left Utah in the wee hours of the 20th. It was a 9 hour drive but overall, it went pretty well. Will was calm and napped 80% of the time. But by the time we got to our new place we were exhausted and all I wanted to do was curl up on the floor and go to sleep.

We've been here a little over a week now, it hasn't been the smoothest or easiest experience but I'm happy we moved. There's still a couple things we need, like a washer (our old one broke just before we moved, figures, right?) but overall, all is well. :)

Depression Hurts...

Have you seen those ads on TV for that anti-depression drug? Their motto goes something like: "Depression hurts, X-drug can help." Well I came up with my own motto today, and it goes something like: "Depression hurts, getting off your ass can help."

So I've been pretty down the last week or so. As you may know, Daniel has been trying to find a job in Colorado. He had a really promising interview two weeks ago and we have heard nothing back from them. Now I know this kind of stuff can take time, but the person Daniel interviewed with made it sound like it was a done deal and he would get in touch in a few days.

Two weeks later, nothing. We were really pinning our hopes on this. It felt like everything was going to fall into place and it's been hard for me to accept that things aren't moving as fast as we had hoped. Thus, I got depressed.

When I get like that I just want to shut down. All I want to do is watch TV and sleep. And unlike a lot of people in the country, when I get upset I can't eat. I don't feel like eating and the thought of food makes my stomach turn. So for the last couple of days that is what I have done. I've shut down, minus the time and energy it takes to care for Will. If it wasn't for Will, I might not have gotten out of bed.

Now I know this all sounds really melodramatic and that's not my intention, I'm just wanting to share my experience and the things I found that help me get out of it. So, as I said in the beginning, "Depression hurts, getting off your ass can help." And that is what I have done. I've gotten up, I've gotten dressed, done a little cleaning and now I'm updating my blogs. Once Will wakes up from his nap we're going to go shopping and maybe after dinner we'll go play outside or something. It's amazing the difference you feel just getting out of your PJ's and into real clothes. Not to mention how nice it is to walk outside and see that big orange ball up there that keeps us warm.

I wouldn't say I'm a depressed person or anything, but these moods come up every once in a while. And even though I know it's happening, it's hard to pull out of. It takes a good cry, a bit of whinnying about why my life sucks and then talking my self out of it. It's a load of fun.

I wouldn't say I'm totally happy right now though. There's a lot of things I'm not happy with in my life right now, but most of those things are out of my control, a.k.a. trying to find Daniel a job/moving. I'm a control freak, an impatient control freak, so this has been rough for me.

BUT, as long as I get off my ass and do stuff; as long as I keep moving forward and just take stuff a day at a time, I'm sure it'll all turn out fine. :)

So kids, what's today's motto? Depression hurts, getting off your ass can help. :)

Thanks for reading!

P.S. Please leave comments or something, just so that I know people read this. :D kthnxbye!

Nerd Mom

First I'd like to apologize for not updating last week. I say I'm going to update every Friday and it doesn't take me long to forget. :) Anyway, real quick before we get into the meat of this blog, no word yet on the job for Daniel. We have to wait for their decision on Monday or Tuesday. So here's hoping *crosses fingers*

I'm a nerd and thus, my children will most likely be nerds as well. So, I figured that I'd start the indoctrination/brain washing early for Will. A week or so ago I found the entire Star Trek: Next Generation series on Netflix. I was thrilled because even when I was young I had a crush on Captain Picard and on Wesley Crusher. So I started watching the show and I average about 2 episodes a day.

Normally, when I watch a show on Netflix I skip the intro credits, but Will started getting excited to see the stars ("star" was one of his first words) and watch the Enterprise whoosh across the screen. Then, just the other day I heard Will trying to hum a few notes of the theme. It made my Mommy Nerd heart proud. :)

I think the next step will either be Dragon Heart or Star Wars. Gotta keep the sci-fi/fantasy love going strong in the blood line. :D

So tell me, fellow nerd parents, what nerdy things have you gotten your kids into? Love to read comments. ;)

Pimpage!

Today I'd like to pimp one of my all time favorite websites Absolute Write Forums. It's a forum for writers of all types, ages, and levels of experience. So if you like to write and you want to connect to other writers, get feedback on stuff you've written, and just have a good time come join me. :) My username on there is Kricket (as if you couldn't guess).

Well, that's it, thank you for reading and I love you all!

Trying to Move & Dolls

This is going to be short because I'm having a hard time coming up with topics to do every week. :) I don't want this to be an online journal so I promise that next week I'll have a more interesting topic. Maybe I'll do another vlog since that's the only medium I get an responses too. :(

Anyway, Daniel and I have been planning on moving to Colorado this year and Daniel has been in the process of looking for a job there. Well, Daniel has a job interview next week! *happy dance* We're super excited.

Of course, the idea of Daniel being away for a couple days is kind of weird. We've never spent a night away from each other before. But I'm sure I'll be fine. *whispers* he's kind of a bed hog Plus, Daniel will be taking my Vibe down there because we're not sure the Bug could do that kind of distance. So, I guess I'll be learning how to drive a stick shift this weekend. I'm a little less excited about that.

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Pimpage!

This site isn't new to me but it has recently gone through some big and cool updates, so I wanted to mention it here. I love me some Doll Divine. They have some really fun and cute dress up doll games and 90% of them are really easy to use. And now you can set up you own account with them and save your creations into galleries and have people vote on them. Just to show you a couple that I have made...

Well thank you for reading, love you all!

Updates, New Car & Pimpage

So I always intend to update this on some kind of regular basis, but that doesn't work out so well. But I will, I swear! If I put it in writing I can do it.... Okay, here goes, I will update my blogs every Friday! There I said it, now I have to do it. It's in writing and floating in the endlessness of the internet.

Anyway! This last month was fun. My parents came to visit at the beginning of the month. We went to Hill Air Force Base Museum and Antelope Island. (Pictures coming soon)

Then a couple weeks ago we went to the Hogle Zoo to see the robotic dinosaurs they have there. Yeah... we go to the zoo to see animals that don't exist anymore. :) But see how cool they are!

This one sprays water at you and is Daniel's all time favorite dinosaur.

And then last weekend we bought a new car!

It's a 2005 Pontiac Vibe and I love it!

The old car had some issues that we had to fix and after talking to the mechanic we decided that this car wasn't going to last us much longer and it was time to get a new one that's more reliable. When researching cars the Vibe was one I was wanting but we were having a hard time finding one but we got really lucky at the dealership and now I'm very happy.

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I Pimp What I Love

First: Writer's Digest Shop. I got a great set of books and a corresponding independent study course with a couple webinars there for an awesome price. Should have cost me about $560 but I got it for $119. If that isn't a great deal then I don't know what is.

Second: E-Mealz. Daniel heard about this on the Dave Ramsey show and we've just started it this week. I'm already in love with it. It gives you five dinners every week with a shopping list. You can choose from a bunch of different plans. They have stuff for large families, picky eaters, all types of diets and ones that have you shop at one store. We use the Wal-Mart for 2 plan and it's saved us money. I don't cook as much as I should and we spend a lot of money on fast food because of my laziness, so this has been great for us so far. And the best part, you only pay $5/month for this. It's so worth it for us. :)

Third: Anniversary Inn. We stayed there for our 3rd anniversary this year and I just love that place. It's such a nice little get away.

And that's all folks! I'll be updating my Writing Blog here in a few minutes as well, so go check that out.

Thanks for reading, love you all!

Tolerance, Love & The Family

So I just wanted to share this article I read in the June 2011 Ensign. For those of you who don't know what that is, it's a magazine that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints puts out every month that is filled with lots of great articles. The article that I'll be talking about is entitled: "Defending the Family in a Troubled World" by Elder Bruce D. Porter. I'll only be talking about a small part of the article but you can read the entire thing here on the LDS Website.

The Shifting Definition of Tolerance

Until recently in our national history, tolerance referred to racial and religious non-discrimination. It meant civility in the political arena; in other words, respecting the right of others to express their views, even if we do not agree with them. It meant treating all people with decency and respect. Such tolerance is an important and vital part of our American heritage.

Today, however, the world is in danger of abandoning all sense of absolute right or wrong, all morality and virtue, replacing them with an all-encompassing “tolerance” that no longer means what it once meant. An extreme definition of tolerance is now widespread that implicitly or explicitly endorses the right of every person to choose their own morality, even their own “truth,” as though morality and truth were mere matters of personal preference. This extreme tolerance culminates in a refusal to recognize any fixed standards or draw moral distinctions of any kind. Few dare say no to the “almighty self” or suggest that some so-called “lifestyles” may be destructive, contrary to higher law, or simply wrong.

When tolerance is so inflated out of all proportions, it means the death of virtue, for the essence of morality is to draw clear distinctions between right and wrong. All virtue requires saying no firmly and courageously to all that is morally bankrupt.

Curiously enough, this new modern tolerance is often a one-way street. Those who practice it expect everyone to tolerate them in anything they say or do, but show no tolerance themselves toward those who express differing viewpoints or defend traditional morality. Indeed, their intolerance is often most barbed toward those of religious conviction. But let there be no misunderstanding or deception: the First Amendment right of free speech applies to religious speech as well as to other kinds of speech. Believers of all faiths have every right to participate in and share their convictions in the public arena.

Now let us go one step further. Even in its original and correct connotation, tolerance is surely a secondary virtue in comparison with the far higher virtue of love. Certainly it is good to be tolerant of those who are different than we are, treating them with kindness and civility. But love, or charity, is the highest of all, and it is far better to genuinely love those with whom we differ. When we truly love all of God’s children in a Christlike way, we will desire to bring them unto Christ, the fountain of all happiness. This means proclaiming the truth, defending that which is right, and in a mild voice inviting all to walk the path of Christ. By defending the traditional family, Latter-day Saints bless all people whether others recognize it now or not.

So perfect and exalted was Christ’s love for God’s children that He took upon Himself the penalty for their sins, descending below all things in the Garden of Gethsemane and dying for us on the cross at Golgotha. Yet He never compromised virtue nor tolerated sin in the slightest degree (seeD&C 1:31). He treated the woman taken in adultery with love and respect, putting her accusers to shame; nevertheless He said, “Go, and sin no more” (John 8:11). The Master abhorred sin, because sin is the enemy of the human soul.

God’s love is sometimes described as unconditional. It is true that God loves all of His children on earth no matter how often or how far they may stray. But while God’s love is all-encompassing, His blessings are highly conditional, including the very blessing of being able to feel and experience His love. The further human beings stray from the path of righteousness, the less they will be capable of feeling divine love, because it is conveyed into our hearts by the Holy Spirit. This does not mean that God loves us less when we stray, only that we, by our choices and actions, have distanced ourselves from His love. How wondrous, then, is the gift of repentance, by which we can be brought back into accord with His will and feel again of His love.

I thought I'd share this because I agree with everything Elder Porter says here. And I like the way he defines and explains the way tolerance has changed. My parents were here visiting last week and we got to talking about how some of the very liberal media is talking so loud and saying that everyone has a right to do whatever they want, as long as "no one gets hurt". They talk so loud that it's hard to hear the other side. And some of these liberal people can be very rude when stating their opinion and they refuse to listen to those of us who believe differently.

Now I'm not saying that conservatives can't be the same way sometimes. But I do find it interesting when Elder Porter talks about tolerance sometimes being a one-way street. Where one side just talks and never lets the other side get a word in. I find this behavior annoying and rude, thus why I don't watch much news or even listen to popular talk radio.

And I like how Elder Porter talks about tolerance and love. Tolerance is about respect; respecting other opinions and beliefs which means not being mean or rude or making fun of people for those opinions and beliefs. And then there is love. Loving others who are different from us is harder, but it is also "the far higher virtue". And trust me when I say you can tolerate/respect someone but not really like or love them. Learning to love someone so different is extremely hard, I know from personal experience. And it's something I still struggle with sometimes.

So I strongly suggest that you read the entire article. It covers a lot of different points about families and all the things out there that threaten them. I just wanted to discuss this small bit because it stuck out so strongly to me.

And tell me what you think. Do you see the definition of tolerance changing? Have you experienced intolerance of any sort? And for those that go and read the entire article, what are your thoughts? Do you think the traditional family is in danger? Have we become a selfish people? I've said my small bit, so tell me what YOU think! :) My blogs have been sparking some interesting discussions and I love it.

Kat and Mouse: Guns for Hire Review!

First book review! W00t!

So back in the beginning of May I went and Pimped some Awesomeness. I have now finished reading the book and I wanted to review it.

First, you can find the book here on Amazon and here's the description from the book:

2042. Bay City, California Free State.

Kat and Mouse are ronin--street mercenaries--who like cake runs. Simple jobs with quick and large payouts.

That's what these were supposed to be. Cake runs.

But when the Duo sign on, they suddenly find themselves targeted by a biker gang, a team of corporate commandos, a cybernetically-enhanced special ops agent, a stalker, a band of kidnappers, and a Japanese crime syndicate.

And they all want the Duo out of the way. Permanently.

Now these sassy sisters-in-arms must survive the onslaught and still get the jobs done. Because in the Biz, it's get paid or get dead.

As usual, Kat and Mouse are going to do things their way.

Heaven help Bay City.

Sounds totally awesome right? Yeah, that's because it is!

And here is the official review that I put on Amazon:

I was a new fan of Abner Senires' web series when I heard that the first season of this episodic joy ride was turned into a book. I got my copy on the Kindle and fell in love from word one.

Kat and Mouse make a great duo in the world of street mercenaries trying to make a living in the not-too-distant-future. Kat with her guns and Mouse with her pointy toys; they spend their time getting out of one dangerous situation only to be dropped into another.

Abner Senires' minimalistic writing style is superb. It's quick, precise and he never wastes a word, making this a fast and fun read. And yet, he is still able to create an easy to visualize world with fully developed and interesting characters.

The Kindle version is well formatted and I loved the links in the table of contents because it made it easy to go back and re-read my favorite parts.

Overall, I LOVED this book and I can't wait for the next installment of Kat and Mouse adventures.

So yeah, this book is epic and I can't say enough about how much I enjoyed it. I highly suggest that you read the book first (the Kindle version is only $3.99, paperback $12.95) and then read the rest on the Kat and Mouse website, starting here. I promise that you'll like it.

Video Blog: Immigration

Video upload is being dumb so I'll just put a link for the YouTube. Immigration

Here are my thoughts on immigration and the need for reform.

You can find more info about the process of becoming a US citizen herehttp://www.uscis.gov/ and the transcript I used of Obama's speech herehttp://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2011/05/10/text-of-obamas-speech-on-immigration/

Love to read your comments!

I'm a Pimp of Awesomeness

I'm pimping this book right now because it's awesome and I'm buying a copy as you read. :) The author is a internet friend from AW and here's a blurb about the book.

2042. Bay City, California Free State.

Kat and Mouse are ronin--street mercenaries--who like cake runs. Simple jobs with quick and large payouts.

That's what these were supposed to be. Cake runs.

But when the Duo sign on, they suddenly find themselves targeted by a biker gang, a team of corporate commandos, a cybernetically-enhanced special ops agent, a stalker, a band of kidnappers, and a Japanese crime syndicate.

And they all want the Duo out of the way. Permanently.

Now these sassy sisters-in-arms must survive the onslaught and still get the jobs done. Because in the Biz, it's get paid or get dead.

As usual, Kat and Mouse are going to do things their way.

Heaven help Bay City.

And you can find more info here on Abner Senires website

The Numbers Say It All

**I would like to start this post by saying that this is not a "gay bashing" post. I don't consider myself homophobic or anything. I've had friends who are gay and have had the nicest neighbors that are trans-gendered, but that doesn't mean that I think what they are doing is right. BUT, I do believe that they deserve all the same rights that other Americans have. I strongly believe that we need to add "sexual orientation" to that long list of people and things that we can not discriminate against.**

So I saw this article today on Google news and I found it very interesting. It's basically citing this study that says that only 3.5% of the American population identifies themselves as being homosexual. The reason this is a big deal is because that the homosexual community has been saying that 10% of the population was homosexual, when it's actually been only 3.5%. That's a pretty big difference. I find this to be very interesting for a couple reasons.

I, like many others, have seen the show Glee on Fox. I have a love/hate relationship with this show. I like the music and the dancing, but I've found the story and the characters to be a little much. I know TV

exaggerates real life, but they seemed to be stretching it too far. And the one thing I thought was odd was the "token" gay character. And if you know the show it feels like all the students in the show are "token" characters in some way. They have the "token" black girl, the "token" disabled kid and so on.

And to be fair, you have to have African-American and Disabled-Americans in these shows. I found this article that says, "In 2009, 19.5 million people, or 9.9 percent of the civilian non-institutionalized population age 16 to 64, had a disability." And this Wikipedia article about the 2010 census states that 12.6% of the US population is black.

But, the big but, only 3.5% of the US population is homosexual. So why do we feel that we have to have them in every show? Why do we have to make it seem that every other person you meet on the street is gay, lesbian, etc.?

And really, I find it interesting that the homosexual community is always trying to pump their numbers and make it look like they're a stronger force to be reckoned with than they really are.

Those are my thoughts, what are yours? What do you think of the sudden surge in homosexual characters in TV and movies? And what do statistics like this make you think?

The Bird Incident

So some of you might know some of this story already since I posted this video on Facebook on Saturday, but I thought I should give a fuller written account as well.

So Saturday morning, at about 10am, Daniel comes into our bedroom and wakes me from sleeping in to say that he thinks there is a mouse in the dryer vent hose. So of course I get up and come with him into the kitchen. Daniel pulls the dryer away from the wall and I hear and see the creature moving inside.

"That's too big to be a mouse. It has to be a rat," I say.

Daniel agrees with me and then we begin to discuss what to do. We have seen rats around the dumpster that sits in the parking lot and those suckers are a foot long, at least, not counting the tail. We didn't have any rat poison or traps or anything. So in the end we got a deep box and our fire bat. We figured that if we opened up the hose on the end that was connected to the dryer, we could coax the rat into the box and then take it out side or something. And we had the bat just in case it got out and we needed to beat it.

Neither one of us wanted to beat a rat, that would just be too gross. But we couldn't have a rat loose in our apartment. At the time we had Will in his crib, and he was not happy about it. But we knew that we had to get the creature out of the apartment.

So, as Daniel is unhooking the hose, I grab my camera and start recording. As you see in the video we put the loose end of the hose in the box and soon enough the creature began to come down. I was hovering right over the box so that I could get a good shot of it. And the first thing we see is this very pointy head and my first thought is, "That's an awfully pointy head for a rat."

And then a bird came flying up into my face! I scream and run into the living and end up curled up in a ball on the couch. I had totally forgotten about the camera at this point.

Daniel screams, "It's a bird!"

And my intelligent response is, "It's a F*ing bird!"

So the bird is flying around in a panic and all I can think is, "Oh no, it's going to land on me. Or worse, it's going to poop on everything."

So then I scream to Daniel, "Open the door! Open the door!" Of course forgetting that I'm closer to the door than he is. So he comes dashing through the living room, knocking over the baby gate that's in the kitchen doorway in the process and opens the door. The bird shot out the door and Daniel and I fell into a laughing fit.

And all the while, poor little Will is screaming and crying in his crib.

After we had calmed down and gotten Will is settle down as well, I jumped on my computer and posted the video. I just thought the whole thing was too funny not to share. I just wish I had actually gotten a shot of the bird flying around in a panic, but I was freaking out too much. Either way, it was a very exciting morning here in the Siemens's household.

As an ending note, I have created a You Tube Channel where you can view the bird video as well as the last couple videos I've posted on my blog. You should totally subscribe! :) And don't forget to check out my writing blog and read my latest post about my current Work in Progress (WIP).

Thanks for reading and please leave a comment, especially if you have any funny Wild Animal in the House stories.

Video Blog: Bullying

Please visit StopBullying for more information about what you can do in your communities and schools or with your kids to stop bullying. Thanks to my sister Carrie for directing me to this link.

This one is a bit longer than the last one and I'm still working on my editing skills, so I apologize for any jumpiness. But please tell me what you think about the subject, the video, whatever. I love comments!

Interesting Blog About Boring People

Today’s post is brought to you by Daniel. I’m allowing him to do this because his view on the world is often times way more interesting than mine. Enjoy!

So I decided to write a blog. And since my wife already has one, I figured I’d occasionally post on hers. I got this idea from a coworker of mine a while back. You see, I am an accountant. I work with numbers, financials, tax returns, and Medicare cost reports. My wife, who recently became a stay at home mom, worked at a credit union as a teller, receptionist and then a loan interviewer, the usual credit union stuff. So my coworker comes to me one day and says, “So you’re an accountant and your wife works at a credit union….You guys must have very boring dinner conversations. “ I thought about it. At first I thought yea I guess it could be boring to some people, and then I thought naaahh! So I decided to write a blog.

This is the interesting blog about boring people. At least I hope it’s interesting. If not well sorry I can’t please you all. The truth of the matter is there are people like me in the world that for some reason or another love to put numbers in the right places, total them up and call it accounting. Most people think we accountants are nuts. I hear it all the time, “How can you look at numbers all day?” I just smile and say, “Well as soon as you’re done with your sudoku puzzle I’ll tell you.”

The real secret is…and I really shouldn’t be telling you this. It’s kind of the big kept secret of accounting. *shifty eyes to make sure no ones watching* *whispers*The big secret of accounting is that it’s EASY!!! Oop’s did I say that too loud? Really though, accounting is so incredibly simple and pays so incredibly well it’s a wonder more people don’t do it.

I can still remember my first accounting class. I was scared to death because the greatest irony of my accounting career is that I hate, with a passion, hate math. Crazy right? An accounting guy who hates math. So I show up to class and my teacher looks over the class and asks, “So who can tell me what is a debit and what is a credit?” I’m looking at the class thinking I’ll just let you hash it out and wait for him to give me the right answer.

The class on the other hand was hilarious. They went on about banking and some complex theory about how credits were some illustrious thing in a bank account that never happened except when the stars aligned in a perfect pathagramatic formation on the weekends during the full and new moons and only if the job gods were smiling down upon you. Debit’s were like weeds forever growing and sprouting up everywhere swallowing what precious credits you happened to acquire on rare occasions.

My teacher in his ingenious way, said, “Ok I want you to forget all that. The only thing you need to remember is. A debit is a place on the left side and a credit is a place on the right side.” I was boggled. That’s it!!??!?! That’s all I need to know. Really!!! That was the beginning of my love for accounting.

So now I’m blogging about what I find interesting in the boring life of an accountant, a stay at home mom and the craziness we call life. I hope I made you smile.

That is all I will turn this over to my lovely editor and chief who will edit it, hack it all to pieces and put it back together as a lovely piece of art.

Video Blog Project

So I'm trying to do a video blog. I've always thought it would be fun to try. So this is my first attempt. The audio is a little low, just so you know. The mic on my laptop isn't the best. Please comment!

The Binky

I'm Home Now!

I am now an official Stay-At-Home-Mom! I quit my job a little over a week ago and I am now home full time. I am so excited about this! Work had gotten pretty miserable the last few months, for a lot of different reasons, and Daniel and I had been looking for a way to get me out of it. I'm not one of those women who has to have a career; I only worked because we needed me too. I was the source of health insurance. But, Daniel was able to get insurance through his work and thus I was able to leave. :D

Honestly, I've only been home a week, and I've done next to nothing the whole time. I watched a lot of movies and shows via Netflix (best thing ever made). And it's been very relaxing. Of course, now that I've gotten most of the laziness out of my system, it's time to get to work. It's kind of odd, trying to figure out how Daniel and I are going to arrange our lives now.

For the past year or more we've been living on survival mode. Our apartment was constantly a mess and we got fast food for dinner most nights. Now I'll be the one responsible for keeping the home clean and making real dinners. This is both good and bad. It's good because this is what I've always wanted. And now I'll have a lot more time to write. But, it's also bad because I've never had to self manage. I've gotten used to just doing what I'm told to do. So you see, it's good but it's very different than what I' used to.

Anyway, I'm really excited about this opportunity that I have now. I'll have more time to keep up with my blogs and get back on to the writing forums that I've missed. And overall, this is the making of a much happier Kristen.