Tessa

I got to spend some time with Tessa on Tuesday:) I thought I would post a picture of the really cute little girl:)

Commando meets Wal Mart

Adventure Time!!!

Last night I played the game Commando:) No I was not naked!!! You try to get from point A to point B without getting caught. It is like a moving hide and go seek that you play at night. I had a blast! There must have been at least 40 people there!! I made it back the first time and got caught the rest of the time. But i did have an Epic Trip and fall! I wish that had a video of it:) Eli ran into a barbed wire fence and ripped his pants! I t was hilarious!!! We saw girls army crawling across the ground:) "Jorge come on I don't think they can see us! We are almost to the promise land it is just over that line:)" So from 6:30-10:30 we were really entertained:)

Then after Commando we had a Wal Mart adventure, That is always fun! We had a Nerf Sword battle, a Tennis Match, and a Bike Race. Wal Mart loves us!:) After that, we went to McDonalds and ordered 10 double cheese burgers. (Thanks Paulie!) Paul's door handle broke:/ Then we went to Niko's house and Watched Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. (Thanks for sneaking us in Niko) After that LONG movie ended Paul, Eli, and Aubrey played Modern Warfare 2. By the end of that game i figured we should get home before my dad woke up for work. All in all the night was Amazing!!!!

Letter to the Editor

For my Civics class I had to write a letter to an editor. I could choose my topic.
I chose the argument of Gay Marriage.

I'm at sixteen-year-old female living in Southern California. I've recently made some observation that I would like to comment on. In November on 200 the citizens of California voted Overwhelmingly to ban Gay Marriage. The judges in the California Supreme court had their personal agendas and were quick to over turn the will of the people. So, once again, in 2008 the voters went back to the polls to define marriage as only between a man and a woman. Again, the people of California said No to Gay Marriage. Yet again, the California Supreme Court Judges are deliberating on whether or not to ignore the will of the people. This makes me wonder: Why Vote if the wishes of 9 judges can over rule the votes of 7 million people?

Amazing Letter

GLENN BECK: I got a letter from a woman in Arizona . She writes an open letter to our nation's leadership:

"I am a home grown American citizen, 53, registered Democrat all my life. Before the last presidential election I registered as a Republican because I no longer felt the Democratic Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. Now I no longer feel the Republican Party represents my views or works to pursue issues important to me. The fact is I no longer feel any political party or representative in Washington represents my views or works to pursue the issues important to me. Instead, we are burdened with Congressional Dukes and Duchesses who think they know better than the citizens they are supposed to represent.

There must be someone. Please tell me who you are. Please stand up and tell me that you are there and that you're willing to fight for our Constitution as it was written. Please stand up now.

You might ask yourself what my views and issues are that I would feel so horribly disenfranchised by both major political parties. What kind of nut-job am I? Well, these briefly are the views and issues for which I seek representation:

One, illegal immigration. I want you to stop coddling illegal immigrants and secure our borders. Close the underground tunnels. Stop the violence and the trafficking in drugs and people.. No amnesty, not again.. Been there, done that, no resolution. P.S., I'm not a racist. This is not to be confused with legal immigration..

Two, the STIMULUS bill.. I want it repealed and I want no further funding supplied to it. We told you No, but you did it anyway. I want the remaining unfunded 95% repealed. Freeze, repeal.

Three: Czars. I want the circumvention of our constitutional checks and balances stopped immediately. Fire the czars. No more czars. Government officials answer to the process, not to the president. Stop trampling on our Constitution, and honor it.

Four, cap and trade. The debate on global warming is not over.. There are many conflicting opinions and it is too soon for this radical legislation. Quit throwing our nation into politically-correct quicksand.

Five, universal healthcare. I will not be rushed into another expensive decision that will burden me, my children, and grandchildren. Don't you dare try to pass this in the middle of the night without even reading it. Slow down! Fix only what is broken -- we have the best health care system in the world -- and test any new program in one or two states first.

Six, growing government control. I want states rights and sovereignty restored.. I want less government in my life, not more.More is not better! Shrink it down. Mind your own business. You have enough to take care of with your real [Constitutional] obligations. Why don't you start there.

Seven, ACORN. I do not want ACORN and its affiliates in charge of our 2010 census. I want them investigated. I also do not want mandatory escrow fees contributed to them every time on every real estate deal that closes -- how did they pull that one off? Stop the funding to ACORN and its affiliates pending impartial audits and investigations. I do not trust them with taking the census with our taxpayer money. I don't trust them with any of our taxpayer money. Face up to the allegations against them and get it resolved before taxpayers get any more involved with them. If it walks like a duck and talks like a duck, hello. Stop protecting your political buddies. You work for us, the people. Investigate.

Eight, redistribution of wealth. No, no, no. I work for my money. It is mine. I have always worked for people with more money than I have because they gave me jobs -- and that is the only redistribution of wealth that I will support. I never got a job from a poor person! Why do you want me to hate my employers? And what do you have against shareholders making a profit?

Nine, charitable contributions. Although I never got a job from a poor person, I have helped many in need. Charity belongs in our local communities, where we know our needs best and can use our local talent and our local resources. Butt out, please. We want to do it ourselves.

Ten, corporate bailouts. Knock it off. Every company must sink or swim like the rest of us. If there are hard times ahead, we'll be better off just getting into it and letting the strong survive. Quick and painful. (Have you ever ripped off a Band-Aid?) We will pull together.. Great things happen in America under great hardship.. Give us the chance to innovate. We cannot disappoint you more than you have disappointed us.

Eleven, transparency and accountability. How about it? No, really, how about it? Let's have it. Let's say we give the buzzwords a rest and have some straight honest talk. Please stop trying to manipulate and appease me with clever wording. I am not the idiot you obviously take me for.. Stop sneaking around and meeting in back rooms making deals with your friends. It will only be a prelude to your criminal investigation. Stop hiding things from me.

Twelve, unprecedented quick spending. Stop it now.
Take a breath. Listen to the people. Slow down and get some input from nonpoliticians and experts on the subject. Stop making everything an emergency. Stop speed-reading our bills into law. I am not an activist. I am not a community organizer. Nor am I a terrorist, a militant or a violent person. I am a parent and a grandparent. I work. I'm busy. I am busy, and I am tired. I thought we elected competent people to take care of the business of government so that we could work, raise our families, pay our bills, have a little recreation, complain about taxes, endure our hardships, pursue our personal goals, cut our lawn, wash our cars on the weekends and be responsible contributing members of society and teach our children to be the same all while living in the home of the free and land of the brave.

I entrusted you with upholding the Constitution.. I believed in the checks and balances to keep from getting far off course.. What happened? You are very far off course. Do you really think I find humor in the hiring of a speed reader to unintelligently ramble all through a bill that you signed into law without knowing what it contained? I do not.

It is a mockery of the responsibility I have entrusted to you. It is a slap in the face. I am not laughing at your arrogance. Why is it that I feel as if you would not trust me to make a single decision about my own life and how I would live it but you should expect that I should trust you with the debt that you have laid on all of us and our children. We did not want the TARP bill. We said no. We would repeal it if we could. I am sure that we still cannot. There is needless urgency and recklessness in all of your recent spending of our tax dollars.


From my perspective, it seems that all of you have gone insane. I also know that I am far from alone in these feelings.. Do you honestly feel that your current pursuits have merit to patriotic Americans? We want it to stop. We want to put the brakes on everything that is being rushed by us and forced upon us. We want our voice back. You have forced us to put our lives on hold to straighten out the mess that you are making. We will have to give up our vacations, our time spent with our children, any relaxation time we may have had and money we cannot afford to spend on bringing our concerns to Washington . Our president often knows all the right buzzwords like unsustainable. Well, no kidding. How many tens of thousands of dollars did the focus group cost to come up with that word? We don't want your overpriced words. Stop treating us like we're morons.


We want all of you to stop focusing on your reelection and do the job we want done, not the job you want done or the job your party wants done. You work for us and at this rate I guarantee you not for long because we are coming.. We will be heard and we will be represented. You think we're so busy with our lives that we will never come for you? We are the formerly silent majority, all of us who quietly work, pay taxes, obey the law, vote, save money, keep our noses to the grindstone... and we are now looking at you.

You have awakened us, the patriotic freedom spirit so strong and so powerful that it had been sleeping too long. You have pushed us too far. Our numbers are great. They may surprise you. For every one of us who will be there, there will be hundreds more that could not come. Unlike you, we have their trust. We will represent them honestly, rest assured. They will be at the polls on voting day to usher you out of office.
We have cancelled vacations. We will use our last few dollars saved. We will find the representation among us and a grassroots campaign will flourish. We didn't ask for this fight. But the gloves are coming off. We do not come in violence, but we are angry. You will represent us or you will be replaced with someone who will. There are candidates among us who will rise like a Phoenix from the ashes that you have made of our constitution.

Democrat, Republican, independent, libertarian. Understand this. We don't care. Political parties are meaningless to us Patriotic Americans are willing to do right by us and our Constitution, and that is all that matters to us now. We are going to fire all of you who abuse power and seek more. It is not your power. It is ours and we want it back.We entrusted you with it and you abused it. You are dishonorable. You are dishonest. As Americans we are ashamed of you. You have brought shame to us. If you are not representing the wants and needs of your constituency loudly and consistently, in spite of the objections of your party, you will be fired. Did you hear? We no longer care about your political parties. You need to be loyal to us, not to them.. Because we will get you fired and they will not save you.

If you do or can represent me, my issues, my views, please stand up. Make your identity known. You need to make some noise about it. Speak up. I need to know who you are. If you do not speak up, you will be herded out with the rest of the sheep and we will replace the whole congress if need be one by one. We are coming. Are we coming for you? Who do you represent? What do you represent? Listen. Because we are coming. We the people are coming."

Welcome Baby!

Welcome to the World!!!

Tessa Emercyn Lea

8lbs 6oz and 21in long

Resolutions

New Year Resolutions for 2010

• Tone up my body.. I just need more muscle tone
• Write in my journal daily
• Blog at least once a week
• Become a better friend
• Get my license
• Get caught up in school
• Improve my relationships with family
• Read the Book Of Mormon daily
• Say my prayers daily

2009 Reflection Questions

1. What was the single best thing that happened this year? I welcomed Cameron as my newest Nephew



2. What was the single most challenging thing that happened? Learning that friends aren't always there for you.



3. What was an unexpected joy this past year? Spending so much time with Brittany<3



4. What was an unexpected obstacle? My Family is moving and I'm staying behind for 6 months



5. What are 3 words to describe 2009? Hectic, Heartbreaking, and filled with Love



6. What were the best books you read this year? The Last Song, The Book Of Mormon, and The Twilight Saga (again)

7. With whom was your most valuable relationships? My family:) I got really close to my mom and Brittany this year:)

8. What was your biggest personal challenge from January to December? Ummm to get caught up in school!




9. In what ways did you grow emotionally? I think I learned how to better recognize and release how I am feeling



10. In what ways did you grow spiritually? I grew a lot closer to my Heavenly Father!




11. In what ways did you grow physically? I started to get back into shape. I took a tennis and yoga classes at the college.



12. In what ways did you grow in your relationships with others? I learned a lot about relationships this past year. How to let go and move on. As well as how to embrace new found relationships.



13. What was your single biggest time waster in your life this past year? Facebook! It became internet crack



14. What was the biggest thing you learned this year? How to let go and move on.




15. Create a phrase or statement that describes 2009 for you.
The Shortest distance between a problem and a solution is the distance between your knees and the floor!