MrsDoubleU's Revelife

Monday, February 16, 2009

Mon, 16 Feb 2009 02:57:58 GMT

Ok, I know I haven't updated in over a month. Here are the things that have been keeping me busy lately:

I got a full time position.
I started using Facebook.
I started Weight Watchers and it seems like it takes me a good deal of time to record EVERYTHING I eat.
Chris & I are taking a class every Wednesday night - Perspectives on the World Christian Movement.
We have home group every other Tuesday.
We just started helping teach ESL at church on Saturday nights.

Conclusion: I have very little time for Revelife. Sad to say, but I will try to stay in touch. If you know me "in person", add me to your Facebook and you will probably hear from me more frequently.

Until ??

As seen on TV...

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 21:16:29 GMT

It's the Snuggy, complete with extremely long sleeves. Yes, this is pretty much like a hospital gown made out of poor quality fleece minus a way to close the back. Chris thinks there should be a velcro closure or something so you can walk around in your Snuggy. However, it produces a lot of static so it's actually better not to move around in it. But it will suffice for keeping my arms warm while reading. Thanks, Honey!

Life Goes On in 2009

Sat, 03 Jan 2009 19:09:58 GMT

Well, I'm disappointed that the holiday season is over. No more days off to look forward to. No more random gifts and money flowing into our bank account from friends and family. Back to the ho-hum, hum-drum every day routine. Or is it?

I didn't make a New Year's resolution as I am horribly bad about keeping them for more than a few weeks. In fact, I haven't even really sat down and made a mental list of what I want to accomplish in 2009. The big question to start the year is: where will I be employed about a month from now? It's not that my current position is about to be eliminated (although it could be), as much as it is a burning desire to get out of that company. Corporate America is not for me. On a long shot I put in a resume where my husband works. They have had an open position since about the beginning of December, but I was not interested in applying at that time. They told Chris they've already offered the job to someone but that person has not yet accepted. So, throwing a fleece out there, I decided to give them my resume and see where that leads. If the other person accepts the job, so be it. If not, perhaps it is the providence of God.

There are so many places that I would like to go in 2009. The mission group I'm volunteering with has several short term trip opportunities during the summer, which I would LOVE to do. However, this year will also be Chris' high school class reunion in Spokane, Washington. He would really like to go and since I've never been to that part of the country, he would like to show me around and maybe go to Seattle. I would love to do this, but, of course, this depends upon our income/savings/getting off work. Then there are my parents who were disappointed we didn't come home this year for the holidays, so I'm sure they expect us for Christmas next year. And I would love to do that too. Then there's the dream of visiting my sponsor child in Bolivia. She's 15 now, so I suspect she'll be finishing the program in a few more years. That doesn't give me too long to pull that together. Oh, and my friend (who I haven't seen in about 3.5 years) is getting married in New Zealand in July. Anybody wanna donate a few thousand dollars towards Holly's wannabe overseas adventures?

Enjoying Life

Tue, 23 Dec 2008 13:42:33 GMT

Yesterday was my birthday, and it was a very good day. It started out with Chris making me breakfast. My work day went well, if a little slow, and I participated in a Texas (?) tradition for the first time. Around here when it is your birthday you put a pin on your shirt and people give you money. It looks a little weird with money pinned to your shirt, but then everyone knows it's your birthday. I think I got about $9.00 out of it and strangers were wishing me a Happy Birthday. It was fun.

After work Chris took me to Papaya Garden, a really nice Thai restaurant. I overate, of course. Then he gave me my present - a gift certificate for salon services at the Gaylord Texan (fancy, shmancy hotel/resort type place for those who don't know). He even got me a gift card for the restaurant across from the salon so I can have a whole special day. Yay. Several people called and/or left birthday greetings on my answering machine. Finally, we had a small cake and then watched "Home Alone", which I hadn't seen in years. Overall it was a great day.

The other thing that happened yesterday is that we received several packages in the mail. Since we're not going home for Christmas my parents and sisters have been shipping our gifts here. One of the boxes that arrived, unfortunately, had a large picture of the actual item on the outside. Good thing no one decided to steal it from our porch while we were at work! Anyway...it's a new microwave. Yay! When we got married Chris had one of those old Magic Chef kinds that only has one power level and has a dial. It worked ok, but my main concern was its age and whether it was leaking microwaves. Since I want to get pregnant I don't really want a leaky microwave around. I tried out the new one this morning to make my instant oatmeal and it was great. It cooked in half the time and was very quiet. Hopefully my parents will forgive us for using it before Christmas but since I already knew what it was, it was hard not to take it out of the box. And then once it was out of the box, well, you know the rest of the story.

I'm Still Here

Sun, 30 Nov 2008 19:04:31 GMT

Wow, it's been quite awhile since I've been on here. Since my work hours have increased I haven't had as much time for blogging or writing in any form. The good news is that my hours are going to be reduced as of this week so I should have more time for Revelife and my novel.

I am excited that Christmas is coming up so soon. Chris and I had our own Thanksgiving dinner together as a couple since we didn't have the time or finances to visit my family in PA. I think we did pretty good with the turkey considering it was both of our first times roasting a turkey. Yesterday we put up a tree and did a little decorating in the house. We bought lights for outside but it's too windy to attempt putting them up today. I am also changing my background on here to reflect the season better. I just couldn't resist this one since I live in Texas.

I can't believe how quickly time has flown since I got married in April. Next thing I know our one year anniversary will be here already.

Candidates Views on Vaccination Choice

Sat, 25 Oct 2008 20:55:05 GMT

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Rebecca Estepp Claudine Liss
858-829-6454 310-970-2485
MilMom2000@gmail.com dineliss@aol.com
McCain Supports Parental Vaccination Choice and Prioritizes Vaccine Safety
Obama Silent Despite Repeated Overtures From Parents

Poway, CA, October 23, 2008 - Rebecca Estepp is a military spouse and the mother of two boys, including a vaccine-injured child with autism. Her husband, a Marine, has served three war-time deployments in the past five years. "You would think the war would be the most important issue to me, but it‟s not. The war will be over at some point but the effects of vaccine damage will last for generations." Estepp cites the neurotoxins injected into American babies and expresses deep concern about the injury and damage they may be causing, saying "It weighs heavily on my heart."

For these reasons, Estepp made and sent a two-minute video entitled "Vaccine Safety Requests For Our Next Commander-in-Chief" to the two Presidential candidates in May 2008. She made a plea for our next President to issue two Executive Orders within the first one hundred days of entering office; the first, removal all mercury from all vaccines by January 1, 2010, the second, a moratorium on the addition of new vaccines to the recommended list for children until the current vaccine schedule can be proven safe. Says Estepp, "Children deserve to be protected from diseases that can harm or kill them but we need to be sure that in our efforts to prevent disease, we haven‟t created lifelong chronic illness and disabilities."

On October 20th, Estepp received a detailed response from Douglas Holtz-Eakin, a senior policy advisor to the McCain campaign. Vaccine safety is officially on the McCain agenda. If elected, McCain said he "will work with all agencies to take all necessary steps in an expedient manner to ensure safe vaccines for every American family." And, significantly, McCain also endorsed parental vaccination choice. In response to the new vaccine moratorium request, McCain offered: "The key to health care reform is to restore control to the patients themselves." The full text is provided in the October 23rd post on Age of Autism (AoA) www.ageofautism.com

In contrast, Team Obama has declined to officially clarify its position. Estepp is disappointed: "When asked about vaccine safety, he wrote a general autism position statement and didn‟t even mention the word vaccine." A copy of his letter to Rebecca Estepp is provided in the same AoA post. The words "vaccine safety" are not found in any Obama campaign materials or speeches.

Taking matters into her own hands, New Jersey parent Claudine Liss attended an Obama fundraiser with the express intention of getting an answer. Liss explains, "I shook his hand and would not let go until he answered my question. He looked right at me and said, "I am not for selective vaccination. I believe it will bring back deadly diseases, like polio.‟ Liss and many others are declining to vaccinate their children using the CDC-recommended schedule. New Jersey parents are furious about the first-ever mandated flu shot required for day care and preschool. Seven hundred people rallied in Trenton last week in support of vaccination choice. The freedom of choice issue resonates deeply and has made national news, with coverage on Fox News TV, ABC World News Tonight and an Associated Press article that was picked up by dozens of papers across the country.

Estepp extends a final plea to Senator Obama to clarify his position: "This is a party-neutral issue and many of our parents are waiting to make up their minds. Senator McCain says parents have the final say in how they vaccinate their children. Senator Obama appears to disagree. I sincerely hope that Senator Obama misspoke that night in New Jersey and he lets us know before November 4th."

Abortion - how do we respond?

Thu, 09 Oct 2008 14:49:18 GMT

The other week at work I was telling a co-worker that my husband and I are trying to get pregnant. She told me that she was very fertile and had been pregnant three times - all of those while on "the pill." In the back of my mind I was thinking: "I don't remember her saying anything about having kids, so I wonder..." I didn't have to wonder long as she started telling me that she had "terminated" a pregnancy when she was in college. Since then she had had two miscarriages, which she had not planned to terminate because once had been hard enough. I did not know this girl very well and as she was telling me that she had terminated a pregnancy all kinds of thought were going through my mind, namely: "How could you kill your baby?" I know I went sort of stiff but I tried really hard not to show my "righteous indignation" on the outside. I just sort of nodded and acknowledged what she was saying without commenting. After she had gone back to her desk I started thinking of things I should have said. Like "Wow, that must have been really hard. You are really brave to share that with me." I also started realizing that there could have been a connection between the abortion and the later miscarriages. Perhaps her uterine lining had been damaged, leading to implantation or placentation problems. I would never have the heart to tell her this, though.

I think it is easy to be a Pro-Life zealot and call abortion murder. What is more difficult is showing love, compassion and empathy to a woman who has chosen to end her pregnancy in this way. One time several years ago I was talking about abortion and how I could not understand how a woman could be so selfish. Little did I know that one of the other girls in the room, though part of a Christian mission agency, had had an abortion as a teenager. She later told me how my remarks had hurt her and brought back all the painful memories. What this taught me is that you never know if that sister sitting in front of you at church has had a past abortion. What's done is done and while I totally disagree with ending your baby's life, I need to be prepared to minister to these women and not simply walk away in disgust. That day I vowed to take a different approach - an approach I attempted to take with that coworker. I don't think I completely succeeded but I don't think she went feeling condemned - not by me at least - so I guess that was some progress.

Get rid of your dirt as soon as possible.

Thu, 25 Sep 2008 19:53:39 GMT

The other week I was sitting on the sofa looking at my carpet. I had just vacuumed it earlier that day and yet it was already starting to look bad again. Both of our dogs are shedding plus dragging leaves and dirt in from outside, and the carpet just will not stay clean for long. The thought came into my mind: "Why bother?" Why should I vacuum again when I know it won't make a difference for long? But then I started picturing in my mind what would happen if I didn't vacuum for a week or more. Even more dirt and pet hair getting ground into the carpet as we walk on it. I thought about what happens when you don't clean your toilet for a long time. The longer it is before you clean something, the harder the job becomes. Yet there is part of me that dislikes cleaning. I'd like to procrastinate; save it for another day. Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't.

Vacuuming the carpet or cleaning the toilet regularly is also sort of like "keeping a short account with God", as I've heard some people call it. We need to be examining ourselves daily to see if there is any "dirt" that needs to be removed. Most sins don't start out as huge, blatant episodes (adultery, for example), but tiny seeds of lust may be planted in your mind when you watch a movie with a sex scene. If you let that sin ferment, it will only lead to more sin as your heart becomes hardened and caked with sin dirt. Some Christians stress the important of repentence in the salvation experience but then forget that it is an ongoing process we should be doing daily, even hourly, if need be. So the next time you clean your toilet, remember to cleanse your heart before God too.

I heart autumn

Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:55:19 GMT

I am very pleased with the weather here the past few days. It has been bearably cool and the a/c has not had to run as much (good news for the next power bill). It reminds me of home and not Texas. I can't wait for the leaves to start changing color, although here the colors seem subdued compared to PA. I suppose I should change my background on here because it's not quite spring. That may be a project for next week when I have time to figure out how to change it.

Thursday Chris and I are starting a home group at our house. Yay! It should be a good time of fellowship. Both of us have had a desire to do this for awhile. I love having people over and what better reason than to study the Word, pray and worship.

I hope everyone who reads this is having a great week so far.

The results are in...

Thu, 11 Sep 2008 11:44:06 GMT

I got my letter from the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM) yesterday and the great news is that I passed the test!!! Yay, hoorah. Whoop and hollar. Now I just have to wait for the state to send me my application to officially apply for the Texas license. Of course that entails more money. I don't think I ever felt like I worked so hard to earn that grade. Yipee skippy!