Loving Palin...

Today I've already experienced my favorite reason for having a blog, and twice nonetheless. I love having a forum where I can spout off what's on my mind and that allows others to respond when they have a chance. While I would love to have hours and hours a day to be able to research everything I'm interested in, the reality is that I get what I get and am happy for it! So, here I can write about what I know, and then others can add what they know, and I have a more narrow search area to grab what I'm looking for.

My father-in-law, Bruce, read my blog and sent me a link for Glenn Beck. Glenn had interviewed Palin before she was announced vice-presidential running mate for McCain, and had some interesting insights into her. Again, while I haven't been able to delve terribly deep into the subject I am even more a Palin backer (yes a Palin backer, McCain's just along for the ride as far as I'm concerned with this one). Anyway, after reading a post by Glenn (there are several video/audio files if you have a chance), but I just pulled out his last paragraph of commentary which pretty much summed up the article... the article is still worth reading since it gives you way more information, but the gist of it is:

"She knows how to run against all odds. This woman ran against not only the Democrat, she ran against the incumbent Republican, and she won. She won against the Republican in the primary and then she won against the Democrat. She has bipartisan appeal. She's a woman, but she's not a feminist. She's a strong woman, but she doesn't hate men. She is so pro life that when the doctors came to her and said, "Oh, boy, you've got a kid with Down Syndrome, what do you say, should we kill him?" She said, "Absolutely not." And she wouldn't allow them to perform any more tests. "We know he's going to have problems; we'll be able to deal with any of them."

Like my blog headers says, I'm neither blue, red, black, or white.... I'm a pretty good mix of everything, I am what I am, think what I think.... and what I think is that it's time to look towards a female candidate who is pro family, pro life, and pro male... I'm so sick of feminist women, give it up already! Yes, women's rights is a good thing. I'm thankful to live in a country where we're not oppressed, but let's define oppression. Having a loving relationship with my husband and taking care of my family isn't my definition of oppression. To each his own, but I find it to be pretty rewarding.

Anyway, thanks again Bruce for the information.... and if anyone has any other information to pass along I'd love to read it. Boy am I excited for Sarah Palin, I hope that I can continue to be in her corner. Of course I'm prepared for a let down, but I do have a glimmer of hope that she'll regain my hope in the political system.

Thoughts on Ender's Game thus far...

Our first Thursday in September for the colloquium I attend will be a discussion on Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card. This book is supposed to be a sci-fi thriller of sorts, which while I wouldn't normally pick it up, I have no problem reading. I'm about 80 pages into it and find myself confused. I'm not attacking the author, so don't get me wrong, I just don't understand his writing style. In order to get a better idea of the man that created this work I researched his biography straight from his personal website. He is very incredible, and I very much appreciate what he has to teach, "when he advises young writers that their best education is to try, through reading, to "learn everything about everything," he is [] counseling them to embark on an endless quest that he began in childhood and continues to this day."

My confusion sets in with a mental discrepancy of who he is, an active church member, and the language that is put on the pages. I'm sure I wouldn't be so hesitant in my reading and could more easily look past these occasional words, (which is a personal flaw that I haven't just put it down because of them, but that's another story), but I know the language he's using is wrong and I feel let down that a text I expected to be clean/ for all readers is tainted with unnecessary filth. No, I haven't come across any "big" swear words (which is relative anyway), but I just don't understand why the words that are in there are in there.

There may be no justification available to set my mind at ease, but I'm desperately trying to find one. Is it just common for sci-fi novels to have bad language and so he had to throw some in to even make it a viable novel? Would the publishers not publish the book if it was to clean? I know this is silly, but I'm really having a rough time with this one.

For any of you who are into sci-fi novel or have read Ender's Game, I would really love to get a comment from you to help me out. I know, I'm a baby... but I'm a baby with a really stellar photographic memory which is great most of the time, but gives me a hard time when I see words, and thus hear words in my head that shouldn't be there. And being that this is an LDS author I tend to dwell on the issue for a ridiculously long time, a like so.

Foods that deserve a special Mention... updated as I see fit:

There are a few foods that are must haves on the Jorgensen shopping list. I feel like we’re constantly adding to this list, and will keep you updated as it hopefully grows. The following foods have a little synopsis as to why we use them over others. My hope is that perhaps you’ll want to give them a try and taste the difference a more natural product can make!

Aluminum Free Baking Powder - Actually makes food raise better from our experience, and without the aluminum. No, I can’t tell you exactly why they add it in the stuff you probably have in your cupboard, it just doesn’t sound right. Plus it works better without it, so why ingest something that isn’t necessary especially when it’s aluminum... last I checked that’s what I use to keep hot foods hot or to keep them from burning in the oven.
Daisy Sour Cream -The only one that is just made from milk. I thought that you couldn’t get sour cream without having huge words in it that you can’t pronounce, but thanks to my mommy I spend a little extra for the good stuff.
Organic Ketchup - No Corn Syrup..., but doesn’t that make it just smashed tomato? I know it’s crazy, but they actually use plain sugar! Who knew, making food before science gave us the killer that is corn syrup was possible?
Bull’s Eye BBQ Sauce -They have a new no High Fructose Corn Syrup recipe (It’s right on the label!!) So, kuddos to them for turning the tide and going back to real foods.
TreeTop Applesauce -Just apples and citric acid (a necessary addition to help preserve it.)
Natures Way Rice -You make this rice by Rice a Roni with olive oil and it's really yummy.
Olive Oil -Enough said. It’s worth it to get the good stuff.
Butter -Say what you will, but REAL BUTTER IS THE BEST FOOD FOR YOUR HEALTH. Eating things that have been created in a lab isn’t good for you. I would much rather eat a product that has an ingredient that says milk/cream (and salt if you feel so inclined... we, however, decline :-D) over something that has 30 ingredients, more than half of which I have no idea what they are, nor can I pronounce them. Just use some common sense and moderate use.
Kashi (TLC) ANYTHING....most specifically granola bars. They have awesome chocolate chip ones and just came out with some soft fruit ones.) No Corn Syrup or yucky stuff.
Organic Cane Sugar - Not bleached.... enough said.
Bryers Vanilla Ice Cream (not the slow churned, french or anything else weird, just regular old vanilla bean... the other stuff all has junk in it.) The ingredients here are about as basic as you can get from what I’ve seen.
"Annie's" Anything - they have everything from rabbit crackers (an organic substitute for the "fishy" cracker), to their version of macaroni and cheese... I'd still rather make this meal myself, but for a quick alternative that I don't think will kill anyone on a sporadic basis, I keep this around for the hubby and kiddos... plus they have "bernie-o's" which would be the organic version of spaghetti-O's. While a home cooked meal beats these alternatives a million times over any day of the week, we all have our off days, so at least these are better options for when those come around.
"Amy's" anything- these products will hook you up with everything from frozen foods to soups. They cater to gluten free, milk free and vegetarian diets. Definitely worth a yummy look!
Newman's Own-they have a lot of cookies/crackers in our store. I'm pretty sure they have a long list of products, but for the chocoholic in my home (and no, that isn't me) there's no other cookie choice then their chocolate chip cookies.
DelMonte Jarred Peaches-I seriously thought I wouldn't be able to buy fruit that wasn't sitting in corn syrup or some concentrated something or other. Imagine my elation when I took a gander at the jarred peaches at Costco. They just had regular old-fashioned sugar. Yay! Not only that but they taste SO GOOD. I pulled them out and it tasted just like I'd peeled a peach off the tree, fabuloso!

Oh Brother Obama.... Hello Sarah Palin! Originally written 8/29/08

Of course, Obama had to go and disappoint me.... oh well, I suppose he and McCain get some kind of kick out of their elementary school brawl, so be it.

McCain has renewed my hope that I can cast a ballot and feel mostly peaceful, for the moment anyway, we’ll see how the coming months go. Governor Palin was not someone I expected to see by the Senator, but I’m encouraged by that fact that she was. Here’s a woman with 5 children, who’s the first female Governor of Alaska, is pro-life, and while you can tell she’s a strong voice, she doesn’t come off scary like Hillary did. While McCain doesn’t really do it for me, so far I’m feeling drawn in by her. Shocking I know. I’m sure that wasn’t at all McCain’s intention. Again, all my little eggs aren’t in one basket at the moment, but they are playing a wild game of hot potato.

Things that don't make sense... Originally written 8/28/08

Senator McCain’s campaign tactics: How childish can you be? I’m about to discount him just based on the fact that since we’ve hit the real presidential campaign and all he can do is tell us not to vote for Obama. Umm... k... hows about you start telling my WHY I should vote for YOU and layoff trying to discount Obama. I know neither candidate is perfect, and I can’t say that my views are reflected well in either one, but I lean more on the side of the guy who’s out to promote himself. Isn’t that what we’re voting for here? The way I see McCain at this point is as someone who can’t win on his own so he’s trying to make the other guy look bad. Is this really true? Not necessarily, but he’s not making a good argument as to why I should vote for him.

American kids diets: Why are we so insistent on killing the next generation? Seriously, do we have some kind of grudge against them that makes in necessary for us to let them do whatever they want for “happiness” even if it means their utter demise? There are 4.5 million obese kids/teenagers in America right now and that number is raising. Aren’t we just a fabulous nation! Yuck, makes me sick. Only in America (and now that our lovely bad influence is being inflicted, yes inflicted, on other Westernized nations) do kids have whole meals made separately for them because they “don’t like” what’s for dinner. You’re joking right? Not only do they get separate meals, but those meals consist of macaroni and cheese (so glad my kids don’t ask for this meal by name), Spaghetti O’s, Ramen, PB & J (that is if your kid “tolerates” the peanut butter... there’s probably no problem with the jelly, there’s usually a good amount of sugar in that to make it just right), lunchables, oh, and my favorite HOT DOGS, chips, sugar cereal, soda, and fruit snacks. I think a laser hit Earth right over America and erased our ability to use common sense. No kid ever liked anything that wasn’t repeatedly presented for their palate to figure out, and no kid is picky who’s learned how to eat right. Want to get rid of a picky kid? Stop rolling over and babying them over food. Oh, and if you’re having problems with your own weight take a gander at the foods you keep in your house and your portion sizes.... just for funsies! Maybe someday we’ll say goodbye to the processed foods and try to live a little longer. Enough said.

Public Schools: Shall we call as spade a spade? Don’t try and feed me the story about my child’s “academic education” because that just makes me laugh. Public schools try to help kids with their “social education” and that’s fine and dandy-like I’m sure for most. However, here’s my problem. There is an epidemic of dual-income household which for most, probably not all, people means that they’re not all that big a part of their kids education be it academic or social. So, these cute little kids have some really fun behaviors that they bring to the mix, and us in our infinite wisdom say, “hey wouldn’t it be a great idea to stick a bunch of 6 year-olds together so they can learn social skills from one another.” Yah, that’s special. I would love to have my kids learn from another kid, who also doesn’t know how to act. If I didn’t believe in foreordination I would swear that I was born in the wrong time frame. My mind itches for the days before WWII changed our schooling as a nation. It’s interesting, the “great minds” of our times were home-schooled through mentors, private teachers, and parents and did INCREDIBLE things. PUBLIC SCHOOLS WERE FOR THE POOR, they weren’t meant for the masses. Now it’s just fine and dandy to hand our kids over no questions asked to someone who may not have a clue. Nice. You know, I don’t want the surgeon who barely passed working on me, but we’re more then happy to hand our kids development over to the kid who may have barely passed college. Yes, yes “but I supplement my kids at home.” Should I roll my eyes back in my head now or later? Why send your kids AWAY for 6 + hours a day in the first place? This is what stress looks like to me....
Somewhere between 6-8am: scramble to get kids ready, breakfast, all school items together.
8-3-ish: school... complete with scrambling to learn what’s on the government tests so that the school will get adequate funding, teachers dealing with discipline issues, the “ADD” kid acting up because he can’t sit still (Why did we learn about different learning styles if all we’re going to teach to is one type and leave the other ones hanging?).
3-8: After school activities.... sports, sports games, dance, homework, oh and let’s not forget “supplemental learning” (which is another way of admitting that the school isn’t sufficient), maybe dinner is in there somewhere.
9pm or maybe a little earlier if your extra-curricular schedule permits: bedtime

So, I am a self confessed control-freak, but in all the running around I just don’t see enough time to RELAX and enjoy time as a family each day. I’d rather have hours of just being together then sending them to a “babysitter” <-- how I think of public schools and including private schools who do nothing more then just turn kids out on a conveyor belt without allowing proper development of them using their own brains. Where have all the leaders gone? Where has the ability to think for ourselves and develop our own interests and LOVE learning gone. Why aren’t books our nations’ favorite thing to turn to then the t.v., computer, or virtual games? Our society is just a whole new definition of lazy.

Church... an older woman... and blacks getting the priesthood

I regularly try to entertain myself no matter where I am. Fortunately, in life there are so many opportunities to laugh even when I'm not looking! I was in Relief Society one Sunday, being totally good mind you, and this blessed opportunity came knocking at my door. The instructor was talking about prophetic revelation and wandered down a road that I knew was coming. She stated that there was a revelation revealed to President Kimball in the '70's or so, and did any of "the old folks" in the room know what it was. Like I said, my brain was already cued into this one because I knew that blacks in the priesthood was a touchy subject, and from what I can remember President Kimball wasn't so hot on the idea. Anyhow, this woman kitty-corner to me raises her hand and tries to approach the subject "delicately"... yah, that SO didn't happen. I mean really kuddos to me for somewhat holding myself together. She stutters on her words, takes a couple seconds here and there, but all together manages to spit out "it was when the uh... colored men... were to receive the priesthood." The worst I did was lean to the woman next to me and say "huh, and here I was going to say 'it was when the blacks received the priesthood' so much for being pc." Yah... people are funny. Especially in Utah County. What can you do. I know she didn't mean anything by it, but still, Nathan and I had a good chuckle about it.

Previous Posts

Nathan and I publish a family blog, not very well kept up but present nonetheless, at our .mac address. I've decided to post a few of those here. I thought that a blogspot address would be easier to pass along to friends and family, and I wanted to be more accessible to others who might be looking for information about things that make my world go 'round. Things that will regularly show up here will have to do with the life of a military wife, motherhood, homeschooling, politics, leadership education (more specifically: A Thomas Jefferson Education), weekly colloquium topics, self-education (more specifically: A Mother's Educational Course), organic foods or those that are just better, health, things related to religion (probably mostly to do with mine: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints), and things that I think are humorous no matter how random, and all of the above may or may not be considered "pc" to everyone. With all of this in mind just try to sit back, enjoy the ride, and lighten up enough to laugh with me for a minute... it'll help you live longer! I promise!

Yep, that's me

Everything I have to say about myself can be summed up in my blog title.