PB&J: News & Money

There have been a couple of things that have happened in the news recently that I thought I would talk about...

The biggest and most exciting (I think) is the news that came out of New York a couple of weeks ago! So much to celebrate as New York became the largest state to recognize same-sex marriages. Hopefully this will keep the ball rolling in other parts of the country.

Maybe more of a serious issue and one that is running on a deadline is the Debt Ceiling talks and the budget crisis. Now I will admit, that there is not a lot I don't understand about the economy, the debt ceiling or how the government's budget works. In fact, I know very little. However, when the President addressed the nation last night (6.25.11), I listened. And what I heard was that Congress was not working together - like they should - to reach a compromise in time. And if that isn't done, a lot of damage could be done to the United States. I heard that in the past 8+ years, things were not done correctly to help our deficit. I heard that some in Congress (specifically Republicans, it seemed) were not willing to compromise but instead were putting their own political agendas in front of the need of this country.

When I heard this, I thought of what has happened recently in Minnesota and their state shutdown. That lasted more than a week. And, when I look at it, the same thing was happening in Minnesota that is right now in the capital. Members of Congress (again, mostly Republicans) are not willing to work together and find a compromise. And because of this, in Minnesota, the state shutdown lasted for days and was devastating to the entire state. Finally, Governor Dayton decided to go with the proposal from the Republicans - not because he agreed with it, but because he knew it would be for the better for the state of Minnesota. But in my opinion, it shouldn't have ever reached that point. The Republicans and the Democrats should have worked together from the beginning so that the state never needed to shut down. This is their job - the job they are elected to do. And if they can't do it, then they shouldn't have that job. 

I think the same is true for our elective officials in Washington. If the budget doesn't get balanced in a fair way, there could be serious consequences for years to come. And the American people shouldn't have to pay those consequences because our elected officials couldn't work together. 

I don't do this a lot and maybe I should, but today I took the time to write my elected officials. Right now they are Rep. King, Senator Grassley and Senator Harkin. You too can contact your representatives and ways to find out who they are and how to contact them can be found here. This was my letter. 

I listened to President Obama address the nation last night about our financial crisis. I also listened to House Speaker John Boehner give his response. After listening to both speeches, I agree with what President Obama stated. There needs to be a balanced compromise. Cuts do need to be made. But we should also stop the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans and ask them to contribute to this problem.

I ask you to work together, find a compromise. No one will ever be completely happy - but we can find a happy medium. That is your job as our elective official. Put politics aside and help this country.

Thank you.

While I was searching for the sites to contact my elected officials, I came across another website. This website is called Votizen and it is a place where you can contact your representatives, sign open letters that other people have written or write your own letter and get support. There was one letter that caught my attention on this same subject. I thought it was well written and straight to the point. I added my signature. I've included the link to that letter here. I encourage you to read that letter and if you feel the same way, to join the site and sign your name too. 

To be completely honest, who knows if our elected officials ever even see these letters or notes that we send them. But somebody must be reading them. And sending nothing - especially if you feel so strong about something - is worse. 

With the Iowa Straw poll just around the corner and caucuses and primaries not long after, the debates have started for the next Presidential election. It's our right and our duty as Americans to listen to what the candidates are saying and then voting in these elections. That is how we can make a difference. But, if you're still a skeptic about our democracy, I'll leave you with this quote I heard while out in Colorado for the DNC back in 2008. "Voting is a lot like peeing in the ocean. It might not make much of a difference, but it sure feels good once you've done it."

Moving on... again!

Apparently, the time has come to move on, again. :) Austin and I have decided to move to a new apartment! We're really hoping that this will be our last move in a while because after all the grief our parents have given us... (the fourth move in four years... not bad, right?) I'm not sure they're going to help us anymore. haha

We have been talking about moving out of Council Bluffs for some time now. While we love our current apartment - we're not in love with the management or the cost of renting. We don't feel we're getting our money's worth. We've also discussed wanting to move so that we're living in the Riverside school district - something that will be helpful to AJ! So we started looking and came across two different apartments - each with their pros and cons (we know, we made the list). In the end, we went with our gut (and a smaller bill) and have decided to move to Oakland, Iowa.

Oakland is about 30 minutes east of Council Bluffs. It has a population of about 1,400 and is home to the Riverside High School. We found a very cute one bedroom apartment with custom kitchen cabinets and a built-in entertainment center and bookshelves. I am also very happy to say it has a whirl-pool tub in the bathroom! :) We're both very excited and AJ is extremely happy about being so close to the high school. We're really looking forward to getting move involved with the community and going to school events. While it is going to be a longer drive for me to go to the office, it will be a great location for when I'm doing high school visits since my territory is in Western Iowa. I'll be sure to post pictures once we're moved and settled in.

So for now, we've spent most of our time packing up boxes and getting ready for the move. We spent a great 4th of July weekend in Tipton and spent most of that time outside and in the pool. 

It was a wonderful weekend and so great to relax and enjoy time with some family and friends. I look forward to this weekend every summer since it has become a tradition to spend it at the Zaruba pool. And the weekend never seems long enough, either! :) Other than that, we haven't had too much of an exciting summer. AJ is getting a little antsy around the house (although packing has helped!) and is ready to get back to school. He will be taking a group of students to Wartburg in a few weeks for an All-State Camp and I know he is looking forward to that - especially to show the kids what a great school Wartburg is! :)
 

In other terms of "moving on"... AJ and I went see the midnight showing of the last Harry Potter film last Thursday. It truly is, in my opinion, the end of an era. It took some convincing to get AJ to go to the show with me - he remembered all to well the last midnight showing we went to where we didn't get to sit next to each other and couldn't even enjoy the show with all the kids around. I explained that none of that mattered because it was such a big deal and a great end to something wonderful. I am happy to say that we were able to sit next to each other this time and everyone was so focused on the movie that we were able to thoroughly enjoy the final movie. It also made me think - as I held AJ's hand and cried during the movie - why this was such a big deal. And the reason it was such a big deal is because I've literally grown up with these books. I started reading them as they came out. I wanted for each new book to hit the shelves. I even went to a midnight opening of one of the books! I grew up along side Harry and his friends. It had a large affect on my life. And one that I am forever grateful for. I've always been a fan of reading, but it is such a wonderful thing to see so many people get excited about the release of a new book. And I know that I am extremely lucky to have actually grown up with the books, but I'm also looking forward to reading these books to my children someday, showing them the movie - and helping they'll understand why I love them so much. Harry Potter will always have a spot in my heart. And I'm not sure I'll ever be able to say "Mischief Managed".

Growing Up

The time has come, I believe, for another post about growing up. Because no matter how many times I'm reminded daily that I'm growing up and getting older, I still seem surprised. It's like there are a set of giant steps that each of us must climb. And you can always tell by the events that are going on around you when it's time to take another step. The first big change happens around high school - entering a new building, taking harder classes, etc. And then it's taking your driver's test - wondering how many times you'll have to take it before you pass! Then it's graduation and we're all heading off to college. At college came a lot of other changes - freedom, even harder classes and more homework, new friends and making and learning from mistakes. Then it was the 21st parties, then college graduation and having to find a "real job". And then it was engagements which came along with bridal showers and bachelorette parties and finally the wedding. 

Now I'll admit. All of those steps were pretty easy to handle. None of those steps seemed like that large of step. Maybe had to stretch my legs for a couple of them, but fairly easy. It's these next steps. The next phase of life that's really changing everything up. It's the process of buying our first homes. It's the idea of starting a family. Of having to be so responsible for another person's life. That's a BIG step.

I've had my first couple of baby showers already so I know I'm officially in this next stage of life. That's not to say that AJ and I are ready to have kids - because we're not. :) But I know we're at that point where we're starting to have those serious conversations about our future and what we want for our family someday. And I will admit, although AJ and I are not yet at that stage in life, we are so far enjoying that stage with some of our friends. :)

Liz, Thor & Amanda

My best friend and roommate from college, Amanda and her husband welcomed a baby boy to this world at the end of February. Amanda is one of my closest friends and we've always agreed that we've wanted our children to grow up together. And so it was assumed that we would have close relationships with each other's children as well. So before Thor was born, we tried to come up with a nickname for the baby to call AJ and I. See, Amanda has a really big family and this baby was already going to have a lot of aunts and uncles and we wanted to have something a little different. And so we looked and thought and looked some more, but found nothing. There are just no good nicknames out there for close family friends! However, AJ happened to stumble upon the word clans-people and made a joke that should be our nickname. Well, it stuck. :) Thor is now our clans-baby and AJ and I are his proud Clans-Uncle and Clans-Aunt (or Clans-People). Although Thor is just a couple of months old, AJ and I are looking forward to watching this little one grow up and being apart of his life. 

I would also like to add that part of this growing up has domesticated me in some ways. I have even been able to surprise my mother with that fact! :) I have learned how to cross-stitch and have been cross-stitching bibs for my friends. This one was my first one and it was for Thor.



Another great friendship story is one that is about all of my high school friends. 

The Oven Mitt

There is a group of us that have managed to stay pretty close since high school and trying to get together as much as possible - although you have no idea how difficult that has become since we're literally all over the place! But I think we've done pretty good. And we had this fun little tradition that we started when the first one of us was set to be married (although I'm not sure we knew it would become a tradition). Naomi was given an oven mitt at her bachelorette party that said "Newlyweds heat it up in the kitchen". Then she passed it on to Shateen, the next in line getting married. And soon it became a rotating gift between us. It was fun to always expect that gift to show up when we celebrated the next one to get married.

But now, before we knew it, we're starting to have baby showers for each other. Well we wanted to keep the tradition alive and had thought about what else we could pass along at each other's baby showers. Finally we decided on a quilt with a quote on the back where each child will leave their foot print and name. I wrote a little something to go along with the blanket as well.

What started out as a fun little gag gift,
has turned into an anticipated tradition
It started off in high school with our silly boyfriend drama
Then it became celebrations on getting our driver's licenses and debating who would drive to whichever house we would be TPing
Next came the graduation parties, learning to temporarily say good bye as we each headed out to explore the world
With that came more boyfriend drama and
hours of homework on top of that
But then we were turning 21 and learning how to celebrate
and make mistakes as adults
We starting celebrating bachelorette parties and making sure we would be "heating up the kitchen" as newlyweds
After that it was debating about what color flowers we wanted and praying it didn't rain on our big day
Now it's become something bigger than the rest
We're making homes and starting families
Soon our stories will be about first steps and first words
They'll become stories of spelling bees won
and first playground crushes
And before we know it, we'll be dreading those first driver's licenses and graduation parties
But throughout the past and forever in our future,
one thing has stayed the same
Our friendships grow stronger with time and
we can see no end in sight
As this next chapter in our lives begin, we pray God will continue to bless our friends and our new families
And we pray all these children will grow to know,
these friends we hold so dear

High School Friends Baby Quilt

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