Seriously, so tired of this~

Seriously, is anyone else as sick of this as I am? I am neither Republican nor Democrat. I'm simply a woman who votes for whomever I deem most qualified. I am baffled as to how out of all the people in America we ended up with these two as potentional leaders of our great nation. (Of course, I am baffled as to how we ended up with George Bush as well~and I voted for him.)

After watching the debate the other night and leaving the room out of pure frustration I am at a loss as to what sort of vote to cast. Todd has even said he took some online questionaire that was supposed to help you decide which candidate fits you. Neither candidate works for him. Shocking, right. Wrong. I think there are many Americans who are feeling at loss about who to vote for. It seems as though all these two would like to do is argue. They couldn't even answer the questions asked of them the other night. No, they just talked about things the other had or had not voted about. And lets be honest here, none of us really knows what information was even contained in half of those bills they referred to, so really what are we supossed to believe? Lets talk about things that the general public can understand.

I'm probably most annoyed with both their thoughts on healthcare and taxes. Mccain's plan is an absolute nightmare, while Obama's is leading us closer to socialism. And, being someone surrounded by the healthcare field I feel I have a bit of knowledge on this subject. I absolutely agree with Obama that healthcare needs to be manditory, but not just for children, for everyone. But, I don't think we all should be responsible to pay for it. Yes, there are those people out there who truly can't afford healthcare and really need the help. By all means, lets help them. But more often that not, I see people come into Primary's for surgery and their parent's have electively chosen to not purchase health insurance. They have great jobs are dressed well and have just decided it's not important. Come on people, you are required to have car insurance before you can drive!! If you don't there is a hefty fine and potential license suppension. Of course people don't let this lapse or they couldn't drive. Why will they not insure their children??! It should be a part of your regular bills. Something you pay for before you are able to buy the newer bigger car, boat, clothes etc.

I think Mitt Romney had a great idea for healthcare. He has already implemented it in Mass. Everyone is required by law to purchase healthcare insurance. If you REALLY can't afford it then you are given some help from the government to still purchase your own. You are not handed your insurance plan on a silver platter from the government. (I believe this is the plan in a nutshell-correct me if I'm wrong, please.)

It would just be nice if we had a politician who really cared about the betterment of the American people. So something wasn't your idea. Someone has a better idea than you, adopt it. No one would think lesser of you, infact, they would probably think better of you.

Oh, and how about a flat tax across the board. Then everyone would be paying an equal amount into the system. No more of this complicated deduction crap. Anyone else hate figuring their taxes as much as I do. We can all figure out 10% of our income. End of story, I will get off my political soapbox.

Seriously, mourning the fact that this man is not a choice.

Words to think about...

Ok, it is entirely too late for me to be awake! But, my favorite show of all time, Meet Joe Black, was on. I have loved it since I first saw it almost 10 years ago! It doesn't matter how many times I see it, it still makes me cry. Admist it's crazy ideas and awkward moments with Brad Pitt as death, it has some of the best advice for life. I often wonder what I would do with my life, if I knew I only had a few days left. The same holds true for a family member.

The following quotes are from Bill Parrish:

"Love is passion, obsession, someone you can't live without. If you don't start with that, what are you going to end up with? Fall head over heels. I say find someone you can love like crazy and who'll love you the same way back. And how do you find him? Forget your head and listen to your heart. I'm not hearing any heart. Run the risk, if you get hurt, you'll come back. Because, the truth is there is no sense living your life without this. To make the journey and not fall deeply in love - well, you haven't lived a life at all. You have to try. Because if you haven't tried, you haven't lived. "

"Trust, responsibility, taking the weight for your choices and feelings, and spending the rest of your life living up to them. And above all, not hurting the object of your love. "

" I loved Susan from the moment she was born, and I love her now and every minute in between. And what I dream of is a man who will discover her, and that she will discover a man who will love her, who is worthy of her, who is of this world, this time and has the grace, compassion, and fortitude to walk beside her as she makes her way through this beautiful thing called life."

"I thought I was going to sneak away tonight. What a glorious night. Every face I see is a memory. It may not be a perfectly perfect memory. Sometimes we had our ups and downs. But we're all together, and you're mine for a night. And I'm going to break precedent and tell you my one candle wish: that you would have a life as lucky as mine, where you can wake up one morning and say, "I don't want anything more." Sixty-five years. Don't they go by in a blink? "

Beautiful Fall Colors!

Wow! Aren't we lucky to live in such a beautiful world....

I must admit that fall is my favorite time of the year. There is a crispness in the air that is so refreshing. I think it even smells different. The sky seems to be a different and capitivating color of blue. Granted these pictures were taken on the Million Dollar Highway in Colorado, but the leaves around the Wasatch Front aren't too bad. It truly was an aspiring photographers paradise!

Durango to Silverton Railroad

The last leg of our trip involved a scenic trip on the Durango to Silverton narrow gauge train. For those of us unfamiliar with "narrow gage" it means the track width is about a foot and a half more narrow than normal. This means the train rocks back and forth more. It also meant as we scaled the cliff wall above a huge gorge the train had to go about 2 miles an hour in order to not tip off into the river.
The trip was pretty impressive with all the fall colors. It probably was NOT the best time in our children's life to take them. Three and a half hours each way is a bit much for little ones. They were troopers and we survived as did all of the elderly passengers in our car. Katie made a few friends as usual. It always amazes me how friendly she is. She always comes away with some sort of treat or trinket from some person she made friends with. It's unfortunate that we will have to taint her view of people with the "stranger danger" talk. For now we'll let her think everyone has her best interest at heart!









And this, is Katie within minutes of hitting the pillow. I'll remember in the future it takes a 7 hour train ride to tucker this kid out!

Mesa Verde Ruins

This trip was sort of a surreal experience for me. I went with my family several times to this park as a child/teenager. It is also the same trip where my father had the beginnings of his heart troubles that landed him in the hospital in Cortez, CO for a week before he was stable enough to go back to UT. He was very sick for months after this trip and he almost dies. This place doesn't have the most comforting thoughts associated with it for me. It never crossed my mind that 15+ years later I would be here with my children and husband.

I have to say things look about the same as they did that many years ago. Although, it was interesting to hear all the new information they have and what things they think they were wrong about before. I am still amazed that people actually lived here. What a crazy place to build your house.

Cliff Palace

This particular dwelling is called Balcony House. You climb down 130+ stairs from the top of the mesa and then up a 32 foot ladder with the huge canyon below you. Katie didn't even think twice about climbing the huge ladder. She thought it was the "coolest" thing ever. (She's at the very top of the ladder.)
People couldn't believe that we were bringing a baby on such a "dangerous" hike. Ohhh, if they only knew we took him skiing at 7 weeks what would they say!
Really, it was not that dangerous, or they never would have allowed us to take him.

To get out of the house you had to climb through an 18 inch hole and scale a cliff wall with ladders and tiny steps cut out of the rock. I wonder every time I crawl through that hole how many people get stuck and have to go back the other way to get out. Can you imagine how embarrassing that would be? I remember one time when we did this tour the ranger told a couple waiting in line that they would not be able to participate due to their "size". Now if that isn't motivation for weight loss who knows what is!



Long House
This was Todd's and my favorite house. Not sure why, we just liked it. The ranger guiding this tour was super in to it. With each stop along the way he would leave us with a teaser line. You could tell he just loved his job.

Below is a Kiva. I guess it's some sort of religious room. They used to have tops on them. The picture next to it is Katie coming out of a restored Kiva. I think she made Todd go down with her 3 times because she thought it was so "cool."

























And here is a mug shot of the newest Jr. Ranger in Mesa Verde. Note the badge, she has been wearing it everyday since the trip. She accidentally left it in grandma's car yesterday and truly the world has some to an end. She is so worried she will see a ranger and they won't know that she is one. Definitely the cutest little ranger I've ever seen!!

Camping--Mesa Verde National Park

I think my self esteem has slightly recovered from my "throw me a bone" post. Thank you all for awesome comments. So, here we go with the trip highlights:

Camping in Mesa Verde

This trip was all about saving a buck or two. (Good thing too, since we're headed for our next depression!!!) So, we camped for the first few nights in the park.

We borrowed the Okroy family tent so we could put a Pak n'Play inside in hopes that Joey might sleep better. In turn, we all sleep better, right? Sort of. He was terrified of the tent. Not sure why, but it took a bit to get him to sleep. And, he only woke up one time during the night! Only, again he was terrified of the tent. This time it was a real trick to get him back to sleep. Thus, not much sleep on night one for the parents. Perhaps this contributed to my wonderful park service lady experience. Night number two--smooth with the kids. Only I didn't sleep so well because I was worried Katie would fall between the air mattress and tent wall and suffocate and that Todd didn't have enough space on the other side of me. So, I stayed still in the middle and tried to sleep without much success. Oh, the joys of family camping!

Ok, the deer here are ridiculously accustomed to humans. Just check out this picture. This is the bathroom near our tent site. The deer are clustered around the fresh water faucet having their morning drink. Quite ingenious if you ask me and yet a little gross!!!

Do I look THAT bad?!

We just returned from a great vacation. It's always refreshing to get out of town. Truth be told it is an serious extra effort taking two little ones, but we survived. And, I think they had fun. We've decided it was the trip of the "poop". There will be more to come on that. I just thought I would share a quick story from the trip and then I'll post pictures later.

To make a long story short, we had to get tickets to see the ruins in Mesa Verde National, Park. So, I headed into the visitor center to purchase some Thursday morning. So there I am among geezers buying my tickets. The park service lady (in her late forties to early fifties) asks to see ID with my check card. So I pull out my license and hand it over. This is where we took a serious trip downhill. She takes my license and looks at it and then immediately looks at me with this strange look. Then she continues to do this at least three more times before she says, "WOW! You must of had a really good day at the DMV. Are you sure this is you?" I'm thinking, "Holy Cow! Did she really just say that? How do you respond?" And then I want to say, "No I stole someone else's license so I could buy three dollar indian ruin tickets." But, instead I politely say, "Yes, I must have had a good day that day." Then she hands back my license and continues with my purchase. You would think she would realize it might be the time to hush, but instead she says, "I don't mean that you terrible now or anything, it's just usually people's eye's are closed or their head is tipped funny, you know?" So, now I'm feeling a bit defensive and I say, "Well ma'am, I have been camping and had a few kids since that picture was taken, so I probably do look a bit different." Still really trying to be polite at this point. Oh, and did I mention that she doesn't have the most quiet voice either and there is a line of about 20 people behind me. Then she has the nerve to say this, "Can I see your license again please? I really need to look at that picture again." Now the three other park service employees behind the counter are looking at me as well as the 6 geezers at registers with me. I'm thinking, "You have got to be kidding me." I wanted to run out the door at this point, but she still hadn't given me my tickets yet, nor had I signed my receipt slip. So, I pull out my license again and handed it over. Then she says, again, "Wow! That really is a great picture, I still can't believe this is you!" Keep in mind, she is giving me the up and down look over and over while saying this. Finally, she gives me back my license and my tickets and I bolt for the door with the geezers staring and wondering how I look in my picture. I'm still in shock about the whole thing. I can't believe someone has that little tact. Actually, I can, but I can't!!!! I never wanted to be one of those mothers who "let themself go" so, I guess I'm going to have to work a little harder to get back to "license status."

PS. Here is the picture that started it all. I really don't think it's that great, but apparently some do!!!