Independence Week

This past week while celebrating America's Independence we were lucky enough to be part of a huge celebration here in Salt Lake City. Justin and I were able to attend several events connected to Glenn Beck's "Man in the Moon".

I think the highlight for me was doing the Mercury One Walk for Hope which benefited the Huntsman Cancer Institute. It was supposed to be a 5K walk but because of my brilliant idea to park near Trolley Square and walk down to Liberty Park, it ended up being closer to an 8 mile walk when all was said and done. Despite our exhaustion, we had a wonderful time walking and meeting new people.

I heard a quote today from a talk Elizabeth Smart gave during one of the events on Friday about popularity and thought it was very profound. Too often our pre-teen and teen girls put so much emphasis on being "popular" that they get hurt when the "popular" people decide to not include them. We need to teach our youth to stand tall and be kind even when being kind is not the popular thing to do.

Occupying my life

I have been trying to figure out how these people have the time and money to occupy anything. Between my work and church stuff I have just enough time left over to spend with my family. How can they afford to protest for two months? Are they unemployed and homeless? Did they choose to not work or look for work to stand up for what the believe in? Don't get me wrong, I think it is your responsibility to stand up for what you believe, but I think it is irresponsible to take that much productivity out of the economy.

Now let's talk about the cops. New York and Dallas raided the camps in the dead of night. At least Salt Lake police gave fair warning before evicting the occupiers.

I am pretty sick and tired of the situation. I think most hard working Americans are because all they have time for is occupying their lives. You want to help America? Vote, give time or money to charities that help your fellow Americans. Quit sitting on you butt taking advantage of the American people.

When the Lord chooses you

I received a new calling at church on Sunday. I will be teaching a Sunday School class. I am quite nervous as it is my least favorite thing to do is to talk in front of people. I believe that the Lord is stretching me and though it hurts sometimes I know that in the end it will help me become the person He wants me to be.

Life

Good night tonight! My lions are 5-0

End of an era

Sad day in football. Penn State fired coach Joe Paterno after a long and stunning career. Paterno made Penn State what they are and it is sad to see it end this way.

The day the world stood still

Ten years ago I was watching in horror with the rest of the country when the second plane hit. I was with my mom who was visiting from West Virginia. She was supposed to fly home that day. She decided to get in the shower and then we would figure out what she would be doing. While she was in the shower, I watched the plane hit the Pentagon not knowing that my dad's office had been moved a few months before so that it could be renovated. I almost had a heart attack. I knew that his office was on the Helli-pad side and I had seen it as the plane flew over it and into the building. When my mom walked back into our living room she looked at me, cradled in the arms of my husband and asked, "What happened?" Surprisingly I wasn't crying. I always cry. I told her that the Pentagon had been hit and that it was the Helli-pad side. She said, "You know your Dad is not in the Pentagon right?" I am pretty sure I freaked out on her about that time. Something about them never telling me anything.

My mom then decided to call her sister so we could head over to their house. For some reason my Aunt Becky is the person everyone calls when there is a crisis, so we figured my dad would call there when he could. Looking back on that day I can see just how blessed my family was. My mom, although she was stuck in Salt lake for an extra few days was safe. My dad, stationed in DC with the army was a few miles away from the Pentagon, and safe. My brother Cody worked for the same company that my mom did and usually was traveling to South America. We are blessed that he happened to be at their offices in Virginia, not stuck in South America.

September 11, 2001 was a terrible day for our country and I thank Heavenly Father every day that our family was kept safe.