Message from Glenn Beck

I have been listening to too much conservative talk radio lately, it's really becoming a habit! My favorite is Glenn Beck. Everything that comes out of his mouth makes me say "Yeah! That's true! What a smart guy!"

And this was one of those...I really like it and wanted to share it with all of you. It is a "checklist" for becoming a leader in the hard times up ahead. It's pretty good!

Find Your Voice List

November 17, 2008 - 13:35 ET

FIND YOUR VOICE
You are your own voice. Others may be silenced. Who will lead if your guy 'who speaks for you' is gone?

FIND YOURSELF
Who are you really? What do you believe? Have you been pushed and challenged? Do you know where you stand? Can you support it with real facts?

FIND YOUR WEAKNESS
Don’t ignore your weakness. Make your weakness into your strength.

FIND YOUR VALUES
Make it your focus, work at them. Values don’t just ‘happen’ they are developed. A house divided against cannot stand. Be the same person at home, at work, in public and private.

FIND YOUR LOVE
Too much hate has been planted. Uproot it, pull it out and replace it with goodwill for those of different faiths, political party or viewpoints.

FIND YOUR FELLOW AMERICANS
Connect and encourage those who put Constitution and service to God first. Help them wake others.

FIND YOUR JOY
It will not come from places that Americans are encouraged to find it. True joy won’t be found in stores, sex or power. You will need to know where your unlimited supply can be found. Look to your family. Look at selfless service. But you have to find it for yourself.

Ronald Reagan

There has been a lot of emotional ups and downs with this election season. It started out during the primaries, slowly going up with Mitt Romney gaining in poularity and the polls... Then after his defeat by John McCain, it went back down again. Then McCain chose Sarah Palin for VP and she gave her speech at the Republican National Convention and it went back up again. Then we started learning more about her, and it slowly went back down. In the few weeks just before the election, I would say it went down even more when I realized that McCain is the lesser of two evils and he isn't going to win no matter what. After all the votes have been cast, I see now that it is the best possible thing for the republican party. We need four years to re-group and get back to our conservative core values.

I have always said that Thomas Jefferson was my all time favorite president because he was all about small federal government, and promoted the exploration of America. He also promoted small business and a self sustaining mentality (wiht the yeoman farmer movement). However recently, I have really been reading more and more on Ronald Reagan, and feel like what he had to say really applies to what we are dealing with today. He was a great leader and a wonderful role model for the republican party. In honor of Ronald Reagan, here are some good quotes from him that really speak to what is going on today...

“Man is not free unless government is limited.”

“If we ever forget that we are One Nation Under God, then we will be a nation gone under.”

“The Republican message is simple: Our country's best days are still to come, and with faith and courage, we can build a genuine opportunity society, a nation where all women and men have the chance to go forward just as far as their dreams and talents will take them.”

“High taxes, we are told, are somehow good for us, as if, when government spends our money it isn’t inflationary, but when we spend it, it is. Those who preside over the worst energy shortage in our history tell us to use less, so that we will run out of oil, gasoline and natural gas a little more slowly. Conservation is desirable, of course, for we must not waste energy. But conservation is not the sole answer to our energy needs.” (At the republican national convention acceptance speech in 1980)

“Republicans believe every day is the Fourth of July, but the democrats believe every day is April 15.”

“Some people wonder all their lives if they've made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem.”

“There are no easy answers' but there are simple answers. We must have the courage to do what we know is morally right.”

“Thomas Jefferson once said, 'We should never judge a president by his age, only by his works.' And ever since he told me that, I stopped worrying.”

“We might come closer to balancing the Budget if all of us lived closer to the Commandments and the Golden Rule.”

"Democracy is worth dying for, because it's the most deeply honorable form of government ever devised by man."

“All great change in America begins at the dinner table.”

The Cabrillo Monumnet and the Tidepools

Jeff and I went to the Cabrillo Monument this weekend. it was both of our first trips out there. It really is one of the most beautiful places in San Diego, and I never even knew it was up there! You are so high up that you can see all the way down to Mexico and all the way up to...well, I don't know where you can look up to, I wasn't on the north side...but I am sure you can see a long distance!



If you go down to the bottom of the peninsula, there is a tidepool. We had a lot of fun hicking to it too (although I didn't wear shoes...not such a great idea...) We go to play in the water and mess with sea life. It was fun times. There were a lot of crabs and sea anenomes...however we didn't see and starfish or sea urchins. I really wanted to see a star fish!!! But I guess I will have to go to sea world to see one of those.

Here are pictures form the tidepools:






It was a fun break from my homework :-) But I'm paying for it now!!!

Eight Things

I am so glad I get tagged to do these things, or else my blog would be bare. Thanks Melissa :-)


Eight TV shows I like to watch:

1. Project Runway
2. The Office
3. Glen Beck
4. America's Next Top Model
5. Desperate Housewives
6. Curb Your Enthusiasm
7. Arrested Development
8. SATC


Eight things that happened yesterday:

1 . Went to work and got a lot accomplished
2. Studied all about Glycolosis in Microbiology (woo hoo! Some information I can actually use!)
3. Printed out my lab report at kinkos because we have no ink for our printer
4. Helped Katie with Chemistry for about 10 minutes
5. I watched the Office and the season finale of Project Runway (Tivo)
6. Got offered 50 cents to vote for Obama
7. Studied for my mid term (that is today)
8. Figured out that I will graduate in Spring 2010!

favorite places to eat:

1. In the computer room in my house with a big bowl of cereal
2. Pho restaurants
3. Souplantation
4. The Prado
5. Pizza Nova
6. Taste of Thai
7. Benihana
8. sipz

Eight things I am looking forward to:

1. Starting to work part time after the first of the year
2. Graduating in 2010
3. Raising a family
4. Christmas Break and going up to utah!
5. Going up to see jon, AM, Sarah and Craig in a couple weeks in Vegas
6. Going to see W this weekend
7. Having this stupid election be OVER
8. One day going on a vacation to Italy (and what the hey - maybe even the rest of Europe)

Halloween Time at Disneyland!

Monday, 9/29/08, Jeff and I went to Disneyland with my mom, brother and brother's girlfriend. We had a lot of fun. It was Jeff's first time going, and we definitely built it up for him. My family is a little bit obsessed with Disneyland (well, my dad isn't, but everyone else is...) and so we tend to talk about it a lot...especially how "magical" it is. We all had a great time. Here are some pictures from our trip...

(L-R) My brother, Chris, Jeff, Christina (Chris' girlfriend) and my mom


Disneyland was decorated for Halloween!


Out front of Splash Mountain (pre-soaking)


The Picture of our Picture...


Captain Jeff Sparrow~ Arg Matey!!

The tradition lives on!





Incase you are wondering, the answer is "yes, we have mastered the art of taking photos of ourselves..."

Working on the guns.


Chris got crushed!

In the slammer!

Jeff's favorite ride of the day: Space Mountain!

Quirks

Melissa tagged me. I felt it would be unfair to not share some of my quirks back...However, I don't know that many people with blogs, and most of the ones that I do know we already tagged by Melissa, or Melissa herself :-)


So you all get a free glimpse into my quirks! Some of them don't necessarily seem like quirks, but are more or less things that you might find interesting about me. Incase anyone is reading this who hasn't been tagged, feel free to consider yourself tagged (ie, Renee or Maggie!) :-)

Here are the rules (that I'm not really following...):
Link the person who tagged you.
Mention rules on your blog.
Tell about 6 quirks of yours.
Tell 6 fellow bloggers to do the same.
Leave a comment to let them know.

1. I can't let my silverware touch the table if I go to a restaurant (or really at home or at work...) unless there is a tablecloth or paper napkin down. When I put my napkin on my lap, I put my silverware on a plate or hold them in my hands. No real reason why I do this, but it freaks me out to

2. I really like things to be lined up evenly. I like symmetry and perfect measurements. When things aren't lined up, I feel weird.

3. Two words: Hand Sanitizer (I love it and use it liberally).

4. Harmonizing. I love trying to figure out harmonies in songs. It makes sense to me, but to anyone listening, it just sounds like an off-key mess :-)

5. I really don't like talking on the phone in my personal life. I get so much anxiety about it, even if I am talking to my mom...I think this is odd, because I am on the phone all day long at work and don't feel any anxiety about it.

6. I love Christmas music. I will listen to it all year long. . . seriously! I have a playlist on my iPod, and I play it all the time.

Go...Broncos?

Bring a native San Diegan, I have always been a Charges fan. I often go back to the exciting year of 1994 when they were the AFC Champions and went to the superbowl in Miami, only to get clobbered by the 49ers. Ever since then I have had a feeling that they would make it back there and be Superbowl champions one day. Unfortunately, if it is this year, I wouldn't be rooting for them though.

Last weekend, Jeff and I sat down to watch the Charges play their biggest rivals, The Denver Brocos. Jeff just so happens to be a huge Broncos fan. I always say to him "Can't you just convert and be a Chargers fan since you are living in San Diego" and his response is always the same ("never!"). So I told him (feeling very confident) "Whoever wins this game will be the team that I root for for the rest of the season"

Well...to my dismay, the Broncos (or should I say, my new favorite team) pulled ahead in the last TWO MINUTES of the game. You all know what happened, I don't have to re-live it...

So, Go Broncos! Hopefully they will beat the Saints this weekend!

Side note - I really want to join or start a fantasy football team. I don't really know anything about running it, but if anyone knows of a team, or would like to start one, let me know!

-Hibshmanda

Pictures from Jeff's Trip to Japan

Jeff spent his 30th Birthday weekend playing a show in Tokyo, Japan. He gives getting a free trip on his birthday 2 thumbs up!!! (picture taken at Tokyo Airport)

Tokyo

The Venue they played at for Summer Sonic

"Jeff Cam"

85 degrees and 90% humidity...at night!


Outside of the hotel

Riding the Subway

Jeff, just casually leaning against a pole at the subway station.

Shopping on Harajuku Street :-)

Jeff came home with some neat stuff!



At a shrine

Yummy Sushi!

And lucky for me, shortly after this picture was taken, he returned home :-) He had a great time in Tokyo, a very memorable trip! Plus he got to play a show in front of thousands of fans, which made the 14 travel hours each way worth it.

Gym and Class Time

Last weekend, Jeff finally gave in to me, and he got a gym membership. 24 hour fitness usually charges about 45 dollars a month for access to all of their gym facilities, plus a set up fee, plus a processing fee, plus first and last month's dues. So signing up for a membership can be pretty expensive (about 250 dollars!). But last weekend, when I went to the gym, there were signs plastering the walls that said "Add on a family member for $25 a month! No Hidden Fees" and so I looked into it. It was a one day only promotion, and so we signed Jeff up for only $25 a month, that's it! No processing fees or set up fees or anything like that.

I had kind of fallen away from the gym lately, choosing to focus on my distance running (I cannot run on a treadmill for more than 20 minutes, because my mind will turn to jello, I just can't focus) and biking...so this is giving me a good opportunity to fall in love with the gym again. There is so much to do there, it's like one big playground. We have been going late at night after dinner (about 9:30-ish) and there aren't many people there...so we kind of have the place all to ourselves. We don't have to compete for equipment...it's really nice!

On another note, this is the first week of my Micobiology lab and lecture. It is a really exciting class...I love it so far. Although it is about 5 hours, it doesn't feel like it. My professor is the biggest dork I have ever met, and that is what makes it so great! He is right there on my level. Last night, he presented a lecture about the father of microbiology, Anthony Van Leeuwenhoek...However my professor got a "guest speaker" to come in to present it (Himself in full seventeenth century costume, soundtrack and props, speaking with a dutch accent, pretending to be Van Leeuwenhoek). I really can't describe how funny it was. He hand wrote in cursive his hour long lecture on a bout 20 different scrolls (for authenticity). It was the most memorable lecture I ever listened too. I am sure there will be more experiences like this in his class! I actually took some pictures with my cell phone, but it doesn't capture the awesomeness of it, but you get the idea:





Next week I start at SDSU for my nutrition courses. I am really excited. I am enrolled in a surfing class right before one of my wednesday evening classes, but I am concerned about making it back to the campus form the beach on time, so I might end up droping that class. This seems like it will be a pretty fun semester! It will be hard, but rewarding too.

Broken Social Scene

For our wedding, a friend of ours got us gift certificates to The House of Blues. We kind of forgot about them until we found our that one of Jeff and my favorite bands, Broken Social Scene, were playing there. They don't come around here often (the last time was in 2003) so we were really fortunate to be able to see them.


Friday night after work, we went downtown to see them. After enduring the pretty lousy opening act (Menomena, wannabe hippies from Oregon) Broken Social Scene came out and sounded even better than I ever imagined. They have been around for about 10 years, so they have had a lot of time to refine their talent together. It is a very large band (as you can tell from the photo) with multiple guitarists, keyboards, drums, and an entire horn section. The cool thing about the band is that everyone will play different instruments and take turns singing. You could tell that they were having a lot of fun too.

As part of their encore, the guitarist/saxaphonist/keyboardist presented his "side project." I forgot the name, something like "The Happiness Project." It was pretty awesome! He interviewed his neighbors and recorded it. Because everyone's voice has a natural melody and tone, he then had another saxaphonist come out and play along with their voices in the exact tone. The interview that he presented was of his old irish neighbor. It is hard to translate how cool it was on paper...but it was really pretty incredible.

We had a really great time at the show, it was a nice start to the weekend. If you ever get a chance to listen to their music, I suggest it. Most people would really enjoy it. They rock, but it's also pretty mellow at the same time. Good stuff!

One Year Anniversary Trip to Santa Barbara

I tried to send out an e-mail with pictures from our anniversary, and they kept coming back to me as undeliverable (to every one!). So here are pictures from our trip. We had a lot of fun. The fourth of August seems so long ago now!

This is us making the long beautiful drive up the coast of California.

We went to Pea Soup Andersons for Lunch (shortly after I almost ran out of gas! I was on a Mission to go to "dutch country" and I didn't realize how far away it actually was from Santa Barbara)

Our cabin. It was very comfortable. It even had free WiFi (score!!!) We ended up renting a movie on iTunes...Talk about roughing it!

We went on a hike up to an organic garden...and Low and Behold, we found goats and Llamas!! It was a lot of fun. Jeff made friends with the billy goat (he was pretty awesome!)

We also spent a lot of time down on the beach. We were able to check out these neat little beach cruisers.

One of the best things about the trip was sitting around our campfire at night...roasting marshmallows and hot dogs! We also were able to enjoy the bright starlight sky...something that we don't usually see at home. We also got to make several wishes on the shooting stars that we caught.

Before we left, we horsed around a bit outside...We had fun...

The End