"you cannot truly practice what Jesus taught and be successful in politics"

After all, it was the politicians of his day who killed Jesus.

Thought this was interesting and exceptionally written. It was produced by one of my favorite constitutional lawyers, John W.Whitehead. It is in response to political assertions, but it is also a reminder of the beautiful and perfect character of our beloved Savior who we are striving to exemplify. Seemed appropriate for this wonderful time of year. Enjoy!

Jesus was a politician’s nightmare. He never ran for political office, but he had quite a platform, and these were his campaign slogans: Love your foes. Help those who hate you. Praise those who curse you. Pray for those who abuse you. If someone punches your cheek, offer the other cheek. If someone steals your coat, offer him your shirt as well. If someone asks you for something, give it to him. Treat others exactly as you would wish to be treated. Love your enemies and treat them well. If you lend money, do it without any expectation of profit. Show favor to ingrates and scoundrels. Do not sit in judgment of your fellow human being. Always forgive.

What politician today could be elected on such a platform? Not even Jesus.

Indeed, the Jesus of the New Testament was about as far from being a politician as one could get. He refused to play power politics. Instead, he challenged the political and religious belief systems of his day. He refused to compromise on his principles, and he preached a message of unity and love, as opposed to the divisiveness that politics relies on.

Jesus was anti-political. He stood against such things as empires, controlling people, state violence and power politics. He saw politics and human governments as inevitably corrupt and set the standard for confronting governmental powers. He taught a new way to govern—one that was spiritually healthy, creative, concerned about the oppressed and the poor and promoted a sense of community. His teachings undermined the establishment and the political status quo, not only of his own time but ours as well.

Jesus advocated love, peace, nonviolence and helping the poor. And he spoke truth to power, uncaring of who he offended, even when all the odds were against it. He constantly inveighed against the rich, the powerful and the exploiters. And his egalitarian treatment of women was so shocking in the patriarchal society of his time that his own male followers could not understand it.

In short, Jesus was a radical.

As author Garry Wills writes in What Jesus Meant, anyone claiming to practice a “Christian politics” other than the kind practiced by Jesus is a usurper. You can’t speak truth to power, as Jesus did, and be the power, because as Jesus showed us, how you change the world is not through government or politics but by raising up communities, bringing people to peace, eschewing power, speaking out against injustice, helping those in need, and loving those around you, even your enemies.

This isn’t to say that religious people should abstain from voting or vote a particular ticket. But if you’re a Christian, you should be doing more than voting for a candidate who promises to be a political savior. As history makes clear, there is no such thing.

Daft the halls.....

Joby and my brothers wishing you all sincere satirical wishes for a wonderful Christmas

Sweet giveaway Yo

My little Fortunatelys is being featured on the illustrious Giveawaytoday!!! Woot Woot!

Go to Giveawaytoday.blogspot.com and enter to win!

If you haven't been to Giveawaytoday you should visit often. My sisters friend Emily created the brilliant blog and she gives away fantastic gifts everyday from amazing companies all over the U.S and Canada. She was just featured in Business Q magazine for being the newest millionaire for her site. (you can see it here)

Little background: After Joby wouldn't move out of San Diego for the two reporting jobs I received after college, I have been a bit lost in direction. Reporting was my dream, but I guess I can understand Joby not wanting to move for a job that starts out at $9.00 an hour. (reporting is not lucrative) Since then I have had some interesting opportunities, but nothing that seemed right. After Cru I found I do have the nurturing gene as I didn't want to work at all and wanted simply to be a stay at home mom. I still wanted something I could pursue at home that would give me fulfillment. While running one day(BTW running is the breeding ground for ideas) the idea for Fortunatelys came to me. I decided since we were moving to Utah, I had to have a cutsie little mom business like every mother in Utah.

I would never guess Fortunatelys would be apart of my path, but it has done surprisingly well and gives me great joy and fulfillment. Its so wonderful to read the beautiful messages and fortunes people create for their loved ones. So go enter to win a Fortunatelys gift box and send some love!!! Click here (winners will be picked at the end of the day)

righteous insubordination

Thought this was interesting ...

Below is a portion of Letter from the First presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ of latter Day Saints in 1941. It is a response to Roosevelts cabinet soliciting support from the church and and its members for the (heavily propaganda laden) Defense savings bond program to fund the war.

"The Church as a Church does not believe in war and yet since its organization whenever war has come we have done our part … we do thoroughly believe in building up our home defenses to the maximum extent necessary, but we do not believe that aggression should be carried on in the name and under the false cloak of defense. We therefore look with sorrowing eyes at the present use to which a great part of the funds being raised by taxes and by borrowing is being put … We believe that our real threat comes from within and not from without, and it comes from the underlying spirit common to Naziism, Fascism, and Communism, namely, the spirit which would array class against class, which would set up a socialistic state of some sort, which would rob the people of the liberties which we possess under the Constitution, and would set up such a reign of terror as exists now in many parts of Europe … "

I'm positive this stance still holds true with the presidency today in regards to the current(propaganda-laden) war.

and on that note....GO COUGARS!

Crus cake wreck

CRU TURNED ONE!


This time last year I was feeling fantastic. Labor was over and I was just enjoying my percocet high.


Not to be cliche...but it is strange to imagine life before Cru. He brings so much joy to our lives, and emptiness to our bank account.


We had a surf theme party for him in honor of his San Diego roots. We made surfboard cookies and a surf scene cake


I definitely don't consider myself a baker. Not really my strength. That's why I had the help of my sister Jacque and friend Kristen. However, when it comes to mischievous, sarcastic or morbid ideas, I would consider myself an expert. Which explains the disturbing scene on Cru's cake of a drowning baby getting eaten by a shark.


Of course it is not Cru. He's the super talented one, safe one on the surf board.

It was a wonderful day

Happy birthday Sweet baby Cru. We love you!

Our kid speaks prehistoric bird

He's not even one year old and he has already perfected the

pterodactyl mating call. I'm sure this video is just a small

insight into his linguistic genius.

your kid may walk or have 20 teeth but Cru speaks pterodactyl

Jealous?

Doing my part to replenish the earth

This is Cru and I today...

And this is what Cru and I looked like 11 months ago and what I will look like in 6 months. Break out the velour suits and stretchy pants!

Its the big white wad on the left, stupid

Because of this :

And this:

I continue to hear the following from guests using our bathroom:

Guest: "uh where is your toilet paper."

me: "Its the big white wad on your left." (stupid)

We are conditioned to think that many things in society have to look a certain way to be classified as such. This is incorrect thinking. Just because its in a mountainous chaos shape as opposed to rolled up it doesn't mean its not usable toilet paper.

And just because small morsels of food are stored in obscure places in our carpet doesn't mean if cru finds it two days later its not food. He will still eat it

And just because the book I borrowed from you is returned with teeth marks around the edges and a missing index and slobber dried foot notes doesn't mean you cant still read it. Its still a book.

And just because a shirt has snot trails on it from your sick baby doesn't mean you can't wear it all day. Its still a shirt

Get a baby and start thinking outside the box.

cru baby

People always ask "why" we left California......

So people always ask us why we left sunny San Diego...

The following was reported on unitedfamilies.org:

Schwarzenegger signs bill honoring homosexuality

"Last week we sent you an alert asking you to contact Gov. Schwarzenegger in opposition to a bill that would establish May 22 as "Harvey Milk Day," in honor of the openly homosexual politician. Yet, despite the objections of the people of California, Schwarzenegger signed the bill into effect Sunday night along with another bill recognizing all same-sex marriages performed in the U.S. before the passage of Prop. 8. Now every year, public schools in California will set aside May 22 to study and commemorate a man known only for his homosexuality."

Full story here: http://unitedfamiliesinternational.wordpress.com/2009/10/20/update-schwarzenegger-signs-bill-honoring-homosexuality/

Thats why.

The essence of Pug

Let it be known that little pretentious

frou-frou fidos are not the only dogs that

look good as a fashion accessory...

A Little Clarification....

Editors note: so contrary to what y'all thought my previous post insinuates, I'm not in love with Glenn Beck. My post was suppose to insinuate that I'm in love with joby because I am attracted to character and looks that are reminiscent of him.

Glenn = like his broadcasts because he quotes my favorite author

Joby= Love.

Glenn= enjoy his broadcasts

Joby= Love

Got it?

So no more stupid phone calls in reference to a fictitious attraction you thought was real because you don't understand my sarcasm or else I will be forced to punch you all in the face.

Glenn Beck is Jobys Doppelganger!!

I enjoy listening to Glenn Beck and absolutely love his 9/12 project because its foundation is based on the book, "The 5000 year leap" which was written by my most beloved author Cleon Skousen.

That being said... I have embarrassingly found myself growing extremely attracted to Glenn every time I tune in. I thought maybe it was his politics or the fact that he will bare testimony of the Saviour and talk about holding to the iron rod on national television, but it wasn't until people started to say "you know who Joby reminds me of.." that I realized there was a major element that bred my attraction

He is a heavier older version of Joby! Seriously. Its creepy. The mannerisms. The way they speak. The humor. The confidence. The sensitivity. The love for cake and ice cream. Its all very much alike.

Glenn is Jobys Doppelganger

Its Alive!!!!!!

After only a mere 15 years Joby got his purple betty running!

Joby says that 15 years is normal to restore a vehicle. Somehow.... I don't think he's being truthful.

Jobys helping me to appreciate old things. Its a slow process. I'm on level 2. "Embracing not new" I just moved up from level 1 "refraining from calling old things stupid."

Its still hard. The temptation is still there. I see an antique and I can taste the contempt in my mouth and I want to give in....but I've come too far.

One day at a time.

My happy place...

you can never get enough summer camping trips.

Granola... its the new black.

sometimes free stuff doesn't appeal to me....

Joby and I were on a nightly stroll when we stumbled upon this gem of a deal.

Can you believe our good fortune!!!! Dried cornstalk!! FREEEEE!!!!

As you can see Joby and I were elated!

I can't believe someone would just give this treasure away.

Moral of the story. Surprisingly, even if you label something "free," it doesn't give it value.

He-man. The voice of reason in a dark world.

Sometimes I wonder if Joby and I can teach Cru everything he needs to grow up and become a strong self-reliant responsible adult.

It seems like a daunting task.

There is so much he needs to learn.

Rest assured, there is massive amounts of untapped old he-man footage to fill in those gaps with important lessons parents might not be aware. Like what makes a good leader. (watch below)

These are not lessons just any parent can teach. We need amateur cartoon action to visually show our children the ramifications for incorrect thinking. I would have thought a sword made a good leader until I saw that rock guy waving it with one mechanical arm back and forth without moving the rest of his body. He did not look like a good leader.

"A sword or any other symbol does'nt make a person a good leader. What does is intelligence respect for others and an unselfish desire to do good."

Thats powerful

He-man. The voice of reason in a dark world

Cru will definitely get a he-man education.

To be or not to be our friends....

This post has been removed due to realized inappropriate immaturity.

insinuations of "flipping the bird" was decidedly not cool.

However, in response to a particular disappointed comment, use of the word "butthead" in any facet is always welcome on this site.

Jobys Smorgasbord

Yesterday we had a family outing at Heritage days. What is Heritage days you ask? I have no idea but I am a fan. In an attempt to recreate the past all of the food and festivities were in accordance with costs of the past. Tickets cost 5 cents and everything was between 2 and 5 tickets. I have never felt so wealthy in my entire life.

Homade rootbeer, slushys, pie and ice cream, cotton candy, popcorn, large suckers, cake, etc all between 5 and 25 cents and unlimited.

As I was enjoying the festivities I was granted a glimpse of what Jobys life would be like if money was no object.

I'm confident moderation would not exist.

Watching him was appalling...yet fascinating. Comparable to the scene in Charlottes Web where Templeton is having his night of smorgasbord (as seen below)

When the night ended and there was no more indulgence to be had I searched for Joby so we could go home. This is how I found him

I covered Crus Eyes so he wouldn't have to see his dad in this state.

When he came to he did the walk of shame to our car.

When common sense fails...stickers save the day

So we thought it might be fun to lock Cru in this Air tight container! Yay!

But oh no! look!

Luckily we saw this. (A closer look)

Good thing they have stickers like this for when common sense fails.

So the moral of the story is

Don't put your kid in a box

Don't let him play with a fox

Don't put him under a car

or throw him really far.

Don't be a tool or stickers will be made.

P.S. My kids cute

Lizards are Gods ninjas

Prologue: All of the boys are wandering around camp, on our family vacation at Starvation Reservoir, digging up all sorts of bugs and spiders to place in their ring of death.

*Boys being all my brothers, brothers in laws and Joby who are all 25 and older.

*Ring of death being a large clear canister where random insects are thrown inside while the boys(see above) act as spectators for a sporting event and place bets on what beast will conquer.

Outcome: The ants created secret bands and broke off into little groups and attacked and killed everything. The black widow. The dragon fly. The super creepy slimy thing. The "too hideous to look at" and the beetle.

They killed everything..everything but the lizard. The lizard just closed his eyes and didn't move. The ants attacks were no match for the unobtrusive nature of the lizard

Overheard conclution by the boys: "Ants are Gods assassins and Lizards are Gods ninjas."


Epic.

I'm going to miss this..

MORE CRU BABY...

I LOVE HIM SOO MUCH!

Orange thingy and depressed guy

I don't know what the orange thingy is or why this guy is depressed...

I just thought this picture was funny. 

Depression=not funny

Orange thingy=creepy

Together=Funny!

Its like the perfect storm...

Reflective Light makes me emotional

SO I WAS SITTING IN OUR HOUSE READING AND LOOKED UP AND OUTSIDE MY WINDOW AND SAW THIS:

I THEN WALKED OUTSIDE AND WAS DAZZLED BY THIS:

THIS:

THIS:

AND THIS:

IT WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL RAINBOW I HAVE EVER SEEN. 

MANY PEOPLE BELIEVE RAINBOWS SYMBOLIZE GODS COVENANT WITH NOAH THAT HE WILL NEVER FLOOD THE EARTH AGAIN. THIS IS TRUE, BUT AFTER READING MY FRIENDS BLOG I WAS REMINDED THAT IT ALSO SYMBOLIZES THAT JAIMEY FREAKING GETS TO BE WITH HIS MOM AGAIN SOMEDAY! 

WHOS JAIMEY YOU ASK? 

HES ONLY THE GREATEST LITTLE BOY WHO DIDN'T DO ANYTHING WRONG BUT LOVE HIS AMAZING MOM SOO MUCH AND SHE FREAKING DIES OKAY! SHE DIES! AND EVEN THOUGH FAMILIES CAN BE TOGETHER FOREVER WHENEVER I EAT BISCUITS AND SYRUP  I'LL NEVER GET OVER IT!!(Explanation below)

(P.S. This movie is emotional terrorism)

  

Okay so some of you may remember this movie from primary back during the glorious years of beeping slides. (Sadly the beeps have been removed from the youtube version.)

Strangely I remember this movie from random family Sunday breakfasts of 90-93. 

All 7 of us would be sitting at the kitchen table at 7am sunday morning eating biscuits and syrup. I would be attempting to calm my morning anger issues and try not to kill Callie (my little sister) that was singing "I am a child of God" in her cutsie high pitched 5 year old voice. Trevor(my little brother) would then routinely spill his glass of milk and start crying. Jacque(my older sister) didn't talk, just exuded coolness and looked like she just came back from a butt rock tour that seemed to originate in her bedroom. Her hair was awesomely big (and coveted by all) and concealed my older brother Travis sitting next to her. He would generally try to irritate anyone and everyone so we would know he was present behind the wall of hair. As we all ate our biscuits and syrup my Dad would stand up walk over the the radio and turn on the audio version of "build you a rainbow."  At first noone was listening, but by the time jaimey was stating " you just cant die mom, you just can't"  we were all staring straight forward using every ounce of strength to prevent the tears. 

This is my question: Why did my parents think that a story of a little boy who lost their mom was appropriate breakfast entertainment? Can you just picture 5 pajama wearing,  sleep deprived kids with bed head sitting at  the breakfast table with the most emotionally disturbed looks on there faces that seem to scream "what the Hell! (er..heck)"  

I guess some things in life just don't make sense. 

All I know is that whenever I see a rainbow I smile and think "thats Jaimeys mom, sending him reflective light love."

My Dads cooler than your Dad

This is my dad

This is typically how you will see my Dad. Decked out in work gear and serving from 6 in the morning until 12:00 at night. He never stops. When I was little, I thought he was bionic...I still kind of do. 

He is always the first one in line to help anyone and everyone,because he can do anything,(seriously...anything!) but never expects anything in return. He is a true example of unselfish giving of his God given talents. 

My dad has always been the life of the party. I remember people use to always say "You must have so much fun in your home with a Dad like that." My dad can always make me laugh, except when he tries to give my baby pepsi  and frosting. 

He thinks its funny. I dont.

My Dad is respected by all, partly because they have seen him tear a phone book in half. (My friends from high school still talk about it.) 

My dad is tough as nails and has a scar on his bicep to prove it. If you ask he will gladly tell you the scars appearance was a result of his muscles getting so big they blew up. 

I could go on and list all of my dads amazing character and elaborate on how his great example made me a better person, but that would take all night...and I don't do well with out sleep. 

So I am simply going to say...My Dad is a rare breed. A diamond in the rough. Anyone who knows him will attest to this. He amazes people. He amazes me. 

He is a giant among men and  a treasure to his family. Love you Dad

P.S. and yes. My dad can beat up your dad. 

Fathers Day Celebration 2009 

Another episode of 2 year olds with markers

THE CRIME: MARKER CREATIVELY SCRIBBLED ALL OVER JOBYS TRUCK

POTENTIAL SUSPECTS: RUNNING FROM SCENE

BLAME

DENIAL. (BLUE HAND CONVICTS) 

FULL CONFESSION

GUILT AND REMORSE

ANGRY VICTIM

Cru Ice ice baby...

"Cru Ice" the new Vanilla

Will it ever stop..Yo I don't know, turn out the lights and I glow

Word..

Crus first "assisted" faceplant

My adorable 2 year old nephew Kason was just trying to make Cru laugh...but instead gave him a face full of carpet. He has 10 cousins, 8 under the age of 4 to make sure he grows up tough. 

When you see the end of the video and hear my loud laughter at Cru babys ill fate...it doesn't mean I'm a bad mom. (Even though Joby says so.)

Procrastination at its finest

So were suppose to be out of our house tomorrow. This is where were at..one whole box

Its beautiful and sunny outside, therefore we decided the extreme procrastination approach would be best under the circumstances. Pack one box..go to the beach..pack one box..go to Taco surf...pack one box...go to the beach. If all goes well we should be done packing by mid October

Cru VS the blue beast-The Ultimate battle!!

Food storage is starting to make more sense...

This is my Friend  Shelly Roche from the News network for which I use to produce/report. She also has her own show with Judge Napolitano from FOX NEWS where they discuss our civil liberties that are under attack(see second video)She is discussing bills HR 875, HR 759, NAIS and Monsanto.(google these for more info) These bills are basically an attack on small farmers but presented under the guise of "food safety." We are already poisoned by our food because everything(except organic) is genetically modified and contains synthetic ingredients. Start checking your food labels to see what you're eating. Organic apple sauce will say "apples cane juice and water" Non-organic will say "apples, water, disodium phosphate, artificial flavor, xnthan gum, disodium inosinate, guanylate" and many other "fun" ingredients I have never heard.  This bill will further the use of synthetic ingredients in our food supply and further the break down our bodies. The necessity of Food storage is starting to make more sense....  

Freedom watch with Shelly and Judge Napoletano