Sheriff Clarence Dupnik, speaking about Arizona:
"When you look at unbalanced people, how they respond to the vitriol that comes out of certain mouths about tearing down the government. The anger, the hatred, the bigotry that goes on in this country is getting to be outrageous. And, unfortunately, Arizona I think has become sort of the capital. We have become the Mecca for prejudice and bigotry.
"It's not unusual for all public officials to get threats constantly, myself included. And that's the sad thing of what's going on in America. Pretty soon, we're not going to be able to find reasonable, decent people who are willing to subject themselves to serve in public office." -A-freaking-men.
Yesterday's tragic shooting at a Safeway grocery store in Arizona killed six people, including a 9 year old girl, and wounded many others, including a devastating head injury to Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who is probably not out of the woods yet and fighting for her life. It's a miracle she's still alive after a bullet to the head.
Something has to change in this country. This is reminding me of guerilla warfare tactics in third world countries. What is America coming to, if our elected public officials fear for their lives every time they go out in public? We are better than this, Democrats and Republicans alike. This is not a political party issue, we must all unite that the hatred has to stop. Put away your political zeal for wanting the entire nation to believe the same way you do. We were founded on the belief that a democratic system could work, after all, because our founders wanted to get AWAY from a system where everything was decided for them. It's okay to not agree with the choices your government is making. But if the response is to go out and shoot someone, maybe we need to look a little closer at the line between free speech and hate speech.
Love your government leaders, no matter what party they are. Pray for them, even if you don't agree with them. There's always a chance to make your voice heard...it's called voting. We are blessed beyond belief in this country with our freedom of choice, freedom of speech, but this way of acting out...of killing our elected public officials...this is not right. Maybe we as a country need to make a change in the way we express our opinions about the "other" side, the one we didn't vote for. The hate definitely goes both ways, and look where it's gotten us so far. I know quite a few people in my own life who spew such HATEFUL messages both ways...it's time to take a look at what your words are really doing.
My heart breaks for the families who lost loved ones yesterday.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Sparkle time
One thing you may or may not know about me is that I love all things that sparkle. This does not necessarily mean jewelry. See exhibits a, b, and c:
Tom's shoes (a company, not some guy named Tom who I shanked to get his sparkly silver shoes. I wouldn't do that...) They are ridiculously comfortable. And what's even cooler is that the company gives a pair of shoes to a child who needs a pair for every pair that's sold.
So this is a sneak peek of my skirt for the Glitz & Glam event being held on Feb 5th. It'll be a fun time for the ladies of EastLake to get together, have a drink out on the town, laugh, dress up (if you want), and get to know each other better. This pic is all you're getting until Feb 5th...you'll have to come to see the rest of the sequin-y goodness.
Even my nail polish gets some bling. My grandma bought me this nail polish for Christmas. She gets me.
Tom's shoes (a company, not some guy named Tom who I shanked to get his sparkly silver shoes. I wouldn't do that...) They are ridiculously comfortable. And what's even cooler is that the company gives a pair of shoes to a child who needs a pair for every pair that's sold.
So this is a sneak peek of my skirt for the Glitz & Glam event being held on Feb 5th. It'll be a fun time for the ladies of EastLake to get together, have a drink out on the town, laugh, dress up (if you want), and get to know each other better. This pic is all you're getting until Feb 5th...you'll have to come to see the rest of the sequin-y goodness.
Even my nail polish gets some bling. My grandma bought me this nail polish for Christmas. She gets me.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Reflections on 2010
2010 is officially in the past (well, in central time, anyway). I'd be lying if I said I was sad to see it go. 2010 was a pretty tough year for me. I experienced the death of my mother, my first broken bone, a crisis in faith, and derailed my attempts from earlier in the year to lead a healthy lifestyle with my eating habits. I joked with my dad that I wished I could be one of those people that didn't feel like eating every time they were depressed. Alas.
But. In spite of all of that, I can honestly say 2010, in addition to being one of the worst years of my life, was also one of the best. How can that be? It's simple. I'll remember this year forever as the year that God became real to me, not just a "thing" to half-heartedly believe in because I was supposed to do it. Sometimes when you're facing overwhelming emotions that stem from grief, you get to a point where you have to go right or left. You're so angry, so devastated at the world and why you're left here without the person that made it shine for you, that your soul can't bear those feelings alone anymore. Having compassionate and caring family and friends helps. But eventually you have to choose. You can give it all to God, put your faith in His plan to help you use the pain you're feeling to grow you in a way you'd never imagine. Or you can shut the door and move on with your life without him, but the coping mechanisms will never quite measure up.
You never know what you'll find beyond the door unless you open it and take that first step. Once I decided I needed His help and let Him back into my life, God led me to EastLake...through Facebook, of all places. I know how weird that might sound, but it's true. At first it was a place with good music and interesting sermons. Then it became a way to take practical steps to continue growing in my faith. Finally, EastLake became my church family.
The past six months have been nothing short of incredible. Lifelong friends have been made. Penny the greyhound settled in and now I can't even remember a time when she wasn't part of our lives. Lawrence is no longer a pit stop for Michael and I...we are glad to call it home. I was baptized on October 29th. Multiple family members came to Kansas to visit us, and those visits were treasured. I've started this new thing whenever I'm having trouble deciding what to do about something-I pray about it. And the crazy thing is, I'm starting to hear God answer me. (Not in a crazy talking and answering myself kind of way). But I get these little tugs on my heart telling me to do things that I'm not sure I would have, had I closed the door to a relationship with Him. So far, those heart tugs have led me to an enriching, fulfilling life, despite the occasional screw up. A life I think my mom could be proud of...and I like to think that she is. And even though I'm "religious" now, I'm still (fairly) normal. I'm pretty sure, anyway.
I decided earlier in this year that my tribute to my mom was going to be to live my best life each and every day, with no regrets. I will teach her grandchildren about how she lived her life with passion for the things she enjoyed, like her job, her family, her faith, her cats, her love of the beach. It just sucks that it took her leaving this Earth for me to fully understand how short and precious our lives are. So that will be my resolution for 2011. Not something ridiculous like lose 20 pounds (though that would be nice). My resolution for 2011 is to laugh everyday, rejoice in the gift of salvation, tell my friends and family how much they mean to me, and spread the good news about the things I am passionate about: God, books, sweet tea, The Big Bang Theory, UNC, greyhound adoption, and Amazon prime. (I didn't say they were all *deep* things).
Cheers to a fantastic 2011.
But. In spite of all of that, I can honestly say 2010, in addition to being one of the worst years of my life, was also one of the best. How can that be? It's simple. I'll remember this year forever as the year that God became real to me, not just a "thing" to half-heartedly believe in because I was supposed to do it. Sometimes when you're facing overwhelming emotions that stem from grief, you get to a point where you have to go right or left. You're so angry, so devastated at the world and why you're left here without the person that made it shine for you, that your soul can't bear those feelings alone anymore. Having compassionate and caring family and friends helps. But eventually you have to choose. You can give it all to God, put your faith in His plan to help you use the pain you're feeling to grow you in a way you'd never imagine. Or you can shut the door and move on with your life without him, but the coping mechanisms will never quite measure up.
You never know what you'll find beyond the door unless you open it and take that first step. Once I decided I needed His help and let Him back into my life, God led me to EastLake...through Facebook, of all places. I know how weird that might sound, but it's true. At first it was a place with good music and interesting sermons. Then it became a way to take practical steps to continue growing in my faith. Finally, EastLake became my church family.
The past six months have been nothing short of incredible. Lifelong friends have been made. Penny the greyhound settled in and now I can't even remember a time when she wasn't part of our lives. Lawrence is no longer a pit stop for Michael and I...we are glad to call it home. I was baptized on October 29th. Multiple family members came to Kansas to visit us, and those visits were treasured. I've started this new thing whenever I'm having trouble deciding what to do about something-I pray about it. And the crazy thing is, I'm starting to hear God answer me. (Not in a crazy talking and answering myself kind of way). But I get these little tugs on my heart telling me to do things that I'm not sure I would have, had I closed the door to a relationship with Him. So far, those heart tugs have led me to an enriching, fulfilling life, despite the occasional screw up. A life I think my mom could be proud of...and I like to think that she is. And even though I'm "religious" now, I'm still (fairly) normal. I'm pretty sure, anyway.
I decided earlier in this year that my tribute to my mom was going to be to live my best life each and every day, with no regrets. I will teach her grandchildren about how she lived her life with passion for the things she enjoyed, like her job, her family, her faith, her cats, her love of the beach. It just sucks that it took her leaving this Earth for me to fully understand how short and precious our lives are. So that will be my resolution for 2011. Not something ridiculous like lose 20 pounds (though that would be nice). My resolution for 2011 is to laugh everyday, rejoice in the gift of salvation, tell my friends and family how much they mean to me, and spread the good news about the things I am passionate about: God, books, sweet tea, The Big Bang Theory, UNC, greyhound adoption, and Amazon prime. (I didn't say they were all *deep* things).
Cheers to a fantastic 2011.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Sayonara 2010
I guess I needed an unintentional blog break! The past couple of weeks have been super busy. Besides celebrating the birth of new life with our friends and loving on their baby girl, we visited Michael's grandma in Topeka, wore ugly Christmas sweaters, and traveled to NC to visit with family and friends. We didn't get to visit as many of our friends as we would have liked, due to Michael contracting a stomach bug, people being out of town, and a snow storm that dumped 8 inches on Raleigh. But we kept busy. We went to dinner with some of my mom's old coworkers, had a bridal shower for my sister, went shopping, made my mom's recipe for cinnamon rolls (well, Lyndsay did-I taste tested. :D), visited our favorite restaurants, and had tons of quality time with our family.
We opened presents at my dad's house on Christmas morning, continued the celebration at my aunt's in the afternoon, and ended at Michael's mom's house with a yummy dinner, laughter, and more gifts. We were blessed beyond imagination. I received place settings of my china, a gift card for a canvas print, a keurig machine, some beautiful jewelry, but really, the best part was being able to be home. Sunday was my mom's birthday, and that was difficult, but I'm glad we were all home together to remember her. I think the snow was really special-it doesn't often snow in Raleigh, and especially not that much. It was like she was sending us a message that she was doing something special for us. We went shopping at the mall-one of the things she LOVED to do after Christmas-drank sweet tea, her favorite, and watched movies. It ended up being a good day.
So tomorrow marks the last day of 2010. What a wild ride this year has been. I don't think I've ever had so many highs or lows. I really feel like it's been a roller coaster. I can't say I am sad to see 2010 go, though. I'm excited to see what 2011 has in store. I don't think anything could top the emotional low that losing mom brought, so 2011 will be off to a good start. Excited to see where God plans to take me this upcoming year.
We opened presents at my dad's house on Christmas morning, continued the celebration at my aunt's in the afternoon, and ended at Michael's mom's house with a yummy dinner, laughter, and more gifts. We were blessed beyond imagination. I received place settings of my china, a gift card for a canvas print, a keurig machine, some beautiful jewelry, but really, the best part was being able to be home. Sunday was my mom's birthday, and that was difficult, but I'm glad we were all home together to remember her. I think the snow was really special-it doesn't often snow in Raleigh, and especially not that much. It was like she was sending us a message that she was doing something special for us. We went shopping at the mall-one of the things she LOVED to do after Christmas-drank sweet tea, her favorite, and watched movies. It ended up being a good day.
So tomorrow marks the last day of 2010. What a wild ride this year has been. I don't think I've ever had so many highs or lows. I really feel like it's been a roller coaster. I can't say I am sad to see 2010 go, though. I'm excited to see what 2011 has in store. I don't think anything could top the emotional low that losing mom brought, so 2011 will be off to a good start. Excited to see where God plans to take me this upcoming year.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Happy birthday to the newest member of the DesLauriers family
I'm trying my hardest to go to sleep, but I'm SO EXCITED! I know I haven't done a proper blog update in a couple of weeks, so I will try to do a rundown of what's been going on in a day or so. But today is a really awesome, special day. My good friend Anna is having her baby girl RIGHT.NOW. I mean literally....right now. I cannot WAIT to meet her little one, find out her name, see what she looks like, hold her, tell her how many people love her.
Teeny babies are so sweet and I am thrilled for Anna and Tom, and their little boy Treyton, who gets to be a big brother really, really soon!
Teeny babies are so sweet and I am thrilled for Anna and Tom, and their little boy Treyton, who gets to be a big brother really, really soon!
Portion Control, Part 2
1. Purchase cheeseburger, fries, and milkshake from fast food institution of choice.
2. Proceed to consume french fries and approx. 1/3 of milkshake.
3. Get distracted by shiny object (tv show, youtube video, whatever you like) and leave cheeseburger on plate.
4. Decide 30 minutes later that you really need a shower RIGHT THIS MINUTE.
5. In shower, remember you still have 1/2 your dinner to eat.
6. Get out of shower, walk to kitchen, but discover cheeseburger wrapper on the floor in the living room with contents mysteriously gone.
7. Find culprit.
2. Proceed to consume french fries and approx. 1/3 of milkshake.
3. Get distracted by shiny object (tv show, youtube video, whatever you like) and leave cheeseburger on plate.
4. Decide 30 minutes later that you really need a shower RIGHT THIS MINUTE.
5. In shower, remember you still have 1/2 your dinner to eat.
6. Get out of shower, walk to kitchen, but discover cheeseburger wrapper on the floor in the living room with contents mysteriously gone.
7. Find culprit.
Saturday, November 27, 2010
Best weekend
Oh man. Best weekend I've had in a long time. Dad was here to spend Thanksgiving with us and we had a great time with him. We had fun shopping, watching movies, eating (oh man...I need to eat salad for the next week to counteract all the amazing food we had the past 3 days), talking, walking Penny, driving through KC to look at the lights, and just hanging out. It was really relaxing and makes me even more excited for Christmas, when we're back in NC for a week. I haven't been back since May and am really itching to go back.
So Thursday was pretty low key for us. Michael smoked our turkey on the grill, using an apple juice/cranberry juice marinade. It turned out amazing. Really moist and tender, and full of flavor. Smoking the bird is the way to go! Our Turkey day spread also included cornbread and sausage stuffing, fresh green beans with craisins and bacon, homemade jellied cranberry sauce, homemade rolls, sweet potato with marshmallow topping, mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, and pumpkin and pecan pies for dessert.
The main event about 3 hours into cooking.
How cute are these? They were made from football molds and Alton Brown's recipe.
The tablescape. Wow, did I really say that? How very Sandra Lee of me.
No, my darling dog, you cannot have my plate.
After eating and giving our stomachs a little while to rebound, we headed out to Olathe to see the newest Harry Potter movie. I really enjoyed it. Dark, absolutely...but so is the book. I wouldn't mind seeing it again at some point before it goes out of theaters.
Friday we did a small amount of black friday shopping. We weren't among the brave (or crazy, depending on your viewpoint) going out at 3/4am. We waited until 9ish and still found some amazing deals. At Target I used some of my birthday money from my grandparents to get some Christmas decorative stuff, like pillows, a blanket, candles, bathroom towels, and...a light up flamingo with a Santa hat. Yeah. It's actually pretty cute! Michael and Dad waited in the car for me at Bath & Body Works...that place was more crazy than Target. But I made it out with a couple of candles and some foaming hand wash for pretty cheap.
After putting up all the Christmas decorations and a lunch of Thanksgiving leftovers, we drove out to Nebraska Furniture Mart. After some intense discussion and debating over fabric, style, whether or not a sectional would fit, etc., we chose a really comfortable blue/gray sectional for our living room. It has two sections that recline and I'm soo excited for it to arrive. It's being delivered on Thursday so we'll be sure to take pictures.
Shopping for couches is pretty tiring, in spite of the fact that you're sitting to test them out. We were pretty hungry by the time we left, so we headed over to Stroud's to try their famous pan fried chicken. This place has truly earned its amazing reputation and accolades. Theirs is the only cinnamon roll without frosting I will actually eat. It was SO good! The chicken and mashed potatoes were outstanding as well. We will definitely be adding this to our 'places to take visitors' rotation.
Today we hung around Lawrence until it was time to take my dad back to the airport. We took him to a Lawrence institution, Wheatfield's Bakery, and walked around Mass St and enjoyed the mild weather. Overall, it was so great to hang out with my dad, enjoy some good food, and have a little time off from work and the regular day to day life. So thankful for the opportunity to do that every once in a while!
So Thursday was pretty low key for us. Michael smoked our turkey on the grill, using an apple juice/cranberry juice marinade. It turned out amazing. Really moist and tender, and full of flavor. Smoking the bird is the way to go! Our Turkey day spread also included cornbread and sausage stuffing, fresh green beans with craisins and bacon, homemade jellied cranberry sauce, homemade rolls, sweet potato with marshmallow topping, mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, and pumpkin and pecan pies for dessert.
The main event about 3 hours into cooking.
How cute are these? They were made from football molds and Alton Brown's recipe.
The tablescape. Wow, did I really say that? How very Sandra Lee of me.
No, my darling dog, you cannot have my plate.
After eating and giving our stomachs a little while to rebound, we headed out to Olathe to see the newest Harry Potter movie. I really enjoyed it. Dark, absolutely...but so is the book. I wouldn't mind seeing it again at some point before it goes out of theaters.
Friday we did a small amount of black friday shopping. We weren't among the brave (or crazy, depending on your viewpoint) going out at 3/4am. We waited until 9ish and still found some amazing deals. At Target I used some of my birthday money from my grandparents to get some Christmas decorative stuff, like pillows, a blanket, candles, bathroom towels, and...a light up flamingo with a Santa hat. Yeah. It's actually pretty cute! Michael and Dad waited in the car for me at Bath & Body Works...that place was more crazy than Target. But I made it out with a couple of candles and some foaming hand wash for pretty cheap.
After putting up all the Christmas decorations and a lunch of Thanksgiving leftovers, we drove out to Nebraska Furniture Mart. After some intense discussion and debating over fabric, style, whether or not a sectional would fit, etc., we chose a really comfortable blue/gray sectional for our living room. It has two sections that recline and I'm soo excited for it to arrive. It's being delivered on Thursday so we'll be sure to take pictures.
Shopping for couches is pretty tiring, in spite of the fact that you're sitting to test them out. We were pretty hungry by the time we left, so we headed over to Stroud's to try their famous pan fried chicken. This place has truly earned its amazing reputation and accolades. Theirs is the only cinnamon roll without frosting I will actually eat. It was SO good! The chicken and mashed potatoes were outstanding as well. We will definitely be adding this to our 'places to take visitors' rotation.
Today we hung around Lawrence until it was time to take my dad back to the airport. We took him to a Lawrence institution, Wheatfield's Bakery, and walked around Mass St and enjoyed the mild weather. Overall, it was so great to hang out with my dad, enjoy some good food, and have a little time off from work and the regular day to day life. So thankful for the opportunity to do that every once in a while!
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