Blogging Anxiety

I started this blog almost 5 years ago and I've gone through spurts of consistent blogging. Then I've gone through spurts of not-so consistent blogging. I tell myself every year that I'm going to be better at keeping it up and every year I fall short. I start to feel anxious about the response.

The thing is, even if I think of something to write, my first thought is "no one cares about that." So I usually just let it go. The funny thing is, I follow a blog called The Sonia Show (I've written about it before). It is one of my favorite blogs and I really look forward to her posts. Is she writing anything earth shattering? No. Is she thought-provoking and controversial? Not really. She is just writing about her daily life in San Francisco with her husband, her adorable son, and dog named Homer. Reading her blog is like chatting with a friend. She's funny and sometimes makes stand-up comedian like observations, but when it comes down to it, she's just writing about daily life for her. And I eat up every word.

So why would I view myself any differently? Why would I assume that no one wants to read my blog about random things when I love reading someone elses? I think I am way too focused on the statistics page and how many people read each post. I know I will get about 2 readers for posts I don't share on Facebook and about 40ish for posts I do share. I rarely, if ever, get comments. But still, whenever I abandon a blog idea, I feel a little sad. So for you, my two readers, I will continue and try better to keep up the posts.

New bathroom!

This was a long and arduous process, but I am beyond happy to report our newly remodeled bathroom is finally done! 

We knew we wanted to redo this bathroom when we first bought the house and the fact that it's here now is still a bit hard to believe. We saved and saved for this so we are thoroughly enjoying it! 

We ended up knocking out our closet and building two new ones. It's a bit less closet space, but it's easier to use and much better! And besides, it's probably about time I got rid of some of my old clothes anyway!

It went from tiny, ugly, outdated, and inefficient:

To bigger and beautiful! (And my bedroom is more organized than it's ever been! Bonus!) 

Back the Badge (or at least try to find a balance)

Today my heart is sad and heavy. This is a topic that is close and personal to me and I have a lot to say on it. My goal in this particular post is to try to be as calm as possible, because I could easily let my emotions get away with me. I would say I will try to keep it brief, but that’s a promise I don’t know if I can keep and I can only hope to try to unscatter my thoughts before putting pen to paper (so to speak), so that what you read isn’t just a jumbled mess of thoughts.  Here it goes… (for the record, this blog is not about race or the Ferguson situation specifically, that is another post for another time)

I will assume, dear reader, that you are not someone who lives under a rock and that you are aware of the situation in Ferguson, MO.  If you don’t know about it, you can continue reading, but you should educate yourself about current affairs.

In Ferguson, a police officer shot a teenager. That’s what it all boils down to. There are exactly two people in the world who know exactly what happened and one of them is no longer alive. No matter what the news reports or what your friends post on Facebook, nobody else knows exactly what happened. Plain and simple as that.  There have been a lot of opinions on the matter and even though many of them have been debunked as more evidence comes to light, they are still flying around. If it did happen the way it was initially reported, then sure the officer should be punished, but it isn’t at all clear that it did, especially the more evidence that comes out, and I think it is ridiculous that nobody seems even willing to consider the fact that perhaps the officer is telling the truth. His is a completely valid scenario. Police officers have the right to defend themselves just like everyone else.

And that is what brings me to my main point. Right after the shooting, my Facebook feed (and I assume yours as well) was filled with people sharing posts about the white officer murdering an unarmed black boy. When the autopsy came out and disproved many of the so-called witness statements, those same people were not sharing those stories. Why not? As a journalism major, the lack of fair and balanced coverage of news is appalling. We live in an era of social media which has become a whole new source of the news. Everyone is a “citizen journalist” and should abide by the rules of Journalism 101. These days it seems more important to report first regardless of facts. If a story that has been shared online has been updated with more accurate facts, sharing the updated story is the responsible thing to do. It keeps things fair and balanced. To combat bias, both sides of every story need to be presented accurately and it is our job to make sure that happens, to hold the media to that standard.

On that same vein, if people are only sharing the stories about negative encounters with bad police officers, it further perpetuates the completely inaccurate portrayal of all police officers as horrible people hell-bent on ruining the lives of citizens. Guess what? That isn’t true at all. Are there bad cops? Of course, but the same can be said for any job or any profession. Does that mean they are all like that? No. I read a comment on a story about the protests going on in Ferguson. It said that the protestors are mostly peaceful. There have been a handful of outsiders coming in and being destructive and looting. The comment said that we shouldn’t lump all of the protestors together because they aren’t all bad. That’s a great way to think, but why does it stop there? Why shouldn’t the police in this country be given the same courtesy? I caution anyone against painting any group of people with a broad brush whether that be police officers, African-Americans, Christians, white people, Republicans, Democrats, etc. It is constantly being done and it is heartbreaking. But I suppose it makes the news more exciting to divide everyone into their neat little groups, doesn’t it? If we all got along, then what would they do?

So, in a valiant effort to provide a more balanced portrayal of things, here are some facts and stories I dug around the internet to find:

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• In the past 10 years, 1,501 law enforcement officers have been killed in the line of duty. That is one cop killed every 58 hours.

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• In 2012, there were 127 officers killed in the line of duty.

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• As of May 18, 2014 (less than half the year, mind you),  there have been 42 line of duty deaths

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• most police officers never fire their weapon in the line of duty

Some news stories I encourage you to read:

On August 15, 2014, a Lakewood Sheriff was violently attacked when he responded to a domestic violence case at the mall. Note that the suspect was “unarmed” when he bashed him over the head with a blunt object and kicked him repeatedly in the head.  Unarmed does not necessarily mean not dangerous.

Roberto Sanchez was an LAPD officer whose vehicle waspurposefully crashed into. Again, the suspect was “unarmed” in this situation.

Here are just handful of the many, many stories about officers killed in the line of duty or some just because they were police officers. Some of these incidents were simply results of what the officer thought was a routine traffic stop:  Christy Lynn Hamilton (LAPD), Kyle Dinkheller (LCSO, Georgia), James Capoot (VPD, NorCal), Darrell Lunsford (Nacogdoches County, TX), Timothy Brenton (Seattle PD).

There are hundreds of stories just like these. I would encourage you to read about them and even Google some of the happy police stories. Get to know the job a little more before you start critiquing and criticizing something you don't really understand. Make a police friend and ask questions. It could help a lot.

Imagine if anytime you had a job to do, there was the risk of someone shooting you or killing you. The next time you want to give a police officer a hard time for trying to do his or her job, just remember that they deal with the crap that nobody else wants to. They are the first responders to places like Sandyhook, they are the ones who respond to murders and homes with beat up wives and children. They see the dark and ugly things in this world that we can’t even imagine, things you can’t unsee. Ever. The job they hold deserves a certain amount of respect that they don’t get. Please be helpful and courteous and respectful. They really do want to help. They really do want to protect and serve. They are not mind readers and they are not your personal servants. Many of them have families. Unless you are a criminal, they are not out to get you. They are trained to see things in a way most people don’t, so let them do their jobs. Don’t assume they are all dirty or bad or however you see them in TV and movies.

And say thank you from time to time. I’m sure they don’t hear it enough.

Football time!

It's that time again!!

 

Last year, I joined the hubby's fantasy football league. Turns out, I'm not terrible at this and I ended up getting 3rd place overall. Not to shabby. 

 

Well, it's that time of the year again and I'm back in. Actually, I'm in 2 leagues now (pressure's on!). My friend Heather started up a girl's only league (because the guys can be a bit dramatic, you know).  So, I've got my magazines, I'm doing my research and I'm gearing up for football season.

 

There was a time not too long ago that I would never have said those words, but I can honestly say, I'm a fan now. Let's do this!

Practice Makes Perfect

I don't mean to say that our first kid was our practice kid, but there are many differences that come up in how you parent after the first child. You learn lessons that maybe didn't work so well the first time around.

 

I'm not sure if JJ is just a naturally picky eater or what, but I can't help but wonder if we didn't somehow contribute to his reluctance to try new things. We gave him "baby" food until he was just past one. We didn't give him our food until it was too late, I think, and by that time, he didn't want new things. He wanted chicken nuggets or mac n cheese or grilled cheese. He spent his afternoons at his grandma's house and she would give him grilled cheese pretty much every day. 

 

He is 4 now and in preschool. At first we were sending chicken nuggets in a thermos for him, but that was kind of grossing me out.  He finally gave in and he eats a peanut butter sandwich (yes, it took him this long to be willing to do that), yogurt and a granola bar.  He's not much of a "foodie" but we have gotten him to the point where we make him try something first. We make the deal that if he tries it and doesn't like it, he doesn't have to eat it, but he has to at least take a bite.  The progress is painfully slow, but it is progress none-the-less.

 

Kathryn, on the other hand, is my 1-year-old foodie. She will eat pretty much anything you put in front of her and then some. She finishes her food and then comes to us and checks out our plates. She's worse than the dog, I swear. But she's adorable, so I usually give her a bite or two. The only thing I don't think she cares much for is beans because that is the only thing I've seen left on her tray.  The difference is, we started feeding her "regular people" food as soon as possible. We did baby food for awhile, but as soon as I could, I just gave her what we were eating (within reason, she only has 8 front teeth afterall).  Once her molars come in, all bets are off.  She's not picky in the least; sweet, savory, spicy even, she loves it all.

 

I don't know how much water my theory holds, but I'm just glad I don't have two picky eaters on my hands. Meal-time has been one of our most challenging times over the years with JJ.  He's also a slow eater too, so we've started setting a timer for him at dinner and that has made the biggest difference. He eats quicker now (which equates to a normal speed for everyone else) and dinner time is less stressful for everyone involved.

 

Any other tips for the pickiest of eaters, I'm all ears. So far all the staple pieces of advice don't really help much (he's pretty stubborn).  I can only hope by the time he's in college, he's eating more than just chicken nuggets.

My Baby Girl is One!!

So because there was a video involved i didn't make on my phone, I
apparently couldn't do this blog from my phone, which I tend to do. I
guess technology has its limits.  I had to wait until I was on my
computer to add it and because I've been a good little writer, I've been
on my computer more working on some stuff (yay!)



So anyway, my little baby girl turned one on June 27.  She has been such a
joy in our lives. I know it's only been a year, but it is still sort of
hard to remember our lives without her! She fits into our family so
perfectly!

Throwback Thursday: It's All Coming Back to Me Now

So, this song came on and it took mewaaaay back! I had to look it up online, because it couldn't have possibly been thatlong ago, but apparently, it was. 18 years to be exact, back to 1996.

 

I was, and still am, a huge Celine Dion fan. The girl can sing my grocery list and I'd be happy. She was a staple on the radio in the 90s and I ate up every note she belted from her tiny Canadian self.

 

It's All Coming Back to Me Now is on the album Falling Into You, which was one of the first CDs I ever bought (along with Ace of Base The Sign and Amy Grant House of Love from a Warehouse in Bakersfield when I was 12-years-old). I was all about this song in particular, pulling out my hairbrush microphone and lip syncing like my invisible Grammy depended on it. At around the 5:15mark, Ms. Dion busts out a "Baby, Baby, Baby" that was goosebump-inducing. The song was sooo long too! Clocking in at around 7-1/2 minutes, this was the song you wanted on when your crush asked you to dance.

 

I was born and raised a Country fan, but Celine Dion is still very reminiscent of my youth. When this song popped up on my iPod, it took me on a nice trip down nostalgia lane, and I promptly popped in my Celine Dion Greatest Hits CD and rocked out, 90s Top 40 style.