Letter to Schwarzenegger

If you haven’t heard, there has been a huge backlash since the vote on Proposition 8 passed. Not only has the public display been noisy, but our family has seen problems even at the elementary school. My eight year old daughter was called a nasty name by an upper grader when they heard her talking about the proposition with a friend.  I was disappointed when I saw the comments made by our governor.  So I wrote and sent a letter to both him and the first lady. If you’d like to join me, you can send a letter as well. Here is a copy of mine:

Dear Governor and First Lady-

I have always respected and been impressed with you as parents. I have especially felt a connection as a mother as I have read Maria’s written words and seen her interviews. I am writing to you as a concerned parent regarding Proposition 8.

As I’m sure you know, things have become ugly since the vote. I have seen personal attacks on my character and religion as a member of the LDS (Mormon) church. Every church has the right to encourage their congregation to vote and contribute on moral issues. In no way did we hijack the election, or influence free thinking people to vote any way other than their own conscience.

My young children in elementary school have been verbally attacked by older students who know that our family was in support of the Yes on 8 campaign. I know that friends of mine with high school students have seen even worse with their children. As an adult, I can understand and tolerate the abuse, but I plead with you as a parent to calm the No voting residents of California. They look to you for guidance and leadership and recent statements made by the Governor have only fueled the protesters and made them feel more justified in their intolerant, name calling, and disruptive behavior.

I hope you will consider that the majority of the state voted on this issue and that in spite of the fact that the No Campaign had more money overall, more money from out of state donations, celebrity endorsements etc., the voters still passed Proposition 8. Regardless of your personal feelings on the issue, I hope that you will look at this from a legal perspective and realize that in a democracy, this is completely valid. Please urge those who are disappointed in the results to write another proposition or use the proper means of getting their point across.

As a side note, I personally believe that if the No Campaign can show the good that homosexual couples can do as parents, instead of focusing on individual rights they will have more success in convincing the people of California that gay marriage is a good idea. So far we have seen their focus on individuals, when marriage is not about individuals, but about a couple coming together to make a family. Since these recent protests, I feel even more strongly that the gay community and the No voters are not interested in successful families or children, and they will have little chance of convincing me otherwise while they behave as they currently do.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,

Amy *****

*****, CA

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I Am Thankful for Freecycle

I signed up as a member of Freecycle a while back and think it is fantastic.  People from your own community list things that they no longer need, but that might be useful to someone else and give them away for free.  It is perfect for giving away things that you have held onto just because you want to make sure they find a good home.

People give away all sorts of things: movies, books, clothing, furniture, appliances etc.  Just today I got three books of stories written for third and fifth graders as part of a homeschool curriculum.  We go through books so fast here, so anything new is always devoured quickly.  This person also gave me a half full container of liquid Tide that she hadn’t used because she doesn’t like the scent.  I have a few things in my garage that I want to freecycle, and after tonight I feel a bigger push to get it done.

As I drove away tonight with my books and Tide, I thought how nice it felt to have someone I didn’t even know offer these things to me.  And it also feels great to give things away when you know they are appreciated. It’s moments like those that are the true meaning of community.

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I Am Thankful for Digital Photography

I can’t remember the last time I bought a roll of film.  I love that I can take a ton of pictures and not worry about how much it will cost to develop them.  I can pick and choose and even delete the ones I don’t like.  Although there are very few that I actually delete because every photo tells some kind of story for me, even if the focus is a little off or the subject is looking the wrong way. I have been adding photos to my gallery today, and was so grateful for a visual way to keep family and friends updated on our family. And since I’m not good at letters or phone calls, this is a way that I can share what is going on. I signed up for an online class to learn how to use photoshop, so maybe I can make those shots even better now. Fun!

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I Am Thankful For Visitors

We all get so excited whenever we can get family to come visit with us.  Recently, we had Kezia (Rob’s cousin) stay with us overnight while she was here working in LA over a weekend.  The kids love her because she is always excited to see them, and usually has some sort of treat for them or something fun to do.  This time she did all of the girls’ hair and they looked beautiful!  Some people have a gift for doing little girls’ hair and she is one of them. It was great to stay up late chatting and catching up.

This weekend Rob’s parents are here!  They had an audiology conference in Las Vegas and decided to take a few days to come here afterwards.  The kids were jumping off the walls when they heard the news that they were coming, and it gave me a good reason to put the kids to work cleaning up this morning. (Another benefit to guests is that the kids don’t argue as much about having to clean up.) Tonight we went to dinner at Mimi’s Cafe, and hit Target to get some new shoes for Emma because hers broke today.  Even these regular things are more fun when we have visitors.  So who can come next?

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I Am Thankful for a Sense of Humor

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f86qKQJg3Z8

I am thankful for the creative people of the world that can make me laugh (at the top of my list is my sweet Robby who makes me laugh every day!).  It’s easy to make fun of someone or do mean or dirty humor, but to do clean humor is the true test of a comedian. Lately we Mormons have been called all sorts of names, but if this is weird and peculiar, I’d rather not be normal.

What are you thankful for?

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