Our MN Primary Election is this Tuesday and below is the letter to the editor that I wrote for our local newspaper.

  

Let your voice be heard: Vote

To the Editor:

Campaign season is in full swing. Lawn signs are up, political ads are in the paper and candidates are out and about vying for your vote. Your vote is important to each candidate. Your support is vital to them.

We have many different contested races coming up in the August primary, both locally and statewide. I encourage you to get informed. Look the candidates up. See where they stand on the issues. Get behind a candidate now. Don’t wait until the November election to choose a candidate. Make an informed decision today.

After you pick a candidate to vote for in the primary and then in the general election, fully support that candidate. Donate to the candidate. Write letters for that candidate. Walk in parades. Make phone calls. Tell all your friends and family why you are choosing to support that candidate.

In America, we have the right and privilege to vote and be involved in the political process. Many take those rights for granted. Instead, stand up today and make the choice. Have a real say in who your elected officials will be.

Support the candidates you like now in the primary so you can vote for them in November. — Mandy H

Swimsuit Shopping - Part 2

Yesterday, I received two packages in the mail. If you will remember I ordered three different times and one of them got completely cancelled. (You can read the beginning of the story here). I was excited to see what actually showed up. I ended up with one swimsuit top and two swim skirts. I tried it all on and only the bottoms worked for me. I tried the top and it just wasn’t what I was looking for. So I had two halves to a swimsuit, but not one complete suit.

I decided I would try again…not sure why, except for the fact that I would like to have a swimsuit that I like. So I checked the store online again and it said that a couple of the tops that I wanted were still on the site. I called the store and asked them to verify if the items were still in stock. I was told they were. So I went ahead and ordered three tops. I got an email within five minutes telling me that, sure enough, they were cancelled. I called the store for the second time and this time, they told me that the items were no longer in stock. They did however say that I could call another a number and they could look for it in a store and have it shipped out to me. I called this number and the lady I talked with graciously looked for it in the store. She said she couldn’t guarantee anything, but she would try hard to find it. I gave her all my information to order one of the tops and now I will wait again and hopefully have a complete swimsuit by the end of the summer! I have not lost hope yet!

Swimsuit Shopping...

Swimsuit shopping. Let me tell you, it is not the most fun thing in the world for me (unless, of course, I am willing to spend a ton of money!). It is something I have been avoiding all summer long, but I decided to do it since it is the end of the season and I was hoping to find a good suit without spending a lot of money. Ha!

I suppose I should first explain my dilemma before I "dive" into my swimsuit shopping story. The problem is I want to find a suit that is modest, that doesn't look like underwear, and that I would be comfortable wearing in front of others. I want a swimsuit that would be pleasing to the Lord. A swimsuit was designed to go swimming in, not to show off your body. When I go shopping for a swimsuit, I want something that is like shorts and a tank top. Something that is cute, but modest.

As I mentioned earlier, I have been avoiding looking for a new suit and part of the reason was because of how much fun (not!) my younger sister had looking for one. (You can read about that here on my mom's blog). So a few weeks ago I began my search, yet I wasn't finding anything that I liked... One of my favorite websites for swimsuits is Land's End. In the past, I have usually been able to find something there and if I wait until the end of the season, I can find a good deal. I have been checking for the last couple of weeks for something that might work, but just haven't found something that would work. Then the other day, I decided to check out some other online department stores. I had an email about free shipping and a percentage off, so I decided to try this one store. I started looking and actually found a couple of tops were "high neck" and were quite fun. I also found some bottoms that looked like they would work. I ordered two different bottoms to try and one top. I was excited and thought my search was over...

...but it wasn't. I got the email confirmation of my order and it said one of my items was cancelled. The swim top. I still had free shipping so I thought, well I will just find another one and order it. I found two more and ordered both, just in case one got cancelled for some reason. I got another email confirmation and it said both items were cancelled... By this time, I was not too happy. I just wanted a swimsuit. I decided I would order one more time, I still needed a top. Again, I picked out two tops. I also found some board shorts this time around, so I added those to my cart, too. I placed my order for the third time and waited for the email confirmation. This time, I finally had a top still left on the order, one, anyway. And the other items were also cancelled.

So in 24 hours, I order 3 times from 1 store. I ordered 5 different tops and 3 different bottoms. As of right now, I think I am getting 1 swim top and 2 swim skirts. Is that enough numbers for you? Hopefully, when it all comes in the mail, I will have 1 complete swimsuit! If not, I'm not sure what I am going to do... Maybe I will just back to the olden days and wear a swimsuit like that! :)

http://www.pinterest.com/pin/532198880939441812/

A Bigger Vision?

A Bigger Vision?

Sometimes I think I forget that we should be living for something bigger, Someone greater. Maybe we think it is about the things and not the who. I feel often times that I want to do so much more than I am doing, but I struggle with the what. What am I supposed to be doing?

I truly feel called to be involved in politics. I feel it is important for Christians to be witnesses in this sphere, but sometimes I wonder if I'm doing enough. 

I suppose in some respects it is a good thing to question. Maybe it will make you try harder. On the other hand, I'm not sure you can ever do enough in whatever part of the world you are called to serve in. 

I think we need to remember that we aren't the ones that can actually change hearts. Only God can do that. We are called to plant the seeds, but we can't force them to grow. It is God that makes the difference.

"I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor." 

1 Corinthians 3:6-8 NIV

Lastly, God has put us where we are for a purpose. No matter where we are, no matter what we are doing, no matter who are are with, we are called to give the glory to God and be a witness for Him. We are called to a "bigger vision". Let's keep a Heavenly perspective and always remember to give Him the glory!

So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God. 

1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV

Summer is flying by

It seems as if summer has just flown by. It is already a good ways into July. I know I have been bad about writing, but honestly I'm not sure what happened to June. It was pretty busy. I'll try and recount a bit so you know where I'm at. 

June...

The first week of June we celebrated my sister's birthday. Then throughout the month we continued to celebrate birthdays for 3 of my nieces and 1 of my nephews. 

In between all that, there was also a few political things I was involved in. Attending a couple of meetings, walking in a few parades, organizing volunteers, and helping candidates in other ways were just some of the things that took up time. 

On top of those things, there was just the everyday things that we try to get done! Mowing lawn is a good example of this! It has been raining a ton lately. Which makes the grass grow...a lot. The other week I was going to mow lawn and every time I said that or went out to do it, it rained... finally got it done, but now it is time to do it again! 

On a side note, we did see quite a few rainbows even a few double ones! 

July...

The beginning of July had also been as busy as June! Of course we celebrated Independence Day! It is one of my favorite holidays! We were in 2 parades walking for political candidates, had a picnic, and then watched a great fireworks show on the 4th. 

Below is a picture of how I did my sister's hair for the 4th. I thought it would be fun to share with all of you! It is a star braid! 

I started writing this post last Thursday and as I was writing it out I thought I would share what was coming up in July. But now a couple of those things have happened, so I get to share that as well! We were waiting for my nephew to be born and his due date was on Thursday, but he decided to show up just yesterday! I'm so excited to be an auntie for the 14th time (and to think I'll be an auntie x 15 come this Fall)! 

Today, we celebrated the little guy's oldest sister's birthday. Lots of celebrating going on! We got to go to a brand new playground in town. I have to say I even had fun "playing" at it! It is one of the best parks I have ever seen. It even has a zip line! 

(On top of the zip line, is the Spirit of St. Louis! The zip line also has a map showing Charles Lindbergh's flight from New York to Paris.)

I think all of that finally gets us caught up to today! Coming up the rest of the month, we are celebrating a few more birthdays, including my own, and my parents' anniversary! July is getting to be a busy time for celebrations! 

So what is keeping you busy? What kinds of things are filling your summer days? 

The Disappointments of Growing Up

Photo Credit

One of the worst parts about growing up is that you learn all these things in life that you thought were true are the opposite. My parents tend to burst my bubble when it comes to things like this. For example, a few months back, I found out that Betty Crocker isn't an actual person. I guess I didn't expect the lady on the cover of the cookbooks to be a real live person, but I thought she was perhaps at least based on someone. (I guess it could be argued that she is based on the women of the current generation or whoever is opening that cookbook). But as a young person, I believed she was real. Why wouldn't she be???

 

Then there is the whole thing about drawings/giveaways... (My parents claim most of them are rigged and they are not just by chance).

Photo Credit

Santa Claus, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy, the list goes on and on. As a child you have no reason to doubt these things. And some of these things may not even have been things people have told you, it may have just been that you were a trusting child and believed the world was a wonderful place. Perhaps you even believed you lived in Never Land, which of course brings up the whole Peter Pan thing. I always wished I could be Peter and just stay young forever...

So what, you may ask, started this whole rant and rave? Well, you see, I am a self-proclaimed, hopeless romantic. I love to read chick lit and watch chick flicks. Tonight, we (my family and I) got into this whole discussion about this super romantic marriage proposal from a book that my mom and I had just read***. She said that romantic proposals like that don't happen in real life (at least not a lot of the time) and of course I believe they do. (And don't even get me started on happily-ever-afters). So then this discussion got started and now I'm on a mission to prove that proposals do/can happen that way today, in real life. So please tell me all of your wonderfully romantic tales of real life!  

And if, in the small chance that they might not be that romantic, I guess I will just continue to read my wonderfully romantic chick lit by all of my favorite authors out there! I do have to give a shout-out to all those great authors who write great, clean, romantic, humorous, Christian books! I really appreciate all of you!

***The whole proposal discussion started based on Janice Thompson's series "Weddings by Design". The third one, "The Dream Dress," has a wonderfully romantic proposal, but I won't tell you about it because it will ruin it for you! Make sure you read the book!

"The Dream Dress" by Janice Thompson

Ronald Reagan Quotes for Memorial Day

Ronald Reagan Quotes for Memorial Day

-The United States and the freedom for which it stands, the freedom for which they died, must endure and prosper. Their lives remind us that freedom is not bought cheaply. It has a cost; it imposes a burden. And just as they whom we commemorate were willing to sacrifice, so too must we -- in a less final, less heroic way -- be willing to give of ourselves.

-You and I have a rendezvous with destiny. We will preserve for our children this, the last best hope of man on earth, or we will sentence them to take the first step into a thousand years of darkness. If we fail, at least let our children and our children's children say of us we justified our brief moment here. We did all that could be done. 

-Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We did not pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free.

-We will always remember. We will always be proud. We will always be prepared, so we will always be free.

Ronald Reagan

Thank you all for your service and to the families who have also sacrificed. Thank you for making it possible for one more generation to see freedom!