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Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Thank you for Praying!!

Wow- I have some good news to post!! To be quite honest I am surprised about this, being a christian it may seem like I did not have the faith in God like I should have. I prayed for a miracle but doubted... I guess I have learned a lesson. About a month ago I posted about my cousin's son Brian who had brain cancer. He had just had a severe stroke and was sent home from the hospital to be "with" his family. There was nothing they could do for him. I don't have any of the specifics but yesterday I got an email from my cousin- I was nervous to open it... But guess what that- mountain moving, gasp giving, awe inspiring God did now?  (this quote is from Linny's blog !) Brian is doing much better. His mom said he is still fighting and amazing his doctors! He has made changes for the better and is making some progress towards recovery! He will start in home physical therapy tomorrow. They have been doing some themselves and it has been helping!

The stroke was quite severe so he will be entering into a rehab facility soon for physical, speech and occupational therapy. He has a long road ahead of him but he is determined to get better. They are so thankful for all the prayers, thankful that he is still with them and hope that he will defy the doctors and make a full recovery.

I do not know what Brian's future will be but I do know that I have a thankful cousin- they are thankful for every moment they can spend with him, They are thankful for the many prayers that are coming their way, they are thankful for his progress and it give them more hope with each day!

Thank you so much for you prayers and please keep praying! God hears you and it is so appreciated!
Blessing to you,

Monday, April 27, 2009

Why am I Blogging?

I researched curriculum so much this weekend I gave myself a migraine. Oh my, my head hurt!

I have been thinking about the question "why am I blogging"? I really want to make sure I am doing it for the right reasons. I am terrible at people pleasing, by that I mean when I do something just to please others (look good in their eyes, pretend I am someone I am not) it never works out. For many years I tried and I consistently fell short and then would beat myself up over it. I cannot be doing this so that I have followers, so that everyone loves everything I say, so that I am the funniest, have the largest family or I am the most eloquent writer. I just have to be me and hope to touch a few hearts while documenting our journey through life!

As the years have gone by I have adopted a new philosophy- I am here to serve and please the Lord. Hopefully, by doing so I will be helping others- hopefully, I can bring someone some joy, some support in their adventures in life, support during their adoption journey, maybe some words of wisdom or ideas from my experiences, a good laugh, a smile, a feeling like "oh yeah, I know what she means".  My desire is to visit others blogs so I can share their journey, continue to learn a few things,  grow in my faith and get a little comradery on this island I have created. This island of being 50, having older kids and small kids, adopting and homeschooling.

 (If anyone knows the correct spelling of comradery please help! I even googled it but the blog still says it's wrong?)Aargh

This blog adventure started on the "journey to me" site where we jotted down our thoughts to our new child and documented our journey to China. Now it is more than that, it is not just for our adopted children it is for ourselves and for our new friends. It helps us keep our head above water and our attitudes in check. It is heartwarming to know you are not doing it all alone. Yes, our Lord is with us but we are also able to bring a few friends along for the ride- bloggy friends.

My hope is that I will be able to joyfully share our adventure with those that are interested, encourage others to adopt the precious children and be supportive of them. It is kind of a ministry in a way!  I think we are all ministering to each other - and that is a good thing!

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Success in church!

Please everyone mark this day on your calendar!! Anna sat thru church!! It is a first for our sweet Anna!! We are elated!! Of course she did sing a few renditions of "Winkle Winkle little Star" (no twinkles, it was just a winkle) and abcdefghijk-elmo-pqrstuvwxy and z. But the most important thing is we all were there through the whole service and it was enjoyable. Don't ask me about the sermon but you can ask hubby! He listened, I was too busy thanking God for the moment!!

We have often tried to bring the girls to church but it often ends up with hubby in the narthex chasing Anna while Sarah and I are in church. So for us this was BIG!!  At times Hubby and I would sneak away to church and refuel for the week! Johnny would stay home with the girls. That worked for awhile but this is much better!

Sarah was amazed at the little girls in their pretty white dresses making there first communion. I told her soon that would be her. Before I started on all of this I wanted her to understand who Jesus is and what it means to have faith in him.  She seems to already have a heart for the Lord - for what is good and kind. She is such a wonderful child!

I was never taught about faith and love for our savior. Religion was not discussed in our family. I think it was because my parents didn't really know where to begin or how to teach it. For me it was a wonderful gift from God that I discovered at 13 yrs old while in confirmation but I am sure that having loving parents had a lot to do with it. I am so thankful for the gift of faith, however it has made it challenging for me to teach my children about our Lord. I really don't know how or where to begin. I am just praying and trusting God that he will lead us! I do have to say- so far, so good! Thank you Jesus! If anyone one has some helpful tips- please share them!

Today was a wonderful day- the temps were mild and the girls were outside with Dad working on the yard! At one point Jim was picking up the leaves that accumulated on the patio while Anna was playing with the hose. Yes, she was a bit wet and we changed her immediately! Sarah was with me getting a bandaid on one of her many owies (sp?)- otherwise one of us would have stopped her! That is life with kids- never a dull moment!

We are looking into getting a swingset... someday, maybe? So we spent the morning playing at Rainbow play systems. The girls loved it and even met another little girl from China! Her mom was asian so I assumed that was their birth child. I was so glad when they started talking to us and told us their daughter was from China- same province as Anna! We can't help but be attracted to other families with Asian children.  Yet, I want to be socially appropriate and careful not to say the wrong thing!

While every one was enjoying the day I was looking into curriculum for next year, it is actually fun to do! I am excited to homeschool these precious girls! Sarah is amazing and I am guessing that Anna will be a joy to teach also!!

Thank you Jesus for a blessed day!

I will add pics soon! Sorry, I have been a bit slow with the camera!

Friday, April 24, 2009

Happy Birthday Mark and More Big Nursery Rhymes News!!

I am sad to say there are no Happy Birthday party pictures for my sweet boy. He is away at college and we miss him so much. In the past I have been the worst Mom at sending gifts- so my dear son Mark let me know that and it still took 3 weeks for me to get the package off to him. SINCE it was so close to his birthday it became a birthday package! He was not disappointed!! He got gift cards to al the nutritious places around the campus- any place that had something that resembled food and was better than the campus food, a t-shirt, flip flops, his favorite TV series on DVD's and another funny set of DVD's - which I will not disclose the name of because I do not approve of it... even though I did buy it for him. Also included was candy and gum! The dentist must love me now!

He will be coming home for a short visit in a couple weeks (mother's day weekend)! We are all looking forward to giving him a big huge hug!!

Mark has a heart of gold. He s a wonderful son, brother and friend. He adores his two little sister and he will be working for me again this summer as our ... Manny ;-).
Okay, the real reason is jobs are scarce, he gets home too late to even get one and I can use a little help over the summer. That works for me! (No Montessori and no other babysitters)

Today the girls were singing nursery rhymes and I just want you to know that Mary now has a little man... Yep, no lamb, it's a man.
And the other big news is the weekdays have been shortened from 5 to 2! The girls were singing the days of the week song and all I heard was Monday, Tuesday, Monday, Tuesday, Monday, Tuesday! I have no idea what happened to Wednesday, Thursday and Friday BUT they're gone! So enjoy!

Thursday, April 23, 2009

It's okay to cry... and Thankful once again on a Thursday!

Last night I was really feeling it- my mom passed away one year ago and even though I have done very well with the loss, there is something about the anniversary that brings it all back. I remember her last conscious days where I said over and over to her how much I loved her and that she was the best mom ever and that I was going to miss her sooooo much. That day was such a blessing because she was able t0 tell me over and over again how much she loved me. Words I will never forget and I hold so dear. Of course again as I type the tears are streaming down my cheeks. Hubby and I have decided you never really get over losing a parent, the pain just dulls a bit as the years go by. It was very hard for the first 3 months, I missed her terribly and I wanted so much to share things with her- Anna's progress, our journey to Sarah, how and what the other kids were doing, our soap opera, yes, I said our soap opera! It was very helpful when I asked "Prayers that Move Mountains" to pray for me- truly I felt the sadness lift and was able to positively move forward.

Now I read sweet Linny's blog and I feel that this dear family has taken enough from the opposition. It is time saturate them in never ending prayer. They are constantly on my mind. Children are so precious- and I think of how worried they must feel, sick with worry, wanting to make it all better for their precious Autumn. She is such a beautiful girl! I love how she is unique and goes to the beat of a different drummer. Please pray for the family, for wisdom of the doctors, for healing, for God's grace and comfort.

As I was sobbing last night thoughts came in and out of my head. My Mom, Autumn, Linny, their family, a big decision we need to make soon, my mom, the orphans, the hungry, the homeless, my mom, my dad, the children on waiting child lists, and our next child who is waiting for us in China. After awhile I couldn't figure out which one I was crying more about?

After all that I was wiped out and unable to sleep so I watched the soap opera (tivo) that my Mom and I had watched together so often... in honor of her!!

Today is a new day, no more tears, just hope! Sometimes you just have to have a good cry!

What am I thankful for-
1. great parents
2. the gift of faith
3. the gift of the holy spirit
4. these adorable little girls that run around our house and the 5 big kids that we adore!
5. food and a home
6. adoption loving, family loving, Jesus loving friends I have met through blogs
7. our FCC playgroup- great moms and adorable kids!
8. the freedom to worship and to homeschool!

Thank you Jesus!!

Tuesday, April 21, 2009

Bits and Pieces!

We are to the point where I am seeing bits and pieces of my/our former life and it is a good thing. Our family is at a very comfortable point. Sarah is sleeping in her own bed, she will get her ears pierced when big sissy Kate comes home. That means that Johnny and I can watch our favorite show together. Hubby and I have more time together! I still help her get dressed sometimes but she does much of it on her own. She brushes her own teeth now! She is awesome at picking up after herself and can make her own bed (but I still do it half the time).

Anna can be in the house with out my constant attention- however if she is quiet for awhile I better start looking for her!! I can now go on my computer and finish an e-mail- I just tell the kids I will be done in a minute and then I can help them. The 4:00 time is no longer dreaded. The kids visit or play with Johnny, they may watch a show or we will be outside- they will even play by themselves for a little bit!

They now understand that Mom needs a little time to get things done in the house- pay bills, do laundry, make appointments, Blog ;-)!

One of the best things that is happening right now is I am back to listening to my christian radio station in the car and I love it!! It is so uplifting and refueling!! It just makes my day!!

In the morning I am able to have about a half hour before waking the kids! I just need that time to slowly wake up, get my energy and get ready for the day. ( maybe catch a little GMA and find out the weather!)

But even though this is quite nice we are ready to do this adventure again and we can hardly wait! We know our child is waiting for us and we want to get to her asap and bring her home! Because of our age we know we have a deadline- a time when the answer is a plain and simple NO. So while it is yes, we are going for it!!

What about this lovely moment in time? It will happen again and I am sure I will enjoy it just as much as I do now! Maybe that's what makes it so sweet- if I always had that time I think I wouldn't appreciate it and I would be lonely and bored. Thank you Jesus for this incredible opportunity to bring your children home!!

Sunday, April 19, 2009

Dinner Date with a Bloggy Friend!!

What a blessing!! Our blog date was wonderful! Let me tell you, this is one of the nicest families you will ever meet!! Before we met then I was getting myself all nervous- I had those dream like visions of forgetting an article of clothing or my teeth falling out- you know those nightmares that really make you panic. I quickly found out their was no need to worry- they were as sweet and down to earth as you can imagine. Lori is more petite than I expected, she has a soft voice and she is kind hearted- which I am sure you all know from her blog!

Both families got along so well- I wish I could have brought more of mine- I know they would have enjoyed it. Sarah was pumped- she has a lot of personality and this was a brand new audience. Sometimes I would be thinking of something I wanted to say and boom, it was gone because my sweety went through all her math facts for this dear family.  That's life! Lori, if I think of it again I will e-mail you. Okay I am as proud as punch at how Sarah is doing in school BUT the best part is how excited she is about it!!

Lucy and Anna were a bit shy at first but once they got out of their seats they were all over the restaurant. They are such adorable 3 yr olds and both of them have no intentions of being potty trained! I wish we lived closer so we could have a little play group!! ( and coffee, prayer time and chatting for the Moms)

I honestly left there feeling so blessed that the Lord gave us this opportunity to meet such a wonderful family. I was also thrilled that my hubby had such a good time- I didn't need to ask the girls I already know they did, too! This blogging, this prayer support that we give each other- it is a good thing!

Thank you Jesus- for this opportunity!

Now I have met Sally and Lori!! Who is next??

A little update on the jerseys- although it was kind of funny- I really did feel bad about it. Of course as a mom we feel worse than we really need too. When we got home I called the team manager- good friend of mine and told her the situation. She was as nice as could be and put my mind at ease. She felt her son's uniform looked pretty good after taking a mud bath on the field- whew. Thank you Jesus, again!

I have to be off to bed- I promise to post pics tomorrow!! Mine will look a lot like Lori's!

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Just a little side note!

Well it turns out that I didn't ruin everyones jersey (I mean hubby didn't ruin everyones jersey). No, there was one boy on the team who forgot their jersey in the hotel. He ended up wearing the extra team jersey the coach had... guess who that boy was... yep, you guessed it, our son Johnny! His white jersey is lookin fine! That's because his mother is so good with the laundry!!
Oh my! I can't help but chuckle!

Believe me when the boys get home and their Moms' see their jerseys... I won't be chuckling. I might have to go get a job to pay for them!

So we are driving to the next game and my dear hubby who is always so good with directions is driving and driving  and driving and driving. 20 minute later I looked at the street signs honey you forgot to turn, we are going the wrong way. He immediately says no... oh no, I did. He turned around right away and says "thank you honey for being so nice about it" I held back an obvious smile, this doesn't mean you can gloat about it and use it on me later. Smile again! Sure honey! We did have a good laugh!
We missed the whole first half and part of the second half. Well at least Anna had a much needed nap.

Hi Kelly!! Please add yourself as a follower!! I am stuck on an odd number! See you soon!

Road trip!

This is Sarah's first road trip- we tried to explain what we were going to do before we left but it was hard for her to understand. After one hour in the car we heard "almost there?" aaahhhhh, no only 5 1/2 more hours honey! The girls did great in the car! They watched movies, sang songs, chatted, had some snacks and dosed a little bit. We only took one quick bathroom break! When we told Sarah we would be staying in a hotel she just couldn't quite figure out what that was, even though we had stayed in them in China. It was all new to Anna, she was excited and sleeping at night wasn't what she had in mind. Jim and Anna shared a bed- he thinks we should trade kids tonight... I think not!!

Sarah has seen quite a few new sights! She usually yells "look, look"- in such a way that hubby and I practically jump out of our seats! It might be a plane, or a tree, or a yellow flower (I believe they are called dandelions- ahhhhh choo)- something along those lines! We drove by a huge truck- which I was amazed at and I pointed out the incredibly large tires- sarah replied yes I see those tigers. This happens everyday- She gets her words mixed up, it is so darn cute.

We watched the first game in the pouring rain- another new experience for S! After the game we decide to be heroes and wash the teams soaking wet, filthy dirty soccer uniforms. We gathered them up and off to the laundry mat we went, with the girls! Hubby and I were moving fast- coach wanted them back quickly. While they were in the wash we ate at McDonald- yuck, I mean nummy!

We hurried back to get the clothes into the dryers. We were running out of time so we put the uniforms in the plastic bag- but they were very hot and it melted the bag- they all fell on the floor. So we scooped them up and put them in the trunk- which was clean because I just cleaned it! When we got to the hotel we put them in the lobby for the boys. Sounds good, right... wrong... oh boy... they were a wrinkled mess, oh boy again the numbers and lettering started to melt in the extremely hot dryer, the were kind of stuck to each other, oh my, they weren't even very clean. Panic was coming over me, we just ruined the teams very expensive uniforms! I could feel a hot flash coming on so I did what any other woman would have done - I fled the scene and let hubby take the blame!!  And here I am now blogging to you!!

I will post pics later! Off to another game! I'm standing on the side with the other team!

Thursday, April 16, 2009

Thankful and it happens to be Thursday!

Okay I have been buried under mountains of laundry. I never got fully unpacked from spring break, I have been trying to homeschool, we had a birthday celebration, along with the easter holiday and we have had 3-7 active kids in and out of the house for the last 2 weeks. Of course they all do their laundry... here... at my house... okay, their house... in my laundry room... that I share with them. So today Sarah and I had a marathon laundry day and it was good!! Little Sarah had done lots of folding in China, I showed her my technique, she caught on right away and well, yep, it's all done! Go Sarah, Go Mommy, Go Sarah, Go Mommy- we are doing the laundry dance!! While folding we were rockin to the local christian music station! Did I mention we got our school work done, cleaned the car inside and out, had a bangs trim and made it to our ESL class- definitely a yippee Jesus day!!

So what am I thankful for... wow, so much!

I am thankful for a sweet little 9 yr old girl who is so fun to be with!

I am thankful that we will be traveling to KC and we will be meeting our bloggy friend Lori and her family!

I am thankful for my washers and dryers- they are wonderful! They are able to conquer any laundry task!

I am thankful for our dear Lord and even when the opposition rears it's ugly head we know he is there and he will guide us to the truth, to what is good, and what is right. We will follow him!

I am thankful that little Anna's diaper is dry in the morning... now if she will only go in the potty we will be all set! Any ideas? I am seriously thinking of offering candy!

I am thankful for the spring weather that has managed to find MN!

I am thankful for bloggy friends that post comments and are so encouraging of our journey! I am thankful that I can hopefully encourage others! This truly is the road less traveled, we might as well travel it together!

Blessings to you!

News Flash- Check out my friend Laura's blog , she is having a contest and it looks like fun!!

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

He's Waited a Long Time for This Day!

15 1/2 years to be exact! Finally the day has come that our youngest bio child- Johnny is my height and he is taller than his big sister, Kate. Out of all the kids Johnny has been slow to grow. (I think he cares so much because he loves sports, especially basketball and height would helps in that sport!) He is thrilled to have now reached 5'8". Johnny looks just like my Dad, who claimed to be 5'11". He is hoping for more height but we will take what ever we get! Sorry Kate- he's got you beat now! I do think it bothered big sis a little bit. But, no worries Kate, you have a couple precious sisters that may (okay probably won't) reach your height. We grow them every size in our family- hubby is 6'2.5" and has a sister that is 5'2" and I have 2 great aunts that barely reached 5'.

If he does keep growing this would mean I am back in the front row of the family pics- arghhh, That is not where I want to be...

Tuesday, April 14, 2009

I Got My Verse On!!

I got my Wild Olive Tees in the mail!! I love them!! The funny part was trying to get hubby to take a picture of me. He is not a good photographer and we were rolling on the floor laughing. Okay, I may be a little picky but if this pic is "of me and going on my blog"- I better look younger than I really am!! So here is the advertisement for the adoption loving, family loving, Jesus loving, 50 and over crowd!!

Monday, April 13, 2009

Armed and Ready for Battle!

Anna didn't want anyone to break her egg, so she hid it!

We have a family tradition on Easter Sunday- it's an egg fight! We take our beautifully colored eggs and smash them together to see who will come out the winner. The winner has the egg that did not break BUT broke others eggs. You do get to use both sides but once one side breaks you are out of the championship round. This year it was Sarah and Johnny that shared the gold medal. There is technique involved but I haven't quite figured it out yet, maybe by next year! After that event we enjoy many hard boiled eggs and egg salad!

Last year Katie and her friend shalacked (SP?) the eggs to give them extra strength. We were very suspicious of them and caught them red handed- they were immediately disqualified by the judges. Actually they just picked another egg and we continued on with the fun!

This year Katie and her friend Sarah from Iowa colored eggs with the girls! They really enjoyed it! Sarah is convinced that America is a good place after all. She let us know about a week ago she does not what to go back to Ch*na! I am glad about that, she's our daughter and she is here to stay!

Thank you for your responses regarding our new neighbors. I will tell them that many people are praying for them. God bless you!!

Sunday, April 12, 2009

Please pray for our new neighbors

I have a lot to say about this week end but for now I need to say this. I know that there are some incredibly cool bloggy friends out there that would love to pray for this dear family.

Friday was a beautiful day here in MN! The girls and I were outside enjoying the afternoon. It was only about 52 degrees but it was sunny and we were so happy to be outside!! I stepped in the house for a moment and Sarah came running in "Mom, Mom police". "Yes, honey I hear it too, but they are only driving by, they are not on our street..." until I looked out the door, and right there in front of our house was a squad car with flashing lights. I quickly went outside to find a 13 yr old boy in the front yard right across the street. I asked him what's happening and he said my mom collapsed, she is barely breathing. As I looked up I saw 2 more squad cars drive by our little private drive ( it is very hard to see). So I told Sarah to stay with Anna and I ran to the corner to flag down the police cars, 4 more came and an ambulance.  The girls and I waited in our driveway, a neighbor girl was with us. We said a prayer for the mom and the family. They took her in the ambulance to the hospital. Her car was left in the driveway. Everytime I looked at it I prayed for her. I felt very concerned and so hoped that she was okay.

Today... as hubby and I were going to take a walk, the young man (25 yrs old) that now owns the house was there with his wife and their 10 month old son. It was his mom that collapsed, it was his 13 yr old brother that was running in the front yard, it was his father that quickly arrived 20 minutes later. His precious mother died of a ruptured aorta. She was 49 yrs old and has 6 children. The young man that owns the house was her oldest child, the 13 yr old was her youngest, he is devastated, they all are- they are all so young. Please pray for this family. They are in shock, they have lost someone so precious, they have lost their dear mom, grandmother, wife, and friend. She was helping her oldest son clean his new house and helping him prepare for moving in- isn't that exactly what momma's do. We have only just met them but our hearts ache for them.

It was about a year ago that I lost my sweet Momma. She was 83 and I was 49, there is a big difference losing someone at that age compared to what they are going through... and it was very hard for me.

God please bless this dear family, they so need prayers, they need you, dear Lord. Please join me in praying for them. Thank you dear friends!

Wednesday, April 8, 2009

Tying a tie??

Is that how you spell to tie a tie?? Tying? Hmmmm?

We have four older boys- one in high school and 3 college aged or older. We are batting zero as far as being able to tie a tie. The worlds is a bit more casual now so they seldom have a need for a tie but you'd think at some point their parents would have taught them- who are their parents anyway??
Every time one of them has an interview, a wedding or a dance they come running to Dad for help! Johnny had to wear a tie throughout the basketball season when ever there was a game. Jim would pre tie them for him when he was going out of town.

Sarah slipped on the floor in the kitchen. She right away says" call 911, we have an injury. Hurry up get some help here!" It was pretty funny! Whenever we hear a siren her ears perk up, she notices them all the time! In China you would call #0* if you needed help. She so often pops up with interesting fun facts about life in China!

Can anyone tell me why they do the star in Ch*na??

Blessings to you!

Monday, April 6, 2009

Thank you!!

I want to thank Linny, Lori, Lori and Jennifer for your wonderful comments! I so appreciate them! Bible verses are never cause for concern- they are always guiding us! Do not be afraid to offend even if you do not know the person- you can't go wrong when quoting from his book/ and from his word!!

Whether you prayed or not we are doing very well- makes me think you did! The crabbies are gone- keep praying if you can- they would love to find an opportunity to sneak back in! Sarah had an incredible day with school! We reviewed and I thought we would need to spend the next 4 days reviewing but WOW she did it all perfectly today and even read her first book to Dad- truly a thank you Jesus moment!! It was from the HOP (Hooked On Phonics kindergarten series), the book was "CAT"! Only 4 months home and she is eager to read! I did not expect this but we are thrilled!!

We did the first math lesson just fine but struggled with the second. Often times it is the language that holds her up- that will come in time. I am trying to list the things that she struggles with and planning to add them in as the language improves. I hate to hold her back just because of story problems and whatever else. She is an awesome, wonderful, little girl- thank you Jesus!!
Gods blessings to you!

These are random pics of our time in Florida! We worked on puzzles and went out for ice cream- it really was a wonderful family time!!

Saturday, April 4, 2009

In Need of a Bible Verse!

Lately I have let the crabbies slowly creep back into my life.

You know when you pass someone in the mall (lets day a crabby middle aged man for example) and the two of you are almost going to run into each other and so you pick your side to pass by but he picks that side too and neither of you are going to budge cause you assume the other one will end up choosing to go to the other side. At that point you have a choice of smiling, kind of laughing and saying oops or excuse me, but lets say, the crabby middle aged man says (will add a crabby frown to his face for effect) "MOVE OVER". Well, you were so stunned by that crabby statement and something inside you would love to come back and really get him with a witty comment BUT you are not witty and you have no comeback... The only thing you can think to say is "nooo... you move over". Now the unnecessary conversation takes a really mature twist! He comes back and says "no,  you move over". Again being the quick witted person I am I -excuse me I mean you (I prefer writing in 3rd person- I like to think it was you acting like this and not ME) comes back with a quick "no, you move over".  At that point nasty frown were exchanged both ways- his was nastier than mine of course. So, I hurry back to the table where the children are eating and what am I left with... a yucky feeling inside, muttering to myself about how creepy people can be sometimes, and a chip on my shoulder. I did win by the way I got the closest to the side we both picked to pass on- of course I was practically in the fake indoor shrubbery trying to claim my side.

To sum this little incident up- I didn't win, I lost big time. I lost and he lost but I could have made it so we both would have won. I could have held onto my formerly cheerful attitude. I could have let God deal with him and only hoped that my grace and sunny smile would have rubbed off on him and maybe helped the bad day he was having. Instead I let myself be sucked into a crabby state by the opposition.

Like I said, I have let the crabbys sneak in and I want them out. I want God to have full control. I want to joyfully serve him. Others can ride the roller coaster of moods if that is what they choose. I know what it feels like to be filled with his spirit, to love others and to joyfully serve him, so before I begin down the wrong road- I am takin a u turn back to my savior!

Okay now we are at the point where I should have a really great bible verse. I am sad to say my bible is at home. (shouldabroughtit)
Can I have a little help here! I know that most of you who read choose not to comment but a verse would really finish this post off nicely!!

Friday, April 3, 2009

Thankful Thursday- April 2nd!

Yes I know I am posting it on Friday, April 3rd BUT I meant to do it yesterday so this works!

Yesterday was our precious Anna's birthday. She is officially a 3 yr old and quite proud of it!
The day was low key and she loved every minute of it. We went to a twins game, they won (rumor has it)! It was very hot and we only lasted through the 6th inning. The kids slept on the way there and on the way back- Which made for a nice little quiet chat time for Mom and Dad. When we got back we hopped in the pool and after that it was off to dinner. The birthday girl enjoyed a little pizza with her kiddie cocktail. She had a birthday cold stone and we probably sung the birthday song 20 times to her- if it wasn't us singing she was singing it to herself. Once we get home we will do the celebration with family, presents and cake.

So first on my list is being incredibly thankful for this sweet little 3 yr old. What a joy she is!!

I am thankful that we are in Florida right now enjoying the warm weather. Spring has failed to come to MN this year.

I am in awe of our God that is creating miracles in China as we speak. Precious children are being placed in a newly formed orphanage. These children will receive the love and care that every child deserves. Definitely a "thank you Jesus" moment! Here is the blog!

I am thankful that Sarah did so well with Anna's b-day. I wasn't quite sure how it would go but she handled Anna getting a little extra TLC just fine!!

I am thankful for this incredible journey of adoption and how much we continue to learn about our children and how to handle different situations.

I am thankful that this journey is being accompanied by God , in fact it is being orchestrated by him!! Thank goodness, we could never do it without him!

I am thankful that God hears our prayers and answers them. I am thankful that he knows our hearts.

I am thankful that baby Stellan is improving. Keep praying!

I am thankful for sunsets- they are so beautiful and they make me feel so close to God

I am thankful for bandaids - they make boo boos better instantly! Blankies help, too!

Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Addendum to previous post!

Hubby and I have both come to the conclusion that as our dear daughters are learning to live in America, in a family, we are continuing to learn to parent them. It is a process and one that we find very exciting! Truly, never a dull moment! We are always thinking, thinking, thinking about what we are trying to teach them and how they perceive our teaching- constantly trying to send the correct message!
Both moms' we were with the other night were so compassionate! One was a teacher and really understood where we were at with homeschooling an adoptee at 8 yrs old now 9, who says she will be 10 soon but she is pulling our leg! She so wishes the schools would offer more to these children. The other mom was so kind, complimentary and loved the girls! It was actually nice to get such positive responses from non adopting families! Thank you Jesus!! I forgot to mention one fam also had a 14 yr old daughter- she was great with the girls, too!!

Meeting up with Friends!

Three of Johnny's friends are here with their families. The boys are hanging out together and we have gotten all together twice for dinner. One of the families have a 5 yr old boy and an 11 yr old girl.  There is also a family at the pool with an 8 yr old boy, 6 yr old girl and 3 yr old boy. Anna and Sarah have played so well with the kids. It is truly heart warming to see their progress. Anna's, because she is coming out of her parallel play stage and Sarah, because she is becoming so confident in her english that she can initiate play with other children. I am happy for both of them, it is a big step in the right direction.

Sarah has quite the personality and has many of the older people at the pool chatting with her daily. Anna is as cute as a button and is sure to let everyone know tomorrow is her birthday and she will be three years old! Little Ben and Anna have really hit it off. He often invites her to lunch and give her hugs goodbye- what a sweetie!

Sarah's swimming is improving by leaps and bounds. She does much better here with us than in her swimming lessons. We have determined that a female teacher is a must for her and her next session. She can do the arm movements and kicking to the front crawl but has to stop to breathe. She is doing handstands under water and jumping in by herself from a standing position (where it is not over her head). It is a joy to see her accomplish all this in such a short time. She has come so far from the little girl that was stiff as a board in the water and afraid to get her face wet.

Teenage boys are funny. They play like puppies and have this innate need to wrestle! We have had wonderful family time but it is nice for Johnny to see his buddies. The other families have enjoyed our girls and the girls love the extra attention. In fact they love, love, love attention especially our little Sarah. We are still and I think will be working with her on socially appropriate behavior for a long time. She does not do anything that is a huge "oh no"- just little things like climb over the furniture at someone else's house, when we say we are going to leave she dashes away, refuses to wear shoes when shoes are required at the restaurant, pouts at bedtime, loudly talks about people in front of them and still loves to stare.  She is also a bargainer beyond belief, we are working on NO meaning exactly that, NO. Honestly to the general public she does great! She is charming, helpful, playful, wonderful sense of humor, good eater, pleasant, caring and everything else that is good!  The little 5 yr old boy that was with us had a melt down the first evening. It was good for me to see that- with our youngest birth son being 15, it had been awhile since that was part of my life so it helped me to have more realistic expectations for our girls.

I have loved our evenings out with our friends. It is nice to have a conversation with big people! Because of the environment the kids were able to dance to the music, run on the beach, play catch or just play in the sand before sitting down to eat. We even caught a sunset! There is something about the setting sun that makes we want to get on my knees and thank our dear Lord! It is awe inspiring and breathtakingly beautiful! Only something our creator could have made! Thank you Jesus!!

Pics to follow!


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Major Russian War Games Underway - September, 2008

And the message is: yes, we mutilated your Georgia and if you even think about intervening, we will mutilate you as well...

Major Russian War Games Underway

Russian war games:

Russian war games:'S GLOBAL WAR GAMES

September, 2008

This week the Russian armed forces began month-long strategic military exercises called Stability 2008. According to the Defense Ministry, the scenario suggests "a worsening of the situation and an escalation of crisis situations into military confrontation" (, September 20). The composition of the forces and ministries that will be involved in the exercise does not leave any doubt—it’s a scenario of a nuclear war in which Russia and its ally Belarus will face the United States. and NATO. The Russian military, intelligence and special services, and other executive government agencies and ministries, including local governments, together with their Belarusian counterparts must jointly "liquidate military conflicts, insuring strategic stability." The exercises will involve mobilization and deployment to forward positions of forces in the Moscow and Far East Military Districts and the deployment of the navy in the North Sea, the Atlantic, the Baltic Sea, and the Pacific. Three air armies and one air defense corps, the Strategic Rocket Troops, strategic bombers, and Space Troops will be involved as well as Belarusian military formations. This exercise involves all of Russia’s nuclear forces, most of the battle-ready navy, and the Air Force, but only partially the army. This implies a predominantly indirect war with a far-off enemy—the United States—on sea, in the air, and in space, using nuclear weapons, with a limited engagement of army ground forces (, September 20).

Of course, only a fraction of the manpower and hardware that would be needed in a real military confrontation between Russia and NATO will be deployed during Stability-2008 maneuvers. This is mostly a staff exercise to prepare the military, the Interior Ministry, the special services and civilian executive government to work together in a possible future confrontation with the West. Russia may some day move to secure its vital interests and defend its citizens (as was the case with Georgia in August) in other parts of the former USSR, say, in Ukraine's Crimea. The West may decide to intervene. According to Air Force chief General Alexander Zelin, during Stability 2008, Russia’s air defenses will repulse an enemy air onslaught, while Russia will use its strategic bombers and other nuclear capabilities to enforce peace and "stability".

According to Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov, the maneuvers have been planned for a year; they are not a reaction to current political events (RIA-Novosti, September 23). Indeed, such massive military exercises with an outright anti-Western scenario could not have been improvised at short notice in the aftermath of the Russian invasion of Georgia in August. Apparently, the present atmosphere of East-West confrontation was envisaged long before by military planners in the Defense Ministry just as the invasion of Georgia itself was planned in advance. While military staffs and other parts of the executive branch will be preparing to meet the challenges and consequences of an air, sea, and space confrontation with the West on home turf, a small naval force led by the nuclear cruiser Pyotr Velikii will sail to the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Caribbean to show the flag and the finger to the United States, Russia's archrival. Long-range bombers will fly out to far-off waters and coordinate their maneuvers with the Pyotr Velikii. Russian journalists and TV crews specially selected by military authorities have been posted on board the Pyotr Velikii to cover the planned two-month voyage. Since the ship sailed on September 23, Russian state TV has been showing daily satellite-transmitted reports on the progress of the mission from on board. The exercises Stability-2008 and the voyage of the naval force are getting massive coverage in the government-controlled Russian press. It was reported that the Pyotr Velikii will visit the Russian naval outpost in Tartus, Syria, that ten Russian warships are already in Syria, and that "aircraft carriers and cruisers may be based there" in the future. The visit of the Pyotr Velikii to Syria, it is said, will transform Russia into a naval superpower.

There is, in fact, not a single Russian warship based in the run-down Soviet-era naval outpost in Tartus, and the Pyotr Velikii is too big to dock there. Russia's only aircraft carrier Admiral Kuznetsov is again in disrepair and not ready to sail. The Kuznetsov was built in a shipyard in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. Russia does not have a shipyard capable of building any more carriers. The voyage of the Pyotr Velikii and the Stability 2008 exercises seem to be mostly publicity stunts to boost anti-Western propaganda at home and send a clear message to Washington. Russia's rulers want to be taken seriously and can make trouble in different parts of the world if not respected; but they are ready to make deals: Do not send warships to the Black Sea to help Georgia and we will not go into your backyard; respect our sphere of influence and we will respect yours—or else. The offer resembles youth gangland politics, but Vladimir Putin grew up in a bad neighborhood in St. Petersburg.

Stability-2008 Military Exercises Begin in Russia

The Russian Armed Forces began the Stability-2008 strategic command staff exercises on Monday. These war games will be held “in compliance with the combat readiness plan of the Russian Armed Forces from September 22 to October 21 under the command of Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov,” the press service of the Russian Defense Ministry told Itar-Tass. “Many federal bodies of the executive authorities, including the Interior Ministry, the Emergencies Ministry, the Justice Ministry, the Federal Penitentiary Service, the Federal Security Service and Transport Ministry have developed a scenario of the exercises in cooperation with the Belarussian Defense Ministry,” Serdyukov told reporters earlier.

He noted that the scenario of the strategic command staff exercises envisages “to train the deployment of the Russian Armed Forces, combat missions of troops to localize and fight armed conflicts, terrorist activity, natural disasters and man-made catastrophes in order to provide strategic deterrence and security of the Russia-Belarus Union State.” “The Russian strategic command staff exercises Stability-2008 and the Belarussian complex operative exercises Autumn-2008 are held to examine the combat capability of the power-wielding structures” of the countries in order to ensure security of the Union State, the press service of the Belarussian Defense Ministry said.

“The Stability-2008 exercises are a core of an operative and combat training” of the armed forces in Russia and Belarus, acting spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry Colonel Alexander Drobyshevsky said. He emphasized that “the Stability-2008 war games include a range of operative, special and command staff exercises and training sessions at various scales that have the coordinated targets, missions and time limits.” The Stability-2008 exercises, “which are being held in various regions of Russia and Belarus, have the common scenario.” “The Stability-2008 exercises will have two stages. The scenario of the drill envisages a gradually deteriorating situation when crisis situations are growing into armed conflicts,” Drobyshevsky said.

“The Stability-2008 strategic command staff exercises involve military command bodies, troops and military commissariats from the Moscow and Far East military districts, the Baltic, Northern and Pacific Fleets, the 11th Air Force/Air Defense Army, the 16th and 37th Air Force Armies, the 32nd Air Defense Corps, the Strategic Missile Troops and the Space Troops, units and organisations of the Russian logistic forces from the Russian Defense Ministry, operative groups from the federal executive authorities, as well as military command bodies and units from the Belarussian Armed Forces,” Drobyshevsky said. The Stability-2008 exercises will last until October 21.

In other developments:

Medvedev Observes Missile Test-Launch in Urals

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev observed the test launch of a tactical missile in a command and staff exercise in the southern Urals on Friday, a senior military commander said. A Tochka-U (SS-21 Scarab) short-range tactical ballistic missile was launched at 3:10 p.m. Moscow time (11:10 GMT) at the Donguz proving ground in the Orenburg Region as part of a 74-day exercise, Ground Forces Commander Gen. Vladimir Boldyrev said. He said a total of 40,000 servicemen were taking part in the exercise in the Volga-Urals Military District, named Tsentr-2008, and that it was the largest exercise of its kind in 20 years. The drills involve motorized rifle, tank, artillery, antiaircraft, missile, and support units with over 700 armored vehicles (tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, and self-propelled artillery systems) and more than 40 combat aircraft and helicopters. The Tochka-U is a 1989 modification of the Tochka missile system that went into service with the Soviet military in 1976. It has an effective range of 120 km.

Russia Plans Own Nuclear Umbrella

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has announced plans to build a "guaranteed nuclear deterrent system" to be in place by 2020. He said he wanted military chiefs to submit plans by December. He called for a programme to build new nuclear submarines as well as "a system of aerospace defence". The announcement comes just weeks after Russia accused America of starting a new arms race by siting part of its missile defence shield in Poland. "We must guarantee nuclear deterrence under various political and military conditions by 2020," Mr Medvedev told military commanders. He said it was necessary to build "new types of armaments", and to "achieve dominance in airspace", according to quotes carried by the Itar-Tass news agency. "We plan to start serial production of warships, primarily nuclear-powered submarines carrying cruise missiles and multifunctional submarines," Mr Medvedev said. "We will develop an aerospace defense system, as well," he added.

Submarine Force Added Medvedev’s Words to Arsenal

Russia’s President Dmitry Medvedev inspected Kamchatka yesterday. He visited Saint George the Victorious submarine, where he talked over the financial crisis with sailors. In the next effort, the president chaired a meeting on the Far East problems. Similar to the previous days, Medvedev urged bureaucrats to work more actively, and his rhetoric was very heated. Once in Kamchatka, Medvedev immediately headed for the submarine base located close to Vilyuchinsk village. It was raining heavily, and the president descended to Saint George the Victorious submarine to see its interior and speak with the sailors in the chief cabin. “The events are pushing us, and we will speed up organization of our armed forces,” Medvedev explained to the crew. “First of all, it is upgrading the armed forces; secondly, it is strengthening the status of a serviceman, including increased allowances, normal and qualitative dwellings, sound set of social services.” The global financial crisis won’t affect Russia’s fleet, the president assured sailors, pointing out that the construction of new submarines will continue irrespective of any crisis and the country has the force and the funds for it. At the final meeting dedicated to Far East development, the president focused on the key concern of the region – low living standards and outflow of residents as a result of it. The president urged ministers to accelerate elaboration of the concept for Far East’s social and economic development up to 2020.

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Russia Has No Imperial Ambitions - September, 2008

Russia Has No Imperial Ambitions - Putin

Putin put it straight:

September, 2008

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has met political experts and journalists from all over the world for the first time since the military conflict in the Caucasus. The annual forum, the Valdai Discussion Club, which aims to provide a better understanding of the country, has been taking place in Sochi, Russia’s resort on the Black Sea. The following is the transcript of the highlights of the meeting in Sochi.

Vladimir Putin: If I remember right, this is our fifth time together. The fact that your interest for meetings in this format remains keen indicates that you want them to continue. To me and my colleagues, these meetings are interesting and important as well. They offer us an opportunity to talk directly to people who, as I have said in our previous meetings, have chosen Russia with its politics and international affairs as one of their occupations. I am very pleased to deal with experts and have a chance to engage in a living, direct dialogue in order to discuss urgent problems that mankind in general and Russia in particular face today. Of course, one of the most difficult problems today is the current situation in the Caucasus: South Ossetia, Abkhazia and everything related to the recent tragic events caused by the aggression of the Georgian leadership against these two states. I call them "states," because, as you know, Russia has made a decision to recognise their sovereignty. Of course, I am ready to talk on this subject, although I would like us not to limit ourselves to the problems of South Ossetia, Abkhazia and Georgia only. I would like us to discuss a wider range of problems. I assure you that my position will be, as always, open, frank and straightforward. I don't expect our views to be exactly the same on every problem, but I assure you that our discussion and my answers will be frank. Once again, I greet you. I hope you enjoy your stay in Sochi, and enjoy your meal. That's all I'd like to say at the beginning, because long monologues are tiresome, especially for those who listen. Let's go on to a direct dialogue. Thank you for having the patience to listen to me.

'Western propaganda machine is unbelievably powerful’

Jonathan Steele, a journalist: The first time we met was in Beslan with the tragic events there. Now we are meeting with even more tragic events of the Caucasus. I understand that you have been extremely angered, as indeed most Russian officials have been, by the western reaction and by the western media reaction. But there were elements of western media which did try and report fairly at the beginning, which did say that the Georgians escalated this war and provoked it, which did go to Vladikavkaz and interview refugees from Ossetia who told stories of Georgian atrocities. But then over the next few days the situation changed and you regained control on behalf of the South Ossetians of the territory. Then Russian forces moved forward. And whereas at the beginning you had the moral high ground, if I may say so, the story changed. And the Russian planes were bombing Gori, suddenly there were more Georgian refugees than Ossetian ones and the operation began to look more like something that was almost about revenge rather than defending South Ossetia. So, my question is: Why did Russian forces go so far beyond South Ossetia into civilian areas causing the civilian distress? Even before this crisis we heard that the Russian side wanted to put forward proposals for totally new European security architecture. This idea is much more important now. What are the Russian proposals that you are preparing for a new security architecture that would either replace or include NATO in some way but that would obviously give Russia a very different position in Europe than it has at the moment?

Vladimir Putin: You know, your question doesn't surprise me. What really surprises me is how powerful the propaganda machine of the so-called "West" is. This is just amazing. This is unbelievable. This is totally incredible. And yet, it's happening. Of course, this is because, first, people are very susceptible to suggestion. Second, ordinary people usually don't follow world events that closely. So, it is very easy to misrepresent the actual course of events and to impose somebody else's point of view. I don't believe there is one person among us here who is not familiar with the facts. At least in this room, everybody knows perfectly well how the events unfolded in reality. I have given the true account on several occasions, including my recent interviews with CNN and ARD.

'Georgia’s action was well-prepared'

Without any provocation from our side, the Georgian army - I emphasize, the army, not just some individual units - started a military operation to, I quote, "restore constitutional order in South Ossetia." In the evening, or even in the afternoon, of August 7 they started bombarding our peacekeepers' bases. Then their ground troops moved in. They had military hospitals set up very close to where the action took place. These hospitals were ready to receive their wounded. Everything was organised the way military operations should be organised. They attacked our peacekeepers' base. Essentially, they started a large-scale military operation that involved heavy artillery, tanks, and infantry. Since the ratio between Georgian troops and our peacekeepers was 7:1, our troops had to retreat into the central part of Tskhinval. The Goergian military seized our peacekeepers' base ‘South’. Essentially, the Georgians occupied the entire city of Tskhinval, the center included. Only the northern part of the city and our ‘North’ base continued to offer resistance. Then they started to bomb the entire territory of South Ossetia. Some air strikes were against the town of Dzhava, which is in the central part of Ossetia, pretty far from Tskhinval. So, a small number of peacekeepers and Ossetian volunteers continued to hold back the Georgian attacks for almost 48 hours. All of this started on August 7 in the afternoon, and our troops did not enter Tskhinval until the 9th - in fact, until the night of the 9th.

'World media was silent at start of war as if under orders'

I was in Beijing at the time. I looked through the world electronic media - complete silence! As if absolutely nothing is going on. It was as if somebody ordered everyone to keep their mouths shut. To those who organised all this, I can only say: congratulations. Congratulations. You did an excellent job. The only problem, your results are poor. And this will always be the case, because the work you do is unfair and immoral. In the long run, immoral policies always lose. What was actually taking place over the last few years? You are people who follow the events, so you must have noticed that almost in every international meeting, we - myself and others - pointed out time and again that tensions were escalating in the zone of South Ossetian-Georgian and Abkhazian-Georgian conflicts.

'U.S. prompted Georgia to launch military operation'

Our American partners kept training the Georgian military. They invested a lot of money there. They sent a large number of instructors there, who helped mobilize the Georgian army. Instead of looking for a solution to the difficult problem of ethnic strife and ethnic conflicts, they just prompted the Georgian side to launch a military operation. This is what actually happened. So, naturally, we had to respond. What else did you expect? Did you expect us wipe our bleeding nose and bow our head down? What do you want to do? To destabilise the situation in the Northern Caucasus completely? I'll tell you more. We are aware of the fact that an NGO was established in a certain republic in the Northern Caucasus, which claimed that since Russia did not protect South Ossetia, their republic should seek independence from Russia. So, if we protect South Ossetia, we are wrong. If we don't protect it, they deal us another blow, destabilising the Northern Caucasus inside Russia. With some, their insolence has no limits.

'Aggressor should always be punished'

Now, you asked why we did it the way we did. Because the infrastructure used in attacks against our peacekeepers, Tskhinvali and South Ossetia in general, went far beyond Tskhinval city limits. Their command centers, their radars, their munitions depots. What did you expect us to do, wield a stationery knife there? They accuse us of the disproportionate use of force. Well, what use of force do you call proportionate? They had tanks, multi-rocket launchers, heavy artillery. Did you expect us to fight with slingshots? What would be a proportionate use of force in this situation? Of course, those who planned this provocation should have expected that they would get a hefty punch in return. If a command center is located outside the conflict zone, we should hit it there. What else can we do? Military science requires us to do it. Now, let me explain why we went there. I have already explained the military aspect to you. Now let's remember how WW2 started. On September 1, Nazi Germany attacked Poland. Then they attacked the Soviet Union. What do you think the Russian Army should have done? Do you think it should have reached the border and stopped there? By the way, it wasn't just Russian troops that entered Berlin. The Americans, the French and the British were there as well. Why did they go there? Why didn't they stop at the German border? They didn't stop because the aggressor should always be punished.

’We support sovereignty of former Soviet states’

As for former Soviet republics, it was Russia who initiated the dissolution of the Soviet Union. It was Russia. But for Russia's position, the USSR would have existed to this day.We made this decision a long time ago. We have absolutely no intention of infringing the sovereignty of former Soviet republics. On the contrary, we support it. But what is the actual situation? First of all, as I have many times said in the past, we should have rules of conduct in international affairs that would apply to everybody. You can't, for selfish reasons, make self-determination the top priority in Kosovo, and at the same time give priority to the principle of territorial integrity in Georgia.

'Europe follows the U.S. obediently'

So, let's make a decision, which rules are we going to live by. We have spoken about this many times. We have warned our partners against creating a precedent in Kosovo. But no, they insisted on doing things their way. They ignored everything: international law, UN resolutions, everything. They did it their way, the way they thought was best based on their geopolitical interests. By "they," I mean our Western partners, primarily our American partners, of course. The Europeans just follow them obediently. Well, they did what they did. I emphasize, we didn't recognise South Ossetia and Abkhazia immediately after they recognised Kosovo. We didn't react. As I have recently said, we ‘swallowed’ it. The only thing we did at the time was that I signed a decree on developing closer economic ties with these two territories. By the way, this was what the UN called for. It recommended that these territories not be isolated economically. That was all we did. In principle, we were ready to continue the dialogue. But no, they wanted to use military force here too. They enjoy shooting and bombing so much they thought they could achieve success here too. You weren't successful in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in the Middle East - what makes you think you could be successful here? They failed here as well, and they will always fail - those who think that force is the most effective foreign policy tool in the modern world. This is why Russian President Dmitry Medvedev proposed to work out some new rules. What are these rules? It's all very simple. The same principle should apply to everyone. Let's decide which rules we are going to live by. It is absolutely obvious that no country, however powerful it economy or its military is, cannot solve all the problems in the world all by itself, without inviting reasonable partners to join it. But once you invite partners to join you, you have to take their interests into account. You can't act like you are a Roman emperor. You have to take into account your partners' interests and respect them. This is what we suggest. And we are ready to work in this way.

'There is not ground for Cold War'

Richard Sakwa from University of Kent: For 200 yeas Russia has not been able to establish a stable, confident relationship with the West. Why not?

Vladimir Putin: Look, you're asking me why Russia has not been able to establish a stable relationship with the West. Well, let me ask you: why the West has not established a stable relationship with Russia? This is the first thing I want to say. Both sides should work on this. This is something I mentioned when answering the first question. Both sides should make effort. If we are to have an equitable relationship, we have to respect each other. And respect means we recognise each other as an equal partner. The U.S. will never be able to make us similar to Western Europe. No offence meant, but Western Europe has no foreign policy of its own today. Russia cannot and will not exist in this way. Yet, we want to have normal partnership. So let's build this relationship together.

You mentioned some events from days of yore: the 19th century, and so on. Indeed, there have been many cases of conflicting interests. But the world has changed. Look at the political practice of our American partners. God forbid that you do on the continent of America something that contradicts the U.S. interests. They consider America to be their holy of holies. Yet sending their missile cruisers to a place only 200 kilometers from where we are now is a small thing to them. Is this what you call an equitable relationship?! So, I'd say, on the one hand, we do need to analyse our past. ‘He who doesn't know his past has no future.’ But we need to take the actual situation into account. Today, we don't have any Ideological differences, unlike during the Cold War. There is no ground to have a Cold War. Of course, we may have competition, different geopolitical interests, but there is no solid foundation for enmity.

We Did Everything Right, And I'm Proud of it - Medvedev

Medvedev's address to Valdai club:

President Medvedev revealed in a frank talk with members of the Valdai Discussion club how news of war in South Ossetia came to him, why Russia will not deal with drug-addicted Georgian president Saakashvili, what George W. Bush said in his latest phone call, and why he won’t let Russia turn into a state behind an iron curtain.

'I'll never forget that night'

“I was on vacation. They say, Russia was preparing for war – that’s a lie! The Defence Minister called me at 1 a.m. and said, the Georgians have told the Ossetians that they were starting a war. And while all those troops were moving towards South Ossetia, I took no decision and hoped those dimwits would have enough brains to stop. They didn’t! We held ourselves until they started firing rockets, shelling residential blocks, and shooting at peacekeepers. And only after that real attack I had to give an order to respond.” “I’ll never forget that night. It was very hard to order the use of force, while knowing the consequences. We did everything right. And I’m proud of it. Our response was symmetrical and proportional.” "There were many illusions in the early 1990's and, as the country developed, many of them just got blown away. Unfortunately the latest events mean those illusions are no more. Illusions that the world is just; that a security system based on current political resource distribution is optimal and keeps the world in balance." “For me, as well as for a big part of Russian society, it was the loss of the last illusion - that the current world security system is reliable. We must create a different security system.” "The world has changed almost in an instant after those events. It came to my mind that for Russia, August 8 is almost like 9/11 for America.” “The war took the whole last month of my life, and there were more productive ways to spend it. We didn’t want it, didn’t want it at all! For 17 years we’ve being mending what had broken apart a long time ago. And they didn’t thank us for that – rather they started shooting at us.” “Russia was not expected to react like that. Georgia got the idea: do whatever you want, Russians won’t meddle. That’s a diplomatic mistake that belongs to textbooks for diplomats. It’s a mistake, from the US side, from Georgia's side – but for Georgia it’s also a crime.” “I have spent so much time speaking to world leaders on the phone over the last month, my ear wouldn’t work. You know – after an hour’s conversation…” “When I talked to Bush on the phone last time I told him: you’d have done the same in a situation like this, just in a more harsh way. He didn’t argue.” "Bush asked me: ‘Why do you need it? You’re a young president with liberal background!’ I don’t need it at all. But there are situations where image is nothing and real actions are everything."

‘I don’t want to live behind an iron curtain’

“We discussed the rearmament of the Russian armed forces yesterday. We’ll have to change some priorities, but all the rest remains the same. We don’t need a closed, militarised country behind an iron curtain. I don’t want to live in a country like that. I used to. It was boring and dull.” "They should have invited Russia into NATO a long time ago. Were they afraid? Now we’d certainly have fewer problems. That was a serious mistake. And the second mistake is that any country prepared to be rude to Russia gets the right to be in NATO." "If Georgia had a NATO membership action plan by August 8, I would have done the same without a second thought. And what would the consequences have been? They would have been way more complicated." "The situation was humiliating for Russia some time ago, and we can’t take it any more. It’s a difficult choice for us, but we can’t take it." "I don't think the confrontation phase will last long. From our side, we're definitely not interested in this. On the contrary, we're ready to go as far as our partners will. If you look at the five principles [of Russia's foreign policy] I have named, one of them says we would like to develop friendly relations with the U.S. and other states, with Europe. We don’t want to create new alliances just to frustrate Europe and America. What's the point? There isn't any. Foreign policy should be pragmatic". "The concept that the U.S. State Department embraced is pure ideology. We all need to take effort and drive ideology away from foreign policy. The current U.S. administration’s problem is that they have too many sovietologists." "If you think that Russia has decided to change its vector of development, that’s not true."

Saakashvili is a drug abuser

“When I first met Saakashvili as a president I told him our policy regarding the territorial integrity of Georgia remained the same". "He was fussing around like a pooch, saying: let’s meet and discuss, I will come to Sochi. I said: OK, let’s do it. I would be glad, maybe we’ll sign an agreement on non-use of force". “Then our close partner Condoleezza Rice arrived, and the boy became like a changeling. He stopped calling, and declared 'We don't need to meet in Sochi, maybe we'll do it at the end of the year'. Well – that’s your choice. He started getting ready for war". "It won't come as a surprise if I say that the decision on recognition [of the two breakaway republics] was of course made after the military action began, when we realised that there is no other way to protect the South Ossetians and Abkhazians, that once he has tasted blood, he won’t stop unless he's dealt a good heavy blow." “The Georgian head of state is not just a man we won’t do business with. He’s an unpredictable pathological and mentally unstable drug abuser. Western journalists, that interviewed him not so long ago, know it! A two-hour-long interview on the high – that’s over the edge for a head of state. If NATO needs such a leader - go ahead.”

Asian ties bring stability to West

“We will do everything we can to diversify our energy routes to Asia, but with no harm done to our European partners. On the contrary, it will ensure greater stability. This is about oil deliveries, gas deliveries, and the development of nuclear energy. “I laugh when I read from time to time that Russia doesn’t have enough gas to provide even European needs. We know it’s not true. Russia is a big gas nation. If we see that there’s a market in the East, we’ll develop new fields. Be sure about that. Naturally, it must be balanced and must not cause economic disasters.”

‘To fight legal nihilism, we need to fight habits’

“My strong conviction is that unfortunately, there is no understanding of the value of law in Russia. I have devoted much time to studying this area both in theory and in practice. This problem can be found everywhere: in everyday matters, in business, on the level of state employees and even on the level of the state itself. That’s why during the election campaign one of my key points was fighting legal nihilism. We do have certain advantages here. Ours is a country with a developed law system, with good law schools; a country that has been developing within the European law system for three hundred years. So the foundation is not bad. The issue is really the habits that have been acquired – this is the most difficult thing”. “We understand that it is possible to create motives for non-corrupt behaviour, it is possible to put corrupt people in prison, that's not the most difficult thing, though sometimes it isn't that easy either. It’s much more difficult to make people observe the law on an everyday basis”. “Let’s imagine two scenarios. A Russian businessman and a businessman from the West are offered to pay for their contract in cash. The first question that most civilised and well-prepared businessmen would ask is, what does it all mean. “Will the tax people find out? Will I be filmed by a hidden camera? Will it all end in prison for me?” The motives of a large part of our own businessmen, unfortunately, would probably be different. I can speak about such things with confidence, because unlike my predecessors I was in business for ten years. This is not because they are criminals by nature, but because they don't think that by breaking this law they are doing anything bad. “So what if no tax is paid on this money? The state isn't perfect. Why should I share with this state? It doesn't defend me, it's trying to get something out of me”. And this is where the main difference lies. “I don’t want to idealise anything. Many Western businessmen would take the cash. But their number is considerably less. And this will also depend on the traditions and habits in this or that country. I won’t name any countries, we all know who has what habits. The problem is that we have lots of such habits. That’s why I think legal nihilism is one of our most serious problems”.

In related news:

A Worrying New World Order

Europe frets about its place in a different world order

NEVER has the European Union enjoyed such diplomatic prominence as this week, when Nicolas Sarkozy of France led an EU delegation to Moscow to secure yet another promise of Russian troop withdrawals from Georgia. Seen from Brussels, the Georgian crisis has exposed a tectonic shift in the global balance of power. It is not just that Russia is back. The crisis has also confirmed Europe’s sense of an America in relative decline. The EU has been slow to act in the Caucasus, and too wary of upsetting Russia, concedes one deeply Atlanticist minister. But the sad reality is that, in Georgia, “the Americans have been struggling to know what to do.” It is a revealing comment. A previous generation of EU leaders, such as Jacques Chirac or Gerhard Schröder, dreamt of a multipolar world, in which several powers would wield clout. Now something like it may have arrived. Yet today’s European leaders are not crowing. Talk to ministers and officials in private, and they admit that the new world order is making them anxious.

Their anxiety is justified. The EU mission to Russia relied on bluff, and the deal reached on September 8th glossed over some serious problems. It was silent on the withdrawal of extra Russian troops from South Ossetia and Abkhazia (because the loss of these enclaves seems a fait accompli). Big questions about ceasefire monitors and the return of refugees remain murky. Nor did the Russians show great respect for the Europeans. At one point, they hinted that their troops might not withdraw to pre-conflict positions after all (at which point Mr Sarkozy threatened to fly home). Russian officials fought against displaying the EU flag at the press conference, wanting only French and Russian flags on the podium. Their disdainful message was clear: Russian leaders cut deals with powerful countries, not insignificant clubs.

Yet that is to miss a key point. Mr Sarkozy’s weight as a negotiator stemmed from a mandate, agreed by 27 EU heads of government, to demand that Russia pull back its troops. Admittedly, that mandate was backed by a fairly feeble threat (to delay talks on a much-delayed pact that Russia only vaguely wants). Still, a deal was done because Mr Sarkozy holds the rotating EU presidency, not because he is president of France.

Three days before Mr Sarkozy flew to Russia, EU foreign ministers met in the south of France. As thunderclouds loomed operatically over the old papal palace in Avignon, the assembled bigwigs struggled to define the new order. Some talked of an “apolar world”, a phrase coined by Niall Ferguson, a British historian, before dismissing this as too bleak, for now. America remains an undisputed superpower, was the consensus: it is just that no single country can now control the world. Alexander Stubb, the Finnish foreign minister, talked of a new “era of overlapping systems”, in which assertive nation-states challenge the idea of an open global system, governed by international rules, common values and multilateral organisations. French officials pointed to a speech by Mr Sarkozy that described an “era of relative powers”. The multipolar world is here, and it is a dangerous and difficult place, said one French diplomat. Europeans had imagined the new world would be a “post-modern” paradise of dialogue and compromise, but that was “a bit naive”.

The neo-polar world

For what it is worth, Charlemagne proposes a different label: this is a neo-polar world, in which old alliances and rivalries are bumping up against each other in new ways. The neo-polar order is easier to define by what it is not. The old multipolar world, as dreamt of by Mr Chirac and his friends, supposed that a European pole would form in opposition to American “hegemony”. But that is not happening.

For one thing, even the crisis in Georgia has not been enough to shock the EU into a common position on Russia. To some, one highlight of Avignon was a successful push by Frank-Walter Steinmeier, Germany’s foreign minister, to demand an inquiry into the causes and conduct of the war. That sounds harmless, until you grasp Mr Steinmeier’s motives: he leads a camp that reckons Russia is unreasonably being held responsible for a war that was started (and lost) by the hot-headed, American-backed Georgians. This camp also thinks that EU statements condemning Russia have been hijacked by “hawks” such as Britain, Sweden and newer EU members from the ex-communist block.

The lack of mutual understanding is striking. For in fact the so-called “hawks” are equally scathing about Georgia’s government. They just fear that Mr Steinmeier wants to bury the fact of Russian aggression in a morass of moral equivalence. The new members also deny they are hawkish on Russia. They use a different word to describe their position: fear. “What do the Russians need to do to scare western Europe?” wonders one minister from eastern Europe. “They have already scared us.” Assuming the neo-polar world remains a scary place, what then? Will that push Europeans towards a Euro-Atlantic pole? Some ministers think it might. French officials stress that their foreign policy has changed under Mr Sarkozy. In the brutal new world of power politics, they note, France has re-embraced “the camp of the West”, including a stronger alliance with America.

Mr Sarkozy has drawn another lesson from the Georgian crisis, it is added: that the EU needs its own defence capability if it wants to be taken seriously. A French plan for a push on European defence can be expected in October, larded with promises not to undermine NATO. But he is likely to be disappointed: no consensus exists for a really ambitious defence project in Europe. As events in Moscow showed this week, there is a place for Europe in the new world order. But Europeans do not agree over what it should be. America will elect a new president in November, and the poles of global power will move again. The world may not wait much longer for Europe to decide where it stands.

Why Being Passive With Russia Just Won't Cut It

Do you feel that chill in the air? Theres a cold breeze swirling, and its not a sign of the coming winter. Its the frigid relations between Russia and the United States. Some people are calling it the beginning of a new Cold War. Whether or not this is true, there is certainly much to be worried about. Bolstered by skyrocketing energy prices, Russia, under new president Dmitry Medvedev (a puppet for former president and current prime minister Vladimir Putin), is becoming more adventurous about throwing its weight around in Asia and Europe. And this newfound bravado has been to the detriment of the United States and its ideals.

First, the facts. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Russia is in a position of unprecedented energy wealth. Among the rest of the world, Russia is No. 1 in natural gas reserves, No. 2 in coal reserves and No. 8 in largest oil reserves. In Aug. 2007, Russia resumed Cold War-era strategic bomber flights. This September, Russia and Venezuela agreed to conduct joint military exercises. Russia has plans to move at least four naval ships into Venezuelan ports. And after both the Czech Republic and Poland agreed to house important aspects of a U.S.-developed missile shield designed to protect Europe from ballistic missiles, the Russian Foreign Ministry responded by saying a military response would follow.

So how are we to tackle this growing anti-American influence spreading throughout Eastern Europe and perhaps the world? One thing is certain: Diplomacy alone isnt the answer. Diplomacy from a position of weakness doesnt work and wont work to reign in what is increasingly becoming a rogue Russian regime. Look at the North Korean approach. For years, the Bush administration backed tough sanctions against North Korea, refusing to give the oppressive regime of Kim Jong Il the legitimacy of face-to-face talks. Finally, the Bush administration gave in to the sentiments of the State Department and many liberal commentators and negotiated a six-nation effort to end the countrys nuclear program. The result: A little over a year after the agreement was signed, North Korea decided to restart its program last week.

Considering its current weak position, the United States must tackle this problem head on, develop a position of strength and not be ashamed to proclaim its motivations. Missile defense installations must be installed in the Czech Republic and Poland, despite Russias threats. These installations will undoubtedly make Europe safer (from yet another perturbing threat: Iran) and will help the United States stay safer at home as missile defense technology is put into action and we learn more about how to perfect the process.

The United States must also commit itself to defend its allies that so proudly hold up the democratic ideals that we share. Its understandable that the United States European NATO allies arent quick to criticize Russia given that a majority of their energy supplies, including natural gas, are imported from Russia. The rest of Europe doesnt want to experience the cold winter that Ukraine did two years ago, when Russia shut off its natural gas for the better part of a week during intense negotiations.

Russia is in such a strong strategic position that it would be tough now to undo the influence and power it has in contemporary Europe. But make no mistake: The price of failing to stop this new Russian aggression will be steep. According to Freedom House, in 1972 there were only 42 democratic nations in the world. Today, there are 123. A domino effect of countries wilting under Russian pressure, especially in the former Soviet Bloc, could reverse this significant progress. And Russia already began its brazen power play with its recent invasion of Georgia.

In a cowardly act, the United States promised aid to Georgia, not military assistance, while the democratic former Soviet Republic was steamrolled by a merciless invading force from Russia. As Russian troops marched toward his capital, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said it best: What's at stake here is America's ideals. If freedom collapses in Georgia, it will collapse in other places as well. His fears are well-founded. Ask the Ukrainians left in the cold by Russia just two years ago. Ask the thousands of refugees from Russians recent invasion. Hopefully these fears will be addressed by a new U.S. president in January who is seriously committed to maintaining peace through strength.

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Dear reader,

Arevordi will be taking a sabbatical to tend to personal matters. New blog commentaries will therefore be posted on an irregular basis. The comments board however will continue to be moderated on a regular basis. To limit clutter in the comments section, I kindly ask all participants of this blog to please keep comments coherent and strictly relevant to the featured topic of discussion. Moreover, please realize that when there are several anonymous visitors posting comments simultaneously, it becomes very confusing (not to mention extremely annoying) trying to figure out who is who and who said what. If you are here to engage in conversation, make an observation, express an idea or just attack me, I ask you to at least use a moniker to identify yourself... or else, I will not post your comments, especially if they are, in my opinion, nonsense. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.


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Here’s a look at some notable birthdays being celebrated today:

Billy Idol

Age: 56

Occupation: Singer and Songwriter

Known For: Being an MTV star in the 1980s with hits like ‘Rebel Yell,’ ‘White Wedding,’ ‘Dancing with Myself,’ and ‘Mony Mony,’ his trademark snarl and bleached-blond spiky hair, an awesome cameo in the film ‘The Wedding Singer,’ and continuing to successfully tour around the world

Kaley Cuoco

Age: 26

Occupation: Actress

Known For: Playing blonde beauty Penny on what is almost inarguably one of the best sitcoms ever, ‘The Big Bang Theory,’ and roles on other shows such as ’8 Simple Rules’ and in films like ‘Lucky 13′

Dick Clark

Age: 82

Occupation: Mogul and TV/Radio Personality

Known For: Hosting long-running television shows such as ‘American Bandstand,’ five versions of the game show ‘Pyramid,’ and ‘Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve,’ the nickname “America’s Oldest Teenager,” and suffering a mild stroke in 2004

Ben Stiller

Age: 46

Occupation: Actor, Writer, and Producer

Known For: Movies like ‘Reality Bites,’ ‘There’s Something About Mary,’ ‘Meet the Parents,’ and ‘Zoolander,’ and being the son of veteran comedians and actors Jerry Stiller and Anne Meara

Clay Aiken

Age: 33

Occupation: Singer, Songwriter, and Actor

Known For: Rising to fame as the runner-up on Season Two of ‘American Idol,’ releasing several best-selling albums, starring in ‘Spamalot’ on Broadway, famously coming out of the closet in 2008, and for his legions of devoted fans, who call themselves “Claymates”


WARC-Truncated: length

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Originally birthed out of the rich soils of Celtic monastic tradition, the role of an Anamchara is alive here at The Seattle School. An uncommon word to most of us, Anamchara comes to us as a Gaelic word that literally means “soul friend.” For the Celts, an Anamchara was one who embodied a servant’s heart in assisting, walking alongside, and giving of themselves to others through major life passages. They served as midwives, assisting in the birthing process of new life into the world. They were the shepherds whose life’s work focused on assisting others growth in faith, hope, and love. They were there with others, blessing, honoring, and serving them as they were on their deathbeds. In short, they were there, from beginning to end, serving as the hands and feet of Christ and creating contexts for “soulful” connections so that others may live more abundantly and more fully.

Stewarding the Commons

We keep an eye on the Commons, encouraging others to take responsibility for themselves, and listening to what is needed.

Neighborhood Dinners and Community Dinners

We identify neighborhood hosts and connect neighbors to dine together. We also cook food for the student body to have a meal together in the Commons.

Community Conversations

We create time and space for conversations to take place between administration, faculty/staff, and student body.

We grill burgers, hot dogs, and veggies and facilitate games and bonfires throughout the year.

Moving Help

We bring together people who are willing do some heavy lifting for first year students during their transition to life in Seattle.

We are available to and enjoy meeting for coffee in order to come alongside your journey as a student at The Seattle School.


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Monday, July 25, 2011

Christmas In July Winner

Wow....I almost missed my July 25th deadline to post the winner of the Bareroots pattern give-a-way!
It has been a wild, but good week at our house.
I have fun to share....but it will have to wait until I can actually sit down and take a breather....hopefully soon.
I needed the help of my husband to draw a winner since Friendie was already home by the time I remembered my poor neglected blog.
Lynda will have the opportunity to get a jump start on her Christmas projects.....Christmas is only 5 months away!
Thank you to all of you who took the time to leave a comment.

I thought I would share this photo of an old Hallmark card that I displayed during the Christmas season last year.
Maybe it will motivate me to start thinking about all those gifts I have good intentions to make again this year.  :)

1 comment:

Lynda Halliger-Otvos said...

Many thanks, Second Twin, what a great thing, wow !~!


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Thursday, April 21, 2016

Black Widow (Club Bridge #1) by Lauren Runow

My Rating: 4  Stars

Series:  Club Bridge #1 but this is a Standalone novel.

Sex Scenes: OH yes!

Subject: Overcoming tragedy and finding yourself again.

I bury my pain in a sex club. I can be anonymous and still be faithful to my deceased wife's memory. At the club, I can give and receive pleasure without guilt or attachment. My mask hides the lies of my past.

My marriage ended tragically. Since then, the only excitement in my lonely, pathetic, workaholic life is reading erotic novels. However, I now have the chance to be whoever I want to be, where no one knows my past and will never be my future.

When their worlds collide, fantasies become a reality by pushing boundaries. The anonymity of Bridge offers protection from painful pasts, cunning schemes and dangerous lies. But when the masks are removed, there are no safewords to protect hearts and lives from buried truths.

My Review

I got this book on Netgalley for an honest review and I don’t know where to start, I loved this story so much!

It had one of my favorite subjects, BDSM & Sex Clubs, I really enjoy the mystery of those types of places and in this case it was even better.

The masks gave them the right amount of anonymity to be able to let go of their fears and hardships of theirs pasts and enjoy the pleasure of uninhibited sex.

Kamii was my favorite character; I have been choosing female characters over males in the last books I’ve read which is weird, because I always fall for the guy and find most women weak. But Kamii here was strong and owned her sexuality, she had been hurt and she knew what she wanted.

She needed the help of her friend at first but when she found the rhythm there was no stopping her, until reality and fantasy crashed and she needed to help Preston better known as “Mr. Mysterious Eros”, she was the only one who could do it.

Preston character was okay, I was bored by the “I just want sex without connection speech” but lucky for us he let all that go as soon as he met Kamii and we love him for that.

The sex scenes in and out of the club are just impeccable, they had a connection since that first time at the bar and it only grew with time.

This type of sexual chemistry is not normal, the writer really understands how this concepts works, it’s not just a huge amount of sex it’s the magnetism between the characters, the way they move like they are in sync with each other and the connection they share even though they are having sex with someone else.

Full of sexy sex scenes and a lot of thrilling dangerous situations this book is a fast and fun read.
Apart from the good sex you can also read about moving forward after some awful tragedies.
Life goes on and you only have one, so you better make good use of it, you never know if love will find its way back to you and you may find what you didn’t know you needed.

Add on Goodreads

Get NOW on Amazon.

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Wednesday, February 27, 2013

My New Purse

You mean you actually read that title and clicked to read more??  Wow!  That's love.  Or boredom.  One or the other.

I am one who truly believes a girl should get a new purse with every season.

I don't, mind you; but I still believe it.

I haven't treated myself in a couple of years and my last one was from Payless--half off--cost me $6 and I loved it.

A few weeks ago I was browsing and found this cutie.

Not sure how I expected to go from large to small, but cleaning out my old one seemed like a good place to start.

The pile on the right is trash!   Please tell me I'm not the only one.

It was hard, and my wallet takes up half of the inside, but it will work...

 least until next season :)

  1. You are not the only one. And now, thanks to your kind sharing, I know I'm not either!

  2. I love it, Kathleen! It goes perfectly with your wallet, which I love by the way! Have a wonderful Thursday , friend!

  3. It is great and it is true that you are not the only one who needs to clean out bags. I am jealous that you only have one bag to clean Super cute bag, BTW!

  4. Ha! I was laughing because that's what the inside of my purse looks like right now :) Very cute bag!

  5. I have bags that hold the stuff that I have cleaned out of bags! Someday I may shred it all - or not! xo


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“Economic Preparedness” is Essential for Wyoming

Home|Opinion|Local Columnists|“Economic Preparedness” is Essential for Wyoming

Each year the Organization for Cooperation and Economic Development produces a report called “Education at a Glance” that, among other things, includes an assessment about the relative educational performance of various countries.

It is from this report, and reports like it, that Americans hear that the U.S. is ranked “such-and-such” in the world in Math, Science or Reading, etc. That report is soon to be released again, and the results will once again reveal that the U.S. has a gap to bridge in skills development and education.

Last year, the available data showed that if one looks at traditional 4-year college graduation rates, the U.S. comes in 14th behind countries such as Slovakia, Poland, Ireland as well as the usual suspects like Japan and Great Britain. College graduation rates can be thought of in terms of how many students graduate after entering college, or, alternatively, as the number of citizens in the country between the ages of 25-34 that possess a college degree.

No matter how you look at it, we are not fairing comparatively well on the international stage.

What is the significance of this to us in this country, and by extension to us in Wyoming? Andreas Schleicher, Special Advisor on Education Policy to OECD’s Secretary-General and also the Deputy Director for Education, remarked last year that “The increasing impact of advanced skills on people’s life chances — whether it is employment, earnings or social participation, makes it a priority to do better in providing all talented students, regardless of their background, with access to advanced education.”

The special point here is that the skills provided by post-secondary education “change a person’s stars” by positively impacting a person’s life chances.

It is well-established that educational attainment is one of the determinants that tracks with the advancement of a country, its society, and its economy. Countries with lower levels of educational attainment are less well able to compete in an increasingly global economy and are unable to take advantage of opportunity when good fortune comes along.

Increasingly, “educational attainment” in the modern world necessarily refers to the knowledge and skills that are taught, learned, and cultivated in post-secondary institutions (colleges and universities).

Competitive businesses understand that their continued existence depends upon employees that can both innovate and perfect new products and processes.

Although some of this ability is based in God-given talent, modern employees need the formalized college learning that fosters disciplined thinking and the habits-of-mind that encourage the ability to both learn and unlearn.

These habits-of-mind also work in concert with practical knowledge and physical dexterity in technical programs like those at Sheridan College.

Not only does our country need to think about how to increase meaningful and useful educational attainment, so does Wyoming.

Although economic development planning is essential for municipalities and counties, taking advantage of chance economic opportunity when it comes along is often even more critical.

Economic chance favors the educationally prepared. Focusing on ways that can position us to take advantage of opportunity through higher education will be a powerful tool in the continued vitality and economic strength of Wyoming’s communities.

Dr. Jon Connolly is the Vice President of Academic Affairs at Sheridan College.

By | 2013-06-28T18:21:08+00:00 June 28th, 2013|

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