Bored

I quit my job a few weeks ago, and I'm back to being a stay-at-home mom. Temporarily. I'm going through some anxiety issues right now, and my therapist and I have agreed that it's best to wait a little bit before I start a new job somewhere. I was crocheting to help distract myself from my anxiety. Making blankets, scarves, ugly hats that nobody wears... it was calming. I'm a fidgety kind of person and it gave me something to do with my hands. But, I've lost the feeling in one of my finger tips, and my doctor thinks it may be from crocheting. Like, I may be putting too much pressure on the nerves in my finger with the way I hold the crochet hooks or something. So he told me not to crochet for 2 weeks. And now I don't know what to do with myself. So I'm writing this blog. I enjoy playing World of Warcraft, but I don't want to sit at my computer all day playing video games. Reading is hard when I have anxiety, because I literally can't turn my brain off, and I keep getting distracted by thoughts and then having to re-read whatever paragraph I've been trying to read for the last 10 minutes. I love origami, but how many paper cups and paper animals do I really need sitting around the house just because I'm bored and need something to do with my hands? I like scrapbooking, but that takes up a lot of room, and I need to be able to spread out, and I don't have anywhere to do that. Someone once suggested that I write a book. I enjoy writing, but I have no idea what to write about.

My problem is that for my entire adult life, I've been someone's wife, and someone's mom. But I haven't been my own person. So I don't know who I am. If I didn't have a husband or kids, who would I be? What would my hobbies be? What would I enjoy doing if I were living by myself? I have no idea because everything I've done the last almost 17 years has been for my husband and kids. So what do I do with myself? How do I find out who I am? I'm in this rut, and I'm bored, and I'm trying to find a new hobby or something that I can throw myself into passionately, but I have no idea what to do. Is this what a mid-life crisis is? I'm too young for a mid-life crisis. Maybe a 1/3 life crisis? lol I am only in my 30s after all. 

Anyways... I just needed to get some thoughts out of my head. See if maybe something would come to me as I was writing this. Nothing yet. Hopefully soon.

When it comes to vaccinations, FACTS MATTER.

Vaccines are a hot button issue for a lot of people. My purpose in this blog is not to make fun of anti-vaxers, or demean them in any way. It's simply to present facts.

I know the word "facts" seems to have kind of a negative connotation these days, which I truly do not understand. Facts are good! Facts are one of the truly unbiased things in the universe. They are absolute truth whether you think they are or not, whether you "believe in them" or not, and they do not discriminate against anybody. 

The first fact I'd like to present you with is that a few years ago, I graduated from pharmacy technician school and I was a nationally licensed, CPR qualified, CPhT (Certified Pharmacy Technician). So when I talk about medicine, I'm not just spouting off random things I read on the internet. I went to school for this. I know what I'm talking about.

Next, I'm going to post some links where you will find factual information about vaccines. Everything I talk about in this blog will be from a trustworthy, reliable, factual website.

https://www.vaccines.gov/

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/index.html

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3136032/

https://www.scribd.com/doc/25983372/FACTS-WWSM-280110-Final-Complete-Corrected

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X14006367

https://www.apha.org/topics-and-issues/vaccines

https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/vac-gen/additives.htm

https://www.fda.gov/vaccines-blood-biologics/safety-availability-biologics/common-ingredients-us-licensed-vaccines

https://www.publichealth.org/public-awareness/understanding-vaccines/

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/video/vaccinescalling-the-shots

The information on these websites was gathered by real doctors and scientists who are experts in their field. This information is factual because it has been tested, peer reviewed, and verified by other experts who did their own scientific testing. 

All of that being said, let's get started. And what better place to start than at the beginning?

By beginning, I mean Andrew Wakefield. The person who originally started all of the misinformation that we currently have about vaccines. (The link to the article about him is the third one on the list of links I posted above.)

The article states: 

In 1998, Andrew Wakefield and 12 of his colleagues published a case series in a medical journal called The Lancet which suggested that the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine may predispose to behavioral regression and pervasive developmental disorder in children. Despite the small sample size, the uncontrolled design, and the speculative nature of the conclusions, the paper received wide publicity and MMR vaccination rates began to drop because parents were concerned about the risk of autism after vaccination.

Almost immediately afterward, studies were conducted and published, refuting the link between MMR vaccination and autism. The logic that the MMR vaccine may trigger autism was also questioned because a temporal link between the two is almost predestined: both events, by design (MMR) or definition (autism), occur in early childhood.

A retraction of the interpretation of the original data was published by 10 of the 12 co-authors of the paper, and it stated, "No casual link was established between MMR vaccine and autism as the data were insufficient." This was accompanied by an admission by The Lancet that Wakefield had failed to disclose financial interests. Wakefield had been funded by lawyers who had been engaged by parents in lawsuits against vaccine-producing companies.

The Lancet completely retracted the Wakefield paper in February 2010, admitting that several elements in the paper were incorrect, contrary to the findings in the earlier investigation. Wakefield and his team were found guilty of ethical violations (they had conducted invasive investigations on the children without obtaining the necessary ethical clearances) and scientific misrepresentation (they reported that their sampling was consecutive when, in fact, it was selective).

They were also found guilty of deliberate fraud (they picked and chose data that suited their case, and they falsified facts). The British Medical Journal has published a series of articles on the exposure of the fraud, which appears to have taken place for financial gain.

So, in layman's terms, he literally got paid to make up a bunch of lies about vaccines. Nothing he said was true, and he lost his medical license for lying and being unethical. If you google "scholarly articles about vaccines and autism" you'll find that many many studies have been done on this topic, and none of them have ever found any link between the two. In my list of links above, I've included a link to one such study.

Next, I'd like to discuss the ingredients in vaccines. Many of the ingredients found in vaccines that people tend to worry about can actually be found naturally in everyday foods that we eat. When applicable, I'll mention what food contains said ingredient.

I HAVE A HEARTBEAT TOO.

Abortion has been in the news a lot lately. I've been reading a lot of news articles, and the comments on those articles. There's a lot of this kind of stuff: "Just don't have sex!" or "Just use birth control!" or "Just have the baby and give it up for adoption!" or "But it has a heartbeat!"

Let's address these things in order, shall we?

1) "Just don't have sex!" Really? Really?? Come on. We all know that this is just unrealistic. This is not Medieval Times. You can't just expect people to not have sex just because they don't want a baby. It's just not going to happen. People like sex, and that's ok. They should be able to enjoy it without having to worry about being executed by their own country just because they got pregnant and decided they didn't want to be.

2) "Just use birth control!" Well, a lot of people do use birth control. But a there are a lot of people that don't have access to affordable birth control because our healthcare system is kind of fucked up. One place that people - both men and women - could go for affordable STI testing and birth control is Planned Parenthood. But, we all know how forced-birthers feel about Planned Parenthood. They want people to use birth control, but they don't want them to have access to birth control. You can't have it both ways people. Not to mention the fact that birth control is only 99% effective. There are certain medications and even vitamins, that when taken, can completely negate the effects of birth control, or at the very least, make it much less effective. If you're even a few hours late taking your pill each day, that can also make the effectiveness go down. Even other forms of birth control can fail. Women have gotten pregnant while on the Depo shot. Condoms break. Hell, my mom had her tubes tied 2 years before she had me. Nothing is 100% effective. Nothing. Plus, there are women that are unable to take any kind of birth control because of other medical reasons. "Just take birth control" is not a solution. It helps, but it's not perfect.

3) "Just have the baby and give it up for adoption!"

I can't help but think that the people that say this have never been pregnant or given birth in their lives, and they have no idea what it is that they're actually saying. They make it seem like being pregnant for 40 weeks and giving birth is as easy as taking a shit. If women were able to go through an entire pregnancy and give birth without it affecting their own bodies at all in any way, we'd probably be having a different conversation. But the fact is that pregnancy and childbirth change a woman's body forever. And THAT is why women are fighting against all these abortion bans so hard. It's not because they want to kill babies for shits and giggles on a Thursday afternoon because they have nothing better to do with their spare time. It's because women have a right to bodily autonomy.

So, bodily autonomy means that the only person that has control over what happens to your body is you. You are the only one who can decide whether or not to pierce your bellybutton, or get a tattoo, or donate blood, or donate an organ. Not a single other person on the planet can make those decisions for you. This even applies to corpses. Dead people. With that in mind, let's go over what pregnancy and childbirth do to a woman's body...

I'll start with a few links:

https://www.womenshealth.gov/pregnancy/youre-pregnant-now-what/body-changes-and-discomforts

https://www.womenshealth.gov/pregnancy/youre-pregnant-now-what/pregnancy-complications

https://www.healthline.com/health/pregnancy/episiotomy-types#3

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/gestational-diabetes/symptoms-causes/syc-20355339

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/preeclampsia/symptoms-causes/syc-20355745

I'm sure there are plenty more links where those came from, but these cover quite a bit.

Now, for those of you who are too lazy to click a link and read it for yourself, I'm going to go over some of these things.

Stretch marks: There are a very small handful of women that are blessed enough to not get a single stretch mark during pregnancy. The majority of women though do get stretch marks. They are a result of your body growing and stretching faster than your skin can keep up with. Women not only get them on their bellies, but also on their breasts, thighs, and butt. These stretch marks may fade over time, but they will never go away. Stretch marks are forever. Permanent scars.

Gestational diabetes: Getting gestational diabetes is not only bad for the baby (excessive birth weight, pre-term birth, respiratory distress syndrome), it's bad for mom too because there's a chance that she'll end up having diabetes for the rest of her life.

Pre-eclampsia: I had pre-eclampsia with my son. Symptoms usually include excess protein in your urine and high blood pressure. Other symptoms include: severe headaches, nausea, vomiting, temporary loss of vision, and impaired liver function. The only treatment/cure for this is to deliver the baby. If you don't, there's a possibility that it could turn into full-blown eclampsia. If that happens, the woman could have a seizure and die.

Episiotomies and vaginal tearing: Sometimes, the baby's head or shoulders are too big, or the baby comes out too fast, and your vagina will either rip open, or the doctor will cut it open with a scalpel. The incision the doctor makes is an episiotomy. There are 4 degrees of episiotomies.
*First degree consists of a small tear that only extends through the lining of the vagina. It doesn't involve the underlying tissue.
*Second degree is the most common type. It extends through the vaginal lining as well as the vaginal tissue.
*Third degree involves the vaginal lining, vaginal tissue, and part of the anal sphincter.
*Fourth degree is the most severe. It includes everything the third degree does, plus the rectal lining.
A third or fourth degree tear/episiotomy can cause the woman to lose control over her bowel movements until it is completely healed.

I have only listed 4 things that pregnancy and childbirth do to a woman's body. There are literally dozens of other side effects and medical complications that can take place. You can view some of them by clicking on the links above.

There are many, many reasons that a woman might need an abortion, but these things alone should be reason enough.

Why do people think that forcing diabetes, seizures, and anal tearing on a woman is perfectly ok?

Imagine for a second that any of these things could happen to the father of the fetus. Imagine how readily available abortions would be if there was a risk of a man's penis tearing all the way down the shaft and clear through to his anus, causing him to not have control over his bladder or bowels for months until it healed. If you wouldn't force that on a man without his consent, then you can't force it on a woman without her consent either.

This is why women can't just "pop the baby out and give it up for adoption." It's because pregnancy and childbirth will literally change (and possibly destroy) parts of her body forever. THAT is why it is the woman's choice, and the woman's choice ALONE, whether or not she wants to carry a baby to term. When we say "MY BODY, MY CHOICE" these are the reasons we say that. You cannot FORCE any of these medical complications on a person without their explicit consent.

Last, but certainly not least...

4) "But it has a heartbeat!" 

You know who else has a heartbeat? THE WOMAN. The woman has a heartbeat. Not only does she have a heartbeat, but she also has friends, a significant other, other children that may need her, a mother, a father, brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents. She is a whole person, and she matters to everyone in her life.

My kids right now are 13 and 15 years old. If I were to die because of pregnancy-related health complications, my teenagers would miss me a whole lot more than a fetus that doesn't know who the fuck I am. My kids are TEENAGERS. They would remember me, and grieve my death. To that fetus, I'm just a face in a photo.

Strangers have no right to force me into a life-threatening situation. The only person that gets to make decisions like that about MY body and MY life is ME.

I have a heartbeat too.

NYE 2013

I'm not feeling very festive this New Year's Eve. Nick is out to sea and won't be home for a few more months, so it's just the kids and me this year.

All I really have to say this year is that there are many paths up a mountain. Some are paved, some are rocky, and most of them have some twists and turns. Not everyone can, or wants to, take the same path that everyone else is taking. Not everyone even wants to climb the mountain. Some people just want to stand at the bottom and gaze up at it, enjoying its beauty before they move on to their next adventure in life. Maybe I prefer the weeping willows that are on my path, as opposed to the evergreens that are on yours. Does that mean that my path isn't as beautiful as yours? To you, it might mean that, if you prefer evergreens. I think all the paths are beautiful, but I happen to prefer the one I'm on. That does not mean I'm on the wrong path, just a different one. And just because I'm on the path with the weeping willows doesn't mean that everyone else loses their right to choose their own path. I'm sure there's someone out there who prefers the path adorned with Charlie Brown Christmas trees. That path is fine too. By not accepting the fact that there is more than just your own path, you will alienate every single person that happens to be on one of those other paths. Maybe that's already happened.

You can take whichever path up the mountain suits you best, but if you steal my GPS and try to reroute me, all that's going to do is piss me off, and I'll just end up throwing the damn thing out and figuring it out for myself. Continue on your path. I have no problem with your path, because it's the right one for you. But do not treat others' paths as if they don't exist, or as if they are inferior. No one's paths are inferior to anyone else's. They're all beautiful in their own way, and they all deserve a caring, loving hand to help them grow and flourish. Don't let my weeping willows wither and die because you're too arrogant to admit they exist. Love the path you're on, but acknowledge that other paths that help people become better versions of themselves, even though they're different from your own path, are still beautiful. That's all. Just love people, regardless of what path they're on, and don't bully them because they chose differently than you.

Peace and love.

Too quiet

My life is always so busy. When Nick is home, I have to work around his schedule, which changes constantly. I never know what time he's going to be home from work, sometimes they have to go underway without much notice because of a storm, they're always changing how many duty sections there are, and which one he's in.... the list goes on. The Navy is unpredictable, and it's just a part of the military way of life. Then there's the kids' schedules. The events that are going on at school, PTA meetings, parent teacher conferences, etc. Then there's my schedule right now. I'm in school, and I don't get home until a few minutes before the kids get home. Then it's homework for them, then dinner, then showers, then bedtime for them, then homework for me.

Because of all the craziness that is my life, I hardly ever have the tv on. Nick has it on all the time when he's home, and it doesn't bother me because I can just tune it out with my magical powers of selective hearing that I got when I became a mother. But when he's not here, the only time I ever have it on is if there is a specific show on at that moment that I'm going to watch.

Most of the time, I enjoy the quiet. It helps me calm down and relax after a busy day. It's peaceful. But every once in a while, it just seems a little too quiet. Like something's missing. In those moments, I know that even if I turn the tv on to have some background noise, it's still going to be too quiet because the sound of the tv isn't what's missing.

It's the sound of having that extra person in the house. It's the sound of Nick playing games with the kids, or showing me some stupid thing he found on the internet on his phone.

But today, it's the sound of my brother's voice. He'd start making fun of one of us, and he would get so loud and not even realize how loud he was. It's the sound of the basketball that I'd hear him dribbling when I'd go over to his house. It's the sound of his favorite cds that he'd play all the time... Mr. Big, Hootie and the Blowfish, Boyz II Men.

It's the sound of happiness that would emanate from my parents' house when we all got together for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's.

Those are the sounds that are missing. We're still happy sometimes, but never quite as happy as we were back then. We still laugh, but never quite as hard. It's been 13 years, and today, his birthday, is still so hard. I want to call him and wish him a happy birthday, tell him funny stories about the kids, and hear him make fun of me for something. I want him to tell me about the newest pair of ugly-ass Air Jordans that he just couldn't resist buying. I want him to be friends with me on facebook and write stupid crap on my wall.

I just miss him.

It's the end of the world as we know it, and I feel fine!

2012 was a busy year for us. I finished up my algebra and chemistry classes, we packed up and moved across the country, Nick got flown out to the ship and I unpacked a house full of stuff by myself. We've made some new friends out here in BFE, Virginia, and the kids are getting used to their new school. It was rough at first, but things are settling down. (Go knock on some wood for me. I don't want to jinx it.) This year flew by so fast I can't even believe it. Every year seems to go faster and faster.

Abby's going to be 9 in a couple weeks, and in a few months, I'll be 30. I feel like I skipped a few years or something to get here because there's no way I graduated high school more than a decade ago. It's been almost 2 years since Tim passed away, which still sounds so weird to me. I think this New Year's Eve I'll finally break out the Harley Davidson glass and see if I can recreate what he tried showing me a couple years ago with the fizz. Adios and vaya con dios, Tim. Listening to that cd still brings a tear to my eye.

To all my friends and family, enjoy the time you have here on this planet because it is so short and it goes by so fast. Don't worry so much about what's going to happen next, because you'll miss out on everything that the people you love have to offer. Be happy, but don't take away others' happiness in the process. If you have to make other people miserable for you to be happy, then you are on the wrong path and I truly hope you will find your way again. Cherish your children, take lots of pictures (something I need to work on too), and do something crazy every once in a while. Get a tattoo, take a spontaneous road trip to the Grand Canyon, splurge on something for yourself. Be safe, be smart, and think of others before yourself. Stop thinking about your resolutions and get off your butt and accomplish some of the goals you have for yourself. Know that I love you all and wish you all love, peace, and happiness.

Happy New Year.

What's more interesting than the bible? The parts that got taken out!

I don't believe in the bible. I do not believe it is the word of God. I do not believe that Jesus is my savior, or that the only way to have a decent afterlife is to believe that he died for my sins. However, I do believe that the bible is a very interesting book. It is not a history book, but it is a part of history. It was the first book to be mass distributed, and it still is a mystery to many people.

What truly fascinates me the most about the bible, though, is not the KJV that can be bought in any bookstore. It's the books that were taken out.

Like the Book of Enoch, for example. Why was this book taken out? In the book I just got for Christmas, Banned from the Bible: Books Banned, Rejected, and Forbidden, there's an introduction to the Book of Enoch that says, "It is hard to avoid the evidence that Jesus not only studied the book, but also respected it highly enough to allude to its doctrine and content."

So, what you're telling me is that the book was good enough for your Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, but it's not good enough for modern-day Christians to put in their bibles?? What kind of sense does that make?!? That makes me want to read these banned books even more because it makes them more interesting.

The introduction also talks about.... wait for it..... MISTRANSLATIONS! You know, those things I keep going on and on about? People keep saying that the bible is the inerrant word of God, even though MEN, not GOD took out all these books, then translated the ones that were left (and would become the bible that so many people have right now in their living rooms) over and over and over again. Some of the things were mistranslated on purpose. The mistranslation that my book talks about is in Luke. The book says, "Other evidence of the early Christians' acceptance of the Book of Enoch was for many years buried under the King James Bible's mistranslation of Luke 9:35, describing the transfiguration of Christ: 'And there came a voice out of the cloud, saying, "This is my beloved Son. Hear him."' Apparently the translator here wished to make this verse agree with a similar verse in Matthew and Mark. But Luke's verse in the original Greek reads: This is my Son, the Elect One (from the Greek ho eklelegmenos, lit., This is mine, the elect one. Hear him.)"

So, you mean that the King James Version of the bible is really just the version that was changed to match the beliefs they already had at the time, rather than an actual, accurate, direct translation the way "God" intended everyone to read it? YEP! The King James Version of the bible is the version he liked the best. They changed things on purpose, they took books out (even the books that Jesus himself approved of!!!!!), and they altered it so much that no one in their right mind could possibly say that it is the INERRANT word of GOD. It's full of errors! That is a FACT. It's not my opinion, and it's not something I'm making up to piss people off. It is a verifiable FACT.

No amount of BELIEF can make these things wrong. That's why they're called facts. You can believe all you want that grass is purple. You can sing, "THE GRASS IS PURPLE" from every rooftop in the world, and write it down in books and even have a following of millions of other people that are convinced that grass is purple. But the FACT still remains that grass is green, and nothing you believe will change that fact.

The same goes for the bible. You can believe all you want that it's the inerrant word of God, but that will never change the fact that it's not.

It was written, and edited by MEN. It was written by men to give people inspiration and hope, and to help other people be good people, but it is not perfect. It has helped people, it has saved people, but does it read exactly the way it did when it was first written? Nope.

I'm very much looking forward to reading the banned books to see what exactly could be good enough for Jesus himself, but not good enough for the people who believe he is their savior.

The history of the Christmas tree

http://www.history.com/topics/history-of-christmas-trees

Long before the advent of Christianity, plants and trees that remained green all year had a special meaning for people in the winter. Just as people today decorate their homes during the festive season with pine, spruce, and fir trees, ancient peoples hung evergreen boughs over their doors and windows. In many countries it was believed that evergreens would keep away witches, ghosts, evil spirits, and illness.

In the Northern hemisphere, the shortest day and longest night of the year falls on December 21 or December 22 and is called the winter solstice. Many ancient people believed that the sun was a god and that winter came every year because the sun god had become sick and weak. They celebrated the solstice because it meant that at last the sun god would begin to get well. Evergreen boughs reminded them of all the green plants that would grow again when the sun god was strong and summer would return.

The ancient Egyptians worshipped a god called Ra, who had the head of a hawk and wore the sun as a blazing disk in his crown. At the solstice, when Ra began to recover from the illness, the Egyptians filled their homes with green palm rushes which symbolized for them the triumph of life over death.

Early Romans marked the solstice with a feast called the Saturnalia in honor of Saturn, the god of agriculture. The Romans knew that the solstice meant that soon farms and orchards would be green and fruitful. To mark the occasion, they decorated their homes and temples with evergreen boughs. In Northern Europe the mysterious Druids, the priests of the ancient Celts, also decorated their temples with evergreen boughs as a symbol of everlasting life. The fierce Vikings in Scandinavia thought that evergreens were the special plant of the sun god, Balder.

Germany is credited with starting the Christmas tree tradition as we now know it in the 16th century when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. Some built Christmas pyramids of wood and decorated them with evergreens and candles if wood was scarce. It is a widely held belief that Martin Luther, the 16th century Protestant reformer, first added lighted candles to a tree. Walking toward his home one winter evening, composing a sermon, he was awed by the brilliance of stars twinkling amidst evergreens. to recapture the scene for his family, he erected a tree in the main room and wired its branches with lighted candles.

Most 19th century Americans found Christmas trees an oddity. The first record of one being on display was in the 1830s by the German settlers of Pennsylvania, although trees had been a tradition in many German homes much earlier. The Pennsylvania German settlements had community trees as early as 1747. But, as late as the 1840s, Christmas trees were seen as pagan symbols and not accepted by most Americans.

It is not surprising that, like many other festive Christmas customs, the tree was adopted so late in America. To the New England Puritans, Christmas was sacred. The pilgrims' second governor, William Bradford, wrote that he tried hard to stamp out "pagan mockery" of the observance, penalizing any frivolity. The influential Oliver Cromwell preached against "the heathen traditions" of Christmas carols, decorated trees, and any joyful expression that desecrated "that sacred event." In 1659, the General Court of Massachusetts enacted a law making any observance of December 25 (other than a church service) a penal offense; people were fined for hanging decorations. That stern solemnity continued until the 19th century, when the influx of German and Irish immigrants undermined the Puritan legacy.

In 1846, the popular royals, Queen Victoria and her German Prince, Albert, were sketched in the illustrated London News standing with their children around a Christmas tree. Unlike the previous royal family, Victoria was very popular with her subjects, and what was done at court immediately became fashionable - not only in Britain, but with fashion-conscious East Coast American Society. The Christmas tree had arrived.

By the 1890s Christmas ornaments were arriving from Germany and Christmas tree popularity was on the rise around the U.S. It was noted that Europeans used small trees, about 4 feet in height, while Americans liked their Christmas trees to reach from floor to ceiling.

The early 20th century saw Americans decorating their trees mainly with homemade ornaments, while the German-American sect continued to use apples, nuts, and marzipan cookies. Popcorn joined in after being dyed bright colors and interlaced with berries and nuts. Electricity brought about Christmas lights, making it possible for Christmas trees to glow for days on end. With this, Christmas trees began to appear in town squares across the country and having a Christmas tree in the home became an American tradition.

12 years

Dear Joe,

Twelve years. Wow. There are some days where it doesn't seem like it's been that long, and other days it seems like it's been longer. Today is kind of both at the same time. Nothing's been the same since you left. We've all laughed and had good times, but it always seems like it could be just a little bit better, or a little bit happier. I miss you so much sometimes it hurts. This year is pretty bad because I'm alone. Nick's out to sea, and I don't have friends that live right next door that'll come over and drag me out of the house to distract me. I'm just home alone, with my thoughts. Just know that I will always, always love you and miss you and wish you were still here.

Love,
me

The Oath

"I do solemnly swear that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice."  --Oath of Enlistment for the Armed Forces of the United States of America

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof."  --1st amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America

The 1st Amendment not only prevents the establishment of a national religion, but it also prohibits government aid to any religion, even on a non-preferential basis, as well as protecting the right of the individual to choose to worship, or not, as he or she sees fit.

It is not the government's job to care what religion you are. It's the government's job to NOT care what religion you are. If the government started allowing all citizens who happen to be one particular religion to opt out of paying some fee based on the religion they claim to be, then they would have to do that for every religion in existence, and the result would be that no one in the country would pay any kind of taxes or fees or anything else and our country would go down the tubes.

Forcing religion on the whole country is against the Constitution. Plain and simple. No ifs, ands, or buts about it. If something is against your religion, DON'T DO IT. Just because something is against YOUR religion does not mean it is against EVERYONE'S religion. If my life is in danger because of a pregnancy, but I'm not allowed to get an abortion to save my own life because of something the bible says, THAT IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL. PERIOD.

Our country does not have a national religion. That was the whole point when our country was founded. Yes, some of our founding fathers were Christian, but not all of them were. The great thing about our founding fathers is that even though they weren't all the same religion, they all had the same dream for our country: freedom from religious persecution. They all wanted to be able to worship whatever deity they wanted to worship in peace, without anyone else telling them how to do it. Forcing Christianity on the whole country goes against EVERYTHING our founding fathers wanted for our country. They came here to escape things like that.

When I joined the Navy in 2001, I vowed to support and defend the Constitution. So did Nick. You can say all the stupid shit you want, and we will support to the death your right to say it, but that does not mean you're right. The Constitution is what is right. Trying to force the bible and Christianity on everyone is WRONG.