I have to say that I am absolutely loving the relationship I am in. I need to take more pictures of Matthew before I go off to school, just so I can have something to remind me of him. Forgive me, but I am turning out to be one very mushy girl. He totaly is the Carl to my Ellie.
Recently he purchased for himself Photoshop CS5 and then came over to my place and uploaded it onto my computer for me. I think that what I should do is do a little "Thank You" piece for him. And what better way than to draw us and color it in Photoshop?
I've already started figuring out a few tricks with it. I am starting to like it better than my older program; lots more I can do with it.
Anywho, Matt has already talked with me about what we're going to do about my going to USU and his staying at Weber State. He and I are going to try and see eachother once a week. He'll drive up one week, I'll drive down the next. We're just going to have to coordinate which days are best for us. Even if that means he has to come up and wait for me to get off work, so be it. Atleast I know of some places for us to go walking, and there's a nice little cemetary next to my dorm that would be perfect for a picnic. Yes, I like picnics in the cemetary. If you haven't already figured out that I'm weird like that, I feel sorry for you. Haha!
I hope that he will be able to come up to USU for school some day. Hopefully if he has good enough grades, he will get scholarships and grants. Right now my goal is to get A's and B's in my classes. I NEED MONEY.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Separation of Church and State
Separation of Church and State - The Metaphor and the Constitution
"Separation of church and state" is a common metaphor that is well recognized. Equally well recognized is the metaphorical meaning of the church staying out of the state's business and the state staying out of the church's business. Because of the very common usage of the "separation of church and state phrase," most people incorrectly think the phrase is in the constitution. The phrase "wall of separation between the church and the state" was originally coined by Thomas Jefferson in a letter to the Danbury Baptists on January 1, 1802. His purpose in this letter was to assuage the fears of the Danbury, Connecticut Baptists, and so he told them that this wall had been erected to protect them. The metaphor was used exclusively to keep the state out of the church's business, not to keep the church out of the state's business.
The constitution states, "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof." Both the free exercise clause and the establishment clause place restrictions on the government concerning laws they pass or interfering with religion. No restrictions are placed on religions except perhaps that a religious denomination cannot become the state religion.
However, currently the implied common meaning and the use of the metaphor is strictly for the church staying out of the state's business. The opposite meaning essentially cannot be found in the media, the judiciary, or in public debate and is not any part of the agenda of the ACLU or the judiciary.
This, in conjunction with several other factors, makes the "separation of church and state" metaphor an icon for eliminating anything having to do with Christian theism, the religion of our heritage, in the public arena. One of these factors is the use of the metaphor in place of the actual words of the constitution in discourse and debate. This allows the true meaning of the words in the constitution to be effectively changed to the implied meaning of the metaphor and the effect of the "free exercise" clause to be obviated. Another factor facilitating the icon to censor all forms of Christian theism in the public arena is a complete misunderstanding of the "establishment" clause.
Kind of makes it sound like the Anti-Proposition 8 people are a bunch of moron's, doesn't it?
I am pretty tired of hearing people spout off terms and using them in the wrong context. It makes their argument weak and faliable. Get your terms right, THEN come back and argue a point.
What brought this on? Well, for anyone who has seen my Facebook Status, and the comments written therein, I am upset about Proposition 8 being overturned by the Supreme Court after it recieve a majority vote to be passed. What the Court did was Unconstitutional, and if you ask me, the government is starting to stray away from the Constitution. We even have radicals who are trying to get the Constitution thrown out and reworked because it is "out-dated" and "irrelevant to today's society." One of these people is, infact, our lovely President. And I am sorry, but he is turning out to be more of a King George III. Here is a list of what King George III did to the colonist's that provoked them to declaire independance from England (really long, I know, but well worth the read.) :
He has refused his assent to laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his governors to pass laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend them.
He has refused to pass other laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of representation in the legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.
He has dissolved representative houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the legislative powers, incapable of annihilation, have returned to the people at large for their exercise; the state remaining in the meantime exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
he has endeavored to prevent the population of these states; for that purpose obstructing the laws for naturalization of foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migration hither, and raising the conditions of new appropriations of lands.
He has obstructed the administration of justice, refusing his assent to laws for establishing judiciary powers.
He has made judges dependent on his will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of new offices, and sent hither swarms of officers to harass our people, and eat out their substance.
He ahs kept amobg us, in times of peace, standing armies without the consent of our legislature.
He has affected to render the military independent of and superior to the civil power. He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his assent to their acts of pretended legislation:
For quarting large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by mock trial, from punishment for any murders which they should commit on the inhabitants of these states:
For cutting off our trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing taxes on us without our consent:
For depriving us in many cases, for the benifits of trial by jury:
For transporting us beyond seas to be tried for pretended offences:
For abolishing the free system of English laws in a neighboring province, establishing therein an arbitrary government, and enlarging its boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule in these colonies:
For taking away our charters, abolishing our most valuable laws, and altering fundamentally the forms of our governments:
For suspending our own legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated government here, by declaring us out of his protection and waging war against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our coasts, burned our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.
He is at this time transporting large armies of foreign mercenaries to complete the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of cruelty and perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow citizens taken captive on the high seas to bear arms against their country, to become the executioners of their friends and brethren, or to fall themselves by their hands.
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavored to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian savages, whose known rule of warfare, is undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.
How many did you read in there that could be applied to what our president has done so far? I saw quite a few.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Life updates
Well, I first mus apologize for not updating as often as I thouhght I would.
First and foremost, Solomon and I have drifted to a point where we are really more friends than boyfriend and girlfriend. That's fine with me, I don't really care for long distance dating relationships anyway. :)
I have started working at Jimmy Johns Gourmet Sandwich Shop! I love it! It is just so much fun. We are similar to Subway, in that we make deli-style sandwiches, only our sandwiches come standard on our 8" Home Made French Bread (which we bake every half hour or so) or you can have it on our 7 grain Wheat, OR! You can make it an Un-wich! What is an Un-Which you might ask? Well, my friend, we can make any of our 17 sandwiches into an Un-Wich. All we do is take out the bread and wrap the sandwich in large lettuce leaves.
Another thing that makes us different from subway is, we don't have a bunch of cheeses to choose from, and if you want a sandwich with a different meat, say Turkey instead of Ham, we already have a sandwich with just that. So, no, you can't "Have it Your Way" at JJ's but that just makes it easier for us to make the sandwiches. You can add or subtract any of the veggies, mayo, or cheese, just not the meat (Unless you want a #5 - Vito or #9- Italian Night Club without the Capicola/Salami. We can do that.)
I have also started working with my neighbor, Michelle Howard, who owns her own buisness. Her company is called "Wasatch Walls" and we do faux finishes, Vinitian Plaster, and murals. Lately we've mostly been doing faux finishes using plaster, paint, and tinted paint glazes. My favorite so far is doing the metalic wall finishes, using metalic paint and flat dry-wall trowels.
What else... Oh, I am really enjoying my new singles ward. The Northridge Branch is fun, and our BP, President Smith, reminds me a lot of President Anderson from Chaffey Branch before the presidency was reorganized. I've made a few new friends, and the relief society presidency is really nice.
I have also met a guy. Yes, a guy. Matthew Bybee. Really, really, really nice kid. He asked me out my first week in the branch. We saw How to Train Your Dragon, and had dinner at a little italian restraunt off of Hillfield Rd. And funnily enough, I was the first girl he ever went on a date with. Say it with me, "Awwwwwr!" Yes, that made me feel special. :) We've been on a total of 7 dates since then. I planned date #5, we went up to Weber Canyon, had a pic-nic lunch, and made paper boats out of newspaper and sailed them down Weber River. Lots of talking and laughing -- key to a successfull date. I've already met his family, and of course they like me. His mom invited me to come with them tomorrow to see the 4th of July fireworks in Kaysville. No one will be doing fireworks on the 4th here, since it's on a Sunday, so Kaysville is doing theirs tomorrow, and Layton is doing theirs on Monday.
And just to wrap this up, I have been accepted into Utah State University's Art Program!!! I am so excited!!! Right now I have only been admitted as an art major provisionally, though. I have to get my GPA up to a 2.5 in order to say in the art program. The classes that I passed at Mt.Sac, that have been accepted by Utah State University only add up to a 2.12 GPA. Not bad, not bad, but not all that good either. Still, getting my GPA up to a 2.5 is possible, if I get a B or better in my classes, which I will have to do. I still need to take Biology, and Math, and I get to take Art History again (Prehistoric- Gothic), and I can take other art classes, too. So, I'm excited. I get to look at the class lists and find out what classes I can take for this semester.
First and foremost, Solomon and I have drifted to a point where we are really more friends than boyfriend and girlfriend. That's fine with me, I don't really care for long distance dating relationships anyway. :)
I have started working at Jimmy Johns Gourmet Sandwich Shop! I love it! It is just so much fun. We are similar to Subway, in that we make deli-style sandwiches, only our sandwiches come standard on our 8" Home Made French Bread (which we bake every half hour or so) or you can have it on our 7 grain Wheat, OR! You can make it an Un-wich! What is an Un-Which you might ask? Well, my friend, we can make any of our 17 sandwiches into an Un-Wich. All we do is take out the bread and wrap the sandwich in large lettuce leaves.
Another thing that makes us different from subway is, we don't have a bunch of cheeses to choose from, and if you want a sandwich with a different meat, say Turkey instead of Ham, we already have a sandwich with just that. So, no, you can't "Have it Your Way" at JJ's but that just makes it easier for us to make the sandwiches. You can add or subtract any of the veggies, mayo, or cheese, just not the meat (Unless you want a #5 - Vito or #9- Italian Night Club without the Capicola/Salami. We can do that.)
I have also started working with my neighbor, Michelle Howard, who owns her own buisness. Her company is called "Wasatch Walls" and we do faux finishes, Vinitian Plaster, and murals. Lately we've mostly been doing faux finishes using plaster, paint, and tinted paint glazes. My favorite so far is doing the metalic wall finishes, using metalic paint and flat dry-wall trowels.
What else... Oh, I am really enjoying my new singles ward. The Northridge Branch is fun, and our BP, President Smith, reminds me a lot of President Anderson from Chaffey Branch before the presidency was reorganized. I've made a few new friends, and the relief society presidency is really nice.
I have also met a guy. Yes, a guy. Matthew Bybee. Really, really, really nice kid. He asked me out my first week in the branch. We saw How to Train Your Dragon, and had dinner at a little italian restraunt off of Hillfield Rd. And funnily enough, I was the first girl he ever went on a date with. Say it with me, "Awwwwwr!" Yes, that made me feel special. :) We've been on a total of 7 dates since then. I planned date #5, we went up to Weber Canyon, had a pic-nic lunch, and made paper boats out of newspaper and sailed them down Weber River. Lots of talking and laughing -- key to a successfull date. I've already met his family, and of course they like me. His mom invited me to come with them tomorrow to see the 4th of July fireworks in Kaysville. No one will be doing fireworks on the 4th here, since it's on a Sunday, so Kaysville is doing theirs tomorrow, and Layton is doing theirs on Monday.
And just to wrap this up, I have been accepted into Utah State University's Art Program!!! I am so excited!!! Right now I have only been admitted as an art major provisionally, though. I have to get my GPA up to a 2.5 in order to say in the art program. The classes that I passed at Mt.Sac, that have been accepted by Utah State University only add up to a 2.12 GPA. Not bad, not bad, but not all that good either. Still, getting my GPA up to a 2.5 is possible, if I get a B or better in my classes, which I will have to do. I still need to take Biology, and Math, and I get to take Art History again (Prehistoric- Gothic), and I can take other art classes, too. So, I'm excited. I get to look at the class lists and find out what classes I can take for this semester.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
It's been a while, hasn't it?
Well, I have once again slipped into negelcting maintaining a blog! But I do have things to update with to make up for it.
My family and I have been in our new house for close to a month now, and it's starting to feel like our house. I still miss our old house in Ontario with it's early 1950's charm, but this house does have a very nice neighborhood and view of the Great Salt Lake. I need to find the pictures that we've taken so I can upload them here.
We even have a furry little friend who has adopted us. Her name is Maddie (not our choice, but it's the name she answers to) and she's a cute FLUFFY calico cat! She belonged to some people living up the street from us from what our neighbors have said. Apparently they had gotten a new cat, she didn't like it, and prefered to live outdoors and catch mice and voles for a living. We've started feeding her and she had started waiting at our front and back doors for us to come out and either feed her or brush her. She is quite a friendly cat. I need to find a way to take a good picture of her. She had thus far been less than photogenic.
I have started attending my local Single's Ward, and it's about the same size at the Chaffey Branch. But deffinately not as friendly, I'm sad to say. The Branch president (who reminds me greatly of Brother Anderson) came and greeted me on my first Sunday in the ward, and introduced me to one other young lady. I was surprised that in Relief Society no one said that there were any new members/visitors, and so was the Branch President. He then introduced me to more young ladies in our group for Relief Society--the teacher had split the room into five groups for group discussions.
I was suprised that this ward even did Linger Longer! I was able to meet a few more young ladies there, and then I met one young man, who is now off to Portland, OR to sell home security systems. I met another young man at this weeks YSA activity at the park. I had started talking to him along with a group of other people, and when the others went off to play volley ball, he and I stayed to talk more. We talked about a lot of different things: showes we liked, animals, family members... general things. I learned that he lives fairly close to me (just down the street and around the corner, really) and I hope that this guy will be someone I can look forward to sitting with and seeing every Sunday.
My family and I have been in our new house for close to a month now, and it's starting to feel like our house. I still miss our old house in Ontario with it's early 1950's charm, but this house does have a very nice neighborhood and view of the Great Salt Lake. I need to find the pictures that we've taken so I can upload them here.
We even have a furry little friend who has adopted us. Her name is Maddie (not our choice, but it's the name she answers to) and she's a cute FLUFFY calico cat! She belonged to some people living up the street from us from what our neighbors have said. Apparently they had gotten a new cat, she didn't like it, and prefered to live outdoors and catch mice and voles for a living. We've started feeding her and she had started waiting at our front and back doors for us to come out and either feed her or brush her. She is quite a friendly cat. I need to find a way to take a good picture of her. She had thus far been less than photogenic.
I have started attending my local Single's Ward, and it's about the same size at the Chaffey Branch. But deffinately not as friendly, I'm sad to say. The Branch president (who reminds me greatly of Brother Anderson) came and greeted me on my first Sunday in the ward, and introduced me to one other young lady. I was surprised that in Relief Society no one said that there were any new members/visitors, and so was the Branch President. He then introduced me to more young ladies in our group for Relief Society--the teacher had split the room into five groups for group discussions.
I was suprised that this ward even did Linger Longer! I was able to meet a few more young ladies there, and then I met one young man, who is now off to Portland, OR to sell home security systems. I met another young man at this weeks YSA activity at the park. I had started talking to him along with a group of other people, and when the others went off to play volley ball, he and I stayed to talk more. We talked about a lot of different things: showes we liked, animals, family members... general things. I learned that he lives fairly close to me (just down the street and around the corner, really) and I hope that this guy will be someone I can look forward to sitting with and seeing every Sunday.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Well my mom and I spent the last five hours or so putting the coins from our Popcorn tin in the back yard into little coin rolls. We found 10 Franks, 32 Centimes, one English Penny, one Canadian Penny, and one Kurus along with the $174.85. See what happens with your spare change? It GROWS! I need to start a penny jar when I get married haha! My husband and I will put our loose coins in there and then 20 years later see what we have! :P
Really makes me want to just pick up every coin I find on the street. You never know, it might help add up to something later!
Really makes me want to just pick up every coin I find on the street. You never know, it might help add up to something later!
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Well, the date is drawing nearer, and I'm getting to a point where I am starting to feel like I am moving.
We'll be leaving on the 17th of March, and we'll be staying with our grandparents untill the end of the month. After that we will be able to move into our new house.
I think that tomorrow I will spend some time cleaning up things in the house and start taking pictures. I'm going to need them. I also need to organize a day where I go and walk around Armsley Court and all those pretty old homes on the other side of Euclid, and pictures of Chaffey High School. Such beautiful architecture. I will have to see if I can get inside either North Hall or South Hall to take some photos of the corridors and their beautiful Art Deco designs. Might even have time to visit a few old teachers and deliver some prints from my Silk Screen and Print Making class.
We'll be leaving on the 17th of March, and we'll be staying with our grandparents untill the end of the month. After that we will be able to move into our new house.
I think that tomorrow I will spend some time cleaning up things in the house and start taking pictures. I'm going to need them. I also need to organize a day where I go and walk around Armsley Court and all those pretty old homes on the other side of Euclid, and pictures of Chaffey High School. Such beautiful architecture. I will have to see if I can get inside either North Hall or South Hall to take some photos of the corridors and their beautiful Art Deco designs. Might even have time to visit a few old teachers and deliver some prints from my Silk Screen and Print Making class.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Sold! To the Vicomte de Chagny, thank you Sir.
We sold our house on Tuesday. A nice single school teacher bought our house for about $291 thousand which was more than our asking price. Our asking price was in the $274 range. We had a few offers from people in the $300, but they were also asking for us to pay the closing costs on this house, which would've brought us to just below our asking price. The lady we sold the house to bought it without wanting us to pay anything extra since we were also putting on a new roof.
We also bought our house in Utah. It was quite nerve wracking. When we called up the other relator to place an offer, she said we should hurry because there was another offer coming in, too. Now, we had looked at this house before and it's a beautiful house, and it was big enough for us to all have our own bedroom, and we'd have one room left over for a guest room (and we are planning on having guests). As it turns out the other people wanting to make an offer didn't have all of their financial information ready for the relator yet, and she was giving them 24 hours to get it together. We had everything ready, made the offer, and we heard back the next day that we got the house.
We've set a tenative date for the relocation company to come and pack us up. So it looks like we will be packed up and leaving on March 17th, 2010. We won't be able to move into our new house untill the 31st, but that's okay. Dad's company will pay to store our items for up to 60 days, and then move them into our house for us.
So for now I am still here in California, and I need to get to Institute and tell my friends when I am leaving.
We also bought our house in Utah. It was quite nerve wracking. When we called up the other relator to place an offer, she said we should hurry because there was another offer coming in, too. Now, we had looked at this house before and it's a beautiful house, and it was big enough for us to all have our own bedroom, and we'd have one room left over for a guest room (and we are planning on having guests). As it turns out the other people wanting to make an offer didn't have all of their financial information ready for the relator yet, and she was giving them 24 hours to get it together. We had everything ready, made the offer, and we heard back the next day that we got the house.
We've set a tenative date for the relocation company to come and pack us up. So it looks like we will be packed up and leaving on March 17th, 2010. We won't be able to move into our new house untill the 31st, but that's okay. Dad's company will pay to store our items for up to 60 days, and then move them into our house for us.
So for now I am still here in California, and I need to get to Institute and tell my friends when I am leaving.
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