Something New in the Mix!!!

Just Another 20 something here.... and I'm making a change! Its been a long while since my last post, so as you can tell i was not necessarily busy with a job. but i am working towards getting back to school. Looking into getting my MA but who the hell knows these days.

I have been doing ALOT of reading on my kindle! i know I'm lame, but i love it! i have found some amazing indie writers that keep me inspired and constantly reading. Which I'm sure Mr. Man would tell you is the most annoying thing ever, but today i decided that i am going to start using this blog as a place to review and pass on all my opinions on books I'm reading.

i figure why not?!?!?! i read 6 books a week usually so why not share them with all of you... so Tomorrow will be my First Review EVER! LOL so be nice but it will be a learning experience for everyone!!!

Tomorrow I'm going to review Switched By Amanda Hocking here's so info on Amanda from her blog:

I live in Minnesota, and even though I hated it a lot growing up, I really love it here now. (Ask me again when its twenty below and I'm scraping ice off my windshield, and I might answer different.)

When I was in grade school and we had to do reports on things, I always picked the more obscure subject. For animals, I picked the okapi and the narwhal, and when I did a report on countries, I picked Luxembourg. I know lots and lots of trivia about lots and lots of pointless things.

This book is the first book in her Trylle Trilogy the second comes out sometime this month. She is also known for her My Blood Approves series, Hollowland and her newest Honalee.

Here's some back ground on Switched at the Trylee series from Amanda's Blog:

When Wendy Everly was six years old, her mother was convinced she was a monster and tried to kill her. It isn't until eleven years later that Wendy discovers her mother might have been right.

With the help of Finn Holmes, Wendy finds herself in a world she never knew existed - a world both beautiful and frightening, and Wendy's not sure she wants to be a part of it.

Well i will see you all tomorrow and today im going to leave you with a quote i read today from Kait Nolan on Amanda Hocking's Blog about being and indie writer in this ocean of publishing. "passion isn’t everything, that we’ve gotta devote time to honing our craft"--Kait Nolan

Support your local Community Coffee shop

Just Another 20 Something here... talking about supporting your community. Maybe its just the way i was raised, but i LOVE community coffee shops and stores!!! they make me feel a connection to the place im living. OC is so damn crowded that community stores and shops close quickly due to lack of service. This week i got lucky enough to have one of my wonderful friends visiting me on the surface of the sun. We planned to get up early and to find a coffee shop that we can both hang out at while her and her boyfriends study (the are both taking the bar in July, So they are superrrr busy studing their butts off).

A couple of weeks back while Mr. Man and I were driving around we found old town glendale. its a great street that totally reminds me of home. It looks just like Downtown Fullerton!!! The community coffee shop that we found is right in that area! its a great place made from an old 1920's bungalow home! it creaks when you walk and you can smell the history in this place! AHHH hippes you make me happy!!!

So now i sit her sipping on my Carmel Macchiato look at the great day threw the old glass windows. i forget how much i enjoy getting out of the house and coming to a community shop like this. not only does it stimulate the local economy it also encourages other people to be willing to open up community stores instead of a chain brand. These stores bring flavor and personality to a street and community. They attract new and different people. This shop also has music events!! i miss this kind of coffee shop!! DC had them all over the place, and brings me back to my great days of college LoL!!!

Today i leave you with the thought of community stores. Do you have any in your local Community? what makes them unique? do you protest community stores and stay with chains? what could you do to help simulate the local economy in you neighborhood

"Every single American has the power to stimulate their local economies: not by spending more, but by supporting local businesses. In economic theory, more local spending translates into less "leakage". This means a greater percent of the money spent actually stays and circulates within the region, supporting more employment, investment, goods and services. Local spending leads to economic multipliers that strengthen the regional economy." -Jeanine Pfeiffer from "Eco-patriotism and Stimulating your local economy!!

Be who YOU are

Just Another 20 Something here.. talking about social issues of our day. So this morning i woke up to a video on Perezhilton.com with laura bush stating her views on gay rights and abortion. Being so far left that sometimes its hard for me to see the other side it was nice to see that! LoL i guess i should say im not a complete and crazy left'er. i have a lot of conservative ideas also, but i tend to lean left on all issues when it comes to the social aspects of our society.

After posting the link to the video on my facebook, i realized that maybe that was not the smartest thing to do. Most of Mr. Mans family are religious and these are two issues where i am probably a lone wolf LoL! shortly after posting the link there was a comment from his cousin. She is a very intelligent women who home schools her children. obviously i believe she is a great women and is extremely intelligent, but we have COMPLETELY different views on life. My life is something i chose to make as an individual decision while hers are affected by her religion. obviously we will never have the same view so debating does nothing to that fact, but sometimes its nice to have a mature debate with someone.

We debated back and forth, like i tend to do with everyone in my life, and i realized something... although our views on social issues differ i enjoy being a person that is able to discuss social issues. i enjoy being able to get my point across maturely and intelligently. i hope to all hell that i did not offend her or cause her to have any negative feeling toward me.

My parents and friends will tell you the same thing. i have always had these views. i was 6 when my uncle died of aids and i found out what it meant to be gay. Even to a 6 yr old it did not make sense to me why someone would judge another person on their sexual preference. that set up YEARS of me telling people they were wrong for make snap decision on someone else's life. with my years of mature since then i have begun to let go of it. i cant change other peoples views nor should i, we all have the right to have the decision. its wither we let those views divide us that really matters. Most of my friends are not leftys like me and most of them are republicans. and i will never let my opinions come between our friendships and relationships.

i leave you today with the thought about what makes you have your political views? is it your parents? your life experience? or is just you?

"A Conservative is a Man with two perfectly good legs, who, however, has never learned to walk forward."- FDR ( god i love his quotes)

What 1 teacher can do...

Just Another 20 Something here... thinking about education. In high school i was a low to average level student. i never truly applied myself, and i NEVER did homework. i was kicked out of Sunny Hills in 2000 for lack of credits (or because i didn't make the grades they wanted). when i was kicked out i was in a very strange point in my life. I was hanging with the wrong crowd, i had started to use drugs, and i was severely depressed. I was making a lot of the wrong choices in my life. that is until i got into La Vista.

La Vista was a whole different ball game! the students were there because they wanted to be instead of because you had to. No on forced you to do homework, actually homework was a privilege in that school. The teachers and the administration REALLY CARED about its students and wanted them to succeed. Most of us were the black sheep of our schools, but here they made us feel welcome. i was lucky enough to find some great friends and my amazing boyfriend while i was there. I also found the best teacher i have ever had the pleasure of being in her class. Mrs. Rafferty!

She was one of the English teachers, and she truly affected my life!!! i was in a very unstable section of my life and she brought balance to it. My first day there she looked at me and asked me what i was doing here. i didn't know how to answer the question, Lazy, bored, the school hated me? She looked me dead in the eyes and told me... Katie you will succeed!! i didn't think that would affect me much, but it did. Mrs. Raff helped me become a good student and encouraged me to succeed in my life!!

She also introduced me to Mr. Man! i will always remember this story! its was a day close to the end of the year, and most of us were finishing up all of our work. Mr. Man sat in front of me in Raff's class, and I would do ANYTHING to talk to him (he use to barrow my purple pen, i made sure to ALWAYS have one). One day he turned around and we started chatting. Next thing i knew Raff was right there behind us. We figured she was going to nag us for talking, but being the great teacher she is. she surprised us both! She stopped, turned and said to Mr. Man, "Corey, you don't have a girlfriend anymore do you?" he answered "No" then she turned to me and said "Katie, you don't have a boyfriend either?" i returned "No" i could feel my face turn a shade of red to a shade of purple. "Oh, well then you go ahead and keep talking." She just smiled laughed and turned around.

I swear i thought my heart was going to jump out of my chest! i was extremely embarrassed, but now i will one day get to tell my kids the story of how we met, and how that may not have happened without the help of Mrs. Raff. Yesterday i found Mrs. Rafferty on FB Thanks to another one of my other favorite teachers Mrs. KO who is retiring this year! ( KO you have made a generation of kids who love drama and art and a women that speaks her own, We love you too) I got to finally write her the letter that i have been saving for years!

I got to tell her how much she truly affected my life and that i don't know if i would have made it to junior college let alone American University! i also got to invite her to my wedding which never would have happened if it wasn't for her!!! She said shes coming!!! so that was a great moment for me!

Today i leave you with a thought about teachers. Did you have a teacher that made a difference in your life? how would your life have changed if they weren't involved in it? What did they teach you and do you think it still has an effect on your life now?

"The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau , Sometimes poking you with the sharp stick called 'truth'" -- Dan Rather

Arizona could you promptly pull you head out of your ASS please

Just Another 20 Something here... thinking about the elections this year. So, i live in phoenix aka the surface of the sun, but since moving here they have really changed things. With the on-slot of the immigration bill here things have started to hit the fan!!! People here cant figure out what they want for their state! the state is in a deep financial crisis, and the unemployment rate is at 9.1% according to CNN news. With all of these things coming into play in the state, the officials decided that the immigration bill need to be taken into affect. Not to sound like a realist or anything, but the economy here wont survive without the illegals.

i know they are illegal, but they do the jobs that none of us want to do. i am part of the 9.1% in arizona that don't have a job, but i can tell you that if you got rid of all the illegals in AZ the jobs that would be available i would not want!! i don't want to clean hotel rooms or cook at jack in the box! i'm not trying to berate them, but their jobs are the bottom of the barrel and they work HARD! harder than i do just to make a dollar! Harder than most of us do, and they deserve the credit for that. The culture and values are important to them and hard work is engrained in their hearts!!

I agree that something needs to be done about the amount that are coming in, but i have friends that have been living in this country for most of their lives, they don't speak spanish, and they have never visited mexico but they are illegal. That means if they get busted and get deported they will be going to a country where they don't speak the language and don't know anyone there! how is that fair? i know their parents did not make the right decision to come here illegal, but if we hadn't made it close to impossible to be here legally than maybe they would have!!

i DO NOT support the 1070 immigration bill. i believe that it gives the police more reason to pull anyone over in AZ just because they look latino. THAT IS OUTRAGEOUS! AZ already has too many laws that are taken out of context and many that are way past their time. The laws here are outdated and unrealistic. its ok to ride your motorcycle without a helmet or have a concealed weapon in you vehicle, but if your have a speck of marijuana or look mexican you will be taken to jail!!! the fine here for ANY marijuana or paraphernalia will run around $5,000 and it is a FELONY! a FELONY for a lil bit of pot! GET OVER YOURSELF AZ!

Today i leave you with a thought about your state... what are the laws in your state regarding immigration? what do you think about 1070? do you agree with racial profiling? do you think the bill will really cause racial profiling? I hope that our childrens future is better than ours, and that we don't create a world for them where they have to worry that big brother is going to come get them just for being themselves!

"Remember, and Remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are decedents or immigration and revolutionist ." - FDR (even though he had a very different view of immigration he still believed that it was part of american society!)

what do you want for your children

Just Another 20 Something Here... Thinking about what it takes to be a parent. as any 20 something can tell you, once your friends and family start having kids you notice how people parent. I always make decision on watching others, maybe thats just me. but in my head im always watching and deciding if i want to do that with my kids. I learn from other in most things in my life so its only natural i do it with this step. alot of the time i watch and see what i want to be with my kids! i see how happy my friends are with their kids, and how everything is just more exciting.

This starts to get me thinking on how i was parented. There are alot of things that i would want to change, but i think thats just part of every child parent relationship. My parents took an interested in me and that made me a better person in-turn. I also look into how Mr. Man was raised. i see how not having a great female role model in his life as affected the way he views women. The only women who was suppose to always be there for him NEVER WAS! it makes me sick! and really its none of my business because he doesn't let it affect him as a person, but as a women its hard not to have an opinion.

How could you just forget about your first born child! i dont understand it, and it kills me to know that the only positive female role model hes ever had has been me. im not trying to be a snot about it, but its true. it makes me want to be a better women for him. to show him how a real women behaves, and that a real women that will never leave him! Mr Mans dad and grandfather have really been all he has had. Mr Mans dad has had his own share of problems, but no matter what he was always there for him. and His grandfather made him the jokester that he is. i value the things they taught him, but we both know that we want something different that what we had.

Its not that our lives were bad or that we dont love where we came from. i think its just part of growing up that you reflect on your past and plan for your future. It makes me look back and feel really lucky to have had such a great family. We have our share of kookiness like any family does. in fact i dont think its family unless its a lil kooky!! i can only hope that i provide my kids with a great family environment like i had.

Today i leave you with the thought about your paretns. Did the way you were raised influence the you want to raise your kids? What would you change? what would you keep? Whats the most important part of being a parent?

"Before i got married i had six theories about raising children, now i have six children and NO theories" - John Wilmont

I'm 26... WTF happened to the past 10 years!

Just Another 20 Something here... thinking about being another year older! Cue the death march music!!! im old! tomorrow i will be 26! 26!!!! o god can you believe it! i cant sometimes. so today i woke up thinking about what has happened in my life in the past 26 years. Well as of May 7th i will officially have had my licence for 10 years. yes after 10 years i still remember the day i got my license. it was the first day of my freedom =). i remember driving my awesome convert able to school that first day. how proud i was to come in and park my car in the parking lot! AHH Pedro! for those who don't remember my car in high school let me clue you in.

Yes i was a lil brat! i had a black 98 VW Cabrio. ahh man it was the car o my life. i had zebra seat covers and EVERY other car accessory that came in zebra. i drove that car into the DIRT! i put 15,000 miles on it in a summer! as soon as those keys got in my hand it was like i had my own place. in high school i lived 35 min away from my high school, so until then i relied heavily on my brother, mom, and grandma to drive me everywhere. That year was also the first year i ditched, stayed out late, went to a rave and found my amazing group of friends!

10 years ago my life changed forever! Sweet 16 is a big year for everyone, but my friends and I made the most out of that year! it was a first of everything for people! i cant believe its been ten years already! i remember looking back at being 16 and saying WOW dude in 10 years we will be 26" OH GOD! i am 26 now. i do have to say though that i wont change a thing of what i have experienced in my life since i was 16.

Every piece of my life has changed and molded me into the person i am today because of those experiences. i learned how to be an adult. i learned how to love myself for who i am. i learned how to lie. i learned how to not lie (i was a HUGE storyteller in high school, yes, its my cross to bare) i learned how to be a good friend and not a frenemy. i learned how to love my parents for who they are and know that they are not perfect creatures. i learned how to be a good daughter, sister, friend, partner. i learned how important an educations is. learned how unimportant an education can be in the real world. i learned to be an adult in a world that keeps pushing me back in adolescence.

WoW i guess when you think about it i really have learned a lot in the past 10 years. put as i get a year older i think about my goals from 10 years ago. have i met them? do i still want any of them? i don't think i had goals that were real 10 years ago. no w i come up with one every five minutes. My question for you today is... what were your goals 10 years ago? do you still want them? can you believe that you is what you wanted? As another year passes i can say that I'm so glad to have taken the road that i have taken. it may have been bumpy, crazy, and full of forks, but it leads me to my future. if this is what the past 10 years have been full of i cant wait to see what is coming on the path! ( HAWAII, HAWAII, HAWAII)

"We turn not older with years, but newer every day" -Emily Dickinson