There I Go Again!

Neglecting the blog that keeps my friends and family updated! Sorry about that but the Altoholics Blog keeps me pretty busy. So, let's do a re-cap, shall we?

Since my massive toothache, I got more pain meds, and survived for the antibiotic to take effect. Now I have to wait to have it pulled. It'll be a little while, but so far, I am surviving. After that Garen had a nice cool two weeks off, for a video game actually! You can read about our Midnight Release Adventure Here.

Then, Garen set out doing what he took time off work to do... leveling his toons in this game. He dragged me along too. Which is fine. I always enjoy playing. I, however, still had school work and such to tend to, so I didn't get as involved as he did. 

Last weekend we put up our Christmas tree. Why so early? because we are having 12 (Yes, I said 12) people over for dinner for Thanksgiving, and wanted to have the tree up before then. Last night we took Hayden to see Bolt. It was an adorable movie that I think he really enjoyed.

So that brings us to now. Somewhere in all of that Ive been making Christmas presents (yeah, making!) which is so not my thing. So if you get crap presents from me, remember I made them so you HAVE to love them! Ha ha well no, I guess you don't, but you SHOULD!

Other then all that, we're just preparing for the Turkey day. Pies need baked, Deep Fryer needs cleaned out... it's gonna be some good eats! I'll update more often, I hope. Until next time!

Much Love

Andrea

That warm fuzzy feeling.... no, it's not bunny slippers

I plan on hitting the temple soon. Only two more things in life that need sorted out. I don't plan on talking about them right now, but, I'm just making this statement where someone, anyone, the world at large, can see it.

It's been a few years too many since I've been. 

I'm going to go.

Just have to do a couple more things.

Don't tell anyone, but I'm excited. I'm determined. And come hell or high water, I'm going to pull this off.

IDIOTS! All of them. Total IDIOTS!

Okay, I am very angry at something that I shouldn't be angry about. But I am. And the fact that I am angry about what I'm angry about, really says I'm not doing what I'm supposed to be doing.

Okay, here it goes.

CHURCH! 

Not mine, but the whole evangelical reich. Now, I know a lot of good Christians, don't get me wrong. But there are a few that I just want to strangle. Not a very Christlike statement, no is it? Now, let me tell you why.

Garen: I am so glad that Jesus Christ is my savior.

Tom: You know you are going to hell, right?

Garen: Why? I have taken Jesus as my savior. 

Tom: No, you took another jesus as your savior. The "Mormon Jesus".

Garen: What? No, I believe in the Jesus of the bible.

Tom: No you don't. You're going to hell.

WHAT THE HELL!

The whole concept of the creedal trinity, the "other jesus" argument, and the "other gospel" argument is making me SO mad today. And honestly, I don't know why it hit a nerve like it did.

The whole argument of "The word is god, Jesus is the word... but your jesus is the brother of satan and heathen offspring of heavenly parents... so youre going to hell." is really irking me.

Who are they, that they have the right, the gall, or the irritating sense of superiority that they have any sort of right to tell me what I do or do not believe?  Honestly?

I mean, I can turn this around to say that since they believe on "once saved, always saved, all grace, no works, salvation" that they are heretics and should be shunned, but I'm not that kind of a person.

But the whole idea of picking on me because you just "don't like mormons".... c'mon. Where do they get off.

If they want to label me as a heathen just because I don't subscribe to" Christianity © Inc.", then fine. I'm happy being a "Mormon", following the "Mormon God", and being an outcast just because I know it's right.

Christianity? Great idea!

Christianity © inc.? You can have it.

Dress right, Dress

So, it's thursday night. I'm kinda tired, but still very nervous. Why you ask?

Tomorrow morning at 8am, I am conducting my first uniform inspection at work.

I've been involved in many inspections, thats not a big deal. Cut my hair, iron my shirt. Suck in my gut. Etc. Receive a passing grade.

But, I'm running this one. That scares me.

I need to complete the inspection so that I can get a qual signed off. I want to make E-7 and this is a required step.

So, tomorrow morning, I'm going to the office, shiny uniform in hand, fancy shoes in my other hand, and I get to inspect the troops. 

There are 13 people in my shop, and I get to inspect while my CWO (The shop supervisor) gets to take notes for me. I personally think he is doing this so he doesn't have to be inspected. ;)

But regardless, I am going to be issuing a little bit of close order drill, asking a few questions, nitpicking peoples uniforms, and all the usual stuff that comes with this.

Here is the lame part though. 

I'm scared!

Why? I have no idea. It's not like this is going to be hard. I'm guessing that it's just my first one, and that is why I'm scared. It's not like I can really fail at this. I look at peoples uniforms. I make sure their belt and gig line is good. So, if this is SO simple, why am I SO scared?

I have checked my own uniform 6 times today. I was clipping threads, I ironed it twice. I keep adjusting my nametag. I check my ribbons relentlessly.

I even tried on my pants. This was a suprise in it's own right. THEY FIT ME GOOD!

What the deuce? How DARE they fit me good?

Either way, with that in mind, I get to do this tomorrow. Just a mere 14 hours away from this writing. 

I should make them do it outside.  >.<

My head hurts

It seems to me that more often lately, posts on the internet and posts on our blogs coming from my wife and I have had to do with discomfort.

Specifically... PAIN.

I'm sitting here right now waiting for something, but while I sit here and wait, I realize that my head hurts. It hurts really bad.

I figured I just needed more water. So I drank some. Now I have to pee.

Maybe I haven't had enough caffiene and I was suffering withdrawls. So I had some. Now I'm awake.

Maybe I needed to get some air. So I went outside. Now I'm cold.

Maybe I need some tylenol. So I took some. Now I have pills sitting in my stomach hanging out with the Chili-dogs I had for lunch.

Let's see...

Headache? CHECK!

Gotta pee? CHECK!

Cold?      CHECK!

Yeah, I'm doing a LOT better now.   >.<

Anyways, the point is we seem to have a lot of stupid little ailments as of late. And I would like for them to go away. I don't think that it will happen, but who knows.

Anyways, thats my complaint. Take it or leave it.

OH, and ANDREA! You might be interested in THIS LINK.

Ouchie

I'm hurting. I feel like such a baby admitting it. I usually can take pain in stride. I don't complain too much and more often than not I wont go to see a doctor unless Garen forces me too. It's a bad habit really, but pain just doesn't get to me that much. However, I developed a tooth ache last Wednesday that on Thursday turned into a massive swelling of my lower right jaw. I ended up having to go to the ER on Garen's birthday. Thankfully, it was a short visit that resulted in Penecilin for the infection and enough vicodin to last me the weekend. I took my pills carefully and hoped by the time I ran out of painkillers, the penecilin would have fought off the infection enough to stop the mass amounts of pain.

I was wrong.

Now it's Monday, and the swelling is gone but the pain is not. I've been taking over the counter pain killers but its not helping much at all. I feel like crying and rather helpless. I need to have the tooth pulled but I can't until the oral surgeon comes to visit again, which should be late Decemeber/early January. I don't know if I'll make it that long.

So here I am, crying to the interwebs because it hurts bad enough that I feel utterly helpless. Obviously this doesn't help the pain to go away, but it gives me something to do. So there ya have it, and I guess I'll be off to try to distract myself elsewhere. Until next time,

Andrea

Respect my author-a-tah

So I was talking to some friends on a forum a few weeks back and we got to talking about the priesthood lines of authority. It came up as to weather they were needed or not and who each had in theirs.

Well, I made the comment that I didn't know mine. So, after getting some basic info, I sent a letter to the church records department.

One stamp and envelope later (Plus 10 days of waiting), mine showed up in the mail last night. I was pretty excited.

I know have an official paper copy of my Priesthood Line of Authority. 

To those who don't know what it's about, it tells me exactly how I got my ordination into the priesthood.

Well, I obviously received mine from my dad. That was cool in it's own right. But, what about before then?

Well, Dad got it from Grant Harris. That was someone that was above Dad apparently. 

But before that was a line of apostles and prophets before it hit Joseph Smith, who got it from Peter, James and John, who got it from Christ himself.

HOW FREAKING COOL IS THAT!

I'm 9 ordinations seperated from receiving the Priesthood from Jesus Christ!

Again, this is a church thing so those on the outside don't uderstand the signicance of this, but to those in the know... It's pretty awesome.

I was excited to receive it.

Shaken Faith

Well, the title would suggest that I was strong in my faith in the first place. I never really was. It is no secret in my home that I have always struggled with odds and ends over our LDS religion. I wasn't born into this church. I was born into a sort of "C and E" home. My parents were Lutheran, but only attended for the two major holidays. They were smokers, they were drinkers, but this did not lead to my inability to grasp faith.

Personally, I think a belief in God is something I must have. It just feels wrong not to. I cannot explain it. And also, don't get me wrong, I am not posting here to bash upon my own church. There are things I struggle with in the LDS faith, but the members of this church lead lives in which they strive to live healthy chartiable lives. I support that and I encourage it. I am even a little bit envious. So why can't I grasp this faith that my husband seems to display so well?

I struggle with the idea that religion is the end all. I can't seem to grasp the greater idea of a heaven and a hell. I do believe that the stories in both the Book of Mormon and the Bible likely really did happen, but I also tend to lean towards the idea that the stories have been embellished quite a bit.

In my own church, I struggle with the set morals and ideas that are presented to me. I never minded giving to a collection plate, you gave what you could when you could... but I have struggled with the idea of tithing. A set amount paid every month, and if you don't pay it honestly, you lose certain abilities within the church. I am not trying to offend here, but I cannot shake the feeling of "member dues". Like I would be paying to be part of a club. I have prayed about this issue before, but I still feel uneasy about it. For us, this is no small amount of money. An honest tithe for us is over 400 dollars a month.

Also in my concerns lie things that have to do with temples. Mostly, I have no desire to wear the garments, which I would need to do once I became endowed. This is a vanity issue with is odd, considering that I am not very vain at all, but Garen has shown quite the..... appreciation for the underwear I choose to wear now, and I don't think I'd feel very comfortable (or sexy) in the garments. A lame reason, I know, but a concern all the same.

Finally, I do love that the LDS church pushes healthy lives. No smoking, No drinking, and the like. No arguements out of me there... but the recent ongoings with the Proposition 8 issue has me feeling a little reserved. I am not gay, nor do I know anyone who is. However, it just feels wrong to me to force an idea of "God said marriage is between a Man and a Woman ONLY" when this is supposed to be a nation of religious freedom. Adding a religious context to this law makes me feel like we are forcing God on those who may not believe in it, and that just doesn't seem fair. Obviously, the LDS church itself did not go about proclaiming the evils of this notion, but it did ask for it's members to, and boy did they ever respond. Nearly a full half of the campaign money for the issue was provided by members of our church, donated privately by them, though.

Overall I try not to be a hyprocrite. Garen's actions over the years have throughly frusterated me, since he has gone full swing from downright cheating on me, smoking and various other sins to cleaning up his act and going head on into church beliefs. However he has made this change in behavior more then once or twice and I'm getting tired trying to keep up with it. He says he has choosen his church once and for all and I don't intend to discourage that. If he can stick to it then prehaps I can better focus on it myself too. I understand we all have sins and his sins are different then mine, but the sheer hypocrocy was driving me insane. I'm thrilled that its overwith now.

Anyways, I feel better having said what bothers me. The LDS church is full of brilliant wonderful people, and I do want to emulate them, and be happy in it as they are. I am working on these issues, and they are hard to admit, but now that I have I hope I can better make my way down this very difficult path.

A Perfect Score!

One class, down. Still waiting on the results of the other one!

Presentation Grading Form for Final Project: Business Presentation, Due in Week Nine

 

Content / Development  200 points	Points Earned 200/200	Additional Comments:
All key elements of the assignment are covered in a substantive way. ·         The presentation consists of 8 to 10 slides, with speaker notes for each slide, appropriate for the speaker’s audience.		An excellent presentation.  You combine an attractive graphic with clear content and effective use of Notes section.
The content is comprehensive, accurate, and persuasive. ·         The presentation includes visual aids and utilizes elegant graphics. ·         The text is limited to approximately five lines and approximately five words per bulleted item. ·         The appropriate use of font sizes is incorporated.
The presentation develops a central theme or idea, directed toward the appropriate audience.
Major points are stated clearly; are supported by specific details, examples, or analysis; and are organized logically.
The introduction provides sufficient background on the topic and previews major points.
The conclusion is logical and reviews the major points.
Readability and Style  25 Points	Points Earned 25/25	Additional Comments:
Slide transitions are logical and maintain the flow throughout the presentation.
The tone is appropriate to the content and assignment.
Sentences are clear and concise.
Mechanics 25 points	Points Earned 25/25	Additional Comments:
Citations of original works within the body of the presentation follow Axia style guidelines.
The presentation is laid out with effective use of headings, font styles, and white space.
Rules of grammar, usage, and punctuation are followed.
Spelling is correct.
Total 250 Points	Points Earned 250/250	Overall Comments:

 

 

 

Making Changes

There have been so many things going on, and it's getting hard to keep my cool with them all. The first and most obvious change is after growing out my hair for the last three years, Garen finally talked me into cutting it all off. So bam, just like that, 8 1/2 inches of hair are gone. Take a look for yourself. Along with these changes, Garen has taken a steadfast hold into his church practices today, which in all honesty I do encourage. I simply cannot help feeling skeptical in his abilities to stick to what he says he wants to do. He gives me a lot of talk about how faith preceeds the miricle, but again, I just don't have a lot of trust left in me. 

As for our marriage? Well... theres been a lot of disconsorting stuff. A lot of things I have to give some thought to... and a lot of newfound honesty being passed around. We are communicating better then we ever did before, and I appreciate knowing... I really do... I just need to reflect on what is being said better. Garen is not so great at saying the right thing on a whim ;)

Then there is the question of comprimise. I believe fully in self sacrafice for a person you love. I am willing personally to give up any aspect of my life Garen asks me to, and try my best to fit myself into the life he dreams for us. However, upon some questioning out of me, he so far doesn't realize what he's asking of me. He believes I should know that his way is the healiest and best choice for me, but neglects to understand that while that may or may not be true, it isn't what I dreamed for myself. I am willing to change what he's asked, and will do so with minimal complaint, but he shows no compassion for it. In fact, after making efforts today, he mentioned how they weren't good enough on the car ride home. I guess I will try harder.

Additionally, Garen shows no ability to make an emotional choice. His answers show he is not willing to make a sacrafice for me, if it means giving up something himself. It kinda hurt to hear those answers, but I guess I knew better then to ask. He said something today at breakfast that I'm sure he hadn't thought through, but it hurt all the same. He told me that if I didn't want to work for an eternal marriage, then he could *easily* find another woman he could love JUST AS MUCH and have eternity with her. I had made the mistake of asking why he wouldn't take 60 years with me rather then none. The statement hurt so much that I fought tears in the resturant. He quickly apologized for what he said, but it still left a bit of a cut. This seems to happen a lot. I'll let him tell about the thoughts and dreams he's had recently.

Outside of the subject of the love of my life though (whom I'd always love, despite the lack of common sense) I have two new classes coming up for my college courses. Critical Thinking and Business Communications and Research for the IT Professional. That last one is a mouthful huh? I'm excited to be moving forward in my college career. As soon as I know how well I did on the last two courses I will share my scores. However, I am confident with my final projects and feel they will yield me good scores.

Finally, I seem to have done that thing again where I take on too many projects at a time. Lots of quilts and crap to be made. I hope I get it done before Christmas. I got Garen Rock Band for his birthday. 28 years young in just a few more days. I'm so proud of him for all he's achieved and I look forward to our futures together, no matter how disagreeable they may be. Well until next time.....

Andrea