HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELDER HARRIS!!!!

It's our wee baby's (I mean full-time missionary for one more week) birthday today!!! How 'bout that. He's been an amazing missionary, serving with honor and we're so excited to see him in 7 more days!! Hope you're having a terrific day! WE LOVE YOU TONS!!!!!

The Dangers of NanoParticles in your cosmetics!

in mid-2008, the British Royal Commission report warned that products that contain nanoparticles pose very, very high toxic risks,” Epstein says.

Many products can also contain other toxic ingredients, such as allergens, toxic hormonal ingredients, and known carcinogens such as:

•Ethylene oxide
•Dioxane
•Nitrosamines
•Formaldehyde
•Acrylamide
These are known carcinogens, and should not be present in anything you slather on your skin. Epstein says:

“… the evidence which we’ve accumulated so far, is largely restricted to the fact that they [nano particles] get into your bloodstream and reach organs throughout your body.
And as far as the brain is concerned, we have actual evidence of entry into the brain and producing toxic effects -- lesions, small lesions, toxic effects in the brain.”
This is an excerpt from an article about the dangers of nanoparticles and other toxins in our cosmetics from Dr. Mercola's website. If you've ever been around someone with Parkinson's disease or some of the other brain-disorder conditions you know you don't want to go there if you don't have to. Not saying there's a connection to Parkinson's but it seems like the direction those toxins might take one or something like that. Good grief. For the whole article go to http://www.mercola.com/

General Motors Paying back Government already-----or are they really?

Have you seen those General Motors commercials where the head dude says they are paying back the government this huge amount of money way ahead of schedule?? Wow. Cool. Well, the truth is they are paying back the first loan with money from TARP which they just accepted. So GM is paying back a government loan with more government money. Uh-huh. If you're not outraged you're not paying attention.

Sonic and Penny Model Spring-II

Our front yard continues to amaze me! Imagine that it does this with zero input from me. Thank you, previous owner! It is no surprise that the Garden of Eden is in the Midwest.

When I have the camera in front of my face Sonic and Penny are both equally incapable of looking straight at me with their eyes wide open. Quite baffling, really.

Why is Franklin the new Houston??

Every time I look at the temperatures along the right side of my blog we here in Tennessee are hotter than Houston, HOUSTON! Is heat just following me around! Life can be so tough.

The Gift of Fear

This is the title of a book by Gavin de Becker, security and safety expert to the president, supreme court members, congressmen, etc. He is an expert at helping people stay alive in almost any situation. The gist behind the title is that before something bad happens almost always we will feel that something is wrong. A feeling in our gut. This is the gift of fear. Not to be confused with the Holy Ghost or perhaps it IS the Spirit. Not sure about that. But it seems to be a phenomenon that occurs with just about everyone even well before the danger is visible or obvious. Besides teaching all kinds of strategies, the main point of the book is that if you sense that feeling TAKE ACTION. Do NOT ignore it. (All this I heard on Oprah BTW) Many people who found themselves in real trouble said they felt that something was not quite right but ignore it.
Other little gems:
If someone doesn't hear your NO then they are trying to control you. IE, the salesman at the store. Your 2 year old, etc.
When men say NO it means the conversation is over.
When women say NO it means that a negotiation could begin.
According to De Becker, we humans seem to be the only "animal" that senses danger and doesn't run in the other direction. We seems to talk ourselves out of acting on it. Sometimes reasoning isn't always our friend. We know that doing what the Spirit whispers often means doing the counter intuitive thing.
Some things too think about.

Sonic and Penny modeling Spring

Today's Founding Fathers' Quote

"I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."
--Thomas Jefferson

First Gigantic Mistake with Kitchen Remodel

The big mistake was not taking everything out of ALL of my cupboards and/or sealing them closed with painters tape. Now everything will have to be taken out and washed. The dust from the workers pounding out the tile with sledge hammers was unbelievable not to mention the noise. I had to leave the house. Needless to say the tile did not just pop off. When done there was a 2" gap between the subfloor and the surrounding wood floor.

Now EVERYTHING has a not so thin layer of pink dust on it. If you enlarge this photo you can see it on the glass and the edges of the blades. I should have tied sheets them. I took before pictures and will post the afters in about 3 weeks!

Aahhh, Conference!

Yippee, it's Conference time again! As fun as No Church is, the real treat is hearing what the Lord would have us know for the next 6 months. I think we will check our 72 hour kits, too. Wonder if there's any chocolate in 'em?

Today's Inspirational Quote from our Founding Fathers

When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty. --Thomas Jefferson.

If you don't fear what our government is doing these days then you don't know what's going on. Get informed and get involved in saving the America the Founding Father's, through God's inspiration, established.

What Could Go Wrong??

"Let me get this straight. The new health care plan will be written by a committee whose chairman says he doesn't understand it, passed by a congress which hasn't read it, signed by a president who smokes, funded by a Treasury Secretary who did not pay his taxes, overseen by a surgeon general who is obese, and is financed by. . .a country that is nearly broke. What could possibly go wrong?" --Scott Brown

This Says it ALL! Obama IS trying to turn the United States into a socialist republic...or worse?

"Cuban revolutionary leader, Fidel Castro, on Thursday declared passage of American health care reform a 'miracle' and a major victory for Obama's presidency, but couldn't help chide the United States for taking so long to enact what communist Cuba achieved decades ago."
-Miami Herald

If you support Obama you do not support the Founding Fathers and the Constitution. Their political philosophies are at opposite ends of the spectrum.

Scary Quote of the Day

"I'm willing to forgo the cheap satisfaction of the radical pose for the deep satisfaction of radical ends." -Van Jones, Obama's Green Jobs Czar.

Jones, one of many radical Progressives surrounding Barack Obama, is a Marxist socialist. The fundamental change in America Obama is always referring to is from the kind of government the Founding Fathers had in mind to a Democratic Socialist Republic, think Russia. Oh, it will be a long time before they admit to it but you only have to look at the radicals the president has surrounded himself with to know where it's all heading.

No Apologies Necessary

"When in England, at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of empire building by George Bush. He answered by saying, 'Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.' "
America is the greatest country on earth. Some people are forgetting that lately.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, JOE!!!!!

Ah hah! I'm learning to scan pictures so look out for future black mailings. Just kidding. Aren't these pictures cute? I love the one of Joe exerting some independent thought! Anyway, happy birthday to our wonderful first born!!!! We love you so very much and wish we didn't live so far away from each other. Hope your day is terrific. See you soon!!!!

HAPPY 30-something BIRTHDAY, EMILY

It's harder to post while not at my own computer but I didn't want to not acknowledge our only daughter's birthday which was yesterday. I don't think she wants me to say how old she is but I think we all know. Anyway, best wishes for another great year, Emily. Your many talents truly amaze us and thanks for being a terrific mom to our grandchildren and grandchickens. We love you so very much!!!

Sonic's New Friend

This is Sonic's new friend. I guess he belongs to the farm behind us somehow. This is the kind of dog that was in the movie shorts from the 30's or 40's called Our Gang. I always thought Hollywood drew on the black circle around one eye. Who knew it was an actually breed!

The Downside of Technology

The fact that you won't want to read this makes the point of the article.

Subtle changes [introduced by technology] are causing great harm to our neurological well-being. Given that adults commonly consume two, three or even more gadgets at once now -- all while carrying on conversations with people – they are beginning to lose their ability to focus and concentrate. ............a phenomenon called "continuous partial attention," a state of divided attention which leaves people unable to perform tasks that require concentration. Worse, it leaves its victims less and less able to connect with and empathize with each other, they said.
"When our minds partially attend, and do so continuously, we scan for an opportunity for any type of contact at every given moment," "(People) no longer have time to reflect, contemplate, or make thoughtful decisions. Instead, they exist in a sense of constant crisis -- on alert for a new contact or bit of exciting news or information at any moment." Under that kind of stress, the brain secretes cortisol and adrenaline, creating a temporary high followed by depression, leading to something the authors call "techno-brain burnout."


In children, the effects can be worse. When face-to-face contact is replaced by excessive digital media, a child's neural circuits can atrophy and the brain may not develop normal interactive social skills.
"Several studies in both children and adults ... tie frequent technology use to conditions such as ADD, ADHD, autism, depression, anxiety and even sociopathic behavior," they said.

I guess I should get off this computer!

Cone of Shame

Someone won't stop licking his leg. I'm not going to show you a close up of Sonic's "hot spot". It's kind of gross. Well, I guess it's just (slightly inflamed) pink skin with no hair. It's getting better but he has to wear this every night.