A Rant on YouTube Bullying

This is kind of a random rant on the ridiculous bullying that takes place on YouTube, as well as other internet sites. It astounds me how crude people are.

Have you heard of Rebecca Black?

Her YouTube music video, "Friday," went viral last month with over a million views. And it isn't because the song is good. I'll be honest. It's terrible. Really, really terrible. BUT, she is a 13-year-old girl! You can see the video here. In a recent interview on Good Morning America, Rebecca was asked what comments were the worst. One commentor told her "she should cut herself," and another viewer told her she should "get an eating disorder so she would be pretty."

Seriously?? Why, oh, WHY would you say that to someone? And of all people, a 13-year-old girl? Teens have enough pressure on them already without comments like that.

Then there's the YouTuber, Nichole337. (Yes, I have a small obsession with Youtube...don't judge me). You can see Nichole's channel here.

I won't even try to choose one of her comments as an example, but just scroll through 1 page of comments, and you will see plenty of perfect examples of pure hatred.

Bullying has become such a huge issue. When I was a kid, bullying meant someone threatened to beat you up after school...but none of us ever actually went. I got called plenty of names as a kid. But I don't think I ever heard someone threaten someone's life or tell them they are worthless. When did we as human beings begin thinking that we are better than anyone?

The big question here is, what should be done about it? Should people really continue to be allowed to post such horrid things? Where is that line between freedom of speech and hate?

Chicken Enchiladas

I made chicken enchiladas for the first time today. They turned out great! Brandon even liked them, and he doesn't like much of anything. I'll post the link to the recipe below because I don't feel like typing it up :-)

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Beef-or-Chicken-Enchiladas/Detail.aspx

You can also check out my video of the process here :)

KEDS Are Back!

I just felt the need to express my excitement that Keds are coming back! I loved these shoes when I was a kid. I had probably 10 colors, or so it seems, and I loved em! I bought a pair today for $8 at Target (ok, so they're wannabe Keds, but still), and I am ecstatic! It doesn't take much to please me.

When Sickness Strikes

Sickness has taken up residence at our house. I don't really remember the last time I felt THIS sick. Thursday I was fine. Friday I woke up with a little scratchy throat and by noon Friday I felt like death, and it hasn't gotten any better. I came home Friday night after dinner at my mom's that I couldn't taste, took some Nyquil and a bath and went to bed. But, alas, the Nyquil had no effect. It normally knocks me out, but I tossed and turned ALL NIGHT Friday night. I slept maybe 1 hour. maybe. Which stinks because I had to get up at 6am this morning to pick up one of my best friends for the Encores and More Consignment Sale! (I realize I should've skipped it, but these sales only come a few times a year, and I was super stoked because this was my first time!)

I did pretty good at the sale. I got several small items for a super good price. I love buying baby things. It makes me feel like there's something to look forward to. All in all it was a fun day, even though I felt icky.

I've been on the couch the rest of the day, and am about to take some more Nyquil (in hopes that it works this time) and get to bed.

I'm super bummed because I really wanted to do something fun with the hubby this weekend since we're both off on monday (President's Day), but it looks like I'll be stuck on the couch for the next few days. Boo! :(

Happy Valentine's Day!

Brandon and I never do much for Valentine's Day. As Brandon says, "why do we need a specific day to tell each other we love each other when we can do it every day?" Maybe that's his male way of saying "I hate Valentine's Day," and making it sound sweet. But hey, it works. We usually will either go out to eat or just cook a nice dinner at home. This year we opted for a $5 pizza and a movie, and it was perfect! :) Neither of us have been feeling good (I think it's from being pent up in the stinkin house so much this winter!), so we were perfectly happy relaxing on the couch. We never do Valentine's Day gifts, but I did take the time to make him something. I'll post on that later when I can post a pic.

Tonight, I'm headed to church to teach my precious kiddos! I always look forward to Wednesdays. I love hanging out with them, and I adore seeing them learn about Jesus. There's just nothing sweeter in the world!

A Much Needed Update!

I think this might be the longest I've gone without blogging! Honestly, I just haven't had much to blog about lately. But I'm going to try to do better!

Truth is, I've kinda gone into a depression lately. I'm not usually the depressed type so I'm not really sure how to handle it. We've been struggling financially for the last 3 months (mainly thanks to NES for their 2 months of $300 electric bills), so we've literally been stuck in the house doing nothing but watching TV and playing board games. Then there's this ridiculous weather, which keeps us locked up even more. Then there's this heartbreaking wait for a baby.

I'm struggling with a few things as far as the wait goes. One thing is how certain family members really don't seem to support our adoption. It seems like they could care less. They never ask about it or mention it, and if we mention ANYTHING related to it, they change the subject. The other day, Brandon was telling someone that we were trying to pick out our crib and that we were getting ready to start on the nursery. The response he got was, "Oh, that's nice. "

I know I shouldn't let it get to me, but it does. My mom and dad support us completely, and I think that's because they struggled with infertility for 18 years, so they know exactly what we are going through. No one else understands.

Which brings me to my next struggle. I feel like absolutely NO ONE understands how I feel or what this is like. I've got some great friends who are really supportive, and they try, but this is one of those things you can't possibly understand unless you have been there. And it's a very, very lonely feeling. Most of the time, I feel like there is no one I can talk to about this. There's no one who understands WHY we want to buy baby things or paint the nursery. And it gets old trying to explain it over and over again.

So, I guess I'm just having a little pity party. Which isn't like me. So, I'm clinging to God as hard as I know how right now, depending on Him to get me through it. I'm headed to church this morning (I haven't been on a Sunday in FOREVER because Brandon always has to work and I hate going alone), hoping for an encouraging word. Prayers are appreciated!

A Wee Bit Busy

So, I’ve totally fallen off the blogging bandwagon lately. But in my defense, life has been NUTS! I need to do some serious blog updating, and I’ll try to do that this weekend.

Life has been crazy busy lately, and I’m actually loving it. It passes the time. Most of you know I started a new job in November, and it is a thousand times busier than my previous one, and I LOVE that. And, the first of the year brought some changes with it. For starters, we’re doing the whole lifestyle change…for real this time. You can check out my other blog for details.

I also had a goal for the year of making Bible reading part of my daily schedule (I am so incredibly terrible about this). I’ve been going through the “One Year Bible Devotional,” and I love it. I’ve only missed 2 days so far, so not too shabby. I spend my lunch hour doing my devotional. I’ll blog more about that later.

I started reading Breaking Dawn again a few weeks ago since I never did finish it the first time, but it’s taking me a LOT longer this time.

School has started, and I have to say, I have NO idea how people can work full time, raise kids, AND go to school full time. I take 1 class at a time, and it’s killing me! It takes up so much of my time! Maybe I’m just bad at time management….

We’ve also been working on some very minor home updates. So, between home updates, school, a new job, fitting in exercise and daily Bible reading, and everything else…well, you can imagine. There just aren’t enough hours in the day!

As far as the adoption goes, no, we haven’t heard anything. I did email our social worker last week because I had a question for her, and, quite frankly, I was just having a hard time. We literally haven’t hear one single word from our agency since we were approved. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. I find that very frustrating. It’s as if they’ve forgotten us. And when we contact them, all we get is, “hang in there…it will happen.” I told her I was finding myself constantly wondering if anyone had seen our profile yet, and all she said was, “we show the profiles as often as we can.” Irritating.

I suppose this entry is plenty long enough for now J Have a good day!