I can see... but i can't...

I watch the Today Show a lot in the morning during breakfast time. There's always something interesting on that catches my eye (err... Ears!). For the last couple weeks the show has been doing a continuous special on the issue of Infertility called "Re-thinking Infertility". While Infertility has so many tangents i could go off on, this specific episode caught my attention, as i truly personally connected with it!

In the short segment on Friday, Matt interview a couple of people on this subject. One lady was an advocated for keeping sperm donner's identity private & the other was a young women (born in the 80's) conceived thru a sperm donation. I was very interested in what they had to say having been up on this subject for many years, even tho mostly from being a part of NightLight Adoption and working with them. (As they have a great program for adoption of frozen embryos -Snowflake Adoption). But also being adopted myself, and not knowing hardly anything about my birth father.

So, the issue for the day was, should the children ("products" of the sperm/egg donation) be able to find out who their donner is and be able to contact them to some extent? 

They discussed what the rights should be for sperm or egg donner. The advocated, for keeping the donner’s identity anonymous, felt that there wouldn't be as many donations if this were not the case. If the donner might be contacted in his or her future offspring, it might scare people away from donating. The opposing view was from, as I said, a young girl, who wanted to know her father’s identity for health background and also just for sake of curiosity.

Matt, the host, suggested to donation banks, one for those who are open to being known, and the second for those who want to remain anonymous. But this doesn't really help the situation. What child doesn't want to know who gave them half of their genes? I'm sure there are some out there, but how would you know? How would you know if the child you plan to bring into this world will want to know information about their biological parent or not? I don't think that solves any problem.

Secondly, i fully believe that a child has the right to know his or her biological heritage. While the donner may opt to meet this child or not, they should be entitled to information.  If you can share your sperm or egg, can't you give up family/medical history as well?? It's not like in this day in age it's a "bad" thing to donate either. What are the fears that are attached to this donation in the first place? It's not like going around getting women pregnant out of wedlock. So what are they scared of? And if they have fears about what will happen in the future, then maybe they should re-think  if that $100 is really worth in the present as the "problems" that may arise in the future. 

This really got me reved up. I fully think any child should have the right to know his biological heritage for medical reasons as well as curiosity. 

But again... this is just my opinion, for my circumstances. =)

Starting All Over

It's been a while since i posted last! 

I had my first actual shift at Starbucks on Monday. I haven't closed in a long time! So getting back into the swing of SBux & closing was... interesting! I'm really loving the store. It's fun to be at a drive-thru that isn't as harsh as Avery. I even ENJOY it! Haha... Anyway, i worked there that past couple nights and it went well. The time change is really the hardest thing for me to get used to. Staying up until 12am is 3 hours (give or take!) past my bed time. But, strangely enough, it has been easier to get up in the morning. 

Other news, we are packing up and have decided to move in with my parents pronto. Since our apartment hasn't been leased by anyone yet, they management said we have a better chance if we vacate. So we are leaving our apt. and moving in with my parents. We are hoping our place gets snatched up quick like so we don't have to pay too much more on it!!!

Other than that, life is settelling in to a new normal and i am enjoying the fall weather that has crept out once or twice lately!! 

I am very excited about the fall happenings that are soon to arrive! =)

A list... of Sorts...

My List…

… Of Sorts

Books to Read

All Quiet on the Western Front, 1929, By Erich Marina Remarque

The Catcher in the Rye, 1951, By J.D. Salinger

The Great Gatsby, 1925, by F. Scoot Fitzgerald

Tales, 1952, by Edgar Allan Poe

To Kill a Mockingbird, 1960, by Harper Lee

Wuthering Heights, 1847, Emily Bronte

Les Misérables, 1862, Victor Hugo (Reading Now ~ Feb '-9)

The Iliad by Homer

The Odyssey by Homer

Ulysses by James Joyce

All is Well that Ends Well, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Romeo and Juliet, King John, by Shakespeare

Mrs. Dalloway (1925) Virginia Woolf

Crime and Punishment, 1886, by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Done Quixote, 1612, by Miguel de Cerantes

CHECK

Beowulf (In Original Old English & English)

Jane Eyre, 1847, by Charlotte Bronte

Paradise Lost by John Milton

Pride and Prejudice, 1813, by Jane Austen

Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen

The Scarlet Letter, 1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Little Women by Louisa May Alcott

The Scarlet Pimpernel by Baroness Orczy

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

Anne of Green Gables by Lucy Maud Montgomery

Walden: (Writings of Henry D. Thoreau) by Henry David Thoreau

The Republic, Plato

Saint Francis of Assisi,, 1987, G. K. Chesterton

Saint Thomas Aquinas, 1974. G. K. Chesterton

Purpose Driven Life

Don’t Waste Your Life

Places to Visit

Eiffel Tower, Paris, Cathedral Notre-Dame; France

The Magna Carta, Palace of Westminster, The Thames, Startford Upon Avon, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace; London, England

Acropolis; Greece

Scotland

Salzburg; Austria

Australia

Cannon Beach, OR (with the Ziggys!!)

The Grand Canyon; AZ

Yellowstone National Park; WY

Charleston, S.C. & The Biltmore; N.C.

Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill; KY

Cruise to Alaska

CHECK

New York City, NY

Disney World, FL

Zion National Park, UT

Seattle, WA

San Francisco & Hollywood, CA

Kaui, Maui, Hawaii, Oahu, HI

Washington DC, Boston, East Coast States

London; England

Coliseum, Rome, Venice, Florence; Italy

Mombassa; Kenya

Things to Do

Go to a Bon Jovi concert

Brew my own beer

Buy a house with +20 acres

Buy a cow

Kill a deer, moose or turkey

Eat the deer, moose or turkey

Send a message in a bottle

Write my autobiography for my posterity

Learn to play the bass better

Loose +15 lbs

Write my will

Spend one WHOLE day in front of the fire place with a latte and a book

Have a garden

Produce edible food from a garden

Have +4 kids

Go on vacation with the Zickefooses

Scrapbook/Picture Book my wedding

Compile my own/Collaborate a cookbook

Reflect on my greatest weakness and realize how it is my greatest strength

CHECK

Read the Bible in its entirety

Attend a U2 Concert

Snorkel

Sky Dive

Scuba Dive

Fall in love

Get Married to the love of my life

Stay out all-night and party like there’s no tomorrow! (Non alcoholic version)

Learn to play the piano

I got my butt kicked...

And i was just laying there on the table!!!

Yes, i had a massage this afternoon. It had been a long time coming. I got a gift certificate from my lovely friends the O'Reilly Family a couple years back for my birthday. I guess i just got so busy and kept putting it off. But finally i decided i needed to go! I've had a stressful couple of weeks and thought it would be nice to treat myself (and i didn't even have to pay a cent!). So, i made an appointment for today.

Let me tell you, this lady knows how to get a knot out! WHOOOEEEE! First, i went into my room and got under the  covers. That part is always a little intimidating. The bed was nice and warm and i almost fell asleep before she came back! The music was very soothing and the candles smelled amazing. Anyway, great massage. But it was weird that some lady i didn't know was rubbing my butt... on the other hand, maybe its better that way!!! I've also never had my armpits rubbed or massaged. STRANGE experience, let me tell you! She worked me really hard!! And every time she would push hard on a certain spot in my back, my stomach would gurgle! It was so weird... and i was so embarrased!!! HAHA... i felf like i was working out for hours after that and my muscles were a little sore!

All in all, it was extremely relaxing. Especially after getting up at 3am this morning to go to work at Starbucks---which by the way was really great. I slipped back in with no problem! Making drinks, Order taking at the drive-thru, etc etc... but the best part, i didn't have to tell everyone (or anyone!) what to do. I'm really digging this!!! So while my management career at Starbucks was great (in & of itself- the job description!) and i learned a lot and it gave me GREAT work experience, I'm really excited to get back to the simple life at the SBUX... 

Ahhh Weekends.... i love relaxing and I'm loving this weather!!! =) Saturday is only half over, and I'm already looking forward to next week!!!

Song of Solomon

In our Sunday School class at Church we are studying Song of Solomon. We just started last week. So our homework for this week is to read the entire book (all 8 chapters!) and write down our thoughts, and notes on the chapters. I was looking on life for a good commentary on the chapters when i came across this picture.  I've heard of pictures from the book before. Someone draws all the attributes talked about in the book and puts it together in a "thing". But i just thought it was really funny and thought I'd share!

But on a more serious note, i have really been enjoying this quite time!!! I have been getting up before 6 this week to be at work early. So i thought to motivate myself, I'd stop at Starbucks first. So i have been reading and doing my quite time with a latte. (What could be better? A Soy latte, Reading S of S, 6am with the beauty God has created at its finest!!) Side Note... sometimes i slack off and do my "quite time" while Brady is sleeping or before i go to work. But i really have enjoyed getting up early and enjoying the peace of the morning. While i don't miss getting up at 4am, i do miss the 5am-7am beauty. It's truly a wonderful time and i think my favorite time of day during the summer. I realized how amazing the God i serve is this morning. The simplicity of the early morning has made me once again stand in awe of our Creator. 

So back to Song of Solomon... i am on chapter 4 & 5 today. Reading this book is pretty amazing. There is so much passion and love. It's hard to wrap my mind around it. The Beloved is so in love with her hansom Lover man. The intensity with which they speak of each other is truly amazing. I wish i had taken a class on this book (I'm not sure BIOLA offers it tho!). 

While I'm sure back in the day the descriptions Solomon used were supposed to be flattering, but there just weird to us now. However, after taking a "poetry and prose of the 16th century" (yeah, when will i ever use that???) my junior year @ BIOLA i actually realized something. Almost every piece of poetry and prose that i read about love was very secular. It was based soly on passion and lust, and usually not ever about their wife or mate. 

So as i was looking for a good BIBLICALLY SOUND commentary, i came across a lot that WEREN'T. Surprise, Surprise!!! First, one said it was a play. One said it was an allegory of Christ's love for the church. I'm not so sure tho... I'm interested to see how Sunday goes & what Jeff says... And what will Jeff bring up for us to fight about in HW next week. This week was very smooth. Not much to fight about on own thoughts on the passages. But that could change in the next couple days ... I'll leave you with the first part of Chapter 4...

Song of Solomon 4

Lover

 1 How beautiful you are, my darling! 
       Oh, how beautiful! 
       Your eyes behind your veil are doves. 
       Your hair is like a flock of goats 
       descending from Mount Gilead.

 2 Your teeth are like a flock of sheep just shorn, 
       coming up from the washing. 
       Each has its twin; 
       not one of them is alone.

 3 Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon; 
       your mouth is lovely. 
       Your temples behind your veil 
       are like the halves of a pomegranate.

 4 Your neck is like the tower of David, 
       built with elegance ^[a] ; 
       on it hang a thousand shields, 
       all of them shields of warriors

Starbucks! Here i come!!

I am going back to Starbucks! I am excited & not at the same time =)I'm just going to be working a couple nights a week & Saturday mornings as a barista (not management). I'm excited to go back and meet new partners and new customers.  But there are a lot of perks, working for Starbucks, like...

-Free Drinks When i work!

-Free pound of coffee each week

-Discount when i visit Starbucks

I'll be at the Lake Forest Drive Thru (On Lake Forest & Demension). So come by and visit me!

They really are all the same...

Does it ever hit you how men are really all the same and really are from Mars! Here's a couple instances...

Case 1: Yesterday, while at Starbucks, my mom, dad & sister were chatting for a while and my mom was telling us about a dog she & my sister really like. We headed over to the Spectrum to look at the little puppy. I can NOT stand the smell of pet shops. So i waited outside for them. As a couple left the shop their conversation went like this, 

Man 1: "Sweetie, we are NOT getting a dog. You want it, but I'm not getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and clean up after him! NO WAY!"

Man 2: "yeah babe, it was cute. But then we have to feed it, and it east everything in sight like shoes! Not again. We're not doing it again!"

This sounded just like my dad and mom! 

Case 2: I'm walking in Target and a couple is arguing in the aisle. She says "No, you can not have any more Tupperware until you bring the ones from work home!"

He says, "But hun! I need Tupperware!!! I can't bring it home cause i threw them away!"

-"Why did you throw them away???"

-(Sheepishly) "Because they smelled bad and were gross"

-"THAT is why I'm not buying you any more Tupperware!"

This happened with me and Brock almost DAILY. He left Tupperware at work pretty much every day. Until they were moldy and he couldn't carry any more home. 

So i have come to the conclusion that all men are the same and cut from  the same fabric.

Oh Really??

So i was reading an article about Barak Obama today on Christianity Today. I saw this quotes & found it interesting Obama would say this...

(RE: His vote for against the banning of partial birth-abortion)
I don't know anybody who is pro-abortion. I think it's very important to start with that premise. I think people recognize what a wrenching, difficult issue it is. I do think that those who diminish the moral elements of the decision aren't expressing the full reality of it. But what I believe is that women do not make these decisions casually, and that they struggle with it fervently with their pastors, with their spouses, with their doctors. Our goal should be to make abortion less common, that we should be discouraging unwanted pregnancies, that we should encourage adoption wherever possible. There is a range of ways that we can educate our young people about the sacredness of sex and we should not be promoting the sort of casual activities that end up resulting in so many unwanted pregnancies.

I personally know people who are Pro-Abortion. I guess Mr. Obama doesn't know a lot of people! Don't you think any person who has an abortion is "pro" abortion? Or what about the people who work at Planned Parenthood? Or the people who financially support it? I even saw an episode of Scrubs last night where they were talking about how it's right if your "not ready" for something like that.

I'm sad to hear him say that the people who are having abortions aren't taking this decision lightly? They are discussing it with their pastors, spouses and doctors? First of all, about 70% of abortions are for women who are NOT married. And 50% of women are under 25. (Click here for more). Further more, 43% of women have an abortion by the time they are 45! And 47% of those will have a 2nd or more after.

So why didn't he choose Palin and his running mate if he is so intent on promoting other things to prevent unwanted pregnancy?? Oh my... I'm not really sure why Obama believes making partial birth abortion will help STOP people from getting them? He's crazy....

Didn't it still happen?

So this is a question arose in my mind while thinking about Palin's pregnant daughter...

However, this scenario appeared on the Episode Premiere of 90210 last night, and gave me something one which to ponder.

Harry Willson (Rob Estes & formerly on Melrose Place), is the new principle of Beverly Hills High. He comes in contact with an old flame/girlfriend. She practically throws herself at Principle Willson in from of his wife, Willson (Lauri Laughlin), with whom he has two children (one biological-we assume: Annie and one adopted: Dixon). I digress, While Principle Willson is hunting down his daughter Annie at her new found friend, Naomi's "not so sweet 16 birthday party", Naomi's mother confronts Principle Willson that when they were younger she did not have an abortion when she found she was pregnant with their child. Rather, her parents had sent her away and she gave the child up for adoption,unknown to him. Principle Willson does tell his wife Debbie about his son, who is out there somewhere. She seems to take it well, but says something along the lines of:

My world changed when i found out that my husband had a child with another women... 

...So the questions is this: While many teens & adults have sex outside of marriage, why does it seem to only be a "problem" when someone gets pregnant? I'm not saying that its right by any means. Almost the opposite. Whether or not a baby was conceived as a result of sex i don't believe should be the point. Like i said in my take on Palin's daughter, that is the "consequence" of sex. But shouldn't Debbie be just as distraught over the fact that her husband had sex with Mrs. Clark and who knows what else? 

What do you think???