Liebster...?

Ok, so Terri nominated me to do this.  When she said I was getting an award, I figured it was gonna be "most irate blogger" or something, but I guess not.  Anyway, here goes.

What is the Liebster Award?

The Liebster award is given to upcoming bloggers who have less than 200 followers. The meaning: Liebster is German and means sweetest, kindest, nicest, dearest, beloved, lovely, kind, pleasant, valued, cute, endearing, and welcome.

Rules:

1. Each person must post 11 things about themselves.

2. Then answer the questions the tagger sent for them, plus create 11 questions for the people they've tagged to answer.

3. Choose 11 people and link them in your post.
4. Notify the people you have tagged.
5. No tag backs.

11 Things About Me

1. My fiancé is the center of my universe, but we all knew that.  He's the only person I really want to see at the end of the day, and sometimes that bothers certain people.  Oh, well.
2. I say EXACTLY what I think, whether I'm asked for my opinion or not.
3. I had back surgery about 5 months ago, which has resulted in my becoming a "housewife" while waiting to jump back into nurse practitioner school when they start teaching the right classes again.  It's ok.
4. I watch the TV show "Dark Shadows" every single day because we ordered the entire collection, and we're obssessed with it.  (There are over 1200 episodes.)
5. I have 2 stupid lap dogs, one of which my mother has custody of most of the time, because I honestly think she'd have to get on antidepressants if I moved him over here with us.
6. I have an unusually low tolerance for stupid people.
7. I want to eat everything all the time, but I struggle with my weight, so I can't.
8. I love books
9.  I can't wait until it's fall/winter, so I can wear sweaters.  I am actually a cold-natured person, but I prefer yucky weather, so I can get all bundly and cozy and drink hot chocolate.
10.  I am super pumped to be having a totally weird Nightmare Before Christmas wedding, the planning of which my old man is actually involved in.  We picked a theme that actually meant something to us, and we make almost all the decisions regarding the wedding together.  I hate it when girls have pink bridesmaids' dresses, and it's totally obvious the groom had nothing to do with any of it.
11.  I don't really do anything these days but work out and look at pinterest.

Terri's Questions for Me

1.What made you want to start blogging?
     -Um, you did, I guess.  Let's be serious; I don't have anything else to do.

2. What is your favorite Reality TV show?
     -I HATE reality TV with a passion.  Swamp people is ok.  Does that count?

3. Ryan Lochte or Michael Phelps?
     -I'm not very interested in the olympics or in six-pack abs, so I really don't care.  I don't really know anything about the Lochte dude, but I do know that Michael Phelps is ugly as sin.  Guess I'll have to go      with Ryan Lochte.

4. What state do you live in?
    -M-I- crooked letter... land of being surrounded by morons

5. What would your last meal be?
     -I AM NOT EVEN KIDDING WHEN I TELL YOU THAT EVERY SINGLE TIME I HAVE BEEN ASKED THIS IN THE PAST, I HAVE RESPONDED, "CHIK-FIL-A."  Oh, well.  I guess Pad Thai  from Jutama's.  It's really good.

6. Where do you want to travel next?
     -Probably Ireland.  I'd like to go to Egypt and see the pyramids, but it seems kinda hot.

7. Do you like being in weddings?
     -Depends on how big a bitch the bride is.

8. Have you ever had a famous moment?
     -Um, no, and I'd like it to stay that way.

9. What is one blog I should start following?
     -Idk, I don't follow any but yours and Haley's.  I mostly just have one for venting purposes.

10. How long have you been reading my blog?
     -Hell if I know, Terri, a year?

11. What is your favorite workout?
    -(when I'm allowed to do it again) 20 minutes Pilates w/ Denise Austin, warm-up/walk 0.75 miles, run 3 miles, cool-down/walk 0.3 miles



Sooo... Like I said, I don't know any other blogs, so I really can't tag any.  ...Except for Haley, who probably wouldn't do it anyway, bc she never gets on here.  Ok, The End.

you knew it was coming...

It was suggested by a fabulously intelligent (insert staggering amount of sarcasm) individual that I build a website.  Since I already have a blog, consider the advice taken, and let's get going.

Let's get one thing straight.  I am not anti-Christian.  I am not anti-Bible.  I am not anti-God.  I think that Jesus Christ is the most legendary and beautiful example of unconditional love any of us will ever know of.  That being said, the following is also true:  If Harvey ever wound up in ICU (God forbid), and I were told that I couldn't see him because I was the wrong gender or because I wasn't his wife, I would immediately proceed to demonstrating a loss of self-control that would almost certainly cause me to lose my nursing license and possibly even land me in jail.  When I think about the fact that people are put in that situation all the time, all I want to do is make it stop.  It's a level of cruelty that is not befitting of human beings, much less of those who profess to follow Christ.  If you would put an individual through that kind of pain just because you personally don't want gays and lesbians to be able to get married, you're not worth the stem cells you were printed on.  People want to talk about freedom of speech.  Never mind the irony apparent in the fact that the same amendment that guarantees freedom of speech also guarantees freedom of religion.  Sure, you have every right to say what you're saying.  That doesn't mean you're any less awful, illogical, or hateful for saying it.  As for freedom of religion, it's not just in the Constitution; it's in the Bible, too.  1 Corinthians 5:12 (NIV) "What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside?"  The Bible is a guide for THOSE OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH AND ONLY THOSE OF THE CHRISTIAN FAITH to WILLINGLY attempt to live by.  Allegiance to God and obedience of his laws don't mean anything unless they are willingly undertaken out of love for Him.  Forcible legislation of God's laws on the world is meaningless and worthless.  If adultery were punishable law, and I were to be faithful to my future husband only to avoid prosecution, would my faithfulness mean anything to him?  No.  Faithfulness would no longer serve as a demonstration of my love, because it could never be proven that I was doing it out of love and not merely to protect myself from legal consequence.  That's the Biblical side of freedom of religion.  God doesn't want the obedience of the world, only about the obedience of His followers.  If you are a Christian and you believe that being gay is wrong, don't be gay.  That's as far as it goes.  God did not ask you to run around trying to make it impossible for other people, some of which don't even believe in Him, to have the same rights as you under secular government.  SO LEAVE EVERYBODY ELSE ALONE!!  It has NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING to do with you.  Gay marriage doesn't take anything away from you or from straight marriage or from your wee little ignorant children's futures.  The only argument against gay marriage is a religious one.  Otherwise, the institution of different marriage laws for same sex couples is completely arbitrary.  Soo...Since the First Amendment guarantees freedom of religion and religion is therefore not supposed to have any bearing on legislation, that leaves the haters no argument at all.  Some people call upon "tradition."  "The traditional definition of marriage has always been between a man and a woman," blah, blah, blah, gag me, blah.  Would you like me to cite some other past and present "traditions?"  Arranged marriages, dangerous fraternity hazing rituals, genital mutilation in Africa, slavery (also condoned in the Bible), human sacrifice, treating women as property, not allowing women to own property, burning crosses in people's yards...do I really have to go on?  Not all traditions are necessarily good ideas, agreed?  I get SO TIRED of all the rhetoric. When I ask people to make a logical and relevant argument, they can never supply one.  It's like they think, if they use certain words and phrases that they've been taught and all repeated a thousand times, they win the argument.  No, you haven't won the argument.  You haven't even participated.  All you've done is regurgitated mindless automaton dribble, the meaning of which you have probably never even really considered.  "the traditional definition marriage," "abomination," "unnatural," "sanctity," etc...  Oh, and my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE, and I believe Terri's as well.  "Hate the sin, not the sinner."  Really?  Just shut up.  Just shut your big, fat, ignorant, narrow-minded face.  You make absolutely NO sense.   "I hate what you do, which is act on the sexual identity that is a HUGE part of who you are, but I don't hate you as a person.  I really love you, because Jesus taught me to love people.  Since I love you so much, I want you to be happy-- unless being married to the person you love most in the world is what will make you happy, because that would really bother me.  But no, really, if anything else would make you happy, you definitely deserve to be happy."  You can quote any Bible verse you want.  If you want to prevent certain groups of people from having equal rights, especially when it's not going to hurt anybody to give those groups equal rights, you are FULL OF HATE.  Talk about sins and sinners and matthew, mark, luke, john, or whatever you like.  It doesn't make any difference what you say.  You are being hateful.  End of story.  Hey, anybody remember the bit about "doing unto others as you would have them do unto you?"  Anybody?  Food for thought:  I've never personally known a gay, lesbian, or bisexual person who ever tried to take a single right away from a Christian.  Maybe there are some of God's laws that they're observing just a little more effectively than you are.  Now, go kick rocks, haters.