My Letter to President Obama

Friday, November 15th 2013

My Letter To President Obama

Dear Mr. President,

            I believe this letter may simply be cathartic for me. I highly doubt that I’ll

ever receive answers to my questions, and I’m not even sure that there are answers.

I can’t decide if the words I write are my search for an outlet for my frustrations, or

to talk myself into having hope.

Hope. It was a word used frequently in your campaign for president. It is a

sacred word with sacred meaning for many Americans. For some, it’s all we have.

Recently I read a quote online, which you stated, Mr. President. You said,

“Hope is not blind optimism. It's not ignoring the enormity of the task ahead or the roadblocks that stand in our path. It's not sitting on the sidelines or shirking from a fight. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it. Hope is the belief that destiny will not be written for us, but by us, by the men and women who are not content to settle for the world as it is, who have the courage to remake the world as it should be.”

            Mr. President, I want you to know that I have hope. I have so much hope, that

I hope this letter will somehow reach your hands, and I want you to know, that the

government of the United States of America is crushing my hope, and as you are my

president, you have a hand in all of this. I have many roadblocks that stand in my

path. I would love to hope that something better awaits me, and I believe it does,

however I can not help but believe that as I try the hardest I can, as I try to move

mountains, as I try to write my own destiny, it is not always within my power to do

anything about it, especially when my rights are no longer rights, but laws, and

politics, and arguments.

            I am a twenty-five year old woman, and I love my life. I’m not as educated as I

could be, I’m not good at debates, and I don’t understand 99% of what goes on in

Washington. Some would read this letter and believe that I am incapable of writing

it. Some would think that I’m not smart enough to argue my points, and that could

very likely be the case. I only understand what affects me, and there is a lot of

affecting me going on right now in Washington.

            The day I married my husband was the best day of my life. I didn’t realize

that I could have an even better day on the day I realized that he was going to be a

daddy. I’m currently almost six months into my first pregnancy and we can’t wait to

meet our little Leo.

            Although I may seem pessimistic in my words about our government, I do

believe everything will work out in the end. I know that God blessed us with this

little baby because he knew we’d make it. But I can’t say I’m not worried. My

husband is faced with choosing a health insurance company from work in the next

couple of days that we simply can not afford. We are not poor. We work to maintain

our bills and would probably be considered middle class. But when it comes to the

“affordable” health care act and medical insurance and hospital bills, middle class is

not enough. I find it insane that I sometimes wish we made less money so that we

could qualify for government assistance. As an American, I feel disgusted with

myself for wishing this, because I believe that my opportunity’s should be exactly

that, they should be opportunities. They shouldn’t be burdens. Due to the changes in

healthcare that are happening in Washington, my husbands premiums have shot

through the roof, and we have no idea how we’re going to stay afloat. We live

paycheck to paycheck right now, and after we pay for insurance, our income will be

half a paycheck. The other day I cried all the way home from the grocery store,

because I was on an empty gas tank and didn’t know if I’d make it home. Normally,

that wouldn’t happen, but because of hospital bills and doctor’s bills, the amount of

money in our checking account is limited.

As I mentioned before, I don’t really know why I’m writing this letter. I think

maybe because I have a weight being shoved on my heart each time I think about us

having to make a decision. How can we make a decision, when the choices available

to us are not within our grasp? How can I not ignore the enormity of the task ahead

or the roadblocks that stand in my path when the roadblocks are not physically

possible for me to move? How can I have hope and the courage to reach for it and

to work for it and to fight for it when every ounce of my work is not good enough?

What am I supposed to do? How can I remake the world, as it should be, if my

government is standing between my world and me? I literally scratched a piece of

junk mail the other day and considered going to collect my “winnings”, that’s how

desperate I am. I keep waiting for some miracle, when usually I make my own

miracles. I plead with you, Mr. President, to help me come up with a solution. I knew

it was going to be a tough financial road, but you and your ideas have provided me

with a financial roadblock.

            Thankfully, I have my family and God to get me through this emotional

rollercoaster. I have faith that everything will work itself out. I have so many

blessings and so many things that others do not, and I understand that I should not

be complaining. But I also know that I should be proud to be an American and proud

that I have the privileges of living in this country. Please, Mr. President, provide me

with more opportunities and solutions than worries and blockades. Help me to

understand all this and make sense of it all in plain English, rather than political

jargon.

            I want my son to know how much he was wanted on this earth, and how

much we want to give him all that we can. Please let me give him the privilege of

being proud to be an American.

Sincerely,

A Concerned Future Mother, Hollie

Incorporate Memories from your Wedding into your Every Day Life!

Okay. So I'm not the best at updating my blog. Here's another wedding post, and I've been married for almost 5 months and I'm cooking a baby, but hey, at least I get to it eventually. Making my bed inspired me to finally blog about this, only because I love the memories I get from my wedding each time I make my bed. Maybe these will inspire you to incorporate memories from your wedding into your every day life as well!

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Although our wedding ceremony was held at the Salt Lake Temple, we thought it would be nice to do a ring ceremony for those who would not be able to attend the wedding. It was beautiful! My cute nephews were the ring bearers and I found cute little vintage pillows for the rings on Amazon. 

But I didn't just want to throw the pillows away after the wedding, So I incorporated them into the cute bedding my grandma gave us and now every time I make our bed, I remember this beautiful ceremony and my cute ring bearers! 

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I knew ahead of time that the entire reason I wanted to display this portrait at our wedding was because I wanted an excuse to put it in my house afterward. 

And it looks great in my cupcake themed kitchen!

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I received a few adorable personalized gifts for a couple of my bridal showers and it was fun to incorporate them into my wedding as well as my home afterward!

 We also had extra straws from the italian creme soda bar. They also look great in my cupcake kitchen!

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For our centerpieces we had these beautiful white metal vases and my wonderful florist put beautiful flowers in mason jars inside them. She also got this delicate lily of the valley and used it in my boquet. I loved those little details! Yes, These are real flowers!

Unfortunately, I can't preserve the flowers to look as amazing as my wedding day, but I did manage to find some synthetic lily of the valley at Thai Pan. I put them in my metal vase from our wedding and it looks so cute on my night stand!

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We also had these bird cages hanging at the wedding with little singing birds in them. I've since used them as decor in my bedroom, although I'm looking forward to moving them to the nursery I'm doing and putting a life-like owl in each of them. Nursery theme: Harry Potter! If it turns out cute, I'll blog it too. 

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Our wedding was everything I dreamed it would be and it reminds me of the current state of happiness I'm living in now. I have the best husband to also remind me of this special day and beautiful photos and video of it as well! Thanks to everyone who made this possible!

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Wedding Photographer: Amber Shaw

ambershawphotography.com

Video: Conor Burgon

YouTube: IrisMotion

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Click Below To See Our Wedding Video!!!!

Bridesmaids!!!

Bridesmaids Galore

Creative Ways to Make Your Favorite Ladies Feel Special!

Before I even met my wonderful fiance, I knew that whenever, and if ever I was to get married, I always wanted to have a lot of bridesmaids. When I started planning our special day, It was so hard to narrow the list down of amazing women I have in my life! So I came up with ten plus a couple. I have ten bridesmaids, 2 flower girls, and a few "honored guests". I saw a girl on Pinterest who made some beautiful bridesmaid boxes, so I can't claim all the credit for it (and I can't find the website again, so if it was you, thank you!!!), but I changed it up a little to fit my wedding. Here's what I came up with!

I got these wooden boxes at Hobby Lobby and left them raw, yet added a little floral stencil in one of my wedding colors. I also attached a paper card with their names on each box. I used the paper so that If they wanted to use the box later they could easily take off their name. 

I also added a little string of pearls to add a little extra feminine flair. 

In each box I put little knickknacks that represent our wedding theme as well as items the girls should wear. There was also little cards with instructions on each card. 

I didn't want to leave my flower girls out, so I made them a smaller box. 

I gave my girls their box during our bridesmaid luncheon. I was planning on using them on the table, but there wasn't quite enough room. I didd have enough room for these which is where my mom and I sat. Hobby Lobby too! 

The place I had my luncheon was great! It's a little dessert cafe in West Jordan, UT. "The Chocolate" allows you to bring in your own food and just asks that you rent the room for $20.00, and spend $40.00 in dessert. Well that was easy! They have the cutest setup and they even had fresh flowers. Just make sure you call and make a reservation before you plan on any dates with your girls. I think that since we had our luncheon, one of my bridesmaids has gone in to do her collage homework while getting a hotchocolate. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the free wifi! 

One of the best desserts at "The Chocolate" is this cake! And how perfect is it that it's called "The Husband" The lady working cut it and helped us serve it. YUMMMY!!! (I might have to go get another piece.) We pre-ordered this cake, which would probably be a good idea to do if you're thinking about going, because "The Husband" sells out fast! 

I make chicken salad sandwiches, popped open a bag of some yummy salt and pepper chips, a couple strawberries as well as sparkling cucumber water, from Harmon's Grocery Store that I had chilled (it was definitely an acquired taste.) "The Chocolate" provides ice water and I brought a gallon of milk which we poured into their teacups to accompany the cake. I let them take home their teacups, their boxes, and their vase and fresh cut tulip from my parents yard. I got the paper doilies, soap roses, plates and napkins from the dollar store, and the teacups from Savers! 

 And what to do with all these invitations? Easy! Guilt my bridesmaids into coming over after to put them all together! Beautiful Wedding Announcements in Riverton, UT was a great place to go! They're priced pretty reasonably, and we had them address our envelopes and score everything so it was pretty quick for us to do! 

And I have a great Photographer who knows how to photograph photographs! 

Amber Shaw from Amber Shaw Photography has been great! Can't wait for her to take pics on our big day! Six days to go!!!

P.S. We also gave our grandmas a necklace to wear on our special day and our grandpas and my fiance's mom's husband a chocolate brown tie. I can't wait to see everyone!!! 

Another P.S. I have no idea if anyone actually cares about my blog. I might have 1 follower?  I think I do it more for myself. This one was designed for other people to read! So if you'd like me to keep sharing crap like this, you should follow me. Or something. 

The Story Of My Wedding Ring

It’s funny how the major moments in your life cause you to write in your journal. It’s also crazy how it’s easier to blog than journal. I will someday be good at journaling, but until then, I’ll have to blog. Yesterday was one of those days.

I got to the Johnson Mill in Heber to take my bridals. It was a beautiful place and I chose it because I fell in love with the idea of bridals in a canoe. The very first thing I did was climb in the canoe, slightly afraid I’d tip in my big beautiful dress. As my photographer held the edge of the boat for me to get in, I grabbed the side and felt my wedding ring slip off my finger and into the lake. Mortified.

Everyone thought I was joking. The lake was not deep, so we thought we were in luck. The only problem was that there were three or more feet of silt at the bottom and one little movement would stir it all up.

I had no choice but to smile through my bridals as so many people searched. My dad even drove all the way back to South Jordan to get flashlights, a pool net, a shop vac, swimming suits, wet suits, anything he could think of.

No luck with the flashlights, so we had no choice but to start scooping silt. It was too thick to sift, so we put it on the bank of the lake and everyone started searching. The smell was horrendous. Rotten eggs to the max and most likely a lot of poo. Still no luck. My dad thought it would be good to dredge the piles and piles of silt with water and hopefully the ring would rinse though it.  It worked, but for all we knew, the ring could still be in the lake.

I’ve had nightmares that I’ve lost my ring, the diamonds fall out or something, but this was far worse due to several factors, one of which, sifting through this horrible, poo smelling silt. I decided it was time to text Jackson and tell him the bad news when they found it! An honest to goodness miracle! I sobbed and sobbed. And I sobbed.

I understand that a diamond ring is simply that. It’s a ring. The world would continue to turn if I had not found it. But it’s so much more than that. It’s a symbol of Jackson’s love to me and mine to him. And now it’s even more than that. It’s a memory. It’s the beauty of seeing the good in people. It’s seeing my little sister on her knees in a wet suit, ready to take the next step of getting in a cold, smelly lake. It’s my mom shooing away swans so it wouldn’t end up in one of their bellies, It’s my dad, driving distances and rubbing my back to comfort me. It represents that mankind is good, that strangers would sift through grime and spend hours and hours to help someone they don’t even know. It’s the power of prayer and the knowledge that God knows your heart even if he knows its not about the value.

I wish there was some way I could properly thank all the people who helped me yesterday. Thank you Jackson, for loving me if I had not been able to find it. Thank you Amber Shaw, for keeping me calm and having me smile through it. Thank you Mom, for your consoling words. Thank you Hannah, for helping me laugh, Amelia for being determined, Dad for going to the ends of the earth and for having faith, to Sarah and Stacy for your prayers off site, and to all the amazing people at Johnson Mill, for searching through mud and giving me your entire Friday evening. And thank you God, for giving me all these people, when I needed them most. 

You'd think that they were happy, but I think my sisters smile in shock.