Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Excersising my right. . .

to write my senators and congress people and now I feel a little better.


Dear Mr. Bishop, (and Bennett and Hatch)

Yesterday I found out some information about some of the detritus buried in the stimulus plan.

Tragically, no one from either party is objecting to the health provisions slipped in without discussion. These provisions reflect the handiwork of Tom Daschle, until recently the nominee to head the Health and Human Services Department.

Senators and Congress people should read these provisions and remove them from the final bill because they are dangerous to your health.

The bill’s health rules will affect “every individual in the United States” This provision in the stimulus package outlines how your medical treatments will be tracked electronically by a federal system. Having electronic medical records at your fingertips, easily transferred to a hospital, is beneficial. It will help avoid duplicate tests and errors. But, having these records maintained on a federal government system is lunacy. The scope of the federal government is already so large that it seems as though the early American anti-federalists had the right idea; increasing that scope to allow unelected federal bureaucrats to poke around in our private medical records is quite frankly an obnoxious idea to anyone who still values freedom over government intrusion.

But the bigger issue here is that this is really intended as an end-run around the debate on socialized medicine namely the "Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research." By implementing key provisions that will allow greater federal oversight of doctors, forbid doctors to make decisions without being "guided" by bureaucrats whose only interest is cutting costs (and for whom patient care is completely unimportant), and mandate rationing of care among the elderly, the Democrats are hoping to get Hillary-style health care ramrodded into our society without any discussion of it at all.

This has nothing to do with the economy. It's nothing less than a massive power grab aimed at one of the few American industries still operating in the black. Giving the federal government such extreme control of the health care industry under the guise that stimulating the economy demands this course of action is an outright lie, buried in a spending plan that the Democrats are obviously hoping is too massive to have permitted a careful reading.

Tom Daschle knows as well, or better, than anyone that it wasn't "Senate Protocol" that kept Hillary Clinton from selling a massive government health care program to Americans in the first place; it was the people. The more Americans were informed about government health care and what that would mean for their freedom, their choices, their privacy, and their right to go to the doctor without a federal bureaucrat standing by with a veto that would forbid them from getting the care they needed and wanted, the more Americans rejected it. And this attempt to sneak socialized medicine into our society without any debate at all is the sort of thing that, in better days, would have caused good men to throw boxes of taxed tea into the nearest harbor, if you get my drift.

I am outraged by this and I do NOT want these health care provisions in the final version of the stimulus bill.

Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
Stephanie Parish
Mendon, UT

Tuesday, February 10, 2009

Happy Heart Day




I'm gonna wrap myself in paper
I'm gonna daub myself with glue
Stick some stamps on the top of my head
I'm gonna mail myself to you

I'm gonna tie me up with a little red string
I'm gonna tie blue ribbons too
I'm gonna climb up in my mailbox
I'm gonna mail myself to you

Now when you find me in your mailbox
Cut the string and let me out
Wash the glue right off of my tummy
Stick some bubblegum in my mouth

Take me out of my wrapping paper
Wash the stamps right off of my head
Pour me full of some ice cream sodies
Tuck me in to a nice warm bed!



Friday, February 6, 2009

Origami 101


So our awesome landlords, who are currently living in Japan, have sent us a couple of care packages. Each package is filled with fun treats and toys from Japan.
First we all sit around the table and share each of the fun Japanese treats in the package. Some are tasty some not so much but the fun part is trying. In each package has also been some origami.

The most recent package included a pack of origami paper for each boy. Planes for Christian and boats for Parker.


Christian picked a couple of jets to fold. Daddy helped him fold 2 perfect jets!


Parker had his eye on the pirate ship. Since Daddy was busy with Christian this was Mommy's job. Isn't it going to be neat?!



Mommy gets started. It's looking so good! She has to quit and help Ella for a while. Unfortunately for Parker Daddy doesn't read Japanese. Neither does Mommy but she was fairing much better than Daddy.


Somehow Daddy interpreted somewhere on here to crush the boat.



Origami gone terribly wrong!

Thank you Cheney's for a fun evening!

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Provident


prov⋅i⋅dent 


–adjective
1.
having or showing foresight; providing carefully for the future.
2.
characterized by or proceeding from foresight: provident care.
3.
mindful in making provision .
4.
economical; frugal; thrifty.


So my good friend Kellie in Roy has asked me to co-author the Roy 31st Ward's new Provident Living blog. Of course I said, "Yes!" It's one of my favorite subjects! And now I think I am taking over the blog so I'm going to stop for today but I have a HUGE list of tips and things to add! Check it out here:


Wednesday, February 4, 2009

Another Shopping Victory!

Pillsbury Cinnabon Grands Cinnamon rolls x 2
Reg Price--$4.19 each(Do people really pay this?)
I Paid--$1.50 each

Albertson's Potato Rounds x 3
Reg Price--$2.99 each
I Paid--.97 each

Albertson's Crinkle Fries x 3
Reg Price--$2.99 each
I Paid--.97 each

Albertson's Reg cut Fries x 3
Reg Price--$2.99 each
I paid--.97 each

2 qt jug Simply Orange Juice
Reg Price--$4.49
I paid--$1.99

Totinos Pizza Rolls x 2
Reg Price--$2.39
I paid--$0.00!!!

2 qt jug Juicy Juice 100% Apple Juice
Reg Price--$4.59
I paid--$1.29

Suave Shampoo x 3
(which I do not use. Does it really matter what Brandon uses?)
Reg Price--$1.49
I paid--$.97

Suave Conditioner x 3
(Yes Brandon actually conditions)
Reg Price--$1.49
I paid--$.97


Total Regular price--$58.09 + sales tax

I Paid--$21.01 + sales tax

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

Meals for a month

We spend $300/month on Groceries. In 2007 it was $250 and the year before when Ella was born it was $200. Last month we spent less than $200 and since we have SOOOOO much we need to eat, like 47 boxes of cereal, and over 40lbs of meat in the freezer (I am really running out of space everywhere) the budget for this month is $150.

I plan my menu every month. Every month varies. I like to try new recipes and I like to make what I can from scratch. Each month includes at least 24 different dinners (I plan on dinner at moms every Sunday, one dinner out, and there's always leftovers), 24 lunches (some of these repeat), 5 homemade treats/desserts and breakfast at our house is usually cereal, toaster strudels, pancakes, waffles and toast. This list goes on the fridge and we cross off the meals as I decide to fix them. I write my shopping list based on what I need for each meal and do one big shopping trip per month because we live so far away from everything. $50-$75 of the grocery budget most months is used on our "stockpile" aka food storage which we use. I buy things that are on sale in bulk. I watch meat prices closely and buy my chicken breast and extra extra lean hamburger in bulk 10 - 20 lbs at a time and freeze. I buy all our cheese at Gossners for $2.75/pound or less! Once a week we buy any fresh foods as needed, milk, veggies, bread, eggs. . .

You know I love coupons. EVERY grocery shopping trip I save at least 60% off combing coupons and sale prices.

So since my sister was teasing me on Sunday (which is the reason for this post) here is this months menu:

1. Beef Tacos & Spanish rice
2. Chicken & Broccoli casserole
3. Cheesy ham and potatoes
4. BBQ Chicken Legs, baked potatoes, corn
5. Muffins, sausage, eggs
6. Crock pot beef stroganof
7. Chicken enchiladas
8. Baked ham, Au gratin potatoes, mixed veggies
9. Spaghetti & French bread
10. Bow-ties and shrimp Alfredo
11. Pancakes, bacon, eggs
12. Nat's Chicken rolls, parsley potatoes, green beans
13. Homemade personal pizza's (my kids favorite)
14. Italian Style Shepherd's pie
15. Tuna Casserole
16. Black bean and corn enchiladas
17. Chicken fajita casserole
18. Belgium waffles, sausage, eggs
19. Breakfast burritos
20. Homemade chicken pot pie
21. Whole roasted chicken with rosemary potatoes & baby veggie medley
22. Homemade chicken noodle soup
23. Lasagna
24. Meatloaf, rice, mixed veggies

A pilot and a normal person




Our doormat pretty much sums up our life. Case in point:






The other day Brandon is at FedEx and has a flight scheduled after work with a student. He calls me to get a phone number for the something, something, Logan airport, something, something. I have absolutely no clue what he was talking about. So he tells me to look in his airport and frequency manual. I am still thinking, "Huh?!!!" So I just start reading it to him over the phone,






"Logan Cache LGU 4454 feet 3NW LAP forty one degrees 47.26 feet north one hundred eleven degrees. . ."






I could feel the eyes rolling on the other end.






Finally I found the number he needed. Can you find it?









Look again it's here: