Stephanie’s Blog- a snippet of my thoughts

There’s less than 4 months until the Summer Olympic Games in China. These Olympics are overshadowed by human rights issues between China and Tibet. China considers Tibet as part of its’ country while Tibet says that they declared their independence way back in 1911. Throw in the issue of the Seventeen point agreement signed by the Tibetan Government in 1951 affirming Chinese sovereignty over Tibet and tempers flare. People are angry and the Olympics are stuck in a tug-of-war. Should we boycott the Olympic Games this year or should we set aside our differences for the Games? Should we protest a tiny flame traveling around the world or should we unite under the guise of peace? (more…)

Is it just me or has the 2008 Presidential primary been dragging on far too long? Perhaps it’s because I live in a state that voted ages ago or because the Democratic primary has two candidates that are closer than has ever been seen. Whatever the reason, I am looking forward to the end in June, when we can get on with life. Even though it may sound as if I’m fed up with the political process, I have in fact learned a great deal in the past few months. One main tidbit I’ve come to realize is that money plays a far greater role than it should in the presidential primary process. In fact, I have come to believe that the one who spends the most, rather than the better candidate, wins. (more…)

This past week, I flew to Idaho to visit my sister and her family. They won’t be able to spend Christmas with our family this year due to distance, so we were able to celebrate early and enjoy one another’s company. On Friday, my sister threw her 2nd annual Christmas ornament exchange party, where she invites many local women. We ate, visited, laughed, exchanged, stole one another’s ornaments (part of the game, not a klepto party) and had a good time. Prior to the party, my sister looked to my mother and I to write a poem about an ornament she recently had to buy at a store because she dropped and broke it. She blames it on many factors, including the fact that the store offers lotion samples. My mother tried to write the poem, but I took over. Here’s what I wrote and read at the party:
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In recent months, my visits to Starbucks have included reading my cup for the “Way I See It” quote. Starbucks has gathered quotes from well-known and lesser known people and shared their ideas on the cups. Some quotes are average while others have caught my eye. One quote that stood out was The Way I See It #230. Joel Stein, a columnist for the LA Times and contributor to Time Magazine, made the following statement:

Heaven is totally overrated. It seems boring. Clouds, listening to people play the harp. It should be somewhere you can’t wait to go, like a luxury hotel. Maybe blue skies and soft music were enough to keep people in line in the 17th century, but Heaven has to step it up a bit. They’re basically getting by because they only have to be better than Hell.

I’m not sure what Bible Joel is reading (or if he’s reading one at all), but his description of Heaven is off base from what the Bible says.
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After over a month of stress and strain (and 6 months of non-existant blog entries), I have branched out into the world of webpage ownership. I now officially own my name on the world wide web and have figured out, with the help of Bluehost.com, how to move this Wordpress blog over to the new site. It wasn’t fun, but it’s done and I’m happy with the outcome. I have discovered that I am not as savvy with html, .sql, and other web stuff as I would like, but perhaps more than other people I know. In any case, here I am. I hope you continue to enjoy my thoughts.