How many more days?  

Posted by Jessica in

I just watched an episode of "30 Days," where someone is placed into an home/place that is contradictory to their beliefs, lifestyle, upbringing, etc. It is very good and interesting and I definitely recommend watching it.

The episode on tonight (rerun) had a conservative woman go and live with two men who are gay and the children they are foster parents of (maybe adoptive? I missed the first 15 minutes) . This woman obviously believed that gay people should not be allowed to marry, enter into civil unions, adopt, or even be a foster parent. It was a very difficult episode to watch.

Many people who are opposed to gay marriage will usually, upon learning of the over 1000 rights granted to couples who marry, be open to civil unions. If only because they believe in the foundations of this country; freedom and equality. It isn't special rights that gay people want, they simply want what I can get if I were to marry a man, over 1000 rights dealing with property, taxes, insurance, Social Security, etc.

Many gay couples have been together for more years than we can imagine and yet if one of them is hospitalized, their partner won't have the same rights that a married straight couple has who have been married for a day, a month, a year, or more. It just isn't right and there is no rational argument against civil unions. For the record, I support gay marriage, but realize that civil unions will be much easier to accomplish.

It isn't just civil unions where a compromise could and should be made. Our foster care system has many problems. Many children bounce from house to house (many of these houses are filled with abuse, neglect, hunger, extreme poverty, and more). Many of these children have never known the embrace of a parent who cares for them, or a family dinner around a kitchen table, or a adult figure helping them with homework, a parent watching them practice soccer, cheering them on in a basketball game, or smiling from ear to ear as they sing in the choir at school. When you think about how many children are never given these life experiences, it is heartbreaking and frankly, SHAMEFUL.

My heart breaks even more when I think about how many gay couples long to foster and/or adopt these children. Most of these gay couples will provide stability that these kids will never experience, love these children dream about every night, and support that will ease their worries and calm their hearts and allow them to experience what every person should experience, a happy childhood.

But unfortunately, many people do not believe that gay parents will provide good homes and so these children are forced to suffer. Suffer because of misconceptions, lies, distortions, homophobia, and fear. No person or couple who can provide a good home to a child/ren, should be denied that opportunity based on their sexual orientation. NEVER.

One day, I truly believe, we will live in a country that allows everyone EQUAL rights. I rest easy knowing I was on the right side of this issue. Will you?

Mother Teresa Quote of the Week  

Posted by Jessica in

I wanted to start this feature and obviously failed in this regard, so I am going to restart up my Mother Teresa Quote of the Week feature. I will try really hard to stick with it this time!

"We ourselves feel that what we are doing is just a drop in the ocean. But the ocean would be less because of that missing drop." Mother Teresa

I'm a bad blogger.  

Posted by Jessica in

My life is relatively boring (but that is a nice change) and I am usually very opinionated, but there are a lot of things I've reserving judgment on. Because of this, there hasn't been much to blog about. Here is a rundown.

I won't know if I am returning to school until the end of August. My backup plan is just trying to find work that my Master's degree prepared me for.

I am currently house shopping. Or should I say condo shopping? It will be my first place, so my budget is limited and I do live in Seattle and will be shopping NEAR Seattle, so it could be slim pickins. I'm looking in Kent, Auburn, Des Moines, Redondo, Federal Way, Renton, Tukwila primarily.

My softball team I've been playing on since late May has ended its season. We ended up being in fourth place in the league, which is pretty impressive seeing as how we were pretty similar to a Bad News Bear team! My other two teams end their season soon. These other two teams are part of the Underdog league and they have not been enjoyable. I much prefer my City of Seattle team. It's a huge gamble when you play on an "Underdog" team-I lost.

That's it!

Yellowstone and Glacier Here I Come!  

Posted by Jessica in ,

Regular readers of my blog will remember my trip across the country 11 months ago. I drove from Maryland to Seattle over a period of 10 days or so, with about 60 hours of drive time. It was long, tiresome, but amazing! The definite highlight of the trip was seeing some of my besties (Diana and Chris) in Yellowstone. They are devoted friends who drove from Pocatello to Yellowstone to spend a few days with me.

I fell in love with Yellowstone and saw most of it (I just missed the northwestern part). I drove around the entire park about 1 1/2 times. It is beautiful and I will never forget falling asleep in the tent, with the mesh top and seeing that many stars. I am serious, you cannot even imagine how many stars you see. After I spent some very productive time in Yellowstone, I vowed to return. And by the time I return, it will have been about a year since I last saw it-I am hooked!

This time, instead of camping at the campsite nearest the western entrance from Idaho, we (a few friends and I) are hoping to stay near the lake. We are going to add in some hiking and I cannot wait to eat some of that bison chili I had there last year!

After Yellowstone, we will head to Glacier National Park in Montana. I have only seen pictures but it looks INCREDIBLE (go here for some pics).

On this 4th of July holiday our country celebrates, we celebrate our freedom and our country, but I also celebrate the beauty of our country. I've been to almost every state (still missing Oklahoma, North Dakota, and Alaska) and I can attest to the fact that every state is beautiful; some more than others. lol.

I encourage you to get out and explore this country because life is short and we should make each day count.

And if you have any suggestions for Yellowstone and Glacier, post in the comments!