Landslide

Do you have a song that you can listen to a thousand times and never get sick of it? 

For me, I think that song is "Landslide" by Fleetwood Mac. 

I have a "seasonal theory" about music. I always find myself listening to certain albums at certain times of the year. In the summer, I usually find myself listening to more reggae, folk, acoustic and more pop rock, while the fall and winter I usually listen to more melancholy stuff. Sometimes, in the summer, I'll listen to more harder rock, and it just doesn't sound good. But if I play the same stuff in the winter, it just sounds awesome. 

Well, I think "Landslide" is the perfect song for fall.

What do you think?

I'm in Love!

After hours of labor, Sue finally had her baby boy this morning! It took forever but it went by so fast at the same time. I was so excited to meet the little guy, and I CAN'T WAIT to hold him in a few more hours. As luck would have it, I actually remembered my camera. So here's a few pictures I didn't steal off the internet! 

Waiting outside the O.R.

First picture-- the "Little Burrito" 

Proud Papa!

This is definitely one of my favorites. What a cute little face!

He had his eyes open and was looking at us the whole time.

I am so excited and thankful that Sue had a safe delivery and that her and "the little man" are happy and healthy.

A few months ago, I had a dream that Sue had her baby. I was so excited and when I finally saw him, he looked exactly like Ryan, only a 20-inch Ryan. Even complete with a hat and a polo shirt. My dream wasn't too far off was it? 

2008: The "Revolutionary" Election Year

Well, I've caved in. I really try to make my blog pretty neutral and avoid causing a disturbance, but I'm breaking my silence.  

To tell you the truth, I don't claim a political party. I've always considered myself sitting somewhere in the middle, sometimes leaning a little left. When the primaries started, I didn't really have any interest in them. Of course I followed them and read about them almost daily because it was required for my classes, but I wasn't really dead set on having a certain person win. When Obama and McCain won the primaries, I thought, "Oh good. I probably won't vote this year." (I didn't really like either one of them.) 

Of course, that all changed on August 29th. I remember I was in the Hub eating lunch with Mark when I saw that McCain had announced his running mate, Sarah Palin. I thought, "Who is that?" A few weeks later I wandered onto Wikipedia and read up about her. That's when I found out about her experience (hardly any--plus you have to remember that "Alaska is right next to Russia"), education (a BS in communications-journalism from University of Idaho), ties with oil companies (she wants to drill for oil in Alaska. That's funny, her husband works for the oil company BP), etc. Basically, the more I found out about this lady, the more I think McCain picked her just to get himself into office.

And she scares me. 

As if I wasn't petrified enough, I watched her interview on ABC with Charlie Gibson. Am I the only one that thought she dodged every question? 

The more and more I think about politics, the more I realize that people have certain agendas and they do just about anything to get them accomplished. 

Because he picked Palin, I can't vote for McCain. I think he chose her only because she appeals to certain people on the surface and that just doesn't cut it in my book. How desperate is he to be in the White House?

Plus, it's pretty scary to think of someone with only a Bachelor's degree and less than two years of experience as a governor possibly being the most powerful person in the world if McCain doesn't make the four years. 

Her environmental views don't help, either. 

Call Me Crazy, But...

I LOVE this hair! 

I Can Speak Geek, Too!

Believe it or not, I am slowly becoming more self-reliant. I am getting better at this over the years, but now it is extending into the realm of computers as well!

The good thing about it is, now I won't need Mark to whisper sweet HTML codes in my ear anymore. I will know it myself! (Hopefully.)

I am taking a Website Design class where I'm set to learn HTML, CSS, and XHTML. Also, I'm taking an online journalism class and I'm supposed to record and produce a podcast. I am nervous about the website design...well actually, I'm nervous about it all! I have to design a site for a client for my final and that's what makes me squirm. 

Looks like my Mac and I will become even better friends over the semester, if that's possible. My teacher told us that learning HTML and CSS are like learning a second languages, only we'll be talking to computers. I forgot to ask her if my computer will be talking back, and if he's willing to do the laundry and give hour long massages.

To Kami: A Response

Hey Kami! Thanks for your comment. I'm always a little leery of putting stuff like this on my blog, so thanks for writing and asking about it!
I'm trying to think of a good way to write an answer, but it might be a little long. I hope you don't mind.;)
When people talk about animal agriculture increasing the amounts of greenhouse gases, they are primarily talking about methane produced by the animal. (Here's another website you can read more about it if you want to. ) Methane is bad because it actually absorbs more heat than CO2, so even though there might be lower levels of it in the atmosphere, it actually (from what I understand) is more harmful to the environment. The levels are high enough that it is more of a problem than CO2. Of course, there is also the environmental cost of producing and shipping as well, but those are more along the lines of carbon monoxide.
There are several answers (I think) as to what would happen if we stopped killing the animals in agriculture. For one, there is the law of supply and demand. If the demand for these animals goes down, they just won't be born to be killed.
Also, when our ancestors domesticated the animals that are commonly used in agriculture, they bred them specifically to meet certain requirements (such as producing more milk, more meat, etc.) That is actually one of the reasons why cows were domesticated. The animals that we know today are different in some ways to their wild ancestors. So chickens would be like the wild fowls (like grouse and pheasants) And these animals have predators anyway, like wolves, cougars, and in the case of chickens, dogs, foxes, etc.
I think that animals have enough predators in the wild that either a. the predators would eat the animals, overpopulate, and the ecosystem would balance itself out. Or there's b. the animals would not have enough food, water, or shelter and simply die, just as if another animal in the world was overpopulated (or, people might kill them for food in the wild as well).
I think one of the big factors to take into account is the fact that most of the animals that we eat for meat have been altered in some way or another to grow as big as possible as fast as possible, especially chickens. Usually when chickens are big enough to be killed, they are almost crippled because they can't walk. (This was the case for the chickens that we raised on our farm too, crazy huh?) But the same is true for cows and pigs. So when they aren't very old, the body that they were born with and have grown into wouldn't be the ideal body to survive in the wild.

So these are my thoughts on the topic. I love to talk about this stuff, and thank you for talking about it with me! Feel free to write back. :)

The Gospel and Animals

For this post, I'm going to delve a little deeper than the usual fluff that comprises my blog. I'm doing this for two reasons mostly; one, to practice my writing (I'm doing a lot of it this semester), and two, it is something I want to share.

Deciding to become vegetarian and eventually vegan was not easy. I had only met a few other people in my life who were vegetarian, and one of them was a girlfriend of my brother. I was little at the time, but I remember how my family was bewildered, and how they had no idea what to give her for dinner. Growing up, I was pretty sheltered when it came to other ways of eating, and I hardly ever questioned the food that I ate on a daily basis.

As I learned more and more about how animals are treated in this world, there was no way I could go back to eating that way again. It was almost an uncomfortable feeling; knowing what I knew and knowing that I had to do something about it. I couldn't keep going down the same path, because I knew it would only cause inner turmoil. I gradually dropped hints to my family here and there that I wasn't going to eat meat anymore. Telling your family that you don't want to eat meat, dairy, or eggs is pretty stressful, especially if it is an integral part of your life growing up.

As I told people here and there about it, one argument that was constantly thrown in my face was something to the effect of, "That's why animals are here, Candice. That is the purpose of (insert chosen animal here)."

Is it though? I would think about it everyday. If I was going to be a vegan and animals were supposedly here for us to use and for our benefit, does that mean I am not a Christian? Being vegan felt so right to me, that in my mind, there was no way it could be wrong. What did Heavenly Father mean when he gave us dominion over them? 

It was then that I came across some articles and quotes on lds.org that made me feel so much better, and in many ways, were answers to my prayers. One of my favorite articles is titled "The Gospel and Animals" by Gerald E. Jones.

Joseph F. Smith once said, "I do not believe any man should kill animals or birds unless he NEEDS them for food...I am a firm believer in the simple words of one of the poets: 'Take not away the life you cannot give, for all things have an equal right to live'." 

Then add to that another quote by Joseph F. Smith, "The unnecessary destruction of life begets a spirit of destruction which grows within the soul. It lives by what it feeds upon and robs man of the love that he should have for the works of God. It hardens the heart of man. The unnecessary destruction of life is a distinct spiritual loss to the human family. Men cannot worship the Creator and look with careless indifference upon his creation. The love of all life helps man to the enjoyment of a better life. ...Love of nature is akin to the love of God, the two are inseparable." Unnecessary destruction of life is killing and using an animal when something else could have easily be substituted in its place. 

The point at which I knew I couldn't turn back was my realization that all animals are the same. Every animal has a soul. The baby calf out in my father's field was no different than my cat resting in my house. Basically, the calf deserved the same treatment and respect that my precious cat did, because he was created by my Heavenly Father.  

Hyrum Smith once said, "God knows what course to pursue to restore mankind to pristine excellency and primitive vigour, and health; and He has appointed the Word of Wisdom as one of the engines to bring about this thing, to remove the beastly appetites and... promote peace between him and the brute creation...let them be sparing of the life of animals, it is pleasing saith the Lord that flesh be used only in times of winter, or of famine."

So why am I vegan if it says "only in times of winter, or of famine"? As I see it, we are so blessed with an overabundance of food, that we have many varieties of things to eat. There are many meat replacements that are easily available to us year round, such as beans, tofu, tempeh, and nuts. We can easily go to the grocery store and buy all that is available to us, all the time. I can understand eating meat if it was the winter, about 100 years ago, and storage ran out. I see meat as something only to eat to prevent us from starving to death.

It is hard to be vegetarian and not consider the welfare of animals in the dairy and egg industries. Without going into too much detail, many of these animals are sorely neglected and most end up dying because their production levels drop and the owner cannot afford to keep them. Dairy and eggs are completely unnecessary, and for the most part are unhealthy foods. I think it is important to think of the welfare of animals that are considered production plants just so we can eat what they produce. 

In simple biology, we also learn that cows get their calcium from the grass they eat. By drinking milk or eating their cheese, we only receive approximately one-tenth of that calcium. It is much easier to get calcium from the plentiful greens around us (e.g. kale, spinach, swiss chard, collard greens, etc).

Of course, one has to take into account all the environmental effects of eating a diet full of animal products. An article on the website fao.org titled "Livestock a major threat to environment", states that "According to a new report published by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, the livestock sector generates more greenhouse gas emissions as measured in CO2 equivalent – 18 percent – than transport. It is also a major source of land and water degradation." 

This is something that we can easily remedy by having the willingness to change our diet, even by a little. By choosing not to eat meat, dairy, or eggs, I believe that I am doing my part in respecting my Heavenly Father's creations that he has blessed me with. Going back to the article "The Gospel and Animals", Gerald E. Jones closes by saying, "The prophets have been consistent in reminding men of their duty to the animal world. As the Lord told Noah, '… the blood of every beast will I require at your hands.' (JST, Gen. 9:11.) It is our sacred stewardship to care for the earth and all the creatures on it."

I couldn't agree more.