2009 Tour

Anticipation

I never knew how much I would look forward to sleeping in on a Saturday morning after waking up at five thirty for five straight days.

Who woulda thought these few letters...

... could entail so much!

Oh well.  

It's the weekend and I'm not gonna think about anything else for two whole days!

FYI (very wordy, but worth being informed about!)

President Obama is expected to sign the executive order one day after the 36th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion in all 50 states. 

President Obama on Friday is expected to lift a ban on federal funding for international groups that promote or perform abortions, reversing a policy of his predecessor, George W. Bush.

Obama will sign the executive order one day after the 36th anniversary of the landmark Roe v. Wade Supreme Court ruling that legalized abortion in all 50 states.

The move, long expected in the Democratic president's first week in office, will be welcomed by liberals and criticized by abortion rights foes.

The so-called Mexico City policy requires any non-governmental organization to agree before receiving U.S. funds that they will "neither perform nor actively promote abortion as a method of family planning in other nations."

It is also known as the "global gag rule," because it prohibits taxpayer funding for groups that even talk about abortion if there is an unplanned pregnancy.

The policy was first instituted by President Ronald Reagan in 1984 and continued by President George H.W. Bush. The policy was reversed by President Bill Clinton in 1993, and re-instated by President George W. Bush in 2001.

Both Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who will oversee foreign aid, had promised to do away with the gag rule during the presidential campaign. Clinton is to visit the U.S. Agency for International Development, through which much U.S. foreign aid is disbursed, later on Friday.

Organizations that had pressed Obama to make the abortion-ban change were jubilant.

"Women's health has been severely impacted by the cutoff of assistance. "President Obama's actions will help reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, abortions and women dying from high-risk pregnancies because they don't have access to family planning," said Tod Preston, a spokesman for Population Action International, an advocacy group.

Obama has spent his first days in office systematically signing executive orders reversing Bush administration policies on issues ranging from foreign policy to government operations. On Thursday, he signed three executive orders to rein in secretive U.S. counterterror policies and end harsh interrogations.

 "And will to the best of my abilities preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States of America..."

May we not forget to keep our new First Family before the throne of The One who can change hearts!

Inauguration

For an unknown reason, we always make our new friends jump  through several sets of game hoops.  Friday night was no exception.

We raised the roof with a rousing game of SPOONS.

Tagged

So here's this new tagging thing-a-ma-jiggy.  

The tagging is going to the fourth file of pics on your computer, and post the fourth pic there.  (With no cropping or editing.)  Since my fourth file had only two pics, I am posting the fourth pic in both the third and fifth file.

* The first four to comment are tagged!

A Phenomenon

Amazing that I can go from 

- THIS -

T0

- THIS -

and amazingly, I love it. 

The San Diego Pier

My New Year's Renew-sations.

So, you all know how lame I am at new year resolutions.

Ok, so maybe you don't.  Regardless it is such a great time to reflect and renew those things that God is laying on your heart.

Since accountability is such a great thing, I am going to list some things I've been thinking of recently.  Will you, my readers and friends, ask me how I am doing in the coming weeks and months?!

- First of all, I feel like I have lost sight of the love for learning.  Not that I don't still learn, or even don't enjoy it, but I've not been actively pursuing it.  Here are somethings I want to pursue further in the coming months:

- Study Mandrin

- Learn to play the piano better

- Widen my dancing repertoire

-  I have a desire to get to know God in a deeper way.  I want to spur this on with these ways:

- More purposeful Bible study

- Making a physical prayer list to keep requests close 

   at hand/in mind.

- I want to become more physically sound, which includes, but is not limited to:

- Drink more water

- Eat healthier

- Exercise some

- In my relationships, I want to work on communicating better and making more steps towards love in an unconditional way.

A Contest

I entered these pics into a contest over at my former employer's blog.  You had to take a picture in front of your Christmas tree with a cup of tea or coffee in your hand.

Do you have a fav??

"...the times of refreshing shall come from the presence of the Lord."

- Acts 3:19

"I thank my God upon every remembrance of you."

- Philippines 1:3

I am beginning to feel like quite the worldwide traveler!

I Wuv These Guys!

Gabrielle House

This is the orphanage that we visited on Monday afternoon.  Thirty handicapped orphans live at this Christian-run house.  We made bracelets, painted their nails, took them on a walk, and just spent some time with the kids.  It was a special time.

Breakfast on the Beach-Cliffs

We packed up from our ghetto-beach house on Tuesday morning, traveled to the waterfront and had breakfast on the rocks.  After the boys displayed their manlihood by jumping from little rock to little rock in the ocean - having to get wet and dirty - we ate our cereal and peanut butter and jelly sandwich breakfast.  Worship time after that was so precious... singing songs about God's love being as wide as the ocean comes alive in a new way when you are right there listening to the crashing waves!

We also saw the blow hole down the street - where the water rushes into a hole in the rocks and blows out.  A small bit of shopping finished up our adventures before getting back on the road north.