america- the home of the free, brave, and illegal

This is MY country's flag. I was born here in the good ol' USA to parents who were also American-born citizens. My grandparents were either also born in this country or immigrated here legally, through Ellis Island. One set of great-grandparents immigrated here legally from Germany via Canada. I am proud of my German/Austrian/Native American/whatever else heritage and the fact that my ancestors sought a better way of life for themselves and future generations. Not one of them came here in a secret cargo hold, through a tunnel, or in the back of a U-Haul. Not one of them had to enter the country under an assumed name and marry a "native" to stay in the country. As a family we have always welcomed those less fortunate, no matter, their color or race into our family. My uncle immigrated to this country after WWII from the Ukraine. It was not easy and he had to be separated from his future wife (my aunt) for a very long time in order to be a productive AND LEGAL American citizen.

I have always agreed with those that talked about the need for immigration reform and providing services for new immigrants and such. But it wasn't until I had some personal experiences that I got upset, angry, committed to doing something to stop what has become a national epidemic. The following numbers, constantly growing, are provided by Immigration Counters. They are alarming and should cause all of us, tax-paying, hard-working, patriotic American citizens to sit up and take notice and then do something about it.

19,640,057 *** the number of illegal immigrants in our country

$31, 000,000,000 ***wired to Mexico since Jan. 2006

1,989,615 ***anchor babies born since 2002 = my grand-daughter is one of these, according to wikipedia. This is the definition. "...term for a child born in the United States, to immigrants or other non-citizens. ...refers to the supposed role of the child, as a U.S. citizen in facillitating family reunification through immigration..."

Since dealing with my grandbaby's biological father i have come to understand the immigration situation a little better.

I know these things.

*Not everyone who enters this country illegally is a bad person.

*Not everyone who enters this country legally is a good person.

*I will do everything in my power to protect the innocent and defenseless when it comes to immigration issues.

*I will do everything in my power to protect my daughter and grand-daughter from lies, manipulation, and danger.

*I will do everything in my power to campaign for immigration reform, laws, whatever until our government does what it needs to do and gets the immigration problem under control.

Protect what is ours LEGALLY, support LEGAL immigrants, and do what you can for immigration reform.

my birthday purse

when you get to be my age, birthdays are not that big a deal. i mean i don't care how old i am, because i feel very young and better than i did when i was younger emotionally and mentally. you just don't do the big celebrations, and family and friends usually call or send a card with their birthday wishes. my daughters and my mom had lunch with me on my b-day at our favorite restaurant, Hunan, in Fortuna and it was nice to be able to just sit and talk with them and not feel the rush of life. my mom gave me this adorable vintage winnie-the-pooh book ( I ADORE pooh!) and i brought my grandbaby home to spend the night with her oma and opa. it was a nice day and we loved having a little one all night even though we were exhausted the next day. so....imagine my surprise when i showed up at Ruth's Room yesterday morning ready to sort through the bags of donations and Starla (grace and beauty abound in her) had a birthday package for me. let me just say that Starla is one of the most amazing people i know and i love her more than i can say. i have been trying to get her to open an etsy shop or an artfire studio and she is just about ready so when she does, you know i will be sounding the trumpet. okay, back to the package. so i opened the first one and it was a book that my Nana had owned waaaaaaay back, probably before i was born. the cover had been replaced and blinged up by Starla. i thought "oh that is soo sweet" but there was more! I opened the second package to find a book purse! made by Starla! with the cover of my Nana's book! it is adorable, gorgeous and perfect! Starla took something that i didn't know existed and made it into a double treasure. something made by her from something that will remind me of the awesome faith and strength of my Nana every time i use it. Starla, I love you and can't thank you enough...xxxooo p.s. Starls's creations are called "Refashioned Threads." you can see the name stitched on the inside of my purse in the second photo. and that eiffel tower print on the inside, BEAUTIFUL. i used to dream of going to paris....still maybe someday.

my "new" lamp

i recently picked up this old goose-neck lamp for the unheard of price of $0.00 and just couldn't pass it up. i had a vision of a white lamp perched on my desk so i could craft at night without having to use the overhead light. BunBun said he would sand it and paint it for me if i paid him a $1, so of course i quickly counted out some change (mostly pennies) and placed them in his hot little hands. i think it turned out quite well and i have already used it many times. oh, and by the way, don't you think BunBun is rather handsome? and he didn't really make me pay him a dollar, he does things for me cause i'm the spoiled queen.

monogram giveaway

is this pendant gorgeous or what? chic giveaways is sponsoring a giveaway of this pendant in the monogram of your choice. i chose K for ken (awwww) cuz that is BunBun's name. anyway, get over there, leave a comment to win, and tell them i sent you! maybe they will give me one just for sending you. HA!

if this isn't sustainability...

i have blogged about sheena and the uniform project before. and i have continued to click on that site EVERY SINGLE DAY since i found her. this is one of the most amazing stories of sustainability i have ever come across and been inspired by. sheena has committed to wear the same dress every day for one year. that is putting on the same little black dress for 365 days in a row, whether she feels like it or not. but she is one committed gal. "why is she doing this?" you may ask. well she is doing it for a cause. she wants to help those less fortunate than she is. if you really want to read the reasons why go to her page and read it. she does a much better job than i do of explaining it. if you are able then donate to her cause as much as you can, even if it's a little. also there are ONLY 9 more days to vote for sheena and the dress's designer eliza starbuck at the NAU website. this organization is going to give $10,000 to the person/group/charity that gets the most votes and that much money would go a long way in reaching sheena's vision. so go and vote for this project. donate if you can. and spread the word!

v and co. giveaway

seriously folks...i promise i will stop blogging about giveaways as soon as i win something....really you have the random number generator to blame since i haven't won anything yet...so head over to v and co. and check out this giveaway. also she has a great site wheter she is giving something away or not. i love her outlook on things and i always learn something or leave with a smile, usually both. so go...right now..."dude you should check out the giveaway over at V and Co. sponsored by csn mattresses for a chance to win the most gorgeous pillow" says V.

barnes and noble giveaway!

i know i have posted about some giveaways recently, but this one is tops..
a $100 gift card to barnes and noble! ahhhh the smell of a brand new book that no one else has owned. don't get me wrong, there are perfectly good books out there that have had other owners. and i'm the first to tell you to buy used when at all possible. but sometimes.....go enter, but remember.... I'M GONNA WIN haha

fluttering butterflies

butterflies are everywhere! i only wish they were real ones....but it's still beautiful. i have been busy making button fairies with butterfly wings and i am getting ready to make one big butterfly. why all the flutterby's you ask? well the button fairies are for starla's and my booth at the farmer's market. the big butterfly is for the butterfly project for the houston holocaust museum. to learn more about either- i've posted before about both- you can go here for button fairies or here for the butterfly project. back to the buttering flutterby's i mean the fluttering butterflies.

happy birthday Smokey!

today is smokey bear's birthday! he turns 65...can you believe it? how many of you grew up with smokey telling you that "only you can prevent forest fires?" well here is to another 65 years smokey...keep up the good work. if you would like to learn more about smokey and the true story of the bear cub that became a cultural icon... go here

woooo hooooo

just found out i'm going to be selling some of my craft items along with friends at the
Fortuna Farmers' Market on tuesday afternoons.
stop and see us if you are around... it's on 10th street from 3pm-6pm.
wooooo hooooooo

butterfly giveaway!

over at the Shabby Chic Cottage you'll find a great giveaway that con tranform the look of your home. it's courtesy of http://www.casartcoverings.com/ and is down right amazing. visit both sites for information and great ideas and spectacular finds... i think casart coverings is going to become one of my new favorite places!

***sustainable saturday***

how long would the longest scarf in the world be? well there is an organization that is trying to find out. keep the fleece is hosting a fundraiser for http://www.heifer.org/. teams sign up to knit/crochet/weave sections of scarf and raise money at the same time. the scarves must be made from natural fibers and team sign up to donate a dollar a row. i would like to do this but my area is financially tapped out... i'm still thinking bout it tho. the money goes towards buying animals that can provide fleese, milk, etc for farmers in undeveloped countries. check it out and see what you think. i think it's a great sustainable cause.

p.s. the scarf picture was found here