planning my face off

i am getting married

i am stressed out with planning

just give me cake

off to make a rough draft guest list
ugggh

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Listening to: Chevelle - Send the Pain Below
via FoxyTunes

trying to love the questions themselves

patience is learned.
i am not a good student.

i angrily commented on the fact that it decided to rain yesterday, the one day that i was planning on taking my car in for a wash.
heaven forbid i consider the fact that it has not rained for probably six weeks and the state is ablaze in forest fires.
the rest of the week is supposed to be absolutely perfect weather, sunny with blue skies. apparently i cant wait for one of those days.

that is a ridiculous level of unnecessary selfishness.
bad katie, bad.

news flash: having sex may cause some side effects... such as pregnancy

this evening, ladies and gentlemen, we will be bringing you a special segment, highlighting the topic of abortion, a little piece we like to call...
abortion: a logical perspective

now, before i start, let me say that for the purpose of this particular vocalization of my opinion, i will be setting aside my religious and moral beliefs and presenting the topic without them as foundation.
i have been strongly pro-life for as long as i can remember, always for many reasons, some of which are religious and moral, some of which are medically and logically based. as i continue to age and view the world around me, i notice that the idea of terminating a pregnancy is becoming more and more acceptable to the general population, which happens to also be correlating with the continued acceptance of loose sexual behavior. this correlation does not surprise me in the least, as i have watched my generation lose all concepts of morality and responsibility, and what a better way to display such losses than through rampant sex and frequent abortions. in my personal opinion, the more frequently people are allowing themselves to become sexual active in the wrong contexts, the quicker people are to not take responsibility for such actions. i am not sure when people began forgetting that pregnancy is something that can come for sex, not to mention a myriad of other far more unpleasant things, but i didn't think that this was news to anyone. last time i checked, sex is how babies are made.
now, let us be in the position of a young woman who is in a situation involving this issue. she has been on birth control for five years, and she is choosing to have sex life, whether it be with one person or a more casual "free sex for anyone and everyone" situation. she happens to get pregnant, and now she wants an abortion because shes young, unmarried, unattached, and wants to enjoy her freedom. or maybe shes scared, alone, being rejected by a loved one, or unsure. so this young woman pleads her right to choose. now, correct me if i am wrong, but last time i checked, those who advocate for a "woman's right to choose" are called "pro-choice". notice that the word "choice" is singular. in this singular context, i would have to consider myself pro-choice as well. i believe in a woman's right to choose. some women, CHOOSE to have sex, some women dont. THERE is your choice, your one shot. you make your choice and you deal with what your choices bring.

what makes this even more aggravating is not just the fact that people are not taking responsibility for their actions, but the fact that they could NOT have an abortion and still be absolved of their parental responsibilities, yet they are still choosing to have abortions anyway. why do people not consider the option of adoption to be a valid one? are you that selfish that you would deny another woman who cannot have a baby the gift of having a child to love and raise because having an abortion saves you time and energy? in 2002, there were over seven million women in the united states who were unable to successfully conceive a child or carry out a full-term pregnancy. in 2002, there were over one million abortions performed in the united states. ONE MILLION of those women could have had newborn babies in their arms that year. now, i am not saying that there are not plenty of children that are in need of homes that these women could have adopted, and i am sure that at least some of them did, but to deny your child a chance for life and to deny another individual their right to happiness out of selfishness and inability to deal with the results of your actions shows further that you have no responsibility whatsoever, and that you really are a disgrace to humanity.

okay, i have exhausted this topic for this evening. stay tuned: more to come on the medical reasons that i am strongly opposed to abortion.

living as children of light

i am currently reading through the book of Ephesians.
Ephesians 4:17-32 and 5:1-21 present a valid issue, something that i was discussing the other day with Nathaniel, focusing specifically on the topic of profanity.
Paul writes that once one has accepted Christ, it is important to "put off your old self" and "put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness" (4:22-24). he then goes on to list a number of things that one should work on changing or avoiding in their new life in Christ in order to 1: display the change that has been made in your life to others, and 2: to live the holy life you have been called to live in gratitude for the grace that has been bestowed upon you. Paul lists these things:
"put off falsehood and speak truthfully" (4:25)
"'In your anger do not sin'" (4:26)
"he who has been stealing must steal no longer" (4:28)
"do not let unwholesome talk come out of your mouths" (4:29)
"get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other" (4:31-32)
"be imitators of God" (5:1)

now these suggestions are not intended to imply that that because you have been saved by grace, you are now expected to attain perfection and complete holiness in your life in order to sustain that grace. Rather, Paul suggests that we should aspire to do these things, to live the holiest and purest life that we can, turning away from our old lives in order to let the change Christ has made in us more evident as well as to be pleasing in the eyes of the Lord in seeking after Him wholeheartedly.
some might suggest that attempting these feats might separate us from the very people we are trying to reach, those who are still lost and who are still willingly living in a sinful nature. this could be true, if in doing these things, we avoid all contact with those who are not leading holy lives in order to ensure our own paths are straight. but that is not what Christ commands. it is called of us to be in the world, but not of the world. it is called of us to find common ground with unbelievers and to share in life with them while still living a life that is pleasing to God.

Paul goes on to write in Ephesians 5:8-10: "for you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists of all goodness, righteousness, and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord."
we are called to willingly turn away from our sinful nature and to act in ways that are pleasing to the Lord because of the gift that He has given us, because of the light that He has brought in to our lives. we are to avoid lives of sin and to avoid behaviors that are displeasing to God out of gratitude for His grace, and out of a desire to serve Him and show yourself to the world as someone who was once in darkness, but has accepted the free gift of light that has been made available to us through Christ.

we strive to be imitators of God because of how grateful we are for His son and because of a desire to please Him. we are made children of light through His grace, and we are called to let that light shine before all men.

you say you want a revolution

Ron Paul is my man for the 2008 presidential elections.

capitalization and punctuation

so i was told that i should start a blog.
this morning, while i was in the process of raving about the candidate of my choice for the 2008 presidential elections and discussing this and that group that i wanted to become a part of to show my support for different ideas and beliefs, my boyfriend, Nathaniel, so wisely and rightfully suggested that i start a political blog to voice my opinions on such issues.
i shrugged the idea off at the time, seeing as how i already have a lightly maintained blog established on Myspace that serves as my personal spew zone of ideas, frustrations, interests, and sometimes interesting images, and so didnt feel the need to create and maintain something separate just to voice my political views. as the idea embedded itself in my mind, however, i saw a need to express myself my seriously and more intentionally on the things that matter most to me.
so here i am.
while the original idea for this blog was to present my political opinions, i find it difficult to limit myself to something that is so seemingly small on the grand scale of ideas. my purpose will be not only to express my personal political opinions, but also my religious and independent ideas on society and the world as a whole, as well as whatever seemingly random ideas pop in to my head from time to time.
as fair warning in advance, i dont put much effort in to correct punctuation or capitalization in my blogging, as i am sure you can see. it is my honest opinion that such things will not so drastically alter the content of my expression that it would be necessary to take the time to include them all in full. if my opinion is not clear enough for you without such grammatical inclusions, read someone elses blog.
let that be my first opinion and idea expressed here.

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Listening to: Mae - This Time is the Last Time
via FoxyTunes