Occupy Whatever

I have to admit, I have no idea what all this "Occupy Insert-Your-City's-Name-Here" stuff is. So, I did a Google search on "Occupy Wall Street" since this was the first one that I had heard about. It's actually really hard to find a single place that tells you exactly what these people are protesting, but from what I can find, they are protesting the difference in wealth between the top 1% and all the other remaining citizens in the United States. They've come up with the catchy slogan "We are the 99%".
And just to show how completely uninformed the masses are, according to the National Review, many, if not most of the Wall Street bankers that are being protested against by the Occupy Wall Street movement actually fall into the 99%.

I'm sure that somewhere, there are more details about what these people are protesting, but from what I gather, they're basically complaining because some people are rich and others are not.

News flash: the United States is built on captialism. That means that some people will have more than others. It's competitive. Someone will almost always have more than you (unless you're Carlos Slim or Bill Gates) and it's likely that someone will always have less. Deal with it. If you don't like your economic situation, get an education, get a better job and work harder. There are jobs to be had out there. They may not be your dream job, but it will put food on the table until you can find one that you like. I just don't understand the mentality of standing on a sidewalk yelling about how it's not fair. Seriously, are we all five years old?

I know that I have been very fortunate to have parents who paid for college and to get a good job. That said, I saw plenty of people who had the very same opportunities and squandered it. I worked my butt off for what I have and I don't expect anyone to hand me anything. I continue to be amazed a the portion of our country that is content to complain about how they don't have enough and no one is helping them. HELP YOURSELF!

If you have any more details about this crazy protest, leave a comment... I'd love to find out that they have some great cause that is just not being publicized.

One Week Countdown

Wow, it's been a long time since I've blogged! The last few weeks have been a crazy whirlwind! Today marks the seven day countdown to the wedding... I can't believe it's almost here! I'm starting to feel a lot less stressed and a lot more excited. Things are really falling into place! I've had hair and makeup trials, worked out lighting with the DJ, paid the vendors and we're working on all the thousand other little details involved.
We had a really fun weekend last week... one of our close friends is a nurse at a local hospital. As part of a fundraiser to help improve the hospital, every year they do a dancing competition similar to "Dancing with the Stars". They hold a fundraising dinner, live auction and dance competition. Mike and I decided to go this year, especially because Kassie was one of the dancers! We got to get all dressed up:

All Dressed Up!

Yes, I had a mask... the theme was very mardi gras and they handed out masks to everyone when they arrived.

Kassie and her dance partner did the freestyle salsa... they were absolutely amazing! In fact, they won the competition!!!

The Champions!

We will definitely be going back next year... this was a really fun event!

The Death of Steve Jobs

Today the world got the news that Steve Jobs passed away. His contributions to the world are numerous... I heard the news from Mike in a text message on my iPhone. I then used my PC to check CNN for more details. Thirty years ago, neither of these things existed. Steve Jobs was instrumental in changing how we consume digital information and how people communicate.

Rest in peace Steve.

Weekend Wrapup: Football, The Haka & Critters

Today was quite the Sunday in the Smithson/Blankenheim house. We started the day with some serious football watching. My 49ers pulled off another win - so exciting to see them at 3-1! While the game was on, I worked on an apple pie. It really has been forever since I took some time to bake - and while my crust was not fantastic and my pie is not beautiful, it sure does taste good! Once all of this wedding stuff is over, I'll need to brush up on my technique!

After lunch I took a lovely nap... we had all the windows open and the breeze was wonderful! When I woke up, I went out and noticed that football was no longer on TV (seriously, that's blasphemy on a Sunday). Instead, it was rugby. As it turns out, the World Cup was on... New Zealand was playing Canada. For those of you who don't know, Charlie and Mike played rugby all through college... so he was really into this. I sat down to watch and I must say, it is a really interesting game.

The most interesting part of it all, was the New Zealand All Blacks team's pre-game ritual. They perform the haka:

Yeah, they do this before every game. And the other team is just expected to stand there and watch. You have to admit, it's a little intimidating! Apparently, the haka is a traditional war cry and/or dance of the Māori people of New Zealand.

Finally, we ended our day with a little walk down to the game camera. I'm telling you, we hit camera gold today.

Black Bear

Mountain Lion Dragging A Deer

Here's the crazy part... the picture of the mountain lion dragging the deer happened on the night that I was up because my alarm was on the fritz - and right around the time that I heard awful noises outside. How crazy is that?! I find that I'm completely fascinated and completely terrifed all at once.

Meghann's Bachelorette Party

Last night I went to my friend Meghann's bachelorette party. Yup, two parties, two weekends in a row. I swear, that's the most partying I've done since college! Meghann is getting married a couple weeks after Mike and I in November. Theirs will be the last of our eight weddings this year!

Anna & Meghann

We started the evening off with dinner at Mas Mexican. The service was absolutely awful, but thankfully, we had a great group of girls. Once we got our food and drinks, we had a blast. In fact, at the end of our dinner, they brought Meghann a massive shot of tequila, complete with sparkler!

Hello Tequila!

After dinner we headed over to the Glass Turtle. Apparently I'm one of the few Oakmont High School alumni that has never been there - it's a popular hangout. Meghann's really sweet sister-in-law-to-be made sure that she had the best veil ever.

"I'm Tying The Knot, Buy Me A Shot!"

We had a total blast - they have karaoke there, which is something that Meghann and I love (as we both sang together in SCSO). It was a blast!