In Tight with My Rep

I am proud to announce that since I have been so regularly sending my opinion to my representative and senators they have begun to reply back. I received a letter from Orrin Hatch in the mail the other day regarding his stance on health care reform after I expressed great anxiety at the prospect of universal health care. Yes, it was a mass produced letter to be sent to many people, but how many of us can actually say we have received a letter from our senator? I would bet that too few of us can.
Anyway, the point of this post is to share an email I received from my US House representative. Yes, my representative contacted ME which means it is real. It's about the "Cap and Trade" tax President Obama is trying to enact. In a nut shell this puts a tax on companies for contributing to "global warming." You'll see below in the table, it says "based on the Stern Review's recommended carbon price of $85 per ton" which should give you a good idea of what we're talking about. First of all, I am saying straight out that global warming is the biggest hoax and bunch of hooey facing us today. I absolutely don't believe in it. It is merely a scare tactic to make some people rich and everyone else scared, easier to manage (putting the public in a state of fear makes for easier social control) and distracted from real problems. But I won't go into all the conspiracy theories; read State of Fear by Michael Crichton if you are interested (it's the one where he footnotes a bunch).
So, wondering/doubting if this "Cap and Trade" tax will actually affect you? Well, look no further. And I consider this a founded piece of information and as it is straight from the source. So yes, this is real. Be scared and angry. Contact your state's representative and senators and let them know this is not okay; my side bar has a link to their contact info. And please, share this information with your friends, family, co-workers, etc.

March 27, 2009

Dear Mrs. Merrill,

Data released on March 26 by the House Committee on Ways and Means demonstrates that every state in the Union - and every American - will be hit hard by a new and highly regressive "Cap and Trade" tax.

The President's recently-released budget imposes a $3.01 billion tax on Utahns. On a per capita basis, each Utahn will be hit with $1,115.47 in new taxes on their electricity bill alone (Table 1). Families will be hit even harder. The data show this new tax will increase the average Utah family's (3.08 people/household) annual electricity bill by $3,435.65 or by nearly $290 per month. While other energy costs are low as a result of the recession, all energy costs will increase as the Administration increases the velocity of its frontal assault on American energy security.

At a recent congressional hearing on energy consumption I asked Mr. Howard Gruenspecht, an expert witness from the Energy Information Agency (EIA), a non-partisan federal agency dealing with energy issues, what percent of Americans consume some form of energy. He replied: "All of them." Further, I asked him what percent of Americans would be impacted by a cap and trade tax. His answer: "Probably all of them."

Since everyone in America consumes energy, then everyone in America will suffer the consequences of the Obama Administration's foolhardy proposal to regulate climate change through so-called "Cap and Trade (Tax)" policies. The Administration's proposal will not only further cripple the economy, it will impose a crushing energy consumption tax on every man, woman, and child in the United States.

With so many individuals already living on the margins, this massive new tax increase will destroy our hope of recovering from the current recession. The financial security of all Americans will be jeopardized if this tax is enacted. Now is not the time to increase taxes, nor is this the way. Despite the President's assurances that 95 percent of Americans will not see their taxes increase by one dime, the numbers clearly show his plan will actually increase taxes on 100 percent of Americans.

Table 1:

Annual Increase in Electricity Costs
(based on the Stern Review's recommended carbon price of $85 per ton)

State	Cost at 100% Auction (in millions)	Increase in Electricity Costs per Capita
.Alabama	7124.6	$1,528.26
.Alaska	367.5	$535.49
.Arizona	4365.3	$671.57
.Arkansas	2240.6	$784.69
.California	4647.8	$126.45
.Colorado	3471.5	$702.81
.Connecticut	981	$280.19
.Delaware	19.9	$22.79
.District of Columbia	578.4	$977.30
.Florida	11077.6	$604.40
.Georgia	7586.5	$783.26
.Hawaii	767.6	$595.87
.Idaho	113.4	$74.42
.Illinois	8567.2	$664.04
.Indiana	10378	$1,627.46
.Iowa	3417.6	$1,138.23
.Kansas	3199.6	$1,141.84
.Kentucky	7677.1	$1,798.23
.Louisiana	4853.6	$1,100.39
.Maine	599.9	$455.69
.Maryland	2832.7	$502.82
.Massachusetts	2279.6	$350.82
.Michigan	6691.7	$668.94
.Minnesota	3304.7	$633.04
.Mississippi	2137.4	$727.35
.Missouri	6785.5	$1,147.83
.Montana	1661.7	$1,717.63
.Nebraska	1876.7	$1,052.30
.Nevada	2206.1	$848.45
.New Hampshire	694.1	$527.51
.New Jersey	1793.8	$206.60
.New Mexico	2782.9	$1,402.42
.New York	5137.8	$263.61
.North Carolina	6450.7	$699.46
.North Dakota	2790.8	$4,350.56
.Ohio	11205.6	$975.60
.Oklahoma	4373.3	$1,200.68
.Oregon	762.1	$201.08
.Pennsylvania	10770.6	$865.23
.Rhode Island	221.2	$210.51
.South Carolina	3473.7	$775.41
.South Dakota	280.5	$348.80
.Tennessee	5090	$819.00
.Texas	21986.2	$903.78
.Utah	3052.4	$1,115.47
.Vermont	1.2	$1.93
.Virginia	4055.2	$521.97
.Washington	1267.1	$193.47
.West Virginia	7207.6	$3,972.29
.Wisconsin	4587.4	$815.11
.Wyoming	3861.6	$7,249.54

Source: Committee on Ways & Means Republican Staff analysis

Sincerely,

Jason Chaffetz
Member of Congress

Our Runnin' Fool

Cameron has always been interested in moving. He walked super early and therefore now runs very quickly. He runs repeatedly up and down the hall in our little apartment. He even has started doing a gallop step when playing. One of his favorite things to do now is run in place. Sometimes he gets going really fast too! It's hilarious; we call him "a runnin' fool" (name that movie). Enjoy the below video showcasing his calisthenics.

Now a few cute pictures and their stories.Here is Cameron one morning enjoying his morning milk and kitchen utensils at once. He likes these utensils in particular. He sees them on the counter in the morning from where they dried over night and insists on holding them. In this particular instance he wasn't sure how to keep drinking his milk and hold them both at the same time. He quickly solved the problem.
This picture is my new favorite. I just took it this morning. Cameron grew out of his four jammies all at once and was therefore left with only jammie to fit him next winter which meant it was still too big. He wore that a couple of nights anyway until I got him another cute set. But I was sort of torn paying $7 for jammies, too much for me and my frugal ways, since he only wore them to sleep in. There are two types of people in this world and I guess I'm the type that never feels justified in spending lots for pjs. Anyway, it has also been getting very warm putting those too big warm jammies out of use as well. So I figured I was going to have to go buy even more jammies. But what about when it's really hot at night and he needs only a tee shirt or onsie in order to stay cool? Then I had, what I consider, the best idea. As I have said before, I have been lately going on a rampage through my house getting rid of clothes I look hideous in with my loose belly skin, and kinda fat, belly. Why couldn't Cameron wear my old tees to bed? I loved wearing large tees to bed! I had the perfect one, originally a little boy's tee anyway. I fished it back out of my DI bag and put it on him. I happen to think he looks adorable in it! Good job for me thinking smart and frugal and good job to Cameron for being so stinkin' adorable in everything!

Summer Adventures

Tyler and I like to spend our summers having adventures.
The summer I was pregnant with Cameron, Tyler and I spent four months living in a 10'x13' super rustic A-frame cabin (electricity yes, plumbing no) in the beautiful Uinta forest. We spent our mornings toting our toiletries to and from public bathrooms (me at 5am so I could get the "best shower") sometimes sharing the shower with a host of moths and sometimes spiders. We spent the day working at Aspen Grove Family Camp, at first doing things like replacing roofs on cabins and then later I watched babies all day while Tyler crawled under porches and dug sprinkler lines. We spent our evenings (when I wasn't too tired--remember I was pregnant) working MORE, hanging out with our 19 year old co-worker friends (whom we loved), watching movies, taking walks, and playing things like shuffle board. We spent our nights reading and sleeping in our home sweet home cabin. And I of course spent every moment "growing" Cameron. ;) We loved it!
Last summer we were lucky enough to spend 6 whole weeks visiting our parents in Ptown. We spent days at my parents' house and evenings at Tyler's parents' house. I got to sleep in most mornings (after feeding Cameron twice a night of course), Tyler worked on independent study classes, we had many fun lunches and dinners, went on walks, saw old friends, and Tyler helped his dad remodel his parents' room. It was a blast. And Ptown is so beautiful in the spring!
Then we spent the next 4 weeks in Hawaii with my family swimming, sunning, playing, but every morning we worked and worked on remodeling the house. (At least Tyler worked and worked on the house, someone had to stay with Cameron and that was usually me.) Of course we love this as well! (The rest of the summer was spent calmly doing normal things.)

So, what is the adventure planned for this summer??
First, we are going to take a week and hit up all the Utah National Parks! Tyler has been to none of them and we can't possibly leave Utah without seeing them! Cameron will spend his days on dad's back in the hiking pack. We are so excited! Then we hope to spend two more weeks enjoying our family in Ptown again! And then a week in Disneyland with my family. But the real adventure??

(drum roll...)

Sweet Home Alabama, baby!

That's right! We're headed to Alabama for 10-12 weeks for Tyler's internship with global outsourcing company Sodexo! (Tyler will most likely go to work for them when he graduates in December, but it doesn't have to be in the 'Bama. Of course for safety reasons I can't say the city but if you really want to know, email me. ) Neither of us has ever even visited the deep south. We're excited for the cultural experience (culture shock?) and also to visit surrounding areas. Now THIS will be an adventure!

The 9.12 Project

First of all, this is my 100th post! It's a mile marker.

As evidenced by previous posts, I have been making efforts to get politically involved through grassroots organizations (well, mostly, I don't think NRA is considered grassroots anymore). Yesterday was the special March 13th "We Surround Them" Glenn Beck show. Tyler and I joined about 500 other like minded individuals in Lindon for the show. It was inspirational. I had a consistent "I'm about to cry but probably shouldn't so I don't get embarrassed" lump in my throat. Glenn unveiled his new The912Project.com website. While its server is currently down as it is overloaded with people (the server went down almost immediately after he announced the site) I will have a permanent link to it on my side bar. Here's the drift of the 9.12 Project. It has a twofold symbolic meaning. First, we want to be like the people we were on 9.12.2001, the day after the twin towers were laid low. In other words, we want to be good people, patriotic people, people who cherish life, liberty and family, people who are grateful to God. People who realize their state of freedom is fragile and act accordingly. Second, it will embody the 9 principles and 12 values Glenn put forth and millions have agreed with. From what I gather (and I wish the website were up so you could all see for sure!) it is a call to each of us to band together and make a difference from the bottom up on both community and national levels and to become a force for good, a force politicians will have to answer to. And once you can visit the website, it will give tangible ways to do so or links to groups in your area that you can help make a difference with. And don't be fooled if you don't hear anything on the news about it, as such a group is very much at odds with the media's agenda, this group is very large.
Still preferring to feel comfortable in your ambivalence or feel there isn't a real emergency? Read the signs of the second coming. It's time to get our heads out of the sand. It is time to feel in control of our future, it is time to stop being "freedom freeloaders," it is time to act now as we are in very real danger of giving up and loosing our freedoms that generations over have fought and died to win and preserve.

Family Pictures

Here they are, the long anticipated family photos! And this time, Cameron didn't get a black eye right before. They were all done by my amazing photographing machine little sister Natalie. She is so good! (And she is in the business of taking photos for those of you who are looking!)

These first three were an idea of Natalie's which we loved. They are a triptych set and, although I couldn't do it on blogger, they will all be 8x10s lined up next to each other closely. They will be in the order of left to right as I have them here from the top to bottom. So imagine that if you can. It will look so nice!
And here is another good family shot.We also got Cameron's 1 year pictures (a couple months late). We took him to an old school playground for the shots. And he is so cute, I couldn't display all the ones I love but here are some of the best. The first one I will be printing an 8x10 of.Thanks, Natalie!

Do you like Freedom?

You may remember a while back when I had a post about the Glenn Beck "We Surround Them" grassroots movement. You may have even responded and sent a picture like I did. (If you have no idea what I'm talking about go here to read about the "We Surround Them" movement.) The Glenn Beck show culminating the event will be this Friday 13 March and people around the country are getting together to watch the show as per Glenn's request. (I hear even Chuck Norris is having a bunch of people to his house for it.) Tyler and I will be attending such an event in Utah County at Noah's in Lindon. They can fit up to 900 people there and so far about 200 are going and we are supposed to spread the word. Interested? Go here and you can check it out and RSVP if you would like. OR if you do not live around here, see Glenn's website to find other meetups in your area!

Promo Codes, Coupons, and Sales

Tyler and I are avid deal shoppers. We get a thrill out of not paying the extra markup and driving down prices as low as possible. See, we really like stuff (admittedly usually nice stuff) but we also are obsessed with saving money everywhere possible, the combination of which equates to serious deal hunters. No, we don't barter prices at stores, that doesn't work here in the US. But we love the internet and use it to find what we want for a price we want. (You remember the camping gear post?) We are at the point where we won't buy something for full price. For example, before we buy anything online, we google "promo codes" for the store, scan the first few sites and see what comes up. It's surprising what kind of deals are out there that are available but kept secret unless you hunt. Today I bought some shirts for me and shorts for Cam on gap.com. I picked some items that were already a good deal on sale, tried them on at the store to be sure I liked them (where they were more expensive), and then found a promo code that got me an extra 25% off! I got three shirts and some shorts for Cam for $43 including the $7 shipping--Cam's shorts were even a splurge at $15 but they are those so cute patchwork plaid shorts that are so popular). See, I want that $55 shirt but I much prefer to pay $17 for it. And I like to get the $29 shirt for $7. Also, Tyler has as one of his internet tabs set to a website called Steep n' Cheap that has really good deals all day on outdoor items. Yesterday he got a really cool swimsuit (to replace the one he's been wearing since HIGH SCHOOL!) for $20 instead of the $50. And during swimsuit buying season like right now that is an awesome deal. And last winter he got a really warm and COOL looking North Face coat for $100 that is normally $330. Example 3: by the time we sell Tyler's old textbooks online and buy new ones online, we usually don't end up spending a net amount of more than $30 a semester! We have even sold books for more than we bought them for. I could go on forever about these things but I say never be satisfied paying full price; look until you find the product you want for the best price possible. It really pays off if you do your homework! Also, it's one of the many ways we SAHMs are worth tangible dollars even when we don't work.

Friends and Family

Now a post about the part of life that makes it all worth it!
First, a shout out to Cameron's best bud, Lainie. Cameron and Lainie love being together and usually get to see each other at least once a week, which is nice for the us moms. They play well together, meaning they don't care if toys get stolen or if they get knocked over by one another, and are always excited when they see each other. Jenae, Lainie's mom, even said Lainie can tell when she is headed for our house and kicks and squeals.
Here they are enjoying a popsicle together. It was Cameron's first but Lainie was sure to show him how it was done. (Popsicles feel good on sore mouths growing teeth.)And here they are trying on some bows together! Jenae and I made them at Enrichment and afterward when I came to pick up Cameron who had been playing at Lainie's, I couldn't resist putting it on his head. I must say I think he'd be a really cute girl! Thanks Lainie and Jenae for being such good friends!
A couple of weeks ago, Cameron and I paid a 2 day visit to my sister Holly and her family. It's always a blast to be able to get out of routine, take a nice long drive, and spend some time visiting her.
Here we are at Carl's Jr, a fave place of Tyler and I but Holly hadn't been since she was about 6! So I insisted we go and have her try the famous star burger. She agreed that it was awesome and will most likely go back often. I also explained to Holly why In n' Out burger is all that. Apparently I am a burger connoisseur now? (I love the picture of what it's like to try and take a baby to eat: Jack is standing in his high chair playing with trays on top of the garbage can, Cameron is playing with what used to be holding the salt and pepper, which are now on the floor. Don't worry, I picked them up before I left.) We also went shopping to a few places and Cameron thankfully obliged and was good for me. The fam was sure to show me High School Musical 3, which was lots of fun. We also got to watch Eagle Eye together. (Holly and I have sort-of secret crushes on Shia Labeouf) The afternoon before I left Holly treated me to Olive Garden for lunch while her husband James watched Cameron. It was so fun to be able to chat it up without having to worry about babies (remember pic above?). Thanks Holly and family for letting us come visit you! We love doing it!

Mom Jeans