Weekly Recap

Well it's back to work. This will be my first day on the sales floor, well the phone..hello Inside Sales. I made myself some cheat sheets and a goal board so I know what I'm working toward. Lack of planning doesn't make me very happy.

This week has been different to say the least.
I've been working really hard on trying to exercise and eat right but this week hasn't been as great as what I wished that it was. First, I started a new job and I told my family and friends that we moved to Oklahoma. Those are both emotional stressors which normally send me running for food but surprisingly, it didn't. The weather, I'll also get to that later too, was a factor for me not going to the park to walk on the walking trail and then this weekend, I've honestly been lazy. My new job catered food in every day this past week and not the good kind of food that I can be proud to post a pic of either. I tried watching my portion control and I did manage to go walking more days than I have photos for.

Okay so can I be a little ugly for a second?

I'm out at the park. I love the park we go to. It's super nice, has tons of people walking it, goes through a high school and a park and is clearly marked so you know how far you've walked, jogged, etc. I'm maybe a mile in to my walk when I see this lady. She is about my same size and height but she is ahead of me like nobody's business. Being that I have a very competitive side, there is no way I'm letting this lady pass my by. I step it and get past her. When I get past her I am exhausted but I have to keep up my pace so she doesn't lap me. When I could no longer see her behind me, I caught a cramp. That's what I get for being ugly right? That's what I said. I see all kinds of people our there daily. I see people bigger than me, some my size and many that are way smaller but we all have one thing in common, we are all out there working hard.

I told you guys I started a new job this week. Listen Clear, it's a young company that sales hearing aids. Y'all, I am so hyped up for this job. I see so much potential.

So I'm at my new job on the 24th floor, this week. For the next 2 months I will be on the 8th floor and then we don't know where but in the same building we are in now. At lunch, the tornado sirens go off and while they were telling us move to the center of our floors and away from the windows, we are all watching the rotation, miles to the North of where we were and right where my husband was. Lexi and the dogs were downstairs in the hotel where we are staying until August 1st so I was busy texting her. My husband and some of his coworkers made it to a convex and tied the door shut with a fire hose. It was scary but kind of neat all at the same time.

The dogs were more scared than any of us but I think they have adjusted just fine.

Yes, she is licking a picture of food even though she had just eaten..crazy Sophie!
Lexi and I went to dinner the other night and had a nice time talking without cell phones in our hands. We should do that more often and then I got this beauty sent to me today:

I can't even express how much I love this little girl. I never imagined being a grandmother this young but I wouldn't trade it for the world. I love you Eliana!

"Love Thy Neighbor".....Not Just The Ones Who Look Like You!

Mark 12:31 "Love your neighbor as you love yourself; No other commandment is greater than these."
(You should check out what the first one is)

Leviticus 19: 13-18

13 "You shall not oppress your neighbor or rob him. The wages of a hired worker shall not remain with you all night until the morning. 14 You shall not curse the deaf or put a stumbling block before the blind, but you shall fear your God: I am the Lord."
15 "You shall do no injustice in court. You shall not be partial to the poor or defer to the great, but in righteousness shall you judge your neighbor: I am the Lord."
17 "You shall not hater your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. 18 You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord"

Recently there is a lot going on in our lives, in our worlds. We are in end times. I know people have always said that when things happened that they didn't agree with but just go check out Revelations. It makes me sad every day when I turn on the news, when I look at my Facebook feed. Surely I can't be the only one who sees this world in such turmoil. People mad at others because they are different in some form or capacity. I post a lot of #blacklivesmatter posts because Black Lives Do Matter! I have noticed that my friends list has started to decrease. It does make me a little sad because those who decided that they no longer wanted to see the things I post on my Facebook page are missing the point and they are missing an opportunity to learn about things they might not have known, to be exposed to things they otherwise wouldn't have been exposed to.

I see the oppression, even after all this time, of black people in America and it breaks my heart and makes me feel physically sick. Somehow it's alright to protest for all kinds of things but when it comes to a protest for black people and their right to live as a fully free American citizen, somehow that is different and something is wrong with it. It's not just African Americans that have a terrible time in the United States but if you are here by means of an illegal act like hoping a fence or a train to ensure your family has it better because you live in a country either torn by war and/or ran by drug Lords, nothing is going to change in your country so you seek refuge in the United States and if your are Muslim in America, wow and something I didn't think about until today, what if you are black and Muslim in the United States?

I recently read an article about a Muslim woman who was leaving Target with her young daughter. She was wearing her hijab because that is what she believes. Two men assaulted her and her young daughter with eggs and screamed racial slurs at her. How sad for her to have to go through that and for her young daughter especially when America was founded based on escape from religious persecution. I posted the story on my Facebook feed because people need to understand a few things.

First, being Muslim is a religion not a terrorist group. A terrorist group is Isis. They are not the same thing. The only thing they have in common is that Isis is made up of radical Muslims. It's kind of like Mormons. The majority of Mormons do not believe in polygamy but you have some radical Mormons who still practice that belief. Need another example? The KKK professes that they are founded on Christian principles. So does that mean all white Christians believe what the KKK does? I can tell you, being a white Christian, I don't believe any of the crap that they spew. You want everyone to not judge an entire group based on a few? Start with the person looking in the mirror.

Second, just because I support so many people that maybe make other uncomfortable doe snot mean that I am supporting terrorists, that I hate white people, that I am anti-police officer,  that I am turning lesbian or that I am considering being transgender. It doesn't mean that I am becoming a Muslim or changing my own religion but it means that I understand what God commands for me to do. Love my neighbor.

Third, I am going to let God use me right now and I hope that I do His Word justice. Love is a huge theme in the Bible. Now, maybe that isn't what you believe and that's your choice but I am going to provide what God has laid on my heart and even if it's not what you believe, I hope you get something from what I am saying to you. God and Jesus both told us in the Bible to "Love Thy Neighbor". Neighbor in the Bible doesn't just mean your literal neighbors but in fact means your brothers and sisters and in case you didn't know, ALL people are God's children which means every single living soul on the face of this Earth, the ones who have gone on before us and those who are yet to come, they are all your brothers and sisters.

If you can find it in the Bible, let me know where God says to love only the neighbors you agree with, only the ones you like, only the ones who look like you, talk like you, dress like you, practice the same religion as you, who support your same sports team, who went to your school, live in your state or country, who have the same color eyes, listen to the same music as you, and who you are most comfortable around....it's alright, I'll wait.

My point is you won't find it. Nope, all the people who profess to be Christians who aren't willing to help those in need, who want to shut down the border, to deport people, to group and entire religious group as terrorists and maybe you aren't a Christian and you feel that way, you will be harder to reach but Christian people, what is wrong with us? I say us because it took me minute to understand some of these things myself.

Yes, all lives matter because God created us all in HIS image! When people say black lives matter they aren't saying that others lives don't matter but can you please stop and look at this issue through a different set of eyeballs please? Regardless of who sold who way over in Africa, I am not going to get into all of that because there were multiple streams of this horrific practice, I"ll start when black shackled feet hit the ground after being cramped in a boat and I mean cramped, with very little food, in the place we call the great United States of America. Men, women and children were taken to "market" and sold. They were sold like they were nothing more than cattle, sheep, chickens or dry goods. How anyone could see other human beings being treated that way and still pay sums of money to have them "work" for them is beyond me. Whatever image you have of how slaves were treated, add in the things you know about Adolph Hitler and see if your mind can intensify those things by a million. Need some visuals:

 Young children and babies being used as alligator bait by Florida slave owners.

 Just can't even wrap my mind around this.

(I got all of these photos from my friend's facebook page. If they are your photos, please let me know and I will gladly give credit where credit is due.

So slaves become "free" but not really because then it wasn't until the 1960's the segregation ended and even then, not really. And imagine, look at the photos of how the Civil Rights Movement went:

http://crescentok.com/staff/jaskew/TAH/projects/civilrights/timeline2.htm

http://mylesadamsmlk2010.weebly.com/police-brutality-and-misconduct.html

Black people still aren't fully free. When black men have the same 2nd Amendment Rights as all other men and yet, are named suspects automatically because they are carrying a gun, sickening. When you notice people move their children where they are between you and them, when you're black and the lady clutches her purse a little tighter because you are standing behind her in line or if she moves it from the buggy to her arm, when your son is told her can't date a girl he has more in common with than anyone else because her family doesn't allow her to date outside her race, when you can't get an equal education, job, housing or medical care, when you will get 40 years for a crime someone said you committed and the white guy who commits the same crime only gets 10 and when you have to worry about your life every time you see a police officer because you are black in America. So black people are being treated so badly, the same way Jesus was treated so badly by so many while he walked the Earth.

Don't worry, I'm not just going to talk about the life African Americans live, and trust me, I don't do it justice at all because how can I? I'm white in America. Let's talk about the first people who suffered at the wrath of white people, the Native American. Purposely given blankets covered in small pox, entire tribes gone thanks to the diseases brought from cross the ocean, killed and buried in mass graves simply for being the first inhabitants and not wanting to allow white people to develop that land into what we have now because it didn't belong to anyone. The land, the water, natural resources, they all belonged to everyone to use but not to take or have possession of. To this day, Native Americans, who are the only legal people in the United States, suffer. Alcoholism, depression, domestic violence are all issues that are huge in the Native American community. The healthcare system is so horrible that the state of Oklahoma, the place where we drove Native Americans and placed them on reservations, will offer any nurse who is licensed in Oklahoma, if you work on the reservation for a set amount of time, they will pay a portion of your student loans. Just like African Americans, they are not fully free Americans either. Judged by the actions of certain tribes, Native Americans are portrayed as violent, head scalpers who can't possibly understand how to be civilized.

Muslims are the next group I'll discuss. I'll be honest, when 9/11 happened, I steered clear of anyone who looked Muslim and especially women because their hijab made it even more clear and obvious that they were Muslim and then something amazing happened. Lexi played basketball with a Muslim girl. She was covered from head to toe but other than that, she was just like the other girls. Her parents sat beside me at many games and tournaments and they were just like me; cheering on their daughter, cheering for other girls and for the team. It made me examine myself. See just because someone is Muslim doesn't mean they are part of a terrorist group. They want the same things for their children that we do: a good education, to go to college, to have a successful marriage, to have a great life and to give us grandchildren. What would you do when you realized Jesus looks just like the people who have learned to fear?

Illegal immigrants, I almost want to stay with Mexicans when I talk about this because lately, that's been the focus of one of our political candidates; to deport anyone who isn't a citizen and build a wall so no one can come in. Shoot them on sight so to speak. Would it surprise you if I told you Jesus was an illegal immigrant? Jesus had to flee so his life could be spared and he illegally went into a country that wan't his. Let me share two things with you guys. First, my son's girlfriend was not born in the United States but in Mexico. She came here with her family legally but here is her situation. When she obtained a social security card, they put a middle initial on her card. She doesn't have a middle initial. Now that she is done with high school and looking for a job, guess whose information does not match when searching a federal data base? An attorney wanted to charge her $1000 retainer and an awful amount per hour to do something she ended up being able to do herself. With her mother, she went to the INS office and explained what was going on. Instead of being help, they interrogated her like she had done something wrong. When she was able to prove she was here legally, they told her it would take AT LEAST 6 months for them to get it straight....we are still waiting! My granddaughter, Eliana, I love her so much. My heart breaks though. She has yet to feel the touch of her other grandmother. See, she is in Mexico and right now, coming here is not an issue. The border issue is only going to further separate families. Can you imagine your family being in an entire other country, your brand new granddaughter and you can't get your hands on her? 

The Bible tells us we are to love one another, not just the people we like. We are to give to those who are in need and those people coming here illegally, risking their very lives, they aren't coming here to steal jobs, to create problems but to try and provide their families with the same opportunities that we are trying to give to ours. See, if we really believed God's word, we would all tithe our 10%, we would not all live in debt or have a country in debt, we would reach out and help someone over the fence, we would fight for equal rights of all people, we would love people and be an example of God and His love rather than being the judge and jury, we would help our "neighbors" in any and all ways necessary including feeding, clothing, ministering, loving on, giving a drink....Jesus asks us if we would open our door to him, if we would give him food if he were hungry, water if he were thirsty but no where does it say what he will look like when he asks...ponder that one.

I know it's kind of long and I"m sorry but I have a lot on my mind.

#blacklivesmatter From The Mouth Of A White Woman

#blacklivesmatter

   I wanted desperately to keep my blog upbeat, to post things that I was learning in Bible study or quiet time with God, to talk about my fitness journey, to talk about food I eat or make for my family, about my family in general but I cannot just sit back and not use my voice.
   I have written this same post over and over trying to convey what I want to say. The recent events, well the events that have been going on for far too long, reminded me of a time when I didn't believe that Black Lives Matter. See, I come from one of those families that give you the blinding rose colored glasses and spoon feed you the same simple minded lies that were given to them. I am not knocking my family. As a collective whole, we have made huge strides from when I was a little girl but I believe that those blinders and lies are the reason white America doesn't understand. Someone has to take their glasses off for them.
        I remember a time that my glasses were really removed. I can remember arguing with my mother about my black boyfriend, which was forbidden until I was 17 years old. She just couldn't understand why I was attracted to black guys, to dark guys, to guys who listened to rap music and to "thugs". I can remember sitting on our kitchen counter and telling her how ashamed I was to be white, that I hated being white and that God was punishing me because He had made me white. How can you not feel shame as a white person? How can you be proud of the past and the things we did to other HUMAN beings? I know a couple of things are going to be said "That was a long time ago", "I didn't personally do it", "our family didn't own slaves" and "you've been around black people too long" but look at it different. You go to church and you are moved to tears by the what Jesus went through when he was crucified. It sickens you the way Jesus was treated and how they beat him to no end but you want to not talk about slavery. You don't want to about how people bought and sold HUMANS! You don't want to talk about how they were torn from their families, children ripped from their lives forever, how they were good enough to cook food, take care of the kids, the homes, the fields and the business of white people but not good enough for medical care, to eat properly, for decent housing or even decent treatment. Want to get a real wake up call, go watch 12 Years A Slave and then let you mind wonder about all the things your history book will never tell you...ponder that one for a minute. No, you didn't personally do it but when you harbor those same ignorant beliefs, when you choose certain words as part of your vocabulary, when you hold your purse a little tighter, when you tell your daughters to stay away from black guys, when you tell your sons that they can't be with a black woman, when you look at your inner circle and it's a sea of white faces, when you live that same close minded life, you are doing it personally. Your family didn't own slaves? Good for you, neither did mine but it doesn't change the fact that others did and our families sat back and did nothing. I speak for all of us who have roots down here in the South. I've been around black people too long, yes, I'll take that one too,
    I've been around black people long enough to know better. See, when I was growing up, my best friend and I would go to the corner store and we would get followed all over the store but when I came alone, it never happened. When I am with my husband, we get pulled over for things like, I was just running your license plate, you have a license plate light out, you looked like you were speeding. Always get out of the car, always searched and in the past 3 years, my husband has had his car searched by the drug dog only to have nothing found and each time it has been a white cop who then told him have a nice day. We still want to know what he was pulled over for to begin with. I can never apologize to black people enough for the crap that they endure on a daily basis and that I've witnessed first hand. I've seen people passed over for jobs because they have an ethnic sounding name and listened to white people complain about how we get a day to celebrate Martin Luther King Day but not President's Day. They still don't get it.
     Black people, especially black males, have been systematically murdered since their shackled feet first hit the land of the good ole U.S.A. We went from slavery to segregation, we went from segregation to sweeping it under the rug and as much as people complain about social media, about cameras everywhere, racism cannot be hidden any longer. We can't hide it or sweep it under the rug. So why do I say black lives matter, when you let it hit closer to home, you really start to get it.
  I watched my husband yesterday. I have never seen him so angry, so upset and why? Because he is tired of turning on the news and seeing faces like his gunned down, he is tired of seeing faces like his treated less than. When I think about my husband, I don't know what I would do if he was ever murdered and especially by those who took an oath to protect ALL citizens. I'm not anti-cop, I'm anti-justice and this is an injustice. Want me to take it a step further? When I got married I became an instant grandmother to his grandchildren. I have 3 black grandsons. Right now they are 1 month old, 9 months and 6 years old. To think at some point in life that they will face some of the same stupid crap that my husband, my brother-in-laws, my nephews, my cousins, my uncles face makes me sick.
  I want to protect them at all costs because they are innocent but they were born black. Black lives matter because my mother-in-law doesn't want to bury anymore people she loves. She has seen so much in her 77 years here on earth, much for the better but in the end, she still faces the same challenges she did when she was 7 at age 77.
  I think about the men, the boys, the women, the girls who have been MURDERED because of their skin color! I'm sickened and while I can never understand fully what it is like to be black in America, I will take the stand, I will stand in the gap. There are more of us white folks than ever before. Let us know how we can help because we are at a loss but we will stand with you and for you. We will rally, we will cry and we will shout until it changes.

Forget A New Chapter....This Is A Whole New Book

                  This is my first post on this blog. I once blogged a long time ago but life got in the way. What better way to start a new blog than by telling you about myself, about my family, my blog and why I decided to blog.

So a little about me:

My name is Joni Mitchell ~ yes, like the singer (and if you don't know who that is...check her out on Google)!
I am married to my beautiful husband, Joseph. While we have only been married a little over a year, we have been together for much longer. Recently I graduated with my Associates Degree in Science. For a long time I thought I was headed to be a nurse but that life thing had a few other plans for me and so I'm embracing that at the moment. Born and raised in the great state of Texas, I will forever be a Texas girl no matter where my adventures might take me in life. From a very young age, I have enjoyed writing and words and well, since I have to be part of the current century, that means social media and blogging. Right now I have embarked on something new...a health journey. July has brought lots of changes to our family and to our lives, I'll share with you a little further down the page, and so, here I am. This picture was this week. I am at the heaviest I have ever been in life weighing in at 260 pounds and wearing a 20/22 in clothes. To be honest, I have no idea how this happened but it is up to me to do something about it.

I told you guys I have the pleasure of being married to this guy right here. There are times he makes me lose my mind but I cannot imagine my life without him. Right now he works a very hard job. God blessed us by being able to have him now work a job that allows him to be home with us every night. We have spent the last four years with him gone more than he was home so this really has been the answers to my prayers. Besides working his booty off for us, he also goes to school to be a preacher. He is very opposite of me and helps to balance me out or drive me nuts....but more than anything, he makes me stop and be silly when I can be a very serious, rigid person or as my family says, high strung.

These guys right here, they are my life.

My kids mean more to me than I could ever begin to tell you and the two beautiful ladies that I get to claim now, my life is just about complete. 

So let me give y'all a proper introduction:

You guys know My Love ~Joseph!

In the white and black dress is our youngest - Lexi!

On the other side of me is my oldest daughter - Jill!

Jonathan is my baby boy and Genesis is his girlfriend and mother to his daughter.

Joel is my oldest and his girlfriend is Karely.

I would go to the depths of the Earth for these guys.

Between the two of us, we have 5 grandchildren. 

Kaden and Karter.

Ariel and Jeremiah (born this year)

Eliana (born this month)

 Jeremiah

 Eliana

Coming February 2016

Joe & Karely's baby!

Why Blog?

Blogging is an amazing outlet for me. I'm not blogging to get rich or to make it my full-time career. If God has that in His plans for me, then so be it but that's not the plan right now. I miss blogging. Blogging is a way for me to share my amazing family, my crazy life, our adventures,my fitness journey, God & Jesus and just life in general.

Why Texahomian?

Well I told you guys that July has brought many changes to our family.

Some would say a new chapter but I say  a new book.

Our entire lives we have always lived in Texas. 

When Joseph took this job it required that we relocate to Oklahoma.

We were married in Oklahoma.

We have spent so much time in Oklahoma.

The girls are excited about Oklahoma.

As much as I am excited about Oklahoma, I will forever be a Texan so thus...

Texan meets Oklahomian ~ Texahomian!

I"m blogging but the only people that know are my mother-in-law, my old co-workers and our kids. 

I'm trying to come up with a creative way to tell all the other people in our lives.