Let Them Eat Cake

Since my last post was intense, I'm going to write more on the lighter side. My birthday will be this Monday (Memorial day), which is great because I can say people from all over the country will be celebrating on my birthday.

Since it's my birthday, it brings me to my topic, cake. I really don't care much for cake, it's not really something I crave when I want a decadent dessert, and I have had only a few really tasty cakes myself. Why? Well in my family, there are nine kids plus my parents plus my siblings' spouses, and my nieces and nephews. A significant portion of the birthdays in my family are conveniently in the summer. It all starts out with my mom on May 3. Then my younger brother follows three days later. I'm on the 26th and then we reach June. I have two brothers, a brother-in-law, a niece, and a nephew that have birthdays in June. We have a couple of birthdays in July and one in August and September. The rest of my family are spaced out in the year. So as you can see, we have a lot of cake in the summers.

I can even tell you some of the favorite cakes in my family are as well. My dad always has angel food cake with strawberries and my mom makes herself a german chocolate. My brother loves the confetti cake mix from Betty Crocker, and I can keep on going, but I know you're starting to dose off.

So I simply get tired of cake and when my birthday rolls around, I opt for something different. One year I had dirty dessert, another fruit pizza, and I'm thinking for this year, it's gonna be brownies. When Queen Marie Antoinette said, "Let them eat cake," I think to myself, "cake sucks, let's get some oreos!"

This Is Heavy

OK. I have been thinking about this for a very long time. I hope people who will read this won't come after me with a pitch fork, but I feel that it's very important. So here it goes.
Abortion, the ultimate evil. Right? Uh...well...yes...but is that the end all and be all answer? Let's think about it. Women, whether it's rape, incest, or by choice, get pregnant and for some reason do not want to have their child. The ideal choice would to give the baby up for adoption, but since when the world was ideal? Circumstances are varied as people, and in a woman's mind, she could possibly say, "why should I go through pregnancy and labor for a baby I don't want?"
Don't get me wrong here. I strongly believe in the sanctity of life and I get sick when I hear 44% of women would get an abortion because of selfish reasons. I used to think that if a girl was a rape victim, failed to exercise moral restraints, or simply didn't use some sort of a contraceptive, should give a child up for adoption. After much thought and consideration, I don't know if that is always the best or only solution to the problem.
However, I am pro-choice. Pregnant women, no matter how they got pregnant, that want an abortion will get one, whether it's from a health-care professional or from a guy in a dark alley with a coat hanger. I would much rather give a woman the choice go to a heath-care professional than to have no options for a professional procedure and use a hanger instead.
Another reason why I tend to be pro-choice is because of an article I have read. People living in poverty-stricken countries engender a considerable amount children as a survival mechanism. Mal-nutrition, particularly starvation, serves as an aphrodisiac. Because of their impoverished circumstances, the mother and the child's lives are at risk.
My final reason why I'm pro-choice is that--choice. I'm an advocate of the right to choose and if a woman chooses to get an abortion, it's not my responsibility to judge whether or not she is in the wrong, the consequences of their choice will eventually follow and God knows their situations better than we humans can.
Since I'm such an advocate agency, I want people to respect my choices and beliefs, and I don't want someone to tell me I can't do something because it's wrong according to their values. I'm not trying to make people think abortion is right, but I do want people who are so dogmatic to get out their "my way is the only way!!!" mindset and realize their beliefs are just a point of view. All of our opinions and ideas are just another lens to look at. Perhaps by looking at different perspectives, we can gain a better understanding.

Impressions of the Impressed

My husband tells me that I should post blogs. I don't always have the time so we shall see how this works. I would like to think of myself as a free thinker. Since I've been to college, my views have been broadened and I like to hear all sides to issues. People of the LDS faith (especially if they are hard-core Republicans) may be surprised about how liberal some of my viewpoints are. Don't worry, I still lean towards the conservative side, but I feel that people, and LDS people at that, need to realize that things aren't always black and white. Discussion and argumentation on controversial issues help us lead to better solutions to problems. As an idealistic student, I have this romantic idea to pull people away from self interest and foster public awareness. If you don't understand what I mean, look for my blog posts, read, and--this is my hope--you will be enlightened even if you disagree with what I think. I love when people think for themselves especially if they have a humble intellect.