U of A Tradition: The Senior Walk

As many in Arkansas know, when you graduate from the U of A your name gets added to the Senior Walk. Mine has probably been up for about a year now? But I had yet to go and find it. This weekend Sarah P and I made our way to campus to find each of our names for one last pat on the back on our completed college education. Thank you Kalen and Matt for being such lovely photographers.

Below are Sarah and I hovered over my name: Jennifer B G James. I'm not sure if my four names would have all made it.


Below is Sarah happily posing in front of her name.

Bikes, Blues and BBQ Weekend

Bikes, Blues and BBQ Fest was in Fayetteville this weekend, and true to form it was a weekend of fun. Every time I walked out my front door - day or night - I could hear the constant hum of motorcycles everywhere! Also a bonus this weekend was Sarah's visit from (West) Memphis.

Kim, Sarah, Katie and I hanging out at Jose's Friday night.


Sarah and I having fun at Busters.


Maybe this isn't our best picture ever, but I had to post a picture of our oh-so-fun brunch at our favorite - Common Grounds.

McCain wins Friday night's debate!

Wait! The debate hasn't even taken place yet. But interestingly enough, a congratulatory banner and quote from McCain's manager appeared online Friday afternoon.

Congratulations Mom!

Congratulations Mom on becoming an American citizen today! Today at the Clinton Library my mother was naturalized! Since she moved here in January of 1973 she has been a legal alien. She never wanted to give up her Brasilian citizenship. But now, dual citizenship is offered and she can have both. So, after much hard work and some traveling to Memphis, my Mom is now a citizen of the United States - and is also able to maintain her citizenship in Brasil.

Congrats Mom!

You tell me why it's important - because it most certainly is!

I've been thinking about this for over a week now. And my thought is that I would never want to use this blog as a place for a "rant." I want it to be an outlet of thought - whether you agree or not. If not, stop reading my blog. XOXO.

I was very disturbed to hear last week that someone thought that voting for McCain would be best for them because he would lower their taxes - that's it, he'd just lower their taxes. And his stance on everything else involved in the election doesn't matter because it doesn't directly affect them. Reasons being:

a. The war is over there, and not in our own backyard.
b. They are not a gay couple trying to get married.
c. And the abortion thing doesn't apply to them.

I have to say: they're wrong. I don't care who you're voting for. You're not thinking if you think this war doesn't have anything to do with us or affect us in every way - for many reasons.

Don't think because the war is being fought across the pond, that it's obsolete to us. And don't think that if we didn't fight it over there, that the war would be here. WRONG. We're fighting and being attacked because we bombed a country and a group that didn't attack us. Iraq, Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda did not attack us on 9/11 - Osama bin Laden did. And he is still out there, and our president is doing nothing to find him. Don't forget that - and don't forget we're fighting the wrong war. That is why we are now being attacked - over there.

This war costs the country and its citizens:
Per Month - $10.3 billion
Per Week - $2.4 billion
Per Day - $343 million
Per Hour - $14 million
Per Minute - $238,425
Per Second - $3,973

Don't you tell me for a second this doesn't affect you. Every time you fill up on gas, or pay taxes at the grocery store or see more taxes come out of your paycheck - don't tell me it has nothing to do with this war and that the war has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with you. And for eight years we've had a president who has made this war, his war. We have the power to change that in November. One nonpartisan analysis finds that with Obama's tax proposal - which doesn't call to raise your taxes - the rich would pay more, and the poor and middle-class (you) would pay less. Under John McCain's plan, the rich would pay much less than they do now, the poor and middle-class would pay a bit less, and the federal deficit would grow even more.

So, yes the war affects you. Greatly. And I support our troops, but I do not support this war, and I have not since March of 2003 when we first invaded Iraq. And according to Sarah Palin, we're about to enter Russia, Iran and God help us on all the other "possibilities" she sees.


As for social issues such as gay rights and abortion: just because you might not be a gay American looking for equal rights or a person interested in seeking an abortion for the many reasons women may do so (because Palin is against them even in the cases or rape and incest), doesn't mean that these issues or how they're dealt with don't affect you. Please, don't ever think that for one minute! The Republican party will preach about how they want less government involvement but two of their main goals is to overturn Roe v. Wade and to pass a constitutional amendment against gay marriage - bringing the government right on into your living room and bedroom. When you allow these things to happen - or elect those who will oversee it - you're giving government, federal and state, the power to make personal decisions for you. And you're fooling yourself if you think it will stop there. So, what do we have to do, sit back until our government turns into China and restricts the amount of children we can have? Then will you be interested in who our president is and the authority they will give themselves over our lives? It will never just stop with abortion and gay rights. There will always be a "next" topic, which could very much involve your lives directly.


There is no truth to the "shaking up Washington" that McCain and Palin are shouting from the rooftops. There is nothing they can do to shake things up in a land that is identical to what they preach now.

Here's what we don't want: We don't want your bridge to nowhere Sarah Palin, and we never did. We don't want your extremist religious beliefs pulling books off our library shelves or telling us what we can do with our bodies or whom we can marry. We don't want you "lowering" our taxes while in the meantime steadily increasing our already outrageous deficit. We don't want more unnecessary wars started while you float around the country calling it God's plan you hypocrite! We don't care for your drilling in Alaska while you tell us we need to be more self-reliant on energy! Way to drill the little oil we have, if any, while destroying the wildlife refuge and increasing the country's dependence on oil. Set yourself up with an alternative energy plan and then go back and tell People.com you're an "adapter." Stop saying global warming isn't caused by human activity and don't ever undermine women again. How dare the McCain/Palin camp think that women could be so easily fooled into voting for them just because they placed a skirt next to John McCain.

Try again.

Make it tonight! Tomato and Cheese Baked Chicken.

Since I work for an ad agency that represents Tyson Foods, Inc., many, many food shots and recipes come across my desk and computer multiple times throughout the week, if not each day. As I was thumbing through potential recipes and food shots today I stumbled upon one called Tomato and Cheese Baked Chicken on Tyson's Web site. And I made it tonight, which of course I loved, but more importantly it got rave reviews from Cole as well - sometimes we don't always see eye to eye on what makes a good dinner! But, we both loved this one and I know it gets hard thinking of things to make for dinner each night and I love getting new recipes, so I want to share this with you.

You can click on the link above or you can follow my recipe below. Note, the recipe calls for Split Chicken Breasts, but I used Boneless Skinless Breasts as it's lower in calorie and carried by most grocery stores.

4 Tyson(R) Trimmed & Ready(R) Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts
1 container garlic herb spreadable cheese, 6.5 oz., softened
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, oil-packed; drained
2 tablespoons green onion, sliced
1 tablespoon Parmesan cheese, grated (optional, I intended to use afterward but didn't)

1. Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray a baking pan with nonstick cooking spray or line with nonstick aluminum foil. Wash hands. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper to taste; place in prepared baking pan. Wash hands. (I sprinkled with garlic salt and pepper and then browned each breast on the stove along with garlic for a couple minutes per side.)

2. Pat tomatoes dry with paper towels; chop as desired. Place softened cheese in small bowl. Stir in tomatoes, green onion and Parmesan cheese. Spread cheese mixture evenly over chicken. Wash hands.

3. Bake chicken 35 to 45 minutes or until done (internal temp 180°F).

SO GOOD!

Oklahoma's Test Scores Better Go Up

In hopes of finding something fun and different to do on a Saturday afternoon, we ventured on over to West Siloam Springs, OK to the casino. Kim, Joe, Liz, Chad, Cole and I arrived around 5 that afternoon and stayed for an eventful four hours.

In little ole Oklahoma you must "ante up" each time you bet - each time you must pay $.50 - and it goes to the Oklahoma schools. Well, I did my part and contributed quite enough, as did everyone else. I won't call anyone out on what losers half the group was, but I will say Chad and Kim were definitely the big winners of the weekend!

It was a fun day - now the next couple of days will be realizing that my money is gone, gone, gone.

Watch out for hiding gas prices.

If you're like me, you pay for most things with your debit card. I rarely carry cash - I find I spend it quicker if I have it. Well, we just noticed today at the Shell gas station on Gregg Street in Fayetteville (AKA the White Oak Station) that the price per gallon is $0.09 less if you pay for your gas in cash! With debit/credit cards, the price per gallon was $3.57; however, when paying in cash, it was only $3.49! The prices were actually displayed on the gas station marquee. I never really pay attention because I usually get gas at Walmart.

So next time you get gas check and see if there is a lower price if paying in cash - it's probably worth a trip to the ATM. It's almost the same price difference between Unleaded and Premium! I've never noticed this before, but I'm sure it exists in other places as well!

Hogs-a-palooza

The first Little Rock Razorback game was this weekend and it was kicked off in true Hog style. Again, Dad had his tailgating spot, and again we all showed up to join in the fun. The game would have been a "good game" if it had been against an SEC rival and not Louisiana Monroe (huh?), but it was just a little ridiculous that it came down to literally the last minute as we scored and won by one point! I didn't go to the game, but Kim and I held down the forts just fine and had just as much fun. Plus, we got a new cooler out of it!

Will and me at our spot. It's always SO GREAT to see the boys. They're constantly growing and changing, but they're always sweet.


Mom and Morie came out and had a ball - even Mom! :-)


It's my version of My Two Dads. Dad is manning the grill of course, and Morie is keeping him company.


Spencer and me - and his big red hat he purchased for $6. Spencer saw Jermain Taylor again tailgating. Last year, he actually hung out with him for a little bit. Will and I have decided he's a JT magnet.


Kim and I watching over the place while everyone went to the game.

It's all in the family.

Just when we thought the major issue of this year's Presidential election would be centered around the war in Iraq and gas prices, a nasty storm has been brewing over the nominees themselves. The circus might just prove to be about their own family lives more so than the shots they will no doubt take at their opponents. Obviously we don't know for sure, but it appears that a few of our candidates might have a little explaining to do.

Family Issue #1
I woke up this morning to what I thought was Christmas when I was told that Bristol Palin, the seventeen-year-old high school senior of Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin, was pregnant. Then, I realized that I don't want to sit here and comment to you on the mistakes of a seventeen-year-old - as many of us have made mistakes. But, I also don't want to be persuaded into the line of thought that this should stay a private matter. Once you've thrown your own self and your family into the spotlight of the world, the Palin's must understand that this will be an issue and a topic. On paper, the right and responsible thing is being done. She's marrying her boyfriend, Levi (age and last name unknown), and keeping the baby. The question I will ask is this her decision to marry and is this couple even ready for marriage?

Also, we're told that McCain's camp knew of the pregnancy before he chose Palin for his VP - very good, since he had only met the woman once before. Apparently, this news is breaking in response to Internet rumors that Palin's fifth child Trig, who was born in April with Down's Syndrome, is actually Bristol's. I guess we'll have to ride this out and see. But, as rumors go - that's probably all this is. It's an interesting rumor since apparently Sarah Palin announced her pregnancy in early March (two months before she was due) - shocking most around her as she didn't appear to show any signs of being pregnant. However, this is probably due to the baby's Down's Syndrome. Also, Bristol went noticeably absent in school for several months due to what her family called prolonged mono. Maybe it was.

Bristol Paline and her youngest brother, Trig.


Family Issue #2
Ever heard of Kathleen Hensley Portalski? Not from Cindy McCain, you haven't. As Cindy calls herself an "only child" Kathleen tells of her feelings as a "non person" by Cindy's comment. The two women, Kathleen is around 11 years older, do share the same father, Jim Hensley, but did not grow up in the same household. Kathleen claims she only saw the man who she called Dad on Christmases and birthdays - presumably Cindy was around. Upon Jim's death, Cindy inherited the family estate and business, the beer distributor, Hensley and Co., and Kathleen says she only received $10,000. Cindy has yet to comment on the half sister whom, according to Kathleen, she's "airbrushed out of her life."

Kathleen Hensley Portalski


Family Issue #3
The Republicans are not the only ones who have some explaining to do. Although some people believe this man is lying - why because he lives in a shack in Kenya? - George Hussein Onyango Obama, who lives on the outskirts of Nairobi in Kenya, tells Italian Vogue he is Obama's half brother. Like Cindy McCain and her half sister, these two men share the same father, and he is apparently the youngest of Obama's five half siblings. Although they've only met once, Obama mentions him in his autobiography as a "beautiful boy with a rounded head." My question is: how is Obama talking about his "brothers and sisters" here in the U.S. during his speeches, but he appears to have no contact with his brother who lives in such poverty and crime-stricken conditions? I would like that question to be asked and answered.

George Hussein Onyango Obama


Like you, I do not know the complete history or story to these three issues mentioned above. But, they do seem like areas of concern. And as these three people could potentially be running our country and making decisions for the world, I believe they have an obligation to answer them.