A POST-Thanksgiving Update...

Okay all... so I lied... the pictures of the wedding won't be put up yet. Sorry... I tend to be really lazy... but I have good news which makes it all easier for me and therefore more reader friendly for you, whoever you all are. But I'll share the good news later...

For now... Thanksgiving was fantastic. I'm still full. Though I did all the cooking... I'm still full. :) But I have to say, belated as it may be, I'm grateful for a lot of things.

I have to say thank you to the friends who stood by me and checked up on me, you all know who you are since I say thank you to you most like EVERY chance I get, and just showed me love when others didn't. I'm thankful for all the opportunities I've been given when others don't get any at all. And I'm thankful for such a loving husband who has been my constant rock.

Now... secondly... Black Friday! Hahaha. This is sooo great. So I've been giving leave by my husband to "Go nuts!" Which I rarely ever do especially when it comes to shopping. "So go nuts Carmel... tis the season anyway, plus your birthday is right around the corner." ;-) I love the holidays.

So, I actually went to Walmart at 5 in the morning to do some Black Friday shopping. Crazy? So I've been told. But hey... Jon had to be at work at 5 anyway so why not? Walmart is close enough. Now... I assumed I would be there for a good hour at least... but I was in and out within 20 minutes, really just 20 minutes. And I didn't lose any limbs! Everyone kept trying to find parking that was close... ha! I parked in the first spot I found and walked. And then everyone grabbed a cart and tried to bring it all over the store with them. WHY??? Just why? I decided to just carry around whatever it was I purchased. It made my way sooooooooooo much easier. But I have to say 20 minutes in and out of Walmart right at the beginning of Black Friday shopping has got to be a record.

End result: I got myself a brand new digital camera. Kodak digital that came with a camera bag and printer and ink and paper, and I bought 2 1 GB memory cards separately. All in all market value is approx $360, excluding tax and at the cheapest place you can find it, I got it for around 200 bucks.

So the good news... hahaha it's almost my birthday! I'm going to hit the big 22. Which in reality does absolutely nothing for me. I could already buy smokes if I wanted to (but I don't, smell of smoke makes me gag, I couldn't be a smoker if I wanted to, which I don't)... I can look at porno if I wanted to (but I don't, not interested)... I can vote already if I wanted to (but I missed the elections by a month, go figure)... and I can drink if I wanted to (but I'm not really a drinker at all). So 22 gives me nothing new. I still can't rent a car. Oh well... it's still my birthday in about 6 days. ;-) I digress...

Anyway... what does this do for me? I got to go nuts... now I don't have to constantly develope film with my rebel and scan them or put them on cd, I can just upload them and be done with it.

So... after walmart we go to Target... and what else do I get??? All four seasons of 24 for 16 bucks a piece. Each season is like 55 bucks normally. Spent 64 dollars on four seasons that would have normally cost me $220. I love the holidays. Thanksgiving, my birthday and Christmas, then New Years. All of them mean family and food. :) The presents are really just a bonus. ;-) A nice bonus... but still just a bonus...

Picture Update... the kittens we rescued...

Ok sooooooooooooooooooooo... I've been getting hassled lately... people have been wanting to see pictures apparently. Sooooooooooooooooo... with me getting tired of getting hassled... I decided to stop procrastinating and put up pictures. Sooooooooooooooo... people stop hassling me!


As always... much love! :) This is the boy cat we rescued in June, Madd Maxx (see the "M" on his forehead?). See how small he is? Now if you look at him, his head is bigger than the ball. His tail is bent (most likely it occurred in the womb) which is why he has a stubby tail.
They like to sleep on top of my blanket which I put there so it's within reach of the couch for my own personal use... sigh... and they liked to be right next to the chicken (it's one of those things you can put a hot pan on to cool off)... I have no clue why... but they liked that chicken (it's past tense because they beat up said chicken).
This is Miss Lilly (originally named Tiger Lilly but due to the random "M"s on their foreheads we felt it was appropriate that she have an "M" in her name too). She the shy one of the two.

See how Maxx's head fits in the bowl in that picture??? His head doesn't fit in that bowl anymore. They were a month and a half when we found them... now they're healthy and obnoxious 6 month old cats.

Wedding pictures will be posted within the week!

SUBJECT: Immigration...

Ok... oddly enough the subject of immigration has been brought up a lot lately to me. At work, at home, and oddly enough via the internet too. So a part of me feels urged to actually bring this up in a blog... to be frank about it, to be honest about it.

Now no one can say I don't know what it is to be an immigrant -I was one.

No one can say I'm racist -I'm the leading minority where I live. Literally... I'm the ONLY minority here.

No one can say I've forgotten my roots -I still remember where I was born. I still remember coming to this country. I still remember my language. And I visit the place of my birth often and will actually do so this upcoming December as well.

So to say I'm a hypocrite is a bit beyond my limits of toleration.

So let me tell everyone, once and for all, my views on "immigration".

First off, I have no problems with immigration. If it's done legally. Key word here is "legally" as in following the rules and guidelines blah blah blah blah blah.

I was an immigrant. My entire family came to the United States from the Philippines. We were fortunate enough to be given the opportunity. But I tell you what, there are people out there, who wait for as long as 5-10 years to be given the chance to actually migrate to the United States. Then they come here and they appreciate it more. They work hard for what they want. They didn't try to just take it by illegal means.

Granted my family already knew the English language, but when the immigrants on Ellis Island came here in the early 1900's that's what their first priority was. To learn the language.

Those immigrants who passed through Ellis Island came here to make the U.S. their new home. They didn't try to wave their old home flags or demand that the U.S. acknowledge it. They didn't demand translations. They had kids who fought in wars. They became Americans.

If any American citizen decided to move to another country or travel abroad, do they expect everyone to know the English language??? I don't think so. They either have to hire a translator (which a lot of people can't afford to do) or they LEARN THE LANGUAGE.

No one can say that if you learn another language you're forgetting your roots. That's total BS. Learning other languages only enhances your skills and actually opens up more opportunities for you. I was taught two different languages from the day I was born, and growing up I came to learn more... but I never forgot what my first two were... so if anyone says I've forgotten my roots they are sorely mistaken.

Secondly, most immigrants come here to work. Yeah, yeah, a lot of illegals have come here to work too, but because they came here illegally, it's kinda makes it difficult for them to find work now doesn't it? So what do they end up doing? Oh yes, getting help... Through what? Oh right that thing most everyone deals with every April... -taxes. Sure, if you can get away with it, it's cheaper employment, but that only costs you on state taxes and takes away opportunity from the people who have a right to it.

I'm not against immigration folks. Before I became a citizen of this beautiful country, I had already come to realize that when immigrants come here legally, it makes it easier on everyone in general. Their primary agendas usually are: 1.) If you don't know the language already, learn it, 2.) find a place to live, 3.) find a job to pay for that place you now live in.

My encounters with illegal immigrants while in California however were not always fortunate. Witnessing an accident where the other guy had no insurance or even a liscense for that matter, being a part of a hiring process at a job fair where I was there to witness someone getting interviewed who had no clue about the English language and refused to talk unless someone translated and then finding out that he wasn't even elligible to work because he had no I.D. and no social security but he demanded the job anyway, and parents who interrupted my elementary school classes so they could randomly drop their kids off without first enrolling the students, and then not being able to understand English when the teacher tried to tell them they had to be enrolled first. So many of them expected rights and privileges without effort.

I know what it was to come to a new country and experience major culture shock. I know what it was to speak a different language at school than at home. But my parents and even my grandparents (albeit with an accent) know the English language. I respect the immigrants who came here legally following all the regulations and who not only learned the English language but actually made the United States their home away from home. They wanted to be Americans with American rights and privileges and WORKED for it.

So give me your tired and your poor and your huddled masses... just do it right.