"Only In America"

Today is Armed Forces Day and the final day of Armed Forces Week.  This holiday was first celebrated on May 20, 1950 and replaced separate Army, Navy and Air Force days once the armed forces became unified under the Department of Defense.  Today those that have served in the Army, Navy, Air Force and Coast Guard in times of peace and war will be on my mind and I will take time to be thankful for all they sacrifice so that I can live in the land of the free.

I have to admit that while growing up I took my freedom for granted.  I did not pay tribute to those who fought in the wars before my time nearly enough.  I was not all that interested in history and only learned what I needed to pass my tests in school without really thinking of all those individuals that fought for my freedom. 

This morning I woke up and went for a run and as I ran the streets of Davenport I could not help but feel free.  Because of so many courageous people and the sacrifices they made in World War I and II, Korea, Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq and others I am able to run the streets without having to worry about stepping on an IED, I get to choose the music playing on my Ipod, as a woman I am not forced to cover my skin and I can wave at a stranger without a second thought.  I couldn't help but think that in other parts of the world people don't have these same free choices that I sometimes take for granted.  I am grateful to live in a country where fellow citizens and even some of my own family and friends make the choice to be away from their families and friends, expose themselves to danger, endure days that are less than desirable and put their lives on the line so people like me can live a life full of freedom.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about true heroes. Many people, including myself, grow up idolizing athletes and calling them their heroes.  School children list Aaron Rogers, Justin Verlander, Derrick Rose and LeBron James amongst their list of heroes.  Mia Hamm and Andy Roddick were mine.  Now don't get me wrong, I have nothing wrong with any of these athletes or with people idolizing athletes or naming them amongst their list of heroes.  In fact, I think athletes and musicians are in a position to make this world a better place because of their status.  I am inspired by those that use their status to help the less fortunate, better our world or simply to brighten someones day.  I do question our society when so many people list professional athletes on their list of heroes and so few forget about our veterans and soldiers.  Again, just to be clear I have nothing wrong with athletes.  Especially those like Tim Tebow and Ndamukong Suh who are giving their time and money to charitable organizations.  Yes, I said Ndamukong Suh, who according to Cork Gaine's Business Insider article published on December 28, 2011, the "NFL's dirtiest player" was also listed as the league's most charitable athlete giving $2.6 million that year.  Many athletes and sports organizations do a great job giving back to our armed forces and other charitable causes.  I am only questioning if our society in general does enough to support and thank our soldiers and their families.

Maybe my frustrations of the lack of love for our armed forces' heroes stems from my hometown.  It seems that many households in my hometown get more hyped up for a state championship or when a local kid is recruited to play sports for a Division I school than when their local troops return home from a year long deployment overseas.  I would have liked to see on that same State Central Bank a banner reading "Hometown of the Iowa National Guard-832nd Engineers" the day that so many of our hometown heroes returned from Afghanistan.  To each their own; one great thing about living in a free country is that we all get to choose our own heroes!

Maybe it's because I've had friends recently serve overseas.  Maybe it was the intensely patriotic guys I was surrounded by while in college at the University of Iowa.  Maybe it's that just over a month ago my hometown community lost a courageous soldier that fought for our country in Iraq and Afghanistan. Maybe it's the story I've closely been following of Cedar Falls native, Taylor Morris, who lost both legs, his left arm from the bicep down and his right hand while injured in Afghanistan on May 3rd.  He's only 23, the same age I am.  Maybe it's the ever-inspiring book I just finished reading, "The Heart and the Fist" by humanitarian turned Navy SEAL, Eric Greitens.  Maybe I'm just older and more mature and appreciate the more important things in life now.  I don't think there's one reason that I'm more appreciative of the United States' armed forces and grateful for their service but I spend a lot more time these days thinking about all that our veterans and soldiers sacrifice for our freedom and I most definitely don't take my freedom or their courage and compassion for granted. 

Thanks to all those that have ever served in the United States' armed forces.  Thanks to them and their families and all that they sacrifice.  I am forever grateful to those that put their own lives on the line and fight for our amazing country.  You are all true heroes.  Happy Armed Forces Day to all the true American heroes!

Mad For My Mama

I challenge you to find someone more tenderhearted, patient or kind than my mom.  It's amazing that I have the same genes as her because I only wish I had half the pure kindness she does.  She is the true definition of someone you define as "beautiful on the inside and outside".  She is kind to people, does great things for her community and her patience is something I envy.  The best thing about her is that she doesn't do any of that to feel better about herself or because it might advance her in life and that's what really makes me look up to her.  She is kind, patient and purely sincere because that is who she is.  She is just a good person. 

Anna Jarvis is credited as the founder of Mother's Day in the United States.  Her mother felt the need for a day to celebrate mothers and pay tribute for all they do and when she passed away in 1905 Anna made it her mission to make her mother's desire come true.  On May 8, 1914 President Woodrow Wilson made Mother's Day an official holiday.

Each year when spring rolls around and I come across all of the Mother's Day cards and flowers in retail stores I can't help but think the hooplah of this holiday is a bit nutty.  My mom means too much to me to only celebrate all that she does for me and my family on just one day set by the government.  I love that she gets a day to be recognized by people all over the country for her wonderful traits but I think she deserves to be thanked and loved every single day. 

I've got so many memories with my mom; from baking Christmas cookies with her each year since I was a tot to stumbling back to our hotel room after enjoying martinis across the city of Chicago. When I think of my most proud and memorable moments to date one that sticks out is finishing my marathon two years ago.  I often find myself thinking about that experience and the pure joy that I held at that point in my life.  I was raising money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, living a stress-free college life full of friends and love and more fit than I've ever been.  That all contributed to my happiness but the thing that made my experience so memorable was the fact that I got to share every step and challenge of training for 26.2 miles with my mom.  She's such a great listener and I'm such a great talker and spending hours beyond hours on the road and trails allowed us to catch up on life, books, boys, sports, our theories on life and success and anything else under the sun.  I got to know my mom better than ever during this experience.  You're not always upbeat and positive or in the best form when you've been running for over 5 hours and you really get to know someone when the make-up is replaced by sweat and you're contemplating giving up your right hand for a hamburger.  I will forever cherish the time I got to share with my mom while training for our marathon.  Today I would not be a marathon finisher or better yet, know my mom like I do had we not trained for that race and I can't thank her enough for taking on that challenge with me.  Throughout my life she has taught me so much and I can only hope to be half the person she is some day. 

Yesterday I got to spend the evening with my mom since she was headed to Dubuque for work and stayed with me overnight.  We went for a 6 mile walk chatting and sharing stories, did a little shopping at Target and enjoyed sushi and frozen yogurt.  As we laid side by side in bed reading our books I couldn't help but thank my blessings for this memorable day and the beautiful lady that I get to call my mom.  Many people are blessed with great moms that make numerous sacrifices for their children, love them unconditionally and share insights on how to be a good and successful person and I have all this and more.  I'm lucky enough to have an amazing mom in my life but even more blessed that I can call her my best friend because even if she weren't my mom I'd choose to spend my days with her!

Chelsea Handler's Got Nothing (Eh, Everything) on Me

The other day I was talking to a friend about relationships and frisbee golf.  He mentioned that he thought my blog was boring.  He read half way through but had to stop because he lost interest.  He said I needed to write more like Chelsea Handler.  That I would catch more people's attention if I talked about being lonely, how long it's been since my last kiss (or whatever) or complained about the attention thriving girls that catch all the boys running around downtown.  It took me three days to figure out how to address my first blog complaint and I've come to the conclusion that Chelsea Handler is a million times better at making awkward situations or sexual topics funny. 

Honestly, there are times I'm quite inappropriate and try to make awkward situations funny but I'll keep those embarrassing antics for my closest friends for now.  [I know exactly who's rolling their eyes and baring a slight grin right now].

In an attempt to keep my friend somewhat interested in my blog I debated between writing about risque  topics like Chelsea Handler, bacon and football.  After writing, deleting, writing and deleting a few times I decided this is my blog and I will stick to writing about the numerous thoughts being thrown around in my head. 

That's not to say I couldn't write countless blog entries on football.  Really, why won't those cheating Saints just pay Brees what he wants?  He's a stud!

Anyways, this week I stumbled upon an article about the connection between sex and cannibalism with some spiders and praying mantises.  Mating is a very scientific and sometimes deadly task for some spider and praying mantis species.  Can you imagine a world that the small and scrawny males were risking their lives for sex or that females were dealt with the choice of eating their most recent mating partner?  I bet MTV would come up with a really great reality show that would blow "Jersey Shore" out of the water with that material.  A study found (Full story here) that the connection between sex and death with praying mantises may come down to nothing more in depth than the male's hunger for sex and just how hungry the female is.  Hungry females were more likely to eat their most recent mating partner and males were more likely to risk their lives for sex if they were in a dry spell.  In nature, sex led to death 16% of the time with praying mantises.  A 16% survival rate isn't bad when compared to the orb-web spider's chances of survival after mating.  The male orb-web spider is almost always eaten by the female after they mate.  The male has two opportunities to mate and can do so with the same spider or two lucky ladies.  Each time he mates, a "detachable penis" (there's actually a much more scientific term) falls off and he can no longer mate.  Ouch! 

Spider sex and praying mantis sex.  That's as close to Chelsea Handler esque as I am willing to share with the world wide web right now.  It's only blog number four and I'm throwing around some thoughts on sex and cannibalism in nature so I wouldn't count anything out just yet.  For the time being, I'll keep the humorous sex topics and blunt comments to Chelsea Handler but hopefully the "detachable penis" was painfully interesting enough for my blog critiquing pal.
                                                                                    
                                                                                        Funny and gorgeous. I love Chelsea Handler!