NEW BLOG!

I really hate to do this to all of you, BUT I have officially changed my name to Christensen (Richard couldn't be happier) and I can't use my school e-mail anymore! So, I had to create a new blog address. Don't worry, everything is the same, it's just a new name. Add us to your blog rolls!

http://richard-and-erika.blogspot.com/

Thanks!

Thoughts...(warning: LONG)

My awesome SIL Anna inspired me to write my thoughts. In life we often get too busy to really, truly, deeply think about things that are important in the world, in our lives, and for our sanity. Lately a lot of my thoughts have been revolving around politics. It's what I do and it's kinda my thing. I try very hard to keep politics out of my personal life, oh well. But in all honesty, that's just one part of my life. Another thing my thoughts have been revolving around are my beliefs. A much larger part of my life. Life gets interesting when I start to reconcile one with the other, which is a reason I like to do it. So, lately I've been questioning my political views and if they can reconcilable with my faith. (Which is the right way around, for safety's sake one should not be questioning your faith to see if it reconciles with your political beliefs. Seen too many friends stray away from the gospel.) So if you are not interested at all in politics, history, or my insane rambling, please stop here!

I've been thinking about a lot of things and measuring them up to the truth. There are a lot of things I could say and testify to, but this specific topic has been on my mind. If any of you have a chance check out these clips of a documentary I would recommend everyone to watch: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ghosts/video/

I warn, it is not for the faint hearted. It is about the atrocities in Rwanda. A tragedy that had occurred in my lifetime. Hundreds of thousands of Tutsi Rwandans were killed by their neighbors while the world watched and did nothing. The President of the United States expressed no remorse after the fact. The United Nations failed to provide aid and manpower necessary to protect those seeking refuge from the violence.

I know there are many opinions in the world, but one side seems curiously hypocritical. The political left. While many scream for action to help disenfranchised people in the world, many ardently oppose the use of force. Many people will not be shaken from the belief that guns are bad. While, the political right may not be in the right to have a forceful knee-jerk response in all cases, in this case, over half a million lives would have been saved if minimal action had been taken. It is so easy to believe, war is wrong, force is wrong, America should not be involved overseas, but every case must be analyzed independently. Blanket statements are irresponsible.

But when it really comes down to it, the Rwandan genocide is not a political issue. The situation in Rwanda was a moral one, and sadly America failed. America yielded to the pressure of weaker states and took the easy road. The UN sent men in with no guns, while gun wielding radicals rounded them up and killed them along with the genocidal victims. Guns can be good. Guns could have saved the thousands of defenseless men, women, and children that were being hacked to death by crude machetes in the hills of Rwanda. My heart goes out to those that stayed in Rwanda while all others left and withdrew their troops and support for the life saving work they were attending to. I am ashamed at the way in which our President reacted.

In watching this movie, it tears your heart out to think there's nothing you can do. I've watched it multiple times and it still shakes me; just knowing that kind of evil exists in the world. At the end of the day, we can't go back in time and we can't as individuals fix these problems. But we can remember what is important. I've decided that I can't always say that I hate force and coercion while my family sleeps safe every night. I can't say that I hate military policies while I have a roof over my head. I can't say that I hate guns, when guns make it possible for me to live without having to own one.

V-Day Getaway

"How many girls can say their husband DROVE THEM TO SAN FRANCISCO for Valentines Day?!?" - Richard

Richard is the greatest. He drove all the way there and all through the night back because we were so tired of snow, clouds, and wet. A total of 26 hours!! And it payed off! We got warm, sunshine, and green! Although it may have not been the most romantic getaway ever (cheap motels = not cute), he did try, it's just that all of the good places were already all booked up! Nevertheless, it was just what we needed. And it was awesome. Here is some documentation from our trip.

This is what we left:

Richard was so excited!

Soon we were in Nevada, all alone, and surrounded by nothing.

We saw mountains again and rested in Reno.

We found ourselves in BEAUTIFUL Tahoe!

Then I fell asleep...so no pictures. Until we got to San Francisco!

Then we were too busy having fun...so no pictures. Until we took a drive to the coast!

Goat Rock Beach! One of the DEADLIEST beaches in Cali! We witnessed 20-30 ft. waves and it was AWESOME!

Then we drove ALL night to get home. All in all it was a great success! :) Sorry the pictures are so small. Forgot the camera and had to resort to our phones :(. We also went to the Jelly Belly factory, but they did not allow pictures inside. Lame. I highly recommend it, but don't get your hopes up too high for Oompa-Loompas...you don't get to see any.

Law School Update

Every week we are hearing back from more Law Schools that want Richard! So far he has been accepted into George Mason University, Pepperdine University, and George Washington University. Yay! I also got accepted into the program I've been interviewing for in the D.C. area, so it is most likely that we'll be East Coasters after all!

Richard hasn't really decided for sure where he will be going because we are still anxiously waiting to hear responses from the other schools he applied to. He's getting into SUCH good schools, he's having a hard time deciding (the better the school, the higher the tuition).

Although we are seriously considering D.C., we haven't set anything in stone quite yet. But who wouldn't love this view??

It's a Rap.

I try not to mix work and pleasure, but after a cost-benefit analysis, I decided would benefit you all much more than it would cost me to break this rule. Enjoy.

Fear the Boom and Bust

You'll thank me for this later. I guarantee it.

Know The Story:

In Fear the Boom and Bust, John Maynard Keynes and F. A. Hayek, two of the great economists of the 20th century, come back to life to attend an economics conference on the economic crisis. Before the conference begins, and at the insistence of Lord Keynes, they go out for a night on the town and sing about why there's a "boom and bust" cycle in modern economies and good reason to fear it.

Resolutions

The new year is coming and there is so much I want to do I can hardly contain myself! I could never narrow it down to just a few resolutions, so I will make a list of resolutions and goals for the next year, aka whenever I get around to it.

1. I will buy new strings for my violin and play for fun.
2. We will both buy running shoes and go running (once the ice pack melts.)
3. I will move into an apartment that has closets large enough for my wardrobe.
4. I will buy some heels and learn how to walk in them.
5. We will work on genealogy on both sides.
6. I will buy adorable things for my home from Anthropologie that is not just off the sales rack.
7. I will write my thesis and graduate with my Masters degree. (It will take a lot to get motivated for this one.)
8. I will learn how to cook for just two people and not an army.
9. I will get my passport so we can be ready to travel.
10. I will relax and enjoy my last semester of classes ever!

Mind you, this is an ever growing list that I will mount on my mirror and read every day and will mount on the refrigerator for Richard to read every day. :)

2010 is gonna be good.

What We've Been Up To

We haven't posted in a long while, but here's a catch up of what we've been doing the past few months, besides being cooped up and studying.

Since my Dad has been in Japan, we've been taking my little sister, Emmie, from my Mom to give her a little free time (this is just a good excuse for me and a justification for Richard.) Here are a few pictures of what we've done with her.

With her little puffy vest she would go too fast and was so slippery she'd be all tangled up on these slides! Richard was a good sport and went down with her.

Piano time with hat and mittens. Don't ask.

She asked me to take her picture with the mannequins at Old Navy. This is Emmie with "her dog." We have a beagle at home. She insisted on these lovely white socks.

So strange.

She's such a cutie. Richard thinks she's crazy.

We went to Seattle for Thanksgiving. It was such a great time and SO beautiful! It made me miss it and wonder why I live in a desert/tundra. We got these pictures taken with the fam while we were there.

That's Richard "laughing." How attractive.

We decorated for Christmas! We bought some lights (the SWEET old school kind with the huge bulbs!) And unfortunately had to go with a fake tree this year...but we did borrow my Grandma's vintage Christmas ornaments from when I was a kid and it looks great! We love it!

Our favorite ornament, a little Turkish man!

Love it!

Merry Christmas!

Next, we will try to survive finals week. Then we will be home free and celebrate Christmastime with Richard's family! Yay! So excited!