Monday, March 26, 2012

The Shooting of Trayvon Martin - My thoughts...

I've decided to do a little "research", the best I can, and share it here along with my opinion after looking over all my "research".

I listened to the 911 call from Zimmerman and clearly got the following:
1. in the 911 tape Zimmerman says he thinks Martin is on drugs and Martin has his hand in his waste band...that something is wrong with Martin... and Martin has something in his hands...
2. Zimmerman says Martin is coming towards him and then he says Martin is running the other direction ...and the 911 guys says "are you following him?" and Zimmerman says yes and the 911 guy says not to follow him

So, from that I gather Zimmerman saw Martin, thought he looked suspicious and called 911, gave a description of Martin along with implying he was on drugs and he might have a weapon and that something was "wrong" with him. From this alone, the police would have probably approached him aggressively because Zimmerman made it sound worse than what he originally said when he first called 911 that "this guy looks suspicious".

Eye Witness account: Mary Cutcher
She is one of 6 witnesses and the cops never questioned her fully until she kept calling them. She said this happened in her back yard, that she heard a boy crying and the gun went off and the crying stopped. She said they came out and asked what was going on and was everything okay and Zimmerman said to call the cops. She said Martin looked to be half of Zimmerman's size. She also said she saw Zimmerman straddling Martin's body with his hands pressed on his back, making no effort to aid him.

According to Zimmerman:
"Martin decked him with a single punch, then repeatedly slammed his head into the sidewalk."
He claims he shot Martin in self-defense.

Other witnesses say:

"At least one witness told police he saw Martin pounding Zimmerman"
"Reports had surfaced earlier of people hearing cries for help but it was not clear if they came from Zimmerman or Martin"
"A woman who said she and her roommate witnessed the last moments of Martin's life said they heard the voice of what sounded like a young person in distress just before hearing a gunshot"

Now, this is my opinion and it is simply gathered from what I have read and listened to.

I don't know and I'm not going to assume it is some kind of hate crime because Martin is black. We don't KNOW if it has anything to do with race. However, in this video, at 2:20, right before the 911 dispatcher asks is Zimmerman following him, it sounds to me like Zimmerman whispers to himself "fucking coons". - VIDEO HERE - 911 CALL

My opinion is that Zimmerman was simply an overzealous neighborhood watch guy who was determined not to let this "asshole" get away. ((I say that b/c in the call to 911 Zimmerman says "these assholes are always getting away" - in no way am I saying Martin was an asshole))


Some questions of mine... People in the neighborhood watch program are to watch and call police with suspicious activity, correct? Yes..as Zimmerman did. HOWEVER, is part of neighborhood watch following "suspects"? If you are told NOT TO FOLLOW, why do you continue to follow? AND do those a part of neighborhood watch normally walk around armed? Why was Zimmerman carrying a gun to begin with while on neighborhood watch duty?

I personally think that Zimmerman was tired of crime in this neighborhood and was determined to get someone, anyone... I think the same would have happened had it been a White boy, a Hispanic boy or even a little Russian girl...he was out for vigilante justice in my opinion.

And, why shoot him in the chest? The boy was unarmed. Why not shoot him in the leg or arm?

The facts that I know to be true:
Zimmerman called the police on suspicious behavior.
Zimmerman chased Martin and was told to stop following him.
At some point in time there was a scuffle between the two.
A boy is dead.

Zimmerman should have NEVER went after him after being told not to follow. He is completely at fault here b/c he should have let the cops do their job.


Zimmerman clearly broke neighborhood watch rules:


Chris Tutko, director of Neighborhood Watch for the National Sheriffs’ Association, said Zimmerman broke some cardinal rules.

First, he approached a stranger he suspected of wrongdoing.

“If you see something suspicious, you report it, you step aside and you let law enforcement do their job,” Tutko said. “This guy went way beyond the call of duty. At the least, he’s overzealous.”

Second, Zimmerman carried a handgun. Police departments and sheriff’s offices that train volunteers advise them never to carry weapons — though Zimmerman broke no laws by doing so because he has a concealed-weapons permit.

“There’s no reason to carry a gun,” Tutko said. - source

Here is a Timeline of the events - Trayvon Martin Case: Timeline of Events

You decide for yourself...

Thursday, March 22, 2012

Green Cupcakes for St. Patty's Day - I heard they were delish!!

My daughters teacher asked if any parents would like to do something "green" for snack time last week & this week b/c they were celebrating St. Patty's Day. I volunteered to do green cupcakes... Alexis said they were yummy!

The night before I had went and bought some green food coloring and THOUGHT I had everything else... well the morning I was to bring them in, I saw I still needed ONE egg lol... I went to 3 different Shoppettes to get eggs! They really should keep more in stock for people like me who only need one =) Thankfully I got some eggs and got the cupcakes to the school with 15mins to spare =)




What kind of foods do you make for special times of the year?

ACU Bags and Wallets by HollyBelle' Bags

If you're looking for an ACU bag, check out ACU Bags and Wallets by HollyBelle' Bags . Her stuff is beautiful and she is super sweet!!

I first learned of Holly when I competed in a referral contest for her. The prize was an ACU wallet and I won. I got to choose the color of my trim and for those who know, I'm sure you can guess I chose purple. I got my wallet and loved it..that was when I decided, after 9yrs of being an army wife, to get an ACU purse to use as my "Scentsy Brag Bag".

Here is my wallet and purse:


Then, at Christmas time, she was making cute little ACU ornaments and I thought it would be neat to get one for each post we've been to so far and I'll continue to get one each time we PCS.


And now today I went and picked up my key chain she made for me to match my purse & wallet =)


If you're looking for something like this, Holly is your gal!!
ACU Bags and Wallets by HollyBelle' Bags

Girl Time w/ Alexis --- *My 300th Blog Post*

When I was growing up, my mother never spent much quality time with me and as I got older I realized how much it really bothered me. My boys, who are 11 and 12, don't care much to hang out with me. I guess I'm not cool, I don't know lol...but my daughter thinks I'm the best thing ever!

Alexis loves going everywhere with me. She started the whole "girls day out" thing last year when she wanted to go somewhere with me "without the boys", meaning no DeeJay, no Richie, and no Daddy. So sometimes we sneak off to WalMart and get a special treat, or sneak out to eat, just the two of us...or the park or the library... she has a blast...and when she is happy, I'm happy.

Well, last month we did a girls weekend out! That was a blast!! We went up to Fort Benning, just me and her, to meet Rissa, Tasha & Sarah... we went out to eat, jumped on the beds in the hotel room, went to the Circus and sang like nuts during the car ride there and back.

Here she was on the way there...in the back surrounded by all the Scentsy Buddies she wanted to bring. ((She loves those things lol))


Our next "girls day out" that I took some pictures of was on St.Patty's Day when we went down to the Jacksonville Zoo - Jacksonville Zoo FB Page - it was about a 2hr drive for us, but so worth it!! We both loved the Zoo...

We rode on the train, touched Sting Rays at "Sting Ray Bay", saw lots of animals, rode the Carousel, saw Butterfly Hollow & played in a maze... Great day =)









Love my "baby" girl =)

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Who Cares About Rank? I do!

Over the past few days while "creepin'" on Facebook, I have seen talk of rank in the military community, including on my page *AWDIWH*....

A few things made me laugh...one thing that made me laugh was spouses who were so adamant that more wasn't expected of them as their service member gained rank. I'm not referring to the way you dress or act reflecting on your service member, that to me, is common sense. I'm referring to attending certain functions, meetings & ceremonies...and no, I'm not saying you are required to do anything with the FRG. However, if your service member is making a career of the military, being social with him at his required social events will make him look better. Image can go a long way and can positively or negatively affect your service member.

Another thing that made me laugh was someone said something to the effect like "having an attitude is wearing your service members rank"... huh? First, let me state that I have NEVER, in person, come across a spouse who has "wore" their service members rank...I see some on the internet try to act high and mighty, but not in person. Frankly, I don't care if a spouse tries to "wear their service members rank". It doesn't effect me at all. And is it really that big of a deal when a woman wears her husbands rank patch on her ACU purse or diaper bag? Really? That doesn't mean she is walking around saying, "I'm Mrs. CPT MyShitDontStink"... I have an ACU purse that I use as my "Scentsy Brag Bag". Yes, it has my husbands rank on it... but guess what? HE WANTED IT ON THERE lol... So, in short, I really don't care if a spouse wants to act all "I'm better than you" b/c their service member is a specific rank. It doesn't affect me or anything I do... The only way it affects me is if I let it.

The last thing that gave me a little chuckle, while I was reading it via my phone, while having lunch with the hubs today was women saying they didn't care about their husbands rank. Really? I don't understand that. Do I care about YOUR service members rank? No, that has nothing to do with me. However, I do care about MY husbands rank. Why would I not care? Me saying I didn't care about his rank would be like a huge slap in the face to him. He joined FOR US, to get us out of the shit-hole town we lived in. He works his ass off FOR US, his family..he is making a career of the Army FOR US... so, yeah, let me just tell him, "Honey, I don't care about your rank...I don't care about all the time and energy you put into your career to earn that rank... I don't care about you being in charge of keeping guys safe during deployment while bullets are flying at your chest...all that you've done to earn your rank means nothing b/c I don't care about it." That would be a stab in the chest to him. He is proud of his rank and how fast he earned it and I'm proud of him too. Being proud of your service members rank doesn't mean you're flaunting it or bragging. And for those who don't care about their husbands rank, I wonder if they would care if he didn't move up in rank...or if he got knocked down. I bet that would change things.

Friday, March 16, 2012

Starting with just One Step

When I was a teenager I use to jog every night. Then I had kids and got lazy lol... I let myself go and before long I didn't know where to start to pick up the pieces and put myself back together again. Then I thought, "I'll start with one step."

I've been going through some personal things and I needed a way to get out some of my aggression...my anger..my hurt... I know I need to get healthy and lose weight so I decided to work on myself mentally & physically.. walking does both!

I grabbed my walking shoes, my iPOD Touch & my bottle of water and got my ass out the door. In the mornings I'll walk my daughter to school and then just keep going. For now, I'm aiming for at least 2 miles a day and I want to work up to at least 5 miles a day. I use http://www.jogtracker.com/ to track my walking. I have the app on my phone and the gps tracks it for me and directly uploads it to the site when I save it. It figures how far you walked, speed and calories burned. You can even add friends for support on JogTracker - look me up! My username is "jamielynn1027".

I like JogTracker because it is good to see my progress and you can earn nifty little "medals" lol I know it's only the internet, but it's cute =)

Walking helps me clear my mind and on the days I walk, I actually feel more energetic the rest of the day.

I have also been spending less time on Facebook b/c of my walking and it's wonderful!! As much as I love Facebook, I don't log seeing the negativity all the time...and sadly, as much as I want to, I can't control what other people post LOL Not reading all the negativity has positively affected me =) When you read and see all negative stuff, you slowly start feeling negative about things... and right now, I don't need it... I need positivity!! Facebook was poisoning my thoughts lol...

You can google all the benefits of walking and read about it, OR you can just get out there and do it and feel the benefits for yourself =)

BTW, I've lost 5 pounds in less than 2wks from adding walking to my (almost) daily routine. =)

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

AJ Fuller - My Heart Goes Out To You...

I received an email about a young child who is fighting terminal cancer. This is something that is extremely close to my heart...my mother died from cancer.

AJ's mother is an Army Wife and a member of my page - AWDIWH ... Upon learning about this and reading more about AJ, I have decided to share this everyone.

There is a hospital in Houston, TX where they can take AJ for a "last ditch" type of treatment... However, insurance won't cover it. AJ's mom and some of her friends decided to bring awareness to this to try and raise the funds.

Can you imagine if everyone on my page donated $3.00?

To read more about AJ's story visit - http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/ajfuller

Show your support by joining the Support Page on FB for AJ - Praying for AJ

Here is the link for the online fundraiser - https://www.wepay.com/donations/12022

Even if you can't donate, Please share for others to have the chance to help if they want to. Thanks =)

Thursday, March 1, 2012

My Morning Smoothie - delish!

Yesterday I bought a new blender so that I could start making my smoothies again. I find it to be cheaper this way than buying expensive meal replacement shakes. When I went to the commissary yesterday I stocked up on fruit (fresh & frozen), organic soy milk, protein powder and nonfat yogurt.

In my blender I used:
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup unsweetened organic soy milk (45 cals)
1/2 scoop 100% Whey Protein powder (70 cals)
1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt (50 cals)
1 Tbsp chia seed gel (10 cals)
1/2 banana (53 cals)
2/3 cup frozen strawberries (50 cals)

*you can add an artificial sweetner if you want, sometimes I do, sometimes I don't..

Follow the links to see the health benefits of the items I used (you can also just google yourself to find our more than what I provide):
Soy Milk
Whey Protein
Yogurt
Chia Seeds
Bananas
Strawberries

Here are my pics =)



It's yummy =)

Hearts & Stripes - Give-a-way Winner is *SARA BITTLE*

We had 72 ladies participate in the give-a-way contest!! Thank you all for participating and helping another site grow.

Our winner is *SARA BITTLE*!!

Here is everyone's name written down in the order they posted on Hearts & Stripes wall:



And here are the pics from Random.org where I chose the winner:



I will notify the owner of Hearts & Stripes and Sara =) Congrats Sara!!