Why I March....

On October 24, 2016, I voted early. I voted early with tears in my eyes because I was voting for a candidate that I felt was so immensely qualified - that also happened to be a woman.

 

A candidate I believed in so much, I spent months and months campaigning & volunteering for. I spent hours after work phone banking, doing signs - you name it.

When I shared that photo on a "Women for Hillary" supporters page -- for the sole purpose of chiming in on the "I voted for her today!" chatter --- the number of  men that came out of the wood works to inform me what a dumb, emotional female I am. How I needed my eyes opened, how women shouldn't be allowed to vote (because after all, women aren't very informed, they couldn't actually have done any research if they voted for Hillary!), how they should "show me" what a woman's REAL place in the world is. How I couldn't possibly be very intelligent or I wouldn't have voted for her. It went on for DAYS,  I couldn't log into Facebook without tons of messages waiting for me to harass me.

I'm sure I was supposed to be intimidated by these "men" hiding behind a computer attempting to tell a woman where they thought her place was.

All it did was make me angry. And it's been two months and I'm angry again.

I'm angry that I keep being told I should "get over it, Trump won!"

I'm angry that I continue to be told by men (usually privileged white men that don't have any worries about their rights!) that I have equal everything, that I should just shut up about all this. 

I'm angry that in 2016, Brock Turner was sentenced to 6 months (served 3) in jail for raping an unconscious 22 year old female. The victim was shamed for drinking & causing it to happen. And then that very same year, we elect a guy who brags about sexually assaulting women without their consent -but want women to shut up and accept it, there's nothing to worry about.

I'm angry that a man elected for the highest office in the country can publicly mock a disabled person & people want me to just stop talking about it and insist that's not what happened, that he was in the right.

I'm angry & I'm tired & I'm not letting people silence me.

I have nothing good to say about Trump. I of course don't wish for his failure. But I also won't sit back and "get over it" and let his horrific behavior be normalized, and ensure no one criticizes him.

As most of you know, my sweet Paige turned 18 last year. She's smart, feisty, with a ginormous heart - I'm so proud of the amazing young lady she's blossomed into. I don't know how I got so lucky to be her aunt, but I sure am thankful I am. Her future has been in my mind since February 28, 1998.

I am terrified that she is entering adulthood in Trump's America.  A time where a man can make a comment like:

"I'm automatically attracted to beautiful [women]—I just start kissing them. It's like a magnet. Just kiss. I don't even wait. And when you're a star they let you do it. You can do anything ... Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything."

And still be voted President & his comments be laughed off as "locker room talk". That we should "get past it", that most men say things like this. (Since Trump's election, we've already had a man arrested for grabbing a woman's genitals.) We elected a President that commented he would expect his own daughter to quit her job if she was being harassed. He still stands by his tweet that sexual assault should be expected in the military if we're allowing women to serve.

THAT is who people try to tell me is going to better the country. For who, exactly? Cause it certainly isn't for women.

I won't "get over it". I will do anything under the sun to ensure that Paige can do anything she wants to do. That she goes through her life feeling respected. And valued. That she deserves - - and should demand -- equal rights. That she knows her body is hers and she deserves the right to choose what happens to it -- and that no man should touch her without her consent, period. That she should stand up for anything she believes in. I want her to break every glass ceiling that is in the way of wherever she wants to be.

It is for that reason that I joined sooo many others and marched this weekend.
2017 Nashville Women's March:

 

 

 

(I really thought my heart was going to explode when we started seeing so many Leia signs. I totally thought we might be the only Star Wars nerds with Leia signs at ours!)

 

Ch-Ch-Changes.....

I've lived in the same place for almost 7 years. I've had my share of complaints, but I genuinely love my place. With landlords who didn't really care what we did......this place became "home" very quickly. I love Nashville oh so much, and this part of Nashville is where I have been for over 10 years - I can't imagine not being in this immediate area.

But unfortunately, we loved it more than the landlords. We took wonderful care of the place, we hired fantastic lawn guys, we painted - this place has been well maintained by the tenants for years. But the "big" stuff that needed to be done kept being ignored by the landlords. When they finally sent someone out last year, they told him to do a patch job only. (Which doesn't solve a major mold problem brought on by a major pipe problem nor does it solve the floor in the bathrooms giving out enough for someone to fall through!)

A neighbor let us know that the landlords put the place on the market in September but didn't mention it to us. As soon as we said something to them on 1/4, they sent us a generic letter telling us to go ahead and be out in February. Gee, thanks!

I'm not upset they put the place on the market, but I sure wish they had told us and actually communicated with us - especially given how long we've been tenants and how much love and work we put into this place. A little bit of communication would make this so much smoother.

So I threw myself into looking for a new place in the past two weeks. Success -- and now the time to pack has come. Who knew this was going to be such an emotional transition? When did I basically become Maggie Seaver going from room to room thinking of when I moved in and all the great memories in this place? I know every neighbor in this area.  I know everything that goes on in this area. I cried having tea on the front porch today because tea on the front steps has always been my thing & I miss it already.

Fortunately, I'm only going 2 miles away - so I'm still in the area I love and know like the back of my hand. The neighbor on the other side is going a mile, so he's close and we'll easily be able to meet up for our lunches and dinners. And we've discovered the mold in the place is what's causing some of my health issues -- so this is a genuine good move.

Doesn't mean I'm not gonna miss this place like crazy. And all the great memories here. I'll miss little making a cup of tea on Halloween and going outside to  Cliff's porch and sitting around talking & passing out candy to the kids. But change is good. And I'll embrace the upcoming changes.

And still cherish the memories of sleepovers here when littlest love was a little smaller!

Rock Springs

 

I'm far from a huge nature girl. My idea of camping is a cheap hotel.  But I sure do love getting to photograph it sometimes.

Rock Springs is beyond beautiful.  Getting away from everyone for the day was also beautiful. Not a sound in the world except the splash of water at the creek.

 

cannot even comprehend....

 

Just heartbroken today.

Spending the day on the Natchez Trace to get the hell away from humanity.

And then tomorrow I'll start listening to HRC.

 

It's kind of fun to do the impossible.....

Oh my heart. My love for Disney is so deep, y'all. My dream job is forever and always at Disney Animation Studios. Maybe I'll be like 78 when it happens, but it will eventually!

Until then, my heart is fulfilled with my constant Disney trips. This time I didn't take the kiddo with me & went on a girls trip with one of my best friends. A few days at Universal so we didn't skip out geeking out over Harry Potter World, a week at Disney.....solves 90% of my problems. (Okay, not really, but it does make me happy!)

First of all, let me say that Universal was such a bust this year. Thank goodness for Harry Potter world, because otherwise we literally wouldn't have even bothered going back our last day. The customer service was so terrible --- to the point we got kicked out of Moe's because it was like 30 minutes to closing and employees wanted to leave early?

 

Thank goodness for Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

We stayed on Disney property, so by the time we got back to the resort, we just wanted to hug just about every cast member we saw for being so amazing to us.

We did Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party (um hello, HOCUS POCUS PARTY), and we specifically went during free dining promotions soooo we paid for just about zero food! I think we paid for two meals -- one sit down at Epcot, one breakfast with characters. We ended up with extra credits at the end of the trip.

We mixed the time up really, at all the parks, although Magic Kingdom holds my heart - which is where most of the time was spent.

A brief run down.....(maybe next year I'll actually day-by-day each park!)

 

Hallowishes

 

GUYS. MY LITTLE SNOW WHITE HEART CAN'T HANDLE THIS. 

 

I took the most ultimate Nicole photo ever....Starbucks at Magic Kingdom. 

 

Stormtroopers totally stalking me.

 

Can I move to the Haunted Mansion? I want to be there 24/7.

I needed this trip. And I'm working on next years NOW. Because I dont know how the next four years could potentially be....I may need all the happy places I can get!

I'm baaaack....

It's apparently time for me to get back in the swing of blogging.....

Not only to have my outlet back, but for all the trips I have coming up.

Slowly getting back into the swing of it, and making some changes. Back full time super soon.