So there is no question that the weather that has been happening in the South this week is something not like anything that has been seen  before.  An EF-5 tornado ripped through Alabama and literally left almost nothing standing.  As of right now there are over 300 innocent people have been killed by the storm and the number is only expecting to rise as more and more people are pulled from the debris. 

According to Fox News, “(this is)…the nation’s deadliest tornado disaster since the Great Depression.”  This quote is referring to Tuscaloosa, Alabama and the disasters they are seeing for the first time in such a great magnitude.  Everywhere is stocking up on water and basic items anyone would need to survive during this difficult situation.  Fox also said, “The death toll from Wednesday’s storms reached 328 across the seven states, including 238 in Alabama, making it the deadliest U.S. tornado outbreak since March 1932.”  Tuscaloosa has seen almost 1000 people injured by the storm alone: there are 6 other states that were also affected by these storms.  One resident reported to CNN News that the storm was “like a silent monster.  It was just moving at a steady rate and demolishing everything in its path.”

According to the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center, The Enhanced Fujita Scale (EF Scale) was first introduced in February of 1971 by Dr. T. Theodore Fujita.  His goal in categorizing these tornadoes was by their intensity and area and estimate a wind speed associated with the damage caused by the tornado.  The scale is an F0 is gale force winds, F1 is a weak tornado, F2 is strong, F3 is severe, F4 is devastating and F5 is incredible.   

On top of worrying about helping everyone affected by the tornado, there have been several eyes turned towards Athens, Alabama, where the Browns Ferry nuclear power plant is located.  There has been no radiation leaking into the atmosphere that the workers knew of but the plant is remaining in safe shutdown mode just to be safe and until things in life are closer to back to normal. 

Just thinking about a storm as big as what everyone has talked about it almost unreal to really expect to happen in our world today.  Far too often, we are too naïve to ever think that something like that could happen to us. We see things like this in movies but we never expect it to happen in real life.  All over the internet are stories of people who went through this storm and it’s heartbreaking to hear some of them.  No one ever expected a storm to produce so much for such amount of time.  These types of tornadoes are uncommon and in the South they are even rarer. It’s scary to think how something as fast moving as a tornado can totally change these people’s lives forever and how far too often it does change everything these poor people know.    

Fed Up

So there are a few things that I am really tired of, so these will be my rant for the week. 

I’m tired of hearing about the Royal Wedding.  Yes, Prince William is now married to Kate Middleton and all that fun stuff, but there just comes a point when the media exhausts the story way too much, and there is no question that the point has well passed.  I won’t lie and say it wouldn’t be cool to have your wedding shown for the entire world to see, but when there are other stories, such as the tornadoes in the South that have taken the lives of over 300 American citizens, it just seems to me that we should be using our media to find ways to help those suffering Americans and not putting all of our attention on every detail of Kate’s dress or the fact that Prince William is choosing not to wear a wedding ring. 

Another thing that really has been bothering me lately is the lack of respect for individuals displayed by so many people.  People are willing to be the first to point fingers or name names when it involves someone else, but if it involves them, they keep quiet.  I’m tired of hateful and bitter people saying rude and unnecessary things about individuals they have never met, all because they are making assumption.  They will sit there and say anything they want, just to make themselves feel better.  And these horrible decisions are without a doubt rubbing off on our little children.  Children today have got to be some of the most disrespectful little things ever.  I am an education major so I spend 32 hours in Clinical Field Experiences and some of the children I see who do things or say things to these teachers are unreal.  It’s sad that because adults are so rude, it can often and most times does, influence what your child thinks of adults or other individuals. 

I wish there was a way I could change some of this.  Like the way children treat their elders as well as the way that they treat their teachers.  It’s sad to see the things these teachers do for these children, and the children thank them by saying horrible things to the teacher’s face as well as even behind their back.  It’s just ridiculous.

Oh and another thing I am fed up with: Charlie Sheen.   I am sick and tired of the man being ungrateful and just plain rude.  He wants attention and frankly he is getting exactly what he wants.  I think after the comments he made, the fact that Two and A Half Men was only stopped for the remainder of the season was nice; they could have just plain pulled the show for good.  So he’s lucky he didn’t completely lose it.  Ugh, people like this are a disgrace to humanity. 

But this is my rant for the week.  

Is it really the answer??

One thing that I absolutely hate hearing about is someone committing suicide.  No matter the person, no matter the situation, I absolutely hate thinking about it.  Just this week Fox News posted a story about two 14 year old girls, Haylee Fentress and Paige Moravetz, from Minnesota who had been bullied by their peers so much that they felt that suicide was the only way out.  So at a sleepover they created a suicide pact and they both decided to commit suicide.  One of the young ladies’ aunt claimed that her niece was teased about her appearance quite often.  She had been expelled from her school for defending her friend in a fight as well.  Her classmates claimed she was overweight and she had bright red hair, which they also used as a source of the teasing. 

The letters both girls left were very detailed.  ABC News reports that Haylee asked for everything pink, princess and butterflies.  There is no question that these girls had this entire thing planned.  Haylee’s aunt claimed that Haylee had even written on her Facebook wall that she really wanted out of the place she was in.  

But why at the age of 14 years old, or 8^th grade even, do we have students contemplating suicide?

Suicide is a topic a lot of people try to bury their heads in the sand about, but it seems that the more that people try to avoid the emotional topic, we are losing more and more people to it.  According the website Suicide Awareness  Voices of Education (SAVE), 1 in 65,000 children ages 10 to 14 commit suicide.  Suicide is the 3^rd leading cause of death for 15 to 24 years old in the United States.  The website also says that an average of one person dies by suicide every 16.2 minutes. 

Now looking at those numbers, those statistics are absolutely horrifying.  People are really killing themselves every 16.2 minutes?  Why would they want to? What would make them want to end their life completely?  I personally don’t think that I can ever say that I have been in the situation that the people I have surrounded myself with have ever come to that feeling, but I can’t be 100% sure either.  Suicide is not an answer to taking away the pain because in reality, it is only causing pain for the rest of the family that you are leaving behind and if you were married, leaving your spouse to handle everything on their own.  There is just no positive that comes out of it.

I wish there would’ve been someone who had noticed that these girls were in danger and that the teacher would have responded and done something  to prevent this situation from getting worse or having to end up where it did.  My heart goes out to the families of these two girls.   

Mission Accomplished :)

So my week this week was definitely not like anything I ever been through before.  I have mentioned previously that my boyfriend had left for boot camp 13 weeks ago; well this week is it.  The week I have waited for the past 3 months.  My Sunday was like usual and it consisted of church at home and spending time with the family before driving back to Joplin.  Monday I went to classes like usual and that night I packed.  Tuesday morning I woke up at 6:30am and my boyfriend’s parents came and picked me up.  We went to pick up his brother from work and we started the 1600 mile trip to San Diego.  We traveled all day Tuesday.  Like Joplin time, we started at 7:45am and drove until 12:30am but in time zone time, it was only 10:30pm.  That night we stopped in Holbrook, Arizona.  I swear all I saw over half the day were cacti and dirt along with a few mountains.  And then Wednesday morning after we leave I figure out that Holbrook is home to state penitentiary.  Definitely glad I found that out the next morning.  So Wednesday we got up early and continued driving.  We traveled almost 600 miles on Wednesday and by the afternoon we had finally arrived in San Diego, California.  I had never been to California before yesterday and let me just say it is completely different than little old Joplin, Missouri.  Then last night Chris’s brother and I spent the entire evening working on our t-shirts. 

So finally we get to today (Thursday.)  I know most people aren’t extremely clued in on what happens today in the life of a new Marine so let me explain.  Today is called “Family Day” here at the MCRD.  Chris was part of the Kilo Company and they were all to be graduating tomorrow.  Family Day consists of a 5 mile run then getting to spend the rest of the afternoon with our newest Marines.  So we get up at like 7 am here and get ready.  We then go listen to the drill instructors do some more talking.  Then we can see the guys run their 5 miles, which they follow with a shower and changing into their Charlie’s.   After this we get to see our guys for the first time in 3 months.  I told Chris I wasn’t going to be able to come for graduation tomorrow (which is also his 22^nd birthday) because I just had so much homework and work to get finished.  So as we are sitting in the bleachers waiting for the guys I see a smirk on Chris’s face: I think he just saw me.  They are freed from formation and he comes straight to me and gives me the biggest hug I’ve ever had.  Then all afternoon we are walking around post and every guy that Chris introduced me to responded with “Oh, so she did get to come after all.”  It was so great to be able to really surprise him for an event as big as this.  Tomorrow the newest Marines will graduate then they have their orders.  Chris’s orders require him to leave Tuesday morning for training from anywhere to 4-10 weeks. 

While it totally stinks having to give him back after just 10 days, but the look on his face today when he saw me was absolutely priceless.  I’ve missed this kid like crazy but being in his arms today made the rough past 3 months completely worth it.  

Double Standards for Girls Today

So I am really sick of the world telling people how to look.  I’m so tired of young girls feeling that they have to show as much skin as possible to get anywhere in the world.  I’m also tired of absolutely beautiful young women feeling disgusting and useless because they are not a size 2.  I am not putting blame on these girls; I have been one of them.  I am not large but at the same time I have a shape.  I have rather large hips (and in the words of my mother “all the better for making beautiful babies.”) but that is hard to tell a young girl fighting with herself for not looking like girls at school.  I can relate all too well of leaving shopping trips crying because every piece of clothing I tried on was made for tiny little girls.  It’s depressing on the part of the young lady feeling that way and it is definitely uncalled for. 

The media is by far one of, if not, the largest factor that makes this awkward, uncomfortable time in the life of girls, just a little bit worse.  This week on American Idol was yet another example.  CNN News posted the story about 19 year old Ashley Coffman who bought tickets to American Idol with a group of her friends.  Ashley and her friends arrived to the show and went to their front row seats.  Soon after Ashley was informed that she was too big for the front row.  Ashley at 5 feet 2 inches, weighs 150 pounds, was forced to sit in the back row and give up her front row seats to one of the most controversial episodes of the season.

Seeing this story absolutely made me livid.  This is supposed to be a show that caters to the teenage population and then they have the right to tell people whether or not they are too big to sit in the front row, which could possibly be broadcasted on television.  This situation just makes American Idol look shallow.  They are ultimately going against what they supposedly stand for and it is so double sided.  I really never had a problem with American Idol before, but after this story, I’m not quite sure I can watch the show the same.

This is supposed to be a show that encourages people and now, they are telling people they must look a certain way to sit in the front row.  In the video attached, Ashley was a beautiful young lady and there is NO reason or excuse for what American Idol did to her.  It is distasteful and just plain rude.  So often today girls have extremely low self esteem and this story is just another reason for these girls to feel that way.  I wish I could change the stereotype of how girls should be.  I wish each girl would realize what makes her the way she is and that she would take pride in that thing.  It took a long time for me feel like that and I hope not every other girl has to go that long as well.  

Oh. I, um, fell down the stairs for the third time this week...NOT.

Fox News reported a story today of a mother who drove her van full of her 4 children into the Hudson River, killing herself and 3 of the 4 children.  Her four children were the ages of 10, 5, 2, and 11 months.  The 10 year old boy was able to break the window and swim through waters of 45 degrees about 25 feet to shore where he then ran to the local fire station to get help.   He suffered from mild hypothermia but was expected to be fine.  The reason why the mother did this is still under question.  But she had been described by a neighbor as “…a very good mom. (who) took care of her kids.” Police do know that 10 minutes prior to the accident, they received a domestic disturbance call to the family’s house and when they showed up, mother and children were gone. 

In the local newspaper in Sweetwater, Tennessee posted just today was an article titled “Drugs, domestic violence in Madisonville and Vonore.”  One man was arrested for threatening to kill his wife if she told cops that he was in possession of drugs.  The lady’s husband also told her she “would be dead before the police arrived.” 

According to domesticviolencestatistics.org, every 9 seconds in the US a women is assaulted or beaten.  Domestic violence is the leading cause of injury to women – more than car accidents, muggings, and rapes combined.  Studies suggest that up to 10 million children witness some form of domestic violence annually.  Every day in the US, more than three women are murdered by their husbands or boyfriends. These are just a few statistics.

In 1983, Time Magazine published a cover story on domestic violence and even then, some of the statistics were shocking.  “A justice department survey counted 178,000 rapes during 1981, but for every woman who reported a rape to the police, perhaps nine or maybe 25 did not.”  The article also says, “The worst thing about family violence is its natural reproduction of itself, like a poisonous plant sending out spores. Most rapists were preyed upon sexually as children, and most violent criminals were raised in violent homes. Children of punched-out women, accustomed to seeing family business transacted with fists, are prone to become battered wives and battering husbands themselves. Worse, battered children grow up predisposed to batter their own offspring. Sexually abused boys often become pedophiles and rapists, while sexually victimized girls, perennial targets, are likelier to become battered wives.”  I could not have said this any better.

Domestic violence is something that so many women (and men) face on a daily basis and it’s just sick.  It’s pathetic that people feel the need to abuse their partners to the point that some are even killed.   Domestic violence towards women is significantly higher but there is still violence towards men at home as well.  All it takes is one time for a parent to freak out on another parent or the child and they could easily be doing the same thing as the young mother first mentioned, who took all by one of her children’s lives.  Hopefully, anyone who is a domestic abuse victim will stop it from happening in someone else’s and get it stopped within their own.  

Apple Juice or something a little stronger??

So I got on my computer earlier this week and my MSN Messenger came up on the screen with news stories.  MSNBC had posted a video from the Today Show dealing with drinking and texting while driving.  There is a new program out called “Every 15 minutes” and has recently started circulating in Maryland.  The school puts on a real life scenario of a drunk driving hitting a pedestrian and killing them.  It is cool that the some students in the skit are even related.  

According to the video “5100 teenage drivers were killed in alcohol or drug related accidents in 2009.”  The schools who choose to take part in “Every 15 minutes” use resources such as local law enforcement to help get the point across.  Every 15 minutes in these high schools the Grim Reaper walks around the school and pulls a student out of class, “Each one representing another classmate, another teammate, another friend who won’t be coming back.”  Then for the rest of the day (with the help of some costume makeup) these students walk to halls “dead.”  They cannot talk, receive phone calls or text for 24 hours to show what it would be like without having them around.  When the student is pulled from class, a police officer comes in a reads an obituary written by the “dead” student’s parents. 

So after watching this video, I decided to look up some statistics on my own.  I won’t personally take the time to discuss the entire page but AlcoholAlert! has some really great charts of so really interesting statistics.  I would really encourage you all to look at them.  The Century Council also has some shocking stuff on it.  It breaks it state down and the cases and has told us.  In 2009 there were 300 alcohol-impaired driving fatalities and 41 under 21 alcohol-impaired driving facilities.  72 % of alcohol-impaired driving fatalities involving high BAC drivers .  Of 12-20 years olds claimed in 2007-2008, 27% consumed alcohol and 18.4% admitted to binge drinking in the past month.  In 2009, 409 individuals under 18 were arrested for driving under the influence.  These statistics are absolutely crazy to even begin to think about. 

On www.buzzle.com they have an article about texting and driving.  One sentence states “The popular belief, that the number of teenagers texting while driving is more as compared to adults, got a major blow when the texting while driving statistics 2010 compiled by Pew Research Center revealed that 47 percent of the adults resort to texting as compared to 34 percent of the teenagers.”  I just thought that was a really interesting statistic.

I feel like texting and driving as well as drinking and driving are both problems that our society today faces.  I honestly can’t even think of a way to fix these problems.  It will be interesting over the next few years to finally see how these issues are dealt with.  

My vent for the week

So I’m definitely having a rant this week.  I cannot wait for April 22^nd to be here.  My boyfriend being gone has taken a really big toll on me emotionally.  A lot in the beginning and here lately, all I want to do is cry.  He was the one person who made everything right (besides my momma of course) but not having him here is tearing me up.

It also bothers me when girls put on Facebook all the time how they miss their boyfriend because they haven’t spoken in 12 hours.  It’s ridiculous.  It takes so much in me not to flip on them.  I’ve gone 73 days since I’ve gotten to talk him.  And what’s worse is it’s not just 73 days not talking to my boyfriend, it’s 73 days of not talking to my best friend.   I think that’s why it’s been so hard for me here lately.  I need my best friend to vent to and I haven’t had that, so I’ve bottled things up to the point it’s making me sick.

His family has been such a great support for me.  His dad was in the Army (and while the Marines are a lot different) he went through 2 tours of duty so his mom is familiar with what I’m dealing with, along with a few other people.  They frequently check on me and we go get ice cream and such, but it’s still not him.  I don’t have his hugs to make everything better.  I can’t curl up on the couch with them and watch scary movies and eat ice cream. 

Another reason I think things have been so much harder for me lately is that I haven’t gotten a letter from him in 19 days.  For those of you who don’t really know much about Marine boot camp (I sure didn’t when we 

started dating) but they go through 13 weeks of intense training and a week before graduation they go through the Crucible.  This is 54 hours of simulated combat.  If they can make it through that, they will become a Marine.  Well Chris was originally scheduled to leave April 26^th for boot camp.  On January 22^nd he found out he would be leaving January 24^th.  We had 2 days to say our goodbyes.  We went from planning movie nights for the next week, to figuring out what he needed to take with him.  It was such a shock for me; I grew up never really having anyone in my immediate family in the military.  I never knew that the military does things on their own time.  So he left me January 24^th.  Over the past 2 almost 3 months I’ve gotten 6 letters from him.  The last one I received was dated March 13^th.  I think that’s what is killing me the most.  The guys in his platoon (he is in San Diego so every recruit out there is male, unlike Parris Island, which is male and female) go through the Crucible next week.  And to ensure he will get my letters, the last ones I can mail will be this week. 

But little does he know, I am going to his graduation.  I forgot to mention, his graduation falls on his 22^nd birthday.  He thinks I have tests and homework that week which would prevent me from being able to come.  He just thinks his parents and brother will be the only ones coming.  Well, I am going to go out with his family to see him graduate.  On top of that, his best friend and her husband are also going to be there to see it as well.  I write him every night before I go to bed and it’s so hard not to mention something about being out there.

I’ve just got to stay focused for 2 more weeks then I am home free.  He will get to come home for 10 days then he goes to 2 months of job training.  But I will be able to handle that because we will get to talk every weekend.  I will be sure to keep you all up to date about how graduation goes.