If you have not yet voted

I received an email forward today, and thought it was too important and too compelling not to post here. This is from Randy Alcorn on his blog, randyalcorn.blogspot.com, but I agree with it probably 100%. Even if you normally stop reading the second you see "abortion" because you think it will be another crazy, dogmatic Republican Christian who equates the party with loving Jesus, please don't. Randy is not John McCain's biggest fan, and neither am I. But his point is still very valid I think:

When someone says, “Abortion isn't the only issue,” I agree. If neither candidate were committed to the legalized killing of people, any people, then I would say, by all means weigh and measure those other important issues and make your choice. But can you seriously argue that these other issues trump the killing of millions of innocent children, not just now, but in the decades to come under a pro-abortion Supreme Court that could have been a pro-life Supreme Court? Don't you believe that though there were other issues in Nazi Germany besides the killing of Jews, Gypsies and the disabled, that all those other issues were trumped by that one?

I am not excited about John McCain in every area. But when I compare him to Barack Obama in the overriding issue of our day, the right of preborn children to live, there is a stark and radical difference. In America right now, the rights of Jews to live is not on the table. The right of unborn children to live is on the table. The killing of the unborn is the holocaust of our day. Where do you want to have stood on this issue? Where do you want the man you vote for to have stood on it? If your grandchildren ask you one day whether you voted for or against the right of children to live, what will you say?

Would John McCain be a great president? I don't know. Maybe he wouldn't even be a good president. There are so many claims by both candidates that their words seem like wind to me. I don't feel like I know a lot. But I do know for certain that one candidate defends the right of the unborn to live, and the other is utterly committed to be sure that it remains legal to kill them. In one sense I'm not voting mainly for John McCain. I am voting for McCain because it's my only way in this election to vote for the right of unborn children to live rather than die.

Now, if you think that's an overstatement, that the difference between the candidates isn't that great, or they will not influence the future of abortion in this country, I challenge you to look at Obama's dogged commitment to the legalized killing of unborn children, backed up by his 100% pro-abortion voting record. And look at McCain's repeatedly stated commitment, also demonstrated by his voting record, to oppose the legalized killing of children. If you think your presidential vote is not for or against unborn children, you don't understand the significance of the Freedom of Choice Act or the significance of the balance of power of the Supreme Court with the Obama judges who are certain to be pro-legal-abortion and the McCain judges who are virtually certain to be anti-legal-abortion.

But is it too strong to say that Obama is “pro-abortion”? He’s not pro-abortion, just pro-choice, right? Wrong. What would you think if a politician said, “I'm not pro-rape, I'm simply pro-choice about rape. And though I would not choose to rape a woman, I believe that every man should be free to rape a woman if that is his personal choice.” And what would you do if that politician promised the rape lobby that if he is elected president, the first thing he’ll do is to sign legislation that would invalidate all the state laws that restrict rape in any way?

I don't think that anyone has the right to vote for a candidate who is committed to legalized abortion unless you are willing to watch the video link below showing you exactly what abortion does.

http://www.abort73.com/HTML/I-A-4-video.html

If you are not viewing the video to see what happens as the result of an abortion, then I hope it's because you know the truth. But if you refuse to watch this because it is too horrific to look at a dismembered child, then don't you think abortion is too horrific to be legal? And too horrific to be supported by your candidate? And too horrific for you to vote for by voting for him?

Things I've learned in 4 days of being engaged

1. Facebook is ON IT... they already have every ad that shows up on my pages geared toward weddings!
2. It's harder than I thought to make sure the ceremony and reception sites are not too far from each other, distance-wise.
3. The initial budget vs. guest list examination can give you a heart attack (or at least elevated blood pressure).
4. Wade can only stand talking about wedding things for an hour or so before he needs to do something else for a while and take a break :).
5. Looking at bride magazines is way more fun than working (and way more fun when you're engaged than before that).

Engaged!

On Sunday, October 19th, Wade surprised me with an EARLY morning proposal and a day trip to New York City!

He woke me up at 5:30 a.m. and read a couple Scripture passages about husbands and wives, and then just said "Kim, will you marry me?" I had tears running down my face as he read the Word to me, and then I just hugged him and finally got the "yes" to come out of my mouth and not just scream in my head :). He took out my mom's diamond ring and told me that we would go together soon to pick out my own setting for her diamond. Then he told me I had to get ready because we had a big day ahead of us.

I didn't know what we were doing, but I got ready and we drove off in his car, and I couldn't believe it when we pulled into the airport! Then we checked in and I saw the destination was New York City - total craziness :).

We actually got bumped to first class on the way there - nice - and then we arrived early for our first activity, so we walked around Central Park for a little bit.


My handsome fiance (!) in Central Park


Showing off the ring :)

By 10:30, we had made it back to Hunter College for church at Tim Keller's church, Redeemer Presbyterian! It was awesome to start our day and our engagement with worship and great teaching.


After church, we had reservations for lunch at Tavern on the Green. The picture above is on the way there, walking through Central Park again.


I had a very STRONG drink at lunch made of peach schnapps, mango, grapefruit and vodka. We learned that this was a restaurant much more concerned with presentation than with quantity, as Wade ate his 4 tablespoons of crab bisque and 1 waffle for like 25 bucks :).


After lunch, we made our way across the city to Times Square. It was busy and crazy and loud like New York is, but really pretty weather by that point - it had warmed up enough to feel great in the sun and chilly in the shade. While we were there, Wade was taking a picture of me holding up my ring hand, and this cute lady came up and said, "It looks like somebody just got engaged - do you want me to take your picture together?" She was so nice and took 3 pictures from different angles (not at our request - she was just so excited, she kept saying "and one more"). She said she was there celebrating her anniversary with her husband, and she just so excited for us it was so cute. As she was leaving, she said enthusiastically "Have a great day... and have a great LIFE!" Too funny.


At 3:00 we had tickets for The Lion King! Of course you weren't allowed to take pictures inside the theater, but the show was so amazing! All the colors and songs and amazing costumes - it was incredible, even with a screaming 2-year-old sitting directly behind me. The show was almost 3 hours long, so when we got out it was about dinner time.


We wanted to do something New York-y and didn't have a ton of time before we needed to head back to the airport, so we grabbed a slice of pizza at a little place and then got ice cream (one of our favorite things to do :)).


After that, we walked around for a little while longer, and passed Radio City Music Hall and Rockefeller Center.


By that point, we were getting REALLY tired, so we decided to just go ahead and get a taxi back to the airport. We called a bunch of family and friends while waiting for our flight, and then finally got on the tiniest plane ever, crunched ourselves in our 3 square feet of space, and made it back to Charlotte at 11:30 p.m., utterly exhausted and happy :).

It's still so surreal and crazy to call Wade my fiance and start to plan wedding details (out loud - you know I've done my pre-preparations behind the scenes ;-)). But I couldn't have imagined a better man to spend the rest of my life with, and I know my mom loved him and would have been so proud and excited for us now. His parents will make the best inlaws, and my dad gets another son-in-law to tip the male-female balance in our family his way.

Stay tuned for updates on the plans :).

Paisley turns 2!

Happy birthday sweet Paisley!  You've grown so much :).

First and last beach trip of the summer

Last weekend, I spent 4 days at the beach with some of my best friends from college.  It was GREAT to get away, to catch up with everyone, to be silly and girly, to get a little sun, and to have great conversations about our lives with these girls who know me, love me and share an unbreakable bond.

From L to R: Marcy, Jessica, Susie, Lindsay, Diana & me

Friday night, we stayed in and cooked pasta for dinner...  and perhaps had a little too good of a time.  Let's just say, the wine in Marcy's hand was only the beginning :).

Saturday night, we went out to dinner to a little Mexican place we found...  not seafood, but it was much cheaper and had gluten-free options for Marce.

We live around the corner from each other in Charlotte, and yet we had to drive 4 hours to the beach to actually catch up and hang out!  Marcy and I had an interesting time finding gas in the small SC towns we passed through, but luckily it all worked out and we didn't get stranded.

Diana displaying the plate where her Mexican food once was.

I got home from the beach to find a WONDERFUL surprise waiting for me - my leather chair finally fixed from where Paisley chewed it up last summer!  Wade's parents wanted to get it fixed as my birthday present, but the leather shop was booked from June til September, so they just got it done now.  

If you can't tell, they replaced the leather on the front part of both arms and both sides of the ottoman.  It's not an exact color match to the original leather, but I think the variation gives it a little bit of character & uniqueness :).  I can finally sit in the chair without worrying about stuffing falling out and having to cover up the eyesore with a blanket!  THANKS ROD & JOLI!

No photography tricks here

I promise I did not pose Paisley like this... I just looked up the other day and she was in exactly this position. She's so funny and cute.




Also, my car recently hit 100,000 miles! The '99 Honda Civic has served me well. At this rate, it'll last until I'm 35 (though I hope it doesn't have to).