Hello Fellow Bloggers! Welcome to my site. I Love Jesus and My Family. Among some of my favorite things to do is sing, dance and read. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/girltalk/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Mon, 27 Oct 2008 22:03:00 -0500 Mon, 27 Oct 2008 22:03:00 -0500   Wow I have not been on in quite some time. I have been really busy. Well I wanted to add this post before voting day comes up. This is a letter to Barack Obama from a regular man from Texas. I took it from a forwarded email I got. Well here it is: This letter was written by a man in East Texas as an open letter to Senator Obama. He really does exist and says anyone can email his letter around, just don't change it. If you know someone who holds to the theory that the rich have life easy and need to be taxed more send it to them. This man tells it like it is! ************* Mr. Obama, Given the uproar about the simple question asked you by Joe the plumber, and the persecution that has been heaped on him because he dared to question you, I find myself motivated to say a few things to you myself. While Joe aspires to start a business someday, I already have started not one, but 4 businesses. But first, let me introduce myself.. You can call me "Cory the well driller". I am a 54 year old high school graduate. I didn't go to college like you, I was too ready to go "conquer the world" when I finished high school. 25 years ago at age 29, I started my own water well drilling business at a time when the economy here in East Texas was in a tailspin from the crash of the early 80's oil boom. I didn't get any help from the government, nor did I look for any. I borrowed what I could from my sister, my uncle, and even the pawn shop and managed to scrape together a homemade drill rig and a few tools to do my first job. My businesses did not start as a result of privilege. They are the result of my personal drive, personal ambition, self discipline, self reliance, and a determination to treat my customers fairly. From the very start my business provided one other (than myself) East Texan a full time job. I couldn't afford a backhoe the first few years (something every well drilling business had), so I and my helper had to dig the mud pits that are necessary for each and every job with hand shovels. I had to use my 10 year old, 1/2 ton pickup truck for my water tank truck (normally a job for at least a 2 ton truck). A year and a half after I started the business, I scraped together a 20% down payment to get a modest bank loan and bought a (28 year) old, worn out, slightly bigger drilling rig to allow me to drill the deeper water wells in my area. I spent the next few years drilling wells with the rig while simultaneously rebuilding it between jobs. Through these years I never knew from one month to the next if I would have any work or be able to pay the bills. I got behind on my income taxes one year, and spent the next two years paying that back (with penalty and interest) while keeping up with ongoing taxes. I got behind on my water well supply bill 2 different years (way behind the second time... $80,000.00), and spent over a year paying it back (each time) while continuing to pay for ongoing supplies C.O.D.. Of course, the personal stress endured through these experiences and years is hard to measure. I do have a stent in my heart now to memorialize it all. I spent the next 10 years developing the reputation for being the most competent and most honest water well driller in East Texas. 2 years along the way, I hired another full time employee for the drilling business so that we could provide full time water well pump service as well as the well drilling. Also, 3 years along the path, I bought a water well screen service machine from a friend, starting business # 2. 5 years later I made a business loan for $100,000.00 to build a new, higher production, computer controlled screen service machine. I had designed the machine myself, and it didn't work out for 3 years so I had to make the loan payments without the benefit of any added income from the new machine. No government program was there to help me with the payments, or to help me sleep at night as I lay awake wondering how I would solve my machine problems or pay my bills.. Finally, after 3 years, I got the screen machine working properly, and that provided another full time job for an East Texan in the screen service business. 2 years after that, I made another business loan, this time for $250,000.00, to buy another used drilling rig and all the support equipment needed to run another, larger, drill rig. This provided another 2 full time jobs for East Texans. Again, I spent a couple of years not knowing if I had made a smart move, or a move that would bankrupt me. For the third time in 13 years, I had placed everything I owned on the line, risking everything, in order to build a business. A couple of years into this, I came up with a bright idea for a new kind of mud pump, a fundamentally necessary pump used on water well drill rigs. I spent my entire life savings to date (just $30,000.00), building a prototype of the pump and took it to the national water well convention to show it off. Customers immediately started coming out of the woodworks to buy the pumps, but there was a problem. I had depleted my assets making the prototype, and nobody would make me a business loan to start production of the new pumps. With several deposits for pump orders in hand, and nowhere to go, I finally started applying for as many credit card as I could find and took cash withdrawals on these cards to the tune of over $150,000.00 (including modest loans from my dear sister and brother), to get this 3rd business going. Yes, once again, I had everything hanging over the line in an effort to start another business. I had never manufactured anything, and I had to design and bring into production a complex hydraulic machine from an untested prototype to a reliable production model (in six months). How many nights I lay awake wondering if I had just made the paramount mistake of my life I cannot tell you, but there were plenty. I managed to get the pumps into production, which immediately created another 2 full time jobs in East Texas. Some of the models in the first year suffered from quality issues due to the poor workmanship of one of my key suppliers, so I and an employee (another East Texan employed) had to drive across the country to repair customers' pumps, practically from coast to coast.. I stood behind the product, and made payments to all the credit cards that had financed me (and my brother and sister). I spent the next 5 years improving and refining the product, building a reputation for the pump and the company, working to get the pump into drill rig manufacturers' product lines, and paying back credit cards. During all this time I continued to manage a growing water well business that was now operating 3 drill rig crews, and 2 well service crews. Also, the screen service business continued to grow. No government programs were there to help me, Mr. Obama, but that's ok, I didn't expect any, nor did I want any. I was too busy fighting to make success happen to sit around waiting for the government to help me. Now, we have been manufacturing the mud pumps for 7 years, my combined businesses employ 32 full time employees, and distribute $5,000,000.00 annually through the local economy. Now, just 4 months ago I borrowed $1,254,000.00, purchasing computer controlled machining equipment to start my 4th business, a production machine shop. The machine shop will serve the mud pump company so that we can better manufacture our pumps that are being shipped worldwide. Of course, the machine shop will also do work for outside companies as well. This has already produced 2 more full time jobs, and 2 more should develop out of it in the next few months. This should work out, but if it doesn't it will be because you, and the other professional politicians like yourself, will have destroyed our countrys' (and the world) economy with your meddling with mortgage loan programs through your liberal manipulation and intimidation of loaning institutions to make sure that unqualified borrowers could get mortgages. You see, at the very time when I couldn't get a business loan to get my mud pumps into production, you were working with Acorn and the Community Reinvestment Act programs to make sure that unqualified borrowers could buy homes with no down payment, and even no credit or worse yet, bad credit. Even the infamous, liberal, Ninja loans (No Income, No Job or Assets). While these unqualified borrowers were enjoying unrealistically low interest rates, I was paying 22% to 24% interest on the credit cards that I had used to provide me the funds for the mud pump business that has created jobs for more East Texans. It's funny, because after 25 years of turning almost every dime of extra money back into my businesses to grow them, it has been only in the last two years that I have finally made enough money to be able to put a little away for retirement, and now the value of that has dropped 40% because of the policies you and your ilk have perpetrated on our country. You see, Mr. Obama, I'm the guy you intend to raise taxes on. I'm the guy who has spent 25 years toiling and sweating, fretting and fighting, stressing and risking, to build a business and get ahead. I'm the guy who has been on the very edge of bankruptcy more than a dozen times over the last 25 years, and all the while creating more and more jobs for East Texans who didn't want to take a risk, and would not demand from themselves what I have demanded from myself. I'm the guy you characterize as "the Americans who can afford it the most" that you believe should be taxed more to provide income redistribution "to spread the wealth" to those who have never toiled, sweated, fretted, fought, stressed, or risked anything. You want to characterize me as someone who has enjoyed a life of privilege and who needs to pay a higher percentage of my income than those who have bought into your entitlement culture. I resent you, Mr. Obama, as I resent all who want to use class warfare as a tool to advance their political career. What's worse, each year more Americans buy into your liberal entitlement culture, and turn to the government for their hope of a better life instead of themselves. Liberals are succeeding through more than 40 years of collaborative effort between the predominant liberal media, and liberal indoctrination programs in the public school systems across our land. What is so terribly sad about this is this. America was made great by people who embraced the one-time American culture of self reliance, self motivation, self determination, self discipline, personal betterment, hard work, risk taking. A culture built around the concept that success was in reach of every able bodied American who would strive for it. Each year that less Americans embrace that culture, we all descend together. We descend down the socialist path that has brought country after country ultimately to bitter and unremarkable states. If you and your liberal comrades in the media and school systems would spend half as much effort cultivating a culture of can-do across America as you do cultivating your entitlement culture, we could see Americans at large embracing the conviction that they can elevate themselves through personal betterment, personal achievement, and self reliance. You see, when people embrace such ideals, they act on them. When people act on such ideals, they succeed. All of America could find herself elevating instead of deteriorating. But that would eliminate the need for liberal politicians, wouldn't it, Mr. Obama? The country would not need you if the country was convinced that problem solving was best left with individuals instead of the government. You and all your liberal comrades have got a vested interested in creating a dependent class in our country. It is the very business of liberals to create an ever expanding dependence on government. What's remarkable is that you, who have never produced a job in your life, are going to tax me to take more of my money and give it to people who wouldn't need my money if they would get off their entitlement mentality asses and apply themselves at work, demand more from themselves, and quit looking to liberal politicians to raise their station in life. You see, I know because I've had them work for me before. Hundreds of them over these 25 years. People who simply will not show up to work on time. People who just will not work 5 days in a week, much less, 6 days. People always looking for a way to put less effort out. People who actually tell me that they would do more if I just would first pay them more. People who take off work to sit in government offices to apply to get free government handouts (gee, I wonder how things would have turned out for them if they had spent that time earning money and pleasing their employer?). You see, all of this comes from your entitlement mentality culture. Oh, I know you will say I am uncompassionate. Sorry, Mr. Obama, wrong again. You see, I've seen what the average percentage of your income has been given to charities over the years of 2000 to 2004 (ignoring the years you started running for office - can you pronounce "politically motivated"), you averaged less than 1% annually. And your running mate, Joe Biden, averaged less than ¼% of his annual income in charitable contributions over the last 10 years. Like so many liberals, the two of you want to give to the needy, just as long as it is someone else's money you are giving to them. I won't say what I have given to charities over the last 25 years, but the percentage is several times more than you and Joe Biden.. combined (don't you just hate google?). Tell me again how you feel my pain. In short, Mr. Obama, your political philosophies represent everything that is wrong with our country. You represent the culture of government dependence instead of self reliance; Entitlement mentality instead of personal achievement; Penalization of the successful to reward the unmotivated; Political correctness instead of open mindedness and open debate. If you are successful, you may preside over the final transformation of America from being the greatest and most self-reliant culture on earth, to just another country of whiners and wimps, who sit around looking to the government to solve their problems. Like all of western Europe. All countries on the decline. All countries that, because of liberal socialistic mentalities, have a little less to offer mankind every year. God help us... Cory Miller just a ordinary, extraordinary American, the way a lot of Americans used to be. P.S. Yes, Mr. Obama, I am a real American... http://www.cmillerdrilling.com Copy and send this to all people you know who are planning on voting and those who aren't. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/girltalk/610972/ Mon, 27 Oct 2008 22:03:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/girltalk/610972/ Hello! Today's Sister Thursday idea is Sister of the Bride! This is something that we like to do every once in awhile. We like to make a snack and then talk about wedding dress ideas or even design our own. Also we look through our iTunes to pick out songs we think we should play at our wedding. Even if you aren't going to get married in a few years it is still fun to trade ideas and come up with the perfect wedding. Also we pray for our future husband and write love letters for our wedding day. You can also read a book about relationships and commit to sexual purity together. Also you can pray together asking God to help you find the perfect husband for you and your sister(s). Well talk to you next week about another idea for Sister Thursday. Au Revoir, Forever21 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/girltalk/552546/ Wed, 25 Jun 2008 13:33:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/girltalk/552546/ I apologize for not blogging for awhile. Every Thursday my sisters and me have what we call a Sister Thursday. We do different things with each other each week. So every Thursday I will post a new idea to use for those of you who have sisters. This weeks idea is: Reality Game Show Night! Pick your favorite Game Show and try to make it your own and then play it. Here are a few we like to use: Hell's Kitchen: Take your siblings and go into the kitchen. Make your favorite snacks and have one of you be Gordon Ramsey and taste the dishes. Only don't forget to be nice. American Idol: We like to pretend the others are judges and then pick our favorite song and sing. Another way to play is to write a bunch of song names on little pieces of paper and draw one from a hat. Deal or No Deal: We like to play this by taking cups and putting something like a piece of candy in one of them. Cover the cups with napkins and put little pieces of paper with numbers on them on top of the napkins. Shuffle the cups around and then pick one. Pick the rest one by one and see if the candy is in there. If your cup has it then you get the candy but if not then put it back and do it again. Family Feud: Since there is only three of us, we pick one who gets to be host. You as the host picks which questions get asked. Try to make them challenging but ones that you can answer. We don't use teams but if there are enough of you then you can make teams. Well here are just some our favorites but you can always make up more. I hope these help you have some fun with your siblings. See you next week when I give you another idea. Au revoir, Forever21 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/girltalk/550135/ Thu, 19 Jun 2008 19:53:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/girltalk/550135/ I apologize for not coming on in a while. My new topic is Miley Cyrus. As many of you know her from her TV show Hannah Montana, she is a fifteen year old with quite a bit of talent. She has made herself an awesome role model, with her good image and fun loving look on life. Her up-beat songs defiantly make my day if I am feeling down. But with her recent progress into her career I started to wonder whether or not she was such a good role model after all. With the very revealing pictures recently taken by Vanity Fair, it made me curious. I thought to myself why would a Christian girl who is so stong about her faith decide to reveal herself very inappropriately? Well I am sure some of you know that Hollywood, though the glamorous life the celebrities may seem to lead, they are all pressured into things that mostly would not be the right thing to do. Then the more I thought about it the more I started to feel bad for Miley Cyrus. She, if you really think about it feels the pressure to have to act grown up. Plus we at teens already want to grow up. So to imagine what it is like for her I decided to pray for her. I ask all you to pray not only for her but for other young celebrities that need help to keep away from all that pressure. Sincerely, Forever21 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/girltalk/537119/ Fri, 23 May 2008 19:10:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/girltalk/537119/ Who has heard about Purity rings? Well first of all a Purity ring is a sign of promise to God and yourself that you will remain sexually pure until marriage. Has anybody made that promise? I have. Now there is more things to wear than just rings. They also make purity necklaces. The best place to get rings and necklaces is: www.factory79.com . Their jewelry is on the nice but cheap end of purity rings. Hope this helps those that would like to have one. Sincerely, Forever21 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/girltalk/526549/ Sat, 3 May 2008 14:32:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/girltalk/526549/ Sorry I have not been on in a while. This weeks topic is God. Now for those of you that believe in God then I am posting some fun things to read below. I have read quite a bit by different Christian authors. One of my favorite magazines to read is Brio. It is a Focus on the Family magazine for teen girls. You can go on www.briomag.com and subscribe to one of their magazines. Below are some of my favorite books: Monster, This Present Darkness, and Piercing the Darkness by Frank E. Peretti: Monster wasn't scary so you don't have to be afraid to read it. This Present Darkness was a very good book but it's sequel Piercing the Darkness was way better. But I recommend reading the first one first so you can get used to the characters. Leota's Garden by Francine Rivers: I loved this book by Mrs. Rivers because of it's message. It has sad moments but in the end it was an excellent book. That should be enough to get you started. Focus on the Family has a lot of different books on teen problems that may be able to help you: www.resources.family.org I hope this helps you. P.S. My mom has read more books by Frank E. Peretti than I have and she says The Oath, The Visitation, and The Prophet were good.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/girltalk/522297/ Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:12:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/girltalk/522297/ Hello Bloggers, Today we are going to talk about fitness. It is getting closer to that time of year again when we are going to get swimsuits and hit the beaches. But we want to look really good in those bikini's. So how are we going to tone up and look really good? Well I have tried a lot of different things and have some ideas. Before I give info on equipment and such let's talk about fitness in general. It is good to work out at least three times a week for about fifteen minutes. Also a good idea is to stretch before and after a workout. You want to make sure you have water on hand so you don't get dehydrated. Ok now for the workouts. Running is really good for you and so is bike riding. Here are some inexpensive equipment you can get to help you. Cory Everson 8-piece Pilates set: Walmart, $19.99 This is a really nice set and makes me feel better as I workout. And is way cheaper than buying all the pieces individually. Cory Everson 4-piece yoga set: Walmart, $18.88 This is nice for those who want to do yoga because it comes with everything you need. Denise Austin has workout DVD's including pilates and yoga. Even though I find her a little annoying she is really good and the DVD's really help. Another idea could be to sign up at a local fitness center where they have lots of equipment. To make it more fun sign up with your mom, siblings or friends and workout together. Well that's it for this week. Hope all of this helped. Sincerely, Rachel http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/girltalk/510981/ Sat, 5 Apr 2008 09:30:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/girltalk/510981/ Hello Bloggers, This weeks topic is The Jonas Brothers (sigh)! I know that a lot of you know who the Jonas Brothers are but for those of you who don't. They are a pop/rock band that consist of three boys that are all brothers. Their last album that came out last summer is called The Jonas Brothers. Their new album yet to be released comes out some time this summer. They are also going to start their new tour called The Burning Up Tour on July 4. Also there is going to be a short series on Disney Channel coming soon that shows them back stage and during their everyday life. Their new show J.O.N.A.S. starts sometime in September. For those who are big fans go to www.jonasbrothersfanclub.com to sign up and chat with other fans. They also sell Jonas Brothers merchandise. Well that's all for this week so see you next time for more Girl Talk. Sincerely, Rachel P.S. Go to the following link to another blogger girls website. She has even more info on the Jonas Brothers: www.homeschoolblogger.com/njj http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/girltalk/510894/ Fri, 4 Apr 2008 23:12:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/girltalk/510894/ Hello Bloggers, Today's topic is Meg Cabot. Now as a lot of you might know she is a writer. Her most popular book is The Princess Diaries series also made into a Disney movie. She has written more than 30 books and also under two other pen names. Here is a review of a lot of the books I have read by her: The Princess Diaries: This series centers around a girl Mia who finds out that she is a princess. So far there are nine books in the series but there are more still to come. I like the series and can't wait for the upcoming novels. The books have a few similarities to the movie. The Mediator: This series of six books is about a girl named Susannah. She is a mediator (means she can see ghosts). I thought this a a very good series. Nothing scary. Victoria and the Rogue: About a wealthy heiress Victoria. I would say more but it would spoil it. I loved this book and it was very romantic. Every Boy's Got One: Jane Harris is going to her friends wedding in Italy. I loved this book as well. Very romantic but I found the ending a slight inappropriate. Teen Idol: About a girl who has to be a chaperone to an undercover celebrity. I found this book a little boring but nice. I hope that you girl bloggers if you love to read can find time to check out some of these books. Sincerely, Rachel http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/girltalk/510890/ Fri, 4 Apr 2008 22:59:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/girltalk/510890/ Welcome all my fellow bloggers to Girl Talk. This is were I will talk all about things that we girls love to talk about. I will update my blog with new things at least every week. So check back often for new entries. Here are some of my favorites: Color: Blue Food: Pasta or anything sweet Books: The Bible, This Present Darkness by Frank E. Peretti, Piercing The Darkness by Frank E. Peretti, The Princess Diaries Series by Meg Cabot, and many other books. Favorite Things To Do: Sing, Dance, Play with pets, Have fun with Family, Read, Sports, and Art.   http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/girltalk/510806/ Fri, 4 Apr 2008 21:02:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/girltalk/510806/