My 2010 Book List So Far...Part 2

I visited Reagan's Boyhood home and Eisenhower's home and Museum this summer. So, it worked out well that I was in the middle of reading the above book on Eisenhower. I also bought a book on First Ladies at one of the gift shops, and found out some fun things about Mamie Eisenhower. When she was First Lady she conducted morning business meetings from her bed, and she halted whatever she was doing each day to watch her favorite soap opera (of course, there was no DVR back then ;-))!

Below I have updated my list. The titles in blue are the ones that I've read since the last post.

Here are the books that I have read so far:

1) Going Rogue: An American Life~~Sarah Palin
2) 365 Ways to Live Cheap!~~Trent Hamm
3) Sarah~~Kaylene Johnson
4) Margaret Thatcher, Britain's "Iron Lady"~~Doris Faber
5) Madam Prime Minister~~Libby Huges
6) Margaret Thatcher~~Bernard Garfinkel
7) Praying God's Word~~Beth Moore
8) Finding Peace in Life's Storms~~Charles Spurgeon
9) I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced~~Nujood Ali w/Delphine Minoui
10) The Girl Friend's Bible~~Cathy Hamilton
11) Wit and Wisdom of the American Presidents~~Joslyn Pine
12) Our Presidents...At a Glance~~Rolf Benj. Vinmont
13) Clarence Thomas~~Vicki Cox
14) Uncle Bert~~Hulda Hoover McLean
15) The Power of Prayer in a Believer's Life~~Charles Spurgeon
16) The First World War~~Paul Dowswell
17) Tad Lincoln~~John D. Weaver
18) Uncharted Territori~~Tori Spelling
19) The Official Record of the Oklahoma City Bombing~~Oklahoma Today
20) Finger Lickin Fifteen~~Janet Evanovich
21) A Pictorial Biography Ike~~William F. Longgood
22) Women in the First World War~~Neil Storey and Molly Housego
23) First Ladies of the White House~~Nancy Skarmeas
24) Plum Spooky~~Janet Evanovich

Here are the books on CD that I've listened too:

1) Feminist Fantasies~~Phyllis Schafly
2) Blue Skies, No Fences: A Memoir of Childhood and Family~~Lynne Cheney

Previously:
Book List 1

Two Weeks in Review!!

I have been to Dixon and Aurora, Illinois, Out-in-the-Boonies, Michigan and St. Louis, Missouri in the past 2 weeks! As a result, I've ignored my blog and have a lot to catch up on.

--The pictures above show me at Ronald Reagan's Boyhood Home in Dixon, Illinois! The one is of me with a cardboard cutout of Reagan (obviously). Several people thought my picture of Sarah Palin and I was a cardboard cutout, so I took this one to show people what it does look like ;-)!!

What I missed reporting on:

~~Ecstatic about Proposition C passing by 71%

~~Bummed about the outcome of the Clay County Auditor Race

~~An interesting perspective on the 34th District Senate Race

~~More on the Iranian Woman Stoning Case
Shocker!! She was tortured before her "tv confession". What has been done to this woman and what continues to be done to women all over Iran is reprehensible. We as women from free countries need to start speaking up for our sisters who have no freedoms.

~~Obama shocks no one by supporting a controversial Islam Center near 9/11 site
Sickening!! After seeing the OKC bombing memorial I can't imagine having something to celebrate the likes of Timothy McVeigh close by. Talk about adding insult to injury.

Yet, in his classic decisive nature, he then backtracks his support. What a leader we have, what a man of solid convictions...... I guess he gets a little weak spined when he sees that 2/3rds of the American people don't support something.

Dwight Eisenhower Presidential Museum!

Freedom from fear and injustice and oppression will be ours only in the measure that men who value such freedom are ready to sustain its possession-to defend against every thrust from within and without.--President Dwight D. Eisenhower

I thoroughly enjoyed the Eisenhower Museum. It was well done and I added to my history knowledge.

Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial Museum!

Americans will come here and be better people for having walked through the Memorial Museum.--President George W. Bush on February 19, 2001, dedication of Memorial Museum

We will never forget. One hundred sixty-eight lives were lost that bright, sunny morning more than nine years ago. Children lost moms and dads; brothers lost sisters; mothers and fathers lost innocent, irreplaceable children, including unborn children.

We will not forget because, in this nation, we are dedicated to the fundamental belief that every life is precious. We remember the achievements, the dreams, and the potential of those who were lost. And it is because we hold every life precious that this nation will never bow to terror.--Attorney General John Ashcroft, on May 3, 2004, dedication of Federal Building

I took a short trip to Oklahoma this past week and was able to go to the OKC Bombing Memorial. I, like anyone else that was alive at the time, remember exactly where I was at the time it happened. I was a new Mom at home and my husband called me and told me to turn on the TV.

Yet, this was before I became a political/current events junkie, so I didn't pay much attention to the details. As a result, I learned a lot going through the museum, as did my 14 year old son who was with me.

I was amazed at several things:

--168 people died
--That more than 300 buildings were damaged or destroyed
--850 people were injured
--How quickly they were on the trail of Timothy McVeigh

The Survivor Tree
This 90 year old American Elm survived the bombing, and is therefore now called the Survivor Tree.


This message was spray painted on the wall of the Journal Record Building by a team of rescue workers.


I bought the above book, The Official Record of the Oklahoma City Bombing and I'm already half way through it. It is a great, detailed account of what happened with plenty of pictures and short biographies of each of the 168 people who lost their lives.

Iranian Woman's Possible Stoning Finally Sparks Worldwide Outrage!

So many women don't have basic human rights in the Middle East. Sakineh Mohammadi Ashtiani's story is just one of many women who face executions for crimes they don't even commit. After international pressure, the Iranian embassy is now saying that Ashtiani won't be stoned. Yet, reports had been out that she had been convicted of adultery and had been sentenced to death by stoning.

Sean Hannity and scores of others were speaking out, while noticing Obama's silence. Nevertheless, this time it appears enough may have spoken up.

Yet, it doesn't touch the problem that millions of women face all over the Middle East. Since, I am doing research on women this year, I have been reading about just such women. Over the next week I will be touching on some of the very stories that have popped up recently dealing with the plights of some of these women:

~~I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced
~~U.S. Journalist Roxana Saberi Finally Freed from Iranian Prison!
~~The Stoning of Soraya M.

Governor Sarah Palin and I!!

I got my picture taken with Governor Palin at the Winning America Back Conference back on May 1st and we finally got the pictures. I liked the picture, except next to Sarah I kind of looked like a pale Cullen vampire ;-)!

Related:
~~Tammy Bruce's Sarah Palin Interview
~~Draft Sarah For RNC Chair

Happy Independence Day!!

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men (and women ;-)) are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happines!!~~Thomas Jefferson

God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood, always brings tears to my eyes. A great song about our great country.


John Stossel had a great show on Fox last night entitled, What's Great About America. It reminds us of why we can be so proud of our country.

Previously:
~~2006 Independence Day
~~2007 Independence Day
~~2009 Independence Day

Eclipse Premiere!

We attended the Midnight premiere of the 3rd movie in the Twilight Saga, Eclipse. Several of my friends came and I brought my daughters and 5 of their friends.

It was even crazier than New Moon because kids weren't having to get up for school the next day. AMC also decided that they would change how they opened up the theaters and it wasn't a great plan. Yet, the movie was good and of course, worth it. We will be back when Breaking Dawn comes out ;-)!!

Related:
Twilight!

I Miss George W. Bush!!

President Bush gives his Facebook Inaugural Address!! He is working on his memoirs which will come out on November 9th. He is also working on the George W. Bush Presidential Center.

Inspirational Woman #1--Liz Bohannon!

My focus this year is on heroic women. I'm trying to focus my research and reading on women that I find inspirational. I decided that whenever I find a woman worth highlighting, I will do a post on them and I'm turning it into a series.

Thus, my first post is on a woman right here in Kansas City who traveled to Uganda. I found her story fascinating for several reasons. For one, my youngest son and I were memorizing the countries of Africa during school this year. We also had read and prayed for various countries in Africa, including Uganda, using Samaritan's Purse's Prayer Point.

Liz Bohannon not only traveled to Uganda and wanted to make a difference for the women living there, she actually has made it happen. She went to Uganda in 2008 and she wanted the women there to get an education. The main obstacle for them was of course money, so Bohannon came up with a way to overcome that obstacle.

The plan was simple, but took a lot of work and ingenuity on Bohannon's part. She came up with a way for Ugandan women to make sandals for her to sell here in the U.S. The result:

Now 24, Bohannon is running an international shoe business and changing the lives of young women in Africa.

The sandal business hasn’t put any money in Bohannon’s pocket yet, but it is growing. Last year Sseko sold 1,000 sandals online. This milestone was crossed in the first four months of this year.

In the U.S., women have taken to throwing Sseko house parties, displaying and taking orders on the sandals.

About a dozen area boutiques have committed to stocking the sandals, and several have placed big orders. Bohannon hired an American woman living in Uganda to manage the east African operation and the shipping.

Back in Uganda, 12 women, ages 18 to 22, get a monthly salary that in some cases is more than the combined annual income earned by their entire family.

I found the story amazing and inspirational, but not shocking. Women love shoes!! If more of us took the time to not only care about a situation, but to make a difference, the world would be a different place. Liz Bohannon has set a great example for us all!!

To read the rest of her story and to find out how to get a pair of the sandals yourself, go here!