It has been a while ...

I know it has been a while, but I was trying to figure out what to write after the trip was done.  I think I may have it.  There are so many historic parks around us and the photo opportunities are too much for me to resist, so I will be posting pictures and writing about the locations and I will hopefully have several places picked out so you can see what is coming.

It will not be a weekly post, but I am hoping for at least twice a month on the parks. 

In between those I am hoping that I can post about our new volunteer work, I am still waiting to hear back from All About Equine Rescue on what we need to do.

I hope to post pictures of the family working on the ranch.

I recently took pictures of Cam and Annie at the Folsom Powerhouse State Park ... or what I have come to call the Mecca for family photographers.  Almost annoyingly so, with photographers running over you because you have a little camera and could not possibly be a photographer of any skill.

I was slightly irritated.

Here are my favorite shots.

"The Folsom Powerhouse is part of a colorful chapter of Sacramento history and is also an example of the tremendous advance in the commercial application of electricity. H.P. Livermore realized that the water of the American River could turn generators for electricity in Sacramento, 22 miles downstream. With his partners, Livermore built the powerhouse, which still looks much as it did in 1895.

The opening of the powerhouse brought with it a "grand electric carnival" parade through downtown Sacramento and a 100-gun salute from a detachment of soldiers near the substation. Vintage generators are still in place at the powerhouse, as is the control switchboard, faced with Tennessee marble. "


I will have to go back and take pictures of the actual Powerhouse ... It is pretty sweet ...

That is all for now.  I have to wake everyone up and get them ready for the day.

Have a great day!

 

Hello again ...

A friend of mine shared a link with me today (thank you Chrys) that I have to share with as many people as I can.  It is pretty amazing, but it is also very real.  It hits close to home for me, because Breast Cancer runs in my family.  My grandmother died from it and my aunt is a survivor, and I guess I never really "saw" until now.

 What I am talking about is The SCAR Project:  Breast Cancer Is Not A Pink Ribbon.  Like everyone else out there, I know about Breast Cancer.  I know what it does and I know someone who has died and someone who has survived.  I support the foundations and I race for the cure, but I never really saw.  I never really saw what Breast Cancer took away; I knew, but I never saw.  Until now. 

Their Mission:

The SCAR Project is a series of large-scale portraits of young breast cancer survivors shot by fashion photographer David Jay. Primarily an awareness raising campaign, The SCAR Project puts a raw, unflinching face on early onset breast cancer while paying tribute to the courage and spirit of so many brave young women.

Dedicated to the more than 10,000 women under the age of 40 who will be diagnosed this year alone, The SCAR Project is an exercise in awareness, hope, reflection and healing. The mission is three-fold: raise public consciousness of early-onset breast cancer, raise funds for breast cancer research/outreach programs and help young survivors see their scars, faces, figures and experiences through a new, honest and ultimately empowering lens.

Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer deaths in young women ages 15-40. The SCAR Project participants range from ages 18 to 35, and represent this often overlooked group of young women living with breast cancer. They journey from across America – and the world – to be photographed for The SCAR Project. Nearly 100 so far. The youngest being 18 years old.

Although Jay began shooting The SCAR Project primarily as an awareness raising campaign, he was not prepared for something much more immediate . . . and beautiful:

For these young women, having their portrait taken seems to represent their personal victory over this terrifying disease. It helps them reclaim their femininity, their sexuality, identity and power after having been robbed of such an important part of it. Through these simple pictures, they seem to gain some acceptance of what has happened to them and the strength to move forward with pride.

David Jay has given me the gift of sight.  He has reminded me the reason I race for the cure, the reason I support the foundations.  I think I lost track of that somewhere along the way, as I am sure may of you have as well.

We tend to lose sight of what really matters.  We become complacent in life and we forget to fight when we really need to fight.  This is not a shock and awe.  That is not why I want you to look at the pictures and read the web site.  I want you to look at the pictures and then I want you to look at all of the people you love and I want you to remember why we race and why we fight.

I love you Aunt Charlotte. 

Still standing

We are still standing and we are hanging in, but it is getting close.
Things really need to start falling in place, and soon.

Still looking for a home, may have found yet another possibility.  While we were talking to the guy remodeling the house, he asked what we did in Iowa.  Shane told him what we used to do and the guy perked up when Shane told him what I used to do. 

He took my information down and is passing it on to an attorney they work with.  Pretty cool, but I was supposed to be the one staying home.  I have an interview on Monday with a company that is ultra secretive and is leaving me wondering if I will have a black hood in my future.  (LOL!)

I cannot tell you anymore on that one.  (Seriously.)

It seems that I am in demand more than Shane.  He is getting a little too excited about being a stay-at-home dad.  I am not liking that one too much.

Marissa is having fun in school.  She is in ceramics and has discovered that she is quite skilled sculpting things.  She takes after her great-grandmothers.

Annie is already going to a sleepover at a friend's house and is going to TRL on Friday night.  She is looking forward to it.

Marissa has been accepted into the Anime club (well, her friend brought her and told them that she was a part of the club now ...) and she has been invited to her friend Darian's house for movie night, which is funny because we always had those at our house.

We are still standing and still moving forward, but I am really looking forward to living in an actual home and not a hotel room.

Roseville is a nice place and it is close to a lot of fun places.

With love - Jennifer

First Blog Ever - By Annie Ludwig

Hey guys this is my first blog ever, hence the title, so it might be short, you have been warned!
We are still trapped in a hotel room, hopefully not for long. We go out though, so it isn't to bad. Today we went and saw Chipwrecked and it was hilarious!When we do go out there are always people dressed for a winter in Iowa! It makes me laugh, they look at us like we must be insane, but we are not more insane than the usual. It's weird being able to walk outside in a tank top and not freeze to death in the middle of December. Now onto Christmas! On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer, on Vixen! On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner, on Blitzen! And Rudolph...our Christmas was good even without a home, I got a lot of stuff and its all really cool. It's to much to put in a paragraph so here I go with a bullet list!

• Skirt and leggings from Marissa
• One scarf from Cameron
• One camera from The Harringtons
• One awesome laser game from The Harringtons
• One cool mystery book from The Harrigtons
• One balance bracelet from The Olsens
• One knitting kit from Parental Units 55023
• One Xbox (early Christmas) from Parental Units 55023 
• One makeup kit from Parental Units 55023
• One $50 giftcard from Parental Units 55023
• One Runts candy cane thingy from Santa
• One FunDip book thingy from Santa
• One Eos lip balm thingy from Santa
• More makeup from Santa

Okay, I felt like I was creating a grocery list there. If I missed something contact me through Facebook or Parental Units 55011 or 55012 (add 11 and 12 to understand why I chose those numbers). So it was a fun Christmas, and its not over yet! We still have some gifts to receive so I will thank those in the next blog, yes there will be another. Well that's all I shall write this time, there may be more next time but for now I am good. Good morning, good afternoon, good evening, good night to all!
                                                                                                                                            Love,
                                                                                                                                               Annie <3

It's still Monday here, Uncle Bill - By Marissa Ludwig

I have arrived! Because I was told to. By a giant.

Being the day after Christmas, I guess we can discuss what I received so far (some gifts are still en-route). Come friends and neighbors! Let us make a list!

• A Domo blanket from Cameron. For those who are unaware of who/what Domo is, the best description I can give is that he's a big square monster thing. And he's cute.
• Pikachu pyjama pants and a really strange set of earrings from Ms. Anastasia. The pants are deliciously tent like (they're rather large on me, just how I like them). The earrings are appropriate for someone of my random tendencies. One is a large heart and the other is a dangly mess of feathers, chains, safety pins, spikes, and sparkles. I think it fits my insane insanity.
• Incense burner from my parental units. WICKED. Five-headed dragon. The incense cones go inside and the smoke comes out of the dragon's mouths. Whaaaaaaat? Yeah, it's pretty neat.
• Pants, also from the parental units. And you know the pants are odd. Bright red with a black snakeskin pattern (I am incapable of dressing like a normal person).
• An Xbox, still from the parents. That's for the family, not just me (sadly). I quite enjoy the shoot-em-up games like Battlefield 3 and Call of Duty (the newer CoD, better graphics/gameplay). I'm really eager to play Skyrim when we get it, and both Alex and Harrison assure me I will become an addict.
• Walking Dead board game from (dah dah dah DAHHHH) the Harringtons. I have yet to play it, so no review for you!
• The Thirteen Days of Christmas and A Christmas Homecoming, more from the Harringtons. Read the first, still need to read the second.
• A waterproof camera (more Harrington). Useful, because I'm going to take photographs by the ocean and possibly under it. Hey, maybe I'll find Atlantis.
• Shirts! Alex Martin, my best friend. She bought me a bit of Iowa pride in the form of a t-shirt that says "Des Moines : Hell Yes!" Then my pocket-sized adopted sibling designed and printed a custom shirt for me that has a mustache and simply states "It's A Must-"
• A small panda, again from Alex. I've named him Bop and I keep throwing him at Annie's face. He's proven to be quite useful.
• A pack of stick-on mustaches. Once more Alex's doing. And I'm wearing one on the first day of school. May as well let California know what it's dealing with.
• A hope bracelet from my Minnesota relatives. I will also wear that on the first day of school.
• Four new duct tape rolls from Santa. He also got me Fun Dip (because colorful sugar is great), Red Hot candies, and a three-month Xbox LIVE membership (my gamertag is MAScooter1027, if that's of any use to you).

That concludes my Christmas gifts as of now. As I mentioned earlier, some are still on their way.

Not much else has been going on. Text Alex and Harrison* a lot. Go to the humongous malls and laugh at the "gangsta" boys strutting around. Did you know sagging your pants originated in men's prisons to let the other inmates know they were "available"? The more you know, the stupider people my age seem. We've been ice skating a couple times. Cameron has shown serious improvement and can now skate quite a few feet without any help. We went and saw the new Chipmunk movie today and hearing today's popular music in squeaky voices did not make the music any better. It was an okay movie, I suppose.

I don't really have that much more to say at the moment. My next bloggy bit is set for Wednesday (I promised the giant every other day), so I'll see you then. PEACE OUT HOMESLICE!!


~ Marissa

*Bill, Harrison is my boyfriend. I think you would love him and I want you to meet him sometime. No, I'm not scared of you. Brat. :)

Made for TV

We just completed our interview with the television station so we will see what happens.  I do not know if we will make it on TV or not. 

We talked a lot about why we made the move.  We all miss Iowa for our various reasons, there is no doubting that.  We all miss our friends and our family, but we really think this was a good move for our family.  The possibilities for our children are so much greater.  What we have already seen and experienced is more than we would have if we had stayed in Iowa.

We were not expecting for things to take this long.  We seriously thought that we would have a home and be settled by now. 

If we make the news then I will link the story here.  Hopefully, if we make the news, someone will take a chance on us and give us a break.  I know that is a lot to ask, but it would make a really great Christmas miracle for our family.

Here's to Hope and Christmas Miracles.

Love always,
Jennifer

Fighting back ...

It is no secret, I have let it be known that I am tired of the scams I am running across while looking for housing.  I am fighting back.

I have emailed the local television station my little story and I am sending them my emails that I have received from these scammers.  I will be calling and talking with them regarding our trials later today.

I told you I was mad.  Now I am doing something about it.  I told Shane that I wanted my money back from that apartment that we applied for and I will also be talking about those people as well.  There was no reason for them to do what they did.

I have four emails (that I kept) from different people all claiming to be on a mission for one reason or another and they need a good family to take care of their home and all they need is some information.  The information is worded in a way that when they ask you for more personal information that you will not feel that it is out of line.  All they need is for you to send them a small deposit and first and last months rent and they will mail the keys to you from Malaysia, Africa, or England.  Yeah right. 

The thing that burns me is that people do it and there are people that fall for it.  They are not asking for millions of dollars, it is such a small amount and they are doing "God's work" after all.  It is only $1,800 after all and for a three bedroom home in a nice neighborhood. 

I have to admit, they are getting better, they are now taking pictures of the inside of the homes.  How can they do that if they don't own it or if it is a scam?  Well that is what I am trying to find out.  I could speculate all day on how they are doing it, but I will let the news investigators do that part.

I will let you know what, if anything, happens. 

Love always,

Jennifer

San Francisco is awesome ...

San Francisco and everything in between

After Fremont we decided that it was time to see San Francisco. Wow!

We are staying in a pretty cool motel (we could have stayed somewhere cheaper,

but this one had a second room and we all needed another door.

If you have never been to SF then you should know that the scenes that you see on the TV or in the movies do not begin to give you the true feeling. Driving here is insane. Think of it this way, on some streets it is like you are on a roller coaster. You know that feeling of when you are getting ready to crest the top of the tallest peak on the coaster and your stomach drops and it feels almost like you are weightless and falling ... Yeah well, that is what it feels like on some of these streets.

I am not a big fan, although Cameron and the girls really enjoyed it. I fear for the breaks on the van.

Shane gets a kick out of my reaction. He will be getting slapped somewhere along the way.

We are at the top of a street. I now know where the term, California stop came from too.

You cannot come to a full stop on some of these streets. You will never get going again.

The hills are that steep. The photo above is from the crest of one street.

So we spent three days in San Francisco. I totally recommend a tour bus that you can hop on and hop off of. Well worth the money and there is usually a stop near where you are staying.

And just so you know, unless you have been to the City then you have no idea what fog really is.

Lisa Hopkins made the "Cat Ear Hat" that you see Marissa sporting in some of the pictures,

the "Jellyfish Hat" was made by Alex "the Amazing" Martin.

Marissa's hats have turned more than a few heads.

This one is by Alex Martin, the awesome ...

Marissa has one in pink as well ...

This one was done by Lisa Hopkins.  Lisa makes and sells some pretty awesome hats,

she also has some pretty awesome helpers too. 

I totally recommend checking this out.

I have linked her Etsy page, but she is also on Facebook.  JellyBeanDreams.

We took a tour bus and we really wanted to get to China Town so we did not get off at the Golden Gate Bridge. Shane said we could go back the next day (two day bus tour package), but we spent too much time on the Wharf and then we all really wanted to go the the Ripley's Believe it or Not museum. So still no bridge. Shane said he would take me the next day ...

Here the kids are in front of the Golden Gate Bridge ...

The picture is clear, it is the fog that makes it cloudy.

and a shot of the bridge.

So when we finally get settled (which better be soon) then we will be going back to the gate and I will get my pictures. The kids were laughing at me because I told them that no matter how they felt about me and my camera they were going to get their picture taken in front of the bridge.

So I may not get them to do it again. They told me that this counted.

We saw Santa and the Grinch ...

Free headphones on the tour buses allowed for us to learn some really cool things. We passed "Postcard Row," which is the really pretty houses you see in most postcards of San Francisco. Also the same houses that you have seen in Mrs. Doubtfire and Full House.   Pretty cool.

Hopefully I will be able to go back to San Francisco to take all the pictures I can

possibly take without all of the photo haters.

Here is a shot of the Gate on a clear(ish) day and while we were on the bus.

China Town

I was so excited about seeing the roasted duck in the window ...

A public bathroom. LOL! The bathroom cleans itself after each use. The door locks for 55 seconds while it cleans the toilet and floor. You only have 20 minutes to do your business, then the door automatically opens. There is also several buttons for summoning the police.

It was really cool, but inconvient when all 5 of us had to go at the same time,

so the 55 second cleaning cycle was really long.

We took a very worth-while tour of San Francisco that I recommend you take if you ever go.

Even if you have been there before, you should take the tour.

We only got off in China Town on the first day because we all really wanted to go to China Town and we spent the better part of a day there. It was amazing. We would all live there if we could. We even looked for an apartment. You could say that we also left our hearts in China Town.

A place that we never ate at but intend to when we go back to San Francisco...

(Notice that they season their garlic with food ... yum ...)

I believe this was the location of Francis Ford Coppola's offices for the movie side of his life and also where Mario Puzo and Saint Francis wrote my favorite movie scripts ...

We spent a few days in San Francisco and could not find any housing for a family of five,
so up we went to Sacramento, the capital of California. 

Before we left the City, we stopped by Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum. 
That was a ton of fun for all of us, very interactive and totally worth the price of admission. 
We laughed, we were grossed out, and thoroughly entertained. 

Yes, I did the Zoltar machine, on the Wharf in the Ripley museum. 

The world's tallest man ...

This was too cool not to take a picture of ...

Marissa taking a photo on her cell phone of a portrait of Jimmy Hendrix done in cassette tape.

The Sacramento Zoo is where we go next ...

There were tons of animals and they were all really cool, but I do not like taking pictures of animals when all you can see is cage.  So I only take pictures of the animals when I can get a clear shot.

 For my brother Bill ...

We got to feed the Giraffes, which was really cool and close.

I love pink flamingos.  I don't know why, but they are amazing to me. 

I think I took 50+ pictures of them alone.

 

We have a membership to the Zoo. 

We are finding it is cheaper to get memberships than it is to go to most places more than once. 

I never realized it before, but we have a large family by most standards.

We went to the mystery spot in Santa Cruz the other day.  Now, I am sure it is all optical illusion and just tricks that your brain plays on your optic nerves, but tell that to my stomach.  My stomach was doing flips and I could not walk without holding onto something.  It was insane.

I am standing as vertical as I can in all of the pictures. 

The camera is not tilted, yet everyone in the pictures are. 

Shane is up a wall, Marissa is flying, Cameron is hanging, and Annie is flying.

Here is a link to the Mystery Spot website for more information and some videos ...

The kids said that their minds were officially blown.

We toured the Jelly Belly factory.

(Take a virtual tour) 

The reason for so few photographs is because they would not let me take pictures while on the tour.  That was not cool with me, but everyone else thought it was funny.

President Ronald Regan was a huge fan of Jelly Belly, and they even created a new flavor just so they could have red, white, and blue jelly beans for President Regan.

Read all about it and more fun facts here.

As far as updates on our living situation,  we are all going to kill each other if we do not get an apartment or a house soon.  We have been looking this entire time for a place to call home.  We have applied for several places and nothing is working out the way we wanted it to.

Shane is getting together with a placement agency this afternoon to

see if he is a fit for a position that they are interviewing for on Wednesday.

You cannot get a home (even with a years rent in advance) without a job.  One place called us back and asked that we come in for an interview.  It was awesome, we were so excited.  We waited for three days for our interview.  It was a gated community that also did low income housing, but was not exclusively low income.  We were desperate at this point, because we needed to get the kids in school and this was a good place, clean and friendly and it had a place for me to volunteer.  It was pretty perfect for our immediate needs.  We talked for a long time to a very nice lady who double and triple checked things for us so we were not wasting our time and money.

We showed up a few minutes early and waited patiently

and made conversation with the front office staff.

They made a big production about lugging all these various forms into a different room where

they asked that we join them and we waited a little longer. 

After a few minutes they came in and sat down after introductions were made. 

There was small talk about us and our family and what we planned on doing for jobs

and why we moved here from Iowa ... It was all really positive.

After all that talking they told us that there was nothing they could do for us.  They suggested that we go down the street to another apartment complex or (since we did not have jobs) that we could go get on welfare, just be sure that we do not tell them we have any money in the bank and then they could help us then.  No, I am not joking.  They wanted us to lie so we could get on welfare so we could get an apartment that we could already pay for. 

I have never been proud, if you need help get help.  I have been on welfare before when we lived in Oklahoma and used it because we needed it and got off of it as soon as we could. 

There is no reason for us to be on it now.  None at all. 

I broke down and cried. 

I did not even get mad for a few days. 

That one broke me pretty hard. 

For them to make this huge production and to bring up my family's hope for a home to just squash those hopes is lower than the lowest scum.  How could someone, anyone be that cruel?  You could have said no at the beginning of the process, you knew then that there was nothing you could do.  You were asked several times if you could help us.  You were asked before we gave you $75, just to be sure.  You knew then.  I want my money back.  See, now I am mad and that is bad.

We are still looking, always looking.  Driving around the places and neighborhoods that we would like to live in, always looking for a place to live.  We will keep looking, but I am about done with this "adventure."  My spirit cannot take much more of this.  We are going to find an extended stay hotel in the area we want to live in (where they have many houses and apartments) with good schools and we are going to try to enroll the kids in school there. 

Hopefully something good will happen soon.

 

Looking for my Christmas Spirit ...

Love always,

Jennifer