Why I love America

I have thought of what I should write about the last few weeks and nothing has come to me until tonight. This has been a big news week with the Supreme Court deciding on two important items. The first being SB170 and the Affordable Health Care Act. I love politics and I love the 3 equal branches of government set up in the Constitution of the United States. This week we have heard people on both sides of the aisle talk about how they won and how what happened is good for America. While, I am a registered Republican I am more Independent than anything. I am very conservative on how I want the government on any level to spend my tax money, but more liberal on some social issues.

Next week will be the Fourth of July, one of my favorite holidays. Why, you might ask? I love America! There is not a better place on Earth to live. This nation was and still is a nation under God. We might be losing some of that but, we still are that. I know that it seems like God is taking a back seat in our great nation but I know with prayer He will be in the front seat again. The Pilgrims and other early settlers to the United States before it was the USA left for religious freedom. This is not my opinion this is a fact! No matter how many people disagree, this is history. The Founding Fathers were believers in God.

One of the great lies that have been taught for years is that it says in the first amendment of the Constitution, “separation of church and state.” This is not true! This quote is found in a letter the Thomas Jefferson wrote to the Danbury Baptist Association. It is our duty as citizens and as parents to teach our children these things. We cannot expect teachers to teach this at school. Yes, some great history teachers will teach these facts but many will not. Yet, as parents we expect teachers to do so.

Why I love America is simple, my grandparents taught me and the older grandchildren in their family to love our country. When we went to parades growing up we were taught to stand when the American Flag went by. Back then it was disrespectful not to, and my Grandpa Philpot would not have been okay with that. We knew growing up that we lived in the greatest country ever! The next thing my grandparents taught was the importance of voting. Other than my grandma saying, “Oh, hell Bob,” her next most important quote was, “If you don’t vote you can’t complain.” I remember when my grandfather died it was the day before Election Day when Vice President Bush was running against Governor Dukakis. I didn’t vote that morning I wanted to get to Utah as soon as I could. I remember my grandmother saying what good time I made on the trip. I explained that I had left very early. She then asked if I had waited for the polls to open so I could vote, I said, “No, I wanted to get here.” She was upset and reminded me that Grandpa Philpot would have wanted me to vote. This is one of the reasons that I take my kids to vote every year. I don’t early vote or mail in vote, mainly because I want the sticker so that my students will know how important it is.


So as we celebrate this great nation’s birthday in a few days we need to decide a few things. First, are you happy with the direction the country is taking? Second, do you want your children and your grandchildren to have to pay higher taxes to pay down the debt? Third, is government too big in your eyes? Fourth, are you happy with how your Senator or Congressman or Congresswoman has voted? Lastly, I would like to quote a President Ronald Regan quote, “Are you better off today than you were four years ago?”

It is not the governments’ job to take care of every little thing for us. One of my biggest problems with “Obama Care,” is the fact that people voted for it when they hadn’t read the bill. Now most of us don’t read the terms of agreement on things we sign up for on the internet. But, if I agree to that the company can always come back and say, “Well Flo Fallis you marked the box that said you read it so you have to agree.” But, there are Senators that have said, we didn’t need to read it to know it was good law. Really, because I think when I sent you to Washington reading was one of the requirements. There are parts of the bill that I think are important and I do think that something needs to be done with health care. I don’t think any person with any intelligence doesn’t think we need to do something.

So this Wednesday when you are eating your BBQ and watching the fireworks, talk to your kids about the importance of the day. It is not just another day to go out on the lake and play, or hang out with your friends. It is the birthday of the greatest nation on Earth. I am grateful and blessed to be a citizen of this great nation. God Bless America!

Bucket List

I have been thinking a lot about what is on my bucket list; no I am not dying or have a terrible disease, at least not that I know of. Growing up there were three big to do items on my list; become a wife, a mom, and a teacher. Well two out of three isn’t bad. Since then I have added one more item, go to a Major League Baseball game. I didn’t care where or which team was playing just that I could go. Well this weekend my bucket list will be complete. You might say, “Flo, what about being a wife?” Yes, at sometime in the future that would be nice also.


As I think about my list being complete I wonder what I should add. I am not a real outdoors person so going camping in the woods for a week won’t cut it. I am not thinking that skydiving out of a plane sounds like such a good idea. So what should I add? I was thinking that one thing I would like to do is to get my masters degree in Educational Leadership. Special Education is something I would really like to get it in but, I don’t want to work solely in SPED, and with that degree that is what would happen. I have thought about getting a passport. It is something that I should have but, it isn’t like I have anywhere to go and why get a passport if you are only going to Nevada, Utah, or California for vacation. I would like to become a crafty person but I really think either you are or you aren’t and heaven knows I have really tried my hand at that.


So what do you do when everything on your list is complete and you can’t think of anything else to do? I guess you ask for help. I need some ideas that might make my list. This might seem silly to some people, of course those people have a long list or have done a whole bunch of stuff. I would like some ideas from my friends those of you who know me best. You might have some insight that I can’t think of. I am pretty content with the life I have now. Yes, there are some things I wish I could change, but those are things that I can’t do anything about now. You can’t live in the past because if you do you will make yourself sick.

So please let me know what you think I should add to my list. I would hate to think that at the age of 42 (I know I look way younger) I have accomplished everything I wanted to do.