I admire these strong women

Since I can't find batteries for my camera, I have to push back my first installment of "Becoming a Super Awesome Homesteader." And instead I'll tell you about two women who I truly admire.

Ok, you might disagree with me, and think I'm a bit strange. And that's totally fine.

But I love these two women:

Mrs. Michelle Duggar! and Victoria Beckham


"Weird!" I hear you shout to your computer!

"How?! They're so different!" I hear you call out incredulously!

"No Way!" ...well, you get the idea.

But yes, these are two women in the popular media who I really like and whose adventures I really enjoy reading about or watching.

They may, at first glance, appear to be total opposites, with one being a former international pop star and the other being a homeschooling mom in Arkansas.
But they do share a few similarities.

Michelle Duggar and Victoria Beckham..."They've got something in common!"

1. They both adore their children
Yes, Victoria has 4 while Mrs. Duggar has 19
But through their many interviews and articles, you can see that both women love the fruit of their looms...loins.


2. They both adore their husbands
Victoria and Michelle BOTH GUSH over their husbands:
Victoria...over David's sexiness and how well they suit each other
Michelle...over Jim Bob's humble godliness and how he's the spiritual leader of their home.

(I can respect both feelings, and I feel the same way about my Sicilian! I absolutely adore him. Even when we quarrel, I usually forget like 2 minutes later, and seek him out so we can play scrabble, or so he'll read to us or kiss me. )

3. They both love fashion
It may not be apparent for Mrs. Duggar at first glance, but she DOES enjoy fashion, she's just not dedicated to it. And it's BABY fashion she favors, especially baby hair bands with GIANT FLOWERS attached, and leopard print baby carriers.
Victoria...well, we all know she's becoming a fashion icon in her own right, not only wearing haute couture creations of fashion house legends, but also creating her own lines.


4. They're both relatively financially set and self-sufficient.
With this one, I have to include their families, since their wealth is not singular, but familial. And being "self-sufficient" doesn't mean that you're an island onto yourself. When both you and your spouse can publicly lean on each other for love and support...to me that shows you understand something bigger than your ego: the human need for companionship.

But I think both women (and their families) DO show amazing self-reliance:
Mrs. Duggar's family's motto is: "buy used, save the difference." This enables them to live in a luxuriously grand home they not only paid for, but built to their own specifications. They live debt free. They have income from their TLC show and also the many real estate ventures in which they participate. They Duggars also garden so they can harvest fresh produce and they even make their own laundry detergent!
I have to say that I like Mrs. Duggar's approach a bit more, since it's sustainable...they grow, they save, they flourish. (Yes, they need to recycle a bit more though! I wish one of the many people who complain about this family's carbon footprint would actually offer them some assistance in becoming more eco-knowledgeable!)

Victoria and her family are also self-reliant when it comes to money: Her husband is a multimillion dollar earning sports star. But Posh (Victoria's nickname) also has her own funds: she was a very popular popstar in the 90s, with international success. Remember "Girl Power?" But now, Victoria has taken the fashion world by storm, with her own self-named label, producing dresses worn by stars and dignitaries all over the world. She also recently debuted a handbag collection, to accompany her jeans and eyewear lines.

So both Victoria Beckham and Michelle Duggar are doing well in their finances.

And while I really respect both women, for their differences, as well as their similarities...I'd have to say there is one thing I really appreciate about Mrs. Michelle Duggar: her outright love of God.

It's not too often that people talk about God in the media, without being put in the crazy catagory. The only other person that I can think of who has talked about God in recent years, was Kanye West, with his "Jesus Walks" song. If you don't know it, or immediately cringe because of the name "Kanye West" google the lyrics, and just read them, as you would any other text. Dissect them and see what you get out of it.
I'd be very curious to know your take on it.

ANYWAYS!

I feel that Mrs. Duggars vocal appreciation for all her blessings and her dedication to learning and developing spiritually, puts her a bit ahead of Posh for me. I just feel like, I would LOVE to be as elegant and funny as Victoria Beckham, but I would LOVE even more, to be as sweet and kind and gracious as Michelle Duggar.

AHHHH! I really can't choose! I love them both!

Who do you favor?

(I say they are "strong" because they both stand up to adversity and slander and don't stray from what they believe in. They are both dedicated to family. And they just exude different types of strength at different times: quiet, humble, motherly, daring, exuberant, protective, attractive, feminine. )

So angry, so tired, so hungry so MAD!

Hello Dear Readers,

I'm so MAD right now because I'm at my fiance's lab. His LABORATORY-well at least the one he has to work in for today...

If you say "laboratory" with a British accent: "La-BORE-i-tree" it sounds really romantic~*~*. But let me tell you, there's nothing remotely romantic about it!

2 weeks ago, I actually saw a Huge RO@CH carcass on the main floor of the university! I almost just died...I mean come on!

So anyways, yes, why a Laboratory is NOT romantic:

1. Bugs- the scuttle out from around chairs, or you'll think you're safe until you see a carcass. Ewww!!!

2. THIS particular lab is Grimey. It's like, have the students never heard of the word "mop" or "soap" ?

3. The students who regularly work in the lab, are absolute gargoyles. I mean, they are AWFUL women who scream and bicker and let their children run around the lab and fall onto the floor that is littered with shards of broken glass. And those ...gargoyles...have just really been verbally abusive. I wish I could act as childishly as they do and throw a punch! Or at least a good hard slap! Whap! But...I'm a grown up lady and I will not sink to their level. Plus I'm trying to be good, like 2 of my strong female role models: Mrs. Duggar & Victoria Beckham <3 (odd pairing?) But anyways: Yes people, these gargoyle are future professors. There are mental degenerates in all factions of life. Academia seems full of them for some reason. I guess I'll have to keep my identity semi-secret, bc I want to go to grad school. :D So yes, Why laboratories aren't romantic: 1. Horrid Bugs 2. Grimey work space 3. Mentally degenerate gargoyles I guess those are the top 3 reasons. I just had to get that off my chest. In MY world, the laboratory would be clean. It would be a space with wood and glass, letting in sunshine and smelling faintly of "pinesol". It would be filled with Jules Verne-esque aparati, lots of glass bobbles bubbling away with iridescent slightly viscous liquid or softly erupting with voluminous translucent vapors, pouring down the sides. Highly erotic...if you like that sort of thing. I guess it's not erotic at all actually. But to me it is, so whatever! Maybe that's why I 'm with a scientist. Ok, so anyway. There'd be copper & gold instruments, and I'd be wearing a Victorian ensemble, complete with corset. Think Mina in "Bram Stoker's Dracula" when she's out walking on the street and she drops her perfume and Dracula catches it. I'd be wearing THAT outfit. Even the jaunty little hat. And I'd have on an apron: also Victorian style.

(Winona Ryder in Bram Stoker's Dracula, 1992, Columbia Pictures)

And then the Sicilian (my fiance) would come behind me in his round gold rimmed spectacles and gently ask me to pass the "beakers". And I would shiver. (I kind of like science talk...you know, it's just kind of hot, I'm not even sure what a "beaker" is) Then he would whisper on the back of my neck that he loved my ability to ...do scientific stuff...then I'd giggle and then my own gold wire rimmed glasses would fog slightly (think Tiffany gold glasses..I'm not a scientist and I don't wear glasses...but whatever).

Then he'd proceed to plant kisses above my chaste high necked collar. And I'd turn around affronted "Mr. Sicilian! Please! This is highly unusual!" (heh heh heh)


Then he'd turn me around in a blaze of fiery passion and our kiss would burn off all our clothes! And then he'd carry me upstairs to his bedroom, which was clean, and smelled of masculinity (Stetson Black cologne) and soap and wood, and then he'd....well, you know where this is going! Yes! So romantic!

But back to reality:

My Sicilian is diligently staring at his computer, 1 foot away from me as I write, shaking his head because, unbeknownst to me, I started laughing hysterically and drooling while reading the above story. I'm cold. I'm jittery because I'm on the constant look-out for horrid bugs. I'm still amped up from our run-in with the laboratory gargoyles and I wish I'd worn shoes instead of my flip-flops so I could try to ignore the grime.

:(

But later on we are getting to have restaurant pizza & a movie & wine coolers after this! While we move into our new apartment! Hooray!

Talk to you soon~