George Washington's 1789 Thanksgiving Proclamation

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me to "recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquirin g and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have shown kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3d day of October, A.D. 1789

G. Washington (his actual signature)

NOTE: Shortly after the Thanksgiving Proclamation was written, it was lost for 130 years. The original document was written in long hand by William Jackson, secretary to the President, and was then signed by George Washington. It was probably misplaced or mixed in with some private papers when the US capitol moved from New York to Washington, D.C. The original manuscript was not placed in the National Archives until 1921 when Dr. J. C. Fitzpatrick, assistant chief of the manuscripts division of the Library of Congress found the proclamation at an auction sale being held at an art gallery in New York. Dr Fitzpatrick purchased the document for $300.00 for the Library of Congress, in which it now resides. It was the first official presidential proclamation issued in the United States.

Charity cut-a-thon

I am running my annual special again. All proceeds from haircuts I do in December go to charity. My favorite charities are the Utah Food Bank and Toys for Tots. This is a win/win for you because you get to look great for your mom for the holidays AND you get to give to charity at the same time. Suggested donation is $10.

Pullin for Palin

So this Halloween I decided I wanted to see if I could get some more votes for Sarah Palin. Not necessarily for John McCain so much, more Sarah Palin. I figured I could pull off the accent alright and I could make the hair work. I think I was quite successful. We already knew I had the vote from Joe the Plummer. I was surprised how many others gave me their support. Like this gal. She gave me a thumbs up. Who knew I could get her to see things my way. My night was full of adventures, in my campaigning I meet Little Red Riddinghood, Minnie Mouse, and a woman from South Africa. I was also interviewed by Conan O’Brien. Who knew running for office could be such an adventure? I was promised support from this nice family and they said that I had the support of their whole compound. It isn’t every day you get to hang out with Clark Kent and Lois Lane. Check out the other fun folks I meet…

Cheap frames!

I have a new favorite that all eyeglass wearers need to be aware of. It is called Zenni Optical. I got two pairs of glasses for $40! You HAVE to check it out!!!! http://zennioptical.com/cart/home.php I got mine in the mail today. It is totally legit!

Maybe it was the safety rating?

I talked to my sister Cate a few weeks and she said she had some news for me. She had bought a new car. She said, “It is HOT!” She said it was black with cream interior. I asked her what kind of car she got. I was expecting something flashy since she called it “HOT” and her husband drives an Infinity. She said “It is a mini-van.” I asked her what kind of mini-van. She said, "It is a KIA." I asked her to send me a picture and she said she would be draped across the front of it. I was trying to understand why she would purchase a mini-van when they just have one child who is 6 months old. We were talking later about this HOT mini-van and she said, “Alicia, this is why people get married and have children, so that some day they can drive a mini-van." Cate I am glad that all of your dreams have come true! I hope you got the DVD player and that you plan take a road trip to Utah in the near future. Your life is now complete since you have found your HOT mini-van!

Working for a living

This little guy (My nephew) just landed his first job. He has a modeling shoot with Target tomorrow. You better believe that I am going to be scouring the Target ads in the near future. I swear this kid is going to be the next Ricky Schroder. I guess it runs in the family. His father was in a Best Buy add a few years ago, but that was a bit of a fluke, Oh yea and he was on the cover of Wired magazine as a member of the Geek Squad.

Get a Nissan Pick-up

My friend Cyndi has the greatest truck in the world. I really have to hand it to her for keeping this one alive for so long. She got the truck for free and she has certainly made use of it. There are many things in this car that don't work, but it gets great mileage and she is keeping another car from going to the car graveyard. She thinks that I am making fun of her but in all reality I LOVE the fact that she keeps this vehicle alive. Heck I would do it if I knew anything about automobile mechanics. Let me give you some stats. This baby is a 1991 Nissan Pick-up. It has 300,000 miles on it. It is a 4 cylinder with a 5 speed manual transmission. It was a farm truck that her parents bought from the church and she believes that is the reason it still runs. The speedometer and the gas gage stopped working a while back so she has put some pictures of her nieces in front of them so she has something to look at. Let me just vouch for the sound system in this baby because it rocks! Don't worry about the fact that the muffler is tied on with a wire and that your seatbelt may just mysteriously unclick while you are riding with her. She swears that it is going to work when it needs to. If you want to know how this baby passed imissions testing you are going to have to ask Cyni directly about that. She is always prepared for what might happen. She has two spare tires in the back along with jumper cables and a gas can. Another testament to Nissan trucks is that her friend Anna Jo drives one too. Here is a picture of the "Yellow Banana". That baby is a 1986. The odometer stopped working at 170,000 but there is an estimated 200,000 miles on that baby. Notice Cyndi's truck in the back-ground. The last thing to mention is that the passenger door handle doesn't work. It now only opens from the inside but it used to only open from the outside. I loved hearing about when she would give her guy friends a ride and then she would need to walk around the truck to let the guy out. As you can see the window knob falls off so it is neatly tucked into the duck tapped handle. Cyndi you are my HERO!!!