“Not on My Watch” was the theme repeated over and over by my dear sweet husband as he was questioned about all of the issues important to the voters of Congressional District 3.  ”I hear you”, Rick said, “I hear what you are complaining about, but, HOW do we fix it is what we should be asking.”  ”Well”, Rick continued, “This out of control spending and dumping our debt onto our children and our grandchildren is OVER–Not on My Watch!”  ”My goal in Washington DC will be to stop this need of both sides to argue.  We MUST work together to open the lines of conversation and then teach those with opposing views WHY it is so important that we approach this challenge with Conservative Solutions.”

As the crowd broke out into wild applause for my husband–I looked around the room.  In the room sat many, many Republicans, long time Democrats, disillusioned Republicans, new voters who refuse to list themselves as either party due to their disillusion with what our generation is doing.  Well–SOME of our generation is doing.  ALL of those people were rallying together for Rick Tubbs!  As Rick finished his speech–EVERYONE was taking up the mantle Rick was hoping would resonate with them all–AND IT DID!  As we stood at the door and thanked everyone, each person was responding–Not on OUR watch!

I am Thrilled to stand with each one of you.  I am so excited to see what, TOGETHER, we will be doing for our children and our grandchildren!  This Country is great and amazing.  This Country is that way because of the people like the people in our Congressional District 3.  And, now, we all have the challenge–Rick Tubbs is saying he will get to Washington and begin day 1 to bring Common Sense Solutions to Washington DC.    Rick Tubbs is saying the people of Congressional District 3 will be heard by their Congressman.  The People of Congressional District 3 are standing with Rick Tubbs as he says, Not on my watch will we continue to saddle our children and grandchildren with out of control and needless debt.  The People of Congressional District 3 are responding–they are with Rick Tubbs and they are saying, “Not on OUR Watch!”

I stand with you.  Look for all of the updates that I have been handwriting on the road to be input today.  It will be a blogging fun day–and a day of updates with you!  Thank you for supporting my husband!

See you on the campaign trail……

Kristy

It was an AMAZING Christmas and New Year’s time.  In the 23 years that Rick and I have been together, I really do not think we have ever just “shut down” and enjoyed our family, friends and co-workers.  I think we have found our new family tradition.  Don’t worry–those of you who count on that AWESOME Christmas Eve party we all throw each year–THE PARTYING WILL CONTINUE!

We have been gone from each other for a while, so I feel like I have so much to fill you in on.  I really don’t know where to begin:  Should I start with our AWESOME Christmas party that grew to OVER 80 people this year (YES, I said over 80!) or should I start with the wonderful Christmas present my dear sweet husband gave me, or, still, should I start with today and my heavy heart?

I guess I will begin with today as my heavy heart is fresh on my mind right now.  You see, I just resigned from our children’s weekly class day.  I honor our children for recognizing that one day of fun with their friends was causing much stress on my life.  I honor our children for being such a vibrant part of my life.  As the wife of your future Congressman, I have so many hats that I wear.  Our family is a very close family.  Our children are one very strong team and their friends are all a huge part of our family.  Our home is filled daily with no less than 6 teenagers in our home doing one form of education or another.  From Rick teaching a government class, a Scientist from our local college teaching Chemistry, or to me teaching writing or History, our home has multiple areas of educational groups going at any given time of the day.  AND, to top it all off–these youth are the future leaders of America and feel VERY STRONGLY about the direction our nation is heading.  These youth are studying the Constitution with Constitutional Scholars, studying Chemistry with working Chemists and learning Marine Biology with the Monterrey Bay Aquarium.  The way we have chosen to teach our children has provided them with a worldview like none other and I am very proud of our children.  Listening to them espouse their ideals gives me great hope for our future!  So, today, I had to look at all of the hats I wear and we had to step away from our Wednesday class day.  The women at this co-0p make me a better person just by being around them, so, selfishly, I wanted to stay.  However, the rules of the group required my presence on the campus all morning long.  As I am not only a wife and mom and teacher during the day, but also a Stress and Trauma specialist and Marriage and Life Coach, many of the families who have been struggling through the difficult winter months have been in need of my time.  I was finding that there just wasn’t enough of me to go around and certainly not enough time in my day to help everyone who was seeking my time.  Since Rick and I prioritize our children’s education above all else, we have had to weigh the educational gain of all of their courses.  While they were learning much and had great people to emulate and look up to, many of those people are in our children’s lives during the rest of the week and, as such, we felt it necessary to eliminate the co-op day.  The decision should have been easy, right?

So, why do I have such a heavy heart?  Well, it is a quite selfish reason, really–I enjoyed many of the people we spent time with that I only saw on Wednesdays at co-op.  Sadly, unless I put much effort into seeing them, I will not be able to hear their great life stories, listen to their ups, hold them up when they are down and laugh at the way all of us moms tend to carry so many burdens for so many people, but put ourselves last.  To prove my point, the minute we resigned, our phone started ringing off the hook with people asking to schedule times to hang out or asking me to coffee or offering to exercise with me at wee hours of the morning just to spend time with me.  I am truly humbled.  Our kids are truly humbled.  For some reason, our life is filled with absolutely amazing people with talents, gifts and love that surpasses my understanding!  I really should be rejoicing right now and as I write to all of you, my heart is being lifted.  I realize that it is right now where our friendship motto, “When we are weak, please lift us up, because when we are strong, we will do the same for you!”  has really come into effect.  While we FEEL very strong running for Congress as we know this is exactly what we are supposed to be doing as a family–as friends, we feel like we are being weak as we are not able to be there as much as we would like.  Actually, now I am feeling VERY JOY-FILLED because the words I just wrote have helped me to realize our friends are “holding us up strong” in this area for us.  WOW–thanks, all of you, for helping me to ease the burdens of my heart–just by being there to let me write to you!  This is, once again, an amazing day!

Now, I am able to share with you the wonderful events of the past few weeks.  My last post was made the day prior to me heading out on my whirlwind speaking tour to end the year.  To pat myself on the back, I gave some of my most powerful speeches to finish the year strong.  When I was asked WHERE I got all of that great wisdom–I was able to share with literally thousands of people the fact that my dear sweet husband is running for Congress and I have had the opportunity to meet some of the brightest minds in America while out on the campaign trail with Rick.  I truly believe that my speeches impacted the hearts of so many because of the wisdom I have gained from all of you on the campaign trail.  THANKS FOR MAKING ME LOOK GOOD!

I made it home the day prior to our annual Tubbs Family Christmas party.  Our Christmas party began over 10 years ago when we invited all of the people who would have been alone for Christmas into our home for a home-cooked meal and family fun.  It has turned into a family tradition for all!  We are blessed beyond measure with the way our home has been the meeting place for so many.  This year, we had over 80 people here!  It was AWE INSPIRING!  We even had the family of one of my husband’s opponents here and their family friend.  Actually, we don’t really see them as an opponent, we see them more as another part of our family.

How do you cook for 80 people, you ask?  EASY!  HA HA HA HA!  Ok, so it wasn’t EASY, but it sure was fun.  Our girls are teenagers, now, so they got up at 3AM with me to bake, bake, bake.  We baked 4 Apple Pies, burned another one, 2 home made pecan pies, 3 pumpkin pies, DOZENS of cookies and 1 batch of brownies.  The 2 turkeys weighing 22 pounds each went in at 5:30 am and the Ham was started at 7am!  We cleaned up our messes somewhere around 4pm and ran to the showers thinking we forgot to scrub the bathrooms for the guests.  To our surprise–the boys took care of that for us!  YES, you heard it here–your future Congressman and his son cleaned all 3 bathrooms so his wife and daughters could get the flour out of their hair and put on something blingy for the party!  Have I told you today what an amazing man I am married to?  Well, I am!  And you all are going to get that same over the top personalized treatment from him as your leader.  I don’t know if it is because of the way he was raised on welfare in a farming town where they all took care of each other or if it is because Rick is simply determined to bless my life with peace and joy.  Whatever the reason–I know Rick has this HUGE love for his Country (he knows it is yours, too, he simply claims it as his since he was born on the 4th of July! LOL)  I know Rick has such a passion for each of you that he stays up late nights to make certain he has read your emails and your wisdom about our area.  Sometimes I think he was simply blessed with that passion.  Other times, honestly, I think he is just flat out crazy as I would rather be on a beach somewhere and NOT talking about budgets and laws and how these people in office are out of control with their unconstitutional laws.  But not Rick–Rick thrives on finding solutions to the garbage that is coming out of Washington.  Rick thrives on bringing light to the garbage and asking all of you how YOU would fix it.  I stand in awe of the man every night as he lays down to sleep praying for our family, for your families, for our district, for our state and for our nation.  I fall asleep every night knowing I sleep next to  Mr. Incredible!  (No, really, I do call him my Mr. Incredible as he has given me an incredible life!)

Ok, so I digress–sorry–back to the Christmas party. YES–Rick and our son cleaned the toilets and I came downstairs in my Christmas shirt that my dear daughter had sewn for me while I was away.  I was rescued from myself as my dear friends, Rhonda and  Sarah, came to peel potatoes and run the kitchen so that I could entertain.  So, if you missed the party–you might want to troll around Rick’s facebook page as I am pretty sure there is a pretty revealing picture of Rick’s silly humor.  We all laughed until midnight and, as we said goodnight to our final guests, we heard the most heartwarming story from someone here whom we met on the campaign trail.  This man who is a jewel to the campaign and to our lives as friends, let us know that most of the time he is alone during holidays.  He let us know that our party will be remembered in his heart for the rest of his life!  I can’t imagine what he thinks when he is here next year in the house of his Congressman!  I can’t wait!  Consider this all of your official invitation to the annual Christmas Eve party as well–It is a Tubbs Family Tradition!  After all, I have to justify that 18 foot Christmas tree somehow, right!?  :)

I have rambled on enough for tonight, so I guess you will simply need to check in tomorrow to find out what the amazingly wonderful Christmas gift was that Rick gave me!  It is nice to be back and I will see you tomorrow.

Until then…..

See you on the campaign trail!

Kristy

So, I guess I need to find a better greeting to greet you all with as I have given up on the hope of posting my post on the ACTUAL day it happened.  How about–Hello my fellow Team Tubbs–or how about Greetings from the Planet Campaign Trail!  Ok, that was funnier in my head, but I will let you know what I am thinking anyway.  LOL.

This was a glorious day that is just now ending for our whole family.  Today was Tree decorating day.  Now, normally, we begin our tree decorating at 8 am after breakfast and then we spend the entire day setting out all 18 Christmas trees along with the dozens of boxes of Christmas Decorations.  This year, however, Rick was busy with Campaign items AND THEN, there was the situation at the Air Force that he had to take care of.  Needless to say, when we finally began decorating the 18 foot Christmas tree, it was already 9:30pm.  And, now, 3 hours later, the lights are sparkling all pretty and bright and the ornaments are hung by the children with great expertise.  The 18 foot Christmas tree is now complete, but the rest of the house looks like the bucket brigade came through and forgot to take their buckets.  Bins upon bins–22 years of collecting Christmas decorations are all over the house.  Normally this would not bother me as we would simply pick up our decorating in the morning and finish some time tomorrow with a cup of hot chocolate and watching the show as our lights on the house dance around the evening sky.  HOWEVER–some friends of ours who are missionaries in Chile are coming home for a few days and we are throwing them a party in the afternoon tomorrow–Oh, no, wait–in the afternoon TODAY!  Yep–in less than 9 hours, I will have a huge group of people (48 to be exact) pouncing through the doors expecting our normal food, fun and flair.  I should be nervous, right?  I should be worried about this huge mess that is looking at me in the face right now, right?

I don’t know if I am simply numb from the thought of the massive amount of work to be done in the next few hours with no sleep, or if I am truly at peace that it will all work out.  Either way, I have this eerie calm about me right now that is either saying I am fully trusting that God does do all things for those who love Him, OR, which I may be leaning towards at this moment, OR–I may be ACTUALLY saying that I have officially lost it and I am no longer able to feel the utter fear of not being prepared for the next event.  I think the campaign trail has taken another toll–on my need for perfection.  This time, however, it is a good thing.  You see, I finally understand right this very moment that no one in the world is perfect.  I finally understand that the very gift we are to be using is sometimes the one that is right there in front of  your nose.  I realized tonight as I listened to my husband and my children filled with joy over the simple joy of decorating one of our Christmas trees that It isn’t the season or the 18 Foot Christmas tree or the thoughts of Victory in Congressional District 3 that bring joy to our hearts.  The REAL reason we live our lives filled with joy beyond measure is Jesus and Joy!

So, on this beautiful evening/morning, I would like to ask all of you to take a minute and look at the beautiful lights around you.  Draw your eye to the Christmas trees and remember the days when you, too, were consumed with joy from the little things in life like finding the right color replacement bulb in the pile.  And then, say a prayer for all of our troops that are off in the desert longing to see a Christmas tree.  Say a prayer for their families at home longing to have their soldier around their Christmas tree.  And, finally, say a prayer for Rick Tubbs and our family as we step out to serve our Country in another way–one that is as your servant and as your leader in Congressional District 3.

And now, I must sign off to begin the haul of boxes back to their resting place in the garage.  That is, of course, after spending the next 8 hours attempting to finish the Christmas decorations before our company begins to arrive.

Thanks for being there for me to share my joy of this wonderful blessing of a season!

Merry Christmas everyone and see you on the Campaign Trail….

Kristy

So, I suppose you realize I have not logged on and blogged in a few days.  I have, instead, had some much needed sleep.  I took some time to heal from the sickness I was fighting off and now I am out strong!

Tonight was a culmination of all of the hard work my family and our Team Tubbs has been putting into my amazing husband’s run for Congressional District 3.  Tonight, Leadership was revealed!  Tonight, My Husband, Rick Tubbs, was able to shine, share his heart and vision for America and for Congressional District 3 and, more, was able to reveal his leadership skills.

As Rick spoke this evening, I saw the people responding with an overwhelming resolve to rise up and return America to the kind of America where the poor child has the ability to live the American dream.  The entire room cheered as they understood that Rick is the man to win this seat.  And, to my surprise and amazement—When Rick stated that the politicians from BOTH sides–those who have been in power for far too long, need to be reminded that they work for us–the crowd went wild!

The leader in my husband shined that night and the proud wife I am sat back and rejoiced–the people are speaking and they are saying–Rick Tubbs is the leader they desire to lead their ideas to victory in 2012!  And, now, I sleep!  

See you on the campaign trail!

Kristy

You see, when I first met my dear sweet husband 23 years ago, I was a gal who carried a tiny little purse, just big enough for my lipstick, 1 credit card and some cash.  My life was simple.  Everything had a place and every place had a thing.  I had a workout routine, I had a college routine and I liked it.  I had no idea that 23 years later, I would be raising 3 amazing children, have a very fulfilling career as a speaker, home school our children and have a husband with 2 jobs and a desire to change the world.  Somehow, I thought I would be able to control the rest of my life like I had done for all the years leading up to the moment I met Rick Tubbs!  Was I ever wrong!  While reading the Bible one day, I realized that life is not about how I control things to happen, but rather, how I yield my life to Jesus and allow HIM to make things happen.  Easier said than done–Easier said than done!  But, I push on every day, doing my best to pray for guidance for my family, strength and wisdom to fight the good fight.  Most days, I do a pretty good job.  I wake up at 5am and read my Bible and pray.  I workout at 6, kids & hubby up at 7, breakfast for all, prayer time before heading up for school to begin.  During breaks, I answer phone calls and schedule all the items Rick has in store for the day ahead.  Lunch time rolls around with lunch made and dishes done usually from the night before.  I work on homework with the kids until 4, then roll up my sleeves and head out the door.  We usually have an event every night of the week and when I come home, there is laundry in a heap.   I have  been doing just fine, but this week was intense.  We had people over every day at all hours of the day to help with the campaign, ask their future Congressman questions or simply to drop by and say “hi!”  

Now, don’t get me wrong–I LOVE people and I love the company.  However, our children are not joking when they say that I love to clean.  It brings a real joy to my heart to know that the floors are so clean you can eat off of them.  I enjoy walking into my kitchen and seeing shiny white tiles.  In fact, the smell of bleach makes me feel calm!  I know–it sounds crazy, but it is true.  Good news is, I finally figured out why!  

When I find myself feeling overwhelmed and unable to make everything happen that needed to happen for the day, I reach for a sponge and the bleach.  I realized today that when I grab my bleach and get down on my knees to scrub the floor, I begin to pray and cry out for help and support from my TRUE comfort and that is Jesus!  

You see, I know that no matter what I do or what I say or how I act, Jesus will ALWAYS LOVE ME!  

Running for Congress is not easy on the family.  We do it because it is the right thing to do.  We do it because my husband is an amazing leader.  We do it because good leaders need to rise up and lead.  We do it because the common man needs to be heard above the noise of those who have labeled themselves as elite politicians.  We need a common man, with common sense and with the will to get things done.  Rick is one of those leaders, so we are on our way!  That being said, our life is moving ahead full force and sometimes feels like it is out of control.  Well, considering I used to be a woman who liked all of our shoes sitting neatly, in chronological order, prepared to begin the next day, this lifestyle of constant schedules and events has been life changing and a bit messy at times.  I am thrilled to say that I chose to stay up tonight to bleach my floors and finish the laundry to start the week off not behind!

And now I must end this note as my time is drawing down.  I will be back later today, so please don’t have a frown.  The life of a Future Congressman’s family is wonderful indeed.  I simply want to lay down in bed and finally get some sleep.

See you on the campaign trail,

Kristy

I am actually writing to you before midnight–can it be that I am back on track??  I will enjoy this moment and hope that my nightly posts will continue to be at this time, rather than midnight.  Oh, but I digress…..

Today was an interesting day, filled with phone calls galore.  Rick, my dear sweet husband and your Future Congressman had to work today at one of his 2 jobs.   United Airlines called him away.  Yes, you heard that correctly–my husband does work multiple jobs to support not only our family, but the other families that we are helping through these hard times.  He is blessed to have the ability to bring in 2 paychecks when many cannot find one.  He is honored to support us and we honor him in his support of us.

I would love to have raised enough money in the campaign for Rick to be off and completely out earning your support.  However, our family is just like yours.  We work for a living.  We pay our taxes, we volunteer in the community and we pray for this great nation.  He is not any different from you, he simply has lived a life with extraordinary opportunities that have placed him in the position he is in today–running for Congress in the 3rd Congressional District in California.

Running is fun–our whole family enjoys it.  We meet amazing people and have lots of close friends from so many different walks of life because of our last run for congress.  The phone calls today, however, were the kind that drained the life right out of me.

How do we know if someone is friend or foe?  Our family has always trusted first until you show your intentions–we are definitely a “give the person the benefit of the doubt” type of people.  I am very much known as a “cup is half full” kind of gal.  I like to look for the good in everyone and truly believe that everyone has good in them–even if sometimes we have to look WAAAY deep down inside to find it!

So, phone call after phone call came in today.  Everyone wanted to know answers to questions I did not know.  Everyone wanted to know if Rick had support from this person or that.  Everyone wanted something from me and EVERYONE had the same story they wanted clarified–is this particular sitting elected official really not supporting you because we heard him saying he is supporting a person who cannot even speak clearly, supports and takes massive subsidies and will NEVER win against Garamendi!

I tried to answer their questions, but, really, the people simply wanted to let Rick know that they are Rick’s and our family’s friend and this elected official was clearly NOT!  While on one hand I was honored, on the other hand, I was forced to think back to the many encounters we have had with this particular individual over the past several months.

For the first time in my life, I am faced with the quandary of Friend or Foe and I do not have a clear idea of what this person’s true intentions are for our family.  I am wondering if the political world has simply turned a good man bad in search of maintaining his power or if I just made a poor judgement at calling someone a friend.

I am the first one to trust–it is almost comical, in fact.  I believe our kids when they are telling me far out stories of animals that fly and swim or of far out space stories.  While this makes for a fun family dinner table where the children are sharing how many times they pulled a fast one on mom, it has proven to be a stressful day for me as the wife of a Candidate for Congress.

I want to believe this person is good.  I want to believe I did not make a poor judgement by calling this person a friend.  But, in fact, after hearing the stories and after hearing how many people are very angry at him for NOT supporting Rick Tubbs for Congress, I realized that this person is probably wrapped up in politics so much that he is not able to stand with his constituents and support Rick Tubbs.  What is frustrating is that he has supported Rick in the past and has, to Rick’s face, said he will support him still.  OH SO CONFUSED!

As I sit and write to you tonight, I have decided that I will do the one thing I do really well—PRAY!  I will pray for wisdom, I will pray for those who called and are supporting my sweet husband and I will pray for the man who is going to get a rude awakening when he finds out exactly how many people are upset with what appears to be a double tongued leader.  I will pray for our nation.  I will pray for our leaders and I will pray for Victory for Rick Tubbs so that all of the people who are believing in a better tomorrow will be rewarded with a brighter day for America when they finally have a voice in Congress with Rick Tubbs!

And while I pray, I will clean the house.  Because, unlike those sitting congressman, your Future Congressman has no maid (the maid is me).  He has no cook ( the cook is me).  He has no laundry service (the laundry service is me) and last but not least, your future congressman has no nanny (the child care and school teacher are me).

Politics if fun–not because of days like today and BECAUSE of days like today.  Afterall, without days like today, we would not be able to hear the friends shout so loudly in support of us and we would not be able to pray for those seen as our foes.  I guess the cup really is still half full–And my heart is certainly full of the love and support from my husband, from my children and from all of those friends we have met along the campaign trail!  Yes, the cup is half full and I am fully a lucky woman to have such support!

See you tomorrow and See you on the Campaign trail….

Kristy

I have missed you all.  I don’t know if I have already told you all this, but….I am not only the wife of the Future Congressman in Congressional District 3 in California.  I am also an Accredited Financial Counselor, Keynote Speaker and a Life Coach.  My focus of work is with Veteran families who are deploying or coming back from deployment where I teach them communication techniques to live a healthy lifestyle during this time of multiple deployments and increased operations tempo.  I have been busy working with those who so valiantly serve us in this great nation.  I am honored, humbled and thrilled to work with them, but now…..I AM BACK with THE CAMPAIGN!!!!

SO……Lots and I do mean LOTS has been going on in my dear sweet husband’s campaign.  I hope you have been following him on www.ricktubbsforcongress.com but if not, let me just fill you in in one quick paragraph:

The endorsements are coming in–not from sitting politicians who desire to do things the same old way, but from THE PEOPLE who are supporters in the district–from THE PEOPLE who desire Rick Tubbs to be THEIR VOICE in Congress.  Major endorsements from Combat Veterans for Congress as well as Warriors for Congress are also coming on board.  Exciting times, indeed!  Major announcements will be coming soon–Let’s all keep our ears open!  So, exciting times indeed!  I am back, now, and will keep you updated on a daily basis from now through the November Victory.  I look forward to seeing you all at the victory party.

Ok, done with the update—now onto one of the best stories from the past few days…..

We were at an amazing event put on by the Yuba-Sutter Republican Women Federated this past week.  As usual, we set out our normal display table for everyone to get to know Rick Tubbs for Congress and then turned to set about getting to know new friends and catch up with those we had already met.  I was stopped in my tracks by a man with a question.  Sadly, he was a sitting politician.  His question…”Why the boot in your display?”  I say sadly because as I gave the explanation to WHY THE BOOT?, this sitting politician seemed uninterested and without understanding of our Veteran’s sacrifices that they make–both those who made it back and those who did not.  Although grieved, I continued on with our story of WHY THE BOOT….

So, several years ago, while my husband was still on Active Duty Service, my sweet husband was in a position to impact the lives of many troops.  A large group of men and women had been in  the desert, deployed for many, many months away from their families.  It was just a few days before Christmas and Rick worked hard to ensure those troops made it home in time to celebrate Christmas with their families.  In that group of valiant servants were several men who had babies on the way any day and Rick was working hard to ensure not one person on that flight missed the birth of their children.

2 days prior to Christmas, Rick received multiple phone calls stating that some other foreign countries would not allow the United States aircraft carrying these troops to enter to refuel as it was going to be “quiet hours” until AFTER Christmas!  ”NOT ACCEPTABLE!” I heard my husband exclaim as he answered phone call after phone call.  Finally, at 2am our time, we received a phone call from an extremely high source.  As I listened to my husband explain exactly WHY these people needed to get out of bed and get this plane off the ground, I realized he was placing his whole career on the line to protect his men and women from those who had never served in the military a day in their lives.  I sat in awe as I listened to my husband speak of the honor and valor of serving in the military and how it was their DUTY to honor those military troops by getting them home for our American Tradition of Christmas.  And then, I listened as my husband proclaimed, “There may be a day when we, as a nation, will expect these same men to miss the birth of their children.  But, today, sir, America should stand firm and get that plane off the ground as some other country’s quiet hours should NOT be the reason we do not get these people home!”

Less than 8 hours later, the voice on the other end of the line proudly notified my husband, “Crews incoming, sir.”  We ran outside to see 2 C-5 aircraft filled with our military troops buzzing in to greet their families for Christmas morning.  The best Christmas gift my husband could have ever given these families–their mom, dad, son or daughter home for Christmas.  Once Again–America reigned supreme and I looked at my husband, wearing his uniform with those boots.  The very boots that he did not take off for 48 hours straight to ensure his troops made it home.

That is the kind of leader my husband is!  Those boots that travel with us on the campaign trail, filled with the American flag and the Constitution, will stand for the leader my amazing husband is, for the troops who made it home, for the troops who never made it home and for those who will come behind us to serve this great nation.

Yes, The boots will travel with us as we cross Congressional District 3 over and over, bringing a voice to the people, to the veterans and to the ENTIRE District with Rick Tubbs as their future Congressman!

See you tomorrow and See you on the Campaign trail….

Kristy

Today has been uplifting, encouraging and down right humbling.  So many things happened, I don’t even know where to begin!  I guess Iwill begin at the beginning of the day……

SO, I woke up to the phone ringing at 3:35AM!  Yes–you are reading correctly–I said 3:35AM!  Now, for those of you who have been following my posts, I either have just fallen asleep at that time, or I am FINALLY asleep and would have liked to sleep in.  However, one of the many hats that I wear is one of an Accredited Financial Counselor.  I help people who are struggling with their finances and I teach them how to budget and work towards financial security.  Oh, but let’s not stop there–I am also a Professional Life Coach.  My focus on Life Coaching is Marriage & Family coaching.   Needless to say, my focus is healing marriages that have been through strife and turmoil due to financial stress.  As you can guess, the current financial situation in America has allowed for my services to be utilized often–especially around 3:30 AM!

OK, so I help that family through their crisis and it is now 5AM!  Oh well, I was up, so I decided to workout–YAY ME!  I am now down officially over 20 pounds and the weight keeps coming off about 1 to 2 pounds a week!  OK, so I helped a family in crisis, worked out and I thought I would close my eyes for a few minutes as I suddenly became very exhausted.  Until, that is, when the phone rang once again!

This phone call was different.  This phone call was a political call.  This phone call was what is wrong with America as we speak!  So, I was being told that someone who had been pretending to be a political ally was actually reporting back to my husband’s opponent all we were saying, but twisting it to make her feel like she was really reporting good stuff.  You see, my husband is an honorable man and has a life rule that we do not pick apart other people.  That is not our place.  Our place is to look at issues and make decisions for our life based on actions of others, without judging that person as bad. The person on the other end of the line was pushing the issue and telling Rick’s campaign that someone should be calling out this person who, in their eyes was a “rat”.  I was so proud of myself at that moment.  While many different things happened at that moment in my own heart, I remained calm, thought of the way my dear sweet husband would have handled it and then responded with these exact words, “I am so sorry to hear that someone whom we entrusted with our family’s heart for change in this country and whom I walked neighborhoods for and whom my children sacrificed many nights of fun to, instead, wave signs or walk neighborhoods so that she could pull off a win.  Yes, I am so sorry to hear that this woman is so drawn to money and negative ways of politics that she would feel the need to attempt to destroy my husband’s dream to serve our Country as their Congressman.”  I went on to say, “I grieve for this woman who has chosen to speak negative and I will pray for her.  I have no further comment for you other than she will be treated with respect when she comes around, and my husband’s campaign will move smoothly without her minimum input she was giving.  My prayer for her is that she realizes the people she serves do not desire to have dishonest people serving them.  The American People are fed up with lying, cheating and the stealing of our American Dream.  The American Dream is there for EVERYONE–even the poor kid on the block.  No Politician has a right to take that away!”  With that, the person on the other end of the line apologized for his lack of faith in the American Dream and said he would not worry about this woman’s negativity again.  Score a win for Rick’s attitude that everyone work together to accomplish the goal of winning District 3 for the PEOPLE!

The next 2 phone calls were much of the same, except this time, they were making comments that, basically said, “you are the perfect candidate except you don’t have any money.”  So let me make something very clear to all of you…..

My dear sweet husband was raised on welfare.  He HAD NOTHING and he rose up out of that through hard work, creativity and perseverance.  Now, my husband is a former small business owner, An Airline pilot, A Lt Col in the United States Air Force Reserves AND the best father in the world.  Oh, I might add that I have never had to work a day in my life.  He is an amazing provider and he works hard to secure my ability to stay home and raise our children in the home.  My husband has lived the American dream.  For someone to attempt to tell him that the American Dream is no longer attainable to someone simply because they do not have a rich daddy is absurd and wrong.

I believe that GREAT leaders are developed through facing hardships and learning how to overcome those obstacles set in their way due to financial shortfalls or, as many people say, being poor.

So, YES, America–The American dream is still available to everyone–even if you are poor.  What is wrong with America is that big money is running both sides.  I would love for you all to stand with my husband as we rise up against what is wrong with our political system.  OH, but I digress……

As a wife, this place is hard to be placed in.  I hear people say things from the political side and I want to stand up and scream from the highest mountain tops–What is wrong with America is that relationships no longer matter to people.  Friendships and a handshake used to get people elected.  Friendships were forged as, together, good people stood together against tyranny and corruption.  As a wife, I want to let everyone know the amazing man I am married to so that they are able to see the hope restored to our area with a REAL man, a Common man and a man of his word.

As a wife, I want to tell the ways my husband leads our family and helps everyone in need who comes to us.  No, my husband does not have a rich daddy giving him money to run for Congress.  YES, my husband has many friends, some rich, some poor and all just trying to keep the American Dream alive for their families.  TOGETHER, we will push on one step at a time, one dollar at a time and, TOGETHER WE WILL BE THE GENERATION THAT RISES UP AND SAYS NO LONGER WILL BIG MONEY BUY YOUR VOTE!

The American Dream is alive and well–even for the poor kid.  The American Dream is alive and well in my husband and we will fight to achieve it!  And, now, I must go and ready my amazing children for their school day.   As my husband always tells us, “Knowledge is power and education is the 1st step to knowledge!”

Seize the day, America–go out and live the American dream.  I am going to!

See you on the campaign trail,

Kristy

We received several phone calls–12 to be exact–that the Republican Party at the National Level could possibly be holding fundraisers for the much less qualified candidate who has promised to help the party raise $400,000.  All of the candidates who are in the primary are calling, very concerned about this new information they are finding.  

My sweet husband, however, is moving ahead just they way he always has.  Methodically reaching out to the people of our district.  Rick is working hard to help end the corruption in Washington DC.  It will only stop if all of the people rise up and say–stop wasting so much money on races.  Both sides should be allowing the people to be heard.  Both sides should be allowed to hear ALL candidates and vote for THEIR choice.  My husband is out there helping people to hear his plan for our future of California’s district 3 and it is so humbling to hear the support from all sides of America.  The people want THEIR voice to be heard.  The people are tired of big money coming in and TELLING them who THEY will vote for.  You see, American’s votes are no longer going to be purchased.  American’s see the truth behind the money and American’s–The Power of the People– will beat out the power of the money.  It MUST happen!  We MUST take back America and begin to send leaders to Washington DC who will hear your voice and BE YOUR voice in Washington DC!

So, the last 2 days, we have been out in the community.  Our family is out there meeting your families.  And what we are hearing is amazing!  Family after family are all saying the same thing.  They LOVE what my husband has to say.  They support what my husband is doing.  They are eagerly awaiting the vote in June to place Rick Tubbs on the ballot against John Garamendi.  But, more, I am so humbled to hear the heart wrenching stories of survival that the families of this area are enduring.  Big money politicians have gained their power on the backs of these people.  I met a woman yesterday–her name is Sue.  Sue has always voted for the Democrat who was running.  It didn’t matter to her who the person was–simply that they were a Democrat.  When I asked her why, her response was simple–because the Democrats are for the working class.  But as she said that, she began to cry.  She handed me a letter where she was asking her congressman for help because her husband had been hurt in a horrible accident at work.  Workman’s comp was not paying and they were about to lose their home.  She was an uneducated woman who was looking for hope from her congressman.  I read her letter and could feel the fear she was expressing.  She was not asking for free money.  She was not asking for a government handout.  She was asking for the congressman to tell her where all of their tax payer’s money was going if it was not for this very reason.  ”After all”, her letter said, “Your commercials have shown that you are working hard for the American worker.  Your words have said that you are here to help us any way you can. “ 

As her letter went on, she used his words from past letters that were written to her on Government letterhead.  She was simply asking her Congressman to help her the way he was using her taxpayer’s money to TELL her he WAS helping her. 

With tear-filled eyes, she turned the page to the response letter from her congressman who she voted for because he was a Democrat.  Highlighted in Yellow were several key phrases.  ”I am working for you”, “We must stop the Republican takeover”, “Let me know how I can help you”, “If there is anything I can do for you, let me know”, “The Republicans have not allowed me to do my job to support you, but I am fighting to keep that job to help you”.  The letter was 2 pages long.  And, what Sue was the most distressed about was that the only place he addressed the fact that this was not a canned fundraising letter and was a letter in response to her request for help was the first statement, “Thank you for your recent letter to me.  I am working hard for you”.  

Sue flipped through a stack full of pages–One after one all highlighted with the exact same wording or extremely similar wording.  Her grief was so apparent.  I hugged her and told her it was going to be ok.  I hugged her and told her that she would get through this.  As I hugged her, this grown woman fell into my hug and wept.  She wept for her husband, she wept for her family, she wept for the life they had created that was falling apart.  She wept for our government whom she felt was perpetuating lying congressman.  ”These men and women aren’t leaders”, she cried, “these people simply want their power and they are using their money to manipulate us into believing they care about us.”  We talked for several hours and I listened at how many times she attempted to reach out and ask for help, to no avail.  When I felt like she understood that I had listened, I picked up my phone, made a few phone calls to leaders who DO care and ARE trying to make a difference in our country.  I called my husband and asked him to make some phone calls as well.  In a matter of 15 minutes (it was actually three 4 minute phone calls), I had set up meetings with the appropriate agencies for Sue to help save her home and her family.   It wasn’t hard–I simply needed to hear what Sue and her family needed.

For the last 2 days, I have been helping Sue to secure the help she needed.  She knows they made the mistake of spending all of the money from re-financing their home and taking out so much cash.  She was not asking the government to take the burden of her home.  She just thought that the finance company was given lots of our government money to help lower her interest rate.  If she could lower her interest rate, she could pay her house payment on her salary.  She also could begin to get caught up on her past due payments.  She was simply asking for the help that the congressman was saying we are in huge debt because THEY provided it to us.  While the congressman did not help.  We did.  We listened, got her connected with the private sector companies that could help her out and I am happy to say she is now in the process of refunding her home mortgage.  

I received a phone call at 5am this morning and it was Sue.  Last night was the first night she slept without fear or worry.  She was thinking she would just be leaving me a voice-mail that stated, “Thank you for helping me get the best sleep in a very long time”, but she was excited to be able to tell me personally.  It was great to see that a little bit of effort on our part had changed her life so dramatically.  Sometimes, all we need is to be heard.

As I write to you this morning to fill you in on these amazing past two days, I want you to really HEAR what is happening–These 2 days were a perfect example of what is wrong with our system.  These 2 days are a perfect example of how we have gotten away from the power of the people and we are living in the power of big money. BUT WE DO NOT HAVE TO BE STUCK HERE ANY MORE!

I encourage you, today, to stand tall with Sue.  I encourage you, today, to make a difference in someone’s life by simply listening to them and seeing if maybe someone you have met along the path of your life has the answer to their situation.  I encourage you, today, to look at government differently!  I ask you to recognize that YOUR VOTE cannot be bought or swayed by really smooth talking PR firms.  I ask you to stand up and support my husband to be YOUR voice in Congress.  Go to  www.ricktubbsforcongress.com and let Rick know you stand with him in his run for Congress to be YOUR VOICE.  It is the Endorsement of the Common Man that will win this election and it is YOUR Vote On June 8th that WILL show that YOUR VOICE will finally be heard!

Send Rick an E-mail and let him know you are standing with him and you want your name on our supporters list.  It is so important to band together.  Because, as Rick Says, Together, we WILL BE the NEXT GREAT GENERATION!

See you on the campaign trail!

Kristy

Great news is–I accomplished 42 items today!  My last item #43, is to update all of you on our life on the campaign trail.  SO–while I am posting at 12:18AM on November 1st, It REALLY is my last item to have completed my entire list of “To Do’s” today (October 31, 2011) and WHAT A DAY IT HAS BEEN!

I sat in on the Campaign team while they were crunching the numbers of Rick’s campaign today.  I am trying really hard to not get super excited……BUT……

While I do not understand everything they were saying–just before I left to mop the floors, I heard that The Republican and the Democrat party have labeled this Congressional District 3 race as a Competitive race.  The amazing thing–They are using the numbers THAT RICK CREATED WHEN HE RAN AGAINST George Miller in 2010!  Life is so amazing.  All of that hard work that all of you did has created an environment where many many people are looking at Solano County for the first time EVER as THE race to win!  We can do this.  All of your hard work in the past set the ground work for the path we are about to embark upon.  WOW!  I am so excited!

That isn’t the only exciting news–the really exciting part of our day was….wait for it…….

I finished sorting all of my fat clothes.  Yep–you heard it–I have been losing so much weight doing MY crunches that I am now not fitting into my old clothes.  And now, 12 Outdoor Garbage bags later, I am finally finished with my closet sort.

OK, go ahead and join Rick.  I know, if I can give away 12 bags of clothing, then I must have had too many clothes.  Actually, if I am really honest, I, too, now believe that I had too many clothes in the closet.   I am not certain what clued me in.  It could have been the purchasing of every “Closet hanging tricky device” to try to jam so much into my closet space.  It could have been that when I changed out my winter clothes and my summer clothes, I had NOWHERE to store my winter clothes.  OR, maybe it was the fact that this morning I awoke to a beautiful crunching sound.  It increased in sound and intensity until, finally, I heard the saddest noise ever–the crashing of all of my neatly ironed clothing.  AAGH!  I jumped from the bed only to find all of my clothing strewn in a huge heap on the floor and there sitting atop of it all was the closet rod–in 3 pieces!

For those of you who know my dear sweet husband, you know he is a very funny man.  He brings a smile to my face and to everyone else who is near him.  But this morning, he had an extra zip in his step.  This morning, you see, is a small victory for my sweetie.

Years ago, Rick decided he was going to stop reminding me to purge my clothes when I brought something in.  I believe his final words about it were something along the lines of, “”’I promise not to say, “I told you so” when the closet fails!!:)

Well, I told you so never came out of my sweetie’s mouth!  Instead, he smiled, grabbed my hand and said-SO I get to be the topic of the blog tonight!

Good night, everyone, see you later today.

see you on the campaign trail…..

Kristy