First Annual "InHamerTime" Contest!!!!

This is your chance to be a BIG WINNER!!!!  To enter the "InHamerTime" Contest, simply send your submission form (any piece of paper with your name on it) and a check for $1,000 made out to Phil Hamer to PO Box 1677, Duvall WA 98019 (or you can click on the "DONATE" button to the right).  We will hold a drawing of the submission forms, and the lucky winner will receive an official signed picture of Phil Hamer, as well as your profile picture posted on our blog!  WOW, don't miss this opportunity!  Time is limited, so send your entry materials NOW!!!

Phil's New Driving School

Announcing the new
Phil Hamer and Allan Munyakei School for Offensive Driving
free for all residents of Washington state!
We will teach Washington drivers...
-how to drive faster than 20mph
-the purpose of the fast lane
-how to look before changing lanes
... And many other common sense driving skills that all Washington drivers lack.

First class of my new "Offensive Driving School" will be "Right Turn on Red, It's LEGAL."

Second class will be "Roundabouts: Don't Be a Dumb-ass". Not only is this free for residents of Washington State, but it will also be free for all Leucadia residents as well.
We will teach that you can't drive straight over the center divider. We will also explain why if you stop in the middle of a roundabout, you may spontaneously combust because of your own ignorance.

More coming soon...

empowering victims instead of criminalizing them

this video is about 4 minutes long, but it will change your life.

remember to breathe.

socially conscious consumer?

Did you know that you could be contributing to slave labor depending on where you shop? That's quite an accusation, and it's true! Do you love See's Candies, or Sketchers Shoes? Did you know that those companies have workers that they do not pay, which categorizes them as slave laborers? Did you know that Hanes, the underwear company endorsed by Michael Jordan, does not have a policy against hiring child workers? That in fact they exploit children by having them work in their sweat shops with no pay.

We learned about the industrial revolution in history class, and are all familiar that a hundred years ago there were factories and coal mines where children worked with little to no pay, but what many of us don't know is that this is still a problem today.

So there is no way that you can now use Hershey's chocolate bars with your smores, or have Uncle Ben's rice with your meal. If you do, you are supporting businesses that use slave labor to make profits. Sure, M&M's are your child's favorite chocolate, and shopping at WalMart is so convenient, but supporting those companies is saying that you agree that slave labor is okay. If everyone stopped buying Snickers bars (which are one of my favorite), then Snickers would have to change their corporate policy if they wanted to survive in a socially conscious consumer economy. Not For Sale Campaign is the website where I learned which consumer products support slavery.

When I told my mom that she couldn't get those Sketchers Shape Ups because she would be endorsing slavery, she didn't really know what to think. There are alternatives, but you're right, usually they are more expensive. It does cost more to buy chocolate bars at Trader Joes than at Albertsons, but that 75 cent difference will set a slave free.

Here's an idea. If you daughter plays soccer or your nephew plays baseball, teach them about modern day slavery. With the Free To Play campaign sponsored by Not For Sale, for every goal they score or home-run they hit, donate a monetary amount in their honor. My in-laws do this with Phil's little brothers. For every touchdown or home-run or goal, they are saving up to set a slave free. Phil's little brothers started doing this when they were 8 and 10, and completely understood the concept of modern day slavery and setting someone free. They started telling their other team mates, and soon more parents were learning about modern day slavery and being advocates with their children. It's an awesome cause to rally around as a family, sports team or class room.



I do miss my snickers bars, and my mom still really wants those Sketchers, but we both see the bigger picture here.

If I were a slave, would you set me free?

Here are some of the places I shop:
 FreedomStones for jewelry
The Body Shop for lotion, soap, chap stick
Freewaters for sandals
Krochet Kids International for beanies and t-shirts
TOMS shoes for fun shoes

Not For Sale has a store, too!

*The website www.notforsalecampaign.org is where I gathered the information that I share with you here.They have a grading system that they use to rank companies based on a report that they file after much research. For detailed reports that show why a company is considered to support slavery, please go to their website. If you need help finding it, feel free to email us and we will help you find it!

the pain of statistics

I'm starting to hate statistics. In researching for the documentary on street girls I come across so many statistics that are hard to grasp.

I read that there are:
27 million slaves in the world today
800,000 people are trafficked for sexual purposes each year
150 million children are living on the streets of the world
5,000 children are orphaned each day

and a girl is usually approached for commercial sex within 48 hours of being homeless.

I saw this little girl at a bus stop in Thailand. If she is a street girl, she was probably approached for sex within hours after this photo was taken. I wonder where she is now...

My mind set has changed though. I use to think that commercial sex workers (formerly known as prostitutes) choose that life style. It was hard to have compassion on someone thinking that they did what they wanted to. After researching and having conversations with sex workers, I have yet to meet someone that proclaimed that their dream was to sell their bodies for an income. More often than not the reason for being a sex worker always comes down to one of two things. One being the need to financially support a family and the best money coming from the demand of sex, and two being they are manipulated and eventually forced into believing they have no value or skill for something different. The end result either way is that they become slaves to the industry, either out of financial need or emotional need. It's so weird to think that way after thinking so differently just a couple years ago.

In all the things I read, watch or hear, very little is encouraging. If human trafficking is the most financially lucrative industry, what can be done to prevent people from being victims or benefactors? The fact that its ethically wrong stands no ground.

So most days I'm overwhelmed by the research. I have this curse, or maybe blessing, of projecting people's pain on to myself, and then emotionally and physically becoming exhausted in trying to cope. It's been suggested that I take a break, but I don't know what that looks like. Even in the grocery store I see something that breaks my heart. Hawaii would be nice, but people are trafficked and exploited there, too. It's everywhere.

Knowing that we're headed to Kenya gives me mixed feelings. I long to be there and serve, but if I'm already emotionally exhausted, will I be a help or a burden? Will I fight human trafficking effectively?

Ughh life.

*the statistics I found are estimates provided by organizations such as the World Health Organization, United Nations Children's Fund and Shared Hope International. To view their findings, please go to each organization's website.

celebrating milestones

Yesterday was our 2 1/2 year wedding anniversary. I of course only knew this when I saw it on Phil's calender. We've both struggled with understanding and speaking one anothers "love language", and there are times when one of us will have to say "please love me in a way that I can feel loved". I know many couples struggle with that, and getting married after knowing each other 5 months didn't really help. But Phil remembers things like 1/2 anniversaries, which I find romantic! So yesterday I came home to a beautiful orchid, taken out to sushi, and rounded out the night with foot massages at a Chinese-reflexology foot bar (and I highly recommend getting one! $25 for an hour foot massage). I want to encourage you to celebrate milestones in your life, especially in your marriage; if not for you then for your spouse. We should strive to do things daily that encourage our loved ones and affirm our love for them. I'm certainly not good at doing this, and I'm often humbled by how Phil will show his love for me when I feel unlovable. Someone once explained it to me as 'bringing our spouses to glory'; we don't love on them because they did it first or we want it back, we love on them because they deserve it.
Phil and I have a theme Bible verse for our marriage, which is "He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together" (Colossians 1:17). It's engraved in our wedding rings and framed in our home, and I have to remember daily that the "He" and "Him" is Christ, and its truly in Him alone that Phil and I will have a wonderful marriage, and through Him that we'll learn to love each other.
A book that helped me understand my husband better, as well as my role being his wife, is "Love and War" by John and Stasi Eldridge. Phil isn't much of a reader (says he read enough in school), but he read most of it and it has taught us much about each other, and I think it will benefit you, too. You can read it when you need a break from "Renting Lacy"... remember that one?

Phil's first contribution to the Blog...

New Set of Skills

Tired of that boring front entrance that mirrors your neighbors? Want to beautify your back yard with a costom fire pit or a gorgeous rose garden.. or both? Is that rotted out tree starting to cause the homeowners' association to gossip? You've always wanted the 'right out of HGTV' look, but weren't sure how to do it your self, nor wanted to pay someone $30/hour to do it either. Well, hire us at $29/hour, and you'll be glad you did!

We have to relieve our stresses some how, and Phil decided his outlet would be through a role as a landscape architect! I'm his assistant, and I'm hoping he'll eventually pick up something less labor intensive, like fishing.