Julianne Marie Huerta, born January 21, 1969 at Patrick Air Force Base in Florida, passed from this life in the early morning hours of December 6, 2008.

As a child, Julianne traveled with her family to Turkey and Texas, where she graduated from high school in Austin and still has several friends there. Julianne decided that she wanted to live in California after graduation and moved there in 1987.

She served as a trusted advisor to Members of the California State Legislature. Her role as Principal Consultant to the California State Assembly Republican Caucus for both the Budget and Appropriations Committees included the annual deliberations on the Governor's Budget for all issues related to Human Services. She was highly respected by both Republicans and Democrats, staff at all levels within the Legislature and state agencies, local governments, lobbyists, and community agencies and programs. As a confident advocate for vulnerable women and children, she fought tirelessly for those who did not have a voice, and drafted key legislation to protect children in the foster care system.

Besides her efforts to fight for causes within the Legislature, she was actively involved in the many causes that were so dear to her heart, including WEAVE, the search for a cure for breast cancer, and the Cup of Love Project, and support for Latino women in their effort to achieve success. She also served on numerous boards, such as Latino Sports Outreach.

As a sports junky, she could be found rooting on the Sacramento Kings, the Sacramento Rivercats, the Dallas Cowboys (and the San Francisco 49ers when no one was looking), the San Francisco Giants and Texas A&M. She always enjoyed attending the Sacramento Film Festival. Her favorite music included that of Stevie Ray Vaughan and the Beatles.

Julianne put up a valiant fight against cancer for five years. Even through treatment and sickness, she was always graceful and dignified and continued to fight for those less fortunate, putting their needs before her own. She could always be found wearing some form of pink, her favorite color. Her friends see her as one of the most courageous people in the world.

Julianne was the second child of parents Raymond and Elizabethanne Huerta. Julianne is also survived by her sister, Teresa, and brother, Raymond; her nephews, Michael Christopher and Shawn Patrick McManus; and several aunts and uncles on her father's side: Katie Fierro, Margaret Romero, Lupe Valdez, Joe Huerta, Frank Huerta, Esther Vasquez, Vickie Rodriguez, Juan Huerta and Toni Chavez and their families. Family members on her mother's side include one aunt, Mary K. Beicher, and one uncle, William C. Hoadley.

Julianne's family and friends will miss her very much and are sure she will be watching over them. Arrangements are pending.

On Tuesday afternoon, I put in an offer on a condo. It was accepted yesterday afternoon. If all goes well, I will be moving in the second week of May. I am stunned that I am going to be a homeowner at this age!

Earlier this evening, I accidentally dropped my iPod mini in the parking garage as I was leaving work. No big deal . . . that is until it did not turn on.

So, I figured maybe it just needs to be charged. Nope. Still not turning on.

Went to the Apple website to do a reset of the iPod. Behold, the apple icon appears followed by the sad iPod face. My first thought - I now know how Carrie felt when her laptop died.

Apple offers a repair service, but apparently, for this issue, it will cost TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS.

Guess I am getting myself an early Christmas gift - probably the 80 gig iPod which costs 250 dollars. Darn.

This past week, the California Legislature passed the prison reform deal. Talk about incredibly stressful and insane for us. At least we have a couple of weeks until the Governor announces May Revise (budget thing, don't ask).

Then early this morning, a bridge collapsed in the Bay Area which caused me to spend most of the day working.

So what does a girl do after an incredibly stressful week? She spends 200 dollars at Target and gets hot pink shoes in the process . . .

IF YOUR LIFE WAS A MOVIE, WHAT WOULD THE SOUNDTRACK BE?
So, here's how it works:
1. Open your library (iTunes, Winamp, Media Player, iPod, etc)
2. Put it on shuffle
3. Press play
4. For every question, type the song that's playing
5. When you go to a new question, press the next button
6. Don't lie and try to pretend you're cool...

Opening Credits:

The Launch, DJ Jean

Waking Up:

30 Minutes, T.A.T.U.

First Day of School:

A complete Sasha and Digweed mix (1 hour long)

Falling in Love:

Razorblade Kiss, H.I.M.

Fight Song:

Blue Planet (Trance)

Breaking Up:

Club Nowhere, Blue Man Group

Prom:

Sex and the City theme song

Life:

Don’t You Forget About Me, Simple Minds

Mental Breakdown:

Nowhere to Hide, Antiloop

Driving:

Until the End of the World, U2

Flashback:

Smile Like You Mean It, The Killers

Getting Back Together:

I Will Be Here, Clay Aiken

Wedding:

American Dream, Jakatta (trance)

Birth of Child:

Disco Science, Snatch soundtrack

Final Battle:

Fighter, Christina Aguilera

Death Scene:

Mandelgroove, Blue Man Group

Bloopers at the end:

No Sex in Violence, Bush

The Crocodile Hunter is dead . . .

Death by stingray. How incredibly sad.

With all the commentary surrounding Brokeback Mountain, most other movies were hardly discussed. I was pleasantly surprised to see Crash was nominated for Best Picture. However, Brokeback Mountain seemed to have it all wrapped up.

Brokeback Mountain openly discusses gay culture with a cowboy theme, nonetheless. While this movie broke many barriers, it just seemed that it would receive the Oscar for just breaking social norms.

Crash, though, is a fantastically done movie about racial tendencies in Los Angeles. Not only is racial tendencies revealed, it follows a group of random people who literally "crash" into each other though various beliefs and such. Someone recommended I rent it, which I did, then promptly passed the movie all around the office convincing people that this is THE picture to see this year.

Crash just received the award for Best Picture, and rightly so.

Want to question your beliefs and everything you know? Watch Crash. Be prepared to have your eyes open.

Have happy cows left California? According to a Nevada agency, California's politics have driven both the happy cows and the bear from our flag from the state.

Of course, I am conflicted about which side to take though I am secretly giddy that Nevada did this.