Friday, May 14, 2010

The Positive Side of Life

  • Living on Earth is expensive, but it does include a free trip around the sun every year.
  • How long a minute is depends on what side of the bathroom door you're on.
  • Birthdays are good for you; the more you have, the longer you live.
  • Happiness comes through doors you didn't even know you left open.
  • Ever notice that the people who are late are often much jollier than the people who have to wait for them?
  • Most of us go to our grave with our music still inside of us.
  • If Wal-Mart is lowering prices every day, how come nothing is free yet?
  • You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.
  • Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once.
  • Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened.
  • We could learn a lot from crayons: some are sharp, some are pretty, some are dull, some have weird names, and all are different colors....but they all exist very nicely in the same box.
  • A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

A Goal Worth Fighting For!

I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully, tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails.

I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp.
I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenk's lawn.
I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children.
I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden.
I want to be there with the children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder.
I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.

Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

I Break Things

I've heard this song a few times...it's kinda how I feel right now ugh I know it's the right thing but it doesn't make it the easy thing...

I broke most of Mama’s dishes
She banned me from the kitchen when I was a kid
I tore Daddy’s truck to pieces
Left it in a heap that no mechanic could fix
You don’t believe me I can see you laughin’
But trust me I’m an accident waiting here to happen

Cause I break things
Anything I touch I just get around and then I’m bound to tear ‘em up
Yeah, I make things
Snap and fall apart
So if you wanna hold me boy, you’d better watch your heart
Cause I break things

You say I’m nothing you can’t handle
You’re tougher than an anvil
Well baby we’ll see
I’m like a wrecking ball coming
You’re better off running far away from me
Don’t get me wrong now baby I adore ya
It’s only right that I give you fair warning

Cause I break things
Anything I touch I just get around and then I’m bound to tear ‘em up
Yeah, I make things
Snap and fall apart
So if you wanna hold me boy, you’d better watch your heart
Cause I break things

Rain is wet
The desert is dry
That’s the way it’ll always be
Fire is hot
It’s dark at night
The sun comes up in the east
And I break things
Anything I touch
I just get around and then I’m bound to tear ‘em up
Yeah, I make things
Snap and fall apart
So if you wanna hold me boy, you’d better watch your heart
Cause I break things

I break things

Saturday, April 24, 2010

Sack lunches

I put my carry-on in the luggage compartment and sat down in my assigned seat. It was going to be a long flight. 'I'm glad I have a good book to read. Perhaps I will get a short nap,' I thought. Just before take-off, a line of soldiers came down the aisle and filled all the vacant seats, totally surrounding me. I decided to start a conversation. 'Where are you headed?' I asked the soldier seated nearest to me. 'Petawawa. We'll be there for two weeks for special training, and then we're being deployed to Afghanistan After flying for about an hour, an announcement was made that sack lunches were available for five dollars. It would be several hours before we reached the east, and I quickly decided a lunch would help pass the time... As I reached for my wallet, I overheard a soldier ask his buddy if he planned to buy lunch. 'No, that seems like a lot of money for just a sack lunch. Probably wouldn't be worth five bucks. I'll wait till we get to base.' His friend agreed. I looked around at the other soldiers. None were buying lunch I walked to the back of the plane and handed the flight attendant a fifty dollar bill. 'Take a lunch to all those soldiers.' She grabbed my arms and squeezed tightly. Her eyes wet with tears, she thanked me. 'My son was a soldier in Iraq; it's almost like you are doing it for him.'
Picking up ten sacks, she headed up the aisle to where the soldiers were seated. She stopped at my seat and asked, 'Which do you like best - beef or chicken?' 'Chicken,' I replied, wondering why she asked. She turned and went to the front of plane, returning a minute later with a dinner plate from first class. 'This is your thanks..'
After we finished eating, I went again to the back of the plane,heading for the rest room. A man stopped me. 'I saw what you did. I want to be part of it. Here, take this.' He handed me twenty-five dollars. Soon after I returned to my seat, I saw the Flight Captain coming down the aisle, looking at the aisle numbers as he walked, I hoped he was not looking for me, but noticed he was looking at the numbers only on my side of the plane. When he got to my row he stopped, smiled, held out his hand and said, 'I want to shake your hand.' Quickly unfastening my seat belt I stood and took the Captain's hand. With a booming voice he said, 'I was a soldier and I was a military pilot. Once, someone bought me a lunch. It was an act of kindness I never forgot.' I was embarrassed when applause was heard from all of the passengers.
Later I walked to the front of the plane so I could stretch my legs. A man who was seated about six rows in front of me reached out his hand, wanting to shake mine. He left another twenty-five dollars in my palm. When we landed I gathered my belongings and started to deplane. Waiting just inside the airplane door was a man who stopped me, put something in my shirt pocket, turned, and walked away without saying a word. Another twenty-five dollars!
Upon entering the terminal, I saw the soldiers gathering for their trip to the base. I walked over to them and handed them seventy-five dollars. 'It will take you some time to reach the base.. It will be about time for a sandwich.God Bless You.'Ten young men left that flight feeling the love and respect of their fellow travelers.
As I walked briskly to my car, I whispered a prayer for their safe return. These soldiers were giving their all for our country. I could only give them a couple of meals. It seemed so little...

A veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to 'The United States of America ' for an amount of 'up to and including my life.'That is Honor, and there are way too many people in this country who no longer understand it.'

The Interview With God

Check out this website video! It really makes you think I loved it!!!

http://www.theinterviewwithgod.com/popup-frame.html

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

"Laughed Until We Cried!"

So lifes been a little crazy, you can be on top of the world one day, and have everything come crashing down 20 minutes later! I am so grateful to live in this country, and to able to enjoy the freedoms of this land! For the men and women who have sacrificed so much that I may be able to live in freedom! Over the last couple months I have watched people close to me go from starting from scratch ,to getting to a point where the world seems to be going in their favor, and then it all gets thrown back in their face yet again!
Through it all I have watched these families pull in close with one another and work through the difficult times and trust in a grander plan! I have learned the power of prayer, the Lord loves us and wants us to be happy! Peace is real and He is there for us even when we feel that everything is falling apart, that we're failing at life, and that not one more thing could go wrong!
I love this land, I love this gospel, and I love my friends, and family, the people who have and will support me through every trial and every hardship even at the times when I don't deserve it! THANK YOU!!!

Friday, July 3, 2009

Independence Day!

"We sleep safely in our beds because rough men stand ready and willing in the night to visit violence on those that do us harm!"

I am so grateful for the men and women in the armed services who sacrifice their lives day in and day out so that I may be able to live in and enjoy the freedoms of this great country! Grant it we may not always be perfect, but as long as we respect and remember who and where we came from I think we will all be able to make it! We are so blessed to live in a country where we can have an opinion on matters, and we can speak freely without worrying the government will come and hunt us down. Where we can believe in any religion of our choice and not worry about being shot in the street because we're "wrong" so take this time and think of the many ways were blessed to live in this GREAT United States of America!

**************************************************

You stay up for 16 hours
He stays up for days on end.

You take a warm shower to help you wake up.
He goes days or weeks without running water.

You complain of a 'headache', and call in sick.
He gets shot at as others are hit, and keeps moving forward.

You put on your anti war/don't support the troops shirt, and go meet up with your friends.
He still fights for your right to wear that shirt.

You make sure your cell phone is in your pocket.
He clutches the cross hanging on his chain next to his dog tags.

You talk trash about your 'buddies' that aren't with you.
He knows he may not see some of his buddies again.

You walk down the beach, staring at all the pretty girls.
He patrols the streets, searching for insurgents and terrorists.

You complain about how hot it is.
He wears his heavy gear, not daring to take off his helmet to wipe his brow.

You go out to lunch, and complain because the restaurant got your order wrong.
He doesn't get to eat today.

Your maid makes your bed and washes your clothes.
He wears the same things for weeks, but makes sure his weapons are clean.

You go to the mall and get your hair redone.
He doesn't have time to brush his teeth today.

You're angry because your class ran 5 minutes over.
He's told he will be held over an extra 2 months.

You call your girlfriend and set a date for tonight.
He waits for the mail to see if there is a letter from home.

You hug and kiss your girlfriend, like you do everyday.
He holds his letter close and smells his love's perfume.

You roll your eyes as a baby cries.
He gets a letter with pictures of his new child, and wonders if they'll ever meet.

You criticize your government, and say that war never solves anything.
He sees the innocent tortured and killed by their own people and remembers why he is fighting.

You hear the jokes about the war, and make fun of men like him.
He hears the gunfire, bombs and screams of the wounded.

You see only what the media wants you to see.
He sees the broken bodies lying around him.

You are asked to go to the store by your parents. You don't.
He does exactly what he is told even if it puts his life in danger.

You stay at home and watch TV.
He takes whatever time he is given to call, write home, sleep, and eat.

You crawl into your soft bed, with down pillows, and get comfortable.
He tries to sleep but gets woken by mortars and helicopters all night long.

REMEMBER our Troops, and do not forget!

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God Bless Our Military Man


The average age of the military man is 19 years.
He is a short haired, tight-muscled kid who, under normal circumstances is
considered by society as half man, half boy. Not yet dry behind the ears,
not old enough to buy a beer, but old enough to die for his country.

He never really cared much for work and he would rather wax his own car
than wash his father's; but he has never collected unemployment either.

He's a recent High School graduate; he was probably an average student,
pursued some form of sport activities, drives a ten year old jalopy, and
has a steady girlfriend that either broke up with him when he left, or
swears to be waiting when he returns from half a world away.

He listens to rock and roll or hip-hop or rap or jazz or swing and 155mm
Howitzers.

He is 10 or 15 pounds lighter now than when he was at home because he is
working or fighting from before dawn to well after dusk.

He has trouble spelling, thus letter writing is a pain for him, but he can
field strip a rifle in 30 seconds and reassemble it in less time in the
dark.

He can recite to you the nomenclature of a machine gun or grenade launcher
and use either one effectively if he must.

He digs foxholes and latrines and can apply first aid like a professional.

He can march until he is told to stop or stop until he is told to march.

He obeys orders instantly and without hesitation, but he is not without
spirit or individual dignity.

He is self-sufficient. He has two sets of fatigues: he washes one and
wears the other. He keeps his canteens full and his feet dry.

He sometimes forgets to brush his teeth, but never to clean his rifle.

He can cook his own meals, mend his own clothes, and fix his own hurts. If
you're thirsty, he'll share his water with you; if you are hungry, his food.

He'll even split his ammunition with you in the midst of battle when you
run low.

He has learned to use his hands like weapons and weapons like they were his
hands. He can save your life - or take it, because that is his job.

He will often do twice the work of a civilian, draw half the pay and still
find ironic humor in it all. He has seen more suffering and death then he
should have in his short lifetime.

He has stood atop mountains of dead bodies, and helped to create them.

He has wept in public and in private, for friends who have fallen in
combat and is unashamed.

He feels every note of the National Anthem vibrate through his body while
at rigid attention, while tempering the burning desire to 'square-away'
those around him who haven't bothered to stand, remove their hat, or even
stop talking. In an odd twist, day in and day out, far from home, he
defends their right to be disrespectful.

Just as did his Father, Grandfather, and Great-grandfather, he is paying
the price for our freedom.

Beardless or not, he is not a boy.

He is the American Fighting Man that has kept this country free for over
200 years.

He has asked nothing in return, except our friendship and understanding.

Remember him, always, for he has earned our respect and admiration with his
blood.

"Lord, hold our troops in your loving hands. Protect them as they protect
us.

Bless them and their families for the selfless acts they perform for us in
our time of need. Amen."