Amazing wave surfing...
Totally amazed by these people living on the edge.
Check it out.
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Totally amazed by these people living on the edge.
Check it out.
I went to Samuel's 1st birthday today. Samuel is the cutest little kid! Here's 13 minutes of video from the party!
data="http://www.commutefromhome.com/videos/flvplayer.swf?file=http://www.strive4impact.com/videos/samuel-1st-birthday2.flv&autoStart=false">
Carrie's laptop recently crashed, and a friend's also recently crashed... so I thought it appropriate to post this little poem here today.
Enjoy!
>>Every single evening
>>As I'm lying here in bed,
>>This tiny little Prayer
>>Keeps running through my head:
>>God bless all my family
>>Wherever they may be,
>>Keep them warm and safe from harm
>>For they're so close to me.
>>And God, there is one more thing
>>I wish that you could do;
>>Hope you don't mind me asking,
>>Please bless my computer too.
>>Now I know that it's unusual
>>To Bless a motherboard,
>>But listen just a second
>>While I explain it to you, Lord.
>>You see, that little metal box
>>Holds more than odds and ends;
>>Inside those small compartments
>>Rest so many of my friends.
>>I know so much about them
>>By the kindness that they give,
>>And this little scrap of metal
>>Takes me in to where they live.
>>By faith is how I know them
>>Much the same as you.
>>We share in what life brings us
>>And from that our friendships grew.
>>Please take an extra minute
>>From your duties up above,
>>To bless those in my address book
>>That's filled with so much love.
>>Wherever else this prayer may reach
>>To each and every friend,
>>Bless each e-mail inbox
>>And each person who hits "send".
>>When you update your Heavenly list
>>On your own Great CD-ROM,
>>Bless everyone who says this prayer
>>Sent up to GOD.com
Take a look at these videos on Nanotechnology. This is a significant part of the future we will live in, and the videos are rather fascinating.
You can use a crutch as a weakness or strength.
Here's a man, Bill Shannon, who decided that he wasn't going to let his circumstances dictate what he was capable of.
His crutch became the very thing that will propel him to be an incredible inspiration to the thousands who will see his video.
He dictated what he was capable of, and his circumstances conformed to his desires.
Can we all learn to do the same in our lives?
Make the decision today. Find what works for you - Kevin Fanter says it this way.
"I am the voice. I will lead, not follow."
Make a choice today.
Force your circumstances to conform to your desires!
Be a Bill Shannon to the people who will see your example. Live a powerful life, be strong in your convictions, and you will help others to move their lives to new places because of who you are for them.
Turn the crutch into your greatest reason.
Someone emailed me this today and I thought it appropriate to share here.
"If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader."
John Quincy Adams quotes (American 6th US President (1825-29), eldest son of John Adams, 2nd US president. 1767-1848)
Saw this comedian in Denver not too long ago. Glad to see he's still doing well and performing. Mitch Hedberg... the One-liner man.
Tear Down the Statute of Liberty?
Written in response to a series of letters to the editor in the Orange County, (Florida) Register:
Dear Editor: So many letter writers have based their arguments on how this land is made up of immigrants. Ernie Lujan for one, suggests we should tear down the Statute of Liberty because the people now in question aren't being treated the same as those who passed through Ellis Island and other ports of entry.
Maybe we should turn to our history books and point out to people like Mr. Lujan why today's American is not willing to accept this new kind of immigrant any longer.
Back in 1900 when there was a rush from all areas of Europe to come to the United States, people had to get off a ship and stand in a long line in New York and be documented. Some would even get down on their hands and knees and kiss the ground. They made a pledge to uphold the laws and support their new country in good and bad times. They made learning English a primary rule in their new American households and some even changed their names to blend in with their new home.
They had waved good bye to their birth place to give their children a new life and did everything in their power to help their children assimilate into one culture.
Nothing was handed to them. No free lunches, no welfare, no labor laws to protect them.
All they had were the skills and craftsmanship they had brought with them to trade for a future of prosperity.
Most of their children came of age when World War II broke out. My father fought along side men whose parents had come straight over from Germany, Italy, France and Japan. None of these 1st generation Americans ever gave any thought about what country their parents had come from.
They were Americans fighting Hitler, Mussolini and the Emperor of Japan. They were defending the United States of America as one people. When we liberated France, no one in those villages were looking for the French-American or the German-American or the Irish-American. The people of France saw only Americans.
And we carried one flag that represented one country. Not one of those immigrant sons would have thought about picking up another country's flag and waving it to represent who they were. It would have been a disgrace to their parents who had sacrificed so much to be here. These immigrants truly knew what it meant to be an American. They stirred the melting pot into one red, white and blue bowl.
And here we are in 2006 with a new kind of immigrant who wants the same rights and privileges. Only they want to achieve it by playing with a different set of rules, one that includes the entitlement card and a guarantee of being faithful to their mother country. I'm sorry, that's not what being an American is all about.
I believe that the immigrants who landed on Ellis Island in the early 1900s deserve better than that for all the toil, hard work and sacrifice in raising future generations to create a land that has become a beacon for those legally searching for a better life.
I think they would be appalled that they are being used as an example by those waving foreign country flag.
And for that suggestion about taking down the Statute of Liberty, it happens to mean a lot to the citizens who are voting on the immigration bill. I wouldn't start talking about dismantling the United States just yet.
(signed) - Rosemary LaBonte
We again had the annual pumpkin carving party! Since we were gone for Jason's wedding the weekend before Halloween, we had our pumpkin carving party on October 20th.
Carrie makes awesome and delicious pumpkin party treats.
We had witches' broomsticks (peanut butter cookies attached to pretzels and
decorated with chocolate)
We had a Spider nest (7 layer dip decorated in sour cream)
We also had broomsticks dipped in melted chocolate. Guess who got to lick
the bowl?
We carved 12 pumpkins in total at the party.
Carrie's "Lovers" pumpkin design
The Glowing Pumpkin (she did this by scraping down the inside of the pumpkin so
that the pumpkin was VERY thin.
Deanna and I are the last two to finish carving...
Me, still carving my pumpkin, at 12:45 AM. (It took until almost 2:00 AM
before I finished.)
But I did finish my pumpkin.
Here's what it looked like.
Warning: IF you try carving this pumpkin design, it's not quite as easy as it
may look.
You can also look at pictures of our pumpkin carvings from years past:
View Pumpkin carvings from 10/28/2001
View Pumpkin carvings from
10/30/2001
View Pumpkins from 10/26/2002
View pumpkin carvings and pumpkin designs from 10/26/2003
View Pumpkins and designs from 10/30/2003
View Pumpkins and Designs from 10/29/2005
(Of these, which is your favorite? Please feel free to leave comments below!)
This page contains all entries posted to Strive4impact Main Page in October 2006. They are listed from oldest to newest.
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