Flamingorchl's Weblog

Post-Election Thoughts

flamingorchl — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 15:30:41 +0000

As a rule, I tend to worry . . . about EVERYTHING! The election this year was no different. However, after many long talks with Brad and some study through the Bible, I am starting to feel a sense of peace about the whole thing. If we look back through the saga of the Israelites’ life in the Old Testament, we see that God worked His plan through evil rulers as much as He did through good rulers. We see that in times of oppression, His people eventually turned back to God because there was nowhere else to turn. God was the only entity who could give them the strength and the courage to persevere. He was the only one who could give them the peace that passes understanding and the hope for tomorrow. I pray that we will remember the words from Romans 5:1-5 if we do experience “suffering” in our future in this country.

“Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance, perseverance, character, and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us.”

I also pray that as Christians, we will remember to place our hope and trust in God and not in the things of this world, remembering that God is in control, and he is the Ruler of our home in the Eternal Kingdom. We heard an excellent sermon on Sunday that reminded me of this duty we have as Christians but, unfortunately, often neglect. You can listen to the sermon by clicking on the media player link of our church website and choosing the sermon titled “Jesus vs. The Powers”.

Marriage Retreat

flamingorchl — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:53:06 +0000

Brad and I were fortunate enough to be able to attend a marriage retreat with about 20 other couples from our church this last weekend in Colorado Springs, CO. It was at a place called Glen Eyrie. It was breathtakingly beautiful. We had a wonderful time socializing with the other couples as well as spending time with one another. There were three sessions, one taught by an elder from our church, one taught by an elderly couple who used to do a lot of marriage seminars, and one taught by the family minister from our church. My favorite session was taught by our family minister who concentrated on the concept of becoming one flesh and what that means in our marriage and in our relationship with God.

On Saturday, we had the opportunity to go on a hike, which we were expecting to take no longer than an hour and a half. It turned out to be about a four hour adventure. First, we climbed to a beautiful waterfall. This was the easy part of the hike. The next segment was quite a bit more difficult. There were places where the only thing to stand on was a very smooth, very angled rock with little to no footholds. It was a good thing that a small group of us had decided to continue on. The men were able to daringly cross these difficult points and then provide footholds for the women or a hand across. Ultimately, together we accomplished the task at hand and made it to a beautiful place in the canyon where there were “punch bowls” of water flowing from one hole in the ground to the other. It was a very neat experience. Getting back was another story . . .

Amarillo

flamingorchl — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 14:28:50 +0000

I cannot believe that it has been a month and a half since we moved to Amarillo! Our life is quite different. The general pace of life here is a lot slower. It takes about 15 to 30 minutes to get anywhere in this town. Rush hour means it might take you an extra 5 minutes of travel. The freeways don’t look like parking lots for 6 hours each weekday. However, we still have an adequate amount of places to shop, restaurants to dine at, and 3 Wal-Marts (what would we do without Wal-Mart?). The weather is crazy. It changes from hot (which is really only in the nineties, not HOT compared to Arizona) to very cold overnight and then back to hot again. It spontaneously rains with little to no warning, but the rain is nothing like the powerful monsoons in Arizona. It stays light until all hours of the night (because they use daylight savings time). Like Arizona, the people here are not interested in following the speed limits. Unlike Arizona, they drive about 10 miles UNDER the speed limit here.

I am most thankful that this move has allowed me to go back to school at a ground campus where I sit in a lecture hall (with other students)and watch PowerPoint presentations! This may be difficult for some of you to understand but trying to teach yourself accounting through an on line program is exhausting and quite difficult. This is truly a blessing.

Brad and I have also been able to find a great church to attend. There is an active group of about 15 young married couples which we are able to be a part of. There are a lot of ways to serve. We are so happy to have found a church that we love and are able to call our new family.

Zero Grams Trans Fat!

flamingorchl — Thu, 29 May 2008 04:00:24 +0000

What a joke! Does Trans Fat really matter if one Krispy Kreme Doughnut has 200 calories and a whopping 12 grams of fat? Considering they give you one in the store as a “sample” and a dozen more to take home, this can be quite the artery clogging meal despite the Zero Grams of Trans Fat they brag about.

Bones

flamingorchl — Mon, 26 May 2008 16:06:39 +0000

So, a few days ago I went to the grocery store where we usually purchase these great real smoked bones for our dogs. They seemed to be out of the bones so I went to ask the butcher just be sure they did not have any in the back. He is gone for quite a while and then I see him in the back holding up about a 2 - 2 1/2 foot long huge, raw bone. He says it is the only kind they have so I ask him to cut it in half so each dog can enjoy this treat (since it still had a bit of meat on it as well). Yesterday we presented the dogs with their HUGE bones which they were slightly confused about (since they usually just get chicken legs and these were much larger). However, they quickly grew excited about the bones and then . . . protective. They generally do not fight. I can only think of a few times. But, apparently Bashful tried to steal Happy’s bone and was in the backyard pacing between the two, not letting him get near either one. Needless to say, they both received a nice hard spanking. We give them something much nicer and larger than they have ever received before and greed sets in.

Morning Jog Relief

flamingorchl — Fri, 23 May 2008 05:36:44 +0000

Yesterday morning, I took our dogs running. They were up to their usual antics of trying to run into the school playground where they like to chase birds and occasionally attempting to abruptly stop directly in the path of my next step. However, this morning when Bashful stuck her head in a bush to sniff it, Happy decided that was the exact place in the bush where he wished to relieve himself. He lifted his leg and peed right on Bashful’s neck. Now, that has never happened on a ‘usual’ morning jog!

New Mode

flamingorchl — Fri, 02 May 2008 04:39:50 +0000

With the ever increasing cost of gas, the price of getting to work has gone up significantly. I decided to buy a three day bus pass and take my turn at trying public transportation. I was pleasantly surprised at how easy it was! The route I take begins approximately 4 1/2 miles away from my house. I don’t have to change routes or anything and it drops me off a few blocks away from work. I don’t know why I thought this would be some ultra challenging task! Anyway, the bus pass is approximately $45 per month which by far beats the price of filling up my tank at $45 per week. In addition, if I give up my parking pass at work, they will buy the monthly bus pass for me! It’s a bit of a win, win situation. They get a parking pass which they desperately need since they currently don’t have any passes to give new employees and I save at least $125 to $150 per month on gas. I can also get a discount on insurance since I won’t be using my car to commute 34 miles per day and my car maintenance bills will decrease since I won’t be putting so many miles on my vehicle. My next task is discovering enough ways to trim my budget so I don’t have to worry about going to work! j/k

New Blog

flamingorchl — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 05:26:59 +0000

I have never really taken to blogging in the past. I am terrible at maintaining my personal web page. The most recent photos are those from my wedding ceremony which took place over a year ago. My MySpace and FaceBook pages sit idle. I e-mail at work all day and, therefore, loathe coming home to sit at my computer and read all fifty or more messages residing in my in-box. Regardless, I have an insatiable desire to communicate with those around me (friends, acquaintances, and, of course, family). However, most of my attempts have been quite futile. So, in yet another attempt . . . I have chosen wordpress upon Brad’s recommendation. We’ll see how it goes! Enjoy the ride!