Thursday, March 20, 2008
Let's Protect Our Environment
A friend sent me this video on you tube about a new evil element we need to immediately eradicate.
On another note, I am getting really excited to enjoy the environment next week. I am picking up my two oldest nephews this weekend and we are going to go to Colorado and ski for a couple of days and then come back here to do a lot of hiking and other fun stuff! I cannot to spend this next week hanging out with my favorite guys and having a whole lot of fun! I am sure every day will be a new adventure.
I don't know if anyone else was crazy enough to be up early enough this morning to see it but the moon was unbelievable. I was driving to Camelback mountain at about 5:30 a.m. and the moon was directly in front of me. It was the biggest brightest moon I have ever seen. I wanted to take a picture and post it for everyone to enjoy but by the time I got to the mountain it was gone. I will try to get a shot of it tomorrow and hopefully it will be as beautiful as today.
Wednesday, March 19, 2008
The Role of Women
Last night I had the opportunity to address a multi-faith group about the role of women in the LDS church. I was on a panel of four women, a Catholic Nun a Muslim woman and a woman minister for the Unity church. I was truly fascinated by these other women and what their perspectives. It was great to be able to share my beliefs and talk about my faith and how we are encouraged, even expected to stand as a pillar of faith in our families, our faith community our extended community and the world. I talked about our belief in the sanctity of marriage and raising families. I was able to discuss the far reaching effectiveness of The Relief Society and what an honor it is to be part of a world wide organization of women devoted to lifting those who are in need by setting aside the things of this world that separate us from the joy intended for us. I also talked about how we are encouraged to be educated and effective leaders in our homes, church and the community.
It was a wonderful experience and I felt so blessed to be among such an amazing group of people and have the opportunity to share my beliefs and the joy I experience through these truths. What a blessing to have this eterenally valuable knowledge!
I must say I was intrigued and found it very interesting to hear the perspectives of these other amazing women. Sister Gene spoke about how Nun's are devoted to serving the Lord with all of their mind, heart, physical and emotional being. This is why they do not marry. Delora, the Muslim speaker dispelled the widely held belief that it is a Muslim belief that women should be oppressed. Rather she stated that in those areas where this occurs, it is because the people are not living according to the Qur'an. Kyra of Unity talked about the divinity and sacred nature of women and how they believe it is the feminine nature that draws us closer to God and that even men should find that nature within in order to fully experience spirituality. It is always so interesting to hear the similarities and the distinct differences among various faiths.
It was a wonderful experience and I felt so blessed to be among such an amazing group of people and have the opportunity to share my beliefs and the joy I experience through these truths. What a blessing to have this eterenally valuable knowledge!
I must say I was intrigued and found it very interesting to hear the perspectives of these other amazing women. Sister Gene spoke about how Nun's are devoted to serving the Lord with all of their mind, heart, physical and emotional being. This is why they do not marry. Delora, the Muslim speaker dispelled the widely held belief that it is a Muslim belief that women should be oppressed. Rather she stated that in those areas where this occurs, it is because the people are not living according to the Qur'an. Kyra of Unity talked about the divinity and sacred nature of women and how they believe it is the feminine nature that draws us closer to God and that even men should find that nature within in order to fully experience spirituality. It is always so interesting to hear the similarities and the distinct differences among various faiths.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Governor's Council on Faith and Community Initiatives
This morning was the quarterly meeting of Governor's Council on Faith and Community Initiatives. I was pleased to find out that I was appointed to the Council for the second time and will have the opportunity to continue serving with an outstanding group people, devoted to the needs of Arizonans. The Council was more strictly vetted this year and held to only 19 members across the state so I was surprised and quite privileged to have been re-appointed.
I am especially excited this year as I have the honor of serving as the co-chair of the State's first International Initiative Committee. I will be working with the esteemed Dr. C.T. Wright in an effort to enhance the effectiveness of Arizona based NGO's. Dr. Wright has worked in International relations and Philanthropic ventures for many years and is highly regarded in the international community for his work.
Over the past few years of working with the Governor's office on particular projects I have developed a dear friendship with Jannah Scott, her Policy Advisor on Faith and Community Affairs. She is one of the most outstanding women I have ever met. A woman of great character and intellect. I have felt privileged, to say the least to associate with her and continue to learn from her leadership and council. I am especially honored to call her a friend. I think her very presence in the Governor's office has had a tremendously positive impact on the State of Arizona. It is also a testament of the focus of the Governor to reach out to those in need, even if you were to disagree with other of her policies, I can assure you Governor Napolitano has a sincere compassion for vulnerable populations and is passionate about providing opportunities for them to lift themselves out of despair and become self-sustaining.
On another note, I want to let anyone out there who is interested know about the third annual Golden Rule Awards Banquet. The recipient of this years most prestigious award, The Darl Anderson golden Rule Award, is none other than T. Dennis Barney. I can attest to his living this principle to the fullest. He is one of the kindest and most generous humans I have ever known. I see first how he gives of his time, talent and resources to help many many many people in various ways. It will be a great night to see him honored for his efforts. Anyone interested in attending the event can get tickets through the Arizona Interfaith Movement at Interfaitharizona.com. Aside from Dennis being honored this is always a fantastic event!
I am especially excited this year as I have the honor of serving as the co-chair of the State's first International Initiative Committee. I will be working with the esteemed Dr. C.T. Wright in an effort to enhance the effectiveness of Arizona based NGO's. Dr. Wright has worked in International relations and Philanthropic ventures for many years and is highly regarded in the international community for his work.
Over the past few years of working with the Governor's office on particular projects I have developed a dear friendship with Jannah Scott, her Policy Advisor on Faith and Community Affairs. She is one of the most outstanding women I have ever met. A woman of great character and intellect. I have felt privileged, to say the least to associate with her and continue to learn from her leadership and council. I am especially honored to call her a friend. I think her very presence in the Governor's office has had a tremendously positive impact on the State of Arizona. It is also a testament of the focus of the Governor to reach out to those in need, even if you were to disagree with other of her policies, I can assure you Governor Napolitano has a sincere compassion for vulnerable populations and is passionate about providing opportunities for them to lift themselves out of despair and become self-sustaining.
On another note, I want to let anyone out there who is interested know about the third annual Golden Rule Awards Banquet. The recipient of this years most prestigious award, The Darl Anderson golden Rule Award, is none other than T. Dennis Barney. I can attest to his living this principle to the fullest. He is one of the kindest and most generous humans I have ever known. I see first how he gives of his time, talent and resources to help many many many people in various ways. It will be a great night to see him honored for his efforts. Anyone interested in attending the event can get tickets through the Arizona Interfaith Movement at Interfaitharizona.com. Aside from Dennis being honored this is always a fantastic event!
Monday, March 17, 2008
BIG FAT THANKS!!!!
I was going to do this in my fisrt Blog entry this morning and I got distracted and forgot!
A BIG FAT Thanks to Christi and Marie who helped me out on Saturday night! They came through in a BIG way and helped me out at the Consulate event. And they kept me and several others laughing all evening! I love you girls!!! Thanks so much, I don't know what I would have done without you!
A BIG FAT Thanks to Christi and Marie who helped me out on Saturday night! They came through in a BIG way and helped me out at the Consulate event. And they kept me and several others laughing all evening! I love you girls!!! Thanks so much, I don't know what I would have done without you!
I realized this morning it has been almost two weeks since my last blog entry. Wow, time flies when your having fun... This past few weeks has been so incredibly busy I have hardly has time to breathe.
Brittney and I have been hitting the trail at 5:00 every morning and then from there the day seems to fly by. Our training is going really well. We seem to be shaving off minutes every time we go up the mountain. Last week we started hiking the mountain twice every morning and we were really proud of our progress. This week we are moving to the more difficult Camelback Mountain. I am really excited about it. It is one of my favorite trails in the Valley.
I am relieved to have this weekend behind me. I helped put together a reception for the Mexican Consulate and several other consuls including; Honduran, Guatemalan and French. It was a great time and they all really enjoyed the reception and the Easter Pageant being presented in Spanish.
Work has been extremely busy with several different projects in full swing. The property management aspect of my job is currently keeping me running in high gear. I have several properties I am remodeling or at least refreshing two new properties in acquisition and then the 48 that are constantly in need of some repair or maintenance. I am happy to say I have my old Friend Evan back in my employ and he is a tremendous help. My new employee Omar is also one of the hardest working people I have ever known and he makes my job a million times easier. It makes all the difference in the world to have responsible, dependable employees.
This weeks hottest fire is preparation for a political fundraiser I am working on for Maricopa County Supervisor's Don Stapley and Fulton Brock. We are holding the fundraiser at our office on April 3 and invites have to go out this week. It is like pulling teeth sometimes to get the necessary information out of all the participants. I am also going to be catering the event so I am working on the plans as well. the menu I used for the event Saturday night seemed to be a big hit so I think I will do the same with a few alterations.
I will tell you that I have decided catering is one of the most exhausting jobs one can have. I worked in my kitchen from 5pm on Friday until 1:30 Saturday morning, slept about 6 hours and started back at 7:30 am and did not even sit down until it was all over at about 9 Saturday night. By the time I got home and unloaded my car I was exhausted. And then it took me until late last evening and 5 loads in the dishwasher to clean up.
If catering isn't enough I have also been working diligently on another project. After months of working on a series of workshops for emotional eaters I have finally produced something I feel really good about and have been working with a new client twice a week. I absolutely love it and hope to begin taking on many new clients at a time through my 8 week program in weekly 2 hour workshops. I plan on starting out slow in my home and then slowly growing this to be a much larger business. I am really excited about the prospect of helping people who struggle with body image and weight control issues.
Brittney and I have been hitting the trail at 5:00 every morning and then from there the day seems to fly by. Our training is going really well. We seem to be shaving off minutes every time we go up the mountain. Last week we started hiking the mountain twice every morning and we were really proud of our progress. This week we are moving to the more difficult Camelback Mountain. I am really excited about it. It is one of my favorite trails in the Valley.
I am relieved to have this weekend behind me. I helped put together a reception for the Mexican Consulate and several other consuls including; Honduran, Guatemalan and French. It was a great time and they all really enjoyed the reception and the Easter Pageant being presented in Spanish.
Work has been extremely busy with several different projects in full swing. The property management aspect of my job is currently keeping me running in high gear. I have several properties I am remodeling or at least refreshing two new properties in acquisition and then the 48 that are constantly in need of some repair or maintenance. I am happy to say I have my old Friend Evan back in my employ and he is a tremendous help. My new employee Omar is also one of the hardest working people I have ever known and he makes my job a million times easier. It makes all the difference in the world to have responsible, dependable employees.
This weeks hottest fire is preparation for a political fundraiser I am working on for Maricopa County Supervisor's Don Stapley and Fulton Brock. We are holding the fundraiser at our office on April 3 and invites have to go out this week. It is like pulling teeth sometimes to get the necessary information out of all the participants. I am also going to be catering the event so I am working on the plans as well. the menu I used for the event Saturday night seemed to be a big hit so I think I will do the same with a few alterations.
I will tell you that I have decided catering is one of the most exhausting jobs one can have. I worked in my kitchen from 5pm on Friday until 1:30 Saturday morning, slept about 6 hours and started back at 7:30 am and did not even sit down until it was all over at about 9 Saturday night. By the time I got home and unloaded my car I was exhausted. And then it took me until late last evening and 5 loads in the dishwasher to clean up.
If catering isn't enough I have also been working diligently on another project. After months of working on a series of workshops for emotional eaters I have finally produced something I feel really good about and have been working with a new client twice a week. I absolutely love it and hope to begin taking on many new clients at a time through my 8 week program in weekly 2 hour workshops. I plan on starting out slow in my home and then slowly growing this to be a much larger business. I am really excited about the prospect of helping people who struggle with body image and weight control issues.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Look Ma No Hands...
Okay, so I still have them they are just not very "handy" right now. Not long after the sun was rising this morning (pictured above) I was falling and scraped my hands up pretty good. Try washing your hair with no skin on your fingertips. Fun!! OH, and you have no idea how long it took me to type this post! Well anyway, good thing Dr. Romney was there to clean and bandage my wounds, except the gaping wound to my pride.
Aside from all that, as you can see I have been enjoying the most beautiful sunrises every morning! I am loving this weather and all the splendor of the great outdoors this time of year. If you have not been, I would encourage you to take a trip up to Ussery Park and enjoy the extraordinary wild flowers in bloom.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Frozen In Place
I just saw this video today and thought it was pretty fascinating. I wish I could have been there to witness it. I can't imagine what it would have been like to see this in person. Think, what would have gone through your mind. Sure most of us would have assumed it was some kind of prank but would there have been that tiny bit of wonder, that it may have been some weird happening?
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