Student Award Breakfast

The oldest son shaking hands with Chancellor Rogers

Outstanding Undergraduate Student in Physics
for the academic year 2011-2012

the oldest with his faculty advisor.

Grandma & the oldest ~ look'in good you two!

Fortune Cookie Friday

When in doubt, just take the next small step.

Imperfections

"When we are guilty of a fault we must never attribute it to some physical cause, such as illness or the weather.  We must ascribe it to our own imperfections, without being discouraged thereby. Occasions do not make a man frail, but show what he is."  St. Therese of Lisieux

*****

Can we change our imperfections into something palatable? Can we make a life long alteration to our foundational behaviors?

Campus Research Day

The oldest son presenting a research poster during
Campus Research Day.

His research in computational physics and poster title~

 Characterizing Transitioning in Chaotic Models

 

Research is a big deal at UAF!

Way to go kid!

Tip Tuesday

Did you know candy cigarettes continue to be manufactured and consumed in many parts of the world. However, many manufacturers now describe their products as candy sticks, bubble gum, or candy.

Check out this website for a look at other packaging
for candy cigarettes... click HERE!

So what is the Tip Tuesday you ask ~ 

Be on the lookout for bad ideas!

Here is the packing for the ones I remember buying 

at the corner store just down the street.  

The ends were painted red to look like a lite cigarette.

Temptation

Under a temptation which seemed to me irresistible, I said to her: "This time, I cannot surmount it."

She [St. Therese] replied: "Why seek to surmount it? Rather pass beneath.  It is all well for great souls to soar above the clouds when the storm rages; we have simply to suffer the showers.  What does it matter if we get wet?  We shall dry ourselves in the sunshine of love.

* * * * * * * *

Above from the counsels and reminiscences of Soeur Therese in the book The story of a Soul: The Autobiography of St. Therese of Lisieux.  She is also known as The Little Flower of Jesus.

Prospects

Summer’s prospects of warm and sunshine cheer my soul up a tad. It has been a very long, cold, and lonely winter.  I have felt disconnected and forgotten.  As I search for my place to belong, know that your love and constant faith in me has given me strength and the joy to smile.  I think of you a million times a day and my heart carries love for you that is steadfast and forever.

Bring on summer’s light and joy!  Guide me home!

Bye~Bye Snow

Hooray for bye-bye snow time and welcome good ole summer time!

All My Days

All My Days ~ Alexi Murdoch

Peaceful song for a Monday morning!

Do You Believe?

Have you ever believed in something so whole heartedly that it came true?  Have you ever wanted something so very much you would give your last dollar, your last chance to make it happen?

What in your life drives you forward?  What do you want most of all ~ above all else?

From the dust, mud and caked on layers of the long years, let your passion shine.  Live that dream you have always wanted.

One hitch ~ it has to come from the inside out.

The Look Back!

Are you good at the look back?

After you have visited with someone you care about do you look back as you walk away or as you are pulling the car out of the driveway?  Do you look back for another chance to wave, that last chance to share a glance and a smile for one more moment to remember?

If you have not been in the habit of partaking in the look back then it might be time to start a new tradition. 

I will forever cherish the long wave good-bye.

See you later!

Happy Birthday

We are oh so very proud of you and all your accomplishments. 
Never doubt or question our love for you!  Always carry God in your heart and continue on this path of good works
and kindness and your blessings will be many.

Happy Birthday!

Lost~n~Found

Living in a haze of white and gray has put a damper on my ability to find the happy.  Winter was long, dark and filled with questions.  I was unfocused, unproductive and on the edge of quitting. What was there to care about?  The dishes ~ nope.  My job ~ big fat no! Eating ~ if cheese was not involved I seldom cared.  It's a good thing that for Christmas we received a huge box filled with East Coast cheese, so there was plenty of the lifesaving goodness in the refrigerator.

If only there was goodness outside the icebox.

It is time to close the refrigerator door, the cheese is all gone anyway, do the dishes and get back to what we do best around here ~ smile!

A few friends have abandoned me during the darkness of this troubled winter and in the eyes of some of our family we have all drifted so far North that we are no longer visible to their hearts.

Ashes on the wind across the frozen pack-ice heading out to no-mans-land.

The lion's teeth of March bit down hard on my heart as we passed through the eye of the storm and in the calm still of the hour it was as if I was dead.  Neither did I have the strength to breathe nor blink. In this stillness I could only see a few bright stars overhead and they beckoned unto me to step out of the storm and without their guidance all would have been lost.

The refrigerator door is closed, the dishes are done and put away and my heart is filling again with the gratitude of love received in the small gifts that life brings.

May the winter melt away and summers color fill our hearts with joy.

Answer

Sarah Mclachlan - Answer

Hero

The power of a hero to come along and save the day depends on the strength with which he was born, the courage he earned along his travels and the heart with which his mother showed him that he carried.

Always remember the power of the hero that is with in you.

Love, honor and courage of heart to travel the righteous path.

Not Sure

Not sure what time is was or how it happened but the one thing that I know for sure was that it was snowing.  Lazy quiet snow, you know the kind that drifts downward in a meandering fashion that only adds to your boredom.

It is always snowing it seems like, every time I look out the window.  The only thing that changes is the shape and size of the piles of snow.  Our world is always white and gray with each moment blurring into the next.

So what happened you ask, the lethargy once again settled in and took hold of my day.