First Hair Cuts

Today, I took Maddy to get her first haircut. I know there are some out there who cut their own childrens hair, but I'm not one of them. Something about hold sharp scissors near a (almost) 2 years little face as you try to snip in the right places.

Anyway, we have this wonderful little place in Swedesboro called, Kutz for Kids. They specialize in small children haircuts and are more than well equipped to handle the little people that come into their salon.

Maddy has always had a lot of hair. From the day she was born she had a head full of hair. Just to give you an idea, here is a picture of Maddy at about 11 months old

As I said before, I took her in for a trim. Her hair was getting "scraggily" looking and I thought it was time to give in and get her hair at least trimmed.

So, the lady at Kutz-for-Kids (Michelle) gave Maddy her first hair cut. I told her it was her first so she made it special by saving her little locks of hair in an envelope for me.

Here is Maddy getting her trim. She picked the "Police car" for the place to sit.

Here is Maddy all finished with her trim. As you can see, it doesn't look like they cut a lot, but I think it looks good on her.

Bucket List

Here is my bucket list. It may change over the years, but I think this is a good start.

From time to time I will update my blog with items that I have started or finished.

Some of these things cost money, and some don’t. These are in random order. Tell me what you think of my list.

1.  Run a marathon. It doesn’t have to be a famous marathon like “The Boston Marathon” but any marathon will do. If it has a cause or charity that is tagged along with it, that would be a plus
2.  Ride the USA Four Corners tour on a motorcycle.  
3. Climb to the top of Half-Dome in Yosemite
4. Visit every National park in the US
5.  Wear a size 40 inch waist again, or smaller!
6. Teach Maddy how to ride a bicycle
7.  Go water skiing
8. Obtain some educational goals. Certificates, degrees, or anything alike   
9. Being out of debt. I won’t include a house payment on the “debt” issue. If I kick the bucket with only a mortgage payment, I would be happy.  
10. Drive a Formula 1 car around the Indianapolis Speedway. It doesn’t have to be in an actual race; just a few laps would be nice.
11. Dance with my daughter(s) and granddaughter at their wedding
12.  Go to General Conference.
13. Go to the Salt Lake Temple.
14.  Drive a Cobra for a weekend
15. Go to Hungry where my forefathers were born before they came to America.
16. Not visit a lawyer’s office for 5 consecutive years, unless it is for my last will and testament or living will.
17. See my mother learn how to swim
18. Restore a classic car, truck or motorcycle.
19. See a Paul McCartney live performance.
20. Have a manuscript that I wrote published. It doesn’t have to sell, just be published.
21. Get over my fear of heights
22. Travel Europe and see the sights, and the little known sights.

A Day In Life

I have been wanting to post something on my new blog site. When I started to think about it, my mind went blank. So tonight, I decided to write what was on my mind.

I have so many things to think about lately. Some fun, some not so fun. On the way to work this morning I was reminded that 47 years ago the Beatles landed in the US and started Beatlemania. I'm a huge Beatle fan, although I was born the same year (and month) the Beatles landed, I have a fondness of their music and history. I still remember singing "Yellow Submarine" with my sister when I was little.




Something else I realized today was that I will be 47 this year. One more year closer to my AARP membership. When I was younger, I never thought I would make it past 30. I think in some regards, I'm lucky I did. Getting older doesn't bother me. The only time it does is when someone thinks I'm Maddy's grandpa, and I correct them gently. I always like the look on their faces when I tell them that little piece of information.

I often wonder about retirement and if I will ever be able to retire. I suppose I will cross that bridge when I come to it. At some point in my life, I would like to go on a mission for the church, but I think that will be a few years down the road.

I feel as if I am going through a life change these days. So many things have changed in my daily life over the past 7 months, and for sure, my future has changed from what I thought it was going to be. I take these things in stride, and know that the Lord is on control. There are times I wish I had a hold of the steering wheel but I really think the Lord wants me to be a passenger on this road trip.

I have a number of goals I would like to complete before I "kick the bucket" and when my bucket list is refined a little better, I will post it and provide updates on how I'm coming along. Its almost a living document of sorts. It changes all the time and I wonder if I will get through the list. Its one of those lists that my elude me but I'm up for giving it a try and see where it takes me.

That's all I have for tonight. It's time for some much needed sleep and pleasant dreams.

Faith In Jesus Christ

I was assigned to give a talk today in church. I thought I would share.

Faith in Jesus Christ

I was asked to prepare a talk on “Faith in Jesus Christ”.

Faith is much more than passive belief. We express our faith through action—by the way we live. Let me explain my thinking.

I was raised in a Methodist household with my two older brothers and an older sister. My father was raised Catholic and did not attend church with us. When I was in my early teens, I rebelled and decided not to go to church at all. For many years I had little faith in Christ and as time went on, my faith lessened more and more.

During these years a number of occasions arose where I would be going through a trial, I would speak to my parents about my turmoil. My mother would always say, “I’ll pray for you”. Of course, I had some snarky remark like, “Go for it” or “if you can get Him to listen that would be great” and my all time favorite, “I really don’t think that will help, but if it makes you feel better”.

Fast forward 20+ years. One evening after one of many visits from the missionaries, I lay in bed and I couldn’t sleep. I went downstairs and sat in my favorite chair. I stared into the darkness and found myself digging through the bookshelf. Buried in the back, with a little dust on it I found what I was searching for. I found the Book of Mormon that was given to me by missionary set number five. I opened the little book and starting reading. Most of it didn’t make sense until I read 2^nd Nephi 26:13:

“And that he manifesteth himself unto all those who believe in him, by the power of the Holy Ghost; yea, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, working mighty miracles, signs, and wonders, among the children of men according to their faith.”

I realized that I could not rely on myself only any longer for support. I had to lean on someone that could understand what I was going through and listen. It took me a while to realize that I needed faith in Christ. I was stubborn, but slowly I started not only having faith in Christ but by living with faith.

Faith in Jesus Christ can motivate us to follow His perfect example, in John 14:12 it says “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father.”

Our faith helps us to do good works, obey all the commandments, and repent of our sins; in James 2:18 it says “Yea, a man may say, Thou hast faith, and I have works: shew me thy faith without thy works, and I will shew thee my faith by my works.”

Also in Alma 34:17, “Therefore may God grant unto you, my brethren, that ye may begin to exercise your faith unto repentance, that ye begin to call upon his holy name, that he would have mercy upon you”

There was a man walking with a large bag of rocks. He struggled as he carried the rocks along the road when the Jesus Christ appeared to him. “I can carry those rocks for you” Jesus said. The man stopped, put the rocks down with a smile. The man opened the bag containing the rocks and handed Jesus one rock out of the bag. He then swung the bag of rocks over his shoulder and continued down the road.

Lately, having faith has been difficult at best for me personally. I have been through many trails over the past 6 months and have lost a little faith, and regained it, lost a little again the regained it. Every time I would realize that my faith is being tested, or I’m going through a trial and I need something to hang onto, I would think about the reasons I need to hang on. The little person in my life is always forefront in my mind. What kind of life would she have if I didn’t keep my faith in Christ? I remember what my life was like before I joined the church, before I realized how much I needed Christ in my life. That was no place for any sane person, let alone a 2 year old.

Some days I too am like the man with the bag of rocks. I won’t let go of what Jesus could help me carry the rocks. I choose to carry the rocks and keep the burden to myself.

A friend recently asked me how I have gotten so much faith. The answer was simple, I believed I earned it. I earned my faith by keeping the commandments and living by faith.

President James E. Faust said, “Faith will be our strong shield to protect us from the fiery arrows of Satan. Values should not change with time, because faith in Jesus Christ is indispensable to happiness and eternal salvation”

Faith in Christ leads you to want to change your life for the better. As your faith increases, you will desire to repent of your sins. In other words, you will want to change those thoughts and actions that are not in harmony with the teachings of Heavenly Father through Jesus Christ.

As you obey Heavenly Father, He blesses you. He gives you strength and determination to meet life's challenges and helps you change the desires you have. Through your faith in Jesus Christ, you can be healed, both physically and spiritually.

Faith in Jesus Christ is such a basic principal of the Church. Everything we do every day of our lives involves our faith. It motivates us, keeps us from harm and keeps on the straight and narrow and can enable us to spend eternity with our loved ones.

I would like to testify to you that I know that keeping faith in Jesus Christ has improved my life. It will make your life better that you could ever want. The blessings are there for all of us to grasp, and the blessing always come when you are keeping your faith.

The Jersey Devil

This morning I was laying in bed and reminiscing a bit about my childhood. When I was in the boy Scouts (Troop 13 in Swedesboro, NJ) we would go camping in many places in NJ, however we took several trips down into the Pine Barrens. The yearly canoe trip was always a favorite. It was a father/son camp out and it was something I always looked forward to.

As you know, one of the things we do when we go camping is tell scary stories around the campfire. Every time we would sit around the campfire, someone would always bring up the Jersey Devil.

The Jersey Devil supposedly lived in the Pine Barrens and lurked around waiting to strike on some poor unsuspecting person or large animal. Fortunatley for us, most of camping trips would occur in the Pine Barrens. The stories were never ending sometimes. I can remember people saying to each other, "if you don't behave, the Jersey Devil will get you".

Stories of the Jersey Devil have been around long before I was born. In fact, stories of the Jersey Devil been around for over 200 years. Its one of those folklore stories that never die. I'm sure that some of the people are real, but I really don't think that the Jersey Devil is real. Or is it?

There are a number of website dedicated to the stories of the Jersey Devil and how it was "born" and how people have actually seen it. However many people have been saying it is a hoax. Others have been trying to disprove there is not a Jersey Devil.

As you know, most of these folklore stories are born out of gossip and then they tend to take on a life of their own.

I really don't think there is Jersey Devil. But it makes for a good scary story while camping and having fun with family and friends.

My Favorite Vegetable - Chocolate

I have to admit. I love chocolate. Sadly, I love chocolate so much, it takes over and makes me think about consuming it all the time.

Thinking back about New Year's resolutions, I didn't want to jinx myself by making a resolution to stop eating chocolate so, no resolutions for me.

So, I made a decision to stop eating my favorite vegetable, chocolate.
Let's face it, we all like chocolate. I feel sorry for people who are allergic to it. They can't taste that savory bitter/sweetness of a dark chocolate or how it tastes when its drenched over a bowl of ice cream. Yummy.

But being diabetic, it's not a good thing to eat so much sugar. I did try those sugar-free chocolates that cost an arm and leg for a few ounces. Unfortunately, those wonderful tasting sugar-free chocolates don't like me very much. I spend an awful lot of time running for the bathroom after consuming just a little bit. Enough said about that subject.

There have been times when I thought about chocolate enough to make me think I should find some. But I stop myself and realize that I really don't need it.

I think I need to know that I can give up chocolate in my life. Giving up chocolate goes beyond the aspect of eating that tasty confection. Chocolate has been my main comfort food.

Happy, sad, or angry chocolate was there to comfort me. Finding other ways to comfort myself during those times has been a challenge, but I'm working through it. Reading, writing, and prayer are now my chocolate and I get just as much satisfaction from those things as I do chocolate.

I have to admit, it has not been easy giving up something like chocolate. But with a little help from my friends, I'm sure it will work out.

For the Love of Ice Cream

I have always loved ice cream. Most of us do. I remember when I was very young, my grandmother would take us to the "Custard Stand" for an ice cream in the summer. My favorite was always the twist cone.

When Maddy was very small, she wouldn't touch ice cream. I think she didn't like the cold aspect of ice cream or the mess. I'm not really sure which it was, all I knew that I was a little disappointed she didn't like ice cream the way I do.

Tonight, my mother was watching her favorite show on television, football. She decided that she wanted an ice cream cone. As she was making it, Maddy decided that she wanted one too. So they plopped themselves on the couch and ate ice cream cones as my mother and my daughter watched the Steelers Vs. Ravens game. It was fun to watch both of them eat their ice cream. I was surprised that Maddy was so careful about not making a mess, and asked for a napkin to help keep things tidy.


She did a good job eating her ice cream cone, with very little mess (except on her face). She even ate the cone.

Snow Days

On Wednesday of this week, we had a "snow day". Maddy was home from daycare, since the daycare said there was too much snow on the ground and the they would be closed.

I stayed home from work (and worked from home) on Wednesday, just because of the crazy people that drive too fast on slippery roads.

As I was shoveling out the driveway, I was thinking about the snow days when I was a kid. Growing up on the main road in my home town, we had an opportunity to have "across the street snow ball fights". This is where each "team" stands on either side of the street and tries to hit the team across the street from them with snowballs. Yeah, sometimes cars got in the way, but that never bothered us.

Across the street from where I grew up was an empty house lot. There was no house on it and it was an excellent place to build a snow fort. We would take metal trash cans and fill them with snow and create a "fort" that was unsurpassed by anything we have ever seen. We would roll huge snowballs as part of the fort. These snowballs were typically about 4-5 feet in diameter. The best part was we would take water hoses and lightly spray the snow fort to make it an ice castle. The center could be carved out and you could stash as many snowballs as you could for the upcoming snowball fight.

The local news paper would come by and take our picture next to our little piece of snow heaven and sometimes, if it was a slow news day we would be on the front page of the next days news paper.

The other opportunity of a snow day was to go sledding down "cemetery hill". Cemetery hill was about a mile long and was fairly steep by New jersey standards. Of course it was through a cemetery, but never seemed scary at all. It was also had a lot of curves, which made it excellent for creating a "train" of sleds going down the twisty hill, typically throwing someone off the back end of the train. It was also great fun. I don't know how many times I dragged my sled up that curvy hill or how many times I went down only to find myself in a snow bank. It was great fun and we never got tired of it.

Those days are far behind me now. The lot where we built countless snow forts, now has a house built upon it. Cemetery hill is still there, but I don't know if anyone goes sledding down it these days. Maybe I will drive by and check it out sometime after a snow fall.

The Bishops Storehouse

In Section 78 of Doctrine and Covenants, the Lords tells Joseph Smith to organize a storehouse for the poor.

Yesterday, I had the opportunity to volunteer in our Bishop's Storehouse. I spent 5 hours moving boxes, unloading pallets and filling orders. Our storehouse covers a huge territory. I saw first hand what good it does. There were families large and small that came by to pick up orders. Small children needing diapers, or a little snack. Families needing ingredients to prepare meals. It was all there for them to pickup and enjoy.



I'm so grateful for facilities like the Bishop's Storehouse, as well as other church programs. There is a program to help people with addiction issues. If you need help finding a job, there is help available. These are just a few examples.

One thing that amazes me is that all the people working on these programs are volunteers. I see so many churches that pay people for working in the nursery, or even teaching Sunday School classes. I look at it as a way to do what the Lord has asked us to do, serve each other in whatever way possible.