In the light of what is happening in Ferguson, Missouri, I am so grateful to be safe in my community. Tonight, Ferguson is not safe.
Rewind. This summer a white police officer shot and killed a young black man after an altercation. This whole thing has turned into a comment on race and turned so negative. Black people in Ferguson rioted and ended up hurting their community even more. I am not going to get too much into my thoughts on it but mostly I look negatively on it all. It is so sad that this happened but it is even worse that people are using this as a catalyst to destroy their community instead of coming together and strengthening themselves.
I am grateful that I am in a community that has been rocked (fires and floods) but did come together in strength. I do feel safe here. I am also so grateful that I am surrounded by people that have open minds and are willing to discuss and talk about problems without reverting to hatred and destruction. It is something that I have cultivated in myself and I hope I can pass that on.
Important Video
Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
Showing posts with label video. Show all posts
Tuesday, November 25, 2014
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Hot Air Balloon Ride!
Something wonderful happened today! I got to cross off a hot air balloon ride from my bucket list! What a way to celebrate the last Balloon Classic! My sister won a hot air balloon ride and I got to go with her since Jak didn't want to. I have no idea why but I'm glad because I had a blast. It was the most amazing thing!
We arrived early early early and waited around with coffee and donuts. It wasn't clear at first if we were going to get to fly because of the winds but thank god it finally cleared up and we got to launch. They pulled the balloon out and inflated it. We were the first balloon to go so that everyone would follow us. So everyone was crowded around as they stood the balloon up because we were the only ones. It was a great feeling when they made everyone back up and Caitlin and I got to walk forward and climb into the basket. It was like, oh yeah... we're awesome!
We clambered in, which is not easy. The basket is not big. There were extra fuel tanks and our pilot was not a small woman so it was a good thing Caitlin and I are pretty small ourselves. Moving around in there was almost impossible. Then we were off! The fire roared, which kept us nice and warm, and we lifted off! You would be surprised how smooth it was. Hot air balloons are very smooth up and down but it is pretty intimidating that up and down is all the pilot can do. You can't control at all where you go because the wind just takes you where it may.
We took off and smoothly sailed over the lake. We even got to dip into the lake. Our pilot accidentally went in pretty deep so our feet and pants got wet but I was so thrilled that we dipped in the lake that I didn't even care. Everyone was cheering and it was a dream!
The winds kind of circled us around downtown Colorado Springs and that was really cool getting to look down on all the streets I knew. It was a clear morning and the mountains looked so beautiful. It was the best morning I've had in a long long time.
After about an hour of floating about, which is a really long ride I guess, we came in for a landing about a block from where we took off. It is weird that you can just land anywhere you can fit the balloon. It was just an empty lot that we came down in. The landing was bumpy but I was just laughing. So much fun. As soon as we touched down, the chase crew pulled up and helped us lay the balloon down. We got to help fold it up and pack it up which is not easy. That is a heavy balloon! I have not had that much fun in a long time though. God I loved it.
If you ever get the chance, go up in a balloon. There is NOTHING like it!
Video!
We arrived early early early and waited around with coffee and donuts. It wasn't clear at first if we were going to get to fly because of the winds but thank god it finally cleared up and we got to launch. They pulled the balloon out and inflated it. We were the first balloon to go so that everyone would follow us. So everyone was crowded around as they stood the balloon up because we were the only ones. It was a great feeling when they made everyone back up and Caitlin and I got to walk forward and climb into the basket. It was like, oh yeah... we're awesome!
We clambered in, which is not easy. The basket is not big. There were extra fuel tanks and our pilot was not a small woman so it was a good thing Caitlin and I are pretty small ourselves. Moving around in there was almost impossible. Then we were off! The fire roared, which kept us nice and warm, and we lifted off! You would be surprised how smooth it was. Hot air balloons are very smooth up and down but it is pretty intimidating that up and down is all the pilot can do. You can't control at all where you go because the wind just takes you where it may.
We took off and smoothly sailed over the lake. We even got to dip into the lake. Our pilot accidentally went in pretty deep so our feet and pants got wet but I was so thrilled that we dipped in the lake that I didn't even care. Everyone was cheering and it was a dream!
The winds kind of circled us around downtown Colorado Springs and that was really cool getting to look down on all the streets I knew. It was a clear morning and the mountains looked so beautiful. It was the best morning I've had in a long long time.
After about an hour of floating about, which is a really long ride I guess, we came in for a landing about a block from where we took off. It is weird that you can just land anywhere you can fit the balloon. It was just an empty lot that we came down in. The landing was bumpy but I was just laughing. So much fun. As soon as we touched down, the chase crew pulled up and helped us lay the balloon down. We got to help fold it up and pack it up which is not easy. That is a heavy balloon! I have not had that much fun in a long time though. God I loved it.
If you ever get the chance, go up in a balloon. There is NOTHING like it!
Video!
Wednesday, August 20, 2014
I'm a News Celebrity!
I was the lucky board member of Lucky Dog Rescue who got to go on Fox 21 News this morning and talk about our big event on Sunday, the Lucky Dog Jog. It's a big event, or we hope so anyway, that sustains the rescue throughout the year on funds and donations. This is the fifth year we've done something like it. I always end up being extremely busy and really unable to fully help with the planning and prep for this, which I feel bad about, so I think that doing the news spot for it is more than enough to make up for it.
The Fox 21 weather man takes his dog to LD so we reached out to him to try to get some coverage for the rescue. Myself and an apprentice took a rescue dog down there this morning for a quick chat about the jog. It was cool to see the news room and everything but it felt a bit like flying by the seat of my pants since I really had no idea what was expected of me. They said come in. We came in. They said sit and wait. We sat and wait. They said come sit here and put the mic on. We sat down and I put the mic on. Then off we went.
I was petrified but I guess I hid it pretty well. I've never enjoyed public speaking but I used to have much worse stage fright than I do now. Now I can kind of just shove that down and fake it. Training classes in front of people has really made me a better speaker I think. As long as I don't have to read anything or use notecards I'm fine. Once I have to start reading and looking at notecards my dyslexia rears its ugly head and we're in real trouble.
So I was very glad that Justin took the lead and just kind of let me wing it with him. I'm much more comfortable that way. People tell me you can't tell just how nervous I am so win for me. Hopefully this brings people into the jog!
Video
The Fox 21 weather man takes his dog to LD so we reached out to him to try to get some coverage for the rescue. Myself and an apprentice took a rescue dog down there this morning for a quick chat about the jog. It was cool to see the news room and everything but it felt a bit like flying by the seat of my pants since I really had no idea what was expected of me. They said come in. We came in. They said sit and wait. We sat and wait. They said come sit here and put the mic on. We sat down and I put the mic on. Then off we went.
I was petrified but I guess I hid it pretty well. I've never enjoyed public speaking but I used to have much worse stage fright than I do now. Now I can kind of just shove that down and fake it. Training classes in front of people has really made me a better speaker I think. As long as I don't have to read anything or use notecards I'm fine. Once I have to start reading and looking at notecards my dyslexia rears its ugly head and we're in real trouble.
So I was very glad that Justin took the lead and just kind of let me wing it with him. I'm much more comfortable that way. People tell me you can't tell just how nervous I am so win for me. Hopefully this brings people into the jog!
Video
Thursday, July 17, 2014
Crazy Colorado
Okay I don't know about you guys but it seems as though Mother Nature is a bit miffed at us. Used to be that Colorado was the place to live weather wise because we didn't get those dangerous extremes. Then the drought happened. Then fires. Then floods.
This year the rain seems to have come back a little. When I was a kid I remember thunder storms almost every evening. That's somewhat coming back but some of these thunder storms are a bit crazy.
Facebook Video
That was at work the other day. I felt like we were in the middle of a hurricane. Hail, wind and cascading rain was something behold. Our building has a huge skylight and it was so loud in there. In the video, you hear me go "OW!" near the beginning when I'm standing at the open door. I got hit with a piece of hail on my stomach and it bruised me!
Then after this crazy downpour we had blue skies and sunshine. Colorado be crazy! Or that's proof that there is bright skies after a storm if you just wait it out.
But if you're taking a life lesson from this weather then you're in for a bumpy ride because after the clear skies we had another huge storm. By the end of the night I was exhausted because the wind was blowing the rain in the store and flooding everything while knocking things off the shelf. I had to run back to Shay and call for more towels and spent much of the evening mopping all the water off.
Colorado, can't you just cool it and stop having these mood swings? Have some chocolate or something...
This year the rain seems to have come back a little. When I was a kid I remember thunder storms almost every evening. That's somewhat coming back but some of these thunder storms are a bit crazy.
Facebook Video
That was at work the other day. I felt like we were in the middle of a hurricane. Hail, wind and cascading rain was something behold. Our building has a huge skylight and it was so loud in there. In the video, you hear me go "OW!" near the beginning when I'm standing at the open door. I got hit with a piece of hail on my stomach and it bruised me!
Then after this crazy downpour we had blue skies and sunshine. Colorado be crazy! Or that's proof that there is bright skies after a storm if you just wait it out.
But if you're taking a life lesson from this weather then you're in for a bumpy ride because after the clear skies we had another huge storm. By the end of the night I was exhausted because the wind was blowing the rain in the store and flooding everything while knocking things off the shelf. I had to run back to Shay and call for more towels and spent much of the evening mopping all the water off.
Colorado, can't you just cool it and stop having these mood swings? Have some chocolate or something...
Tuesday, May 27, 2014
Memorial Day
Many people think Memorial Day is about celebrating our country or supporting the military. It has become a day where people do red white and blue things. It is a day to celebrate our country and support the military, though we should be doing that everyday. More importantly, Memorial Day is a day to remember those brave citizens that sacrificed everything in the line of duty for this country. We are free but freedom isn't free. Someone had to sacrifice. Someone laid down their life for that freedom. We should thank them and their families everyday but most especially on Memorial Day.
I spent the day wondering around Territory Days with Caitlin. Street fairs area always good fun. This one was especially good because I got to see my man all dressed up in his military blues. He was serving on the Color Guard holding the Army flag and he looked good. Poor guy must have been hot but still... he looked good. I'm proud of him. I am proud of my soldier and I love him. I also hope that I never have to remember him on Memorial Day.
I spent the day wondering around Territory Days with Caitlin. Street fairs area always good fun. This one was especially good because I got to see my man all dressed up in his military blues. He was serving on the Color Guard holding the Army flag and he looked good. Poor guy must have been hot but still... he looked good. I'm proud of him. I am proud of my soldier and I love him. I also hope that I never have to remember him on Memorial Day.
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Motorcycle Racing
Because I am awesome and my man is too, I went with him to a track day to learn how to ride and race his motorcycle last weekend. We went up to Denver for his class then we headed out to the track east of Denver for the day. I basically spend the day just hanging out and probably making it pretty clear I know nothing about motorcycles. It was fun watching them race though. I think Jake had a pretty good time.
I found out that I am pretty terrible at getting pictures or video of a moving motorcycle. It's harder than you think when the sun is so bright that you can't see the screen of your phone. I got a lot of great pictures of the sky and grass. Then a few of Jake riding. See:
And some tidbits of video:
All in all it was a fun time. I did get a nice sunburn on my face but Jake didn't crash and die so I think that's an alright trade off. A lot more people crashed than I thought, though luckily the ambulance only went out once and she was alright. It was a much longer day than I thought it was going to be so I did win some girlfriend points but I was happy to be there. Kind of made me want to get a bike and get on the track myself. Of course, I might be too nervous. Still, I jumped out of an airplane so I could probably handle it.
Maybe someday.
I found out that I am pretty terrible at getting pictures or video of a moving motorcycle. It's harder than you think when the sun is so bright that you can't see the screen of your phone. I got a lot of great pictures of the sky and grass. Then a few of Jake riding. See:
He seems to be having fun. He has a black motorcycle with a white/black suit.
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| Some learning with his instructor. |
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| Checking tire pressure. |
And some tidbits of video:
All in all it was a fun time. I did get a nice sunburn on my face but Jake didn't crash and die so I think that's an alright trade off. A lot more people crashed than I thought, though luckily the ambulance only went out once and she was alright. It was a much longer day than I thought it was going to be so I did win some girlfriend points but I was happy to be there. Kind of made me want to get a bike and get on the track myself. Of course, I might be too nervous. Still, I jumped out of an airplane so I could probably handle it.
Maybe someday.
Saturday, March 22, 2014
Foster Dog
So I've had a foster dog in my house for a little over a week. I'm taking advantage of not having a roommate at the moment. (oh forgot to mention that. Kathleen moved out and Shay is moving in!)
Anyway, her name is JoJo and she's this darling little hound dog mix. She was at LD but getting too over aroused and biting. I thought she needed some rules and structure so I brought her into my house. We've been working on rules and desensitizing her so that she isn't so mouthy. I've loved having her... Whitman not so much. But today she got adopted and I hope this is her forever home, since she has been returned twice. Good luck to you JoJo! You've been a hoot! Behave yourself!
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| JoJo! |
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| Whitman's attitude about having a foster sibling hasn't been overly ecstatic. Plus he ate her food and got sickies. |
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