Aurora We Stand

This is a tribute to the victims and community of my hometown Aurora, CO in response to the July 20th tragedy. The artist Jono is the vocalist in the song, and is an old friend. He will be starring in tonight's episode of E!'s new show Opening Act. Enjoy this meaningful song and also tune in to his episode. He is a talented person and I am so happy for him and the great things happening for him, and just wanted to do my part to spread the word of his gift.

Also, please download this song to your music library.  It's available at http://jonosings.bandcamp.com/ or on iTunes.  The proceeds will go to helping the victims and families of this tragedy.

Aurora, CO Shooting

This is the second time within a month that my Colorado has made national news.  First with all the destruction of the wildfires (which I want to take a minute to say I am so happy it has been contained and that the beauty of my lovely CO Springs was saved.  Though the losses sustained will not be forgotten, the city is ready to rebuild), and now this horrific act of evil.  Aurora, CO is my hometown.  It is where I was born and raised.  I woke up Saturday morning and when I looked at my phone I had numerous missed calls, voice mails, and texts asking me if I was ok....if I was alive.  My heart began to pound, and I could feel a lump in my throat as I realized that something awful must have happened back home (I was on vacation in different parts of the state all week).  I quickly googled Aurora, CO and instantly a photo of Century 16 popped up with a headline that read something along the lines of "mass shooting" or "massacre".  My heart broke instantly, and the more I read and the more news I watched my heart continued to break.  The simple fact that this happened, such an evil thing, against sooo many innocent people at a place as innocent as a movie theater, struck to the core of me.  Then to see it all in my own home, my community, the very place I grew up and live, a movie theater that I myself have gone to several times (though I can say it has been years since I last went to that particular theater).  It is beyond me how anyone could do such a thing, how such hateful and heinous things could ever possibly cross someones mind let alone act on it.  My next thought was of course if I knew anyone there.  I later came to find I did not know any of the victims.  I do know someone who was next door in theater 8 at the time of the shooting.  This in its self was enough to terrify me.  Life is so precious, so unpredictable, and you can never be sure that you won't be in the wrong place at the wrong time.  That some monster is looming about ready to unleash against their fellow human beings...innocent lives.  I pray for this community, for all those affected.  This tragedy is one that will forever be felt the hearts of those of us who call or have called Aurora, CO home.  I know we will rise from this and stand together.  We will not allow the evil of one man break the spirits of the masses.  And above all I still stand behind my city, my state, and can say that I am proud to call Colorado home and that we are a state of greatness.

So for now, let those mourn who need to mourn, may the monster who did this pay for his acts, and remember those who were lost.

4th of July 2012

So this year the 4th of July fell on a Wednesday, which made for a slightly odd holiday.  No three day weekend, just a random day off in the middle of the week.  It was nice to break the week up, but totally through me off at the same time.  All day Tuesday I was thinking it was Friday and kept having to stop myself from doing my typical end of week things at work.  I even caught myself saying "Have a good weekend" to some of the families as they picked their kids up from work.

We did however decide to plan our curriclum this week around the holiday, and teach the children all about their country and how the 4th of July is our country's birthday.  We did things such as sing patriotic songs (the kids loved galloping like Yankee Doodle), create American flags, and wear patriotic clothes/colors.  Even though, it is only a week long theme it has been one of my favorites.  I am glad the children have seemed to enjoy it just as much.

For the 4th I headed down to CO Springs to spend the day.  That night I went down to the Pueblo Riverwalk (which is nice in it's own right but of course is NOTHING compared to the San Antonio RiverwalkIe have gone to so many times) to watch fireworks.  With all of the high fire conditions and a state wide ban against all open burning, most cities across the state cancelled their firework shows.  Pueblo was one of the few who didn't.  We decided to head down a little early to get some dinner.  There was only like one restaurant on the riverwalk and the wait to be seated was an hour!  So we began a little walking adventure to try and seek out something to eat...and everything was closed.  So we headed back to the event area and paid the fee to enter the area where all the vendors were.  Of course all of the lines were insanely long, so we found one that seemed manageable.  After waiting in line for about half hour to 45 min ( we entertained ourselves people watching), once we were about 2-3 people to the front they announced they ran out of pretty much everything.  So defeated, we walked back to the truck to settle in for the fireworks show.  Dehydrated, hot, hungry.  So thank goodness they put on a pretty good fireworks display, and we had an awesome view and were away from the massive crowds of people smushed together on the lawn.  So though the entire night wasn't a fail, I think it was decided once was enough for the Pueblo riverwalk!

I hope that everyone enjoyed their 4th of July and random day off in the week, and good luck making it through to the real weekend :)

♥ And I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free. And I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me.  And I gladly stand up, next to you and defend her still today.  'Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land, God bless the USA. ♥

President Obama Visits the Waldo Canyon Fire

Appreciative of his visit and the support of the community. I pray that as the days pass, this fire continues to be contained, and that the community is able to come together and rebuild our beautiful home. For the nearly 350 homes lost, and the fatalities, my heart aches. This will forever change us, in some way shape or form.

Colorado Wildfires

So the last few weeks my state has been battling wildfires.  In the past few days, that battle has gotten even greater.  With record high temps, and being very dry, fires have been popping up left and right.  It is so sad to see my beautiful state burning from north to south.  The following I took from a USA Today article in regards to the fires, for those of you who may not be up to date on the situation here in Colorado...


"The total number of homes destroyed by a two-week old wildfire in northern Colorado was raised to 248 on Sunday as residents of a subdivision near Fort Collins learned that 57 more homes in their neighborhood had been lost, authorities said.

Fire officials had previously said that 191 homes had burned, the most in state history. The High Park Fire is the second-largest wildfire and among the most expensive in Colorado's history. It has scorched more than 130 square miles and was just 45 percent contained on Sunday, The Denver Post reported.

With a total of eight fires burning, Colorado is having its worst wildfire season in a decade.

A fire near Colorado Springs erupted Saturday and grew out of control to more than 3 square miles early Sunday, prompting the evacuation of more than 11,000 residents and an unknown number of tourists. Authorities said Sunday that they were allowing about 5,000 of those residents to return.

Also on Saturday, a blaze destroyed structures near the mountain community of Estes Park, where many visitors stay while visiting Rocky Mountain National Park. The Larimer County Sheriff's Office said Sunday that 22 homes and 2 outbuildings had been burned.

"We're used to flooding and tornadoes, nothing like this," said Amanda Rice, who recently moved to the area from Rock Falls, Ill. Rice, her husband, four children and dog left a Manitou Springs hotel late Saturday.

Rice, scared when she saw flames, took her family to the evacuation center before she was told to go.

"It was just this God-awful orange glow. It was surreal. It honestly looked like hell was opening up," Rice said Sunday.

With Colorado midway through its worst wildfire season in a decade, travelers have seen some of their favorite sites closed to the public, obscured by smoke and haze. Some travelers were awoken with evacuation orders.

Plumes of gray and white smoke poured from the mountains Sunday, obscuring at times Pikes Peak, the most-summited high-elevation mountain in the nation and inspiration for the song "America The Beautiful." Winds were pushing smoke away from Colorado Springs, but residents and tourists watched nervously as haze wrapped around the peak.

Also Sunday, a brushfire that began near Elbert, about 50 miles southwest of Denver, quickly spread to about 60 acres, forcing the evacuation of about 100 residents.

Half the nation's firefighting fleet is now battling fires in Colorado, said Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper. He said C-130 military transport planes from Peterson Air Force Base in Colorado Springs would begin assisting on Monday.

"People recognize this is going to take a big push" to extinguish, Hickenlooper said Sunday from a Colorado Springs grocery store, where volunteers were passing out burritos, sandwiches and drinks to 350 firefighters working near Pikes Peak.

The wildfire near Rocky Mountain National Park destroyed vacation cabins and closed the most commonly used entrance to the park. Clouds of smoke blew toward the 102-year-old Stanley Hotel that inspired Stephen King to write "The Shining."

I saw first hand as the Waldo Canyon fire had just began on Saturday.  As I was driving into Colorado Springs (from Denver) I could see the cloud of smoke rising up as I came over Monument Hill.  Then as I got closer (about I25 and Woodmen) I could see the actual flames across the top of the mountain.  It was surreal.  My heart goes out to all the those acrossed the state who have been affected, and to all the firefighters working around the clock to try and put all these fires out.

Day 1 of Waldo fire...

Day 2 of the Waldo fire...

Lastly, for anyone who is interested in helping our state battle these fires, here is a list of  a few ways you can...

-Donate to evacuees through HelpColoradoNow.org

-Donate to the Red Cross

-Donate to Colorado Professional Firefighters Foundation

-Also this is a good Facebook page, Waldo Canyon Fire assistance

So I came acrossed this giveaway today from Groopdealz.  They are giving away a DSLR camera..and I have been wanting a new camera like this for awhile now! I hope to win, and if you want a shot at it too, go ahead and enter to win here! :)

a'>http://www.rafflecopter.com">a Rafflecopter giveaway

MREs

So there is a series on youtube that I follow called My Drunk Kitchen...it is absolutely hilarious.  I will share some of my favorites with you all who follow my blog.  In honor of yesterday being flag day and the Army's birthday I thought I would share the episode on MREs.  For those of you who have ever had one/seen one, you could find a good laugh from this. Enjoy!