2011... a wild weather year to say the least!

(Image Courtesy of the Norman NWS website)

It seems that a lot of bloggers that I read are doing a year in review and well... I am lucky if I can remember last week let alone last month or the last year. Thank goodness that our friends and fine public servants over at the National Weather Service office in Norman have done a fantastic job of recapping the wild weather year that we have had here in Oklahoma (click to enlarge image).

This has truly been one of the craziest years for weather related phenomena that I have ever seen. From the blizzard in Late January to the insane number of tornadoes that we had. This was one of the deadliest years in the nation for deaths caused by tornadoes.

The big temperature extremes have been very damaging to crops and livelihoods. The weather has tested communities and the nation with 12 disasters that caused a Billion dollars or more in damage. Organizations such as the Red Cross and FEMA have been tested almost to their limits... It truly has been a wild year.

Here is, as Harry Morgan would say on MASH, hoping that this year is a far sight better than the last!

Please resolve this New Year to be more prepared at work and at home for disasters. Also be good to your family and friends and last and most importantly yourself.

God Bless!
Be Safe!

Bryan

Reflections on a journey of Faith and Love

The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."  - Luke Ch 2; 9-14

On this day before Christmas, the holiday celebrating the birth of the Christ child, I look back and reflect on the journey of faith and love that has brought me to the point that I am at in my life.

I met my wonderful wife 8 ½ years ago. I was sitting on a bar stool drinking my life away with more than a few 7&7’s on board. She walked up to me and told me “you know my friends and I think that you look like Norm from Cheers”. I acknowledged her with a laugh and a wave and went on to finish my drink. Then a voice inside my head said… “Why don’t you buy them a shot and take it over to them and talk to her”. For once in my life I listened to my inner voice and…well, the rest as they say is history. We went out, dated for a year, and then I asked her to marry me on the top of a parking garage in Bricktown. I will go into that story at another time.

During the time that we dated she got me to attend her church, the Catholic Church, and after we were engaged I decided to join the church. I remember feeling the same awe and nervousness that I would imagine those Sheppard’s felt when the Angel of the Lord came to them. Until then I had been staunchly against church and religion in general. I remember one of the things that I said to my wife when we were dating was “I would either like to be a Buddhist or a Catholic”.  Again that voice in my head told me that I ought to give this church thing a chance. It would allow me to be around my soon to be wife and In Laws and it would allow me to check the church out. Take it for a spin so to speak. One of the reasons that I was going through RCIA, Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, was so I could go through the full Rite of Christian Marriage. I, most importantly, was doing this for myself but this was another reason.

That year was a magical and stressful year. The classes started in August, I believe, and ended with my Baptism at Easter Vigil. Stephanie and I got married in May of that same year and I was able to do so with the full religious ceremony of the Catholic Church. I felt so honored to be part of a universal church, millions of brothers and sisters who were there to spread the word of God through their lives and deeds. It was as if the Angel of the Lord came down and spoke to me on that night. Maybe that was that inner voice that I finally decided to listen to.

Anyway, I say that to say this. I wish you all the peace and love that God bestows on us. Listen to your inner voice; it just might lead you to great things.  

Peace to you and your family in this holiday season.

God Bless

Be Safe       

Izzy photos

I love my new iPhone 4s. The camera is so much better compared to my old iPhone 3G.

Taken with a iPhone 3G - Edited with Camera + App

Taken with iPhone 4s and edited with the Camera + App

Why I don’t Blog that often….

As I am sitting here trying to decide what to write about on my blog…. I … well I hear crickets… 

I got nothing… nada… zilch….zero.

I could tell you that it is cold and dry and is probably going to stay that way for awhile. We have a few isolated chances for snow flurries throughout the week but nothing that is going to cause major travel problems. This is a far cry from what the weather models (didn’t want you to think that I was talking about Victoria Secret models for crying out loud!) were saying as late as Friday of last week. Just goes to show you that weather forecasting is not as easy as it looks although I still believe that there is a set of dice involved somewhere in the equation.

I could talk about the OSU BCS debacle and how I feel about the country getting to see a rematch of two outstanding SEC teams. Do I think that OSU deserved to be in the BCS championship game? Yes. Do I think that the two best teams in the country are playing each other in said game? Yes. OSU is getting rewarded for their hiccup in Ames, Iowa. Unfortunately they, OSU, needed to run the table to get into the BCS game. They simply don’t have the respect that a SEC powerhouse has. They need to continue this season into another 10 + win season and another and another. Then they will get the attention of the folks that vote. It would have made a great end to a Cinderella season but they are still getting to go to the Fiesta Bowl and play the #4 team in the Nation! Stanford has a Heisman hopeful in Andrew Luck and is a really good team altogether. I look forward to watching them play with the vim and vigor that they did against the instate rivals OU. It should be a great game.

I could talk about politics but I don’t want to bore you, all … well I really don’t know how many of you are out there.

I could post a really cute pic of one of my cats but I will save that for when I really don’t have anything to talk about.

So for not having anything to talk about…. Well I was able to get almost 400 words out of it.

Hopefully I will have a better post tomorrow.

Until then… Be Safe!

Bryan.