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April showers bring May flowers

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Friends, It’s been a great couple of weeks! A busy, but great couple of weeks I must say! Here are some of the things going on…

  • I ran my third 5k for the Autism Society of Nebraska.
  • Ben and I toured Lucky Bucket, which was a great time!
  • Ben and I FINALLY got our engagement photos done, thank goodness!
  • Franklin turned one. ONE! Where has the time gone?!
  • I attended the 2013 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting. (Something I definitely want to do again.)
  • And, we celebrated Julia’s birthday.

Here are some photos of my adventures :) . Enjoy.

Autism Society of Nebraska's Puzzle Walk and 5k

Autism Society of Nebraska’s Puzzle Walk and 5k

Bet time yet during my third 5k. Autism Society of Nebraska Puzzle Walk and 5k Run

Best time yet during my third 5k. Autism Society of Nebraska Puzzle Walk and 5k Run

Lucky Bucket Tour

Lucky Bucket Tour in Papillion, NE

Engagement Photos!

Engagement Photos!

IMG_2666

124 days, people! I can barely contain my excitement!

Franklin turned one on May 3! It's been such a great year with our little rescue puppy.

Franklin turned one on May 3! It’s been such a great year with our little rescue puppy. So blessed to have him in our life.

I love this little guy.

I love this little guy. He never stops making me laugh, especially when he sleeps like a human.

Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting

Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting

Jenny and I at the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting

Jenny and I at the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting

I guess these were for little kids... who knew?

I guess these were for little kids… who knew?

Just me and Warren... Some day I will get a photo with him

Just me and Warren… Some day I will get a photo with him

High five!

High five!

Jenny, Maja and I at the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting

Jenny, Maja and I at the Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholders Meeting

Geico!

Geico!

Julia's birthday!

Julia’s birthday! Cinco de Julia!

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Helping Thy Neighbor and “20 Hours in America”

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It’s crazy how watching West Wing episodes that aired in 2002 still relate even 11 years later and have so many parallels to what’s going on in America now. I used to watch The West Wing when I was younger with my family, but obviously never caught on to what was actually going on. Now, watching it again I can’t take my eyes off the TV and am so captivated into everything the actors have to say. I truly believe that they don’t have writers like these anymore. These people took topics that were, and are still to this day, controversial and uncomfortable to talk about, and started a discussion on national prime time television. Now if you ask me, that’s doing exactly what they were being paid for.

Today, I watched an episode in the fourth season (2002-2003) where two pipe bombs explode at a swim meet. Two bombs at a sporting event. Just let that sink in really quick. I literally got chills thinking about the parallels between this episode and the two bombs that went off at the Boston Marathon last week. How crazy is it that I happened to be on this exact episode after a week like last?

Anyways, at the end of the episode, President Bartlett gives a speech about what happened. (You can read it and watch it below.) He talks about how people ran into the fire to help people, much like we saw after the bombs went off in Boston. I thought back to this quote that I saw circulating quite frequently last week by Mr. Fred Rodgers, “When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, ‘Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.’” Now, think about how true that is. Think back to the coverage you may have seen this past week. Think of all of the people you could see in the mass chaos running to help their fellow runner or spectator that they may not have even known. Some of the ‘helpers’ were carrying wounded people, or bringing first responders food, water and clothing. One photo that I saw last week, which is now vividly pressed in my mind, was one of a man holding another man’s artery with his bare hands. (Google it if you don’t believe me, but be prepared as it’s quite a grotesque photo.) Seriously, some amazing things happened in the midst of such heartbreak and chaos.

But this notion of helpers wasn’t just in one place. In West, Texas, after the fertilizer plant fire and explosion you saw the same thing. People were driving trucks full of supplies to this town that lost so much. Some people gave food and clothing, but I also saw a photo of a school house being driven to Texas after the school was leveled from the blast. Now, if that’s not “helping thy neighbor,” I don’t know what is. People helping people that they didn’t even know, in the ways that they could. It’s truly amazing.

I must say that I have always felt pride being from America. Not just because of the vast opportunities that we are given each day, or the freedoms that we receive, but also because of the people. I know, you might be thinking to yourself that you can open a newspaper and see that someone was shot here, or this gang got in a fight there, or someone got robbed over there, but just remember that is just a small, small percentage of the country. I am hopeful that in this country, good will continue to prevail. We will continue to take hold of the great percentage of good people that this country has to offer and continue to help thy neighbor. We live the greatest country on Earth, let’s continue being neighbors helping neighbors even in some of the greatest struggles someone could ever face.

The West Wing – Season 4 – 20 Hours in America Part 2 (September 25, 2002) [If you haven't ever watched The West Wing, I completely recommend it.]

“More than any time in recent history, America’s destiny is not of our own choosing. We did not seek nor did we provoke an assault on our freedom and our way of life. We did not expect nor did we invite a confrontation with evil. Yet the true measure of a people’s strength is how they rise to master that moment when it does arrive. 44 people were killed a couple of hours ago at Kennison State University. Three swimmers from the men’s team were killed and two others are in critical condition. When, after having heard the explosion from their practice facility, they ran into the fire to help get people out. Ran *in* to the fire. The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels tonight. They’re our students and our teachers and our parents and our friends. The streets of heaven are too crowded with angels, but every time we think we have measured our capacity to meet a challenge, we look up and we’re reminded that that capacity may well be limitless. This is a time for American heroes. We will do what is hard. We will achieve what is great. This is a time for American heroes and we reach for the stars. God bless their memory, God bless you and God bless the United States of America. Thank you.”

You can watch the speech here on YouTube

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Food for Thought (March 25)

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I had this written down in a journal that I recently found and I think it really has a great message. Although it’s from a television show, I think the writers were spot on:

Dr. Meredith Grey voice over – Grey’s Anatomy – If Tomorrow Never Comes (2005)

“A couple hundred years ago Benjamin Franklin shared with the world the secret of his success. Never leave that ’til tomorrow, which you can do today. This is the man who discovered electricity; you’d think we’d pay more attention to what he had to say. I don’t know why we put things off, but if I had to guess it has a lot to do with fear. Fear of failure, fear of pain, fear of rejection. Sometimes the fear if just of making a decision. Because… What if you’re wrong? What if you make a mistake you can’t undo? Whatever it is we’re afraid of, one thing holds true: That by the time the pain of not doing the thing gets worse than the fear of doing it, it can feel like we’re carrying around a giant tumor. And you thought I was speaking metaphorically… ‘The early bird catches the worm.’ ‘A stitch in time saves nine.’ ‘He who hesitates is lost.’ We can’t pretend we haven’t been told. We’ve all heard the proverbs, heard the philosophers, heard our grandparents warning us about wasted time; heard the damn poets urging us to seize the day. Still, sometimes we have to see for ourselves. We have to make our own mistakes. We have to learn our own lessons. We have to sweep today’s possibility under tomorrow’s rug until we can’t anymore. Until we finally understand for ourselves what Benjamin Franklin meant. That knowing is better than wondering. That waking is better than sleeping. And that even the biggest failure, even the worst most intractable mistake, beats the hell out of not trying.“