Thursday, July 24, 2008

The One-Minute Miracle

(By Jen)

(I was reading through my monthly subscription of “O Magazine” when I came across this article. We all, myself included, could learn a little something from this. )


A young Army officer who had a history of anger-related problems was ordered to attend a mindfulness training class to reduce his level of stress. One day, after attending the class for some weeks, he stopped for groceries on his way home. He was in a hurry and a bit irritated, as usual, and the checkout lines were long.

The woman in front of him had only one item but wasn’t in the express line. She was carrying a baby and talking to the cashier. He became more irritated. Then she passed the baby to the cashier, who spent a moment cooing over the child. He could feel his anger rising. But because he’d been practicing mindfulness, he became aware of the heat and tightness in his body. He breathed and relaxed. When he looked up again, he saw the child smiling. As he reached the cashier, he said, “That was a cute little boy.”

“Oh, did you like him? That’s my baby,” she said. “His father was in the military, but he was killed last winter. Now I have to work full-time. My mom tries to bring my boy in once or twice a day so I can see him”

One of the most stunning revelations of modern psychology is how wrong our perception can be. We can be deluded about love, our bodies, our finances, and we can be quick to judge others; we miss their beauty and overlook their suffering. But when you free yourself from delusion, you see with wisdom.

Try this practice: On a day that you’re in a fine mood, set the intention to look for the inner nobility and dignity of three people. Notice how this affects your interaction with them, as well as your own heart. Choose five more days when you’re in a good mood to do this practice with as many people as you can. After that, add more days and include strangers and difficult people, until your heart learns to silently appreciate and bless all whom you meet.

Friday, July 18, 2008

What we’ve been up to the past few weeks

Whew! We get home from vacation and go, go, go! The fun never stops! The past couple of weeks have been quite eventful for us…..

July 4th weekend was SO much fun as we spent it with a few different couples - barbequing, playing games (ladder golf and guitar hero) and watching fireworks put on by the Sky Sox Stadium from the patio. (We were so glad that everyone felt the same way we did about getting out in all the fireworks traffic. No thank you – people are crazy to get out in that!) We also spent some time in our backyard trying to get ready for the next step in landscaping (which still might be awhile). Talk about getting a good suntan though!

Last week Jen started up with clinicals again. She’s having a blast and really loving all the “invasive” work, but she’s also ready to quit working for free and start making the big bucks again! We also had a softball game on Monday night and Greg got to be the coach! We trounced the other team 16 to 1 and after that awesome victory we went out to dinner with friends. Mid-week we had a “Frontliners” meeting at Starbucks, Greg finally got the trim up above our cabinets (and it looks great!), and we did some more yard prep in the backyard. Over the weekend we went to Kids Camp up in Woodland Park to be administrators/counselors. It was a blast as usual. The camp started out on Thursday morning with a trip to Mr. Biggs (which we did go-karts, bumper hockey – which is like one-man bumper cars, battletech – which is a simulator pod with robots that battle, bowling, and etc. Jen even rocked out on Drum Mania and did awesome – she can’t play guitar hero worth a flip yet, but can play the drums like nobody’s business!) and then we met our final destination in Woodland Park. THE BEST part of camp this year was the slip and slide! They added it to the camp activities this year and it was quite a big hit with both the kids AND the counselors…… until Jen sliced her foot open. So that’s three years in a row now that someone has gotten hurt. (2006 Brian almost ripped his thumb off, 2007 Greg cut into his thumb with a knife, and 2008 Jen sliced her foot open on the slip and slide…. man, we play rough!) But anyhow, we all came home exhausted and sunburned but excited for next year’s camp. Last week, Jen also successfully made homemade sourdough bread from scratch. (No bread machine) YUM! Her Gran has made it for her practically every summer that she has gone down (since it’s one of her favorites), and this time, Gran sent her home with some starter and told her how she can make it herself throughout the year! It makes her mouth water just to even think about it! Actually, Greg loves it too…. who wouldn’t? (Jen’s getting more awesome in the kitchen since she has more free time on her hands lately!)

This week we went to our annual church picnic out at Black Forest Regional Park (we had fun getting out and enjoying the nice weather and getting to know new friends better), we had another softball game, Jen had more clinicals and hung out with the Radiologists, we worked some more on the backyard, we did a little bit of interior decorating and spruced up the house a bit, we went out and played tennis and took quite a few walks at night, and today (and tomorrow too) we’ve been preparing for a party at our house tomorrow night. Maybe next week and weekend will be slow for us. We’re plumb tuckered out! We also had a “lion” scare this week. The KOAA news people had put on their website that one of the African Lions had escaped from the Cat Sanctuary out in Calhan, not too many miles from Mom and Dad Kelly by the way. So, they warned people to stay inside and to keep their pets inside (Casey and Kobe were NOT too happy about that…..) and to be on the lookout for the lion’s whereabouts because the animal search and rescue people would come by and shoot it with a tranquilizer gun and take it back home. Anyway, after a long day of fretting and worrying and checking the news for updates, the website stated “never mind, we were given false information.” Apparently the Cat Sanctuary had counted all of their cats 4 times and they were all accounted for, and some people in Calhan had reported their Great Pyrenees dog was missing….. so it was a DOG that was on the loose, not a LION after all. What!!?? Only in Colorado….. LOL.

Next week is the El Paso County Fair! Mom and Jen and Brian have a tradition of picking a day and heading out in the late afternoon and spending a few hours there, but we think this year we’ll make it a big ol’ family event. We’ll see what everyone’s schedule’s are like though. We're also planning to go to a Sky Sox game on Friday, and we also have friends coming in from Albuquerque, so it will be fun to spend some time and hang out with them.

Fun, fun, fun! We don’t want summer to end!


The trim all put up. Looks good, doesn't it?

Jen mastering "drum mania" at Mr. Biggs and Greg contributing to the kids' lesson

Becca, Trisha, and Jen going down the slip and slide.

Woo hoo!! Nice action shot. =)

Brian, Mom Kelly, and Jen - supervising the "Archery" session

Jen and her "little" brother.

Doesn't look like they're supervising the kids, now does it?

Brian and Becca. (Jen's favorite picture)

Greg and Jen - at the park by the lake.

Mom Kelly, Jen, Auntie Cheryl..... taking a break from the kids. Ahhhh......

Monday, July 7, 2008

Thank you!

What a blessing all of you who read this are! The visits to our blog have been sky high since we posted about our accident, and we have received an overwhelming amount of emails, Facebook wall posts and messages, and phone calls to check up on us and to say how we’ve been prayed for and that they are glad that we are OK. Thank you to those who have stayed abreast of our news and prayed us all the way home. Thank you to those who continually pray for us and will continue to pray for us as we work on getting the car fixed and looking back to normal (Until then, if you see us driving around with it ½ done, don’t make fun of us! That thing gets 30+ mpg!). It’s such a blessing to us to know that we have so many friends and family members who care about the little things and all of the BIG things in our lives. Maybe we’re a little biased, but we think we have the best friends and family ever!

Mostly though, thank you to God, who spared our lives and allowed us to be taken care of in a way unimaginable (and to make new friends out of the deal as well!). Thank you for making a horrible situation turn out to not be so bad. Thank you for your constant provision and for always watching over us, even down to the smallest detail. (Luke 12:24b – God takes care of/ worries about the birds, but takes care of/ worries about us MORE because we are much MORE valuable to Him than they are.)

Although we have a lot more debt now than we would like, God is good. Life is good. Money isn’t everything.

(We've posted all the pics of our Arkansas and Branson vacation in our "Flickr" Photo Album. Just click on any of the pictures in the Flickr box, click on “gfulkerson35’s photostream” to the right, click on “album 2,” and then start clicking on the pics for a bigger view!)

Tuesday, July 1, 2008

Ouch! (Branson)

So the stats say that most car accidents occur within (give or take a few) a mile from the driver’s home. But what about the driver’s hotel room? We would consider that a “home” when you’re away from home…. and guess what? We were about a mile or so from our hotel when we had OUR accident. Yep, an accident while on vacation. Bummer.

It happened on the 28th. We left Arkansas real early in the morning, and headed out to Branson so we’d have pretty much all day there. All the way there it rained. Horrible torrential downpours. We were bummed at the likelihood of having to see Branson from our car since it was raining so bad. But after driving around for awhile, having lunch at Steak n’ Shake (our first time, which was fabulous!) and being soaked to the bone from our run from the car to the restaurant, the weather started shaping up. (It was raining SOOO hard that we literally missed our turn. However, had we turned, we would have missed the Steak n' Shake 100 yards past the turn). So, we went to our hotel, checked in, and set out to see the rest of the sights. That’s when the “fun” began…. We were heading down the green route towards the old historic Branson, when we got to one of the steepest hills we’ve ever seen on a street. The events after this are a little foggy for the both of us, but what we do remember is skidding and sliding (no skid marks though) straight downhill for about 35-40 feet and ramming into the back of the people in front of us. We thought we were dreaming….. 12+ hours from home, strangers to a new city, and a wrecked car. We hit an SUV (tall rear-bumper) and crinkled our hood and busted the radiator. Their rear-bumper cleared our front bumper by about an inch. Had their bumper hit ours, the airbags would have deployed (much more $$). Also, we hit them straight on and the driver-side headlamp was destroyed, but the passenger side was left completely intact and untouched. Well, once we established that everyone was OK, we pulled into a nearby parking lot and started exchanging information (in the meantime, there was an accident just prior to ours and one just after ours on the same hill. Not to mention the 12-15 other cars we noticed slipping and spinning their tires trying to get up the hill while we were standing in the parking lot). This was just about the time that God stepped in and started helping us in a way unimaginable. Our car was obviously not drivable with a busted radiator, so our first line of action was to call a tow truck and find a rental car. We had no way of getting to a rental car place (except walking, of course), so the people we hit (we will call them the “R’s” since he is a Doctor and might not want his personal information spread all over the place) graciously offered us a ride to the rental car place up the road a mile or so. We got to the rental car place 3 hours after they closed, and they weren’t open on Sunday’s. So we went to a nearby gas station and called every other rental car place in Branson and got the same response. The only other option was the car rental places at the airport in Springfield….. 30+ miles away. We had a sick feeling in the pits of our stomachs about how much that taxi would cost, but there was really nothing we could do about that. But once again, the R’s so graciously said that they would take us to the airport to pick up a rental car. WOW! We hit them and they do all they can to help us, what’s up with that? =) Long story short, they took exceptional care of us and made sure that all of our ducks were in a row before they left us alone. They even offered their house (and lake house) for us to stay in so we wouldn’t have to pay more for a hotel since we could already see our vacation was costing more than we anticipated. ;) Again, WOW! We were also instructed to call if we needed any help and to let them know when we made it home safe. (Through the process of getting to know them, we found out they were Christians! We don't know how we would have done it if it wasn't for their help.) Even the owners of the hotel we stayed at were kind enough to drop the rates for us because of this ordeal (they were Christians too!), and the guy at the car repair shop charged us only for 3 hours of labor instead of 4….. blessings are flying all over the place here! We truly were blessed all around in this situation (mostly with not being seriously hurt) and even made some new friends out of the deal! Who would have ever thought……

So for those of you who were left out of the loop, that was how our vacation ended. (We’ve spared you a LOT of the little details) It’s been a really long couple of days (mentally and physically), but we’re home safe now. We’re not sure if Branson Missouri is a place for us. ;)




Front view. Ouch!

Bummer..... The R's car. They were luckier than we were!
Historic Downtown Branson. Fun little place to walk around!
Branson Landing.
Here we are! Branson Landing.
Water and fire show at Branson Landing.
The fountains at Branson Landing.
Going to the famous "Lambert's" for lunch! It was AMAZING!
Greg and his DP..... and his big ol' southern lunch in a frying pan. =)
THE Bass Pro Shop in Springfield. It was awesome!
The Car all "fixed" and ready to come home.
Going home at last. Whew!




P.S. We finally posted pics from Tunica, the Reunion and our other Arkansas adventures. Take a look!!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

That's What I Love... About The South...

Vacations always go by way too fast.... day after tomorrow and we're outta here and on our way to Branson. It seems like we just got here and already it's time to go. Pretty soon we'll be home and back to the same ol' routine again. Ugh!

Time has been well spent since we've been here. We got to celebrate two birthdays - Papa's 80th and Becca's 20th. It's been one big party around here! We've also been fishing a couple of times in the evenings, had a couple of fires in the firepit out back and roasted marshmallows after dark (it's been SO fun watching/catching fireflies and listening to the katydids screech and holler!), we've played cards quite frequently throughout the day and have taken naps pretty much every day as well. We went and bought "ladder golf" a few days ago and keep beating the pants off Brian and Becca, and we try to get in a game or two of that in the early evenings before or after dinner. We also went to the flea market and did some other fun shopping as well, but we didn't buy anything. Yesterday Brian and Gran got really sick, and today marks day 3 that they both have felt like poop. We think that cousin Beth gave everyone the crud while she was here. =) Dad and Papa both think they are getting something too - we just hope we can get outta here before WE get something! Today we headed out to Crowley's Ridge State Park and went on a little walk and did some pedal boating out on Walcott Lake..... but the weather was scorching hot, so we didn't stay over an hour and a half. (earlier this week it was a whopping 98 degrees out - wowza!) After we left the park, we drove around town and did some house "shopping." We found our house.... now all we need are jobs. Tonight the boys will probably go out and play ball for awhile and hopefully Gran will make her famous homemade hot fudge for some ice cream while we play cards before bed. She has made sure that we all got what we wanted (our favorite foods) while we were here, so we'll probably be fat by the time we get home. Tomorrow we'll be going out and doing some shopping and then packing up our cars and suitcases getting ready to go.

We've had THE best time out here this summer. We can't wait to see what next year will bring!

Below are a few pics to highlight our trip. We'll post the rest in our "Flickr" photo album.

Time well spent playing cards. Brian, Dad, Becca, Cousin Beth.

Fishing out at the lake.

Brian's big catch! lol Happy Birthday to Becca!
Pedal Boating out on Walcott Lake!
Me and my Brodie. Seriously, we tried to adopt him.
"Little Greggie" (as Gran calls him) and little Brodie.
Papa, Braxton, and Gran. We all love a good fire!
Cousin Ryan and sweet little Thomas.
Gran, Jen, Cousin Dan.... more time well spent.

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Walker Family Reunion 2008

This morning the troops loaded up, all 18 of us, and caravaned 45 minutes out to Manila, Arkansas to meet the rest of the gang for our yearly family reunion. Papa has 11 brothers and sisters (only 4 of them are still alive though), so there's a lot of family that shows up for this yearly tradition. We get together while we still can! Not always can everyone make it, but it's fun to hang out/catch up with those who can. We had our traditional good ol' southern barbeque with "Wicker's Marinade" and all the other homemade goodies that everyone brings. We even got in a few good rounds of "ladder golf" before Gran told us it was time to go. We came home chock full at the end of the day and ready for a nap. But.... instead of a nap, we celebrated Papa's 80th birthday with cake and a little party, then the guys went out and played ball out in the street and while the girls stood by to watch and chat. After it got almost too dark to see, we all came inside and chatted (while we had a late night snack) and played cards.... we also discovered that Aunt Nancy left her camera in the dining room, so yep, you guessed it! We had to take some pretty crazy pictures before we went to bed. She'll find them eventually. =)

It was such a great day! Only 364 days until next year's reunion! =)


Those who came.... 43+ we think!

What Walkers do best.... eat! =)Ladder Golf!
Us beating Brian and Becca.
No wonder they couldn't win.... lol.
Jen and Cousin Sandra.
Greg and Brian playing catch.


Happy Birthday to Papa!

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

Destination: Tunica, Mississippi

(By Jen)

We had quite the enjoyable experience today - Gran and Papa took Mom and I to Tunica to shoot the wad. They always talk about how they sometimes go to Tunica for the day and have such a good time gambling and eating at the buffets, and today they finally took us to experience the fun ourselves!! (They also lived there about 50 years ago, so we got to see their old house as well.) We spent pretty much all day there, and it was such a beautiful day out - although we didn't spend much time outside. ;) Hopefully someday we'll get to go back!!

** Sorry it took so long to post pics.... once Greg and the rest of my family got here, it was too much fun catching up and playing with the babies. =)

Horseshoe Casino, Tunica

Gold Strike Casino, Tunica

Here we are! Let the fun begin!

Me and my Papa. =)

Harrah's at Tunica!

The casino's on the water.3 generations.
The house Gran and Papa lived in a looooooong time ago when they lived in Tunica. Cute!