The Common Ground Between Me and Steve Gleason

 

Verbal communication is not one of my core strengths. I physically need time to think, analyze and process my feelings or thoughts.  As it happens I am very often at a loss for words when trying to verbalize or convey my thoughts around a certain subject.

Occasionally someone will explain something in a way I couldn’t and suddenly I have the words I’ve needed. This happened when my husband and I watched Gleason over the weekend.  This is a film about former NFL player Steve Gleason’s journey from a diagnosis of ALS (Lou Gherig’s Disease) to a life totally altered because of its debilitating affects. It is a tough watch. Very gritty and raw. It is also very poignant and reflective.

Throughout the film, Gleason makes video journals for his son, who is born just months after his ALS diagnosis.  Gleason routinely shares his heart often talking about the dynamics of a Father and Son relationship. In one of those videos, Gleason discusses his relationship with his dad and the difficult subject of Faith because the two do not see eye to eye.  

In one particular scene, Gleason pleads with his Dad through impeded speech as a result of the advancing ALS and says these words “Stop trying to understand with your mind, the relationship with my heart and God.”  Watch this:

It is a heart wrenching scene.  And yet it so adequately explains something I’ve grappled with for some time now.  I have always felt my relationship with God is almost an oddity. I happen to see connections to God in subtlest of circumstances.  But anytime I’ve tried to explain those experiences with others, my words fall flat. This happened most recently when I endeavored to share a story about a hummingbird that floated right beside my head for a few seconds before landing on a tree branch directly in front me.  I had intentionally walked outside, taking a break from my workday, just to spend a few moments being still before God.  Then this hummingbird showed up and sat still with me - for the longest time.  I marveled at this sight because I’ve only ever seen hummingbirds in flight.  I began to think of all the times Jesus used birds in his stories to teach people.  It was a profound moment but trying to explain that in person was like watching a fish out of water gasping on its side.

Whenever I fall short in this same situation over again, I am left feeling like an odd man out.  I chalk it up to my lackluster lingual skills.  I will re-read “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” and in that same chapter of Romans a verse below “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” I'll ponder that maybe God has rewired my mind in such a way that he has just given me a different measure of faith. It’s not more or less, right or wrong, it’s just different.  

When Steve Gleason said “Stop trying to understand with YOUR mind, the relationship with MY heart and GOD.”  That explained it.  How could I expect someone with their mind, slanted towards their own heart, thoughts and experiences possibly understand the relationship between my heart and God. How could I ever adequately describe with finite words a relationship between MY HEART and GOD? Impossible. It’s to great a task, to monumental.  I should expect that no one could fully understand and that words would fall short time and time again.  This totally makes sense.

I have often thought that Truth can be found anywhere, anytime, from any person because all Truth belongs to God especially because Jesus said "I AM the Truth".  Added to that, I’ve seen God dispense Truth through the most unlikely faces and places.  This time through a film about Steve Gleason. Though Gleason’s disease has robbed him of the physical life he once knew, his heart and mind are still, without question, very relevant. I have a deep gratitude to Steve Gleason for those simple words that cost him such an effort to utter. Thank you Steve,  I’ll be thinking about and praying for you and your family in the days to come.

For more information about Gleason or ALS:  

• http://www.teamgleason.org/
• http://www.alsa.org/about-als/what-is-als.html

Disneyland. Best Surprise Ever!

Greg and I pulled off the best surprise this Summer.  We didn't tell Nathan we were taking him to Disneyland until we were ready to walk into the park.  It was awesome. :-)


None of us have ever been to Disneyland, so it was a first for Greg, Nathan and I.  After our trip, we now understand the tagline "The happiest place on earth." There is just something about it, that makes it a happy place.

We have friends in AZ that seem to go to Disneyland once a year.  We didn't get it and they didn't get how we had never been!  Now...we get it and fully understand the magic of Disneyland. 

I guess I brought back some magic pixie dust with me because I was able to pull together our family vacation video within hours instead of days which is more my speed.

I love that Nathan will have this video to look at in the future so he can remember this very special surprise Dad and I pulled on him!

We Now Return To Our Regularly Scheduled Programming

Though there were thank you cards to write, laundry to fold and grocery shopping to do, I didn't feel like doing any of that this weekend.  Instead I snagged some down time to work on 2 videos that will be incorporated into this years family scrapbook.

There was a weekend in January when Greg was called into work for a server that went down.  It was a Saturday, so I offered for Nathan and I to tag along to keep Greg company. Luckily, I had my camera so I pounced on the opportunity to take footage of Greg at work. Since it's my perpetual goal to document every day life, capturing Greg at work was brilliant because it's something we rarely get to see!




The next video is from Nathan's birthday party.  Since I threw this party together in about a week, I didn't have as many details as I would have liked but in the end, the kids had fun and that is all that really matters to me. Typically, I forget something the day of the party, it's just bound to happen and this year I forgot to take pictures of the cakes - doh!  I just had one to many parties on my mind, hahaha!

Here's the video for Nathan's Birthday Party:



Guess I'll work on that grocery list now - BLEH! ;-)

Christmas 2012

Somehow, I captured almost all of our Texas Christmas in video and compiled all the footage into a single video for our 2012 scrapbook.  Taking 7 days and consolidating down to 6 minutes is no easy task, though finding a 6 min Christmas song for the background music proved more challenging.  I had a song to use already in mind but its time was shorter than my video.  I had to tag on another song.  This is the issue I wrestled the longest with - Not compiling the video footage!  I'm much to obstinate (read anal-retentive)  and hated tagging on another song and half a song, at that.  In the end, I just had to let it go.  Besides, it was 3:30am when my resolve was weakest.. :-)

Enjoy. Oh and happy new year tomorrow. :-)



Music: You're Here and Heaven Everywhere by Francesca Battistelli

The Hull-idays Family Pictures Behind the Scenes Video

Since I've discovered integrating pictures with audio & video to fully document life events, I have so enjoyed the end-results.  So why wouldn't I infuse our 2012 family pictures with behind the scenes video?  Exactly.

So here it is:


This will be one of the last videos that will make it into our 2012 family scrapbook.
Of which, I am thrilled to be wrapping up very soon! Woot, woot!!

My Best Day. Ever.

We just returned from Puerto Vallarta, Mexico where Greg was in a friends wedding.  The wedding was so special in its own right, it's impossible to describe the depth of heartfelt sentiment that was shared by all who attended.

In conjunction with such a special event, I just happened to experience the Best Day. Ever. Of my life. (so far). I unashamedly admit this day surpassed the day I married my husband and the day I gave birth to my son, both of whom I equally love with all my heart.  The heart of the matter though is that the events of this day connected to my soul and spirit in a way I rarely get to enjoy. Simply because...I'm a responsible adult. A wife.  A mom. An employee. A homemaker, etc.  I am not to often the Adventurist but the Adventurists heart always, always beats beneath my surface, which Greg knows all to well. hahaha! The only redeeming point I can make is that I shared this experience with Greg, my Best Friend of all time. : )

Without further ado, here is a video I made of  My Best Day. Ever.:

Pictures, Videos & Audio = Together FINALLY!

I could not be more EXCITED or HAPPY! Over the moon-Squeal like a kid-Pee my pants EXCITED. I'm not even kidding.

I have finally found a way to pull my pictures, videos and even music all together in one unified approach to scrapbooking. This has been a goal of mine for at least 15 years and finally, the technology has arrived to make it all possible. Here is how it works.

In this example, I have designed a layout of two, 12 x 12, facing pages. The subject matter; my favorite pictures of Nathan playing Fall T-ball.

 Left Page:

 Right Page:

As you can see in my right page, I have a QRC (Quick Response Code) image included in my page.  Later, when I am looking back at my 2012 scrapbook, I can use a QRC reader to play the accompanying video included in my page.  Watch below to see how it works:

Revolutionary, right?  I know.  It's so exciting to be able to incorporate pictures, videos and even music all together for scrapbooking purposes. YAYYYYY!!!

If your interested in watching the Tball video in it's entirety, here ya go. :-)


By the way, the background music to my video was not random by any means.  It's the Forest Gump theme which we played at our wedding.  So even that detail in this page will bring back good memories. :-)
LOVE. LOVE. LOVE.

Every Day Life

I am mildly obsessed about documenting life.  I am adamant about capturing and recording the details of life.  Real life.  Not just the vacations, not just the grand moments but the good, bad and ordinary.  Because that's what real life is about. Good moments.  Bad moments.  And every ordinary moment in between.

That being said, back in January, I made a series of videos to capture just a regular day in my life.  I just finished working on this video because I want to incorporate into our 2012 family scrapbook by means of a Quick Response video Code (more on this at another time).

So I'm just sharing the video, that's all. :-)

Our June Date: Breakfast & Batting

Six months after Christmas, it's the gift that keeps on giving. :) Greg opened June's date from our date book and discovered we would be going on another day date and participating in 2 of his favorite activities!

Greg loves to eat. I love to eat breakfast, so this was my favorite part of our date.  Check out the awesome Cafe Au Lait that "The Farmhouse" serves and I drank it all, hehehe! We found the same size portions in the breakfast dishes we ordered, needless to say we were miserably full but it was so worth it!

The second half of our date took place at the batting cages, captured in the video below.  Someone (male) once said Greg has a sexy swing and as you'll see in the video, he really has this beautiful natural swing.  Now what about my swing?  Let's just say I'm the equivalent in a batting cage to Charles Barkley on the golf course.  Hahaha!!

(Soundtrack "Centerfield" John Fogerty)

July's date is just around the corner, I can't wait!! :-)

Monster Truck Mayhem!!!

I'm hesitant to admit, we actually went to a Monster Truck show.  Uh, to take Nathan of course and needless to say, it was a spectacle to be seen!  Despite the car crunching and the fire-breathing-dragon-robot it was one of the most family friendly events I think I've ever been.  More family friendly than a baseball game - seriously!

Here's a video of our night with the Monster Trucks:

Greg at Band Practice

About a month ago, Greg took Nathan to band practice while I was at a business dinner.  I packed Nathan's to-go backpack with snacks and activities to occupy his time during practice.  Later, Greg told me Nathan was taking pictures with his little point and shoot camera.  He said he wanted  to show 'mommy pictures of band practice'. 

Here's the bonus though, Nathan even made some brief videos of Greg at band practice - click play:




It appears Nathan got bored at some point because I also found these pictures from the same night.  How cute is this little booger? :)




How completely wonderful of Nathan to think of doing this for mommy...I totally love him. : )

The Grand Canyon by Helicopter!

Greg's carefully constructed birthday surprise this year was 'helicoptering through the Grand Canyon'.  Uh, yeah-not to shabby.  In fact, quite the opposite, incredible!!  There are not enough words, nor are there adequate words to describe the experience.  To say it was epic is really understatement.  To say it was spectacular or awesome or incredible or amazing....well even these words fail to measure this event up.

I created this brief video clip, hoping to capture on film our experience but as with many things of this nature, it's just something you gotta experience for yourself to really appreciate.  But click play anyway! :)



That's it. Words fail me on this one!

Nathan's 5th Birthday Airplane Party!

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. I say pictures, videos and a good song speaks two thousand words. Click play! :)

Monsoon Season

As I listen to the rolling thunder and distant crackling of lightening, I'm a little worried about Greg because he's at a softball game...'out there'. It's 'Monsoon Season' in Arizona.  I drove home just as the storm started to roll in - heavy wind gusts kicking up dust so thick I could barely see the road.  As I sit in the quiet of our house, I can hear the wind whipping around our house, wreaking havoc in yards as outdoor objects fly aimlessly around.

You may not live in an area where you experience Monsoon Season so here's a little brush up on what it is and what it looks like.

An explanation I found online:

During the monsoon, or summer thunderstorm season, Arizona experiences more severe weather than many other states. On rare occasion, a severe storm may spawn a tornado. More often, high winds, dust and severe downpours resulting in flash floods are common monsoon occurrences.

Here is a video of a 5 mile wide, 70mph dust storm that came in earlier this week:




Here's a time lapse of the same storm on July 5th 2011:


The Phoenix Haboob of July 5th, 2011 from Mike Olbinski on Vimeo.


Freaky, right? Scary too.

Blessings...

How often we want the rainbow without the rain or the healing without the pain but what if...

What if Your blessings come through raindrops
What if Your healing comes through tears
What if a thousand sleepless nights
Are what it takes to know You’re near
What if trials of this life are Your mercies in disguise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CSVqHcdhXQ 

Brighter Days

By Leeland

Merry Christmas

Featured Music: You're Here by Francesca Battistelli
Featured Movie: The Nativity Story

July 4th Festivities

On July 4th we hung out at the Dercks, celebrated Norton/Strother birthdays and ate like gluttons.  It was a good day.

I wanted to see if I could fit in Nathan's little boat...sorda. hahaha!

 Nathan is getting very comfortable with in the pool, here he is jumping in with reckless abandon. I love these shots of Nathan air-borne, just plain fun.

Here's a video of Nathan jumping:


Here's a video of Nathan going under water:


For some reason this next picture is just uber cool to me. It has that artistic element to it, of course it wasn't anything I planned -  it just happened.  This is one of my new favorites, as in frame-able.  :o)

Keeping the momentum up. ;o)

June 2010...

As promised, pictures and videos from June 2010...

Tuesday, June 1st - Grandma sends new pajamas from Texas.

Wednesday, June 2nd - Time for a haircut.

Friday, June 11th - Enjoyed a brief visit with the Horvaths as they drove through AZ from TX.

Saturday, June 12th - Smooth shenanigans at Power Ranch pool.

Ever see a 'bad' picture that makes you laugh?  This one of Sara and Nathan riding the train at Freestone, cracks me up.

A video of Nathan and Sara feeding the ducks.


This is at the Men's softball game; Jacey, Randi and I are basically the 'Player's Wives Club'.

A GUY on one of Greg's softball teams confirmed something I've been saying about Greg for years.  As Greg stepped up to bat, one of his team mates said "He's got a sexy swing." hahaha!!  It's so true! Greg is so awesome, I totally love him.  Watch his sexy swing on video. :o)



Sunday, June 13th - Liberty Market lunch.  Fabulous food and totally cool bathrooms - seriously!

Unisex bathrooms...each individual bathroom is decorated in a different theme, you just have to see it in person to get the cool factor.

Liberty Market lunch 2 weeks in a row with the Norton-Staffeldt-Strother crew!

Friday, June 18th - Video of Nathan at the Phoenix airport, on our way to Jamaica.


Saturday, June 19th - Naomi, Erin and I in the van...before the wheels fell off the bus, figuratively speaking.

Sunday, June 20th -  Happy Father's Day daddy!

Monday, June 21st - Nathan sitting in the van with no carseat cause that's how you roll in Jamaica.

Nathan gets to meet the pilot on our flight out.

Friday, June 25th - Lowe's.  Nathan takes a picture of me by this huge cowboy boot.  In turn, I do the same.

Tuesday, June 29th - Nathan visits the Dr. for a sinus/ear infection and gets a breathing treatment to clear up a nasty cough.

Wednesday, June 30th - When you work until 1am, this is just bound to happen the next day.

I'm totally on a roll...July stuff coming up, stay tuned!

More of MAY 2010!

Guess what? I just stumbled across MORE pictures from May 2010!  I'm still trying to dig myself out of busyness so I just thought I'd throw some more pictures up...enjoy. :o)

Sunday, May 2nd - For now, Nathan appeases my whims...

 Thursday, May 6th - Greg shampoos the carpet...I can't remember why...

Sunday, May 9th - Nathan gets a 'surprise' for pooping in the toilet.  Successful potty training tip #65.

Thursday, May 13th - Nathan pretending to read.  He begins each page with "One day..." he's so cute.


Saturday, May 15th - Bride of Frankenstein! After a 2 year hiatus, I return to Toni & Guy, couldn't cut it.

 Sunday, May 16th - Lovin' my new hair-do!

Tuesday, May 18th - It was only a matter of time before our kid would have a laptop of his own.

At the office, my boss whiteboards my new job.  "Memorize this." he says.

Friday, May 21st - Is it just me or is there something strange about this?

Saturday, May 22nd - Video of Nathan riding  the train at Schnepf Farms.


Friday, May 28th - Video of Nathan as he practices cutting with scissors.


Sunday, May 30th - Video at San Tan Mall and an impromptu stop at the splash pad.


So really, that's the end of May 2010!