Sugar and Spice and Everything Nice, With Amazing Story Telling Skills!

The story of Jonah from Corinth Baptist Church on Vimeo.

Couple gives away entire $11.2M lottery jackpot

A Nova Scotia couple won $11.2 million from a lottery ticket in July and now every penny is gone.

But Allen and Violet Large of Lower Truro didn't spend any of it on themselves.

They say they decided to take care of family, organizations and institutions instead.

"What you've never had, you never miss," said Violet, 78.

Married since 1974, the couple does not live large. They don't travel, they don't gamble (beyond playing the lottery) and they don't buy what they don't need.

"We have an old house, but we're comfortable and we're happy in it," Violet said.

They spent 30 years in Ontario where Allen was a steel welder and Violet worked for cosmetics and chocolate companies. They retired in 1983 and returned to Nova Scotia.

"We were pretty well set, not millionaires, but comfortable," said Allen, 75.

So when they hit it big in Lotto 6-49's July 14 draw, they decided to give it all away.

All that money "was a big headache," Allen said.

Violet said she was concerned about "crooked people" who might try to take advantage of them.

But the big win came at a difficult time in their lives: Violet was undergoing treatment for cancer that doctors discovered in the spring.

"That money that we won was nothing," said Allen, choking back tears. "We have each other."

Violet has been through surgery and finished her last chemotherapy treatment a week ago.

After the win, the couple took about a week to work out the details before embarking on their $11,255,272 spending spree.

They took care of family first and then began delivering donations to the two pages' worth of groups they had decided on, including the local fire department, churches, cemeteries, the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, hospitals in Truro and Halifax, where Violet underwent her cancer treatment, and organizations that fight cancer, Alzheimer's and diabetes.

The list goes on and on.

The couple won't say how much they gave each group, but they've received plenty of phone calls, letters and plaques of gratitude. While they're thankful for each one, they didn't do it for the recognition.

"It made us feel good," said Violet. "And there's so much good being done with that money."

She and her husband said they feel privileged to be able to give back to the community, to help the firefighters, the doctors and nurses and the volunteers who have helped them.

"We're the lucky ones," Violet said. "I have no complaints."

A Day At The Beach

It was mostly gray that day we choose to chill by the beach.

We didn't worry much about sunburn.

Having enough sweaters and towels to keep yourself warm was more the issue.

All day I kept seeing these two same beach-bums (see above)! I think they were following me.

Here they are again! This time just hanging around... panhandling!? :)

A Modern U.S. President

Music Videos for the Music Video Lovers...

Save time by loading all 3 videos simultaneously. First press the play button and then immediately hit the pause button. Once the videos have loaded at least half way click the play button one at a time for your viewing pleasure. Enjoy!

Poem: The Factory, by Annie Johnson Flint.

In a factory building there are wheels and gearings,
There are cranks and pulleys, beltings tight or slack—
Some are whirling swiftly, some are turning slowly,
Some are thrusting forward, some are pulling back;
Some are smooth and silent, some are rough and noisy,
Pounding, rattling, clanking, moving with a jerk;
***
In a wild confusion in a seeming chaos,
Lifting, pushing, driving—but they do their work.
From the mightiest lever to the tiniest pinion,
All things move together for the purpose planned;
And behind the working is a mind controlling,
And a force directing, and a guiding hand.
***
So all things are working for the Lord’s beloved;
Some things might be hurtful if alone they stood;
Some might seem to hinder; some might draw us backward;
But they work together, and they work for good,
All the thwarted longings, all the stern denials,
All the contradictions, hard to understand.
And the force that holds them, speeds them and retards them,
Stops and starts and guides them—is our Father’s hand.

Rubik's Cubers

Jumbo's Quote of The Day

The devil cannot stop God from answering our prayers; his hopes rest in our not asking.

~Adrian Rogers~

Happy B-day

Happy Birthday Daddy!!! :)

Victorious

Yes we were victorious I'm proud to say...Out of the six matches we played my Volleyball team won four and practically tied the last two :)

We whooped the one team we thought was going to be serious competition by almost 13 points...
It was awesome :)

Back in the Game

Tomorrow is the first Volleyball game of the season, well sort of, technically it's just a scrimmage but still I'm very excited for it all the same :)

It's just like old times...I had forgotten how much I really love playing Volleyball until getting back on the court last month for the first time in three years.

I'm playing middle blocker, just like I used to back in the day, it's my favorite position because it's the one with the most flexibility besides the setter.

I'm hoping we kick some serious pa-tooty tomorrow (Ned the Bull!) and all that good stuff :)
We've got a pretty solid team with over 20 players so we better leave a mark...

Next time I write let's hope it's to share the good news of our victory :D

Till then goodnight!

xoxo
Olivia

Yippppeeeeee!

My summer math class is finally over which is a great big relief! I don't think I'll try to juggle two sports and one demanding math class in a semester as short and hectic as this past summer one was, ever again in my life!


I've had more than my full share of mental and physical workouts these past few months trying to crunch loads of new information into my brain and still attend and muster up the energy for two different practices a day...


I am so HAPPY it's over -- I'm freeeeeeeeee again :)



I'm ready to start enjoying my summer now (hahhaa) too bad it's almost over.

Here are a few things I intend on doing before I kiss this wonderfully hot weather goodbye:

1. See the movie 'Inception' -- ok so everyone in my family has seen this movie now except for me :( pouty-pout!

2. Hit the beaches again!!! WOOOOhooooo! I could so use a nice vacay to the beach :)

3. Finish my quilt...yep, yep, I'm the crazy who started making a quilt in the middle of summer :)

4. Do yoga and pilates in the mornings, ya know to help relieve some stress :]

5. Go on another 27 mile bike ride -- ho, ho, ho :)

6. And just relax...

I hope you're all taking the time to Stop with all the work, boring, tedious, insignificant nonsense and really start enjoying your summer! Do something FUN before the time gets away from you -- and believe you me, it will!

xoxo
Olivia

p.s. I can't believe my first Volleyball game is just around the corner -- that was fast! Wish me luck ^_^ I'm so ready for it :)

Cross Country Boot Camp

As you may or may not know Matthew and I are running cross country for our school.


We started practicing and working out with the team back in the beginning of June after being recruited by the head coaches and have been kicking butts and taking names ever since :)


Every year the team goes through this cross country bootcamp before the season starts which survivors refer to as: 3 days of hell on earth.

It's basically a boot camp where you work out, exercise, run, and work out some more for hours and hours on end until you scream "UNCLE" at the top of your very weak and weary voice.


Last year the coaches took the cross country team up to Big Bear Lake for their annual bootcamp/torturous three days, and from what I hear it was a lot of work/slightly exhausting but also a lot of fun.


It's team bonding on the ultimate level, you are all there together suffering, working out, whining, complaining and bonding as a team, and once you've completed the camp not only do you have stories to pass on to the freshmen that will come next near you also have a better sense of who all your team mates are.

Plus it's a great work out ;)


This year the boot camp is going to be held up in Nevada, the whole team is pitching in to help pay for the food, the water, the gas, and of course the housing.


I still haven't decided if I'm going to go or not (lol) but either way the trip does sound like it's going to be a lot of fun and if I do end up going I pinky promise to get a ton of awesome pictures for you all...

The area where the team is planning on staying is simply AMAZING! :)

xoxo
Olivia

Bike Riding to the Beach

We went biking this past weekend to the beach.
Matt, Sarah, Dad and myself rode it 27 point something miles out to the ocean in just under 2 point something hours (and didn't we feel accomplished :)


It was a fun ride, very long and at one point (the end) I felt like taking a little snooze, biking is hard work ya know! :)

Once we got to the beach we took a celebratory rest and enjoyed the water, well kinda, it was soooooo cold I could barely stick my feet in it...

Getting back home was not as fun as getting to the beach, the sis, and I decided we wanted to take the train home and dad (grumbling all the way, hahaha, he wanted to ride back) was forced to accompany us.
The train took so long that Matthew got home before us and he was on bike!

So far this has been the longest bike ride I've ever done and it felt pretty good, next time I'm going to try and make it both ways like Mr. San Diego (aka Matt).


I'm looking forward to our next family bike ride when we break our record of over 25 miles and next time I'll bring my camera so I can take lots of pictures...

Till then, have a good night!

Cheers!
~Olivia


p.s. I think we should get this poster to put up in our house now that we're all starting to become serious bike fanatics :)

How It's made

I was researching some ice cream recipes and waffle cone recipes -- as I plan on getting a waffle cone maker to go along side my baby ice cream maker ^_^ -- when I came across these two videos on Youtube which I thought were interesting...
They describe how ice cream and waffle cones are made on an industrial level. It is quite fascinating to see everything they use to make these popular summer goodies look pretty and edible.



If you don't think about how unhealthy and gross the ice cream is after all those additives have gone in, the process is something to truly marvel at...

yum, yum, this picture is delicious!

The waffle cone maker I want to get looks something like this...isn't it cute!!!

Anyway so here is video number 2: How ice cream cones are made...



I'm very glad I got my ice cream maker, not only is the ice cream I make healthier and tastier than store bought ice cream it doesn't leave you with a heavy bloated feeling which probably comes from all those funky preservatives and artificial sweeteners...

I know I'll be just as happy too when I get my waffle cone maker and can start making healthy, tasty, delicious waffle cones, hint-hint, wink-wink :)

Anyway hope you enjoyed these videos!

~Olivia

Giggle Giggle ;)

...An English professor wrote the words:
"A woman without her man is nothing:
on the chalkboard and asked his students to punctuate it correctly.

All of the males in the class wrote:
"A woman, without her man, is nothing."

All the females in the class wrote:
"A woman: without her, man is nothing."

Punctuation is Powerful...


I tried to embed a cute video but the owner wouldn't allow it.

Momsie

Over the sprinklers and through the hills

Aloha!

Hope all is well. As for myself things have been pretty smooth. I joined the cross country team at my college and have been having the time of my life running about a 5k a day.

At first I was finishing a 5k in about 35-40 minutes; slowly but surely, my pace has been improving as has my breathing so I'm now completing 5ks in about 26 minutes! I'm totally stoked!

The team is solid--there's a nice variety of runners. There are a few of the guys who run a 6 pace (6 minutes a mile pace) so they're about 2 minutes faster than myself, but I'll demolish that lead soon.

One thing I figured out fast is that running takes a toll on your body especially my knees. In fact just today I was running down hill trying to catch a few show offs, when one of my friends jumped in front of me forcing me off the side walk and into a hole housing a sprinkler. I twisted my knee or some ligament. It feels fine now but the true test will be at tomorrow's practice.

Ciao!

Matt

Salsa Dancing to Ismael Rivera's "Me Tienes Loco" for the Music Lovers

Prioritizing and Mind Mapping

Hey Peeps!

In an effort to help our family get focused and stay on target with our goals and priorities, Ruben asked me to create a printed replica of Stephen Covey's Quadrant Diagram that is a central part of his "First Things First", to hand out in our next family meeting.

While Googling for an image, I found a couple which I combined in a handout of sorts, but I also
found a blog on Mind Mapping...which lead me to these interesting videos on the subject:

This first one is a tidbit on the creator of Mind Mapping

This second one is a brief description on how to create a mind map.

As a person who REALLY needs help in the 'organize-my-overstuffed-with-stuff-life', I plan on studying this concept further and putting it use.


Here are the links to the pages that I used to make the handout:
The Mind Map Blog
An page from the old version of the above blog
Money-Health-Relationships.com
A Wikipedia page on "First Things First"


I'll update y'all later...

Momsie

Hello Folks! just stopping by, I hope all is well with you. In about three weeks a few friends, my cousin and I will be biking down to San Diego from Los Angeles. We will be cycling the 128 mile route in 25-30 mile stages so we can rehydrate and keep our legs from dying on us. We have estimated the time to get to San Diego would take us about thirteen or so hours with all the stops included. As of now we are still hashing out finer details as to whether we will be spending the night in San Diego or will we be driving back, I personally would like to tour San Diego a little but we will see how to pans out. So far we, my friends and I have been working on our base mileage, riding about 60-70 miles every week. Anyway I will post pictures and maybe even some live footage.

Ciao!

Matt

Hey all. It's Andrew, checking in today.

To start, I offer a song; not new, but good. It also goes with the theme of my day today.

No, I have no idea what the asian girl at the end is on about.

My original plans for today started with me going to work in the morning for four hours. After that, I would bike up to a grocery store, pick up some essential items to be cultured later, and come home to prepare for tomorrows meeting at Dockweiler (sic) beach. However, I found out yesterday that two of my friends were planning a 60-70 mile bike ride which sounded much more beneficial than my previous plans. Thankfully, due to a mishap with my schedule this week, I was able to completely move around my hours; due to not being scheduled at all this week.
So, at 7 a.m. I geared up and headed out. Unfortunately I made a wrong turn getting to the LA river bike path, and ended up in an area with no bike, or even walking path. After the second dead seagull I knew it was the wrong way. Turning back, I found the path, and met up with Aaron to bike down to Juan and the wife of Martin, our local bike shop owner. First we biked up to Long Beach, which was a fun ride. Martin's wife took off, easily averaging 25 while Juan and I averaged 16. (My new bike computer really comes in handy)
So we hit Long Beach and had the Kombucha's I had hidden away in my backpack. Aaron saved his for later, but I downed it in seconds. Without the weight of four glass bottles I was much lighter on the bike. For reference sake, I started with 3/4 gallon Raw Milk and four bottles of kombucha. I was refilling a quart bottle from a half gallon, just for ease of drinking.
Martin's wife left after she got back to her start point, and Aaron, Juan, and I all rode down to the Santa Fe Dam. It's a beautiful ride down there, and it was great fun the whole time. We all had some minor issues with equipment, but we were prepared. I found it much easier to keep cadence and motivation having the speedometer and odometer on my on-board bike computer, and we hit some decent speeds.
Once we hit the Dam, we stopped at Quizzno's. We talked for a while, ate our food, and stretched out for the ride back. I refilled my quart bottle for the second time, emptying my half gallon by then (I had already drank a half gallon of milk by this point), when I found out something interesting. I had kept my reserve milk on the back of my bike, and while the trail was generally smooth we did have some rough spots. Somehow along the road, through these rough spots, the cream in my milk actually churned into a few small gobs of butter. It was funny, and I got used to it through the ride back.
Before we headed back, we stopped in the recreational area and saw something awesome. There was a dog show in town. A Great Dane dog show.

Beautiful, ginormous creatures! There were at least thirty of them, all of them prancing about and being judged by sex and breed.







The Brown ones (left) are "Fawn", the black ones are a straightforward "Black", bluish ones are "Greys", and the spotted ones that look like Holstein cows are "Harlequin".

One woman, who had won Best Male for her dog Turner, was nice enough to let us pet her dog. He shoved himself right up against me, slobbering on my hand while I scratched at his back.





She also let us take pictures, here she is with Turner:

(Turner is Two years old, and has not yet reached his largest size)

He's being trained to be a helper dog, but due to his fine form they decided to show him first. His owner told me that he's actually got his own room, with pictures from all of the shows, and all his awards dotting the walls.



After this we departed. It was a really nice ride, and I feel accomplished, as well as a little sore. This is really good practice for the trip to San Diego we're planning in a few weeks.

All in all, I just needed to get the body in motion. :)

Vive ut vivas
(Live so that you may live)

Willy Verginer

I was reading a blog early today when I came across these images of sculptures by Italian designer/sculptor Willy Verginer who created these pieces...I thought they were interesting and worth sharing:


enjoy,
Olivia