Here is the first entry from my ancestral list of people. I found this interesting story and thought you would like to read it. This individual is listed on the Mayflower passenger list, he came to America as an indentured servant. In doing some research, I found the following:
Our Family Heritage
Recently I started reading a thick book that has set on my bookshelf for years. Each time I walk into my office I see it and yet I have never read it. Then a couple of Sundays ago, for some reason, I picked it up and started reading.
The name of this book is “James Henry Denning Sr. – Family History“. It is the story of my Great Grandpa and his family. There are two volumes about 3 inches thick. Just the look of them is enough to scare anyone.
Greek Adventure Coming
In 2016, I was fortunate to take part in a twenty-three day trip to Italy. Not to let 2016 out shine 2017, Tonya and I decided a short two-week trip to Greece was in order.
Since December, I have been trying to find the best way to spend the two weeks. Initially I was hoping to get two condos, one in the south and one in the north of Greece and spend two weeks driving around the country, just like we did in Italy. But, when the two weeks together were not available, I found a Greek Isle cruise for the second week. The first week we will be staying in a condo in Marathonas, Greece, close to one of those Greek beaches. We will be about 45 minutes east of Athens. The second week we will board the Royal Princess Cruise ship and spend a week cruising through the Greek Islands.
Reality, The Good Stuff
In my last post, I talked about the Anticipation of our trip to Italy. Today I talk about the reality of the trip and how it compares to life. All I can say is that it was worth every minute of preparation and then execution. We saw some amazing things and though the trip to and from was long and there were days we walked for hours, I would venture to say that it was one of the best trips I have ever been on to date. Continue reading Reality, The Good Stuff
Anticipation
I have heard that the Anticipation of something can be as and possibly more exciting than the actual event. For example, when you tickle a child, all you have to do is position you hands as if you are going to tickle and the child will start laughing in anticipation of the tickle.
I guess I am like that child today. I have been studying, preparing and anticipating my trip to Italy for the last 9 months, ever since I booked the Condos and flights. In fact, I have anticipated this trip ever since I completed my LDS mission in Italy back in 1979. Continue reading Anticipation
Money
How many times have we heard that Money is the Root of all Evil. I am reading the book, “Atlas Shrugged” by Ayn Rand and there is an excellent quote about Money in the book and I thought it worth posting. The Money Speech was the result of one of the characters making the following statement: “Money is the Root of all the evil and he is the typical product of Money”. Continue reading Money
Mothers
Today, we celebrate the statehood of Mother. What I find interesting about this day, is that the founder, Anna Jarvis, had wanted to create a way to remember and show gratitude to her Mother. After years of proposing a day be set aside each year for us to commemorate our mothers, finally in 1914, Woodrow Wilson signed a bill setting aside the second Sunday of May as a celebration to all Mothers in the U.S. Then in the 1920’s, with all the commercialism that had started for Mother’s Day, Anna Jarvis wanted to boycott the use of Mother’s Day and have it removed. The original idea of celebrating, visiting, and remembering our mothers had turned into another day for businesses to make a lot of money. Continue reading Mothers
Our Imperfect Lives
This life we have comes with heartache, failures and in general everyday struggles that can bring us down. It occurs to me that struggles are the basic building blocks that in time bring us happiness and understanding. Without a struggle, we could not grow or improve our lives. My muscles need some type of resistance to become stronger. If I stop reading and learning new things, my brain will atrophy. At work, if I coast and stop looking for innovative ways of improving the system, I become lazy and the process I support will become outdated. This life as we know it, needs resistance and struggles to help push us into the next level of understanding. We may not achieve what we initially set out to accomplish, but in the end, if we don’t give up, we will experience an understanding that we here to for could never have gained and I would suggest a new found joy. Continue reading Our Imperfect Lives
I Love Spring
Spring time has so much beauty. New life beginning, old life coming out of the winter hibernation to show off its best self. I took a couple of photos showing the beginnings of what is to come. Each beautiful in its own way
Change
I have heard the quote, “The only two constants in life are Death and Taxes”. I would like to add another constant, that of “Change”. In today’s world Change is happening so fast that we now accept it as normal and yet it is still hard to comprehend at times. Continue reading Change