Knowledge is Power

It’s funny.  I actually heard both of these phrases this morning, and after thinking about it, they’re both SO true.

I’ve often heard the phrase,  “What you don’t know can’t hurt you,” – which is just another take on the phrase ignorance is bliss.  After all, if you don’t know that something is going on, then how can it hurt you, right? Right!

However, when it comes to KNOWLEDGE (i.e. furthering what you KNOW or building on your education), you can NEVER know too much.  The more you know, the better off you are!

It’s crazy how two totally opposite phrases can both be right on target…  I know, I know – random thought, but I just had to put it out there.  LOL!!

Have a great weekend!

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The Weaving

My life is but a weaving
Between my God and me.
I do not choose the colors,
But God works steadily.

Often God weaves sorrow,
And I, in foolish pride,
Forget God sees the top
While I the underside.

Not until the loom is silent
And the shuttles cease to fly
Will God unroll the canvas
And explain the reasons why.

But, the dark threads are as needful
In the skillful weaver’s hand
As the threads of gold and silver
In the pattern God has planned. ~ Author Unknown

Well, I remember after reading this poem, I really had to step back and think about what was really going on.  For whatever reason, I just wasn’t meant to have a baby at that particular time in my life.  And really…who was it for me to question?  After all, it’s not really “up to me.”  Not only was it this poem that made me realize that, but also my dad.  He has always been such an inspiration in my life, and he also reminded me that it wasn’t “my choice…”  It just wasn’t meant to be.

We all go through difficult times in our lives.  We have ups as well as down times.  So the next time you find yourself in a situation where you’re asking yourself “why me?” – think about this poem.  For whatever reason…whatever is going on,  it’s not up to you. It’s just meant or NOT meant to be.  EVERYTHING HAPPENS FOR A REASON, just like people come in and out of your life for a reason, a season, or a lifetime.

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View from my bedroom window

Let us rise up and be thankful,
for if we didn’t learn a lot today,
at least we learned a little,
and if we didn’t learn a little,
at least we didn’t get sick,
and if we got sick,
at least we didn’t die;
so let us all be thankful. ~ Unknown.

Sometimes we forget to say “Thank You” for the many blessings we have in our lives.  However, when you open up you window shade and are presented with a gift like this, how can you forget?  Thank you, Lord for blessing me, my family & my friends!!

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My family's faces of Halloween

Clothes make a statement.  Costumes tell a story.  ~ Mason Cooley

Halloween…ah yes, the one day a year we can be whomever or whatever we wanna be!  Not to mention, you can eat all the candy you want (or as least as much as mom will let you).

Everyone from Cinderella and Harry Potter, to the Devil with the Blue Dress on, to Dr. Evil…pick your passion or poison.  Everything goes!

It’s funny…when we’re young, we want to be cute and precious (or is that the parents’ idea), but as we get older, we look more towards the guts, gore and rock-star status!  I guess that’s just the way life evolves, huh?

Well whomever you want to be on this day of fun, go all out and be creative with your costume…after all, you deserve to be all that you want to be!  Let your costume tell YOUR story!

Have fun and be safe!

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Today’s September 11th.  The anniversary of that tragic day when the United States lost part of its soul.  So many innocent people taken from us…friends, family, and loved ones.  As time passes,  we sometimes start to lose sight of the past, but I can guarantee you, WE will NEVER forget.

I personally remember when I heard the news on the radio that morning, as I was getting ready for work.  I felt as though someone slugged me in the stomach.  It was so surreal – things like that just don’t happen here…but it did.

My sister and I took a trip to New York a few summers ago, and we went to the site of what used to be the Twin Towers.  We heard from a resident of New York that happened to be giving tours that morning.  Just the heartache in his voice…I can’t imagine what the people felt like actually witnessing what was happening.

My heart goes out to everyone that lost a friend, or loved one that tragic morning in September.  Just know that together as a Nation, we will always remember, and continue to pray for their souls and for your peace.  WE WILL NEVER FORGET!

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A few famous Latinas...

Yesterday morning I was quite honored to speak on a radio show with a prestigious group of Hispanic women.  The show, Views From the Top, hosted by talent diva, Adrienne Graham, was aired in honor of celebrating the Empowered Latina!

This was a blurb taken from Adrienne’s intro. to the segment:

From starting their own businesses to making inroads in Corporate America, Latinas are a fast rising segment of women who hold true power. Join my guests as we discuss tips and strategies for Latinas to get ahead in business and their careers, the struggles faced along the way, and ways Latinas can position themselves to cultivate power relationships through networking.

The show’s host, Adrienne Graham, is a successful Recruiter/Headhunter/Talent Acquisition Consultant/Networking & Career Strategist.  Adrienne is the Founder and CEO of Empower Me! Corporation which includes Empowered Career Woman, several professional networks- Empowered Black Women, Empowered Latina, and The Roundtable (a network for executive level professionals). The Empower Me! Corporation also contains a publishing division, which produces podcasts, books, DVDs and CDs, and of course the weekly radio show Views From the Top on Blog Talk Radio.

In addition to Addriene, the panel included the following AMAZING women:

Maria del Rey- the CEO of MDR Kids Inc. A former concert cellist, she is a Cuban America Award Winning CEO, Recording Artist and Entrepreneur. Her company MDR Kids INC creates culturally diverse programming connects families and communities and breaks through prejudice, hatred and stops the cycle of violence in the home, community and the world. She created over 51 international works in 6 languages. She has some exciting projects coming up that she’ll talk about later in the show.

Aurelia Flores – the founder of PowerfulLatinas.com. A single, teenage mother who defied the odds and went on to Stanford Law School. She has been practicing corporate law for the past ten years, first at a prominent law firm and now for a Fortune 300 company where she specializes in intellectual property. She founded PowerfulLatinas.com in 2007 to help powerful Latina women stay in their power.

Helen Iris Torres -  the Executive Director Hispanas Organized For Political Equality (HOPE) one of the nations leading women’s advocacy and leadership training nonprofits.  She is currently serving as a Commissioner on the California Volunteers statewide commission charged with overseeing the state’s volunteer efforts and Americorp programming.  She has been appointed to The Zero Divide Foundation Board of Directors (formerly The California Community Technology Foundation).  She has also served as a Commissioner of the Los Angeles Commission on the Status of Women.

It was quite an experience and HONOR to chat with a such a prestigious group of Latin women.  We talked about the struggles that Hispanic women face, as well as our own words of advice for up and coming Latina girls.  Words of wisdom…in how to honor their own success.

Click here to listen to the show from the web, or it may also be heard on Itunes.

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You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness.  You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism.  ~ Erma Bombeck

Tomorrow is the the 4th of July, and the day in which our country celebrates its independence.  What an honor to live in a country so great that we can have the freedom to be who we want to be, and to be able to to come and go as we please.

I want to personally take this opportunity to thank all those brave men and women that are out there fighting for our freedom.  My family, of many generations, was born and raised in this country that we all call home.  If it had not been for these brave souls, that fight for our freedoms, we may have not been able to live the free lives we’ve lived for so many years.  Thank YOU for defending all of us, and for our rights and freedoms!

I also want to acknowledge the AWESOME singer of this video clip, Fernando Varela.  Fernando has been hailed as the Puerto Rican Pavarotti by El Nuevo Día.  I am honored to call Fernando my friend, via Twitter, as well as his siblings Julito (the brother I never had), their sister, Vanessa, and the father that started it all, Julio.  They are a family who have truly touched my heart and it’s an honor to call them mi familia.

Have a wonderful 4th of July weekend, be safe, and May God Bless YOU, your family, and our country!

Technorati Tags: Holidays, Random Thoughts

My youngest son with his Fifth grade teacher on the last day of school

“What appears to be the end may really be a new beginning.” ~ Author Unknown

Today is the first day of July.  Gee, I can’t believe May & June have already come and gone!  I meant to write this posting at the end of May, however, it all came and went so fast.

As we attended my youngest son’s continuation to middle school, and my nephew’s graduation from high school last month, I had to stop and think…this is just the beginning of what lies ahead for both of them.

It also made me realize that my boys are now both out of elementary school!  Now THAT was a shock.  Never again will we be walking through the halls of the elementary school for parent teacher conferences or other school activities!  Now it’s on to middle school and the remainder of high school memories for my sons.

My nephew, Randy, excepting his high school diploma

It was also a shock when I sat in the high school gym of Lake County High School to witness my nephew, Randy, receiving his high school diploma.  I walked along that same stage many years ago when I received my own diploma.  I guess it’s just weird seeing all of our nieces and nephews now taking the plunge into adulthood.

Not to mention, my own high school English teacher was giving the commencement speech that day – and even though she looked great for her age, it was evident that the years have passed.

It’s exciting to see what lies ahead for the children in my family.  There’s so many hopes and dreams that they have.  Hopes and dreams we all have.  It’s all very exciting, and we all just need to keep in mind that we can all go wherever we want to go.

Have a great day!

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Rest in Peace, Farrah & Michael...

Today we mourn the loss of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett. What a sad day in the heart of America and around the World. We lost two extremely talented and loving entertainers yesterday.  Two whom I personally grew up with…watching them on TV, and singing & dancing to Michael’s AWESOME music.  They are no longer with us, and that just makes me sad.  Not only because they were awesome entertainers, but also as we sometimes forget – they were fellow human beings.  They were someone’s son, brother, daughter, sister, mother, father and FRIEND.

As a mother myself, I can’t imagine what their parents must be going through this morning, just knowing that their child has left this world before them; and as a daughter, I can’t imagine, nor do I want to imagine, what it’s going to feel like to lose my own mom or dad.

This morning on the radio, I heard the comment that Jaime Fox made regarding the loss of Michael Jackson…”You cannot say enough about what he has given to us musically and culturally. We take for granted people like him… all he wanted to do was give us great music and that’s what he did. Every single day was dedicated to us.  “What a great time. What a great entertainer. There will never be anybody (like him).”

This was so TRUE!  Michel grew up in the world of fame and fortune, however, unfortunately for him, he was never able to live the life of a “normal child” – or the life of a “normal adult.”

Over the years, Michel showed some very odd behavior and created a strange lifestyle for himself, but who’s to say that the same wouldn’t have happened to any one of us had we grown up in the same way he did…ya know?  Who are we to judge…we never walked in his footsteps, or lived his life.  We all have our own trials and tribulations in life…  All I know for myself, is that I loved Michael as a singer, dancer and GREAT entertainer.  He personally brought happiness to my life with his music and dance, and I will miss him.

Farrah, was the Angel she was…at least in my own eyes.  I remember as a little girl, wanting to be just like “Charlie’s Angels.”  Running around the way they did, solving crimes and making everything in the world just right!  She was the “pretty blond one…with the GREAT hair!”  Ah yes, Jill, Kelly & Sabrina…who could ever forget them and the awesome women they were?!

Farrah just had a certain spark in her eye and a stride to her step.  She was glamorous, yet sophisticated.  However, never did I appreciate her quite as much as I did until I watched “Farrah’s Story,” just last month.  This was the documentary she recorded about the the trials and tribulations of her battle with cancer.

I remember sitting in that hotel room in Orlando, just sobbing, because of what she had been through and what she was going through.  I can’t even imagine…but one thing is for sure now.  She is no longer suffering.

Farrah & Michael’s legacies will continue to live on, even though they are no longer with us.  They both played huge roles in my own life.  Not only will I miss them, but all of America, and even the World, will be void without them.

Rest in Peace Farrah & Michael…you’ll both forever live on in my heart.

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Photo courtesy of Walt Pourier

“Fanatics in power and the funnel of a tornado have this in common – the narrow path in which they move is marked by violence and destruction” ~  Oscar Ostlund

Tornado sightings all across the Denver metro area this past week.  Generally not a common site we see in the city, but they’ve sure been unwelcome visitors this week, that’s for sure!  Pretty scary stuff.

Walt Pourier (Nakota Designs Inc.) took this photo last Sunday, June 7th 2009, in Thornton Colorado (just north of Denver).  It was approximately 3 blocks from his house!

We’ll continue to watch the skies and hope we don’t get whirled up in the winds of the tornados this coming week.  “Toto, I’ve a feeling we’re not in Kansas any more.”  No…we’re in Denver?!

UPDATE: I just received additional photos from Walt, with yesterday’s weather craze.  Infact, here was what he said in an email he sent me:

“WOW! We have been having like seven days of freaky weather in Colorado… and expecting more of the same today. These are from yesterday, June 14th, Sunday. Over our neighborhood, Thornton Colorado just north of Denver… over the house looking South and North and East.. all above.

Crazy, the clouds, actually have faces in them, changing, rolling… rotation was crazy, funnels picking out…. sirens going off in downtown Denver, evacuated a Rockies baseball game, sent everyone into the tunnels at the stadium. The lightening has been INTENSE bolts and instant BOOMS!!!, yesterday the worst… HAIL pounded us… intense rain, flooding, my friend Trevor sent me the pic on his cell phone of his car getting flooded… June is kickin our butts over here, so far.

Maybe they are trying to tell us something??… question is, are we listening?….. crazy, crazy… crazy.”

Walt Pourier
Creative Director

Nakota Designs Inc.
2022 East 134th Way
Thornton CO.  80241
303.255.1730

www.nakotadesigns.com
myspace.com/nakotadesigns1

Have a great week everyone, and be safe!

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