Update on my Mission to be a Guitar Player

I think in my last post about guitar,I was just starting. I was working on G, Cadd9 and D chords. After a lot of work I am very happy with my progress with these three chords. I have since learned A,Am,E, Em plus power chords. I am now working on Bm. That is a very hard bar chord to learn. I feel like I can do it though.

 Songs have been Rock-n-Roll Ain't Noise Pollution, Nobody's Fool, Every Rose Has its Thorn, Can't You See and Two Steps Behind. I have the basic idea with these songs. From this point on its about polishing it up. I need to work on my up strokes when strumming and learn to not let the pick slip. I am working keep my hand a little more closed when strumming and narrowing my strumming window.The feeling is that, I coming down to far on the down stroke and trying to compensate on the up stroke, then I catch the the meat of the pick on the high E string. Its frustrating, but I'm not beating myself up. That's why I'm the student.
 If you are a student or teacher don't forget to have fun in whatever you are doing.There's something said for PLAYING guitar. One of the definitions for play is: exercise or activity for amusement or recreation. Its meant to be enjoyed, not stressed over. So sit down, plug in, and have some fun.

Controlling Crohns

Well last I posted about Crohns, I was trying probiotics. Probiotics at the point had helped slow everything down some. Fast forward to the last couple of weeks. I have been taking Imuran with fish oil and Calcium in the morning. By mid morning, I take a probiotic with a aloe vera capsule. I found this helps make my life a little easier after lunch. I was having so many bathroom visits between 12pm and 4pm. I realized over Christmas that I need to find a solution for this problem. Thanks to my uncle that is an herbalist. He gave me list of things to try and I only have just started to tap into his suggestions. I also have reduced my water intake and increase my use of tea. I usually use Numi tea. The Red Roobios seems to help best, but also use Green Roobios and Orange Spice. These teas seem to hydrate because they are caffeine free, they also help sooth. If I drink pop its usually Diet Vernors. This seems to sit well. I do not drink pop that often anymore.
 Hope some of this helps.......

End of Summer

 Well usually Labor Day weekend is the last time we go to the cottage for the summer. Here we see a nice sunrise. The sunrise on the lake is always something to see and admire. This was a great start to a great weekend.    We picked up Klaudia, our exchange student, from the airport on Wednesday. We didn't give her a whole lot of "soak in time" at home. We left for the lake on Thursday (Melissa's Birthday). Friday morning she took this picture.
  Friday morning we left Higgins Lake for Mackinac. The did some shopping. We left Mackinac about 1:30pm, then headed to Tahquamenon. Klaudia has been to the States for trips with her family. She has never seen The Mackinac Bridge. Of course we had high winds Friday and traffic was very slow. High winds make the trip across very interesting.
 Now this starts the adventure to the Falls. Most of the kids were sleeping along the way. I'm not sure why, there are so many trees to look at, how could a person not be excited. We were hearing reports of rain most of the way. We arrived in Paradise, Michigan and it started to rain hard. When you have driven that far,there is no turning back. By the time we arrived at the lower falls the sky opened up and the rain stopped. A true blessing. Melissa and I would have walked it no matter what. At least we were sparred from the grumbling from certain children.  The river looked very low compared to last October. They are beautiful none the less. When we were done at the lower falls,we went to the upper falls. It was the first time there for all the kids. As far as I can tell, the all enjoyed it. One of these times we will hike the whole thing. Here's a link if you want more information on Tahquamenon Falls:          
http://www.exploringthenorth.com/tahqua/tahqua.html

This Next Week

I usually blog about the 29th being the worst day of my life. I lost a dear friend and had to overcome my own injuries at the exact same time. I'm not going to go on and on about it being 7 sevens years and life is so hard during this week. Does that day suck? Yep. Does it get easier to handle? Nope. The day is drawing near where I will not let it bring me down. Not only did I lose a dear friend, but I had to overcome a lot. That often is forgotten. We eulogize my friend, and rightfully so. He was a great man and part of the reason I'm still here.
 It does me no good wishing I could go back in time. We can't. I can't take back a bad decision. I wish I could but I can't. So what good does it do to feel sorry for myself? Zero. I still have to work and raise a family, I still have to cut the grass. There will be times where its hard not to cry. I will not let it bring to the depths of despair.
 As much as I miss my friend, I have to be able to celebrate the things I had to overcome. Broken leg, pelvic fracture, scars on my hand, arm, forehead, the therapy, the grieving for a dear friend, dad, grandfather, all in the same year. With God, family and friends, I overcame ALL of it. I persevered. So I am going to try to celebrate that day by pouring my energy into my project. For me, Cole, Dad. Its what they would want.

As I was in the pool....

Laying on a raft and looking up the sky yesterday, I started thinking. I remembered some years ago an great aunt, on our Dad's side, told Joe and I that "we would do great things." Now as far as I'm concerned, my brother has done a great job of filling that statement. He has done great things through his art, church and some other activities. As for myself, I have been searching for what that is. But back to the start....
 I was thinking, what is it that God has for me to be great at? Then it kind of smacked me on the head. Maybe the one thing I am supposed to be great at is right under my nose. Its my home, my life, my family. Its getting this marriage right, its being who I am and enjoying it. Its living with Crohn's and making the most of it,not letting it beat me. All the other interests, are all secondary. So what if I never find that special ability.Then again maybe I already found it and am now starting to understand.
 "There are no extraordinary men...just extraordinary circumstances that ordinary men are forced to deal with".~ Admiral William Fredrick Halsey Jr