From The Deck in San Felipe

I Believe – anonymous but great

Susan — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 03:20:39 +0000

A Birth Certificate shows that we were born

A Death Certificate shows that we died

Pictures show that we lived!

Have a seat. Relax . . .

And read this slowly.

I Believe…

That just because two people argue,

It doesn’t mean they don’t love each other.

And just because they don’t argue,

It doesn’t mean they do love each other.

I Believe…

That we don’t have to change friends if

We understand that friends change.

I Believe….

That no matter how good a friend is,

they’re going to hurt you every once in a while

and you must forgive them for that.

I Believe…

That true friendship continues to grow,

even over the longest distance.

Same goes for true love.

I Believe…

That you can do something in an instant

That will give you heartache for life.

I Believe….

That it’s taking me a long time

To become the person I want to be.

I Believe…

That you should always leave loved ones with

Loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I Believe….

That you can keep going long after you think you can’t.

I Believe….

That we are responsible for what

We do, no matter how we feel.

I Believe…

That either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I Believe…

That heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs

to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I Believe….

That my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time

I Believe….

That sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you’re down

will be the ones to help you get back up

I Believe…

That sometimes when I’m angry

I have the right to be angry,

But that doesn’t give me the right to be cruel.

I Believe….

That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you’ve had

And what you’ve learned from them and less to do with how many

birthdays you’ve celebrated.

I Believe….

That it isn’t always enough,

to be forgiven by others.

Sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself.

I Believe…

That no matter how bad your heart is broken

the world doesn’t stop for your grief.

I Believe….

That our background and circumstances

may have influenced who we are,

But, we are responsible for who we become.

I Believe…

That you shouldn’t be so eager to find

Out a secret. It could change your life Forever.

I Believe….

Two people can look at the exact same

Thing and see something totally different.

I Believe…

That your life can be changed in a matter of

Hours by people who don’t even know you.

I Believe…

That even when you think you have no more to give,

When a friend cries out to you –

you will find the strength to help.

I Believe…

That credentials on the wall

do not make you a decent human being.

I Believe…

That the people you care about most in life

are taken from you too soon.

The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything;
They just make the most of everything they have.

I Believe…

That you should share this with

all of the people that you believe in, I just did.

I received this verse and the pictures in an email that had been forwarded on many times and you may have received it too. Rather than forwarding it on again, I have copied it and the photos here to share will all my friends.

I do not know the original author or source of the photos but if they belong to you or you can identify the source, please send me the info so I can credit the owner and/or get permission for their reproduction.

I Believe – anonymous but great is a post from: From The Deck in San Felipe

Still a Great Place to Grow Up – La Verne!

Susan — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 21:09:08 +0000

Just can resist the urge to brag about my home town. I moved to La Verne when I was in 3rd grade and have great memories of running through the orange groves, flying kites in the street and playing ball in the empty fields with the neighborhood kids. Sure is nice to see that one of my former neighbors is now the Mayor!

Picking oranges in the citrus groves at Heritage Park, La Verne, California Courtesy of City of La Verne

10 Best Towns for Families: 2010
Family Circle
La Verne, California
Population: 32,163
Median Income: $76,569
Median Home Price: $387,000
Households with Children: 36%
Student/Teacher Ratio: 26:1
Great Schools Rating: 9
Nestled in the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains 30 miles east of Los Angeles, La Verne has abundant hiking, mountain biking, and horseback riding trails.

#5 in Family Circle’s 10 Best Towns for Families: 2010: La Verne, California

Still a Great Place to Grow Up – La Verne! is a post from: From The Deck in San Felipe

To All Us Survivors!

Susan — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 04:19:16 +0000

: scissors from Crestock Creative Images

Someone shared this in an email, I don’t know where the original started but the quote is attributed to Jay Leno.

No matter what our kids and the new generation think about us,
we are awesome!!!

OUR Lives are LIVING PROOF !!!

To Those of Us Born

1925 – 1970 :

At the end of this email is a quote of the month by Jay Leno.. If you don’t read anything else, please

read what he said.

Very well stated, Mr. Leno.

~~~~~~~~~

TO ALL THE KIDS WHO SURVIVED THE

1930s, ’40s, ’50s, ’60s and ’70s!!

First, we survived being born to mothers who may have smoked and/or drank while they were pregnant.

They took aspirin, ate blue cheese dressing, tuna from a can, and didn’t get tested for diabetes.

Then, after that trauma, we were

put to sleep on our tummies

in baby cribs covered

with bright colored lead-based paints.

We had no childproof lids on medicine bottles, locks on doors or cabinets,
and, when we rode our bikes,

we had baseball caps,

not helmets, on our heads.

As infants and children, we would ride in cars with no car seats, no booster seats, no seat belts, no air bags, bald tires and sometimes no brakes..

Riding in the back of a pick- up truck on a warm day was always a special treat.

We drank water from the garden hose and not from a bottle.

We shared one soft drink with four friends, from one bottle, and no one actually died from this.

We ate cupcakes, white bread, real butter, and bacon. We drank Kool-Aid made with real white sugar. And we weren’t overweight.

WHY?

Because we were always outside playing….that’s why!

We would leave home in the morning and play all day, as long as we were back when the streetlights came on.

No one was able to reach us all day.
–And, we were OKAY..

We would spend hours building

our go-carts out of scraps

and then ride them down the hill, only to find out we forgot the brakes.. After running into the bushes a few times, we learned to solve the problem.

We did not have Play Stations, Nintendos and X-boxes. There were
no video games, no 150 channels on cable,
no video movies or DVDs,

no surround-sound or CDs,

no cell phones, no personal computers,

no Internet and no chat rooms.

WE HAD FRIENDS
and we went outside and found them!

We fell out of trees, got cut,

broke bones and teeth,

and there were no lawsuits

from those accidents.
We would get spankings with wooden spoons, switches, ping-pong paddles, or just a bare hand, and no one would call child services to report abuse.

We ate worms, and mud pies
made from dirt, and
the worms did not live in us forever.

We were given BB guns for our 10th birthdays, made up games with sticks and tennis balls, and

-although we were told it would happen- we did not put out very many eyes.

We rode bikes or walked to a friend’s house and knocked on the door or rang the bell, or just walked in and talked to them.

Little League had tryouts
and not everyone made the team.

Those who didn’t had to learn

to deal with disappointment.

Imagine that!!

The idea of a parent bailing us out if we broke the law was unheard of. They actually sided with the law!

These generations have produced some of the best risk-takers,
problem solvers, and inventors ever.

The past 50 to 85 years have seen an explosion of innovation and new ideas..

We had freedom, failure, success and responsibility, and we learned how to deal with it all.

If YOU are one of those born

between 1925-1970, CONGRATULATIONS!

You might want to share this with others who have had the luck to grow up as kids before the lawyers and the government regulated so much of our lives for our own good.

While you are at it, forward it to your kids, so they will know how brave and lucky their parents were.

Kind of makes you want to run through the house with scissors, doesn’t it ?
~~~~~~~
The quote of the month

Jay Leno:
“With hurricanes, tornados, fires out of control, mud slides, flooding, severe thunderstorms tearing up the country from one end to another, and with the threat of bird flu and terrorist attacks, are we sure this is a good time to take God out of the Pledge of Allegiance?”

To All Us Survivors! is a post from: From The Deck in San Felipe

Can We Save Vaquita & Fishing Industry?

Susan — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 13:44:36 +0000

The vaquita porpoise is a Critically Endangered species of true porpoises and it lives in our neighborhood, a tiny area in the extreme northern Sea of Cortez/Gulf of California, in Baja California, Mexico. Last week we attended a very informative presentation by Dr. Thomas A. Jefferson about these endearing creatures.

Jefferson shared the challenge of protecting the remaining vaquitas while acknowledging the difficulty of making major changes in local fishing practices in an economy where fishing is big part of survival. The major danger to vaquita population is the current practice of using gill (nearly invisible) nets to gather fish and shrimp from the waters off the eastern coast of Baja.

Since adding the vaquitas to the Endangered List in 1994, the Mexican government has taken several steps to attempt to save the vaquitas including the creation of the Biosphere Reserve of the Upper Gulf of California and Colorado River Delta in 1993 but the most effective step to date (according to Rojas-Bracho & Fueyo article in Whalewatch 2010 v39#1) is probably the creation of the International Committee for Recovery of the Vaquita (CIRVA) in 1996. This committee is tasked with looking for solutions that meld both the scientific and social-economic elements of the problem. Through their efforts additional actions have been taken by the Mexican government including a 2007 Conservation Program for Endangered Species (PROCER) which requires a Species Conservation Action Program (PACE).

What that means to Baja fishermen is that there is a restricted fishing zone, gill net fishing is being discouraged, alternative fishing methods are being studied and a compensation plan is being implemented to help the locals to transition from the practice of gill net fishing to other occupations.

With the population of vaquitas dwindling from the 500s to 100 or 200s since this research first began the question arises as to whether these measures will be quick enough and sufficient to save the vaquitas from extinction.

To learn more about the vaquitas, read Viva Vaquitas

Live vaquita photos taken by Thomas A. Jefferson under permit (Oficio No. DR/488/08) from the Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT), within a natural protected area subject to special management and decreed as such by the Mexican Government.

Vaquita Presentation – Dr. Tom Jefferson

View more presentations from cherylbutner.

Can We Save Vaquita & Fishing Industry? is a post from: From The Deck in San Felipe

From Baja to the Mediterranean – a Whale of a Story

Susan — Wed, 12 May 2010 17:13:00 +0000

In an effort to keep this page more current I have decided to share some of the cool things I come across in my daily emails and facebook events. These will be posted in the Just for Fun section of this blog. I will try to always add a personal note or comment to keep you, our friends up to date on our travels and activities, along with sharing the news article I found coolest that day.

Yesterday, we went back to our old workplace and visited with some great friends from our pre-retirement days. As Chuck so aptly puts it. We really miss the people but the jobs.

Today Chuck and I are packing up again and leaving Paradise for the Sacramento area, after a stop over at Jamie and Tim’s to see them and of course our darlin’ Madison.

My Favorite Facebook Post of the Day

Compliments of Rani Paxton and Grindtv.com

These whales are renowned travelers; they feed during the summer in the Bering and Chukchi seas, and migrate each winter more than 5,000 miles to mating and calving grounds off Baja California, Mexico.To reach the Atlantic by means other than an Arctic route, they’d have to either swim through the Panama Canal or continue another 8,000 miles to the south and round Cape Horn at the bottom of South America.

Gray whale off Israel called ‘most amazing sighting in history of whales’

From Baja to the Mediterranean – a Whale of a Story is a post from: From The Deck in San Felipe

Our Town – San Felipe, Baja California

Susan — Sat, 03 Apr 2010 21:36:32 +0000

Thank you Patty Bell for sharing this great video from sanfelipeproductions.

Our Town – San Felipe, Baja California is a post from: From The Deck in San Felipe

Get a nookTM Now

Susan — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 19:27:13 +0000

Curl Up With Your Favorite eBook

Can’t keep this one to myself.

I have finally found an ebook reader that I think is worth the investment. This one is on my wish list for Mother’s Day, Birthday, whatever!

Barnes & Noble and Google are working together to provide the coolest portable ereader out there.

The nookTM beats out the competition hands down.

With it you can

preview an ebook before you buy it,
share a book with a friend, or
upload it to your Mac or PC and read it with a FREE eReader

Ebooks are available at Barnes and Noble are reasonable prices, many are $9.95 or less.

What’s not to love?

If you are like me and waiting for someone to get you a nookTM as a gift, you can get your eBook library started now and download a free eReader to your laptop or iPhone. You can even download one of many FREE eBooks and start reading today.

Did I mention that you can get FREE shipping on your nookTM?

Start reading today!

Get a nookTM Now is a post from: From The Deck in San Felipe

We are well and fine here in San Felipe

Susan — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 18:04:34 +0000

“…millions of U.S. citizens safely visit Mexico each year (including tens of thousands
who cross the land border daily for study, tourism or business and nearly one million U.S.
citizens who live in Mexico…”

Although I greatly appreciate the concern and prayers of our friends and family members, please remember that violence and crime are not strangers to our ‘home’ towns. In past years I have woke up to the sounds of gun fire while living in Chico or police helicopters hovering over the neighborhood looking for armed criminals in Ranch Cordova. I was born and raised East of LA and delivered parts for my father’s business in many rough neighborhoods. I traveled the US shortly after the Chicago Riots and just barely missed out being in Israel during the battles of 73. Bad things happen everywhere. We are in God’s hands here or in the USA. Please don’t fret over current events. We serve a BIG God and he is here in San Felipe with us.

We are well and fine here in San Felipe is a post from: From The Deck in San Felipe

12 Minutes a Day – Starting today.

Susan — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 15:49:48 +0000

Okay, so today it a new beginning. Chuck and I have decided to tackle Joyce Vedral’s 12-Minute Workout Program together. We just finished the first day program. Follow along and let us know how you are doing and we will do the same.

12 Minutes a Day – Starting today. is a post from: From The Deck in San Felipe

We Are the World – 25 Year Remake for Haiti Relief

Susan — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 23:27:36 +0000

I was perplexed by the negative feedback on this video. So much hate coming from an effort to share love with others. Personally I am not, nor ever was, a Michael Jackson fan but I think the sentiment behind the production is bigger than any one person involved and God has always used cracked pots to accomplish his work.

Don’t let hate win. Do what you can to help.

We Are the World – 25 Year Remake for Haiti Relief is a post from: From The Deck in San Felipe

From The Deck in San Felipe

I Believe – anonymous but great

The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything; They just make the most of everything they have.

Still a Great Place to Grow Up – La Verne!

To All Us Survivors!

Can We Save Vaquita & Fishing Industry?

Live vaquita photos taken by Thomas A. Jefferson under permit (Oficio No. DR/488/08) from the Secretaria de Medio Ambiente y Recursos Naturales (SEMARNAT), within a natural protected area subject to special management and decreed as such by the Mexican Government.

From Baja to the Mediterranean – a Whale of a Story

My Favorite Facebook Post of the Day

Our Town – San Felipe, Baja California

Get a nookTM Now

Curl Up With Your Favorite eBook

preview an ebook before you buy it,

share a book with a friend, or

upload it to your Mac or PC and read it with a FREE eReader

What’s not to love?

Start reading today!

We are well and fine here in San Felipe

12 Minutes a Day – Starting today.

We Are the World – 25 Year Remake for Haiti Relief

The happiest of people don’t necessarily have the best of everything;
They just make the most of everything they have.