Is there really a GOD
21 May 2012 Leave a Comment
This weekend, we had some religious visitors come to the house. Two men of the Jehovah Witness denomination. At first, I was turned off and didn’t care much to talk to them, but then, I decided, what could it hurt. I had questions about their religion and what they believed in, and I wanted to ask them.
We invited them in to share a bit of bible study with us.
The conversation started out with me telling them that I grew up Catholic and that my parents hold pretty strongly to the Catholic faith. I grew up this way so I’m partial to this religion and let them know.
Through the years I’ve struggled with religion and being Catholic. I’ve gone through the ups and downs of what God wants for us and what his purpose for our life is, to “does he really exists”. I’ve gone through rebellious times against being Catholic and not liking the whole idea that everything I did was a sin. What is right and what is wrong anyway? Does the bible or GOD or the priest dictate that? I was confused. So I took “time off” from religion and explored other beliefs.
What I wanted to ask the Jehovah Witness (Nick and Peter were their names) was:
1. Why do you believe that only a chosen few will go to heaven?
Their answer was not a simple one. It took about an hour and going over the scriptures in the bible. They pointed out that man does not have a spirit that will rise to heaven. After we die our bodies return to dust and if God decides so, he will raise our spirits.
Here is a bit on their teaching:
When the spirit, or life-force leaves the body, the body dies and returns to where it came from-the earth. Comparably, the life-force returns to where it came from-God. This does not mean that the life-force actually travels to heaven. Rather, it means that for someone who dies, any hope of future life rests with Jehovah God. His life is in God’s hands. Only by God’s power can the spirit, or life-force, be given back so that a person may live again.
So does this mean that we don’t have a spirit? Where does it go? It goes back to God but not really? I was confused. I was always taught that when one dies, our spirit rises and goes to heaven or to purgatory. I had a hard time accepting the thought that we become nothing.
2. Does God choose when it is our time to go?
The answer was no. God does not like death. Death is a result of Adam and Eve’s original sin.
I told them that it is much more comforting to think that GOD had a plan for us and that he takes us when it is our time. It is comforting to think that our spirit rises to heaven when we are gone. And that I will continue believe this way.
After they left, I found myself questioning my own beliefs. Do we really have a spirit? Does God have a say in when it is our time to go? What happens to us after we die? Is life more precious knowing that we don’t have a spirit going anywhere? Does it make the meaning of life more valuable?
This whole thing about God and religion was getting too complex to try and understand. After talking with my sisters Lee and Jamie about it. Lee said, “No one really knows. If anyone says they know what happens after we die, it’s a lie. How would they know? Unless they themselves have experienced it, they cannot say what is true.”
And that is the truth. No one really knows. Sure we can read the bible all we want but we will never know.
So I say, do what ever comforts you. Do what ever makes you feel right according to you. Yes you can use the bible to help you. There isn’t a right or wrong in it. Questions like these cannot really be answered because the answer is always according to ones belief.
At the end of the day, yes I think there is a God. All other questions…I simply don’t know, and I’m okay with that.
Dancing in DC
18 May 2012 5 Comments
Steve and I took a trip up to DC in April to visit his mother, sister and brother-in-law. This was my second time up there so we were able to skip some of the memorials I had seen last year and visit some new ones. We also got to see the new Martin Luther King Memorial. It was pretty neat. Although I have to say, it’s not quite as amazing as the Jefferson Memorial, but it is still a great memorial. It seemed like more time, money and energy was spent designing and building the Jefferson Memorial and some of the other older memorials than on this one. But then again, it was a pretty massive statue. So all in all, it was worth seeing.
Martin Luther King Memorial
Also this time up in DC, I noticed all the colorful flowers that were in bloom. Mostly bright white and pink flowers. It was beautiful! I couldn’t help but capture those flowers on my camera. I think I was almost obsessed with taking pictures of them. There was a field covered in these flowers.
The White Flowers
Here are the pink ones.
Here is an Iris.
I took this picture to show the rain drops. It rained for two full days while we were there. The temperature must of been in the 40′s because it was sure cold. Instead of the AC, we had the heater on.
We went to visit Steve’s sister Laura and her husband Will and got to check out their new RV. I loved it! They took us on a ride to the park and we had a delicious chicken salad, made by Laura, for lunch. Yum! Of course it was still raining so we weren’t able to go outside which was completely fine with me. I much preferred to sit inside and watch the rain.
Laura and Will’s new RV
Having lunch and enjoying our “make believe” road trip in their new RV.
I still can’t believe we braved this rainy cold weather and went on a river cruise. But this too was well worth it. I’ve never been on a river boat dinner cruise before, so it was a great experience. We weren’t sure they were going to cancel the cruise or not because of the heavy rain and wind, but I guess when you are inside the boat, the weather outside doesn’t seem to exist. We were not able to go too far up the Potomac and under the bridges due to the high water levels.
All of us on the boat getting ready for dinner. (Steve’s mom, me, Steve, Laura, Will)
The food was extremely good. I’ve never had duck confit before so I decided to try it. It was interesting, but very tasty. I would definitely have it again. I think Steve and I both ordered that. I’m a sucker for food pictures, so here are a few.
Duck confit appetizer
Beef
Salmon dish that I ordered. Yum! Cooked just right!
I’d have to say the boat excursion was a great one! I’m glad we went on it even though it was pouring rain. The best part of this cruise of course was the dancing! Here is a video of Steve and I dancing.
What I love about DC is the land. It seems so green and there are so many trees. Everyone’s house has lots of land and green grass and full grown trees and colorful flowers. And in some areas, it looks like a forest. I don’t see that around here so it’s refreshing to see that in DC. Of course Denver is always home to me, but DC is a great place to visit.
And it was fun hanging out with Laura, Will and Helen (Steve’s mom).
One thing I almost forgot to add. There is a place in DC that I always have to go to and any time that I am on the east coast, I have to go to this place. It reminds me of my teenage years in Denver, so I have to go to it. It’s a “feel good” place for me.
Honestly, it’s because I used to work at a Dunkin Donuts here in Denver when I was 15 years old. And they have great French Crullers! (and Boston Creme, my 2nd favorite donut)… 
Salsa Cardio
26 Feb 2012 2 Comments
in Uncategorized Tags: Cardio, dance, DanzArtz, Salsa, salsa cardio, workout
It’s been a while since I have posted anything on dance. I took a little break from dancing the last few months but now I’m back in it again. It feels good to be dancing again. I missed it.
To start off, I decided to take a Salsa Cardio class. I wanted a workout class combined with Salsa and found one with an awesome Salsa instructor, Mercy Gonzales.
At first I was nervous about taking her class for a couple of reasons: 1. I didn’t know if I was up to speed enough to keep up since I have watched her dance before and felt like I was not anywhere near ready and 2. What is Salsa Cardio anyway?
During my first day of class I realized that even though the moves were challenging, Mercy was an awesome instructor. She took the time to break down all the moves and made sure all her students got the move before she moved on. This really helped me a lot! I needed that extra bit of help.
Salsa Cardio I learned is a combination of Salsa moves – Salsa, Merengue, Bachata and Reggaeton. Mercy incorporates the different dance styles along with squats and cardio moves. I love it because I get a good workout and learn new salsa dance moves.
Here is a video I made of Mercy’s Salsa Cardio class.
I am in the blue shirt BTW.
Mercy Gonzales teaches her Salsa Cardio at DanzArtz Studio in Denver. If you would like to contact her for more information her email is mercyg1@yahoo.com. Here is the website to DanzArtz:www.danzartzstudios.com
If you are ever in the Denver area, come check out her class with me!
Rum Cake, Rum Cake
05 Feb 2012 Leave a Comment
in Uncategorized Tags: bundt, cake, castle rum cake, medieval, rum cake, rum cake recipe
Lately we have been on a rum cake high…Steve’s good friend sent us a rum cake for Christmas and we ate it in half a day. It was delicious! So, Steve did some research and found a recipe for rum cake and made some modifications to his liking.
So far he’s made about 20 cakes. I may have helped him with a few, but he got it down to a science so he can pretty much bake it in his sleep. I didn’t have to do anything except eat the cake. I did video tape the cake making process and made a DVD. See videos at the end of this blog.
For my brother Zeng, Steve baked this castle rum cake and I decorated with knights. I used brown sugar for dirt, chocolate rocks, cream cheese and food coloring for the moat, chocolate candy bar for the bridge, and a dragon. It was a lot of fun putting this together and it tasted great too! I think my brother got a kick out of it. Pictures were taken by my sister Lee Benkers.
Here’s the famous Rum Cake recipe:
- 1 cup chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)
- 18+ ounces yellow cake mix
- 1 box of (4 – ½ cup serving size) instant vanilla pudding mix
- 4 eggs
- ½ cup olive oil
- 1 cup dark rum
- ½ cup water or milk
- ¼ cup flour if at altitude > 3,000 ft
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Grease up with butter the inside of Bundt pan – Add a little cocoa powder or flower to the buttered inside. Sprinkle nuts into Bundt pan. Combine all cake ingredients. Beat on high with electric mixer. Pour onto nuts into prepared Bundt pan. Bake for 45 minutes or until a toothpick slides in and comes out dry. Cool in pan. Invert on serving plate – should slide right out provided you greased and flowered/cocoa powdered the inside.
You can use any bundt cake mold. We just like the castle cake so we’ve been using that for most of our cakes. Any cake mold will work.
Rum cake with powder sugar (and a little homie).
Enjoy!
Let me know how yours turn out!
Here are the videos of Steve on how to make a rum cake.
Little House on the Prairie gift
07 Jan 2012 1 Comment
For Christmas, Steve gave me the complete Little House on the Prairie DVD set. It was awesome! I have always loved Little House on the Prairie so I was very happy to get this. I can’t wait to watch it all over again. I borrowed the series from my sister India a while back and was addicted to it and watched all the episodes back to back. I’m not quite sure how long it took me, I just remembered staying up all night and then heading straight to work when it was time. I had forgotten that I needed to sleep.
The Little House on the Prairie was a TV show based on the books by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Her stories are based on her real life experiences as a child growing up during the pioneer days in the mid to late 1800s. Laura herself was born in 1867 in Wisconsin.
I read the books and watched the dvds so it was interesting to see how Laura grew up during that time. I just loved how life seemed so simple…which I am sure is much more difficult than it looks. However, I think it was simple as a far as the luxuries that we are accustomed to today. It seemed like a walk through the woods or a little picnic in the open fields was all they needed to be happy. That’s what I mean by simple.
During the summer of 2009 my sisters Jamie, India and friend Tag, took a road trip through the Little House on the Prairie trail. It was most exciting for me to see all the museums and to experience some of the life experiences that Laura and her family lived through. I’m sure mine was much more touristy and hollywood’ed but it was still nice to imagine how it used to be.
Laura, her sister Mary, Ma and Pa left Wisconsin and settled in Desmet South Dakota. They built their homestead there and this is where we started our road trip.
The prairie lands of South Dakota was beautiful. I loved how open it was and how you can feel the breeze blowing through your hair. It was such a peaceful place.
During our time there, we traveled like Laura would when she went to school. She walked most of the time, but sometimes they took horse drawn buggys. We got to ride in a horse drawn buggy to the school that she went to, and we even dressed in the clothes and had a day of lessons!
The buggy finally arrives at the school and we are ready to see what the teacher has to teach us.
Tag and Jamie all dressed up in their school clothes ready to learn.
That was a fun experience! The teacher was nice. She did make the three of us go to the front of the class and read out of a book. I was nervous but we did a good job.
Our next stops were to Mankato Minnesota and Walnut Grove Wisconsin. If you are familiar with the series, the Ingalls family often traveled to these locations and even lived there for a while. We only drove through them or made a quick stop to look around but didn’t stay overnight. I would of like to see more of it, but we had to be on our way.
It was a really nice experience to see the Little House on the Prairie come to life during our road trip through these states. We followed Laura’s journey through South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Missiouri, and Kansas.
One last picture I wanted to share:
Look at the house behind the family.
This is one of my favorite pictures from our road trip. See if you can guess why.
Our Christmas Tree and more
20 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
It’s that time of the year again! We finally put up the Christmas tree and holiday decorations. It’s late in the month, but always nice to have it up. It really puts you in a happy holiday mood.
This is Steve’s aluminum tree. He grew up in New England where it was always snowy and cold and all the trees were covered in snow. So this tree reminds him of those days. I like it because it’s silver and shiny!
This is such a cute ornament, I couldn’t help but take a picture of it.
This is the nativity set we put up. All the figures are hand painted and very detailed. It is definitely a beautiful set. This is a Jim Shore creation that Steve has had for some time. I always love nativity sets.
I like this little Christmas village.
Such a warm and cozy house. Sits atop the fireplace but sure does make the room feel cozy.
I am loving this holiday season. Not much snow, but that’s okay. It still feels like Christmas…
The 1940′s Radio Hour
19 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
On Sunday, Steve and I, along with our friends Marcia and Ted, went to check out a wonderful Christmas musical called “The 1940′s Radio Hour”. It was fantastic! The actors and actresses were great!
I wasn’t sure what to expect from this musical but I figured it would be good since I like old time productions.
This musical takes place in 1942 at a radio broadcasting center, “WOV” in New York, on a cold wintery night. The stage is set up to look like a radio station that was being recorded before a live audience, the way it used to be done in the 40s. It was fun being part of the “live audience”. The play was quite sentimental as the small group of actors/actresses performed their last Christmas recording for the troops overseas during World War II. I couldn’t help but be captivated by their emotions and vocal talents.
What stood out for me most was hearing one of the actresses sing “Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas.” She had a beautiful voice.
Here’s the stage setting. We had seats about four rows back, so we were able to get a good view of the entire stage.
Steve and I before the show started.
Me with the captain.
Steve with Ann Collier. She’s the actress that sang “Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas”. Her voice was amazing!
Ted and Marcia standing outside of the Arvada Performing Arts center after the show.
I’m glad we were all able to see this musical. It was a fun little outing.
Hmong Christmas Party
19 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
This Saturday my church had their annual Hmong Catholic Community Christmas Party. We were only there for an hour or so because we had another Christmas party to go to.
Over the years, the Hmong community at this church has dissipated and it’s now a pretty small community. It’s always nice to go to this party though. You just never know if one of your old friends will show up.
Also in previous years, my sister Lee and I taught Hmong dances to the girls to perform. Seems like all the girls have grown up and the little ones now don’t really do that much dancing. So this year, my sister Jamie and brother Yeng got the kids together to sing a Christmas song and I choreographed a small dance piece for my niece Kida to perform. She actually choreographed half the dance since she is taking ballet lessons. I thought it was cute and I thought she did a pretty good job.
Here’s the kids’ singing and Kida dancing:
Road Trip To Moab
12 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
Steve, his son Andrew, his sister Mary, and I took a nice long road trip to Moab Utah in August. The experience was breathtaking.
Independence Pass Colorado was still open even though it was late in the season so we decided to take that route. It took us two hours longer to get to our destination, but it was well worth it. The aspen trees were just beginning to change color and the wind was getting cooler. Being on top of the pass however, was a different story. Since it was above the tree line, as you can imagine, no trees were growing. And it was really really cold!
Here’s a photo of the mountains coming down from Independence Pass:
Once we came down from the mountain, the temperature warmed up again and we continued our drive to Utah. After several hours of this peaceful drive we arrived at Green River Utah where we made out night stop.
We stayed at the famous Robbers Roost. Here’s a snippet about the Robbers Roost from the website Climb-Utah.com:
Robbers Roost
Outlaw Legend
Sandwiched between the Colorado River, Green River, and Dirty Devil River is a savage stretch of land crisscrossed with steep-walled canyons and hidden ravines. For over 30-years this inhospitable terrain served as a hideout for outlaws of every sort. Robbers Roost was a stronghold of the Wild Bunch, Butch Cassidy’s motley band of bank robbers, train stickup men, and horse and cattle rustlers.
The area received its colorful name and reputation in the 1870s when Cap Brown ran stolen horses through the area. Robbers Roost afforded hundreds of hiding spots and was difficult to penetrate. A Circleville, Utah, native and grandson of a Mormon handcart pioneer named Robert Leroy Parker, better known by his aliases as Butch Cassidy, began using the Roost in the 1880′s to hide cattle that he rustled.
During prohibition the Robbers Roost area saw one last surge of illegal activity. A number of unlawful whiskey stills were erected at springs in the clandestine canyons. Moonshine was often the only way to earn cash during the depression years. Several of the canyons in the Roost still contain evidence of the illegal stills.
Staying in this hotel did give a bit of historical feel to it. A photo of Steve and his son Andrew next to the Robbers Roost.
Across the street from the Robbers Roost was the old Green River cemetery…which gave even a more spooky historical feel to our stay here.
We finally arrived at our destination.
It was a great road trip I’d have to say. Even the drive was nice…well, it was nice for me since I didn’t do any of the driving. Steve and Andrew took the handle on that.
Snow Sun
12 Dec 2011 Leave a Comment
I just had to share this photo of the sun one morning while taking Steve to the airport. It was a foggy morning so driving wasn’t that easy, but I was able to grab my camera and take some photos. Don’t worry, I wasn’t driving while taking pics.
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