My 'Then and Now' Speech for the Rodeo

  So I've been trying to memorize my speech for Friday. So I figured I would kill two birds with one stone and write it out mostly by memory for you guys. :) I don't know how interesting it will be for you, seeing as it's about my town. But for history lovers out there here you go.

  "My family and I moved to Douglas County just over two years ago from Fort Morgan. Douglas County is named after Stephen A. Douglas, a senator from Illinois. Douglas County was one of the original counties in the Colorado territory created by the Colorado territorial legislature.

  Today I live in Larkspur with my family. Most people know it for the Renaissance Festival, but there is much more history to our little town than that.

  Larkspur was named after the purple flower of the same name that grows abundantly in the area. Larkspur was first settled by people heading west in 1858 for the Pike's Peak or Bust Gold Rush. They were then followed by farmers, ranchers, and business people. The town was originally called Huntsville after Alexander Cameron Hunt a territorial governor. Huntsville was technically two miles north of present day Larkspur. Which was an ideal location because it was half way between Denver City and Colorado City.  It had lush native grasses, fertile soil, streams, it was protected by the Hunt Butte, and was surrounded by tick forests.
  Huntsville was the first town in Douglas County to have a post office.
  During the Indian Uprisings in the 1860s they built a stockade known as Fort Lincoln to protect nearby ranchers and their families from attack. In fact thirty families took refuge for six months in 1864.

  In 1871 railroad tracks from the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad had reached Larkspur. It then became a major hub on the railway due to the abundant gypsum, clay, lumber, and creamery products.

  Since it's inception there have been two major floods to this region. The first on May 7, 1864 and the second June of 1865 taking with it any remains of the original Huntsville.

  Today Larkspur has it's own fire department. There are no Indian uprisings. 95 families call it home. And yes we hold the annual Renaissance Festival that is attended by 225,000 people each year.

Pike's Peak. :) My beautiful neighbor.

  I consider myself to be truly blessed to live in such a beautiful area. To live in the state with the most sunshine days, where we are the only state in the union were our water only flows out and not in from another state. To live in the shadow of Pike's Peak and 52 other mountains that tower over 14thousand feet. Lastly where Katherine Lee Bates was inspired to pen the words for 'America the Beautiful'.

  "Of beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountains majesty, above the fruited plains. America! America! God shed His grace on thee, and crown thy good with brotherhood from sea to shining sea."

So whoever just finished that. Many thanks. :) And I hope you enjoyed it. Does anyone have an insight. I would gladly take any critique. Or would love to talk to you about anything in here. :)

What I'm doing this week

So! My birthday is over, my birthday party is over, back to life. But... I've got a cold. Yep, so that means lots of hand washing, vitamin C sucking, disinfecting, and medicine taking.

Also, Shilo our Golden Retriever has an infection in her neck. Poor girl had to go to the vet's the other day and they drained a lot of the puss, but she's still big. So she gets a piece of cheese every day with her medicine.

Then this weekend is the Rodeo Princess contest. For those of you who don't know what that is: the Rodeo Princess represents her county. She, the Queen, and the Princess attendant go to most of the rodeos in her state and, well, represents her county.
My little sister and I are trying out. (If I'm feeling better by then)

What have you all been up to?

Brookie

Why I Believe in Christianity #1

Here is a great video with more info that I as a teenager can't explain very well. :)

And here is what I have to say:
The Bombardier Beetle is one of my favorite bugs, just because he shoots he shoots hot stuff out his bum. Ahem... anyways.

But first here is Wikipedia's introduction to this tiny little ball of fire. (Please when I refer to things this way don't get all technical on about how, it's not really a 'ball of fire'. I'm just goofing around)



Bombardier beetles are ground beetles (Carabidae) in the tribes Brachinini, Paussini, Ozaenini, or Metriini—more than 500 species altogether—which are most notable for the defense mechanism that gives them their name: when disturbed, they eject a hot noxious chemical spray from the tip of their abdomen, with a popping sound.
The spray is produced by a reaction between two chemical compounds, hydroquinone and hydrogen peroxide, stored in separate reservoirs in the beetle's abdomen and mixed when needed in a third chamber with water and catalytic enzymes. Heat from the reaction brings the mixture to near the boiling point of water and produces gas that drives the ejection. The damage caused can be fatal to attacking insects and small creatures and is painful to human skin. Some bombardier beetles can direct the spray over a wide range of directions.

How can this little guy evolve? If a beetle started getting these chemicals, the first time he tried to use it, he would blow himself up. Pop! (Sorry, it's the teen in me) Evolution takes a long, long time. If he only gets part of these things at once, it won't work correctly. He wouldn't have the right compartments, and he wouldn't have the chemical mixture all set up. Even Wiki admits that Evolutionists admit that they haven't figured out how it could work. They do say they might, maybe, have a lead, but that's ONLY a lead. If they find something I'm game for reading about it. But they don't have anything.

Now if he was created at once by a Creator, it would make sense. He'd be all intact. This little guy at the moment points fully at a Divine Creator.

This isn't the only thing. I'll have more coming. :)

Dear Atheists reading this. Please don't get all offensive.  I don't wish to get into arguments, and I don't want to offend anyone. I'm just presenting my beliefs the same way you present yours. :)

Brookie

100 Hard Things Challenge

So... I've actually been doing it this time. Yea! ;)

Here is what I've done:

Day one: I hate talking on the phone. Even with family. But I called the eye doctor's office! I did it and I didn't mess up or freak out. :D

Day two: I've been helping out more with dinner.

Day three: I've decided to try out for our county rodeo princess!

So I won't be able to do a hard thing every day and post about it. Sometimes I do something not very big, then forget what it was by the end of the day...
But thanks for your support guys! :)

Brookie