Charlianna Merseal

Today my niece passed away. She was only a little over 5 months old. She had a rare heart defect that left her with several holes in her heart at birth. She fought so hard for a long time but I know she is with heavenly father now and much happier with no suffering and pain. I am going to try to go to the funeral this week. She was such a sweetie I hear and such a little angel. I am going to post a sweet little story that was on her hospital blog posted by her parents.

'The Brave Little Soul'

Not too long ago in Heaven there was a little soul who took wonder in observing the world... He especially enjoyed the love he saw there and often expressed this joy with God... One day however the little soul was sad, for on this day he saw suffering in the world... He approached God and sadly asked, 'Why do bad things happen; why is there suffering in the world?'

God paused for a moment and replied, 'Little Soul, do not be sad, for the suffering you see, unlocks the love in people's hearts...' The little soul was confused. 'What do you mean,' he asked. 'God replied, 'Have you not noticed the goodness and love that is the offspring of that suffering? Look at how people come together, drop their differences and show their love and compassion for those who suffer... All their other motivations disappear and they become motivated by love alone...'

The little soul began to understand and listened attentively as God continued, 'The suffering soul unlocks the love in people's hearts much like the sun and the rain unlock the flower within the seed... I created everyone with endless love in their heart, but unfortunately most people keep it locked up and hardly share it with anyone... They are afraid to let their love shine freely, because they are afraid of being hurt... But a suffering soul unlocks that love... I tell you this - it is the greatest miracle of all. Many souls have bravely chosen to go into the world and suffer - to unlock this love - to create this miracle - for the good of all humanity...'

Just then the little soul got a wonderful idea and could hardly contain himself... With his wings fluttering, bouncing up and down, the little soul excitedly replied, 'I am brave; let me go!! I would love to go into the world and suffer so that I can unlock the goodness and love in people's hearts! I want to create that miracle!!'

God smiled and said, 'You are a brave soul I know, and thus I will grant your request... But even though you are very brave you will not be able to do this alone... I have known since the beginning of time that you would ask for this and so I have carefully selected many souls to care for you on your journey... Those souls will help create your miracle; however they will also share in your suffering... Two of these souls are most special and will care for you, help you and suffer along with you, far beyond the others... They have already chosen a name for you...'

God and the brave little soul shared a smile, and then embraced. In parting, God said, 'Do not forget little soul that I will be with you always... Although you have agreed to bear the pain, you will do so through my strength... And if the time should come when you feel that you have suffered enough, just say the word, think the thought, and you will be healed...'

Thus at that moment the brave little soul was born into the world, and through his suffering and God's strength, he unlocked the goodness and love in people's hearts... For so many people dropped their differences and came together to show their love... Priorities became properly aligned... People gave from their hearts... Those that were always too busy found time. Many began new spiritual journeys - some regained lost faith - many came back to God... Parents hugged their children tighter... Friends and family grew closer... Old friends got together and new friendships were made... Distant family reunited, and every family spent more time together... People checked a website and sent notes of encouragement... People made and brought meals to the family of the suffering... Everyone prayed... Peace and love reigned... Lives changed forever. It was good... The world was a better place... The miracle had happened...

God was pleased ......

(By John Alessi)

My new haircut

So here is the compromise I made.. I went alot shorter (about 5 in.) but I stayed around my shoulders. I Love it, and the best thing is it is a lot quicker to style. John likes it a lot too so that's a plus. Thanks Casey Kelly, you're awesome!

I'm a great father (and so are you!)

This guy just makes us all look good.

What did I do...?

Well let me just say first of all, I was just planning on trimming the part of Jenna's hair that was hanging in her eyes because she rips out anything I put in her hair... I was not planning on giving her a total bang nor was I planning on giving her a mullet! :( Well, at least she can see finally. She is still beautiful :)

Help me, please!!

So lately I have been thinking about how much I hate my hair being long. I simply cannot wear it down because I sweat so much when I am pregnant and I cannot maintain long hair with 2 wild children. I can only imagine how its gonna be with 3.. I will be lucky to shower, lol. I want a low-maintenance hairstyle that is still sexy and fun. I guess my question to anyone who would be willing to give an opinion... should I cut it all off or go to the shoulders (a happy medium). I have 2 pics of the hairstyles I like.

Option #1: Kelly Clarkson's medium style (I would be getting like 4-5 inches cut off on length alone for this one, not to mention the layers)...




Option #2: Jenny McCarthy's angled bob cut. I don't know that I would go that short, maybe like 2-3 inches or so longer to touch the top of my shoulders but definately a dramatic change. Also, there is one of a Kelly Clarkson angle cut as well that is a little longer.
I guess one of the main concerns of mine was that I have bangs and I intend to grow them out but obviously that's not gonna happen overnight so I am just so undecided. John likes the idea of me going shoulder length because that's how my hair was when we met, not all the way down to the middle of my back. He liked it shorter. Anyway, I would appreciate any opinions. thanks!!

Peanut butter play dough

LOVE THIS! I just got done making this for the first time for Abbi. She loved playing with it and then eating it. Its a mess but fun for her. Has anyone ever made this for their kids before?

1 C. peanut butter
2/3 to 1 C. non-fat dry milk
2 tbsp honey

Mix until its a play dough like texture. Add more dry milk if needed.

20 week appointment...so we thought it was a girl......

And it is! We got to see our little Claire Elizabeth squirming all around today. She is measuring right on track, actually 2 days further but 2 days is nothing. I am quite disappointed because I have gained just as much this pregnancy as with Abbi thus far and I have been more conscious of what I have been eating. Jenna I gained less, but she was heavier than Abbi- go figure? Oh-well. I am not complaining though because its all a part of the miracle and I will work it off afterwards :) Anyway, I do have ultrasound pics but unfortunately our scanner is not working! :( But I will attempt to try and post them tomorrow via the camera.

Help me with my homework

My HR Management professor has instructed as part of a project to "brainstorm" with others outside of our class. So in an effort to brainstorm electronically I'm asking for your help here.

My project consists of the creation of a Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scale (BARS). My scale is for teams. Here's where you can help. Think of a time when you were on a scholarly or professional team and give me some examples of team members' behaviors that helped the team and also behaviors that hurt the team.

Post your examples in the comments section. I don't care if this is your first time visiting our blog or you've been here 10 times (cause I doubt anyone has seen our blog any more times than that). Please leave a little snippet of something about a good or bad team member's behavior.

Thanks for your time (I know you don't have much :)

-John IV

Fifth of July

Jamiee and I celebrated our fifth wedding anniversary yesterday, 5 July 2008. I planned the day out months ago. I got annual passes to the Georgia Aquarium for the whole family in May for Abbi's birthday. In addition to the annual passes I got behind the scenes tour tickets for Jamiee and myself and on our anniversary date we got to walk past the throngs of people to participate in a small, 13 person guided tour of the exhibits from behind the scenes.

This the top of the "Tropical Diver" exhibit. If you can tell from the picture, there is a giant trough behind the lights that creates the waves in the exhibit. The big blue "tanks" behind the trough are solid particulate filters. They're filled with sand. The lights keep the room about 75 degrees. It's very warm and humid. This is the "shallow end" of the ocean voyager exhibit where the whale sharks and hammerhead sharks live. The yellow i-beams that run across the ceiling are for conveying large aquatic animals in a sling out of the water.















This is the Beluga whale tank. If you've seen this from inside the aquarium you know there is a big viewing pane where you look up at the whales. That pane is on the left in the picture below the three platforms.














Another shot of the beluga whale exhibit from behind the scenes. Jamiee said this made the whole tour worth it.














This is the "deep end" of the Ocean Voyager exhibit. We were probably less than 10 feet from the whale sharks when they came to the surface. It was awesome. The worlds largest plexiglass viewing pane is on the right, below the surface. We even got to walk out on the gangway on the left.














This is my beautiful wife standing above the world's largest saltwater tank. You can't tell but she's actually terrified. She has a paralyzing fear of sharks and this is the closest she's ever been to one that hasn't been behind glass.














After the aquarium we went to Atlantic Station to see the sights and do a little shopping. I've been saving my pennies for a while to be able to buy her a little something. So she got a new dress and a new pair of shoes and she looks spectacular. After shopping, we changed and made it to our dinner reservations a Two Urban Licks. An AWESOME dining experience. I highly recommend it for anyone wanting to do something different and original and still eat American cuisine.

A five year start on eternity. I love you babe!

Fourth of July

HAPPY BIRTHDAY U.S.A.!!
Little kids love cheap fireworks.

Captivating aren't they?
Blurry but it's kinda cool.