Rio's Welcome Sign -- 2016 Olympics...

"Solar City Tower", built on the island of Cotonduba will be the welcome symbol to the 2016 Olympic Games in  Rio de Janeiro.

It will be seen by the game visitors and participants as they arrive by air or water.

The tower, captures solar energy.

It will supply energy for all of the Olympic city, as well as also for part of  Rio.  

It pumps up water from the ocean to create what appears like a water fall and this fall stimulates turbines that produce energy during the night.

It will also hold the Olympic flame.

The Tower possesses an amphitheatre, an auditorium, a cafeteria and boutiques.

Elevators lead to various observatories.

It also has a retractable platform for the practice of bungee jumping.

At the summit is an observation point to appreciate the scenery of the land and ocean, as well as the waterfall.

Solar City Tower will be the point of reference for the 2016 Olympic Games in  Rio de Janeiro.

How Amazing Is This?!

Grow old with me...

Remember...

Happy Friday Friends...Have An Awesome WeekEnd...

In Our Hearts...Author Unknown...

We thought of you with love today.
But that is nothing new.
We thought about you yesterday.
And days before that too.
We think of you in silence.
We often speak your name.
Now all we have is memories.
And your picture in a frame.
Your memory is our keepsake.
With which we'll never part.
God has you in his keeping.
We have you in our heart..
~*~
RIP Marco
Always,
Deon, Tjupi, Gummi & Lucky

You and I will meet again...

 

You and I will meet again
When we're least expecting it
One day in some far off place
I will recognize your face
I won't say goodbye my friend
For you and I will meet again
~Tom Petty~

~*~

RIP Marco

Always,

Deon, Tjupi, Gummi & Lucky

I Miss You More Than Words Can Say And Even More Today...

Bianca Jooste...

Liefste oom marco ek sal nooit jou energie wat jy gehaad het vergeet nie! Jy was altyd graperig en jyt altyd n smile op jou gesig gehaad! Ek dink noggals baie aan die tyd toe ek in kraam was met alicia toe vra jy my nog wanneer die volgende kind is? Ekt gese nooit weer nie,maar jy smile seker vir my daar bo?! Want ekt 2jaar later nog n dogtertjie gekry! Jy sal gemis word en altyd in my memory wees! Liefde bibi

Everyone hears what you say...

Until you spread your wings...

Have A Great Week Friends...

Amazing Pictures...

Photos of the Year...

What peace really looks like...

Happy Easter...

Wishing you all the joy
that Easter can bring,
a day when you'll find
happiness in everything.
May it be a day of warm
memories to share,
with enough sunshine
to make you forget your cares.
On Easter Day,
I'll say a prayer for you,
in hopes that your fondest
dreams will come true.

Earning Her Wings...

Lois knew she was just an ordinary nurse, but the woman she rescued saw her in a different light.

BY: Sally Kelly-Engeman

At the end of her shift, Lois, a surgical and intensive care nurse for thirty years, was eager to go home to a hot bath and a novel. As she pulled out of the hospital parking lot, she saw the nearby ambulance station and felt an unexplainable urge to stop and greet the paramedics, most of whom she had worked with in the past as an EMT. The closer she got, the stronger she felt compelled to stop.

She had barely entered the building and greeted her friends when the phone rang. "There's been a two car accident," the head paramedic said. "We're understaffed today and could sure use your experience, Lois. Will you come with us?"

Instinctively, she climbed into one of the ambulances. As a saffron sunset hung over the Rocky Mountains, Lois felt an unseen force urging her to help. The sirens shrieked and they soon arrived at the accident site. While paramedics attended to an injured man in one car, Lois checked the vital signs of a woman sitting in the other vehicle. There was no blood or visible signs of injury and the woman said nothing, but stared at Lois with vacant eyes.

Lois suspected a brain concussion, but kept her thoughts to herself. Hoping to comfort the woman, she said, "Looks like you're going to be fine, but just to be on the safe side, we'll take you to the hospital." 

Mutely, the woman continued to stare at Lois, as if her eyes were about to pop out of their sockets.

The injured man was loaded into an ambulance that sped away and the paramedics placed the woman onto a gurney and into a second ambulance. En route to the hospital, Lois held the patient's hands and comforted her with assurances that everything was going to be fine.

The following morning when Lois reported for duty, she discovered that the woman accident victim was a patient on her floor. After checking her chart, Lois was relieved to see she was well enough to be discharged. 

She entered the room and introduced herself. "I'm Lois, your nurse. How are you feeling?" 

The patient blinked her eyes and her face turned white. "Are you real or am I hallucinating?" 

"Oh, I'm real, I assure you." Lois gently held the woman's hand and checked her pulse. 

"A...are you sure you're not a…an angel?" 

Lois smiled and attached the blood pressure cuff. "Nurses are often referred to as angels of mercy."

Her patient continued to stare at Lois and whispered, "I mean a real angel."

Lois raised her eyebrows. "A pair of wings would be handy, but, believe me, I'm just as human as you are." 

The woman shook her head. "Last night I was in an auto accident and thought I might die. The sun was slipping behind the mountains when suddenly an angel appeared in a halo of light. When she touched me, I felt a surge of love and knew God sent her to reassure me that I'd live." She clasped Lois' hands. "You look and sound exactly like her except you don't have wings!"

Read more: http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/Chicken-Soup-For-The-Soul/2007/01/Earning-Her-Wings.aspx#ixzz1KBWCJ17o

The Plane Crash that Gave Us Hope...

One year after the miracle landing of Flight 1549, we investigate the ripple effect of how it changed people's lives for the better.

BY: Kevin Quirk

Brace for impact, the pilot, Capt. Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, said last January 15. The passengers of Flight 1549 knew what that meant: prepare for their final moment here on earth.

Mark Hood, in seat 2A, described it as the most peaceful silence he had ever experienced. He began his last prayer: “God, let my wife Lisa find happiness without me. Let my daughter Maggie follow her dream of attending NYU without being haunted by this New York memory.”

Beth McHugh looked down at the Hudson River and flashed to her familiar nightmare: being in a car that careened off a bridge into a river and drowning. A nightmare so real and so raw that she would only buy new cars with hand-crank windows, so she’d have a chance to get out. “Daddy, I’ll be seeing you in heaven soon,” she prayed. “And please don’t let me stay in the water too long.”

Barry Leonard remembered his plea to God the day before. As he awaited the results of his wife’s tests for possible breast cancer, he said,“ God, if you’re going to take someone, take me.” Her tests came back negative. “I guess I’m going to get what I asked for,” he said to himself.

Vicki Barnhardt, wife and mother of two young children, reached for her cell phone and got through to her husband’s voice mail. “I love you, I love the kids,” she blurted out. “I love you, I love you.”

They didn’t think they were going to die, they knew it.

They were plunging down below the New York City skyscrapers, hurtling toward the Hudson. Big commercial jets weren’t made to land on water – when it happens, they crack in half. And on this cold winter’s day, that water would be frigid. It all looked bleak, and they had no control. So they surrendered. They let go – and let God, or some force greater than themselves.

And as we all know that plane didn’t crash. It skidded to a safe landing, guided by a savvy pilot sent by central casting, or somewhere. Ferry boats closed in as if on cue, many in close proximity because this just happened to time for shift change. The snow and the winds from that morning had faded, making rescue conditions ideal.

It was the Miracle on the Hudson. Do you remember the pictures of those passengers standing on those water-covered wings? Did it fill you, as it did me, with awe and wonder? Was this some kind of sign? At our country’s time of economic turmoil, struggle, pain, and uncertainty, could this have been a signal that someone or something was looking out for us? That there was reason to hope? That something good really can come from something that looks bad – very, very bad?
What began at first to look like a devastating twist of fate turned into an extraordinary date with destiny for the people on that plane. And they all went home alive--recipients of a gift and a second chance. They came away with the grace to go on and build on a miracle. And during the past 12 months they have opened their hearts and minds to what that means, individually and collectively.

• Bill Elkin asks, “why am I here” and begins to give talks at churches. The theme?: Imagine you had one minute to live.

• Dave Sanderson begins speaking to groups large and small across the country about hope, about how we all can be heroes, about how miracles are possible. He shares proceeds with the Red Cross, extending the circle of giving and receiving.

• Gerry McNamara, who used to swim in the Hudson as a boy, writes up his story of the crash and watches it go viral across the Internet. A private guy grapples with suddenly becoming very public. “I’m meant to do this,” he decides. “This is a way I can serve.”

• Beth McHugh, her heart full of gratitude, vows to hug everyone she meets. “Each person is a gift I didn’t expect to have,” she says, “and maybe when they hug me they can feel they are hugging life.” At Newark Airport a few days after the crash she is pulled off the line for extra screening. She explains to the woman security agent patting her down about her vow to hug. “But I understand your need for boundaries,” Beth says, to which the agent replies, “Honey, bring it on!”

• Hilda, the doctor who identified Barry Leonard’s (who is barry?) weakened state at the scene and watched over his care for three days in the hospital, is moved to tears when Barry honors her and all Jersey first responders at a thank-you luncheon. Later, she calls upon the miracle to motivate a patient losing the will to live. “Those passengers thought they were going to die,” she says, “but when that plane landed they made a different choice. Isn’t life sacred?” Her patient turns the corner.

• Brad Wentzell remembers back to his childhood. A time of too many fights, too much trouble. “Bad kid!” they all called him. Now he holds up the moving letter from Tess, the mom with the baby, thanking him for helping to save their lives, and he thinks: “If this is the one good thing I do in life, it is enough.”

Ripples. After the miracle, these ordinary people who lived an extraordinary experience have experienced rising love, faith, wisdom, healing. Some are so full of love and compassion they hardly know what to do with it. They’re building on the miracle, extending it out in caring and goodwill to their families, to their co-workers, to their friends, to their communities, to the world. They are cheered at work, heralded in church, embraced at home. People delight in being around them, being near the miracle.

And now, on the one-year anniversary of the Miracle on the Hudson, we are invited to consider this question: can the ripples reach us too? Can we too be touched by this miracle, or whatever we choose to call it? After all, we weren’t on that plane. We didn’t know these people beyond the news reports, the documentaries and the books. We didn’t reach the brink of death and come away with this gift of “new” life.

And yet, might there be that deeper meaning we sensed from when we heard about the miracle that day, or a year after, that we can take inside our own hearts and souls? Could there be lessons we can gain from the examples of these people riding the waves of their spiritual awakening or renewal?

In a way, we’re all survivors. We’ve all had our “plane crash,” or crashes, though they may not make Headline News. We’ve faced, or perhaps are facing, dark moments, conditions that look bleak, outlooks without light. We’ve been up to our necks in the cold, dark waters of this unpredictable life that brings not only moments of unbridled joy but of startlingly real challenges. We’ve all had moments when we, like those passengers who were asked to brace for impact, had to surrender. To let go.

And we’re still here. We too have been touched by grace, no doubt many times, even every day. We have had compassionate hands reaching for us in the dangerous current or wrapping us in a bear hug of caring and support. We have been granted second chances. We have received unexpected gifts.

Isn’t it possible that the ripples of this miracle now, one year after, can serve as reminders that what we need, what we long for in new chances, new possibilities, is right in front of us? Right here, right now? Perhaps what happened that cold winter’s day on the Hudson, and what the passengers have made of the experience, can sprinkle the seeds that, if we nurture them, can help us grow. To become more of who we’re meant to be. To shine. To let God be God in us.

Read more: http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/2010/01/Hudson-Plane-Crash-Gave-Us-Hope.aspx#ixzz1KBLikfry

A Blessed Easter/Passover To You And Yours Friends...

Reflection time...... the journey He willingly made;

the price He willingly paid ............all because He thought of YOU,

May you EXPERIENCE His Love and be REFRESHED.........

Beloved of the Lord!

We gain strength...

"We gain strength, and courage, and confidence by each experience in which we really stop to look fear in the face... we must do that which we think we cannot."

-Eleanor Roosevelt-

Read more: http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/2009/03/Motivational-Quotes-on-Courage.aspx?p=6#ixzz1K3dYBNhC

The person who removes a mountain...

"The person who removes a mountain begins by carrying away small stones."

-Chinese proverb-

Read more: http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/2009/03/Motivational-Quotes-on-Courage.aspx?p=5#ixzz1K3cTvU6A

Don't get discouraged...

"Don't get discouraged; it is often the last key in the bunch that opens the lock."

-Unknown-

Read more: http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/2009/03/Motivational-Quotes-on-Courage.aspx?p=4#ixzz1K3aq6563

When things go wrong...

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high,
And you want to smile but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.
Success is failure turned inside out,
The silver tint on the clouds of doubt,
And you can never tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems afar.
So, stick to the fight when you're hardest hit
It's when things go wrong that you mustn't quit.
-Unknown-

Read more: http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/2009/03/Motivational-Quotes-on-Courage.aspx?p=3#ixzz1K3ZcIRIK

Extraordinary people...

"Extraordinary people survive under the most terrible circumstances and they become more extraordinary because of it."
-Robertson Davies-

Read more: http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/2009/03/Motivational-Quotes-on-Courage.aspx?p=2#ixzz1K3YBB4Dg

Angels: Never Alone...

The Presence of Angels

"Angels come in all sizes and shapes and colours, visible and invisible to the physical eye. But always you are changed from having seen one."

The mystery of angels touches all lives and even saves them. Excerpted from
A Book of Angels, author Sophy Burnham recounts the presence of angels in her life.

Reprinted from A BOOK OF ANGELS by Sophy Burnham with the permission of Tarcher/Penguin, a member of Penguin Group USA. © 2011 by Sophy Burnham

Read more: http://www.beliefnet.com/Inspiration/Angels/Galleries/Angels-Never-Alone.aspx#ixzz1K3US8Ade

Cat And Dolphin Play Together

Genjo Koan...Quote...

"Birth is an expression complete this moment. Death is an expression complete this moment. They are like winter and spring. You do not call winter the beginning of spring, nor summer the end of spring."

Read more: http://www.beliefnet.com/Quotes/Buddhist/General/G/Genjo-Koan/Birth-Is-An-Expression-Complete-This-Moment-Death.aspx#ixzz1JyUmBDIZ

~*~