Top 10

2013 is now behind us.  Here is a listing of the top ten most viewed posts of 2013 on An Arkies Musings.  It is always interesting to me to see what topics other people are interested in.

The most viewed post of the year is my post on Duck Dynasty from February 5th 2013.  I'm sure the Phil Robertson controversy had a lot to do with it's Number 1 position.  You can read the post here. 

The number two post of the year was titled Happy Holidays.  Although the post didn't address the term Happy Holidays, I wonder what drove the traffic to the post.  Probably the cute photo of me as a child.  :)  You can read the post here.

Number three for the year was a post on 9/11 that told the story of a 9/11 massacre that happened in 1857, not 2001.  You can read the post here. 

The number four post wasn't written by me. When a friend of mine, Maurine Burden, passed away this story was found in her possessions. It was read at her memorial service. It made such an impact on me that I shared it with my readers.  You can read it here.

As Easter was approaching I wrote the fifth most popular post of the year.  I titled it What Did Jesus Do?  You can read it here.

Each week I participate in the ABC Wednesday Meme.  Those of us who participate write about something that starts with a designated letter each week.  The number 6 post of the year was written for the letter "E".  E is for Empathy.  You can read it here.

Number 7 was a post titled, "All You Need Is Love".  Did The Beatles have it right?  Read the post here.

This spring my granddaughters participated in a cardboard boat race. They had to construct a boat from nothing but cardboard, duct tape and paint. It was amazing how seaworthy the boats were. The boat race provided the topic for the number eight post of the year.  You can read it here.

The 9th most popular post of the year highlighted the organization ADRA.  ADRA stands for Adventist Development and Relief Agency. It is a charity that I support on a regular basis.  You can read the post here. 

In March, my wife and I attended the Jonquil Festival at Historic Washington State Park.  The number ten post was a photo essay of the event.  You can see the photos here.

Just because I can, here is a special bonus.  It wasn't one of the top ten most visited posts of the year, but it was my favorite.  You can see my favorite post here.

I can't wait to see what adventures and experiences 2014 will bring.  I wonder what the top ten posts of 2014 will be.

My Valentine

Happy Valentine's Day to My Valentine!

The best decision I have ever made was to marry the girl who stole my heart when she walked into Mr Brost's History class the beginning of my senior year of high school.  I was too shy to talk to girls, so it was almost a year before she had any idea that I was interested.  I think that the good Lord knew that I needed all of the help I could get so he made it so that our paths crossed in a number of ways that year.  Mr. Brost selected five students to work together each week producing learning packets for History class.  Gina and I were both in the group.  We both worked at the Harris Pine furniture factory.  I worked on the dresser jig, and she made drawers.  I would spend my breaks back with the drawer makers, but she still didn't catch on.

It came time for our High School graduation and I still had never gotten up the nerve to ask her out.  Finally I mustered up every ounce of courage I could find and asked her if she would march with me when we graduated.  She told me that she would like to but she had already told Russell she would march with him.  If I would talk to Russell she would march with me.  Once again summoning up every bit of courage I had I talked to Russell.  He was very gracious and bowed out.  I was on cloud nine.



The rest is history. After a year of a long distance relationship, five hundred miles, we were finally in the same place at the same time. I knew that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this girl. On June 15, 1975 we were married in the Denver First Seventh-day Adventist Church. The last 37 years have been an interesting and very fulfilling time.

I know that high school romances are not supposed to be forever and that when kids get married when they are in their teens the marriages aren't supposed to last, but we have proven those things wrong.  It is still awesome to go through each day with my best friend, My Valentine!