9 Year Old Completes 341 Mile Bike Ride to Honor Fallen Officer David Moore

It really makes me happy when I read stories like the one I posted below. Although, I wish children, or even adults for that matter, didn't have to even do this. Cops are people, they have families, they aren't robots, and they are not out there to make everyone's lives miserable, but I digress.

What I particularly liked was that this young man of 9 years set a personal goal and accomplished it! He is a tenacious young man in that regard. Most children his age just wanna play video games and tend to themselves, forget about anything fitness related. This young man not only created a goal and attained it, but he did it to support those he loves and whom they love. For a child so young to be so aware and want to help those affected by this lose is truly amazing! (and I hope Spencer goes next year too Avi!)

Talk about paying it forward!

Boy rides to D.C. on bike to honor fallen officer: wishtv.com

Link to the story: http://nleomf.blogspot.com/2011/07/nine-year-old-avi-completes-341-mile.html

Last week, Sgt. Doug Forrest and his nine-year old son, Avi, completed a 341 mile bike ride from McKeesport, PA to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington, DC. Avi made the journey to honor fallen Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Officer David Moore, killed on January 26, 2011 and to raise funds for the David S. Moore Foundation, established by Officer Moore's parents after his death.

As Avi, Sgt. Forrest and Susan Schneider peddled into the Memorial, they were greeted by Officer Moore's uncle, Juan Moore. Officer Moore had previously visited the Memorial with his father, an active law enforcement officer also with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

According to a story by WISH TV, Sgt. Forrest stated that, "For me, the Memorial is always an emotional experience. I always break down and cry when I think of them because I miss them when I see their names on there. Avi just knows it's really emotional for his dad, and he pats me on the back and tells me, 'It's OK.'" 

Congratulations, Avi on your incredible journey, and thank you for honoring the memory and service of Officer David Moore.

Des Moines Iowa Police Officers' Selfless Fiery Rescue

DES MOINES POLICE OFFICERS RISK THEIR LIVES TO SAVE THOSE OF OTHERS FROM CAR FIRE: (raw dash-cam vid) On August 28 at approx, 0300 hrs., a vehicle driven by Michael Lomax, 21, blew through a traffic light and collided with another vehicle driven by Jennifer Garcia,17. The impact caused the teen's vehicle to roll. Sadly, Miss Garcia was killed instantly. She had three passengers, Alexandra Cordova, 18, Irania Cordova, 14, and Alejandro Garcia, 20, in her SUV. One was ejected and the SUV burst into flames, trapping the remaining two survivors.

Des Moines (Iowa) Police Officers responded and without no hesitation nor reservation nor concern for their own safety, jumped right into action. DMPD Officers Aaron Cawthorne, Colin Boone, Jeremy Sprague, Robin Swank along with Reserve Police Officer John Carter, worked feverishly together to save the trapped and injured vehicle occupants. 

While some were trying to pry the door open, others climbed right on top of the burning vehicle, while others attempted to douse the flames. While they were doing this, Des Moines Police Sergeant Michael Taggart was behind the vehicle trying to get to one of the girls who was trapped. 

As you will see in this raw dash-cam video, while the intense flames, heat and smoke were engulfing these Heroes, they were so determined to save these lives even knowing all the while this car could explode at any moment. The Fire Department Heroes arrived and were able to help with the rescue. These Super Heroes, Red, White and Blue, were able to get the job done and three injured passengers, along with Lomax and his passenger, Feliciano White, 22, were transported to the hospital ... ALIVE. Though Jennifer's passengers have a long painful road to recovery, it is due to the selflessness of these Warriors that they even have a chance. Our thoughts are with Garcia family in their time of grief along with the victims and their families.

All of you were amazing and truly represented what Law Enforcement is about ... Saving, Serving and Protecting the People. We thank you all. JOB WELL DONE EVERYONE!!

~written by Nessie for Law Enforcement Today~
http://www.facebook.com/law.enforcement.today

Police Cruiser dash cam video of rescue:

courtesy of Des Moines (Iowa) Police Department:
http://www.dmgov.org/departments/police/Pages/default.aspx

Michael Lomax has been charged with vehicular homicide w/ recklessness.

Super Soup

recipe courtesy of HFPN

Rather than taking a pill, how about a bowl of soup that delivers A, C, folic acid, calcium, iron, and vitamin K in addition to phytochemicals that are thought to play a role in cancer prevention? Plus, it tastes better than a pill! The staple for this easy soup is kale, which is a cold weather vegetable, but is available year round in most parts of the country.

Ingredients: 

¼ cup dried chickpeas, soaked overnight in water
¼ cup dried kidney beans, soaked overnight in water
4 ½ cups fat-free chicken (or vegetable) stock
1 cup chopped green kale
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
½ onion, diced (½ - 1 cup)
1 cup thinly sliced green cabbage
½ large potato, peeled and diced
1 garlic clove, minced
2 teaspoons red wine vinegar 

Directions:

Drain and rinse the chickpeas and beans. In a large pot combine them with the chicken (or vegetable) stock and bring to a boil over high heat. 

Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 40 minutes.
Add the remaining ingredients and simmer until the beans are cooked through and tender, about 20 minutes.

Serves: 6 Servings
Nutrition Facts (per serving)
Calories       108 
Fat (g)     1
Saturated Fat (g)     0
Cholesterol (mg)     -
Sodium (mg)     -
Carbohydrate (g)     16
Fiber (g)     5
Protein (g)     9
Calcium (mg)     -

Presidential Active Lifestyle Award - PALA

I got mine! 30 minutes of activity each day, 5 days per week for 6 weeks. Mostly, I was logging every day, because everyday i was active. Either outside doing yardwork, inside doing housework, and simply exercising. I had two outlets to use to achieve the PALA award. 1 through teambeachbody and 1 through Sharecare.com.

I chose Sharecare.com & Dr. Oz because they actually made you accountable, not just by purchasing a product or nutritional supplement, but you actually had to log your activity for 6 weeks. That is how you see true results!

Spartan Race Photos

Sorry it took so long to post the pics, I was waiting to gather as many as i could.. which isn't much since the Spartans kicked my Dad off of the mountain lol.. So here a few pics he was able to capture until they hauled him off to the lions.

 It was crazy insane fun, and it really tested my resolve. In the months leading up to my event, in Tuxedo NY, I spent a lot of time on their website trying to get a feel for what to expect. Well I EXPECTED a lot of water, carrying buckets of water, mud... MUD they definitely delivered in the form of an uphill mudcrawl as you can see from the picture above. What i did NOT expect was to do most of my journey UP a ski slope and climbing up and over and down boulders for 3 miles. The only water i saw was in the shower pit at the end.

All-in-all it was good dirty fun for a great cause: Homes for our Troops

The Tough Mudder Tri-State in November is for the Wounded Warrior Project. After this, not sure if I want to do that.. being as it's 12 miles in cold weather and THAT has a lot of water and mud.. Who am i trying to impress?! lol We'll see how that goes.