August 31, 2011

The Christianville Spirit: New PTLS Family Members in Norway

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Sparks Your Heart

August 31, 2011- TCS # 264


So, The number of people and families with PTLS are growing as we speak; which means that there are new people coming from new countries. Now, My Readers, being a Geography Wiz I have to admit I do have My Favorites including the country I live in. However, My Favorite Country in one of My Favorite Regions of The World got a new PTLS Family. The Region is Scandinavia which consists of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland. By the way, 3 of them being Norway, Sweden, and Denmark are my favorite. So far there is one in Denmark, three in Sweden, and wait for it.. the first in Norway! Now, as you can tell I’m very exited about this one just like I was with the first from Sweden. Norway, though gets my attention for many reasons. The First came after finding out that Norway was near the top of “The Best Countries in The World” List that I discovered in Newsweek Magazine. After that, came a post on Facebook about “The World’s Happiest Countries” from Forbs.com which Norway topped the list. The fact in “The World’s Happiest Countries” article that got me the most was reading that 74% of Norwegians trust each other, that floored me, I was so amazed. Then, out of curiosity I decided to drive around on Google Maps’ Street View, which started in Oslo and turned into a 3 day Cyber-Drive across the Mountains and Fjords from Oslo to Bergen, which by the way in all was a 515 Kilometer drive. After seeing all the Fjords, Mountains, and Pure Beauty; I couldn’t get enough of it. Then, I watched a show called Rick Steve’s Europe, that I had recorded, and it told me that Norwegians love Life (Just like Me), Their Nature Lovers, and they just love the Clean Air and Beauty that Norway is covered with. Of Course, then I did a cyber-drive recently from an Awesomely Beautiful Fjord to a town called Drammen and then, cross into Sweden and drove to a town called Örebro. Now, the Awesomely Beautiful Fjord was so Magnificent with steep hills, a lake in the middle, a road driving along side a steep cliff and a Waterfall coming down the cliff, further down the road; it’s one of those places on earth that gives you an image of what Heaven would be like, it’s that Awesome. Now I can see why Norwegians are Nature Lovers and Why they are so happy, it’s because you have little slices of Heaven only a couple hours (that being 200 or 300 Kilometers, at least) outside of the Nation’s Capitol of Oslo. By the way, I should mention in Oslo that it’s home of the Nobel Peace Prize and They have a Nobel Peace Prize in Stockholm, Sweden’s Capitol too. Now, the only down side that I know of is that it’s Wicked Expensive there (A 50% Tax-rate, by the way), The Food I’ve heard is what alot of people say is dull, and finally, They struggle with acceptance of people like me who have Special Needs. Now, don’t let me deter you or anything but, Norway is an awesome country, I just wish that they’d be more receptive to people with Special Needs. Maybe I need to go over there and help raise awareness and acceptance. That would be one of My Dream Jobs next working with Uncle Brent and his company. All in all, to sum up Norway is like many Slices of Heaven called Fjords and The air is so clear that your lungs will love you forever, in fact it’s actually a Local Joke there; that breathing in and out saying, “ahhhhh” is part of Conversation and a big Phrase.




Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. As along as You enjoy Life, it doesn’t matter where you live. Here or elsewhere.

August 24, 2011

The Christianville Spirit: My Uncle Craig and Kellie's Wedding

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Sparks Your Heart

August 24, 2011- TCS # 263


Hello There, My Readers, I’m Back! Now, I’m sure that you are wondering why I didn’t write last week. Well, actually, My Mom, My Brother, and I were driving a 17 Hour Drive to Ohio for My Uncle Craig’s Wedding. Yes, I know I didn’t let you know but, I thought it’d be fine to give myself a week off. Anyway, This Trip was quite awesome with a couple twists along the way. Now, I’m going to write to you like I would if I wrote this in a Travel Journal. I would write, “The Trip started by getting up early with My Mom, My Brother, and I to start driving 17 Hours to Toledo, OH”. Now, don’t get me wrong, I absolutely love to Travel but, I’d rather drive only 12 Hours and reach our destination. But, it was fun anyway considering we hadn’t gone on a Road Trip with My Brother in a while; Because usually it’s only My Mom and I due to the fact My Brother is going on a Different Trip or has to work. Anyway, so we figured since we were driving out to Ohio that we’d stop and visit 2 PTLS Family Members along the way. On Wednesday Night, We met My wonderful Aunt Samantha in Nashville for Dinner (I address PTLS Member, Samantha Pennington as this). On Thursday morning we had brunch with The Suchlands and Michelle’s wonderful Mom, Sandy, who later was very helpful. The Reason she was helpful was because while we had Brunch, My Uncle Brian was getting sick and we had to take him to The Hospital and Sandy helped guide us up the road to the nearest major town which was 15 Miles or so away, which wasn’t exciting for me or Will. Anyway, after that My Brother and I drove on to Toledo leaving My Mom, My Grandma Honey, and My Uncle Brian at The Hospital. Once we got to Toledo, we met up with Uncle Craig to get our suits fitted for the wedding. For Dinner that night, we had a lovely candle-lit BBQ Dinner which was quite good. Later that Night, My Mom and Grandma Honey came just in time for Dinner but, Uncle Brian had to stay in The Hospital overnight. On Friday, we drove out to a place called Mon Ami on Catawba Island which is the site of Uncle Craig and Kellie’s Wedding, to rehearse the wedding, which by the way I was a part of. On Saturday was Uncle Craig and Kellie’s Wedding Day and I was one of The Groomsmen, along with My Brother, Kellie’s Brother Matt, and My cousin Taylor as Best Man. The Wedding, by the way, was held at a Winery called Mon Ami on Catawba Island. Now, Catawba Island is also nearby Sandusky, Ohio. The Wedding was really beautiful because The Ceremony was underground in a wine cellar and The Reception was outside. While at The Reception, I worked up the nerve to ask a girl to dance with me, other women asked me to dance with them, and the most awesome part was that they served The Wedding Party, which I was included in, first before they served everyone else. Finally, on Sunday we went to Brunch with The Family at The Yacht Club and then we drove home. All in all, it was a Wonderful Trip and a Wonderful Wedding.




Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. Cherish your Family in all ways and Welcome new ones.

August 10, 2011

The Christianville Spirit: My Birthday Week

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Sparks Your Heart

August 10, 2011- TCS # 262


So, As most of You know, Tomorrow is My Birthday. So, in honor of it, This Year; I’ve been addressing this week as “My Birthday Week”. Now, I have to tell you that the friends that we have here are awesome because they are very giving. In fact, I had to 2 big events yesterday; First, My Mom’s business partner, Kim(who I nickname, Kim Kardashian) told me last week that she had Free Movie Passes that she hadn’t used yet, and she asked if I wanted to go. Then, she asked what Movie I wanted to see. Well, My Mom told her that I would go and told her what kind of Movies I like. Now, of course she was expecting an answer like Action or Horror Movies but, My Mom said “He likes Romantic Comedies”, which by the way, she was floored because it turns out that she likes them too. So, yesterday We went to go see Crazy, Stupid, Love which, by the way, is a really good Movie. In Fact, it is what I refer to as a “Soulmate Movie” which means it explores the idea and theme of Soulmates. Now, about Kim being floored by my answer is because most Men (as far as I know) don’t like to watch Romantic Comedies because as they say, “It’s too girly”. Most Men like Action Movies because things blow up or people are killed, you know what I mean. However I like the idea of Romance in Movies and how Love Stories go. Anyway, later on My Mom and I went with Our Friend, Carol, who took us to a fancy place here in Dallas called The Old Warsaw. Now, The Old Warsaw, I believe has some of the best food. It’s one of those places where you eat a 5 Course Meal very slowly. By the way, it consists of Soup or Salad, Appetizer, a sherbet in between, The Main Course, and Dessert. Of Course, My Favorite is the main course, which for me is a Filet with Crab Meat with a really good sauce. My Favorite Soup there is Brie Soup, which is surprisingly good. While we were there, We had a special Birthday Cake and they play “Happy Birthday” on the piano. Finally, There was something awesome that I got today in the mail. Apparently, My wonderful Aunt Samantha and Aunt Shelly, of My PTLS Family, worked on a project where they had people they know from Other PTLS Family members to people that they know as friends to send postcards from all 50 States to her and then, she put them in a book and sent it to me. And, the Best Part is that all of them say, “Happy Birthday Christian” on the back of them. It was soo awesome to know that she and Shelly have been working very hard to do this for Me, it makes me feel very special. And, all those who took time to go find postcards and send them to her in such a short amount of time, I can’t thank you all enough. Anyway, The Point here is around your birthday, people can show extraordinary kindness toward people on their birthdays. But, the truth is kindness has to happen all the time; not just on your birthday or during a disaster but, most of the time, you should be kind to Everyone. All in All here, My Friends are Awesome and Very Kind. And, I wouldn’t have them any other way.




Thanks for reading The Christianville Spirit. Kindness is a great virtue to have and My Friends have it.

August 3, 2011

The Christianville Spirit: Job Interview Questions

The Christianville Spirit

The Spirit that Sparks Your Heart

August 3, 2011- TCS # 261


You Know those thoughts that come up at night? Like ideas about something you should do, or in my case, Write about? Well, what I’m going to tell you this week is one of them. So, the other night I thought about Job Interview Questions like “Where do you see yourself in 10 Years?” or “What is your greatest weakness?” and I thought of the answers to those. Now, why I would think about Job Interview Questions, I don’t know, but, My Guess would be because Employers scour The Internet looking for good employees. Of Course, Most People don’t know this, but the employers look all over the internet; From Blogs, Facebook, Myspace, or anything. They do this because they want to find out what kind of person you are. So, to help myself and them with it, I’m going to answer some. Commonly, the first question they ask is usually Tell Me about Yourself; Well, first My Name is Christian, I love Geography, I’m VERY Routine Oriented (which in Corporate America is a very important thing) and yes, I do have Special Needs called Potocki-Lupski Syndrome. Next, the order of questions change but, generally they ask Where do you see yourself 10 Years?; Well, I see myself being successful in anything I do and living with My future Soulmate and living happily. Following that, They’ll ask Tell Me about/What are your Strengths? Geography, Being Routine Oriented, I get along with Everyone, I follow direction, and Have Great Work Ethic. Next, is probably the hardest one to answer because it’s like a do or die kind of question, What is Your Greatest Weakness?; and, I would probably say that I take things too literally sometimes, I do things kind of slow (Now, depending on where your applying, that can Make or Break your chance of a job) and as You can see as My Mom tells me, I really like to use Capitol Letters (which can drive one who likes Good Grammar, Crazy). Now, this question to be honest with you, annoys me when I hear someone ask it but, Why should I hire You? Because of My good Work Ethic, Being Routine Oriented, being Happy all the time, take direction well and I am good about Following Rules and making sure Everyone else does also. Next, the next to last question, What was Your Greatest Professional Achievement? Well, back in High School, I had an Office Aid job at the school, which I delivered stuff to the classrooms or subject offices. But, the highlight was when I was Parking Lot Attendant and I was to make sure that the Staff and Visitors parked in the right places. I had to write down the License Plate Number of the violator car, which as you can imagine got many staff members very upset. I was even getting bribed by My Teachers. But, I stood firm on the rules and as a result I achieved 100% Compliance for the first time in Many Years. Finally, The last question that usually people forget to answer, have enough information, or will ask a friend who works there, Do You have any Questions for Me? This is a good time to ask about Rules, Pay(this is the ONLY time that your allowed to ask that, NOT during the Interview), Schedule and When do you begin working. all in all, This is a good idea to ace your interview and get a job!






Thanks for Reading The Christianville Spirit. In a Job Interview, Always be Yourself and Be Positive.