Podcasts about Awe

Emotion comparable to wonder

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BecomeNew.Me
37. Entering Into the Wonders of Life | John Ortberg

BecomeNew.Me

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 5, 2025 13:16


When was the last time you were genuinely wowed? With all the content we consume on the daily it's getting more and more difficult to find these moments of amazement. But the truth is that we were made to be astonished. Whenever we neglect that part of who we are our souls shrink a little. Psychologist Jonathan Haidt observes that screen addiction damages our capacity for transcendence. His research and others' affirm what the Bible has been talking about for millennia: the heavens are telling the glory of God. Awe is a gateway to God. It reminds us of our smallness and God's grandeur.Become New is here to help you grow spiritually one day at a time.

Voices of VR Podcast – Designing for Virtual Reality
#1590: AWE Past & Present Series: Ori Inbar on the Founding of Augmented World Expo to Cultivate the XR Community

Voices of VR Podcast – Designing for Virtual Reality

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 2, 2025 24:29


Here's my interview with Ori Inbar, co-founder at Super Ventures and Augmented World Expo, that was conducted on Friday, June 2, 2023 at Augmented World Expo in Santa Clara, CA. See more context in the rough transcript below. This AWE Past and Present series represents 41 interviews and 24.5 hours of coverage from AWE 2025 as well as past enterprise XR conferences gatherings from 2018-2025 and should hopefully give a good overview of some of the current trends and discussions happening within the industry. #1590: AWE Past and Present: Ori Inbar on the Founding of Augmented World Expo to Cultivate the XR Community #1591: Sonya Haskins' Journey to Head of Programming at Augmented World Expo #1592: Highlights of AWE 2025 from Head of Programming Sonya Haskins #1593: From Military to Enterprise VR Training with Mass Virtual on Spatial Learning #1594: Part 1: Rylan Pozniak-Daniels' Journey into XR Development (2019) #1595: Part 2: Rylan Pozniak-Daniels' Journey into XR Development (2025) #1596: Engage XR's Virtual Concert as Experiential Advertising for their Immersive Learning Platform (2023) #1597: Educator Vasilisa Glauser on Using VR for Twice Exceptional Students #1598: Part 1: Immersive Data Visualization with BadVR's Suzanne Borders (2018) #1599: Part 2: Immersive Data Visualization with BadVR's Suzanne Borders (2021) #1600: Part 1: Jason Marsh on Telling Data Stories with Flow Immersive (2018) #1601: Part 2: Jason Marsh on Telling Data Stories with Flow Immersive (2019) #1602: Part 3: Jason Marsh on Telling Data Stories with Flow Immersive (2025) #1603: Spatial Analytics with Cognitive3D's Tony Bevilacqua (2023) #1604: Investing in Female Founders with WXR Fund's Amy LaMeyer + Immersive Music Highlights (2019) #1605: Rapid Prototyping in VR with ShapesXR + 2021 Launch with CEO Inga Petryaevskaya #1606: Weekly Meetups in VR with XR Women Founder Karen Alexander #1607: 2023 XR Women Innovation Award Winner Deirdre V. Lyons on Immersive Theater #1608: AWE Hall of Famer Brenda Laurel on "Computers as Theater" Book, Ethics, and VR for Ecological Thinking #1609: Framework for Personalized, Responsive XR Stories with Narrative Futurist Joshua Rubin #1610: Scouting XR & AI Infrastructure Trends with Nokia's Leslie Shannon #1611: Socratic Debate on Future of AI & XR from AWE 2025 Panel #1612: AWE Hall of Famer Gregory Panos's Journey into VR: Identity, Body Capture, and Virtual Immortalization #1613: VR Content Creator Matteo311 on the State of VR Gaming #1614: Story Behind "Escape Artist" 2024 Polys WebXR Awards Winner #1615: Viverse's WebXR Plublishing Strategy with James C. Kane & "In Tirol" Game #1616: Founding Story of Two Bit Circus Micro-Amusement Park with Brent Bushnell & Eric Gradman (2018) #1617: Dream Park: Using MR in Public Spaces to Create Downloadable Theme Parks with Brent Bushnell & Aidan Wolf #1618: Producing Live Sports for Cosm's Immersive Dome with Ryan Cole #1619: Deploying Snap Spectacles in Verse Immersive AR LBE with Enklu's Ray Kallmeyer #1620: Snap's Head of Hardware Scott Myers on Spectacles Announcements & Ecosystem Update #1621: Karl Guttag's Technical Deep-Dive and Analysis of Consumer XR Displays and LCoS (2023) #1622: Qualcomm's 2023 AWE Announcements for Snapdragon Spaces Ecosystem #1623: Qualcomm's 2025 AWE Announcements and Android XR Partnerships with Ziad Asghar #1624: Tom Emrich's State of AR in 2018 #1625: Tom Emrich's "The Next Dimension" Book on AR for Marketing & Business Growth #1626: New Spatial Entities OpenXR Extension to Scan, Detect, & Track Planes with Khronos Group President Neil Trevett #1627: Part 1: Caitlin Krause on Bringing Mindfulness Practices into VR (2019) #1628: Part 2: Caitlin Krause on "Digital Wellbeing" Theory and Practice with XR & AI (2025) #1629: Niantic Spatial is Building an AI-Powered Map with Snap for AR Glasses & AI Agents

Voices of VR Podcast – Designing for Virtual Reality
#1611: Socratic Debate on Future of AI & XR from AWE 2025 Panel

Voices of VR Podcast – Designing for Virtual Reality

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 2, 2025 56:38


Here's the panel discussion of Socratic Dialogue on the Future of AI and Immersive Technology with Alvin Wang Graylin, Kent Bye, Louis Rosenberg, Leslie Shannon that was recorded on the main stage of Augmented World Expo on Thursday, June 12, 2025 at Augmented World Expo in Long Beach, CA. See more context in the rough transcript below, and you can watch the original video here. Here's some other relevant episodes that I've done recently in preparation for this debate on AI: #1563: Deconstructing AI Hype with “The AI Con” Authors Emily M. Bender and Alex Hanna #1568: A Process-Relational Philosophy View on AI, Intelligence, & Consciousness with Matt Segall #1585: Debating AI Project and a Curating Taiwanese LBE VR Exhibition at Museum of Moving Image #1609: Framework for Personalized, Responsive XR Stories with Narrative Futurist Joshua Rubin #1610: Scouting XR & AI Infrastructure Trends with Nokia's Leslie Shannon #1629: Niantic Spatial is Building an AI-Powered Map with Snap for AR Glasses & AI Agents #1630: Keiichi Matsuda on Metaphors for AI Agents in XR User Experience: From Omniscient Gods to Animistic Familiars #1611: Socratic Debate on Future of AI & XR from AWE 2025 Panel This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality

Voices of VR Podcast – Designing for Virtual Reality
#1622: Qualcomm’s 2023 AWE Announcements for Snapdragon Spaces Ecosystem

Voices of VR Podcast – Designing for Virtual Reality

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 2, 2025 28:26


Here's my interview with Brian Vogelsang from June 1, 2023 at Augmented World Expo when he was still Qualcomm's Senior Director of Product Management for Snapdragon Spaces and Developer Ecosystem. We cover a lot of Qualcomm's announcements from AWE 2023, including the dual-render fusion features for tethering the touch-screen interfaces to AR experiences that could be seen on different head-mounted glasses form factors. See more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality

Voices of VR Podcast – Designing for Virtual Reality
#1629: Niantic Spatial is Building an AI-Powered Map with Snap for AR Glasses & AI Agents

Voices of VR Podcast – Designing for Virtual Reality

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 2, 2025 36:24


Here's my interview with Alicia Berry (Executive Producer at Niantic Spatial) & Asim Ahmed (Head of Product Marketing at Niantic Spatial) that was conducted on Thursday, June 12, 2025 at Augmented World Expo in Long Beach, CA. Check out their announcement blog posts including "Niantic Spatial and Snap's Multi-Year Strategic Partnership to Build AI-Powered Map" as well as "Niantic Spatial Joins Khronos Group to Advance Geospatial AI and 3D Standards" (mentioned in my latest interview with Neil Trevett, as well as "Meow Wolf and Niantic Spatial Announce Plans to Explore an Expansion of the Meow Wolf Universe". Also be sure to check out my interview with Keiichi Matsuda about Liquid City's Parabrains system that Niantic Spatial was using in their VPS guided tour demo they were showing at AWE. And you can also see more context in the rough transcript below. This is a listener-supported podcast through the Voices of VR Patreon. Music: Fatality

Voices of VR Podcast – Designing for Virtual Reality
#1630: Keiichi Matsuda on Metaphors for AI Agents in XR User Experience: From Omniscient Gods to Animistic Familiars

Voices of VR Podcast – Designing for Virtual Reality

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 2, 2025 40:19


Here's my interview with Keiichi Matsuda, Designer and Director of Liquid City, that was conducted on Thursday, June 12, 2025 at Augmented World Expo in Long Beach, CA. In the introduction, I read through Matsuda's essay titled "Gods" (also uploaded here) where he explores the idea that AI should be more like pets and polytheistic and animistic familiars rather than the more monotheistic approach where there's one true AI God represented by one of Big Tech's omniscient and all-powerful AI systems. This approach has lead Matsuda to developing a system of what he calls "parabrains" that is an interface for AI agents that goes beyond the narrative scripting capabilities that he was exploring in inworld.ai with his project MeetWol that I covered previously at AWE 2023. A lot of Matsuda's ideas were also explored in the speculative fiction short film called Agents that was produced in collaboration with what was a the time Niantic Labs and is now Niantic Spatial (check out my interview with Niantic Spatial at AWE 2025 for more on how they're using Matsuda's Parabrains system). And you can also see more context in the rough transcript below. This is episode #41 of 41 of my AWE Past and Present series totaling 24.5 hours. You can see a list of all of the interviews down below: #1590: AWE Past and Present: Ori Inbar on the Founding of Augmented World Expo to Cultivate the XR Community #1591: Sonya Haskins' Journey to Head of Programming at Augmented World Expo #1592: Highlights of AWE 2025 from Head of Programming Sonya Haskins #1593: From Military to Enterprise VR Training with Mass Virtual on Spatial Learning #1594: Part 1: Rylan Pozniak-Daniels' Journey into XR Development (2019) #1595: Part 2: Rylan Pozniak-Daniels' Journey into XR Development (2025) #1596: Engage XR's Virtual Concert as Experiential Advertising for their Immersive Learning Platform (2023) #1597: Educator Vasilisa Glauser on Using VR for Twice Exceptional Students #1598: Part 1: Immersive Data Visualization with BadVR's Suzanne Borders (2018) #1599: Part 2: Immersive Data Visualization with BadVR's Suzanne Borders (2021) #1600: Part 1: Jason Marsh on Telling Data Stories with Flow Immersive (2018) #1601: Part 2: Jason Marsh on Telling Data Stories with Flow Immersive (2019) #1602: Part 3: Jason Marsh on Telling Data Stories with Flow Immersive (2025) #1603: Spatial Analytics with Cognitive3D's Tony Bevilacqua (2023) #1604: Investing in Female Founders with WXR Fund's Amy LaMeyer + Immersive Music Highlights (2019) #1605: Rapid Prototyping in VR with ShapesXR + 2021 Launch with CEO Inga Petryaevskaya #1606: Weekly Meetups in VR with XR Women Founder Karen Alexander #1607: 2023 XR Women Innovation Award Winner Deirdre V. Lyons on Immersive Theater #1608: AWE Hall of Famer Brenda Laurel on "Computers as Theater" Book, Ethics, and VR for Ecological Thinking #1609: Framework for Personalized, Responsive XR Stories with Narrative Futurist Joshua Rubin #1610: Scouting XR & AI Infrastructure Trends with Nokia's Leslie Shannon #1611: Socratic Debate on Future of AI & XR from AWE 2025 Panel #1612: AWE Hall of Famer Gregory Panos's Journey into VR: Identity, Body Capture, and Virtual Immortalization #1613: VR Content Creator Matteo311 on the State of VR Gaming #1614: Story Behind "Escape Artist" 2024 Polys WebXR Awards Winner #1615: Viverse's WebXR Plublishing Strategy with James C. Kane & "In Tirol" Game #1616: Founding Story of Two Bit Circus Micro-Amusement Park with Brent Bushnell & Eric Gradman (2018) #1617: Dream Park: Using MR in Public Spaces to Create Downloadable Theme Parks with Brent Bushnell & Aidan Wolf #1618: Producing Live Sports for Cosm's Immersive Dome with Ryan Cole #1619: Deploying Snap Spectacles in Verse Immersive AR LBE with Enklu's Ray Kallmeyer #1620: Snap's Head of Hardware Scott Myers on Spectacles Announcements & Ecosystem Update

Friends at the Table
Perpetua 12: On Track to Iron Chains 01

Friends at the Table

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 31, 2025 110:22


Drawn together by mystery, circumstance, and burgeoning camaraderie, the trio of Caoimhe Wake, Antristrophe Landrace, and Brontë Adelvys (plus the young prince's loyal servants) have already made their mark on Perpetua. The fires of Burzin have been quenched, and the town glows again under sacred light. Now they are called east, towards new mystery, old friends, and a city of Iron. To get there, they must decide: Travel the long, but safe path by foot out of the desert and into the savannah, where the high grass teems with charming life? Or rush north, across dangerous terrain, towards a restricted, Hexcloak-only train station, in hopes of catching a ride by rail to their destination: Cenn, the City of Iron Chains, whose inhabitants have spent millennia digging for clues about Perpetua's past. But they aren't the only ones traveling to Cenn: Every day, devotees of Castine, Living Metal, make their way towards the Ironclad Parade, hearts beating with emotion. Curiosity. Faith. Compassion. Awe. Anger. Fear. Pride. Love. One day, our heroes may think back on this journey to Cenn, and realize it was their last normal week, the final days before their lives changed forever, one more simple quest before they'd need to face new truths, before fated confrontations with hated rivals, eternal beings, and the only member of the Ennead who chooses to walk amongst his people. So gather round, and listen, as they step out beyond the little town where you first met them and, if they can catch their train on time, take their first strides… towards destiny. This week on Perpetua:  Perpetua Guide [In Progress v.03] - Some Feedback [Page 08 of 11] TheUnforgivenIII GO BACK AND REREAD MY POST, UNLESS THAT'S TOO HARD FOR YOU. BECAUSE THAT ISN'T WHAT I SAID AT ALL. HERE, I'LL QUOTE THE SIXTH PARAGRAPH, SO THAT YOUR LAZY ASS DOENS'T NEED TO HIT THE FCKNGI BACK BUTTON! > And like I said before, that's because you took too long to get there. If you actually take it seriously and get there quickly, you don't get into any fights and you just get all the loot for free. Definitely the best way to do it. GET IT NOW? Alukard83 No I don't “get it' because there's nothing to be “gotten.” Maybe YOU should go back and re-read the Walkthrough, because FoN lays it all out in the loot table. Don't worry, I'll wait, I'm patient.  CarlsSr l o l appeal to authority much? Alukard83 That's not an appeal to authority! I'm telling you where you can go get the answer for yourself! If you had read the guide, you would know what the guide said! CarlSr  begging the question XD WolfOConner Is this forum always like this or did I just come on a bad day?  Anyway, I'm saved right before leaving Burzin, so what exactly should I do?  XxZelgadyskXx  Wolf, don't leave! We need more good posters! (Love your StarFox guide by the way!)  Anyway, I'm not up to date on the guide, but my little brother lost my save file so i had to personally replay the whole game through this point over the weekend, and I think I can give some insight. Unforgiven is right that if you get to Springsong fast enough, there's no fight at all, and all the environmental loot is just there waiting for you to find it. But that's only the ENVIRONMENTAL LOOT, the chests, the fishing point, and the little interactable points. What you lose out on getting is anything from the enemies that would be here if you took too long. You can steal from them, and the boss has something that is (so far) totally unique in the game. So yes, you CAN get loot without any risk by going fast, but you miss out on the rewards from the fight (plus anything you can steal from the boss, if you took the Soul Steal ability from Rogue.) FriendofNei Haha whoops, didn't mean to cause all this chaos guys! Zel is totally right, and I thought I was making that clear with the loot tables attached to the fights. I'll be sure to make a note in the area description if this happens again! Btw, does anyone understand why the fight only happens if you take a longer time to get there? Shouldn't getting there first mean that it's still an unpurified echo or whatever? Hosted by Austin Walker (austinwalker.bsky.social) Featuring Janine Hawkins (@bleatingheart), Sylvi Bullet (@sylvibullet), and Keith J Carberry (@keithjcarberry) Produced by Ali Acampora Music by Jack de Quidt (available on bandcamp) Cover Art by Ben McEntee (https://linktr.ee/benmce.art) With thanks to Amelia Renee, Arthur B., Aster Maragos, Bill Kaszubski, Cassie Jones, Clark, DB, Daniel Laloggia, Diana Crowley, Edwin Adelsberger, Emrys, Greg Cobb, Ian O'Dea, Ian Urbina, Irina A., Jack Shirai, Jake Strang, Katie Diekhaus, Ken George, Konisforce, Kristina Harris Esq, L Tantivy, Lawson Coleman, Mark Conner, Mike & Ruby, Muna A, Nat Knight, Olive Perry, Quinn Pollock, Robert Lasica, Shawn Drape, Shawn Hall, Summer Rose, TeganEden, Thomas Whitney, Voi, chocoube, deepFlaw, fen, & weakmint This episode was made with support from listeners like you! To support us, you can go to friendsatthetable.cash.

Inspire Nation Show with Michael Sandler
2025 LION'S GATE: The ONE Thing You Need to Harness Its POWER (Before, During & After!) Kerry K

Inspire Nation Show with Michael Sandler

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 31, 2025 72:22


The Lion's Gate Portal (8/8) is one of the most potent cosmic events of the year—but most people miss its full potential by focusing only on a single day. In this powerful session, Kerry K reveals the ONE practice to harness Lion's Gate energy before, during, and LONG after August 8th.   ✨ Key Takeaways: ✅ Why 95% of lightworkers underutilize Lion's Gate energy (and how to avoid this) ✅ The "timeline crystallization" effect Kerry K observes in 2024/2025 ✅ How to amplify upgrades for months—even if you "miss" 8/8  ✅ A simple ritual to activate your "Sirius DNA"    To find out more visit: https://amzn.to/3qULECz - Order Michael Sandler's book, "AWE, the Automatic Writing Experience" www.automaticwriting.com  - Automatic Writing Experience Course www.inspirenationuniversity.com - Michael Sandler's School of Mystics Join Our YouTube Membership for behind-the-scenes access - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVoOM-cCEPbJ1vzlQAFQu1A/join  https://inspirenationshow.com/ https://www.dailywoohoo.com/ - Sign up for my FREE daily newsletter for high-vibration content. ……. Follow Michael and Jessica's exciting journey and get even more great tools, tips, and behind-the-scenes access. Go to https://www.patreon.com/inspirenation   For free meditations, weekly tips, stories, and similar shows visit: https://inspirenationshow.com/   We've got Merch! - https://teespring.com/stores/inspire-nation-store   Follow Inspire Nation, and the lives of Michael and Jessica, on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/InspireNationLive/   Find us on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@inspirenationshow

Joy Lab Podcast
The Still Small Voice: Awakening with Soulfulness [ep. 220]

Joy Lab Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 30, 2025 22:13 Transcription Available


Join us (Dr. Henry Emmons and Dr. Aimee Prasek) as we wrap up our Month of Awe by exploring the concept of the 'Still, Small Voice' and its role in authenticity and soulfulness. We'll talk about the importance of turning inward, listening to our inner voice, and forming a relationship with our wisest self. Not sure what to listen for? Thankfully, even though our inner voice is unique to us, there are some universal characteristics to look out for. We'll get into those specifics so you can listen in with more confidence and take action in ways that nourish you and those around you.  If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts!  Sources and Notes: Joy Lab Program: Take the next leap in your wellbeing journey with step-by-step practices to help you build and maintain the elements of joy in your life. Related Joy Lab Episodes: Unmasking Your True Self: Exploring Authenticity and Awe [ep. 216] Embrace Your True Self: Accepted, Connected, & In The Game [ep. 217] The Road Most Travelled: Awakening Through Suffering [ep. 218]  Follow Your Bliss: Awakening to Joy [ep. 219] Mary Oliver (website for her work) Parker Palmer and the Center for Courage and Renewal   Full transcript here. Please remember that this content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice and is not a replacement for advice and treatment from a medical professional. Please consult your doctor or other qualified health professional before beginning any diet change, supplement, or lifestyle program. Please see our terms for more information. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call the NAMI HelpLine: 1-800-950-6264 available Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m., ET. OR text "HelpLine" to 62640 or email NAMI at helpline@nami.org. Visit NAMI for more. You can also call or text SAMHSA at 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.

The Big Silence
Trading Toxic Positivity for Mental Optimism: Dr. Deepika Chopra on What Actually Fosters Wellbeing

The Big Silence

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 30, 2025 24:31


What does it really mean to be optimistic?In this Flow Space edition of The Big Silence, Karena Dawn sits down with Dr. Deepika Chopra, known as the “Optimism Doctor”, live from the Women's Health Summit in LA. Drawing from her background in psychology, neuroscience, and lived experience, Dr. Chopra debunks the myth that optimism is about “being positive.” Instead, she offers science-backed tools to build mental resilience, process worry, and shift your brain toward the future you want to create. From dancing first thing in the morning to scheduling daily “worry time,” this episode is packed with small, powerful rituals to help you feel more joy, no matter where your mind is now.Could resilience be the true foundation of optimism? Dr. Chopra shares why optimism isn't a constant state of happiness; it's a mindset that acknowledges life's challenges while staying open to growth, healing, and future possibility.(00:02:00) Reframing Optimism: It's Not About Being Positive All the TimeDr. Chopra defines real optimism as rooted in resiliency and curiosity, not blind positivity.Being an optimist means recognizing life's setbacks, but seeing them as temporary and surmountable.She shares that optimism is a learnable skill, not just a personality trait.The science shows optimists live longer, thrive more, and have deeper connections.(00:07:30) From Emo Journaling to Neuroscience: Her Unexpected Path to OptimismDeepika's childhood emotional diaries foreshadowed her fascination with human behavior.Learning that the brain thinks in the future tense.Helping people anticipate good things and how to train your brain to do it.Research shows only about 25% of optimism is genetic—the rest is learned.(00:09:40) Awe, Music, and Movement: Tools to Interrupt AnxietySpending just two hours a week in nature significantly lowers stress and improves clarity.She starts every morning with her “wake-up and dance” routine to set a positive tone.Feelings of awe: How art, nature, and nostalgia help reset the brain and reduce anxiety.Happiness hack: Holding onto a positive thought for at least 12 seconds helps the brain create more of them.(00:12:30) Feel It to Heal It: Why Optimism Starts With HonestyTrue optimism requires sitting with hard emotions, not bypassing them.Dr. Chopra explains the power of curiosity when you can't access joy.Being neutral or open, even when in pain, is still progress.Staying present and inquisitive with where you are in the moment(00:13:55) Schedule Your Worry: How Boundaries Can Free Your MindDr. Chopra shares her practice of “worry time”—a scheduled slot to process anxious thoughts.Throughout the day, she defers worries to that time, writing them down or mentally shelving them.Setting a clear boundary gives worries space without you being consumed by them.Surprisingly, the best solutions often arise when you're feeling joy or calm.(00:16:45) End Your Day With a To-DA! List (Not a To-Do List)Instead of an anxiety triggering nighttime to-do list, write down daily accomplishments.Even small wins count. Celebrating them boosts a sense of empowerment and self-worth.Gratitude can lose impact over time; the To-DA list keeps things specific and fresh.She emphasizes the power of feeling accomplished before bed.Thanks for the support from our partners, including: Guest ResourcesExplore her website

Inspire Nation Show with Michael Sandler
Feeling Overwhelmed? 3 Signs It's a 5D UPGRADE (Live Energy Reboot!) Michael Sandler

Inspire Nation Show with Michael Sandler

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 29, 2025 82:33


Feeling emotionally raw, exhausted, or ‘glitched'? Your body isn't failing—it's upgrading to hold 5D light! Join Michael Sandler (50M+ downloads) for a LIVE channeled energy reboot to turn fatigue into fuel. In this live channeling, Michael Sandler will reveal:  

Steamy Stories Podcast
Hiking for Love: Part 3

Steamy Stories Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 28, 2025


Carrie and Mark settle in to everyday life.by T. Foxal. Listen to the ► Podcast at Connected.“Oh Mark. I have never been made love to like that ever. It was perfect. Everything you have done so far has been perfect for me. I don't think you have one selfish bone in your body. I need to know though, are you scared of all of this?”“Carrie, I have never been more scared in my life. Not even over in the sandpit, with bullets flying all around. Had you not said I love you back to me, when I made my declaration, I would have been crushed. I've never, ever let anyone into my heart, like I have let you in. Am I scared now? A little. I know you said it the other night. Well, you told me to catch up with you because you were already there. But over time, I thought you may have some misgivings for saying, since we were in the heat of the moment then. But all the little things you have been doing, or saying, led me to believe you really were. And, I wanted to make it special for you. This whole day when you weren't around me, all I could think of was you. I wondered what you were thinking when you took your bath before, or what you were doing and thinking when you left this morning. Let's face it, we haven't been alone with our own thoughts for a week now.”She leaned in and kissed me lightly on the lips, then said, “Mark. I knew from that first kiss. Then when we made love the first time, I was in heaven. It wasn't sex between us. It was more. Since that time, we have done nothing but make love and my heart races every time I see you. I was so scared when I said that the other night. Did I push you away from me? Would you just say, screw this, I'm outta here. But the big thing for me was when we were at the winery, and you went up to the bar to get us those samples. Your eyes smiled at me the whole time. You didn't even look at that girl, who I thought was really hot, but just kept looking at me. You made love to me right then. Am I scared. Yes. I want this more than anything, but I don't want to be hurt again. I lived that. But, you are not him. You are so much more than he could ever be. I was eye candy for him, and a fuck, and nothing more. My heart is now yours, please don't hurt it.”I rolled to my side and looked deep into her hazel eyes, then kissed her. “You know what turned me on the most today?” “No, Baby, I don't” “When I saw you after you came back from your day in town. My God, you looked so sexy and stunning to me. You are such a beautiful woman, and not just physically, but all around. I wanted to take you then, but then that would have downplayed this evening. I never tried to be romantic with anyone before, and I so wanted to seduce you tonight.”She giggled. “Well Mr. Marine. You succeeded in every way tonight. I'll tell you. When I saw the robe, then the candles lit by the bathtub, I got super horny. I wanted you so bad then. Then when I shaved down there, I felt incredibly sexy. I even came after that. But when we took off our robes and I saw you in those boxers, I damn near raped you. But dancing really did me in. I almost told you then I loved you. But I am glad I waited now.”As she talked, her hand was now on my cock, stroking it back to life. When I was hard again, she leaned in and kissed me, then pushed me to my back. She kneeled and straddled me and slowly sat down on me, engulfing me with her velvet like inner walls of her sex.“Baby?” she whispered. “This has been an amazing night. But now I need to be a little naughty. A couple should be able to let loose some and enjoy sex too. I love lovemaking, but I also love to fuck Mark. But only with someone I want to give myself too, completely. I want to fuck your beautiful cock. I want to feel your cum spray deep inside me and, I want cum all over it. Fuck me Baby. Make me your Lover.”I arched my back up and drove in deep in her. “Oh Fuck. You are so deep.” She started moving up and down, faster and faster. “Oh god I love this. My favorite position too.”She leaned down and started smothering me with kisses. Moaning as we fucked. I did too. Her head slipped to the side of mine and whispered. “You like my tight little cunt, don't you Babe. Your cock is a perfect fit for it. My cunt loves your cock. Oh God Mark. ““Oh God Babe. Your cunt is so tight. I love it and always will. Fuck me Carrie.”She sat up and started grinding hard on me now. Neither of us was going to last long. I sat up and took her one tit in my mouth and sucked hard.“Oh Christ. Suck my tits Baby. I Love that so much”She started pounding me harder now, as I continued sucking it, then switched to the other. Her arm went behind my head and pulled me in tighter. My hands were holding her luscious ass as I did this. My one hand went exploring and touched her ass, which made her moan really loud. I slipped it down to her cunt and got it wet as the finger rubbed against her lips and my cock. Then I brought it up to her brown hole and slipped it in.“Oh Fuck Baby. Yes. God I love you”She started cumming a minute later. Her head and body shook as she came hard, but somehow, she maintain the rhythm we had going. I was now getting close myself and could feel my balls tighten up, signaling my impending orgasm. “Oh Shit Carrie, I'm going to cum” I yelled out.She slammed down one last time, and then jumped off. Her mouth was over my cock in no time and was starting to suck me, when I erupted in her mouth. I had to have shot 5 or 6 good ropes into her hungry mouth. She didn't spill a drop, except at the end, a little dribbled out the side.She was kneeling now, getting ready to wipe her mouth, when I grabbed her wrist and gently pulled her to me and I licked it off of her face and then kissed her. The kiss was so hot and passionate. We were lost in that kiss for minutes, until she broke away, panting hard.We both lay on our backs now, still in a euphoric bliss from our love making. Carrie was very quiet. At first I thought she fell asleep, until I felt her hand grasp mine and squeeze it.“Are you  okay Carrie?”, I asked. “Actually, I am on cloud nine, as they say. I've never been made love too, like this, then opening up and letting go like that. I just hope you don't think I am some sort of slut. I want to explore all there is with you sexually and lovingly too.”“Babe. You are hardly a slut. Sex to me, is supposed to be fun too. You were amazing. But our love making, well, it's beyond words. To me, you are an angel. Quite the lady too. In bed, we can do whatever we please, as long as we both agree on whatever we do. One thing though, I can never share you with anyone. I don't believe I get jealous, but I could never share you with anyone, man or woman. I knew a couple in the service that did that. Got into swinging. No way. Not with someone I love and respect, like I do you. But just so you know, I really enjoyed the naughty Carrie. She is fun.”“Umm.. I may have to let her out more often then. Cuz naughty Markie, was turning me on too. But, you will never have to fear me wanting another. I am quite happy with who I am with. I will never deny you in bed either. Except, when I am sick, or you are sick. Sex just doesn't seem like fun then. But that's about it.”“Yeah, being sick and wanting sex, just doesn't seem to go hand in hand. I will never deny you as well. But, I'm a guy, so the prospect of me saying no is quite low.”She giggled, then said, “Well. Mister. You better never hold out in the oral department anymore. Oh Christ. That was unbelievable. I could take that all day long. And, I love giving too. I love how you taste.”“You're turning me on again Honey. How do you feel right now?” I asked“Horny” she giggled then. “Honestly. And don't freak when I say this. But I feel as though I am on a Honeymoon and you took your virgin bride to sexual highs she never knew existed.”I did chuckle. “Nothing wrong with that. To me, you are a virgin, or at least were. I don't care about your past. You are my first, and dare I say, only love for me.”“I like that” she replied. Then said, “Where do you see us in a year?”“Honestly. I never look to the future too much. But, I have been lately. I hope that you will be with me in a year, and maybe, just maybe, if you haven't tired of my Jarhead ass, we are right back here, spending it as a true honeymoon”She folded into my arms and kissed my cheek. “I think that could be a real possibility. This Squid actually has thought about it, and she doesn't think she'll ever tire of you. Piss me off at times, Yes, but never tire.”I then laughed, and she asked what was funny. “God, if your Dad could see us right now. He'd hang me.”“Nah. He knows I like you a great deal. He doesn't know we professed love yet. But he does like you, Mom told me that. Jenny knows too. I talked with her this morning. I sent her a selfie, after I got my hair done. She called right after seeing it. Then she starts out by saying, “Damn Mom, you look hot. I think someone is in love.” She's a pretty smart girl actually. I was supposed to face time with her earlier, but someone had me a tad busy. She wants to see you and talk with you.”“Oh great. She's the one person that scares me the most, and I want on my side. More so, than even your parents. Go ahead and call her now. It's only 10pm.”She giggled again. “Uh No. We better wait until tomorrow. This is the first time her and her boyfriend Alan have been alone for a long time. He was with his family last weekend. They have dated for a year now, so I am pretty sure, they are in the same place you and I are right now, naked and in bed.”“You  okay with that? I asked. “Oh yes. I like him a lot. He treats her with so much respect and I know they love one another. He's a good kid and dotes after Jenny. His world revolves around her. He is studying to become a food scientist. If they can last the ups and downs of college and still remain in love, I could easily see them married one day. Only time will tell. And don't worry about her liking you, she will. She knows I do, and so far have made me extremely happy.”She got up then and walked to the bathroom. Then came back with our robes. “Let's go cuddle on the couch, enjoy some wine and TV, before we call it a night.” And so we did.Chapter 15.It was morning now, almost 8:30. I never sleep this late. The only reason I was up was because I had to pee so bad. Carrie was still sound asleep. She was curled up and looked so peaceful. My thought was, “What in God's name does she see in me. I'm nobody special. Yes, I am in good shape and I do treat her with respect, but she is absolutely beautiful and had I known of her, somewhere else, I would have never even attempted to approach her. I wasn't in her league, or so I thought”But here I am, one week after meeting her, and totally in love. I could not even fathom life without her in it. But reality would soon be creeping up on us. I knew she would be leaving mid-week. Would this all end after she left, and had time to really think this through? Only time will tell.I padded to the kitchen and made coffee. As it brewed I stood looking out the back door window. The skies were an ugly gray. Rain was falling. We knew this was coming, after viewing the weather report last night. Today and tomorrow, rain.I then toasted a few bagels, and got out the cream cheese. Made us both coffee, and took it to the bedroom. As I walked in, Carrie was yawning and stretching. Her tit were in plain view, and look so delicious to me. She sat up, not bothering to cover up. “Good sign” I thought.“Good Morning Sweetheart. I thought you may enjoy some breakfast in bed” I said to her.“Oh Wow. I could definitely get used to this. Especially if you lose that robe.”We sat and enjoyed our breakfast. We also started talking about this coming week. Since it was raining today, we decided to go into town and take in a movie and then dinner at some restaurant. On Monday, we were to hike Algonquin Peak, but if it is raining, we'll need to find something else to do.She then said, “You know I leave Wednesday. I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday that I made months ago, and I can't reschedule. It just takes so long to get in to see her.”“I know you were leaving then. But, I also am going to leave that day, with you. No sense hanging around here. Be bored to death, and I know me, all I'll think of is you the whole time.”“Awe. You are so sweet to me. But this is your vacation and you had it all planned out. Stay and at least hike some more of these mountains. I'll feel bad if you miss out on that.” she said with a pouty face.I just smiled at her and told her no, it was best I do head home. I had some major cleaning to do at my place. The house I have is actually an older farm house that was my grandparents. My grandmother outlived my mom and when she died, it was left to me and Ann. Ann didn't want it, so to be fair, I paid her the half she would have received, if we had sold it.The house was nice, but very outdated. Even the furniture was from the 60's. To me, it was cool, but my needs are simple. Ann has been bugging me for almost a year now to at least get some new furniture, if not update the whole place. My office is actually the dining room.I tell you this because I have never brought anyone there, especially a date. So bringing Carrie there, as it looks right now, is totally out of the question. As I told her this, she just laughed. She asked if I keep it clean, or was I a typical guy, and let things go until I can't stand it anymore. I told her I always keep it clean, it's just very outdated.“You big lug, I don't care about stuff like that. I will care if it smells like the gym on board a ship smells like. That is so gross.” and we both laughed.We finished our coffee and bagels, and set our cups and napkins on the nightstand. She pulled the cover down and asked me to slide in. We started kissing and making out some, when her phone rang. “Perfect timing” I thought. She looked at the phone and said, “It's Jenny. Hope all is alright. She is never up this early.”“She hit some button and I saw Jenny's face appear on the screen. Luckily, Carrie had the sheet up above her tit, and I was safely off to the side.“Hi Sweetheart”“Hi Mom. Hope I am not disturbing you.”“No Sweetie. You're good. We were just having breakfast.”“Oh. In bed too. I take it Marine guy is nearby.”Carrie laughed, “If you must know young Jen, he is right here, and his name is Mark, not Marine guy. But you knew that” “Hey just giving you a hard time. Hi Mark.” Carrie moved the phone over to where I could see her and she see me. I had just put the robe back on, so I was decent.“Hi Jenny. Very nice to meet you. I must say, you are as pretty as your mother.”Jen smiled; “Thank you. I hope to get to meet you when you two get back from your little vacation.”“I would say that is a very good possibility, unless your Mom gets rid of me by then. Lots of mountain tops she could push me off of, up here.” I said with a laugh.Carrie turned the phone back to her and said, “What did you two do this weekend? Is Alan still there?”Jen smiled this sly smile “Yeah. He is still asleep. We went to dinner and a late movie, then came back here. The main reason I am calling is that Papa called a bit ago, or I'd be sleeping too. He and grandma are coming up next weekend”My eyes got real big, but Carrie just chuckled, “That's great. When are they coming in?”“Friday evening, and staying here for a few days, then going to aunty Bev's for a few days. And Mark. Papa had a message for you. “Don't crap where you eat son.” He said you'd understand completely.”I just shook my head. Great. He's gonna shit when he hears his daughter and I are now dating.Carrie was laughing now. Jen wanted to know what that was about. Carrie said she'd tell her when she sees her this week. They carried on for a few more minutes as Jen filled her in on stuff. Now Jen did look somewhat similar to her mom, from what I could see on the phone. That same light caramel color, with long flowing brown hair, and a gorgeous smile. Alan should consider himself a very lucky man. They signed off then after saying goodbye's and Jen saying bye to me too, telling me to take very good care of her mother, or else.I asked, “Are you sure she isn't your blood daughter? You two look so much alike.”“I wish she was. But No. Her parents were Puerto Rican, so the skin color is close. She shorted too, only 5 foot 3. She is an angel. You think Dad dotes over me? Wait till you see him around Jenny. I feel bad for Alan. He's met Dad twice now and is scared shitless of him. But Daddy wants only the best for his girls.”“Yeah, well, I am wondering now what is he going to say about us being together. He still scares the shit out of me.”She laughed, “Oh I don't know. I'll let you know after I tell him how you been having your way with me this whole week.” then laughed some more. She then opened his robe, grabbed his semi stiff member and stroke it.She giggled, the looked at him and stated, “Umm, I wonder what he'd say if he knew I was doing this.”, as she lowered her head to my manhood and sucked the head in.“Oh God Carrie.”The PromiseCarrie and Mark settle in to everyday life, once they return from their week and a half camping and hiking trip, after finding love in those mountains.I asked, “Are you sure she isn't your blood daughter? You two look so much alike.”“I wish she was. But No. Her parents were Puerto Rican, so the skin color is close. She shorter too, only 5 foot 3.. She is an angel. You think Dad dotes over me? Wait till you see him around Jenny. I feel bad for Alan. He's met Dad twice now and is scared shitless of him. But Daddy wants only the best for his girls.”“Yeah, well, I am wondering now what is he going to say about us being together. He still scares the shit out of me.”She laughed, “Oh I don't know. I'll let you know after I tell him how you been having your way with me this whole week.” then laughed some more. She then opened my robe, grabbed my semi stiff member and stroke it.She giggled, the looked at him and stated, “Umm, I wonder what he'd say if he knew I was doing this.”, as she lowered her head to my manhood and sucked the head in.“Oh God Carrie.”Chapter 16.The rest of that day, and into Monday, it did nothing but rain. So exploring any of the mountain tops was curtailed. We pretty much hung around the cabin in just our robes that day. The only time we dressed was to go to dinner, down into town. Neither of us felt like cooking. It was very hard for me to resist getting Carrie naked and just making love all day, but she needed to know that our relationship, that we both professed our love for each other, was more than just a physical thing, but also emotional.You see Carrie is a very beautiful woman. She is 5 foot 7, 130 pounds, with caramel colored skin, almost like Halle Berry skin tone. Her hair is short now too, with blonde highlights mixed in with her brown hair. Totally sexy in my eyes. She has amazing legs that are long and toned and a great ass. What turns me on the most is her tits. They are a large A, or small B cup. I love a woman with small tits.I am 5 foot 10, 175 pounds, and been told by many, a handsome man. I keep in shape, and that is because after spending 20 years in the Marines, you get used to working out. It's just ingrained into your fabric. I was single too, for all of those years. Never had a serious relationship, except for a semi one, back in my 20's, when I lived with a girl for a few months. But she didn't enjoy my deployments too much and wanted more. It was mostly a sex thing for us, and a place for us both to crash, when we were screwing.But now, a week and a half later, I am totally in love with this goddess, and she with me as well. What is funny too, I know her parents, or to be more specific, her father. He was a Master Chief in the Navy, and was on the aircraft Carrier Lincoln at the same time I was, years ago, when I was a Staff Sergeant in the Marines. Great guy too, but could scare the hell out of you. Carrie too, was in the Navy back then, but I do not think we ever crossed paths, since she worked on base, and, was also married back then to a Seal, which she now divorced from.Like I said earlier, we only got dressed that Sunday for dinner, then that Monday, a day we were supposed to visit another Adirondacks peak, it rained as well. We did go driving around and admired the countryside and had a fine dinner at the Italian restaurant we found the previous week.Then on Tuesday, we decided to go horseback riding. We found a place about 20 minutes from the cabin, near Lake Clear. We had a great time exploring the area by horseback. I have to admit, my ass was quite sore by the time we got through, as was Carrie's. There was a few times I would hang back, behind her and admire her ass as it bounced up and down in the saddle.She looked back one time and caught me. “God, don't you ever tire of looking at my big ass?”I just chuckled and told her, “Hell No. I love your ass, and it is hardly big. Remind me later to massage it for you, because if mine is sore, I know yours has to be.”“Maybe I will let you. Not sure if I want you touching it later. Now get up her next to me.” then whispered to me, after I got close, “You be a good boy, and I'll let you see it naked later.”, then laughed and rode away from me.After our ride, we stopped in this tavern that also featured home cooked meals. We both decided on burgers and fries. Normally, we both try to stay away from fried foods, but, as we both found out from talking, we like to cheat on occasion.By the time we got back to the cabin, nighttime was upon us and this was our last night together. I know we both pledged our love to one another, but after tonight, she may get a dose of reality when she got back home, and say, “No way” to being in a relationship. For me, I was all in. I never wanted anything more in my life, than to be with this beautiful, smart, witty and energetic woman.After getting into the cabin, I started a fire in the fireplace and Carrie went off to the bedroom, to get ready to shower. After I had a nice fire going, she came out in her robe and asked me to join her. As we washed each other down, removing the horse smell from our bodies, we kissed and held each other. We both took turns drying each other, then donned our robes and made our way to the couch. Before I sat down, I went and got us each a glass of wine.“Mark?” she said, and I looked at her. She had a tear on her cheek, for which I lightly brushed away. “What's wrong Honey?” I asked.“This is our last night here. This has been the best vacation I have ever experienced. Had you told me two weeks ago that I would meet the man of my dreams, I would have said you are so full of shit. But here I am, sitting next to you. I am so in love with you and I am also scared silly about tomorrow.” she explainedI knew what she meant, when she said she is scared. I am too. We get back to our real lives and the fantasy just fades away. She was deeply hurt all those years ago and opening up and allowing someone in, has to be tough for her to do. For me, it is a new experience. One I have never had before. If it does end, it will hurt, but I know I can move on from it, I think.“Carrie. I'm scared too. Once we are home and reality sets in for you, you may say, screw this. I have never opened up to anyone in my life, except for you. I just hope that you will grow with me. I'm going to make mistakes. You may want something, but I'm too stupid to know and understand, but like anything in life, you learn. One thing I will promise you and this is I will always be true to only you. I love you and will never do anything to hurt you.”“Oh Mark. No man has ever made me feel this way. We'll take each day as it comes and just know I will never hurt you as well. But be forewarned now, I can get bitchy. I don't mean to be, but it happens and when it does, just leave me be, and I will be fine. I think the hardest part of tomorrow is going to be not being with you, especially at night. After a week of sharing a bed together, and feeling so close to you, it is going to suck not having your arms around me tomorrow night, or this weekend. If I didn't have that appointment Thursday, I'd let you stay with me tomorrow, but I know us, we make love, and since this is a gynecologist I am seeing, sex wouldn't be the most prudent thing for me to do. And then this weekend, with my parents in town, I'm not sure what they'd say about us sleeping together.”I laughed, “Yeah, I could just see the look on your dad's face when we told them goodnight and padded off to bed. As for sex. We don't always have to have it you know. I mean I'll never turn it down, but I also know there is more to us than just sex. But tomorrow after we get home, and then at night, we'll probably both be too tired to do anything. Plus, like I said, I need to straighten up the place. One thing though. On Thursday, I would like to take you and Jenny to dinner, Alan too. That way, she has someone there who she is comfortable with, just in case she can't stand me.”“Oh Stop. She is going to love you. I'll call her tomorrow and set it up. Now! Take me to bed for the last time here and hold me Baby. I want to fall asleep in your arms.”Chapter 17.We got up early for some reason, and took a shower together. I still marvel at this exceptionally beautiful woman. She makes my heart race anytime I am near here. And when we are naked, it quadruples in magnitude. We did not have sex, but we did hold and caress each other until the water started turning cold.We were then packed and on our way home. She drove in front of me for the next 4 hours. We did talk on the phone a couple of times. The last time was just before my exit, which is a couple before hers. I called her and told her I would call her later and that I loved her. I could hear in her voice, a hitch, just like I had in mine. I missed her already and I had just exited from the roadway.Once I was home, I did a load of laundry, then went and started dusting and vacuuming the place. Not a thing I do a lot of. Of course my sister always comes over and does it at times, and bitches me out when she does. I then cut the grass, which was needed after two weeks of not touching it. It takes two hours to cut this lawn, and that's with a tractor. While I was cutting, I did miss a call from Carrie. She also texted me, just saying she was thinking of me and loved me. I texted back apologizing that I didn't answer her and explained why, and that I would call her later.We did talk around 6 that evening. She too was busy with housework and laundry. She strip the beds, not knowing which bed Jenny and Alan slept in. I had to laugh at that. She chuckled too but said, “It's one thing to sleep in our wet spot, but I'm surely not sleeping in theirs.” Which made me laugh hard.About 10 that night, I called her. She was lying in bed, reading a book. She conveyed to me that Jenny was ecstatic over meeting us for dinner and really happy I had included Alan. They were going to meet us at Carrie's at 6pm tomorrow. I told Carrie we would try Delmonico's Steakhouse, which was kind of close to her.She chuckled and said, “Oh fancy place. You know, you don't have to take us there. There's a nice restaurant right down the street from us.”“That's cool. But I want too. How many college kids can go to a place like this. Plus I have always wanted to try it, but, I'm not going alone. Ann said the food is excellent there.”“Speaking of Ann, did you call her and inform her that you are bringing someone Sunday?” she asked.“Oh yeah. She is so excited now. She can't wait to meet you. I told her that your parents were going to be in from Florida and I didn't know what plans they had that day. She said to bring them along too. The more the merrier.”Carried giggled, then said, “I don't know if your sister has a clue what Dad can be like. Just don't bring up politics. He thinks they are all thieves and liars.” which made me laugh.Then she got quiet. “Anything wrong? You are quiet now “ She sighed, “No, just missing lying next to you, with your arms around me. I feel so safe then. I love you Mark”“I love you too, Carolyn, and I do miss being with you. It was a very long day without you near me.” I told her.“It was a long day for me as well. I don't know how or why this happened between us, but I am so happy that you are in my life now. Maybe tomorrow night, you can spend it here with me, if you want too.” she said.“I think that can be arranged. You know what I do miss? You calling me Jarhead. When you say it, it means something to me.”“I told you, after last weekend, I was done calling you that, but if you insist, I'll just call you JH.”“I insist Squid. Now get some sleep. Just know, I love you Carrie and I am holding you in my dreams tonight.”Chapter 18.I knew Carrie had an appointment at 11am, so I didn't want to bother her, but did send her a text, after I got up and said good morning and I love you. She replied instantly to it, saying she was about to shower and get ready and she loved me too.I was pretty proud of myself. I dusted and swept the whole house. Not that I am a slob, but those are two jobs I really don't enjoy doing. Hell, living alone and never having people over, except for my sister, afforded me the luxury of not caring too much to do that. But with Carrie in my life, I guess I need to change my way of thinking.I then immersed myself in a project that I had been working on for this one company. I needed to do something to keep my mind occupied, since I would not be seeing her until later in the afternoon. I was surprised though, that by 3pm, I hadn't heard anything from her. I hope all went well with her doc appointment.I had told her that I would be over by 5:30, so we could spend some time alone, before Jenny and Alan showed up. By 4:30, I was shaved, and showered, then dressed for the evening. Since it was cool out, I wore dark blue pants, and lighter blue shirt, with a dark blue sport coat. I wanted to look good for when I met Jenny, and convey, I'm not some unkempt slob, who was dating her mother. I'm generally a jeans and t-shirt, or sweatshirt, kind of guy.I couldn't stand the wait any longer and decided to arrive a bit sooner. I got to her house at 5:15, so just a little bit early. After ringing the doorbell a few times, Carrie finally opened the door. Although she smiled when she let me in, I could tell something was amiss with her. After a brief hug and quick kiss on the lips, we stood back from one another.Carrie was wearing a burgundy pleated dress. It came to just above the knees. The neckline plunged just a bit, with white lace around the edges, with short sleeves as well. She looked radiant.“Wow. You look absolutely beautiful Sweetie.” I told her. She just said thanks, but that was it. Then said she had to finish getting ready. My antennae was now up. I could sense something was wrong. This girl was always so bubbly, and that definitely was not the case now. So I just walked around her living room, looking at pictures on the wall of Jenny, and her parents, and some people I had no clue of who they were. Then just took a seat and waited for her.For me, this was something new. I did not know what to say or do. Did I do something wrong, that may have upset her? Who knew, but this was not the Carrie I just spent almost two weeks with, had fun with, and made love too on many occasions. So I'm basically a fish out of water now. I made up my mind to just go with the flow, and when she is ready to talk, I'll be there, and hopefully, understand what is going on.Of course, my fear was she was going to end this between us. She had time to reflect and said that this wasn't worth it. If that is how she felt, then who was I to pursue it any further. I don't want to be with someone who did not want the same as me. Sitting there waiting, makes your mind think weird ass things, like I just did. Then again, maybe it wasn't anything and she is just having a bad day, or is nervous about me meeting Jenny.She finally emerged from wherever she was in her condo. When I saw her, she looked the same, so I have no idea what else she could have been doing. She walked into her kitchen and got a bottle of water, then asked if I wanted one too, which I kindly said no too.I finally got the courage to ask, “Is there something wrong?”She looked at me and had a sullen look on her face, then finally said “No. Guess I am just tired from all the prodding and poking today. I'm sorry I am not more upbeat.”I got up and went to her and wrapped my arms around her, “If you want to cancel tonight, that would be okay with me. We keep go out with them some other time, when you are feeling more up to it.”“No. No. I am fine. It will be fine. We'll go have a fun night with them. Jenny is so looking forward to meeting you.” she said, as she pulled away from me and went into the living room. “We'll talk later tonight, when we get back.”I knew from how she stated it, something was wrong. But, being a dumb man, I have no clue as to what. I didn't want to piss her off by asking questions. Maybe something at the doc's. I guess when she is ready, she will let me know. I walked up next to her and grabbed her hand, just to let her know I was there for her. At that point, her front door opened and in walked Jenny and Alan.Jenny was definitely a looker. I would say 5 foot 3, maybe 110 pounds, brown hair and eyes, and the cutest dimples. She did have bigger boobs than her mom, but since she was adopted, that made sense. But the irony of how much the two looked alike was uncanny. Alan was a good looking guy too. He had that German look to him. Blond hair, blue eyes, chiseled face and stood about 6 foot, but maybe weighed 170 pounds, if that.After making the introductions and some small talk, we left her condo and headed to dinner in my truck.At dinner, Carrie seemed to be her normal self. Well, at least the normal I had seen for the last two weeks. Jenny was regaling us with stories from her college life and some of things her and Alan had been doing of late, except for the sex part. I don't think Carrie, or myself, needed or wanted to know those details.As dinner was finally coming to an end, I had to admit, I was kind of quiet. I just let the three of them guide the evening and the conversation. Jenny did inquire what I actually did for a living, so I explained it to her. She was impressed, as was Alan. I tried not to let my concerns for Carrie, or our budding relationship ruin the evening. In my heart though, I had a bad feeling, this would be the last time I would see these three people.Near the end of dinner, Carrie announced that she needed to use the ladies room. Alan also said he need to use the facility, which then left just me and Jenny. I wasn't sure what to say to her, so I let her make the first move on talking.  “okay Mark. What's up with mom? Did you two have an argument or something?” Jenny asked.I shook my head, “Jenny. I have no idea what is wrong tonight. When I arrived this evening, she was down for some reason and won't tell me why. Yesterday we were fine, but ever since her doctor visit, she has changed. Maybe she has done some thinking and decided a relationship is not what she wants. Until she tells me, I am in the dark.”Jenny reached over and touched my arm. “I don't know either, but I do know that she and I talked last night for an hour and she is head over heels in love with you, and says you are with her as well. Are you Mark? Are you in love with my Mom?”“Nothing has changed for how I feel for your mother Jenny. I am in love with her. But, if she has had a change of heart, then I will abide by her wishes. Maybe we moved too fast. I don't know. To be honest Jenny. I have never been in love before, so this is a new territory for me. But if she had time to reflect now, and feels this isn't what she wants, well, I don't want to force anything like that on her. I just want her happy.”Jenny just shook her head, “I can't believe her mind could change like that. Something must be wrong and she just needs time to process it. Maybe you two can talk later. When we get back to my mom's, Alan and I are going to leave, and give you two some space to talk. Oh, and by the way, Papa really does like you. He thinks you are a good man.”Just as she said that, Carrie was walking back. Alan came a minute later. The waitress came around and asked if any of us wanted dessert, but we all begged off, since our meals were so filling.On the way home, Carrie was pretty quiet. In fact, you could probably cut the tension with a knife, that was between us. Jenny and Alan were pretty quiet too. I'd have done anything to hear some funny story either of them may have had right then.After arriving back at Carrie's condo, we all got out and Jenny said that they needed to get going. Carrie said she wished they could stay longer, but the kids said they had some homework they needed to finish up, but would see us this weekend. Of course my mind didn't think I would be involved with this family get together.As they left, Carrie turned and headed to her door, and I followed. Once inside, she asked if I wanted anything to drink, which I kindly declined. She went to the kitchen and got a bottle of water then rejoined me in the living room. I wanted to get this over with, so I started it off.  “okay Carolyn, please tell me what is wrong. I need to know.” I said in a somber voice.“Let's sit” she said, and we both did. She faced me and I could see a tear starting to form in her eye. My stomach became a knot now. My fears were now becoming reality, at least in my mind.“I wish I knew where to start, but I have to say, that no man has ever made me feel the way you make me feel. But I really think we need to step back and take a break for now.”, then she started crying. I reach for her, but she backed away. That made it feel like a knife was just plunged into my heart.“Carrie. How can you go from being so in love, to wanting to take a break, just like that. There is more than what you are telling me. So please tell me what has caused this sudden change in feelings.”She was still sobbing, trying to get her emotions under control, then finally looked at me and said, “Mark. They found a growth on one of my ovaries today. After the Pelvic exam, she did and ultrasound and found it. They want me to see a specialist next Tuesday then do some testing.” then started crying again. This time she let me pull her towards me. I knew this isn't good, but this is also something that can be taken care of. I had a cousin once have something similar to this and they removed a cyst the size of an egg from her, and she was fine then.“It's  okay Carrie. I'm sure it's nothing that medicine or an operation can't take care of.” I told her.“And what if it isn't Mark? What if it is cancer. Why should you be saddled with that in your life. We've known each other not even two fucking weeks. Although the best two weeks of my life. But this is not something you need to be part of. Your best bet is to turn around, walk away and get on with your life, like I never existed.” and started crying again.I pulled her into me again and held her tight. Her head was buried in my shoulder, and I caressed her hair and let her cry. I mean, if I was in her position, I'd probably tell her the same things. But I may not know her completely, but what I know of her already, she has a fierce loyalty to people she cares for and loves, and I know she wouldn't walk away either.After letting her sob some more, I gently moved her back, and away from me, so I could speak to her. “Sweetheart. There is no way I am letting you do this alone. Granted, we have only known each other for two weeks, but in these two weeks, you have captured my heart with every fiber of your being. I am in love with you Missy. People who love one another don't turn tail and run because of something traumatic happens to the other person. You stand with them, be their support and showed them love, for that is the only thing that can help get you through this. I have been a Marine for all of my adult life and one thing that is ingrained in us, from the time of our first day in boot camp, is that you never let the man next to you, or when you are a sergeant, your platoon, you never abandon them. No man is ever left behind. You're wounded Honey, so I will not leave you behind, so get used to that. When this is all over and you still feel this way, then you can tell me to hit the bricks.”She just stared at me, and while trying to compose herself, she gripped my hand in hers. “It's not fair to you Mark. What if it is cancer and it can't be fixed, then what? You going to just wait around and watch me die? You could be out finding that right person, instead of babysitting me.”“Stop it Carrie. You have no idea what it is. It could be a simple cyst, that meds could take care of. But one thing I do know, I will be with you this Tuesday, and any other day you need to have something done. I will be the first person you see when you wake up. But I will be there and I will always be there for you. I love you.”“Mark. It's not fair.” she shouted, then started crying again. “You're right. It's not fair. But who said life is. But I am not walking away. In fact I am more in love with you now, than I was 20 minutes ago. I don't know about you, but I have every intention of growing old with you. We have too much to do with our lives. So baby doll, I am not leaving you, Not ever.”“Carrie. Do you love me?” I asked. “Damn you Jarhead. You know I do.” she said. “Good. Don't you ever hold back something like this again from me. I won't either from you. But Babe, we can only help one another if we are open and honest with each other. Why don't you go get ready for bed. I'm not going home tonight, but I will sleep on the couch.”She shook her head and got up. As she did, she reached for my hand, “You are not, nor will you ever sleep on the couch. Your place is beside me in bed. I'm so sorry for ever thinking you would want out of this. I do love you Mark. More than you will ever know”She led me up the stairs to her bedroom. We both stripped off of our clothes. I had on the white silk boxers she got me. She put on this long t-shirt with a Minion on the front. She looked cute. We both used her bathroom then climbed into bed, where she snuggled up to me and let me hold her close. Her head rested on my chest.“Mark?” she said softly. “Carrie?” I answered back. “I am sorry. I promise never to do that to you again. I'm also sorry I was a Debbie Downer tonight at dinner, and even before. I'm sure Jenny could tell something was wrong.”“Oh yeah she could. She thought that you and I had an argument. Your daughter is quite perceptive. After meeting her now, I have to say, you two do favor one another. Alan is one lucky man and judging how he dotes on her, he knows it too. They do make a nice couple. I just hope I made a good impression with her. I wasn't to talkative tonight.”“Well, I think you'll get a few more chances this weekend to really win her over. But I can tell she likes you already. If she talks a lot, she likes you. Had she just sat there and not talked much, then that means she doesn't want anything to do with you.”“You know, last night, I was so lonely without you next to me. I hugged my pillow thinking it was you. Except your body is a bit more muscular. I had so many plans for tonight, with us ending the night in bed making love. I want too, but I don't want to do that until we know what is going on down there.”My hand was stroking her back, when I said, “I don't know about you, but this is making love Baby. I'm not in this for the sex. I'm in this because of love. Holding you close, telling our feelings to each other, that is true love making in my book. I'm not too good with stuff like this, but I have never felt this way for another human being. We'll have plenty of time for lovemaking, and dare I say, some naughty sex.”She snuggled even closer and let her hand rub on my chest and belly. “Thank You. You make me feel so loved. I love you Mark. Oh and I like what you wore under your pants. You do look sexy in these boxers.”“I love you too Carolyn. Now get some sleep. We have a long weekend ahead of us. That is if you want me around all the time.”“Of course I want you around the whole time. Not sure about sleeping together. Daddy may have a hard time with that one.” then giggled.Chapter 19.In the morning we agreed to take separate showers instead of together. We both agreed it would be too tempting, had we gone in together. She did tease me though by removing her shirt and slowly saunter into the bathroom, giggling the whole way. I would say My Carrie was back.Her parents flight was due in at 4pm. I told Carrie I needed to catch up on a few things at the house, but would be back in time to go with her to pick them up. She must have texted me twenty times, just saying I love you. That made me feel good.I picked Carrie up at 3pm and went to the airport to meet her parents. She was very happy today. A far cry from yesterday's somber mood she was in. She was wearing a maroon cashmere sweater and black slacks. I too had black slacks on and a blue crew neck sweater. The whole trip there she held my hand, as she did once we were there and waited.Like all airports now, you had to wait down in the baggage area. It took about 10 minutes after their plane arrived, before we saw them coming down the escalator. Once Carrie spotted them, she pulled me along until they were on top of us, and went and hugged her mom, then her dad.Then Mrs. Reynolds gave me a hug and a kiss, and said I still looked like I did when we met in Norfolk all those years ago. Chief shook my hand then said, “You ain't giving me no damn hug son.” I just laughed and told him, “Not in your life you crotchety old bastard.” which made us all laugh.After arriving back at Carrie's, we saw that Jenny was there waiting for us. Alan was with her, but I could see the tension in his face. The old man did scare the shit out of him. I took him aside and told him, just to relax, but show no sign of fear to the chief. He eats that shit up. He sort of laughed and said, oh sure, easier said than done Mr. Roberts. I told him for now on, call me Mark. Save the mister for the other guy.We all then went to dinner, after the couple relaxed a bit after their flight. It was one of those chain restaurants. We all had a good time and of course, Chief had to regale us with stories when I was aboard the Lincoln. That's when Jenny asked about the “don't shit where you eat comment”, but cleaned it up some because of her mom and grandma there. Chief went on to explain about this one newly appointed petty officer I had an eye on. After he finished, everyone laughed, only because he made sound more colorful than it actually was.After we got back to Carrie's, the girls busied themselves in the kitchen, leaving myself, Alan, and the Chief alone in the living room. I could see Alan was a bit apprehensive about being in there. I'm sure he was never prepared for anything like this in college.  “okay you two Shitbirds.” chief started out. “Those three fine ladies in there mean the world to me. And two of them, for some ungodly reason happen to like you two. All I ever wanted for those two is complete happiness. If you can't give them that, leave now, otherwise, I need a promise to never ever hurt them, no matter what.”“You have my word on that Chief. Never doubt that.” I said, as the chief then nodded once to me. Alan then looked at him and said, “Sir, my only intention is to make Jenny happy, so I promise.” Chief just glared at him. Alan was unsure of what he said, but knew he didn't like something. I looked at Alan and said, “Alan. Relax. Just don't call Mr. Reynolds sir. Non Com's, noncommissioned officers, like we both were, do not like getting called sir, by anyone. And Chief, chill out, he isn't military.”Chief just chuckled. “Yeah, and don't call me Mr. Reynolds. Makes me feel old. Call me John for now on, or at least until you guys make it legal between those gals in there, then we'll figure out what you call me then. And Alan, you did good kid. You didn't break, like so many Seaman have, right out of boot camp.” then just smiled.Just then the girls came back from the kitchen with drinks. From that point on, the mood was light and cheerful. I just sat back and watched how this family interacted. They are like most families, I guess. Since it is just my sister and myself, except for an uncle and aunt and three cousin's, I really couldn't tell you what a big family is like. Mine though, is quite boisterous and not afraid of speaking their minds on any subject.About an hour went by when Jenny and Alan said their goodbye's. They were going to the football game the next afternoon and wanted to get some sleep. We sat up a bit more with John and Connie, telling a lot of what we did up in the mountains. Well, not everything, or I am sure, he'd have killed me by now.I was getting up, so I could make my leave too, when Carrie asked me to join her in the kitchen. I had no idea what she wanted, but went with the flow and followed her in.“I don't want you going back to your place tonight. You are sleeping with me, unless you don't want too.” she said, giving me her little pouty face she likes to do now and then.“I'm not sure how your parents will feel about that. I don't want to cause any trouble for you, or me either.”Carried just chuckled, “Don't worry about them. I am 41 you know. Plus, me and mom talked out here. She knows you and I have slept together from almost the beginning of us meeting. She is fine with it, and she'll take care of dad. As she put it, “That boy is over the moon for you Honey. Treat him good and he'll treat you like a queen.” So don't worry. But, we can't play around. That would be too weird.” and we both laughed softly at that.Carrie then grabbed my hand and walked towards the stairs, to go upstairs. “Night you two” she said as she passed by them. Her mom said night, but Chief just grunted something. I am pretty sure I will get an earful, next time we are alone.Once in the bedroom, Carrie went to her dresser and opened a drawer, pulled out pajamas. They were blue, red, and white checkerboard style print. She said she went shopping today and got these. She is wearing the top and the bottoms were for me. She stripped down to just her panties, which for once, were not thong style. She still looked sexy as all get out. I stripped too to my boxers and t-shirt. She then went to the bathroom and came out a few minutes later. I followed suit and did my business. She let me know there was a toothbrush on the sink for me, that she just got too.When I came back out, she was already in bed and awaited me. I crawled in next to her. We kissed and held each other close. Like I said when the first time we slept in a bed together, I could definitely get used to this.“Mark Honey. I need to apologize for yesterday. I was so wrong to try and push you away from me. I would have been crushed had you just said  okay, and left. But you didn't. That told me right there how much you love me. So thank you for being here for me. I love you Mark. It grows stronger every minute of the day. I wish right now we could make love, but until I know what is really up with this, we're going to have to take a rest from that. I hope you understand.”I leaned in and kissed her forehead and pulled her tighter to me. God, I love the way she feels.“Sweetheart, you need not apologize for anything. It has to be a shock to you, that is for sure. But, I will always be there for you, no matter what. We'll see this through, together. As for making love right now. This is making love, I believe. The sex is just the icing on the cake, so to speak. Plus, if you think I would have sex with you, with your parents just down the hall, you are crazy.”Carrie was just about to say something, when we both heard a light thumping sound. I started to chuckle, but Carrie said shush. It was definitely a rhythm thump going on.I chuckled and said, “You're kidding right?” Carrie laughed quietly and said, “Oh yeah. I think dad and mom are doing the horizontal hula. Trust me Hun. As far back as I can remember, they are one horny couple. I hope when I am their age, I still want it that much.”Carrie's hand reached under the waistband of my bottoms and boxers and started playing with Mr. happy. “God, I wish this was inside me now. “ She stroked it a few times so it was now almost hard. Then she rolled over on her side, so we could spoon. I too lay on my side and pulled her into me, so our bodies melded together. My hardness nestled up against her beautiful ass, which she then wiggled a bit. My arm lay over her and rested on her tummy. She took that hand and brought up, and inside her top and placed it on her one tit. My hand instantly enveloped her tit and held it gently. “God. I love your hand there” she cooed. “Night Mark. I love you” “I love you too Carrie”To be continued, by T. Foxal.

Steamy Stories
Hiking for Love: Part 3

Steamy Stories

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 28, 2025


Carrie and Mark settle in to everyday life.by T. Foxal. Listen to the ► Podcast at Connected.“Oh Mark. I have never been made love to like that ever. It was perfect. Everything you have done so far has been perfect for me. I don't think you have one selfish bone in your body. I need to know though, are you scared of all of this?”“Carrie, I have never been more scared in my life. Not even over in the sandpit, with bullets flying all around. Had you not said I love you back to me, when I made my declaration, I would have been crushed. I've never, ever let anyone into my heart, like I have let you in. Am I scared now? A little. I know you said it the other night. Well, you told me to catch up with you because you were already there. But over time, I thought you may have some misgivings for saying, since we were in the heat of the moment then. But all the little things you have been doing, or saying, led me to believe you really were. And, I wanted to make it special for you. This whole day when you weren't around me, all I could think of was you. I wondered what you were thinking when you took your bath before, or what you were doing and thinking when you left this morning. Let's face it, we haven't been alone with our own thoughts for a week now.”She leaned in and kissed me lightly on the lips, then said, “Mark. I knew from that first kiss. Then when we made love the first time, I was in heaven. It wasn't sex between us. It was more. Since that time, we have done nothing but make love and my heart races every time I see you. I was so scared when I said that the other night. Did I push you away from me? Would you just say, screw this, I'm outta here. But the big thing for me was when we were at the winery, and you went up to the bar to get us those samples. Your eyes smiled at me the whole time. You didn't even look at that girl, who I thought was really hot, but just kept looking at me. You made love to me right then. Am I scared. Yes. I want this more than anything, but I don't want to be hurt again. I lived that. But, you are not him. You are so much more than he could ever be. I was eye candy for him, and a fuck, and nothing more. My heart is now yours, please don't hurt it.”I rolled to my side and looked deep into her hazel eyes, then kissed her. “You know what turned me on the most today?” “No, Baby, I don't” “When I saw you after you came back from your day in town. My God, you looked so sexy and stunning to me. You are such a beautiful woman, and not just physically, but all around. I wanted to take you then, but then that would have downplayed this evening. I never tried to be romantic with anyone before, and I so wanted to seduce you tonight.”She giggled. “Well Mr. Marine. You succeeded in every way tonight. I'll tell you. When I saw the robe, then the candles lit by the bathtub, I got super horny. I wanted you so bad then. Then when I shaved down there, I felt incredibly sexy. I even came after that. But when we took off our robes and I saw you in those boxers, I damn near raped you. But dancing really did me in. I almost told you then I loved you. But I am glad I waited now.”As she talked, her hand was now on my cock, stroking it back to life. When I was hard again, she leaned in and kissed me, then pushed me to my back. She kneeled and straddled me and slowly sat down on me, engulfing me with her velvet like inner walls of her sex.“Baby?” she whispered. “This has been an amazing night. But now I need to be a little naughty. A couple should be able to let loose some and enjoy sex too. I love lovemaking, but I also love to fuck Mark. But only with someone I want to give myself too, completely. I want to fuck your beautiful cock. I want to feel your cum spray deep inside me and, I want cum all over it. Fuck me Baby. Make me your Lover.”I arched my back up and drove in deep in her. “Oh Fuck. You are so deep.” She started moving up and down, faster and faster. “Oh god I love this. My favorite position too.”She leaned down and started smothering me with kisses. Moaning as we fucked. I did too. Her head slipped to the side of mine and whispered. “You like my tight little cunt, don't you Babe. Your cock is a perfect fit for it. My cunt loves your cock. Oh God Mark. ““Oh God Babe. Your cunt is so tight. I love it and always will. Fuck me Carrie.”She sat up and started grinding hard on me now. Neither of us was going to last long. I sat up and took her one tit in my mouth and sucked hard.“Oh Christ. Suck my tits Baby. I Love that so much”She started pounding me harder now, as I continued sucking it, then switched to the other. Her arm went behind my head and pulled me in tighter. My hands were holding her luscious ass as I did this. My one hand went exploring and touched her ass, which made her moan really loud. I slipped it down to her cunt and got it wet as the finger rubbed against her lips and my cock. Then I brought it up to her brown hole and slipped it in.“Oh Fuck Baby. Yes. God I love you”She started cumming a minute later. Her head and body shook as she came hard, but somehow, she maintain the rhythm we had going. I was now getting close myself and could feel my balls tighten up, signaling my impending orgasm. “Oh Shit Carrie, I'm going to cum” I yelled out.She slammed down one last time, and then jumped off. Her mouth was over my cock in no time and was starting to suck me, when I erupted in her mouth. I had to have shot 5 or 6 good ropes into her hungry mouth. She didn't spill a drop, except at the end, a little dribbled out the side.She was kneeling now, getting ready to wipe her mouth, when I grabbed her wrist and gently pulled her to me and I licked it off of her face and then kissed her. The kiss was so hot and passionate. We were lost in that kiss for minutes, until she broke away, panting hard.We both lay on our backs now, still in a euphoric bliss from our love making. Carrie was very quiet. At first I thought she fell asleep, until I felt her hand grasp mine and squeeze it.“Are you  okay Carrie?”, I asked. “Actually, I am on cloud nine, as they say. I've never been made love too, like this, then opening up and letting go like that. I just hope you don't think I am some sort of slut. I want to explore all there is with you sexually and lovingly too.”“Babe. You are hardly a slut. Sex to me, is supposed to be fun too. You were amazing. But our love making, well, it's beyond words. To me, you are an angel. Quite the lady too. In bed, we can do whatever we please, as long as we both agree on whatever we do. One thing though, I can never share you with anyone. I don't believe I get jealous, but I could never share you with anyone, man or woman. I knew a couple in the service that did that. Got into swinging. No way. Not with someone I love and respect, like I do you. But just so you know, I really enjoyed the naughty Carrie. She is fun.”“Umm.. I may have to let her out more often then. Cuz naughty Markie, was turning me on too. But, you will never have to fear me wanting another. I am quite happy with who I am with. I will never deny you in bed either. Except, when I am sick, or you are sick. Sex just doesn't seem like fun then. But that's about it.”“Yeah, being sick and wanting sex, just doesn't seem to go hand in hand. I will never deny you as well. But, I'm a guy, so the prospect of me saying no is quite low.”She giggled, then said, “Well. Mister. You better never hold out in the oral department anymore. Oh Christ. That was unbelievable. I could take that all day long. And, I love giving too. I love how you taste.”“You're turning me on again Honey. How do you feel right now?” I asked“Horny” she giggled then. “Honestly. And don't freak when I say this. But I feel as though I am on a Honeymoon and you took your virgin bride to sexual highs she never knew existed.”I did chuckle. “Nothing wrong with that. To me, you are a virgin, or at least were. I don't care about your past. You are my first, and dare I say, only love for me.”“I like that” she replied. Then said, “Where do you see us in a year?”“Honestly. I never look to the future too much. But, I have been lately. I hope that you will be with me in a year, and maybe, just maybe, if you haven't tired of my Jarhead ass, we are right back here, spending it as a true honeymoon”She folded into my arms and kissed my cheek. “I think that could be a real possibility. This Squid actually has thought about it, and she doesn't think she'll ever tire of you. Piss me off at times, Yes, but never tire.”I then laughed, and she asked what was funny. “God, if your Dad could see us right now. He'd hang me.”“Nah. He knows I like you a great deal. He doesn't know we professed love yet. But he does like you, Mom told me that. Jenny knows too. I talked with her this morning. I sent her a selfie, after I got my hair done. She called right after seeing it. Then she starts out by saying, “Damn Mom, you look hot. I think someone is in love.” She's a pretty smart girl actually. I was supposed to face time with her earlier, but someone had me a tad busy. She wants to see you and talk with you.”“Oh great. She's the one person that scares me the most, and I want on my side. More so, than even your parents. Go ahead and call her now. It's only 10pm.”She giggled again. “Uh No. We better wait until tomorrow. This is the first time her and her boyfriend Alan have been alone for a long time. He was with his family last weekend. They have dated for a year now, so I am pretty sure, they are in the same place you and I are right now, naked and in bed.”“You  okay with that? I asked. “Oh yes. I like him a lot. He treats her with so much respect and I know they love one another. He's a good kid and dotes after Jenny. His world revolves around her. He is studying to become a food scientist. If they can last the ups and downs of college and still remain in love, I could easily see them married one day. Only time will tell. And don't worry about her liking you, she will. She knows I do, and so far have made me extremely happy.”She got up then and walked to the bathroom. Then came back with our robes. “Let's go cuddle on the couch, enjoy some wine and TV, before we call it a night.” And so we did.Chapter 15.It was morning now, almost 8:30. I never sleep this late. The only reason I was up was because I had to pee so bad. Carrie was still sound asleep. She was curled up and looked so peaceful. My thought was, “What in God's name does she see in me. I'm nobody special. Yes, I am in good shape and I do treat her with respect, but she is absolutely beautiful and had I known of her, somewhere else, I would have never even attempted to approach her. I wasn't in her league, or so I thought”But here I am, one week after meeting her, and totally in love. I could not even fathom life without her in it. But reality would soon be creeping up on us. I knew she would be leaving mid-week. Would this all end after she left, and had time to really think this through? Only time will tell.I padded to the kitchen and made coffee. As it brewed I stood looking out the back door window. The skies were an ugly gray. Rain was falling. We knew this was coming, after viewing the weather report last night. Today and tomorrow, rain.I then toasted a few bagels, and got out the cream cheese. Made us both coffee, and took it to the bedroom. As I walked in, Carrie was yawning and stretching. Her tit were in plain view, and look so delicious to me. She sat up, not bothering to cover up. “Good sign” I thought.“Good Morning Sweetheart. I thought you may enjoy some breakfast in bed” I said to her.“Oh Wow. I could definitely get used to this. Especially if you lose that robe.”We sat and enjoyed our breakfast. We also started talking about this coming week. Since it was raining today, we decided to go into town and take in a movie and then dinner at some restaurant. On Monday, we were to hike Algonquin Peak, but if it is raining, we'll need to find something else to do.She then said, “You know I leave Wednesday. I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday that I made months ago, and I can't reschedule. It just takes so long to get in to see her.”“I know you were leaving then. But, I also am going to leave that day, with you. No sense hanging around here. Be bored to death, and I know me, all I'll think of is you the whole time.”“Awe. You are so sweet to me. But this is your vacation and you had it all planned out. Stay and at least hike some more of these mountains. I'll feel bad if you miss out on that.” she said with a pouty face.I just smiled at her and told her no, it was best I do head home. I had some major cleaning to do at my place. The house I have is actually an older farm house that was my grandparents. My grandmother outlived my mom and when she died, it was left to me and Ann. Ann didn't want it, so to be fair, I paid her the half she would have received, if we had sold it.The house was nice, but very outdated. Even the furniture was from the 60's. To me, it was cool, but my needs are simple. Ann has been bugging me for almost a year now to at least get some new furniture, if not update the whole place. My office is actually the dining room.I tell you this because I have never brought anyone there, especially a date. So bringing Carrie there, as it looks right now, is totally out of the question. As I told her this, she just laughed. She asked if I keep it clean, or was I a typical guy, and let things go until I can't stand it anymore. I told her I always keep it clean, it's just very outdated.“You big lug, I don't care about stuff like that. I will care if it smells like the gym on board a ship smells like. That is so gross.” and we both laughed.We finished our coffee and bagels, and set our cups and napkins on the nightstand. She pulled the cover down and asked me to slide in. We started kissing and making out some, when her phone rang. “Perfect timing” I thought. She looked at the phone and said, “It's Jenny. Hope all is alright. She is never up this early.”“She hit some button and I saw Jenny's face appear on the screen. Luckily, Carrie had the sheet up above her tit, and I was safely off to the side.“Hi Sweetheart”“Hi Mom. Hope I am not disturbing you.”“No Sweetie. You're good. We were just having breakfast.”“Oh. In bed too. I take it Marine guy is nearby.”Carrie laughed, “If you must know young Jen, he is right here, and his name is Mark, not Marine guy. But you knew that” “Hey just giving you a hard time. Hi Mark.” Carrie moved the phone over to where I could see her and she see me. I had just put the robe back on, so I was decent.“Hi Jenny. Very nice to meet you. I must say, you are as pretty as your mother.”Jen smiled; “Thank you. I hope to get to meet you when you two get back from your little vacation.”“I would say that is a very good possibility, unless your Mom gets rid of me by then. Lots of mountain tops she could push me off of, up here.” I said with a laugh.Carrie turned the phone back to her and said, “What did you two do this weekend? Is Alan still there?”Jen smiled this sly smile “Yeah. He is still asleep. We went to dinner and a late movie, then came back here. The main reason I am calling is that Papa called a bit ago, or I'd be sleeping too. He and grandma are coming up next weekend”My eyes got real big, but Carrie just chuckled, “That's great. When are they coming in?”“Friday evening, and staying here for a few days, then going to aunty Bev's for a few days. And Mark. Papa had a message for you. “Don't crap where you eat son.” He said you'd understand completely.”I just shook my head. Great. He's gonna shit when he hears his daughter and I are now dating.Carrie was laughing now. Jen wanted to know what that was about. Carrie said she'd tell her when she sees her this week. They carried on for a few more minutes as Jen filled her in on stuff. Now Jen did look somewhat similar to her mom, from what I could see on the phone. That same light caramel color, with long flowing brown hair, and a gorgeous smile. Alan should consider himself a very lucky man. They signed off then after saying goodbye's and Jen saying bye to me too, telling me to take very good care of her mother, or else.I asked, “Are you sure she isn't your blood daughter? You two look so much alike.”“I wish she was. But No. Her parents were Puerto Rican, so the skin color is close. She shorted too, only 5 foot 3. She is an angel. You think Dad dotes over me? Wait till you see him around Jenny. I feel bad for Alan. He's met Dad twice now and is scared shitless of him. But Daddy wants only the best for his girls.”“Yeah, well, I am wondering now what is he going to say about us being together. He still scares the shit out of me.”She laughed, “Oh I don't know. I'll let you know after I tell him how you been having your way with me this whole week.” then laughed some more. She then opened his robe, grabbed his semi stiff member and stroke it.She giggled, the looked at him and stated, “Umm, I wonder what he'd say if he knew I was doing this.”, as she lowered her head to my manhood and sucked the head in.“Oh God Carrie.”The PromiseCarrie and Mark settle in to everyday life, once they return from their week and a half camping and hiking trip, after finding love in those mountains.I asked, “Are you sure she isn't your blood daughter? You two look so much alike.”“I wish she was. But No. Her parents were Puerto Rican, so the skin color is close. She shorter too, only 5 foot 3.. She is an angel. You think Dad dotes over me? Wait till you see him around Jenny. I feel bad for Alan. He's met Dad twice now and is scared shitless of him. But Daddy wants only the best for his girls.”“Yeah, well, I am wondering now what is he going to say about us being together. He still scares the shit out of me.”She laughed, “Oh I don't know. I'll let you know after I tell him how you been having your way with me this whole week.” then laughed some more. She then opened my robe, grabbed my semi stiff member and stroke it.She giggled, the looked at him and stated, “Umm, I wonder what he'd say if he knew I was doing this.”, as she lowered her head to my manhood and sucked the head in.“Oh God Carrie.”Chapter 16.The rest of that day, and into Monday, it did nothing but rain. So exploring any of the mountain tops was curtailed. We pretty much hung around the cabin in just our robes that day. The only time we dressed was to go to dinner, down into town. Neither of us felt like cooking. It was very hard for me to resist getting Carrie naked and just making love all day, but she needed to know that our relationship, that we both professed our love for each other, was more than just a physical thing, but also emotional.You see Carrie is a very beautiful woman. She is 5 foot 7, 130 pounds, with caramel colored skin, almost like Halle Berry skin tone. Her hair is short now too, with blonde highlights mixed in with her brown hair. Totally sexy in my eyes. She has amazing legs that are long and toned and a great ass. What turns me on the most is her tits. They are a large A, or small B cup. I love a woman with small tits.I am 5 foot 10, 175 pounds, and been told by many, a handsome man. I keep in shape, and that is because after spending 20 years in the Marines, you get used to working out. It's just ingrained into your fabric. I was single too, for all of those years. Never had a serious relationship, except for a semi one, back in my 20's, when I lived with a girl for a few months. But she didn't enjoy my deployments too much and wanted more. It was mostly a sex thing for us, and a place for us both to crash, when we were screwing.But now, a week and a half later, I am totally in love with this goddess, and she with me as well. What is funny too, I know her parents, or to be more specific, her father. He was a Master Chief in the Navy, and was on the aircraft Carrier Lincoln at the same time I was, years ago, when I was a Staff Sergeant in the Marines. Great guy too, but could scare the hell out of you. Carrie too, was in the Navy back then, but I do not think we ever crossed paths, since she worked on base, and, was also married back then to a Seal, which she now divorced from.Like I said earlier, we only got dressed that Sunday for dinner, then that Monday, a day we were supposed to visit another Adirondacks peak, it rained as well. We did go driving around and admired the countryside and had a fine dinner at the Italian restaurant we found the previous week.Then on Tuesday, we decided to go horseback riding. We found a place about 20 minutes from the cabin, near Lake Clear. We had a great time exploring the area by horseback. I have to admit, my ass was quite sore by the time we got through, as was Carrie's. There was a few times I would hang back, behind her and admire her ass as it bounced up and down in the saddle.She looked back one time and caught me. “God, don't you ever tire of looking at my big ass?”I just chuckled and told her, “Hell No. I love your ass, and it is hardly big. Remind me later to massage it for you, because if mine is sore, I know yours has to be.”“Maybe I will let you. Not sure if I want you touching it later. Now get up her next to me.” then whispered to me, after I got close, “You be a good boy, and I'll let you see it naked later.”, then laughed and rode away from me.After our ride, we stopped in this tavern that also featured home cooked meals. We both decided on burgers and fries. Normally, we both try to stay away from fried foods, but, as we both found out from talking, we like to cheat on occasion.By the time we got back to the cabin, nighttime was upon us and this was our last night together. I know we both pledged our love to one another, but after tonight, she may get a dose of reality when she got back home, and say, “No way” to being in a relationship. For me, I was all in. I never wanted anything more in my life, than to be with this beautiful, smart, witty and energetic woman.After getting into the cabin, I started a fire in the fireplace and Carrie went off to the bedroom, to get ready to shower. After I had a nice fire going, she came out in her robe and asked me to join her. As we washed each other down, removing the horse smell from our bodies, we kissed and held each other. We both took turns drying each other, then donned our robes and made our way to the couch. Before I sat down, I went and got us each a glass of wine.“Mark?” she said, and I looked at her. She had a tear on her cheek, for which I lightly brushed away. “What's wrong Honey?” I asked.“This is our last night here. This has been the best vacation I have ever experienced. Had you told me two weeks ago that I would meet the man of my dreams, I would have said you are so full of shit. But here I am, sitting next to you. I am so in love with you and I am also scared silly about tomorrow.” she explainedI knew what she meant, when she said she is scared. I am too. We get back to our real lives and the fantasy just fades away. She was deeply hurt all those years ago and opening up and allowing someone in, has to be tough for her to do. For me, it is a new experience. One I have never had before. If it does end, it will hurt, but I know I can move on from it, I think.“Carrie. I'm scared too. Once we are home and reality sets in for you, you may say, screw this. I have never opened up to anyone in my life, except for you. I just hope that you will grow with me. I'm going to make mistakes. You may want something, but I'm too stupid to know and understand, but like anything in life, you learn. One thing I will promise you and this is I will always be true to only you. I love you and will never do anything to hurt you.”“Oh Mark. No man has ever made me feel this way. We'll take each day as it comes and just know I will never hurt you as well. But be forewarned now, I can get bitchy. I don't mean to be, but it happens and when it does, just leave me be, and I will be fine. I think the hardest part of tomorrow is going to be not being with you, especially at night. After a week of sharing a bed together, and feeling so close to you, it is going to suck not having your arms around me tomorrow night, or this weekend. If I didn't have that appointment Thursday, I'd let you stay with me tomorrow, but I know us, we make love, and since this is a gynecologist I am seeing, sex wouldn't be the most prudent thing for me to do. And then this weekend, with my parents in town, I'm not sure what they'd say about us sleeping together.”I laughed, “Yeah, I could just see the look on your dad's face when we told them goodnight and padded off to bed. As for sex. We don't always have to have it you know. I mean I'll never turn it down, but I also know there is more to us than just sex. But tomorrow after we get home, and then at night, we'll probably both be too tired to do anything. Plus, like I said, I need to straighten up the place. One thing though. On Thursday, I would like to take you and Jenny to dinner, Alan too. That way, she has someone there who she is comfortable with, just in case she can't stand me.”“Oh Stop. She is going to love you. I'll call her tomorrow and set it up. Now! Take me to bed for the last time here and hold me Baby. I want to fall asleep in your arms.”Chapter 17.We got up early for some reason, and took a shower together. I still marvel at this exceptionally beautiful woman. She makes my heart race anytime I am near here. And when we are naked, it quadruples in magnitude. We did not have sex, but we did hold and caress each other until the water started turning cold.We were then packed and on our way home. She drove in front of me for the next 4 hours. We did talk on the phone a couple of times. The last time was just before my exit, which is a couple before hers. I called her and told her I would call her later and that I loved her. I could hear in her voice, a hitch, just like I had in mine. I missed her already and I had just exited from the roadway.Once I was home, I did a load of laundry, then went and started dusting and vacuuming the place. Not a thing I do a lot of. Of course my sister always comes over and does it at times, and bitches me out when she does. I then cut the grass, which was needed after two weeks of not touching it. It takes two hours to cut this lawn, and that's with a tractor. While I was cutting, I did miss a call from Carrie. She also texted me, just saying she was thinking of me and loved me. I texted back apologizing that I didn't answer her and explained why, and that I would call her later.We did talk around 6 that evening. She too was busy with housework and laundry. She strip the beds, not knowing which bed Jenny and Alan slept in. I had to laugh at that. She chuckled too but said, “It's one thing to sleep in our wet spot, but I'm surely not sleeping in theirs.” Which made me laugh hard.About 10 that night, I called her. She was lying in bed, reading a book. She conveyed to me that Jenny was ecstatic over meeting us for dinner and really happy I had included Alan. They were going to meet us at Carrie's at 6pm tomorrow. I told Carrie we would try Delmonico's Steakhouse, which was kind of close to her.She chuckled and said, “Oh fancy place. You know, you don't have to take us there. There's a nice restaurant right down the street from us.”“That's cool. But I want too. How many college kids can go to a place like this. Plus I have always wanted to try it, but, I'm not going alone. Ann said the food is excellent there.”“Speaking of Ann, did you call her and inform her that you are bringing someone Sunday?” she asked.“Oh yeah. She is so excited now. She can't wait to meet you. I told her that your parents were going to be in from Florida and I didn't know what plans they had that day. She said to bring them along too. The more the merrier.”Carried giggled, then said, “I don't know if your sister has a clue what Dad can be like. Just don't bring up politics. He thinks they are all thieves and liars.” which made me laugh.Then she got quiet. “Anything wrong? You are quiet now “ She sighed, “No, just missing lying next to you, with your arms around me. I feel so safe then. I love you Mark”“I love you too, Carolyn, and I do miss being with you. It was a very long day without you near me.” I told her.“It was a long day for me as well. I don't know how or why this happened between us, but I am so happy that you are in my life now. Maybe tomorrow night, you can spend it here with me, if you want too.” she said.“I think that can be arranged. You know what I do miss? You calling me Jarhead. When you say it, it means something to me.”“I told you, after last weekend, I was done calling you that, but if you insist, I'll just call you JH.”“I insist Squid. Now get some sleep. Just know, I love you Carrie and I am holding you in my dreams tonight.”Chapter 18.I knew Carrie had an appointment at 11am, so I didn't want to bother her, but did send her a text, after I got up and said good morning and I love you. She replied instantly to it, saying she was about to shower and get ready and she loved me too.I was pretty proud of myself. I dusted and swept the whole house. Not that I am a slob, but those are two jobs I really don't enjoy doing. Hell, living alone and never having people over, except for my sister, afforded me the luxury of not caring too much to do that. But with Carrie in my life, I guess I need to change my way of thinking.I then immersed myself in a project that I had been working on for this one company. I needed to do something to keep my mind occupied, since I would not be seeing her until later in the afternoon. I was surprised though, that by 3pm, I hadn't heard anything from her. I hope all went well with her doc appointment.I had told her that I would be over by 5:30, so we could spend some time alone, before Jenny and Alan showed up. By 4:30, I was shaved, and showered, then dressed for the evening. Since it was cool out, I wore dark blue pants, and lighter blue shirt, with a dark blue sport coat. I wanted to look good for when I met Jenny, and convey, I'm not some unkempt slob, who was dating her mother. I'm generally a jeans and t-shirt, or sweatshirt, kind of guy.I couldn't stand the wait any longer and decided to arrive a bit sooner. I got to her house at 5:15, so just a little bit early. After ringing the doorbell a few times, Carrie finally opened the door. Although she smiled when she let me in, I could tell something was amiss with her. After a brief hug and quick kiss on the lips, we stood back from one another.Carrie was wearing a burgundy pleated dress. It came to just above the knees. The neckline plunged just a bit, with white lace around the edges, with short sleeves as well. She looked radiant.“Wow. You look absolutely beautiful Sweetie.” I told her. She just said thanks, but that was it. Then said she had to finish getting ready. My antennae was now up. I could sense something was wrong. This girl was always so bubbly, and that definitely was not the case now. So I just walked around her living room, looking at pictures on the wall of Jenny, and her parents, and some people I had no clue of who they were. Then just took a seat and waited for her.For me, this was something new. I did not know what to say or do. Did I do something wrong, that may have upset her? Who knew, but this was not the Carrie I just spent almost two weeks with, had fun with, and made love too on many occasions. So I'm basically a fish out of water now. I made up my mind to just go with the flow, and when she is ready to talk, I'll be there, and hopefully, understand what is going on.Of course, my fear was she was going to end this between us. She had time to reflect and said that this wasn't worth it. If that is how she felt, then who was I to pursue it any further. I don't want to be with someone who did not want the same as me. Sitting there waiting, makes your mind think weird ass things, like I just did. Then again, maybe it wasn't anything and she is just having a bad day, or is nervous about me meeting Jenny.She finally emerged from wherever she was in her condo. When I saw her, she looked the same, so I have no idea what else she could have been doing. She walked into her kitchen and got a bottle of water, then asked if I wanted one too, which I kindly said no too.I finally got the courage to ask, “Is there something wrong?”She looked at me and had a sullen look on her face, then finally said “No. Guess I am just tired from all the prodding and poking today. I'm sorry I am not more upbeat.”I got up and went to her and wrapped my arms around her, “If you want to cancel tonight, that would be okay with me. We keep go out with them some other time, when you are feeling more up to it.”“No. No. I am fine. It will be fine. We'll go have a fun night with them. Jenny is so looking forward to meeting you.” she said, as she pulled away from me and went into the living room. “We'll talk later tonight, when we get back.”I knew from how she stated it, something was wrong. But, being a dumb man, I have no clue as to what. I didn't want to piss her off by asking questions. Maybe something at the doc's. I guess when she is ready, she will let me know. I walked up next to her and grabbed her hand, just to let her know I was there for her. At that point, her front door opened and in walked Jenny and Alan.Jenny was definitely a looker. I would say 5 foot 3, maybe 110 pounds, brown hair and eyes, and the cutest dimples. She did have bigger boobs than her mom, but since she was adopted, that made sense. But the irony of how much the two looked alike was uncanny. Alan was a good looking guy too. He had that German look to him. Blond hair, blue eyes, chiseled face and stood about 6 foot, but maybe weighed 170 pounds, if that.After making the introductions and some small talk, we left her condo and headed to dinner in my truck.At dinner, Carrie seemed to be her normal self. Well, at least the normal I had seen for the last two weeks. Jenny was regaling us with stories from her college life and some of things her and Alan had been doing of late, except for the sex part. I don't think Carrie, or myself, needed or wanted to know those details.As dinner was finally coming to an end, I had to admit, I was kind of quiet. I just let the three of them guide the evening and the conversation. Jenny did inquire what I actually did for a living, so I explained it to her. She was impressed, as was Alan. I tried not to let my concerns for Carrie, or our budding relationship ruin the evening. In my heart though, I had a bad feeling, this would be the last time I would see these three people.Near the end of dinner, Carrie announced that she needed to use the ladies room. Alan also said he need to use the facility, which then left just me and Jenny. I wasn't sure what to say to her, so I let her make the first move on talking.  “okay Mark. What's up with mom? Did you two have an argument or something?” Jenny asked.I shook my head, “Jenny. I have no idea what is wrong tonight. When I arrived this evening, she was down for some reason and won't tell me why. Yesterday we were fine, but ever since her doctor visit, she has changed. Maybe she has done some thinking and decided a relationship is not what she wants. Until she tells me, I am in the dark.”Jenny reached over and touched my arm. “I don't know either, but I do know that she and I talked last night for an hour and she is head over heels in love with you, and says you are with her as well. Are you Mark? Are you in love with my Mom?”“Nothing has changed for how I feel for your mother Jenny. I am in love with her. But, if she has had a change of heart, then I will abide by her wishes. Maybe we moved too fast. I don't know. To be honest Jenny. I have never been in love before, so this is a new territory for me. But if she had time to reflect now, and feels this isn't what she wants, well, I don't want to force anything like that on her. I just want her happy.”Jenny just shook her head, “I can't believe her mind could change like that. Something must be wrong and she just needs time to process it. Maybe you two can talk later. When we get back to my mom's, Alan and I are going to leave, and give you two some space to talk. Oh, and by the way, Papa really does like you. He thinks you are a good man.”Just as she said that, Carrie was walking back. Alan came a minute later. The waitress came around and asked if any of us wanted dessert, but we all begged off, since our meals were so filling.On the way home, Carrie was pretty quiet. In fact, you could probably cut the tension with a knife, that was between us. Jenny and Alan were pretty quiet too. I'd have done anything to hear some funny story either of them may have had right then.After arriving back at Carrie's condo, we all got out and Jenny said that they needed to get going. Carrie said she wished they could stay longer, but the kids said they had some homework they needed to finish up, but would see us this weekend. Of course my mind didn't think I would be involved with this family get together.As they left, Carrie turned and headed to her door, and I followed. Once inside, she asked if I wanted anything to drink, which I kindly declined. She went to the kitchen and got a bottle of water then rejoined me in the living room. I wanted to get this over with, so I started it off.  “okay Carolyn, please tell me what is wrong. I need to know.” I said in a somber voice.“Let's sit” she said, and we both did. She faced me and I could see a tear starting to form in her eye. My stomach became a knot now. My fears were now becoming reality, at least in my mind.“I wish I knew where to start, but I have to say, that no man has ever made me feel the way you make me feel. But I really think we need to step back and take a break for now.”, then she started crying. I reach for her, but she backed away. That made it feel like a knife was just plunged into my heart.“Carrie. How can you go from being so in love, to wanting to take a break, just like that. There is more than what you are telling me. So please tell me what has caused this sudden change in feelings.”She was still sobbing, trying to get her emotions under control, then finally looked at me and said, “Mark. They found a growth on one of my ovaries today. After the Pelvic exam, she did and ultrasound and found it. They want me to see a specialist next Tuesday then do some testing.” then started crying again. This time she let me pull her towards me. I knew this isn't good, but this is also something that can be taken care of. I had a cousin once have something similar to this and they removed a cyst the size of an egg from her, and she was fine then.“It's  okay Carrie. I'm sure it's nothing that medicine or an operation can't take care of.” I told her.“And what if it isn't Mark? What if it is cancer. Why should you be saddled with that in your life. We've known each other not even two fucking weeks. Although the best two weeks of my life. But this is not something you need to be part of. Your best bet is to turn around, walk away and get on with your life, like I never existed.” and started crying again.I pulled her into me again and held her tight. Her head was buried in my shoulder, and I caressed her hair and let her cry. I mean, if I was in her position, I'd probably tell her the same things. But I may not know her completely, but what I know of her already, she has a fierce loyalty to people she cares for and loves, and I know she wouldn't walk away either.After letting her sob some more, I gently moved her back, and away from me, so I could speak to her. “Sweetheart. There is no way I am letting you do this alone. Granted, we have only known each other for two weeks, but in these two weeks, you have captured my heart with every fiber of your being. I am in love with you Missy. People who love one another don't turn tail and run because of something traumatic happens to the other person. You stand with them, be their support and showed them love, for that is the only thing that can help get you through this. I have been a Marine for all of my adult life and one thing that is ingrained in us, from the time of our first day in boot camp, is that you never let the man next to you, or when you are a sergeant, your platoon, you never abandon them. No man is ever left behind. You're wounded Honey, so I will not leave you behind, so get used to that. When this is all over and you still feel this way, then you can tell me to hit the bricks.”She just stared at me, and while trying to compose herself, she gripped my hand in hers. “It's not fair to you Mark. What if it is cancer and it can't be fixed, then what? You going to just wait around and watch me die? You could be out finding that right person, instead of babysitting me.”“Stop it Carrie. You have no idea what it is. It could be a simple cyst, that meds could take care of. But one thing I do know, I will be with you this Tuesday, and any other day you need to have something done. I will be the first person you see when you wake up. But I will be there and I will always be there for you. I love you.”“Mark. It's not fair.” she shouted, then started crying again. “You're right. It's not fair. But who said life is. But I am not walking away. In fact I am more in love with you now, than I was 20 minutes ago. I don't know about you, but I have every intention of growing old with you. We have too much to do with our lives. So baby doll, I am not leaving you, Not ever.”“Carrie. Do you love me?” I asked. “Damn you Jarhead. You know I do.” she said. “Good. Don't you ever hold back something like this again from me. I won't either from you. But Babe, we can only help one another if we are open and honest with each other. Why don't you go get ready for bed. I'm not going home tonight, but I will sleep on the couch.”She shook her head and got up. As she did, she reached for my hand, “You are not, nor will you ever sleep on the couch. Your place is beside me in bed. I'm so sorry for ever thinking you would want out of this. I do love you Mark. More than you will ever know”She led me up the stairs to her bedroom. We both stripped off of our clothes. I had on the white silk boxers she got me. She put on this long t-shirt with a Minion on the front. She looked cute. We both used her bathroom then climbed into bed, where she snuggled up to me and let me hold her close. Her head rested on my chest.“Mark?” she said softly. “Carrie?” I answered back. “I am sorry. I promise never to do that to you again. I'm also sorry I was a Debbie Downer tonight at dinner, and even before. I'm sure Jenny could tell something was wrong.”“Oh yeah she could. She thought that you and I had an argument. Your daughter is quite perceptive. After meeting her now, I have to say, you two do favor one another. Alan is one lucky man and judging how he dotes on her, he knows it too. They do make a nice couple. I just hope I made a good impression with her. I wasn't to talkative tonight.”“Well, I think you'll get a few more chances this weekend to really win her over. But I can tell she likes you already. If she talks a lot, she likes you. Had she just sat there and not talked much, then that means she doesn't want anything to do with you.”“You know, last night, I was so lonely without you next to me. I hugged my pillow thinking it was you. Except your body is a bit more muscular. I had so many plans for tonight, with us ending the night in bed making love. I want too, but I don't want to do that until we know what is going on down there.”My hand was stroking her back, when I said, “I don't know about you, but this is making love Baby. I'm not in this for the sex. I'm in this because of love. Holding you close, telling our feelings to each other, that is true love making in my book. I'm not too good with stuff like this, but I have never felt this way for another human being. We'll have plenty of time for lovemaking, and dare I say, some naughty sex.”She snuggled even closer and let her hand rub on my chest and belly. “Thank You. You make me feel so loved. I love you Mark. Oh and I like what you wore under your pants. You do look sexy in these boxers.”“I love you too Carolyn. Now get some sleep. We have a long weekend ahead of us. That is if you want me around all the time.”“Of course I want you around the whole time. Not sure about sleeping together. Daddy may have a hard time with that one.” then giggled.Chapter 19.In the morning we agreed to take separate showers instead of together. We both agreed it would be too tempting, had we gone in together. She did tease me though by removing her shirt and slowly saunter into the bathroom, giggling the whole way. I would say My Carrie was back.Her parents flight was due in at 4pm. I told Carrie I needed to catch up on a few things at the house, but would be back in time to go with her to pick them up. She must have texted me twenty times, just saying I love you. That made me feel good.I picked Carrie up at 3pm and went to the airport to meet her parents. She was very happy today. A far cry from yesterday's somber mood she was in. She was wearing a maroon cashmere sweater and black slacks. I too had black slacks on and a blue crew neck sweater. The whole trip there she held my hand, as she did once we were there and waited.Like all airports now, you had to wait down in the baggage area. It took about 10 minutes after their plane arrived, before we saw them coming down the escalator. Once Carrie spotted them, she pulled me along until they were on top of us, and went and hugged her mom, then her dad.Then Mrs. Reynolds gave me a hug and a kiss, and said I still looked like I did when we met in Norfolk all those years ago. Chief shook my hand then said, “You ain't giving me no damn hug son.” I just laughed and told him, “Not in your life you crotchety old bastard.” which made us all laugh.After arriving back at Carrie's, we saw that Jenny was there waiting for us. Alan was with her, but I could see the tension in his face. The old man did scare the shit out of him. I took him aside and told him, just to relax, but show no sign of fear to the chief. He eats that shit up. He sort of laughed and said, oh sure, easier said than done Mr. Roberts. I told him for now on, call me Mark. Save the mister for the other guy.We all then went to dinner, after the couple relaxed a bit after their flight. It was one of those chain restaurants. We all had a good time and of course, Chief had to regale us with stories when I was aboard the Lincoln. That's when Jenny asked about the “don't shit where you eat comment”, but cleaned it up some because of her mom and grandma there. Chief went on to explain about this one newly appointed petty officer I had an eye on. After he finished, everyone laughed, only because he made sound more colorful than it actually was.After we got back to Carrie's, the girls busied themselves in the kitchen, leaving myself, Alan, and the Chief alone in the living room. I could see Alan was a bit apprehensive about being in there. I'm sure he was never prepared for anything like this in college.  “okay you two Shitbirds.” chief started out. “Those three fine ladies in there mean the world to me. And two of them, for some ungodly reason happen to like you two. All I ever wanted for those two is complete happiness. If you can't give them that, leave now, otherwise, I need a promise to never ever hurt them, no matter what.”“You have my word on that Chief. Never doubt that.” I said, as the chief then nodded once to me. Alan then looked at him and said, “Sir, my only intention is to make Jenny happy, so I promise.” Chief just glared at him. Alan was unsure of what he said, but knew he didn't like something. I looked at Alan and said, “Alan. Relax. Just don't call Mr. Reynolds sir. Non Com's, noncommissioned officers, like we both were, do not like getting called sir, by anyone. And Chief, chill out, he isn't military.”Chief just chuckled. “Yeah, and don't call me Mr. Reynolds. Makes me feel old. Call me John for now on, or at least until you guys make it legal between those gals in there, then we'll figure out what you call me then. And Alan, you did good kid. You didn't break, like so many Seaman have, right out of boot camp.” then just smiled.Just then the girls came back from the kitchen with drinks. From that point on, the mood was light and cheerful. I just sat back and watched how this family interacted. They are like most families, I guess. Since it is just my sister and myself, except for an uncle and aunt and three cousin's, I really couldn't tell you what a big family is like. Mine though, is quite boisterous and not afraid of speaking their minds on any subject.About an hour went by when Jenny and Alan said their goodbye's. They were going to the football game the next afternoon and wanted to get some sleep. We sat up a bit more with John and Connie, telling a lot of what we did up in the mountains. Well, not everything, or I am sure, he'd have killed me by now.I was getting up, so I could make my leave too, when Carrie asked me to join her in the kitchen. I had no idea what she wanted, but went with the flow and followed her in.“I don't want you going back to your place tonight. You are sleeping with me, unless you don't want too.” she said, giving me her little pouty face she likes to do now and then.“I'm not sure how your parents will feel about that. I don't want to cause any trouble for you, or me either.”Carried just chuckled, “Don't worry about them. I am 41 you know. Plus, me and mom talked out here. She knows you and I have slept together from almost the beginning of us meeting. She is fine with it, and she'll take care of dad. As she put it, “That boy is over the moon for you Honey. Treat him good and he'll treat you like a queen.” So don't worry. But, we can't play around. That would be too weird.” and we both laughed softly at that.Carrie then grabbed my hand and walked towards the stairs, to go upstairs. “Night you two” she said as she passed by them. Her mom said night, but Chief just grunted something. I am pretty sure I will get an earful, next time we are alone.Once in the bedroom, Carrie went to her dresser and opened a drawer, pulled out pajamas. They were blue, red, and white checkerboard style print. She said she went shopping today and got these. She is wearing the top and the bottoms were for me. She stripped down to just her panties, which for once, were not thong style. She still looked sexy as all get out. I stripped too to my boxers and t-shirt. She then went to the bathroom and came out a few minutes later. I followed suit and did my business. She let me know there was a toothbrush on the sink for me, that she just got too.When I came back out, she was already in bed and awaited me. I crawled in next to her. We kissed and held each other close. Like I said when the first time we slept in a bed together, I could definitely get used to this.“Mark Honey. I need to apologize for yesterday. I was so wrong to try and push you away from me. I would have been crushed had you just said  okay, and left. But you didn't. That told me right there how much you love me. So thank you for being here for me. I love you Mark. It grows stronger every minute of the day. I wish right now we could make love, but until I know what is really up with this, we're going to have to take a rest from that. I hope you understand.”I leaned in and kissed her forehead and pulled her tighter to me. God, I love the way she feels.“Sweetheart, you need not apologize for anything. It has to be a shock to you, that is for sure. But, I will always be there for you, no matter what. We'll see this through, together. As for making love right now. This is making love, I believe. The sex is just the icing on the cake, so to speak. Plus, if you think I would have sex with you, with your parents just down the hall, you are crazy.”Carrie was just about to say something, when we both heard a light thumping sound. I started to chuckle, but Carrie said shush. It was definitely a rhythm thump going on.I chuckled and said, “You're kidding right?” Carrie laughed quietly and said, “Oh yeah. I think dad and mom are doing the horizontal hula. Trust me Hun. As far back as I can remember, they are one horny couple. I hope when I am their age, I still want it that much.”Carrie's hand reached under the waistband of my bottoms and boxers and started playing with Mr. happy. “God, I wish this was inside me now. “ She stroked it a few times so it was now almost hard. Then she rolled over on her side, so we could spoon. I too lay on my side and pulled her into me, so our bodies melded together. My hardness nestled up against her beautiful ass, which she then wiggled a bit. My arm lay over her and rested on her tummy. She took that hand and brought up, and inside her top and placed it on her one tit. My hand instantly enveloped her tit and held it gently. “God. I love your hand there” she cooed. “Night Mark. I love you” “I love you too Carrie”To be continued, by T. Foxal.

Frontiers of Faith
Digital Missions: The Role of Awe with Drew Lowen

Frontiers of Faith

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 25, 2025 26:34


Send us a textIn this episode of Frontiers of Faith, host Katie Ruvalcaba speaks with Drew Lowen, a digital missionary and co-founder of Catholic Creator Conference. They discuss the evolving role of digital missionaries in evangelization, the importance of evoking awe rather than division in content creation, and the integration of AI in the creative process. Drew shares insights on the tangible impacts of his online ministry, the significance of community and mentorship, and his vision for the future of digital Catholic content.

In Awe by Bruce
Jubilee-Cycle Prophetic Code with Joseph F. Dumond

In Awe by Bruce

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 25, 2025


From the mountains of Saudi Arabia to the ruins of Noah's Ark in Turkey, Joseph F. Dumond has spent over four decades uncovering prophetic patterns hidden in plain sight. His discoveries about the Jubilee cycles, the Red Heifer's coming sacrifice in 2026, and the shocking fulfillment of biblical prophecies in our headlines today… will shake you. Joseph F Dumond I was born in 1958 to an Anglican mother and a Catholic father. I was raised Catholic and married my high school sweetheart, Barbara, in 1978 after graduating in 1977 from Orangeville District Secondary School in Ontario, Canada.Barbara and I had our daughter in 1981, our son in 1982, and then later our third child—another son in 1990. We wanted to be good parents and began to attend the Catholic church weekly, but we learned very little about God at this time.In 1981, I first heard Herbert Armstrong teaching about the Sabbath on my car radio late one night on my way to work in Eastern Ontario. He was teaching about the ancestry of the French people, which I found very interesting as I worked on my family tree, but I was not able to write his contact information down while I drove.A few days later, I heard him again as I left from work and wrote in to request some material. That winter of 1981-82, I found myself studying the Bible unlike I had ever done in the past. I was desperately trying to prove wrong what he said about the Sabbath being Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. How could one billion Catholics be keeping the Sabbath on the wrong day?I worked seven days a week as a foreman, supervising natural gas pipeline workers. There was no way I could possibly take a day off to attend church on Saturday. But finally, after six months of solid day and night study, I could no longer discount just how clear Yehovah has always been on this matter and that we all should be keeping the Sabbath. I was forced to conclude the seventh day Saturday Sabbath had never changed, and that it was the Catholic Church that was to blame for changing the Saturday Sabbath to Sunday, so I began to attend the Worldwide Church of God (WCG) in April of 1982.About a month after my first visit, I learned about the Holy Days. Through those Holy Days—all of which are found in Leviticus 23—I was able to learn of Yehovah's divinely inspired plan for mankind and how it was all to come together. I attended the WCG from 1982-1994. Hebert Armstrong died in 1986 and the Church he left behind began to return to—and look more and more like—the Catholic Church. There were many splits during these years.I left the WCG after attending Sukkot in 1994. They were now serving communion which is what we did every Sunday in the Catholic faith. I began to study on my own from that week onward. Because my wife was not interested, I would leave the house each Saturday and drive to a deserted dead-end road and study there alone—and did so until 9/11 took place in 2001.The Sabbath after 9/11, I was attending the United Church of God (UCG) which was one of the many offshoots of the WCG. While there, I began to write just a few articles for the Good News Magazine and the monthly newspaper published by the UCG.In the winter of 2004-05, I heard about Michael Rood and Nehemia Gordon giving a teaching in Lansing, Michigan. I drove down and for the first time learned that God had a name, that the Hillel calendar I was currently following began in 358 C.E., and the original calendar used by Yehshua and the Apostles was the crescent moon to begin the month and the barley each spring to begin the year. Once again, I was being challenged in my beliefs. Once again, I began an intensive search to discover the truth.I was not sure which methodology was correct, so I decided to keep both and no one would know. The Holy Days would only be a couple days apart at the most. Then Nehemia announced the barley was Aviv and they would be keeping the Holy Days one month before those on the Hillel calendar. I decided to keep both calendars anyway, even though they would be 30 days apart. On Passover according to the barley, I discovered the proof scripture showing me absolutely which calendar was correct. It was when Yehshua said no man could know the day or the hour. Then on that same day through Qadesh La Yahweh Press, Yehovah showed me the Jubilee years, when they were, and how to prove them. They had written about 11 historical Sabbatical and Jubilee years.I was able to connect the curses of Leviticus 26 to these Jubilee cycles. I was then able to bridge the gap between the Old and New Testament chronologies because of the Jubilee cycles, one of which (the year they entered the Promised Land) I discovered when I did the Genesis chronology. This led me to know that the end of the 6th millennial day of mankind would be in 2044.This also led me to understand the prophecy of Daniel 9, which shows there are 70 Jubilee cycles from the Exodus—and it was not talking about Jesus. The middle of the 70th week, or 70th Jubilee cycle, was 2020. I began warning about 2020 starting in 2005. Then the COVID-19 pandemic impacted the entire world in 2020.In the WCG I had learned how the Holy Days of Leviticus 23 explained the plan of salvation, but it was not until I combined the Jubilee cycles with those Holy Days that it all came together.I had begun to talk to the brethren about all I was discovering and by August 2006 I was asked to leave the UCG. That same month I began our website, Sightedmoon.com. The internet was still new and growing fast. This is when we began to write a weekly newsletter and share all those things we were discovering about the Jubilee cycles and prophecy, which I had written up in short articles since Passover 2005.I never wanted to be someone who teaches religion. Never. But when I saw that no one else was speaking about the Sabbatical and Jubilee cycles and how they revealed end-time prophecy, I could no longer remain silent.In 2005, I took my first tour of Israel. In 2006, I mikveh'd (baptized) in the Gihon Spring and had hands laid on me. I have not been able to shut up since this time. Then in 2007, I went to Noah's Ark in eastern Turkey on the Iranian border to prove to myself if this was true and whether I could believe in the Bible. It was at this time that I also discovered I was in the Garden of Eden. After going to Israel and then Noah's Ark, I came away knowing the accuracy of the Bible. As of December 2024, I have been conducting my own tours of Israel, having now been there 25 times, as well as climbing Mount Sinai in Saudi Arabia in 2022 where I saw the Golden Calf Altar.I continued to explain my findings to people repeatedly through our website, or in various Bible study groups, but few understood. In 2008, a friend told me to publish my writings into a book so they all would be in one place.In 2009, I kept my first Sabbatical year and let our land rest, stocking up food the year before. I also published the Sabbatical and Jubilee Charts for the first time in 2009.Having never written a book before, I was able to publish my first book The Prophecies of Abraham in 2010. I was trying to explain everything I understood in one book. I felt the least qualified to teach or to write as my English communication skills were horrendous.I assumed everyone already knew all these things I was explaining and that I was just another person saying the same old things once again. To my amazement, they did not know these things, nor had they heard such teachings before. Those double checking what I was saying could not find fault.This book, along with the charts, compares various prophetic Jubilee cycles with our current 120th cycle. Luke speaks of the days of Noah and of Lot. This is only understood when you see each of their Jubilee cycles and compare it to our own. Then that scripture makes so much more sense. Then we discovered the seven years of plenty and the seven years of famine also confirmed what I was explaining.Many people could not understand how The Prophecies of Abraham demystified the Sabbatical and Jubilee years. To help them, in 2013, I then published Remembering the Sabbatical Year of 2016. I went into great detail and explained how to know when each and every Sabbatical and Jubilee year was. I walked the reader through each step in understanding how to figure this subject out, answering every question that has been raised about this subject.I was able to present all of this for the first time in 2013 at Sukkot in Fall Creek Falls State Park in Tennessee. I was able to record all of these teachings for the very first time on video. It was during this Sukkot that I was introduced to the Tombstones of Zoar for the very first time.But the brethren still had trouble understanding the 70 weeks of Daniel 9 in relation to the Jubilee cycles. These end-time prophecies needed yet another book to explain them in great detail. This led me to publish my 4th book in 2014, The 2300 Days of Hell. I originally wanted to call it the 70 Shabua of Daniel, but no one understood the title, so I changed it just before publishing. Once you see the charts for the Jubilee cycles, you can then see how they explain the meaning of the 70 Weeks of Daniel, which were sealed until the time of the end. That time is right now.The brethren can now see many things on the nightly news that this book explains: the deception of the Paris Accords or Climate Change, and the rise of military confrontations in the Middle East, EU, Iran and China. In 2014, there was a lot of hype about the Blood Moons. Our 5th book, The Blood Moons-The Elephant in the Room, is only available as an e-book through our website, Sightedmoon.com. It shows you how there were blood moons on each of the Jewish Holy Days in the spring and in the fall just before almost every major event in the Bible, all the way back to just before the death of Adam. It is a stunning book which can only be explained when you understand the Jubilee cycles.In 2019, I was convinced of the need to write our 6th book, It Was A Riddle Not A Command, because many people would write us and say that no man knows the day or the hour, and therefore you cannot know these end-time prophecies that you are teaching in your other books. It was always disappointing to see this response, as it showed they would not and could not learn any more than what they had already come to understand at their local church or assembly. They had stopped growing. They had never learned what that expression they so often used was actually telling them—the very day our Messiah was going to come back on.In order to prove to you what this Hebrew idiom actually does mean, we must look at a few other subjects, which will again deepen your understanding of the time when our Messiah was killed and of what is meant by Revelation 12. You will also learn that Yehshua always spoke in parables to purposely not reveal the information He was teaching about to the public. He wanted them to remain ignorant because they would not take the time to learn about Him in more detail.In the Parable of the Ten Virgins, I hope you will be just like the wise virgins who bought extra oil so that they had it when they needed it. The five foolish virgins had to go buy the oil because they did not have enough, but they were too late.I had stated publicly I would close our website if nothing happened in 2020 as we had been warning in our book The 2300 Days of Hell. COVID-19 did happen, and it proved our accuracy of the Jubilee cycles, but it even took us some time to realize just how huge COVID was and what that meant.My 7th book was published in 2021. The Mystery of the Jewish Rapture 2033 was addressing the rapture debate and showing from scriptures when it was to take place. In The Mystery of the Jewish Rapture 2033, we drill down on the Rapture itself and show you exactly where it is explained and the very day and year it is to take place on—exactly as your Bible shows you. Our book It Was A Riddle Not A Command also tells you the very day our Messiah is to come, so these last two books answer that burning desire most Christians have as to when these things are to take place. This answer is not possible to know though unless you understand the Sabbatical and Jubilee years.With the restrictions of COVID diminishing in 2022, and after having seen the Golden Calf Altar and Mount Sinai in Saudi Arabia, the realization of how COVID was a signal or marker to start another countdown began to dawn on me. I was now in a rush to get our next book out, but it turned out it was going to have to be three books which we called our Elijah Trilogy.Our 8th book was titled The Restoration of All Things and published in August 2022 as part one of our Elijah Trilogy. Yehshua said that Elijah must come first, and he would restore all things, and then the Messiah would come. So, what are the “all things” that have been lost and who is restoring those things today? Once we know what to look for, then we can see those who are restoring what was lost.Out 9th book, number two in the Elijah Trilogy, is The Abomination That Makes Desolate—The Epilogue. Released January 1, 2023, this book shows you how to know when the abomination was set up. Yes, the countdown to the abomination was already winding down as we raced to publish this book. Most have no clue because they are not looking, having not seen any of the works Yehovah is doing right now worldwide. Yes, we fully expected the abomination to be set up in 2023 and I even went to Israel to specifically look for it. I wrote Prime Minster Netanyahu and the Chief Rabbi and spoke face to face with Rabbi Yehudah Glick on September 10, 2023, but no one believed me. I was so stupid, so naive. Yehshua warned us that when you see the abomination you were to flee. Yehudah did text me on October 7 to say I was right, but it was too late for many people.I found a new shrine to the Blessed Virgin Mary in the very location we expected to discover this abomination. Fortunately for me the abomination was set up on October 6, 2023, exactly 1290 days after the count had begun. To confirm this count date, the second part of Daniel's prophecy also took place 1335 days from that same marker. I experienced over 2000 rockets sent out from Gaza towards Israel and Jerusalem where I was. My understanding of prophetic events was proving to be spot on.My 10th book and 3rd book of the Elijah Trilogy was published in September 2023 and is titled The 10 Days of Awe. This book explains another understanding of the Holy Days from the Feast of Trumpets until the Day of Atonement. These 10 days are likened to the final 10 years before Satan is locked away with the Great Tribulation ending at that time. These 10 years are also connected to the curses of Revelation, as well as the 10 plagues of Egypt. I explain in this book about the curse of the Sotah woman of Numbers 5 and how each of the 10 plagues are what Yehovah is doing to show how the false gods have no power at all. My 11th book, The Stones Cry Out, published September 5, 2024, was originally going to be one book explaining all the various proofs we have discovered, demonstrating when the Sabbatical and Jubilee years are throughout history.You can know; it is not a mystery.As I began to write The Stones Cry Out, I quickly found myself going back, time and time again, to explain how the calendar is behind the confusion of the Sabbatical and Jubilee years. The Rabbis, as they began to write the Mishnah, incorporated wrong understandings, and those errors were written into what became known as the Mishnah, the Jerusalem and Babylonian Talmud and then the Mishneh Torah. The expulsion from the land and subsequent persecutions in trying to send out messengers to report the barley being found, or the crescent moon being seen, proved to be increasingly dangerous over time. All of these things took place over 14 centuries.Then as I was working on The Stones Cry Out, I discovered that many people were now accepting the Zadok calendar as factual. This is when we pivoted to include all the details of the various calendars that have crept back into public knowledge today and are being used to mislead new people who are just starting to learn about the calendar. All of this was directly connected to the period starting with the Hasmonaeans, up to the destruction of the Temple. Then with the compiling of the Mishnah, the studies that led into the writing of the Jerusalem Talmud, then the Babylonian Talmud, and finally the Mishneh Torah, each error that was added was compounded over time.The Stones Cry Out Part 1 explains the history of how each compilation of the Oral Torah incorporated errors, leading the followers thereof away from the actual Torah. In understanding these facts, it is then possible to understand more readily how the Sabbatical and Jubilee years were then mixed and later changed. By explaining all this history, I am able to help you, the reader, understand the tombstones when most authorities do not. They have assumed, to their error, the Hillel calendar to have always been used since Mount Sinai. Not understanding the history of the calendars is why most authorities dismiss the tombstones as too confusing to use. Once you understand The Stones Cry Out Part 1, Part 2 will be very easy to grasp.My 12th book, The Stones Cry Out Part 2, published in December 2024, utilizes the knowledge that there are multiple calendars being used throughout history. Reconciling them all into one cohesive chronology has been the difficulty of all chronologists. It is the lack of understanding about the various calendars why many of the Jubilee experts dismissed so many of the historical artefacts that were available to them.Some proofs are undeniable, while others are weak if they have to stand on their own. It is with a great sense of pride that I share with you what I have been able to document and what we now currently know about the Sabbatical and Jubilee proofs in our possession.Ladies and Gentlemen, this book should have actually been the first book I presented. When I began to understand the Sabbatical and Jubilee years in 2005, at that time I only had 11 Sabbatical years as a reference. From just those 11, I was able to prove a 2nd Jubilee year. Considering we only knew about one Jubilee year prior to this discovery and proof, I was excited. With just these 12 proofs, I have come to understand all the prophecies I have shared with you over the years in all of our books.All of these books, all of this understanding was only possible because of the understanding gained from the knowledge revealed through the Sabbatical and Jubilee cycles by Yehovah. They truly are the foundation or KEY to understanding all end-time prophecy.We have 84 Biblical & historical records recording 63 Sabbatical years and 5 Jubilee years. When all 68 are combined, they prove beyond all doubt when to keep the Sabbatical and Jubilee years. It has been my passion since 2005 to discover and explain these mysteries. As I have proven when the Sabbatical and Jubilee years are to be kept, Yehovah has revealed the profound meanings of many prophecies hidden by not understanding the Jubilee cycles. As I have learned them, I have shared these discoveries in each of my books in order for you, the reader, to also understand their profound meanings and grow closer to Yehovah God. It is for this purpose that I have created our website, Sightedmoon.com, and spent all this time and energy in producing these books—to help you to understand. I pray I have succeeded in helping you to understand. May they all be a blessing to you as well.You TubewebsiteFree Books

Inspire Nation Show with Michael Sandler
The Next 18 Months Will Expose EVERYTHING! Adamus St. Germain's Urgent Warning with Geoffrey Hoppe

Inspire Nation Show with Michael Sandler

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 24, 2025 73:41


If you feel the monumental energy shifts and wonder what's next for humanity, this channeled message from Adamus St. Germain through Geoffrey Hoppe is your divine playbook for 2025 and beyond. We move past fear and speculation to deliver the raw truth about the current evolution of consciousness.   In this powerful transmission, you will discover: - The Great Uncloaking: Adamus St. Germain reveals what will be exposed in the next 18 months as the light intensifies.  - The End of Healing: Why the concept of "healing" is the biggest myth holding lightworkers back from true sovereignty.  - Radical Freedom: The truth about why humanity fears true freedom and how to embrace your own sovereignty.  - The Future of Earth: What happens as some souls ascend to a new reality and others stay behind.  - Why You're Exhausted: The real reason lightworkers are struggling and the one thing you must STOP doing to save the world.  - AI's True Purpose: A stunning preview of how Artificial Intelligence is the "Second Coming" we've been waiting for.   This is more than an interview; it's an energetic activation designed to help you navigate the chaos, embody your light, and celebrate the greatest time to be alive on Planet Earth.   Find out more about Geoffrey Hoppe, Adamus Saint Germain, and the Crimson Circle: Website: https://www.crimsoncircle.com    To find out more visit: https://amzn.to/3qULECz - Order Michael Sandler's book, "AWE, the Automatic Writing Experience" www.automaticwriting.com  - Automatic Writing Experience Course www.inspirenationuniversity.com - Michael Sandler's School of Mystics Join Our YouTube Membership for behind-the-scenes access - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVoOM-cCEPbJ1vzlQAFQu1A/join  https://inspirenationshow.com/ https://www.dailywoohoo.com/ - Sign up for my FREE daily newsletter for high-vibration content. ……. Follow Michael and Jessica's exciting journey and get even more great tools, tips, and behind-the-scenes access. Go to https://www.patreon.com/inspirenation   For free meditations, weekly tips, stories, and similar shows visit: https://inspirenationshow.com/   We've got Merch! - https://teespring.com/stores/inspire-nation-store   Follow Inspire Nation, and the lives of Michael and Jessica, on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/InspireNationLive/   Find us on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@inspirenationshow

Traveling With AAA
Top 5 Awe-Inducing Travel Destinations with Sandy Cohen

Traveling With AAA

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 24, 2025 6:17


Is awe on your itinerary? From massive waterfalls and architectural marvels to unexpected moments in your neighborhood, awe is everywhere–if you know where to look.In this episode, host Angie Orth is back with health and wellness expert Sandy Cohen. She shares her top five destinations and travel experiences that left her speechless and explains what made them feel so awe-inspiring.You'll hear about the power of national parks, why certain landmarks like Barcelona's Sagrada Familia can boost your mood, and how communal events like Burning Man can be equally powerful as nature. Whether you're planning your next adventure or simply need a little wonder in your day, this episode will inspire you to seek out awe.What You'll Learn:00:50 Where to find breathtaking natural landscapes01:34 Awe-inspiring architecture in the U.S. and abroad02:08 Historical sites that draw global visitors02:38 How Burning Man redefined Sandy's idea of community03:36 A surprising moment of awe at a local 5KConnect with Sandy Cohen:Website: https://www.sandycohenwrites.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thesandycohen/Podcast: https://www.innerpeacetogo.com/Story: https://www.ace.aaa.com/publications/travel/awe-inspiring-experiences.htmlBook Referenced: Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life by Dacher KeltnerCTA: What was your most recent awe-inspiring moment? Tell us in the comments!Connect with AAA:Book travel: https://aaa-text.co/travelingwithaaa LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aaa-auto-club-enterprisesInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/AAAAutoClubEnterprisesFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/AAAAutoClubEnterprises

Joy Lab Podcast
Follow Your Bliss: Awakening to Joy [ep. 219]

Joy Lab Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 23, 2025 19:49 Transcription Available


Join us (Dr. Henry Emmons and Dr. Aimee Prasek) as we dig into this idea of 'Following Your Bliss' as a strategy to tap into authenticity and joy, especially by focusing on the small, everyday experiences that spark awe and vitality. We'll draw inspiration from the ideas of Joseph Campbell; we'll bring "joy" back down to the everyday practices we do here at Joy Lab; and we'll also bash the myth that growth has to be full of hardships, monsters, blood, sweat, and tears. And if all of this talk has you thinking that this journey to true self is a selfish pursuit, we hope you come away from this conversation with more confidence that embracing your true self is one of the most impactful gifts you can offer the world.  If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts! Sources & Notes: Joy Lab Program: Take the next leap in your wellbeing journey with step-by-step practices to help you build and maintain the elements of joy in your life. Related Joy Lab Episodes: Unmasking Your True Self: Exploring Authenticity and Awe [ep. 216] Embrace Your True Self: Accepted, Connected, & In The Game [ep. 217] The Road Most Travelled: Awakening Through Suffering [ep. 218]  The Power of Myth (with Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers)  Full transcript here. Please remember that this content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice and is not a replacement for advice and treatment from a medical professional. Please consult your doctor or other qualified health professional before beginning any diet change, supplement, or lifestyle program. Please see our terms for more information. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call the NAMI HelpLine: 1-800-950-6264 available Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m., ET. OR text "HelpLine" to 62640 or email NAMI at helpline@nami.org. Visit NAMI for more. You can also call or text SAMHSA at 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.

Inspire Nation Show with Michael Sandler
Your Guides Are BANGING On The Door! (3 Ways to Finally Let Them In) Michael Sandler

Inspire Nation Show with Michael Sandler

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 22, 2025 90:06


They're not whispering. They're HOLLERING! If you've ever brushed off a gut feeling, synchronicity, or dream as "just your imagination," your spirit guides are about to get impossible to ignore. In this channeled transmission, you'll discover: The #1 reason you've missed their knocks (it's not "low vibration"—it's shockingly simple) 3 sacred keys to unlock their language—so you can confidently know it's THEM Live proof: I'll DEMONSTRATE their knocking in real-time (you'll feel it!) July's "Doorway Codes": How to distinguish their guidance from ego or fear This isn't just a talk—it's an energetic attunement to turn up your spiritual volume.   To find out more visit: https://amzn.to/3qULECz - Order Michael Sandler's book, "AWE, the Automatic Writing Experience" www.automaticwriting.com  - Automatic Writing Experience Course www.inspirenationuniversity.com - Michael Sandler's School of Mystics Join Our YouTube Membership for behind-the-scenes access - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVoOM-cCEPbJ1vzlQAFQu1A/join  https://inspirenationshow.com/ https://www.dailywoohoo.com/ - Sign up for my FREE daily newsletter for high-vibration content. ……. Follow Michael and Jessica's exciting journey and get even more great tools, tips, and behind-the-scenes access. Go to https://www.patreon.com/inspirenation   For free meditations, weekly tips, stories, and similar shows visit: https://inspirenationshow.com/   We've got Merch! - https://teespring.com/stores/inspire-nation-store   Follow Inspire Nation, and the lives of Michael and Jessica, on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/InspireNationLive/   Find us on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@inspirenationshow

Gateway Franklin Church
3 Kings: Wisdom: Solomon's Super Power

Gateway Franklin Church

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 20, 2025


Two Overarching 3 Kings Take-Aways God partners with ordinary people (messy) to accomplish His extraordinary purposes. Ordinary people are capable of mighty acts when we align our mind, heart and hands with God's. Solomon is Different KingPhysicallyBackground SkillsetWisdomThe Hebrew word for wisdom (hokma) means information + insight. The OT concept of wisdom carries a moral, ethical and an applied skill component. The NT word for wisdom (sophia) points to a practical and spiritual understanding of God's will and applying that knowledge to life. “Knowing the greatest goal in any situation and the best way to achieve it.” Pastor John PiperRemarkable Moment. Ordinary Day.1 Kings 3:16-28 (NIV) 16 Now two prostitutes came to the king and stood before him. 17 One of them said, “Pardon me, my lord. This woman and I live in the same house, and I had a baby while she was there with me. 18 The third day after my child was born, this woman also had a baby. We were alone; there was no one in the house but the two of us. 19 “During the night this woman's son died because she lay on him. 20 So she got up in the middle of the night and took my son from my side while I your servant was asleep. She put him by her breast and put her dead son by my breast. 21 The next morning, I got up to nurse my son—and he was dead! But when I looked at him closely in the morning light, I saw that it wasn't the son I had borne.” 22 The other woman said, “No! The living one is my son; the dead one is yours.” But the first one insisted, “No! The dead one is yours; the living one is mine.” And so they argued before the king. 23 The king said, “This one says, ‘My son is alive and your son is dead,' while that one says, ‘No! Your son is dead and mine is alive.'” 24 Then the king said, “Bring me a sword.” So, they brought a sword for the king. 25 He then gave an order: “Cut the living child in two and give half to one and half to the other.” 26 The woman whose son was alive was deeply moved out of love for her son and said to the king, “Please, my lord, give her the living baby! Don't kill him!” But the other said, “Neither I nor you shall have him. Cut him in two!” 27 Then the king gave his ruling: “Give the living baby to the first woman. Do not kill him; she is his mother.” 28 When all Israel heard the verdict the king had given, they held the king in awe, because they saw that he had wisdom from God to administer justice.1 Kings 4:29 (NIV) “God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore.”Question: What was the genesis of Solomon's wisdom? Answer: Godly advice + a Godly ask.Godly Advice is two-fold. 1 Kings 2:1-4 (NIV) When the time drew near for David to die, he gave a charge to Solomon his son. 2 “I am about to go the way of all the earth,” he said. “So be strong, act like a man, 3 and observe what the Lord your God requires: Walk in obedience to him, and keep his decrees and commands, his laws and regulations, as written in the Law of Moses. Do this so that you may prosper in all you do and wherever you go 4 and that the Lord may keep his promise to me: ‘If your descendants watch how they live, and if they walk faithfully before me with all their heart and soul, you will never fail to have a successor on the throne of Israel.' 1. Be strong, act like a man (NIV)…“show what you are made of” (Message) David is challenging/imploring Solomon to step up to what he was being called into. 2. Observe what the Lord requires. Align your words, will and ways to that of the Lord. It's not possible to lead at this level if you are out of alignment. Out of alignment places an untenable burden – emotional, intellectual, spiritual and physical on our shoulders. Alignment is a synergistic position that employs God's power to accomplish His/our joint purposes.Godly Ask. 2 Kings 3:3-15 (NIV) 3 Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instructions given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places. 4 The king went to Gibeon to offer sacrifices, for that was the most important high place, and Solomon offered a thousand burnt offerings on that altar. 5 At Gibeon the Lord appeared to Solomon during the night in a dream, and God said, “Ask for whatever you want me to give you.” 6 Solomon answered, “You have shown great kindness to your servant, my father David, because he was faithful to you and righteous and upright in heart. You have continued this great kindness to him and have given him a son to sit on his throne this very day. 7 “Now, Lord my God, you have made your servant king in place of my father David. But I am only a little child and do not know how to carry out my duties. 8 Your servant is here among the people you have chosen, a great people, too numerous to count or number. 9 So give your servant a discerning heart to govern your people and to distinguish between right and wrong. For who is able to govern this great people of yours?” 10 The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this. 11 So God said to him, “Since you have asked for this and not for long life or wealth for yourself, nor have asked for the death of your enemies but for discernment in administering justice, 12 I will do what you have asked. I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be. 13 Moreover, I will give you what you have not asked for—both wealth and honor—so that in your lifetime you will have no equal among kings. 14 And if you walk in obedience to me and keep my decrees and commands as David your father did, I will give you a long life.” 15 Then Solomon awoke—and he realized it had been a dream. “I am only a child” Solomon's ask can from a place of self-awareness. All good leadership comes from a place of self-awareness. “The Lord was pleased that Solomon had asked for this” Why? Because Solomon's was aligning with the Lord's purpose. He was falling in behind the leadership of YHWY – not asking YWHY to fall in behind his leadership! Is God's wisdom accessible to me? Godly Wisdom is neither secretive or elusive but you can only have it if you go for it! And when you “get it and follow it” there is a reward! 3 essentials to obtaining wisdom. Fear God. Trust God. Ask God. Each step comes with its own sets of rewards.Essential #1 Fear God. Proverbs 9:10 The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. Reverence and Awe are the beginning of wisdom because if we don't hold God in the highest of regard, elevating Him and His counsel above ourselves and others, we won't align our actions with His… simple as that. Proverbs 14:12 (AMP) There is a way which seems right to a man and appears straight before him, but its end is the way of death. REWARD #1. Proverbs 9:11-12 (NIV) 11 For through wisdom your days will be many, and years will be added to your life. 12 If you are wise, your wisdom will reward you; if you are a mocker, you alone will suffer.Essential #2 Trust God. Proverbs 3:1-8 (Charlie Amplified Version) INSTRUCTION 1My son, do not forget my teaching [these aren't secrets], but keep my commands in your heart [keep a tight grip], REWARD 2 for they will prolong your life many years and bring you peace and prosperity. INSTRUCTION 3 Let love and faithfulness [hesed] never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart [keep God's hesed front in center of all emotions and decisions]. REWARD 4 Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man. INSTRUCTION 5 Trust [rely on, have confidence in] in the Lord with all your heart [emotions] and lean not on your own understanding [what seems]; 6 in all your ways [decisions and movement] submit to him [yield], REWARD and he will make your paths straight. INSTRUCTION 7 Do not be wise in your own eyes [seems]; fear the Lord [be in awe] and shun [turn away/ reject] evil.REWARD 8 This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones. Essential #3. Ask God. James 1:2-8 (AMP) 5 If any of you lacks wisdom [to guide him through a decision or circumstance], he is to ask of [our benevolent] God, who gives to everyone generously and without rebuke or blame… Reward… and it will be given to him. 3 essentails to obtaining wisdom. Fear God. Elevate God over yourself. Trust God. Elevate His path over other's opinion. Ask God. Elevate God to your first and last ask. “Thou, O Christ, who went tempted in all points like we are, yet without sin, make us strong to overcome the desire to be wise and to be reputed wise by others as ignorant as ourselves. We turn from our wisdom as well from our folly and flee to Thee, the wisdom and the power of God. Amen” (AW Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy pg. 59.) “With the goodness of God to desire our highest welfare, the wisdom of God to plan it, and the power of God to achieve it, what do we lack? Surely we are the most favored of all creatures.” (AW Tozer, The Knowledge of the Holy pg. 64.)

McGough's Ministry
Untitled Episode

McGough's Ministry

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 20, 2025 30:18


In Colossians 1 we hear how Jesus is Build Different and how this truth should push us to a place of Awe-some worship of Christ Jesus

Joy Lab Podcast
The Road Most Travelled: Awakening Through Suffering [ep. 218]

Joy Lab Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 16, 2025 25:17 Transcription Available


Join us (Dr. Henry Emmons and Dr. Aimee Prasek) as we discuss strategies for awakening through suffering to foster authentic joy. We'll emphasize the challenges of becoming one's true self, acknowledging that life frequently presents opportunities for awakening. We'll also dig into the concept of post-traumatic growth and the importance of awareness, stillness, and openness in navigating life's hardships. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts! Sources and Notes: Joy Lab Program: Take the next leap in your wellbeing journey with step-by-step practices to help you build and maintain the elements of joy in your life. Portia Nelson: There's a Hole in My Sidewalk (book) Related Joy Lab Episodes: Unmasking Your True Self: Exploring Authenticity and Awe [ep. 216] Embrace Your True Self: Accepted, Connected, & In The Game [ep. 217] Learning to Love Well: Be More Permeable [ep. 23] Full transcript here. Please remember that this content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice and is not a replacement for advice and treatment from a medical professional. Please consult your doctor or other qualified health professional before beginning any diet change, supplement, or lifestyle program. Please see our terms for more information. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call the NAMI HelpLine: 1-800-950-6264 available Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m., ET. OR text "HelpLine" to 62640 or email NAMI at helpline@nami.org. Visit NAMI for more. You can also call or text SAMHSA at 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.

The
How to Be Fully Present and Radically Improve Your Relationships w/ Guy Sengstock

The "What is Money?" Show

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 15, 2025 200:26


// GUEST //You can learn more about Guy, and his work here: https://circlinginstitute.com/WANT TO EXPERIENCE THE CIRCLING APPROACH FOR YOURSELF?Watch this free webinar: https://circlinginstitute.com/7-stages-of-circling/Attend one of our weekly Drop-In Circling events, live on Zoom every Thursday from 6-9pm PT: https://circlinginstitute.com/drop-in-circling/Treat yourself to one (or a bundle of ALL THREE) of our “self-study” courses available for instant access: https://circlinginstitute.com/self-study-programs/Join an upcoming Weekend Intensive Workshop with us: https://circlinginstitute.com/weekend-intensives/https://www.youtube.com/@82472tclt // SPONSORS //iCoin: https://icointechnology.com/breedloveCowbolt: https://cowbolt.com/Heart and Soil Supplements (use discount code BREEDLOVE): https://heartandsoil.co/Blockware Solutions: https://mining.blockwaresolutions.com/breedloveIn Wolf's Clothing: https://wolfnyc.com/Onramp: https://onrampbitcoin.com/?grsf=breedloveMindlab Pro: https://www.mindlabpro.com/breedloveCoinbits: https://coinbits.app/breedloveThe Farm at Okefenokee: https://okefarm.com/Orange Pill App: https://www.orangepillapp.com/ // PRODUCTS I ENDORSE //Protect your mobile phone from SIM swap attacks: https://www.efani.com/breedloveLineage Provisions (use discount code BREEDLOVE): https://lineageprovisions.com/?ref=breedlove_22Colorado Craft Beef (use discount code BREEDLOVE): https://coloradocraftbeef.com/Salt of the Earth Electrolytes: http://drinksote.com/breedloveJawzrsize (code RobertBreedlove for 20% off): https://jawzrsize.com // SUBSCRIBE TO THE CLIPS CHANNEL //https://www.youtube.com/@robertbreedloveclips2996/videos // TIMESTAMPS //0:00 – WiM Episode Trailer1:13 – Background: Guy's Early Life and Influences12:43 – The Artists Get There First: Why Creatives Lead Cultural Shifts19:20 – iCoin Bitcoin Wallet20:50 – Cowbolt: Settle in Bitcoin22:05 – Radical Truth and Technology36:58 – Being Misunderstood: The Cost of Seeing Things Differently44:23 – Heart and Soil Supplements45:23 – Mine Bitcoin with Blockware Solutions46:48 – Malevolence vs Being Lost: Bad Intentions or Just Confused?52:13 – AA and Admitting You're Powerless: The First Step Toward Change1:02:56 – The Impact of Athletics: What Sports Teach Us About Life1:17:01 – Helping Lightning Startups with In Wolf's Clothing1:17:53 – Onramp Bitcoin Custody1:19:50 – Weightlifting and Reading: Building Strength Inside and Out1:30:57 – Wonder, Awe, and Curiosity1:42:22 – Mind Lab Pro Supplements1:43:33 – Buy Bitcoin with Coinbits1:45:00 – Circling: Being Present1:58:28 – Why the Circle Metaphor?2:16:43 – The Body and the Industrial Revolution2:26:04 – The Farm at Okefenokee2:27:13 – Orange Pill App2:27:38 – Practice vs Ritual2:46:30 – I It vs I Thou: Seeing People as Objects or as Human3:06:52 – The Essence of Wonder3:19:24 – Where to Find Guy Sengstock // PODCAST //Podcast Website: https://whatismoneypodcast.com/Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-what-is-money-show/id1541404400Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/25LPvm8EewBGyfQQ1abIsERSS Feed: https://feeds.simplecast.com/MLdpYXYI // SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL //Bitcoin: 3D1gfxKZKMtfWaD1bkwiR6JsDzu6e9bZQ7Sats via Strike: https://strike.me/breedlove22Dollars via Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/RBreedloveDollars via Venmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/Robert-Breedlove-2 // SOCIAL //Breedlove X: https://x.com/Breedlove22WiM? X: https://x.com/WhatisMoneyShowLinkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/breedlove22/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/breedlove_22/TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@breedlove22Substack: https://breedlove22.substack.com/All My Current Work: https://linktr.ee/robertbreedlove

Colonial Presbyterian Church
The Source | Exodus 13:21 | Pastor Tami Lundgren

Colonial Presbyterian Church

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 14, 2025 36:37


Keep your eyes on Jesus. Practice Remembering. Remain Grateful. And you will find yourself paddling toward the source. And you will stand in AWE before the majestic source of life - Jesus Christ.Support the showThanks for listening! Follow us on Facebook or Instagram more info colonialkc.org

Radio Headspace
Inspired by Awe

Radio Headspace

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 13, 2025 6:23


Awe isn't just a feeling — it's fuel. Eve discusses how moments of wonder can open us up to new ideas and deeper meaning. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Audacious with Chion Wolf
Stories of everyday courage, from getting a needle in the eye to tackling a purse thief

Audacious with Chion Wolf

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 11, 2025 49:09


Not all acts of courage make headlines. Sometimes, being brave means doing something small, but meaningful. We’re talking about the quiet, low-key moments of bravery that people carry with them for years: saying yes, saying no, starting over, or simply showing up. Listeners and past guests share their stories of everyday courage, from snapping turtles to stolen cars to personal reinvention. Poet and philosopher David Whyte reflects on the true nature of courage - not as grand action, but as deep presence. And Herman Jagpal, creator of Daily Rejection, explains why he’s spending all of 2025 being told “no,” and being OK with that. Plus, Chion takes one of Herman’s challenges into real life... and attempts to deliver a message to shoppers over a grocery store intercom. Suggested episodes: Forgiveness: How we define it and how it defines us How regret teaches us to live Awe yeah! Exploring the magic of mind-blowing moments Life advice, one Audacious guest at a time Are you very superstitious or just a little 'stitious'? Kitchen objects with a story. Listen at your own whisk What smells remind you of childhood? Hear eighteen answers Why you so salty? The anger episode The surprising ways we ritual GUESTS: Maggie Downie: a Wethersfield, CT resident and owner of a fitness company, whose email to us inspired this show David Whyte: Poet, philosopher, and author of Consolations: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words. His most recent collection, Consolations II, continues to explore the human experience through poetry and prose Herman Jagpal: a New Zealand resident, who challenges himself to get rejected by strangers every day of 2025 and documents his quest on social media @dailyrejection Listeners and past guests (in order of appearance): Nathan Markee, Levi Lomasky, Deanna Birdsong, Cat Thomson, Kelly Papa, David Eric Zakur, Ellen Amalia Force, Michael Leung, Casper ter Kuile, Caroline Teti, LeRoy Mcsmith, Joy Brooker, John Dankosky Support the show: https://www.wnpr.org/donateSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Better Than Best Podcast by R3DONE
Why Happiness Feels Empty (But Joy Never Will)

Better Than Best Podcast by R3DONE

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 11, 2025 17:12


The Charlie Kirk Show
Shock And Awe 2.0 Is The Key To MAGA Unity

The Charlie Kirk Show

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 10, 2025 37:28


Release it all! Charlie plots out what he thinks the next 6 months of Trump 2.0 should look like, including a plan to use "Shock and Awe 2.0" to keep MAGA happy and the executive branch on-mission. Mark Halperin reacts to the MAGA division surrounding the Epstein case. Watch every episode ad-free on members.charliekirk.com! Get new merch at charliekirkstore.com!Support the show: http://www.charliekirk.com/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Inspire Nation Show with Michael Sandler
The Z's WARNING for 2025: ‘Stop Doing This NOW!' Lee Harris Channeling the Z's

Inspire Nation Show with Michael Sandler

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 10, 2025 89:46


The Z's say 2025 is the ‘year of ignition'—but what does that MEAN for you? Lee Harris channels urgent guidance about the precipice we're on, how to align with the ‘new Earth' timeline, and the #1 thing humanity must STOP doing now.   To find out more visit: https://amzn.to/3qULECz - Order Michael Sandler's book, "AWE, the Automatic Writing Experience" www.automaticwriting.com  - Automatic Writing Experience Course www.inspirenationuniversity.com - Michael Sandler's School of Mystics Join Our YouTube Membership for behind-the-scenes access - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVoOM-cCEPbJ1vzlQAFQu1A/join  https://inspirenationshow.com/ https://www.dailywoohoo.com/ - Sign up for my FREE daily newsletter for high-vibration content. ……. Follow Michael and Jessica's exciting journey and get even more great tools, tips, and behind-the-scenes access. Go to https://www.patreon.com/inspirenation   For free meditations, weekly tips, stories, and similar shows visit: https://inspirenationshow.com/   We've got Merch! - https://teespring.com/stores/inspire-nation-store   Follow Inspire Nation, and the lives of Michael and Jessica, on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/InspireNationLive/   Find us on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@inspirenationshow

The Charlie Kirk Show
Shock And Awe 2.0 Is The Key To MAGA Unity

The Charlie Kirk Show

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 10, 2025 37:28


Release it all! Charlie plots out what he thinks the next 6 months of Trump 2.0 should look like, including a plan to use "Shock and Awe 2.0" to keep MAGA happy and the executive branch on-mission. Mark Halperin reacts to the MAGA division surrounding the Epstein case. Watch every episode ad-free on members.charliekirk.com! Get new merch at charliekirkstore.com!Support the show: http://www.charliekirk.com/supportSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Doing Business With the Star Maker
Trump's Big, Beautiful Bill: What You Need To Do Now

Doing Business With the Star Maker

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 7, 2025 12:41


Books on Pod
#530 - Greg Fitzsimmons

Books on Pod

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 6, 2025 31:19


Comedian Greg Fitzsimmons chats with Trey Elling, prior to his latest headlining weekend at the Comedy Mothership. Topics include:Judd Apatow (0:00)Writing for Crashing on HBO (3:27)Writing books vs scripts (7:42)Total eclipse of the heart (9:23)An epiphany with standup (15:03)Awe (18:33)Favorite books (22:47)Hatred for California (25:31)Tulsa, OK & Bob Dylan (27:21)Larry Charles interruption (30:04)

Inspire Nation Show with Michael Sandler
Kim Russo's Urgent Message from Spirit: What's Coming in 2025 (And How to Prepare) Kim Russo

Inspire Nation Show with Michael Sandler

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 3, 2025 56:07


Is humanity experiencing a "Dark Night of the Soul," or are we undergoing a massive spiritual and DNA upgrade? Renowned psychic medium Kim Russo joins us to shed light on the intense global shifts, the Pluto return, and why many feel cursed or overwhelmed by chaos.   Kim Russo shares powerful insights from Spirit about: ✨ The purposeful nature of current events and how they serve our transformation. ✨ The truth about our DNA being upgraded and new souls arriving with advanced frequencies. ✨ A psychic prediction for a massive acceleration of awakening by Summer 2025. ✨ How "manufactured crises" aim to distract us from our creative power and true mission. ✨ Navigating the "spiritual war" by anchoring in love, truth, and discernment. ✨ Practical advice for lightworkers to stay energized, avoid burnout, and find joy amidst turmoil. ✨ The importance of remembering your true self, dropping old programming, and living your soul's purpose. ✨ How to use discernment to navigate information, social media, and make empowered choices for your future.   If you're feeling the weight of the world, wondering about your mission, or seeking clarity on the future, this interview with Kim Russo offers profound guidance and hope. Learn how to rise above the noise, connect with your inner truth, and become an active participant in creating a New Earth.   Find more from Kim Russo: https://www.kimthehappymedium.com/    To find out more visit:   https://amzn.to/3qULECz - Order Michael Sandler's book, "AWE, the Automatic Writing Experience" www.automaticwriting.com - Automatic Writing Experience Course www.inspirenationuniversity.com - Michael Sandler's School of Mystics Join Our YouTube Membership for behind-the-scenes access - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVoOM-cCEPbJ1vzlQAFQu1A/join  https://inspirenationshow.com/ https://www.dailywoohoo.com/ - Sign up for my FREE daily newsletter for high-vibration content. …….   Follow Michael and Jessica's exciting journey and get even more great tools, tips, and behind-the-scenes access. Go to https://www.patreon.com/inspirenation     For free meditations, weekly tips, stories, and similar shows visit: https://inspirenationshow.com/     We've got Merch! - https://teespring.com/stores/inspire-nation-store     Follow Inspire Nation, and the lives of Michael and Jessica, on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/InspireNationLive/     Find us on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@inspirenationshow    

Inspire Nation Show with Michael Sandler
Archangel Michael's JULY 2025 Predictions: Cosmic Fire Upgrades & LIVE Energy Shift!

Inspire Nation Show with Michael Sandler

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 1, 2025 93:11


July's energy is a DIVINE UPGRADE—and Archangel Michael is here to guide you through it. In this live channeling, you'll receive: A ‘Phoenix Frequency' Attunement: Turn recent challenges into fuel for radical rebirth. July's LIVE Light Codes: Direct downloads to stabilize your energy amid chaos. The ‘Soul Ignition' Practice: Exactly how to align with this month's cosmic fire.   This is more than a message—it's a visceral energy shift. If you're sensing a ‘portal' opening but aren't sure how to step through, this is your invitation.   To find out more visit: https://amzn.to/3qULECz - Order Michael Sandler's book, "AWE, the Automatic Writing Experience" www.automaticwriting.com  - Automatic Writing Experience Course www.inspirenationuniversity.com - Michael Sandler's School of Mystics Join Our YouTube Membership for behind-the-scenes access - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVoOM-cCEPbJ1vzlQAFQu1A/join  https://inspirenationshow.com/ https://www.dailywoohoo.com/ - Sign up for my FREE daily newsletter for high-vibration content. ……. Follow Michael and Jessica's exciting journey and get even more great tools, tips, and behind-the-scenes access. Go to https://www.patreon.com/inspirenation   For free meditations, weekly tips, stories, and similar shows visit: https://inspirenationshow.com/   We've got Merch! - https://teespring.com/stores/inspire-nation-store   Follow Inspire Nation, and the lives of Michael and Jessica, on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/InspireNationLive/   Find us on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@inspirenationshow

MotoPG
Moto PG 166: Make Rosary Beads Sexy Again

MotoPG

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 1, 2025 108:22


"In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was the figure who was punished by the gods to repeatedly push a boulder up a hill, only to have it roll back down each time he neared the top.." Welcome to Borrie's world. The Big Man stands at the bottom of the Moto GP hill, facing the boulder that is Marc Marquez, and knows in his soul that no matter how many times he pushes (like a bastard, of course), that boulder is coming back down the hill. Every time. Borrie bears this burden with little grace and not much in the way of dignity yet his commitment to the bit remains impressively steadfast. But there is a treatment, if not a cure. You can help Borrie feel at least a little bit better by buying some or all of his books. You can get them at Shock 'n' Awe (https://www.shocknawe.com.au) and you should. Immediately. You can press 'Play' before you go because the magic of technology means you can both listen to the Greatest Motorcycling Podcast in the Universe AND engage in capitalism simultaneously. And we thought The Jetsons was fantasy. Pfft. IMPORTANT: Below you will find a list of our sponsors. We expect you to support them by buying stuff from them. This is a team game and we've done our part, time for you to do yours. ​ AMX SUPERSTORES (https://www.amxsuperstores.com.au/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwm7q-BhDRARIsACD6-fWr4t6vDftgfCxcIM-wrAZPgbvnPrTTf4RRKS7r5SxGwpgtj_LZTLgaAphVEALw_wcB) ​ MONGREL BOOTS (https://www.mongrelboots.com.au/) ​ MIG MOTORRAD & HELD AUSTRALIA (https://www.migmotorrad.com.au/) ​ SC-PROJECT OCEANIA (https://sc-project.com.au/) ​ SAVIC MOTORCYCLES (https://www.savicmotorcycles.com/?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwm7q-BhDRARIsACD6-fV4WwUbrkAVVKzRfcHbvUMG_P8Db5yG6fpoZhJS9MEK22qFJuMblZ4aAm2cEALw_wcB) ​ GREY GUM INTERNATIONAL CAFÉ (https://greyguminternationalcafe.com.au/) ​ MOTOTCYCLE TYRE OUTLET (https://www.motorcycletyreoutlet.com.au/) ​ BMW MOTORRAD (https://www.bmw-motorrad.com.au/en/home.html#/filter-all) ​ CFMOTO (https://www.cfmoto.com.au/) ​ HARLEY-DAVIDSON (https://www.harley-davidson.com/au/en/index.html?gclsrc=aw.ds&gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwm7q-BhDRARIsACD6-fVMFul6rhQgzL7wZ2bA-662ku7DlytkzYx5zw2T4YQthjQmEcp1JGkaAgVfEALw_wcB) COMPASS EXPEDITIONS (https://compassexpeditions.com/) TRACK ACTION RIDE DAYS (https://www.trackaction.com.au/) PRESTIGE MOTORBIKE TRANSPORT (http://www.prestigemotorbiketransport.com.au). Click the link or call Paul on 0499 222 500

AJC Passport
John Spencer's Key Takeaways After the 12-Day War: Air Supremacy, Intelligence, and Deterrence

AJC Passport

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 26, 2025 31:42


John Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at West Point, joins guest host Casey Kustin, AJC's Chief Impact and Operations Officer, to break down Israel's high-stakes strike on Iran's nuclear infrastructure and the U.S. decision to enter the fight. With Iran's terror proxy network reportedly dismantled and its nuclear program set back by years, Spencer explains how Israel achieved total air superiority, why a wider regional war never materialized, and whether the fragile ceasefire will hold. He also critiques the international media's coverage and warns of the global consequences if Iran's ambitions are left unchecked. Take Action: Take 15 seconds and urge your elected leaders to send a clear, united message: We stand with Israel. Take action now. Resources and Analysis: Israel, Iran, and a Reshaped Middle East: AJC Global Experts on What Comes Next AJC Advocacy Anywhere - U.S. Strikes in Iran and What Comes Next  Iranian Regime's War on America: Four Decades of Targeting U.S. Forces and Citizens AJC Global Forum 2025: John Spencer Breaks Down Israel's War and Media Misinformation Listen – AJC Podcasts: The Forgotten Exodus: Untold stories of Jews who left or were driven from Arab nations and Iran People of the Pod:  Latest Episodes:  Iran's Secret Nuclear Program and What Comes Next in the Iranian Regime vs. Israel War Why Israel Had No Choice: Inside the Defensive Strike That Shook Iran's Nuclear Program Follow People of the Pod on your favorite podcast app, and learn more at AJC.org/PeopleofthePod You can reach us at: peopleofthepod@ajc.org If you've appreciated this episode, please be sure to tell your friends, and rate and review us on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Transcript of the Interview: Casey Kustin:   Hi, I'm Casey Kustin, AJC's Chief Impact and Operations Officer, and I have the pleasure of guest hosting this week's episode. As of the start of this recording on Wednesday, June 25, it's been 13 days since Israel launched precision airstrikes aimed at dismantling the Iranian regime's nuclear infrastructure and degrading its ballistic missile capabilities to help us understand what transpired and where we are now, I'm here with John Spencer, Chair of Urban Warfare Studies at the Modern War Institute at West Point, co-director of the Urban Warfare Project and Executive Director of the Urban Warfare Institute.  John, welcome to People of the Pod. John Spencer:   Hey, Casey, it's good to see you again.  Casey Kustin:   Thanks so much for joining us. John, you described Israel's campaign as one of the most sophisticated preemptive strike campaigns in modern history, and certainly the scope and precision was impressive. What specific operational capabilities enabled Israel to dominate the Iranian airspace so completely? John Spencer:   Yeah, that's a great question, and I do believe it basically rewrote the book, much like after the 1973 Yom Kippur War, where Israel did the unthinkable, the United States military conducted 27 different studies, and it fundamentally changed the way we fight warfare. It's called Air-Land Battle. I think similarly with Operation Rising Lion, just the opening campaign rewrote what we would call, you know, Shock and Awe, Joint Forcible Entry, things like that. And the capabilities that enabled it, of course, were years of planning and preparation. Just the deep intelligence infiltration that Israel did before the first round was dropped. The Mossad agents texting the high command of the IRGC to have a meeting, all of them believing the texts. And it was a meeting about Israel. They all coming together. And then Israel blew up that meeting and killed, you know, in the opening 72 hours, killed over 25 senior commanders, nine nuclear scientists, all of that before the first bomb was dropped.  But even in the opening campaign, Israel put up over 200 aircrafts, almost the entire Israeli air force in the sky over Iran, dominating and immediately achieving what we call air supremacy. Again, through years of work, almost like a science fiction story, infiltrating drone parts and short range missiles into Iran, then having agents put those next to air defense radars and ballistic air defense missile systems. So that as soon as this was about to begin, those drones lost low cost drones and short range missiles attacked Iranian air defense capabilities to give the window for all of the Israeli F-35 Eyes that they've improved for the US military since October 7 and other aircraft.  Doing one of the longest operations, seconded only to one other mission that Israel has done in their history, to do this just paralyzing operation in the opening moment, and then they didn't stop. So it was a combination of the infiltration intelligence, the low-tech, like the drones, high-tech, advanced radar, missiles, things like that. And it was all put together and synchronized, right? So this is the really important thing that people kind of miss in military operations, is how hard it is to synchronize every bit of that, right? So the attack on the generals, the attack on the air defenses, all of that synchronized. Hundreds of assets in a matter of minutes, all working together. There's so much chance for error, but this was perfection. Casey Kustin:   So this wasn't just an operational success, it was really strategic dominance, and given that Iran failed to down a single Israeli Aircraft or cause any significant damage to any of Israel's assets. What does that tell us about the effectiveness of Iran's military capabilities, their Russian built air defenses that they have touted for so long? John Spencer:   Absolutely. And some people say, I over emphasize tactics. But of course, there's some famous sayings about this. At the strategic level, Israel, one, demonstrated their military superiority. A small nation going against a Goliath, a David against a Goliath. It penetrated the Iranian myth of invincibility. And I also failed to mention about how Israel, during this opening of the campaign, weakened Iran's ability to respond. So they targeted ballistic missile launchers and ballistic missile storages, so Iran was really weakened Iran's ability to respond. But you're right, this sent a signal around the Middle East that this paper tiger could be, not just hit, it could be dominated. And from the opening moments of the operation until the ceasefire was agreed to, Israel eventually achieved air supremacy and could dominate the skies, like you said, without losing a single aircraft, with his really historic as well. And hit what they wanted with what they wanted, all the military infrastructure, all the senior leaders. I mean, eventually they assigned a new commander of the IRGC, and Israel found that guy, despite him running around in caves and things.  It definitely had a strategic impact on the signal to the world on Israel's capabilities. And this isn't just about aircraft and airstrikes. Israel's complete dominance of Iran and the weakness, like you said. Although Israel also taught the world back when they responded to Iran's attack in April of last year, and in October of last year, is that you probably shouldn't be buying Russian air defense systems like S-300s. But Iran still, that was the backbone of their air defense capabilities, and Israel showed that that's a really bad idea. Casey Kustin:   You mentioned the component of this that was not just about going after infrastructure sites, but targeting Iranian military leadership and over 20 senior military and nuclear figures, according to public reporting. This was really a central part of this campaign as well. How does this kind of decapitation strategy alter the regime's military capability now, both in this immediate short term, but also in the long term, when you take out that kind of leadership? John Spencer:   Yeah, absolutely. I mean, much like when the United States took out Qasem Soleimani, the head of the Quds Force, who had been decades of leadership of the Quds Force, the terror proxies, which I'm sure we'll talk about, overseeing those to include the ones in Iraq, killing my soldiers. It had a ripple effect that was, it's hard to measure, but that's decades of relationships and leadership, and people following them. So there is that aspect of all of these. Now we know over 25 senior IRGC and Iranian basically leadership, because they killed a police chief in Tehran and others. Yet that, of course, will ripple across.  It paralyzed the leadership in many ways during the operation, which is the psychological element of this, right? The psychological warfare, to do that on the opening day and then keep it up. That no general could trust, much like Hezbollah, like nobody's volunteering to be the next guy, because Israel finds him and kills him. On the nuclear though, right, which all wars the pursuit of political goals. We can never forget what Israel said the political goals were – to roll back Iran's imminent breakout of a nuclear weapon, which would not only serve to destroy Israel, because that's what they said they wanted to do with it, but it also gives a nuclear umbrella, which is what they want, to their exporting of terrorism, and the Ring of Fire, the proxy networks that have all been defanged thanks to Israel. That's the reason they wanted. So in taking out these scientists.So now it's up to 15 named nuclear scientists. On top of the nuclear infrastructure and all the weaponization components. So it's not just about the three nuclear enrichment sites that we all talked about in the news, you know, Fordow, Natanz, and Esfahan. It's about that complete, decades-long architecture of the scientists, the senior scientists at each of the factories and things like that, that does send about, and I know we're in right now, as we're talking, they're debating about how far the program was set back. It holistically sets back that definitely the timeline.  Just like they destroyed the Tehran clock. I'm sure you've heard this, which was the doomsday clock that Iran had in Tehran, which is the countdown to the destruction of Israel. Israel stopped that clock, both literally and figuratively. Could they find another clock and restart it? Absolutely. But for now, that damage to all those personnel sets everything back. Of course, they'll find new commanders. I argue that you can't find those same level of you know, an Oppenheimer or the Kahn guy in Pakistan. Like some of those guys are irreplaceable. Casey Kustin:   So a hallmark of Israeli defense policy has always been that Israel will take care of itself by itself. It never asks the United States to get involved on its behalf. And before President Trump decided to undertake US strikes, there was considerable public discussion, debate as to whether the US should transfer B2s or 30,000 pound bunker busters to Israel. From purely a military perspective, can you help us understand the calculus that would go into why the US would decide to take the action itself, rather than, say, transfer these assets to Israel to take the action? John Spencer:   Sure. It's a complex political question, but actually, from the military perspective, it's very straightforward. The B2 stealth fire fighter, one of our most advanced, only long range bomber that can do this mission right, safely under radar, all this stuff. Nobody else has it. Nobody else has a pilot that could do it. So you couldn't just loan this to Israel, our strongest ally in the Middle East, and let them do the operation. As well as the bomb. This is the only aircraft with the fuselage capable of carrying this side. Even the B-52 stratomaster doesn't have the ability to carry this one, although it can push big things out the back of it. So just from a logistics perspective, it wouldn't work.  And then there's the classification. And there's many issues with, like, the somebody thinking that would have been the easiest, and even if it was possible, there's no way to train an Israeli pilot, all the logistics to it, to do it. The Israel Begin Doctrine about, you know, taking into their own hands like they did in Iraq in 1981 and Syria in 2007, is still in full effect, and was shown to be literally, a part of Israel's survival is this ability to, look, I understand that allies are important. And I argue strongly that Israel can never go at it alone, and we should never want it to. The strength of any nation is its allies.  And the fact that even during this operation, you saw immense amounts of American military resources pushed into the Middle East to help defend Israel and US bases but Patriot systems on the ground before this operation, THAAD systems on the ground before the system. These are the advanced US army air defense systems that can take down ballistic missiles. You had Jordan knocking down drones. You had the new Assad replacement guy, it's complex, agreeing to shoot things down over their airspace. That is part of Israel's strength, is its allies.  I mean, the fact that you have, you know, all the Arab nations that have been helping and defending Israel is, I think, can't be underscored under Israel doesn't, shouldn't need to go it alone, and it will act. And that's the Begin Doctrine like this case. And I do believe that the United States had the only weapon, the only capability to deliver something that the entire world can get behind, which is nuclear proliferation, not, you know, stopping it.  So we don't want a terror regime like the Islamic regime, for so many different reasons, to have a nuclear weapon close to breakout. So United States, even the G7, the United Nations, all agree, like, you can't have a nuclear weapon. So the United States doing that limited strike and midnight hammer, I think, was more than just about capabilities. It was about leadership in saying, look, Iran's double play that the economic sanctions, or whatever, the JCPOA agreement, like all these things, have failed. Conclusively, not just the IAEA statement that they're 20 years that now they're in violation of enrichment to all the different intelligence sources. It was not working. So this operation was vital to Israel's survival, but also vital for the world and that too, really won in this operation. Casey Kustin:   Vital both in this operation, in the defense of Israel, back in April 2024 when Iran was firing missiles and we saw other countries in the region assist in shooting them down. How vital is Israel's integration into CENTCOM to making that all work? John Spencer:   Oh, I mean, it's life saving. And General Carrillo, the CENTCOM Commander, has visited Israel so much in. The last 20 months, you might as well have an apartment in Tel Aviv. It's vital, because, again, Israel is a small nation that does spend exponential amounts of its GDP in its defense. But Iran, you know this, 90 million much greater resources, just with the ballistic missile program. Why that, and why that was so critical to set that back, could overwhelm Israel's air defense systems. Could. There's so much to this, but that coordination. And from a military to military perspective, and this is where I come and get involved, like I know, it's decades long, it's very strong. It's apolitical on purpose. It's hidden. Most people don't know it, but it's vital to the survival of our greatest ally in the Middle East. So it meets American interest, and, of course, meets Israel's interest. Casey Kustin:   Can you help us understand the Iranian response targeting Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, because this seemed like a very deliberate way for the regime to save face and then de-escalate. But if the ceasefire falls apart, what are the vulnerabilities for us, troops and assets in the region. How well positioned are our bases in Qatar, Al Dhafra in the UAE, our naval assets in Bahrain, our bases in Iraq? How well positioned are we to absorb and deter a real retaliatory response? John Spencer:   Yeah, it's a great question. I mean, first and foremost, you know, there is a bit of active defense. So, of course, all of our US bases are heavily defended. A lot of times, you can see things are about to happen, and you can, just like they did, they moved to naval aircraft that would have been even vulnerable in some of these locations, out to sea, so they can't be touched. Heavily defended. But really, active defense is absolutely important, but really deterrence is the greatest protection. So that has to be demonstrated by the capability, right? So the capability to defend, but also the capability to attack and the willingness to use it.  This is why I think that supposedly symbolic to the 14 bunker busters that the United States dropped during Operation Midnight Hammer. Iran sent 14 missiles. President Trump says, thanks for the heads up. You know, all of it was evacuated, very symbolic, clearly, to save face and they had a parade, I guess, to say they won something. It's ludicrous, but sometimes you can't get inside the heads of irrational actors who are just doing things for their own population.  Our bases, the force protection is heavy. I mean, there's never 100% just like we saw with all the air defenses of Israel, still about 5% or if not less, of the ballistic missiles got through one one drone out of 1000 got through. You can never be 100% but it is the deterrence, and I think that's what people miss in this operation. It set a new doctrine for everyone, for the United States, that we will use force with limited objectives, to send an immense amount of strength.  And when somebody says there's a red line now that you should believe that, like if you would have injured a single American in the Middle East, Iran would have felt immense amount of American power against that, and they were very careful not to so clearly, they're deterred. This also sent a new red line for Israel, like Israel will act just like it did in other cases against even Iran, if they start to rebuild the program. War is the pursuit of political objectives, but you always have to look at the strategic on down. Casey Kustin:   On that last point, do you think we have entered a new phase in Israeli military doctrine, where, instead of sort of a more covert shadow war with Iran, we will now see open confrontation going forward, if necessary? John Spencer:   Well, you always hope that it will not be necessary, but absolutely this event will create, creates a new doctrine. You can see, see almost everything since October 7, and really there were just things that were unconceivable. Having studied and talked to Israeil senior leaders from the beginning of this. Everybody thought, if you attacked Hezbollah, Iran, was going to attack and cause immense amounts of destruction in Israel. Even when Israel started this operation, their estimates of what the damage they would incur was immense. And that it didn't is a miracle, but it's a miracle built in alliances and friendships with the United States and capabilities built in Israel.  Of course, Israel has learned a lot since October 7 that will fundamentally change everything about not just the military doctrine, but also intelligence services and many aspects that are still happening as they're fighting, still to this day in Gaza to achieve the realistic, measurable goal there. Yes, it absolutely has set forth that the old ways of doing things are gone, the you know, having these terror armies, the ring of fire that Israel has defanged, if not for Hamas dismantled and destroyed.  It sets a new complete peace in the Middle East. But also a doctrine of, Israel is adapting. I mean, there's still some elements about the reserve forces, the reigning doctrine, that are evolving based on the magnitude of the war since October 7. But absolutely you're right about they will, which has been the doctrine, but now they've demonstrated the capability to do it to any threat, to include the great, you know, myth of Iran. Casey Kustin:   So when you talk about this defanging of the Iranian proxy network obviously, Israel undertook significant operations against Hezbollah. Over the last year, they've been in active conflict with the Houthis. How does this operation now alter the way that Iran interacts with those proxies and its capacity to wage war against Israel through these proxies? John Spencer:   Yeah, cripples it, right? So Iran's nuclear ambition and its terror campaign are literally in ruins right now, both literally and figuratively. Hezbollah was defanged, the leadership, even taking out Nasrallah was believed to have caused catastrophic consequences, and it didn't. So, absolutely for Iran, also during this operation, is sniffing because all of his proxies were silent. I think the Houthis launched two missiles because thanks to Israel and the United States, the Houthi capabilities that should never have been allowed to amass, you know, this pirate terror empire. They didn't make those greatest shore to sea arsenal out of falafels. It got it straight from Iran, and that pipeline has already been cut off, let alone the capabilities.  Same thing with Hezbollah, which relied heavily on pipelines and infrastructure of missiles and everything being fed to it by Iran. That's been cut. The Assad regime being the drug empire, support of Hezbollah to rule basically, in Lebanon, has been cut. Hezbollah couldn't come to the aid of Assad. All of these variables. And of course, Hamas will never be able to do anything again, period. It all causes Iran to have to rethink everything. From, you know, not only their own national defense, right air defense capabilities and all this, but their terror campaign, it isn't just in ruins. There's a new doctrine, like it's not acceptable.  Now, of course, that's going to be hard to fully reign in. You have Shia backed groups in Iraq, you have a lot of bad things going on, but the Quds Force, which is its job, it's all shattered. Of course, they'll try to rebuild it. But the fact that these terror proxies were already so weakened by Israel that they couldn't do anything and remain silent. Hezbollah just was silent basically during this, is very significant to the peace going forward. I mean, there, there's still a lot of war here, but Israel and the United States have rewritten the map of the Middle East. Casey Kustin:   in the hours days that followed the US deciding to engage here. A lot of the conversation focused on the possibility of triggering now broader regional escalation, but we didn't see that, and it sort of shattered that myth that if Israel or the US were to go after Iran, that it would spiral into a broader Middle East conflict. Why did we not see that happen? Why did this remain so controlled? John Spencer:   So many reasons that really go back a few months, if not years? Mean going back to the first the Abraham Accords, President Trump's recent tour of the Gulf states and his story. Turic financial deals Israel's like we talked about with the Arab nations that were part of protecting it, the fact that the so on, that very geopolitical aspect. And we saw Iran turn to Russia, because there's always geopolitical considerations. Iran turned to Russia. Said, you're going to help us out. We signed this security agreement last year. We've been helping you in Ukraine do the awful things you're doing there.  And Russia said, No, that's not what we said. And it called called President Trump. President Trump says, how about you worry about mediating a ceasefire in Ukraine? And well, so they turned to China and the fact that there was nobody again, and that all the work that had been done with all the people that also disagree, nation states like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, all those others. Those are many of the contributing factors.  But war also, I wrote this piece about, this isn't Iraq, this isn't Afghanistan, this isn't Libya. I really hate the lazy comparisons. This was contained and not able to spill out by constant communication from day one of what the goals were. Limited objective to roll back a threat to the world nuclear program and the ballistic program as well. That prevents the ability for even the Islamic regime to say, you know, my survival is at risk, I need to escalate this, right? So, being clear, having strategic clarity from Israel, and when the United States assisted, from the United States. You know, war is a contest of wills, not just between the military is fighting it, but the political element and the population element. So, you know, being able to communicate to the population in Israel and like, what's the goal here? Like, how long are we gonna have to do this? And to the United States. Like, what are our interests? Keeping it the goal limited, which all parties did.  And even, in fact, you had the G7 meeting during this and they signed an agreement, we agree Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon. That is a big part of how you permit the spill out. But it does have many contextual elements of the broader, this isn't black and white between Israel and Iran. It's much bigger than that. And that, and we saw all that work that has been done to show strength through peace, or peace through strength, in all the forms of national power that have been rallied against what is chaos that the Islamic regime wants in the Middle East. Casey Kustin:   So now that we've had a few days to begin to assess the impact of both the US and the Israeli strikes based on what's publicly available. I think you wrote that the nuclear timeline has been pushed back years. We saw some reporting in the New York Times yesterday saying it's only set back months. It seems this morning, the US is concurring with the Israeli assessment that it's been set back years. A lot of talk about where certain Where did certain stockpiles of enriched uranium, and how confident can we be at this point in any of these assessments? John Spencer:   So yes, as we're talking, people are trying to make it political. This should be a non partisan, non political issue. I'm an objective analyst of war. If you just write down all the things that Israel destroyed, validated by satellite imagery. then the fact that somebody And even the spinning of words where like we saw with that leaked report, which was the preliminary thoughts about something, it isn't comprehensive, right?  So one, BDA has never come that fast. Two, we do know, and Iran has validated, like all these scientists dead, all these generals dead, all these components of the nuclear program, damaged or destroyed. The idea that somebody would say, well, you only set it back a couple months to me, it's just anti-intellectual. Look, Natanz, Esfahan, Fordo, we can debate about how much stuff is inside of that mountain that was destroyed, although 14 of the world's best bunker buster munitions, 30,000 pounds punching through.  I just think, it's not a silly argument, because this is very serious. And yes, there could be, you know, hundreds of pounds of enriched uranium up there, a certain percentage that got floated around. That's not the, the things that set the timeline of breakout. Breakout included all the components of the knowledge and capability to reach breakout and then weaponization of a nuclear bomb. There's nobody, I think, who can comprehensively, without nuancing the words say that Israel wasn't very effective, and the United States assistance in only what the United States could do, at setting this program back and actually stopping the immediate danger. Of course, Iran is still a danger. The program is still a danger, but I just think it's so political that they're trying to say that, well, you only said it back a couple months. That's like, that's ridiculous. Casey Kustin:   So as an objective analyst of war, but also as someone who's really been a voice of moral clarity and has called out the international media over the last 18 months for a lot of this disinformation, misinformation, bias reporting. Before we go, John, what is one consequence of this operation that the international media is just missing? John Spencer:   One is that, I think the international media who are debating whether Iran was literally using an opposing opinion against global thought that Iran was close to a nuclear bomb, they missed that completely and tried to politicize it to where, just giving disinformation agents that tidbit of a headline that they need. I do believe in journalistic standards, fact checking, those elements and holding those people accountable. I live in the world of experts. People on the platform X who think they're experts.  But when you have national media running headlines for sensationalism, for clicks, for you know, struggling for opposition to just political administration, we should learn to really question a single report as valid when there's overwhelming opposition. I don't know how to put that succinctly, but you think we would learn over the last, you know, 20 months of this lies, disinformation, statistical warfare, the things like that that, yeah, it's just crazy that that somebody would think in any way this wasn't an overwhelming success for the world, that this program was set back and a new doctrine for treating the program was established. Casey Kustin:   Finally, John, before we wrap up here, the question on everyone's mind: can the ceasefire really hold? John Spencer:   So, you know, I don't do predictions, because I understand wars uncertainty. It's human. It's political. It looks by all signs, because of how Iran was dominated, and how the United States showed that if it isn't contained, then immense amounts of force and of course, Israel's superiority, I believe that the ceasefire will hold. It was normal. And I made some some posts about the historical examples of wars coming to an end, from the Korean War, to the Yom Kippur war, Bosnia War, where you had this transition period where you're rolling back forces and everything. But the by the fact that Iran has said, Yeah, we agreed. We have stopped our operation. All signs for me are saying that this ceasefire will hold, and now the world's in a better place. Casey Kustin:   John, thank you so much for the insight, for, as I said, your moral clarity that you bring to this conversation. We appreciate you joining us today on People of the Pod. John Spencer:   Thank you so much.   

Joy Lab Podcast
Are You Curious to Learn or Confirm? [ep. 215]

Joy Lab Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 25, 2025 20:34 Transcription Available


Join Dr. Henry Emmons and Dr. Aimee Prasek for a conversation about our motivations for curiosity. We'll start with Albert Einstein's idea that mystery is central to true art and science, and the importance of remaining curious and open to the unknown... which, yes, is easier said than done. To make things a bit easier here, we can engage in a little check in strategy by asking ourselves, "Am I curious to learn or confirm?" When our curiosity is driven by learning rather than a need for confirming, we can see big benefits for our wellbeing and brain health. This episode also sets the stage for our focus next month on the Element of Awe. We hope you'll come away with some inspiration to embrace the (healthy!) discomfort that true curiosity requires and to integrate a sense of wonder into your daily life. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us wherever you listen to your favorite podcasts! Sources and Notes: Joy Lab Program: Take the next leap in your wellbeing journey with step-by-step practices to help you build and maintain the elements of joy in your life. Related Joy Lab Episodes: How uncertainty & anticipatory anxiety can keep you stressed out & stuck [ep. 212] Worrier? You're Not Alone. Here's Why We Worry... [ep. 213] Fast-Acting Strategies to Combat Worry and Anxiety [ep. 214] Full transcript here. Please remember that this content is for informational and educational purposes only. It is not intended to provide medical advice and is not a replacement for advice and treatment from a medical professional. Please consult your doctor or other qualified health professional before beginning any diet change, supplement, or lifestyle program. Please see our terms for more information. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call the NAMI HelpLine: 1-800-950-6264 available Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. – 10 p.m., ET. OR text "HelpLine" to 62640 or email NAMI at helpline@nami.org. Visit NAMI for more. You can also call or text SAMHSA at 988 or chat 988lifeline.org.

Tapped Out Wrestling Podcast
Tapped In Indy Wrestling Podcast 6/25/2025: Hot crowds, young talent, and weather

Tapped Out Wrestling Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 25, 2025 65:51


Hosted by Nick & The Frat DaddyThis week, Nick and Bryce are fired up as Georgia indie wrestling packed the house across the state!

Tuegather Podcast
June 24, 2025 - The Awe of Thirty

Tuegather Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 24, 2025 63:15


The Awe of Thirty

VP Land
Adobe's New Camera App, Jurassic World Shoots on Film, and AWE

VP Land

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 24, 2025 34:50 Transcription Available


Adobe launches Indigo, a new computational photography app, Jurassic World shoots on Kodak film, and Joey shares his hands-on experience with Snapchat Spectacles and more at AWE.

Metaverse Marketing
Meta XR, Snap Glasses, AI Dating, Apple AR, and Story Living with Cathy Hackl and Adam Davis McGee

Metaverse Marketing

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2025 29:53


In this episode of TechMagic, hosts Cathy Hackl and Adam Davis McGee dive into the cutting edge of spatial computing, AI, and extended reality. Lee is on sick leave this week and we wish him a speedy recovery! Join Cathy and Adam as they unpack Meta's XR partnership with Palmer Luckey, Snap's smart glasses ambitions, and Apple's sleek AR design strategy. Cathy dives into the strange world of vibe coding and discovers anyone can gamify the pitfalls of the dating scene. The conversation also explores AI dating experiments, haptic tech in entertainment, and the evolving ethics of privacy in a spatially connected world. With insights from AWE and ILMxLAB, the hosts reflect on the shift from storytelling to “story living” and highlight key legislation shaping AI security. A must-listen for anyone tracking the future of tech-human interaction.Come for the tech, stay for the magic!Cathy Hackl BioCathy Hackl is a globally recognized tech & gaming executive, futurist, and speaker focused on spatial computing, virtual worlds, augmented reality, AI, strategic foresight, and gaming platforms strategy. She's one of the top tech voices on LinkedIn and is the CEO of Spatial Dynamics, a spatial computing and AI solutions company, including gaming. Cathy has worked at Amazon Web Services (AWS), Magic Leap, and HTC VIVE and has advised companies like Nike, Ralph Lauren, Walmart, Louis Vuitton, and Clinique on their emerging tech and gaming journeys. She has spoken at Harvard Business School, MIT, SXSW, Comic-Con, WEF Annual Meeting in Davos 2023, CES, MWC, Vogue's Forces of Fashion, and more. Cathy Hackl on LinkedInSpatial Dynamics on LinkedInAdam Davis-McGee BioAdam Davis-McGee is a dynamic Creative Director and Producer specializing in immersive storytelling across XR and traditional media. As Senior Producer at Journey, he led the virtual studio, pioneering cutting-edge virtual experiences. He developed a Web3 playbook for Yum! Brands, integrating blockchain and NFT strategies. At Condé Nast, Adam produced engaging video content for Wired and Ars Technica, amplifying digital storytelling. His groundbreaking XR journalism project, In Protest: Grassroots Stories from the Frontlines (Oculus/Meta), captured historic moments in VR. Passionate about pushing creative boundaries, Adam thrives on crafting innovative narratives that captivate audiences worldwide.Adam Davis-McGee on LinkedInKey Discussion Topics:00:00 Intro: Welcome to Tech Magic with Cathy Hackl06:33 Meta's Eagle Eye: Military XR Partnership with Palmer Luckey14:05 Apple's Liquid Glass: Paving the Way for AR Glasses17:25 Haptic Innovation: Apple's F1 Movie Trailer Experience19:18 Human vs AI: Why F1 Racing Needs the Human Element22:27 Browser History Dating: AI's Latest Match-Making Experiment26:27 Snap's Vision: Consumer Smart Glasses Coming in 202631:27 From Storytelling to Story Living: ILMxLAB's Immersive Future33:54 Closing Thoughts: Summer Break Announcement Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Inspire Nation Show with Michael Sandler
BEYOND THE CHAOS! Why This War Feels Different… And What to Do About It! Michael Sandler

Inspire Nation Show with Michael Sandler

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 17, 2025 83:50


Something about this moment is unlike any other—the Iran-Israel conflict, the global unrest, the eerie sense of déjà vu. But what if this isn't just political? What if it's a cosmic tipping point for humanity… and you hold the key to shift it? In this urgent live transmission, Michael Sandler reveals: Why this war "feels" different energetically (the hidden pattern underneath the headlines)  How 3.5% of awakened people can redirect global trauma (science meets spirituality)  The #1 mistake lightworkers make in crises (and how to avoid it)  A live Peace Meditation to disarm conflict at its root (join the collective shift) This isn't about fear. This is about activating the most underrated force on Earth: coherent human heart energy.   To find out more visit: https://amzn.to/3qULECz - Order Michael Sandler's book, "AWE, the Automatic Writing Experience" www.automaticwriting.com  - Automatic Writing Experience Course www.inspirenationuniversity.com - Michael Sandler's School of Mystics Join Our YouTube Membership for behind-the-scenes access - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVoOM-cCEPbJ1vzlQAFQu1A/join  https://inspirenationshow.com/ https://www.dailywoohoo.com/ - Sign up for my FREE daily newsletter for high-vibration content. ……. Follow Michael and Jessica's exciting journey and get even more great tools, tips, and behind-the-scenes access. Go to https://www.patreon.com/inspirenation   For free meditations, weekly tips, stories, and similar shows visit: https://inspirenationshow.com/   We've got Merch! - https://teespring.com/stores/inspire-nation-store   Follow Inspire Nation, and the lives of Michael and Jessica, on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/InspireNationLive/   Find us on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@inspirenationshow

Inspire Nation Show with Michael Sandler
DIVINE FREQUENCY UNLOCKED! How to Manifest From Perfect Alignment (Not Force) Colette Baron-Reid

Inspire Nation Show with Michael Sandler

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 12, 2025 50:53


Struggling to manifest in chaotic times? You're not alone. In this electrifying episode, Colette Baron-Reid reveals why the Law of Attraction seems to "fail" when we need it most—and how to shift into Perfect Alignment (hint: it's not what you've been taught!).   You'll Discover:  The #1 mistake people make with manifestation (it's not about "thinking positive")  How to stop forcing outcomes and start allowing miracles (Colette's "circle technique")  Why fear hijacks your manifesting power—and how to rewire your nervous system fast  The surprising link between ancient symbols (like the Fibonacci spiral) and modern manifestation  How to detach from collective fear and become a magnet for your soul's desires   Find more from Colette Baron-Reid: https://www.colettebaronreid.com/     To find out more visit: https://amzn.to/3qULECz - Order Michael Sandler's book, "AWE, the Automatic Writing Experience" www.automaticwriting.com  - Automatic Writing Experience Course www.inspirenationuniversity.com - Michael Sandler's School of Mystics Join Our YouTube Membership for behind-the-scenes access - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVoOM-cCEPbJ1vzlQAFQu1A/join  https://inspirenationshow.com/ https://www.dailywoohoo.com/ - Sign up for my FREE daily newsletter for high-vibration content. ……. Follow Michael and Jessica's exciting journey and get even more great tools, tips, and behind-the-scenes access. Go to https://www.patreon.com/inspirenation   For free meditations, weekly tips, stories, and similar shows visit: https://inspirenationshow.com/   We've got Merch! - https://teespring.com/stores/inspire-nation-store   Follow Inspire Nation, and the lives of Michael and Jessica, on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/InspireNationLive/   Find us on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@inspirenationshow

Inspire Nation Show with Michael Sandler
LA Riots, Trump vs. Musk & the Spiritual War For Your Attention! Michael Sandler

Inspire Nation Show with Michael Sandler

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 10, 2025 102:58


The Trump vs. Elon feud is dominating headlines—but the real war is for your energy. In this live-channeled talk, I'll reveal: -How to spot ‘Weapons of Mass Distraction' (and why they need your attention) -The spiritual game behind celebrity feuds—they're not accidents, they're energy harvests -Why the 3D matrix thrives on your outrage (and how to opt out without checking out) -The #1 thing to focus on instead (it's not what you think) If you're ready to transmute chaos into fuel for the New Earth, you're in the right place.   This isn't about politics—it's about remembering your power.   To find out more visit: https://amzn.to/3qULECz - Order Michael Sandler's book, "AWE, the Automatic Writing Experience" www.automaticwriting.com  - Automatic Writing Experience Course www.inspirenationuniversity.com - Michael Sandler's School of Mystics Join Our YouTube Membership for behind-the-scenes access - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVoOM-cCEPbJ1vzlQAFQu1A/join  https://inspirenationshow.com/ https://www.dailywoohoo.com/ - Sign up for my FREE daily newsletter for high-vibration content. ……. Follow Michael and Jessica's exciting journey and get even more great tools, tips, and behind-the-scenes access. Go to https://www.patreon.com/inspirenation   For free meditations, weekly tips, stories, and similar shows visit: https://inspirenationshow.com/   We've got Merch! - https://teespring.com/stores/inspire-nation-store   Follow Inspire Nation, and the lives of Michael and Jessica, on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/InspireNationLive/   Find us on TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@inspirenationshow