One Leaves, Another Steps Up

It is just a few hours away, and for us all, we wonder what will happen in the new year. Have you made your resolutions yet? For many of us, they are usually the same..to loose weight, to make more money, to spend more time with family and friends. We go into the year with high hopes, and they sometimes last and they sometimes don't. But at least we tried! What are your resolutions this year?

As the old year gets ready to end, we take the time to reflect on the months that are past. Were they good ones? Productive ones? Not so good ones? For each of us, the answer will be different. But for all, they make up who we are, as a person and as a team.

For our team, it was once again a year of change. We added new team members, had the chance to investigate new locations, made new friends, and renewed old friendships. We managed to survive the cold of Ashmore and achieved more results than we thought possible. We did return investigations to several locations, all of which were a lot of fun. We laughed, ate, laughed some more, and had a good time doing something which we so love to do. We continued to learn with each new investigation, added some new equipment, and learned more about each other on our team.

Not everything was good though. We did have a team member who just didn't have enough time to devote to this endeavor, and he has stepped back for a while. And just recently, one of our team members has become very sick, and our thoughts and prayers are with him.

So what will we look forward to in the new year? Continuing to grow as a team. We already have a couple of investigations lined up, including a return to Ashmore. We plan to see if the spirits will be as active when it isn't freezing! Plus a new location which we look forward to checking out. We have a planned activity which, if it works out, will really gel us as a team. We are working on some other investigations into new locations. We will, of course, be available to help those that contact us with a need. We hope there will be some more new equipment, good food to eat, and some really fun times. Did I mention some more days filled with laughter and good times? Because without that, this becomes work, and not something that we enjoy.

We hope for each of you a year filled with good times, happiness, and time spent with family and friends. We all hope to catch that piece of evidence which will set the paranormal world on its ear! And we hope that we are all able to help those in need. It is our sincere wish that we can meet a lot of you in the new year, and continue to develop our relationships as well as friendships with others that enjoy this crazy world of the paranormal.

We hope that you all have a safe night of celebrating, because we really want to first meet you in this world, not the afterworld!

So as we prepare to leave 2014 behind, we say thank you for the memories. As for 2015...bring it on! Because the next year is gonna rock! And we are so ready for the challenges it will bring.

Ghosts Of Christmas Past

Good morning everyone. Hope you are having a great day, and looking forward to an even better weekend. And if you are where the snow is about to hit, we hope that you keep yourself safe and warm. We have investigations to do together yet!

As we come to the close of this year (and where did it go!) we always take the time to reflect on where we have been, and think about where we want to head in the next year. Each year brings new learning, new investigations, new friends, and we hope a better understanding of the mysterious realm of the paranormal.

This time of the year, the world is starting to turn bright....brightly colored lights that is. Everywhere, the trees are up, the decorations hung, the presents wrapped, and the food cooking...can't you just smell those cookies! We prepare to celebrate the year passing, and also the year yet to be. And with it, all the goodness that we wish for everyone, and the prayers for a happy life.

But sometimes, don't you stop and think about those departed, and what they may be feeling this time of the year. We all know about the different forms of "hauntings." The intelligent we hope to interact with each time we go out. The residual we often wonder about, as we can't "see" what they do, so we are left unsure if they are interacting with us, or just going through their lives. And if they are, ever wonder what part they choose/are forced to relive?

Scrooge was visited by the spirits of 3 ghosts. I don't really know many people who would want to be visited by the ghost of Christmas yet to be...do we really want to know what will happen to us in the future? I doubt many truly want to know of their own demise, and how the world turns out once they are gone. Most of us know exactly the present, even if we don't want to admit to it. Oh, but the ghosts of Christmas past...now that is an interesting one. But what if, instead of our past, we could be visited by the ghosts of the spirit's past. Now that would be an interesting one to have happen. To be able to see where that spirit lived, and how they lived, maybe how they died, how they ended up "stuck" in this location, and more importantly, why they remain.

If you were to pick a point in your life to be "stuck" forever, what would it be? As a child, playing carefree, with no responsibility except to mind and keep your room clean (yeah, always a problem.) As a teen, with the thought that you knew it all, but you really didn't, but young enough to not care. As an early adult, still young enough to be carefree, but smart enough to know what you need to be doing. As an middle-age adult, with knowledge learned through years of working and living. Or as an older adult, still young at heart, if not young in body any longer, but with the pain that comes from living a life full of love and sorrow, joy and disappointment, and possibly death of many loved ones. Would you select Christmas, filled with so much joy and happiness? Or would this season leave you with too many memories that would make your not-beating heart break each day? Or would this season be the one time that you could move from a residual to an intelligent spirit, so you could enjoy what the season has to bring?

This season, as you put up the tree, string the lights, and bake the goodies, take a few minutes to remember all those that have already moved into another realm. Imagine, even for a moment, that that soul can see and smell all there is which surrounds this season. And when you feel that small breeze that touches your cheek, just imagine that they are saying thanks for giving them another memory to hold on to for all time.

Its Been A While

Today, someone made the comment that it had been a year since our last blog. And in looking, we find that it has been almost a year. 11 months. Much too long of a time between writing. And as we sit here thinking of the reason, well it is very clear. Time, it seems, is speeding along faster than we would like for it to. The sun comes up and it sets, and one day turns into the next. And the things which we must do to survive this thing called life takes the lead. And the things we want to do get pushed towards the back. Work, family, the seasons, and yes even paranormal investigations all add up to sometimes too many hours which you try to cram into those 60 minutes which make up each hour, and those 24 hours which make up each day. The song says there is "too much month at the end of the money." Sometimes for us, there are too many jobs at the end of the day. And after working, and cooking, and cleaning, and reading stories to the children as we tuck them into bed just doesn't leave enough energy for sitting down and writing words onto the screen. But there is more than just that. A blank mind.

Recently, one of our team members said to someone that they work with, "say what you mean and mean what you say." It isn't enough just to put words on the paper. The words have to mean something, to you and to others. Filling up a page with random words which go no where means, well, exactly nothing. Sit in front of the screen and nothing useful comes to mind. And the screen remains blank. But there comes a time when the thoughts just jump into the mind, and well, those are the times that the words just seem to flow. And, my friends, this is the night.

The world has been a bit crazy lately. The threats to our nation and even our state are very real. And one just never knows where things will be tomorrow. And with this, the beginning of the most wonderful time of the year, often insecurity tends to cloud our hopes and our dreams. Will we be able to heat the house this winter? Can we pay the taxes on time? Will our jobs be here with the new year? Will we be able to give our kids a nice Christmas? And even though we are not about to minimize these worries, we need to stop and think about all the good that we have in our lives. Our family, our friends, our jobs, and the hope that the next year will be a great one. And the pleasure of doing something which we so enjoy doing, and helping others in the process.

We had a team meeting today. To be able to get together with others and discuss things. To eat too much, laugh a lot, argue a bit, and talk about what we want in the future for, not only ourselves, but for our team. This past year has been yet another building one. We have added members, and had a few that just do not have the time to give what is necessary to the team. We have visited some fantastic places! We have done a final investigation at a location which is closing. We even froze together at the wonderful location of Ashmore Estates. We have worked with other teams, shared ideas and thoughts, and worked on making our team stronger. And we don't intend to stop now.

We have some solid plans for next year. We have some tentative plans for next year. And we have some plans which probably won't go off at all for next year. We have some things we plan to try, and we might just end up falling on our face. Or we might just manage to soar high. We might catch the "holy grail" of paranormal, or we might sit for hours in a dark building listening to only our stomachs talk to us. But the important thing...we will be doing something that we love to do. With people we enjoy spending time with. This "hobby" isn't for the faint of heart. It takes dedication (who really enjoys sitting listening for hours to the hum of a recorder,) missing events others are able to attend (you really didn't want a piece of cake anyway, did you?) having less money in your pocket (batteries do add up!) and having people tell you that you shouldn't "mess with" the unknown. But see, that is what makes this all so great. Not knowing what will happen, what results you will get. But knowing that, through it all, you will be doing something that you enjoy doing with people who feel the same way you do. And we, along with so many others in this field, will continue to sit in the dark, talking to someone who we can't see...for just as long as we are able. And than will get together to plan yet another outing where we will repeat the process over again and again.

So we hope that you enjoy your time spent among family and friends. Eat some good food, laugh a lot, remember those less fortunate, and be thankful for all the blessings you have been given. And....we will try to get back with you a lot sooner than 11 months next time!

Happy New Year 2014

We hope that everyone has had a wonderful and safe holiday season. That your fondest Christmas memories were made this previous Christmas, and that your entry into the new year was a safe and joyous one. But we would like to pause to hope that the warm feelings, the kinder looks, the charitable giving, and the hopes of the Christmas season will continue to bloom inside of you over the next year. Giving and compassion are something that we should strive to achieve every day of the year. Need knows no season, and winter is just now setting in. So please continue to think of those who have so much less than you do, and do what you can to help them make it to another day or month, to know less hunger, to know less cold, and to know that they are not forgotten by others.

A new year always sets people to thinking of new goals. We all make those resolutions of things they would like to achieve in the coming year. And our team is no different. We finished 2013 with a bang. Got our website updated with the last investigation in just the nick of time...whew! And we were able to end the year spending it with those that mean the most to us. We had the pleasure to work with some outstanding teams. We added new team members. We worked to learn new equipment. We worked to make our team the one we want it to be. We researched, traveled, laughed, ate some amazing dishes, and helped out in our community and our world. We are very proud of what we have accomplished in the previous year. But now we are in a new year, and are getting geared up for what it will bring.

Our amazing case manager has already set up some tentative investigations, some waiting for the weather to improve. We will soon have a team meeting to decide on our group trip and investigation this year. And we think we know where it will be, and it will be amazing! And we will be putting together a plan of where we would like our team to be come this time next year, and what we have to do to make that happen. It will be work, but we have never steered away from that. And we plan to improve along the way, as individuals as well as a team.

There are a lot of things you can hope to accomplish in this new year. Sometimes a person makes goals so far from their reach that they give up before they even start trying. Sometimes the goals are too easy, and not worth the effort, making a person not strive harder towards the next one. So what you need to do is meet yourself somewhere in the middle...have to work for it without having to climb to the stars to achieve the goal. And this is where we plan to be.

We hope to continue to handle investigations for homeowners, as helping others to be comfortable in their own homes is one of the greatest parts of this job. We plan to revisit some of our favorite locations, to see if things have changed, or to continue with what we started. Obviously helping the community is an important goal for us, so something to help out our community, state, or world will definitely be in the cards. We plan to continue to add to our assortment of equipment, and that always requires a learning curve! so that will be on the agenda as well.

We also plan to continue the friendships we have made in the past year, and to strengthen those made in previous years. To share with other teams and to learn from them as well. To help build bonds that go way beyond darkness and entities, DVRs and dowsing rods. To spend as much time enjoying being together as we do investigating buildings and locations. To encourage others with a passion for what we do, and to help promote those with endeavors that will help boost the entire field into its own dimension. To not let the past rear its ugly head, and to stand strong as a team against those which would try to tear us apart.

Everyone is looking for that one piece of evidence that will convince the non-believers of the existence of spirits. And we want to find that too. But we refuse to allow this search to blind us to what is most important, the living. So here is to a year full of fun and fellowship, eating too much wonderful food at out-of-the-way places, laughter and joy, family and friends, and the hope that we will all find that this year will be the best one every.

Happy New Year everyone...and may you have your best year ever too!