Feedback Strategies

In my personally opinion, feedback always serves a purpose. It's the quality of the feedback that varies. For instance, praise feedback may make a person feel good about themselves, but, if the purpose of the feedback was to give constructive feedback, then it may not be as beneficial as critical feedback. That's my take on feedback anyways.

The first article I read was "Specific Feedback that Helps Learning." I think this is a good article that gives some tips on constructive feedback. In particular, I like the part about transparency since I've had experiences were I've spent more time trying to figure what the feedback is rather than improve based on the feedback. The second article I read was "Criticizing Praise." It's an interesting article to, say the least, and I can see where the author's coming from, but I can't completely agree with him. He states that praise is a form of manipulation which I can't quite get behind. With that said, he does make some other good points and that makes the article worth reading.

Operational amplifier in a positive feedback loop configuration.

Source: Wikipedia.

Topic Research: The Heroes of Myth.

I decided I'd be going with a kind of combination of my previous ideas. So it's going to be like my storytelling posts in that each section will focus on the summoning of one mythological figure. However, I'm going to add in elements of how these mythological figures see the modern world and I'm also going to have them interact with each other. With that said, all I need to do is figure out which mythological figures to feature as servants.

I've already decided on two of the mythological figures to be servants. The first being Zeus just because I thing he would be fun to write about. Finding information on Zeus isn't hard but Wikipedia gives a good starting point. The other is Noah from Noah's Ark. He would be an interesting servant and I can already imagine the amusing interaction he could have with Zeus. The UnTextbook story on Noah is a good starting point.

Statue of Zeus.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

I still am undecided on the rest of the servants that will show up. I'll probably decide on those as I read more in the weeks to come. But for now, Britomart from Faerie Queen in the UnTextbook is a good contender. I think she would make an amusing servant primarily cause of the gender confusion and how that can direct interactions with other servants.

Wikipedia Trial: From Circe to Charybdis.

So my trail starts at the article about Circe. After reading Homer's Odyssey, I was curious about Circe and what kind of goddess she is.

This article led me to the article about nymphs. I've heard about them before, but I never look into what exactly they were. So, seeing Circe called one made me want to learn more about them.

Painting of a nymph by Gaston Bussière.

Soruce: Wikimedia.

My trail then lead me to the article about Scylla. I was curious when I saw that Scylla was once a nymph and wanted to learn more about that.

Finally, my trail led me to the article on Charybdis. After reading about Scylla, I wanted to learn more about her counterpart Charybdis.

Week 3 story: The Summoning of Odysseus

Odysseus and Circe by Matthijs Naiveu

Source: Wikimedia Commons.

Here we are again. It’s time to summon another servant. My first summoning was unexpected to say the least. I’m still not use to Pygmalion, but that’s a story for another time. Anyways, I can see my instructor is losing patients so I better get the summoning started.

I perform the summoning ritual the same as last time, hoping that this servant will be more on the normal side. Just like last time, after completing the last verse the circle shines brightly and there appears my new servant. I see a rugged man in a toga with a bronze sword at his side and a fierce look in his eyes. He then says:

“I am rider class servant Odysseus, scion of Zeus, son of Laertes. Are you my master?”

At his question, I reply:

“Yes, I’m the one who summoned you. It’s nice to meet you Odysseus.”

He replies with a nod and says:

“Likewise, master. May great Zeus smile upon is in our future battles together.”

Yes, He’s a normal servant! I’m overjoyed at summoning a heroic spirit that seems normal, especially when compared to Pygmalion. Anyways, I have to say I’m quite fortunate to summon such a great hero. If I recall correctly, Odysseus is most well-known for his voyage after the battle with Troy. He faced many trials during that voyage such as: A man eating cyclops, an encounter with a dangerous goddess (or was it a witch?), a journey to meet with the ghosts of the departed, and even an encounter with sirens and the Scylla.

As I’m lost in thought, my servant says to me:

“For what reason do you smile so broadly? Has the great father Zeus granted you a great boon? If so, we must celebrate with the finest wine and meat!”

At his words, I respond with:

“No no, nothing like that. Say Odysseus, what kind of abilities do you have?”

In response, he says:

“My noble phantasm is my fleet of great black ships and my loyal crew. In addition, I have the standard skill of riding that comes with the rider class and my charisma skill is quite high.”

Excellent, Odysseus with be a great ally. I then say:

“That’s good to hear. I have another question. During your voyage you encountered a goddess, Circe, but was she really a goddess? Because she sounded like a witch to me.”

Odysseus responds with:

“Ah fair Circe was most definitely a goddess. Mischievous as she was, not once did she bring harm upon my crew or I. Fair Circe also bestowed upon my crew and I fine wine and meat, and also greatly aided my voyage with her grand knowledge. No witch would have done so.”

At hearing his words, I became even more intrigued and say:

“Really, that’s quite interesting. Could you tell me more of your voyage? I would love to hear how you-“

Before I could finish my sentence, my instructor interrupted and said:

“All right that’s quite enough. If I let you continue we’ll be here all day. There’ll plenty of time for storytelling later.”

Reluctantly, I agreed with my instructor and so ended my second summoning.


Authors Notes:
So the setting of my story is the same as my previous story. I'm most likely going to make this a pattern with my stories. In regards to the actually story, I tried to keep Odysseus's personality close to what it was in the original work. However, it isn't always easy to get a sense of a characters personality in Homer's works. So it might be off. Next, I tried to imagine what kind of abilities Odysseus would have. I thought his noble phantasm would have to be related to his voyage and so I made it his fleet of ships. To elaborate a bit, a noble phantasm is the symbol that is most recognizable about that hero. For instance, King Arthur's is Excalibur and Hercules's is his nine labors. Anyways, I also thought it would be fun to touch on the subject of Circe because she doesn't come off as a goddess in the original tale. I thought I'd have Odysseus give a more clear answer on this.


Bibliography. "Odyssey" by Homer and translated by Tony Kline. Web Source.

Tech Tip: My Blog Profile

I took a look at my blog profile settings but decided not to change anything. I don't have a problem with displaying my name on my blog since its my blog. In regards to my online identity, I haven't really given it much thought. I'm a pretty impersonal and reserved guy so I tend to be cautious of what I post online. With that said, I'm not particularly worried about anything I've posted being a hindrance to future jobs or anything like that.

Reading Notes: Homer's Odyssey, Part B

Homer's Odyssey translated by Tony Kline: Source

• Lots of ghosts. could be fun to have them play tricks on Odysseus's crew.
• Could be fun to expand on the fate of Agamemnon and tell his tale in greater detail.
• Might be interesting to explore what all the ghosts are doing in Hades.
• Could be interesting to see what would happen if Odysseus's crew followed his commands and released him while passing the sirens.
• Might be fun to explore what would have happened if Odysseus and his crew safely passed by the Scylla.
• Honestly, part B was less interesting than part A simply because it focuses so much on ghosts. Without having a sense of who all the ghosts are, it loses its impact. 

Odysseus and the sirens by H.J. Draper. I find the look on his face amusing.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Reading Notes: Homer's Odyssey, Part A

Homer's Odyssey translated by Tony Kline: Source

• Odysseus uses tricks to get away from the cyclopes. 
• Odysseus kind of broke into the cyclopes's home, so it might be interesting to see the cyclopes point of view. 
• Zeus is brought up a lot so it might be fun to have Zeus narrate throughout the tale. 
• Odysseus's crew is always with him but they don't say much, so it might be interesting to see their point of view.
• Circe is called a goddess but she seems more like a witch to me. Might be fun to explore that.
• Hermes shows up and helps Odysseus. Might be fun to see what happens if he doesn't show up.
• Could be interesting to explore the year Odysseus and his crew spent on Circe island.

Circe by Beatrice Offor

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Growth Mindset: Mindset Cats

Cat looking at itself in a mirror.

Source: Growth Mindset Resources

I like this image because its statement is very true for me personally. I've found it difficult to improve myself without first understanding what is hindering my growth and why.

Cat in a box.

Source: Growth Mindset Resources

This image I like because this is something I've had trouble with in the past. I sometimes get stuck in one way of thinking and that has limited my ability to find creative or alternative solutions.

Extra Reading Notes: Lotuses and Goblins

The Monkey Who Gathered Lotuses: One of the main concept is family relationships. It might be fun to explore this in more detail. In addition, it might be fun to retell the story in terms of a modern setting. Furthermore, it might be interesting to explore the story from the mothers point of view. Similarly, it could be fun to explore more of the ogres thoughts in the situation.

A field of lotuses.

Source: Flickr

Goblin City: Deception is one of the main concepts of this tale. Might be interesting to explore the mindset of the goblins. Also might be fun to include a single male goblin in the mix and see how he reacts to the events of the tale. Another possibility is having a setting where a man is reciting the tale to an audience. Finally, it might be fun to explore the events leading up to the sailors marrying the goblins. 

Week 1 Review: William Wallace

Probably what I found most interesting in the weekly announcements was the little tidbit about William Wallace (Wednesday, August 23 post). I remember being quite fond of Braveheart when I was younger, so it was nice to being reminded of that. Anyways, week 1 was a lot of fun, though it's technically week 2 for me, and I look forward to the coming weeks.

Statue of William Wallace

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Tech Tip: Blogger Template

I just made a few changes to the overall design. Nothing fancy but it does look nicer than the default design. I went with a darker scheme since I personally find it easier to read on  when compared to brighter schemes. This may not be my final design since I'm still not sure exactly how I want my blog to look.

Topic Brainstorming Ideas.

1. As I have said many times before, I’m a fan of the Fate/Stay Night franchise and really enjoy thinking about mythological figures as they would appear in the context of that franchise. For a storybook, I would make a series of stories each featuring the summoning of a different mythological figure. It would be similar to what I’m trying to do with my weekly stories, but would have different mythological characters and a more overarching story. For resources, the UnTextbook would be a great source of mythological heroes. Honestly, this is the one I’m most in favor of, but, I’m not sure if it would be considered more of a portfolio or a storybook.

2. Another possible topic would be a story about Cu Chulainn. I’ve not read his tale in detail, but I think he’s an interesting hero that would be fun to write about. One possible direction I might take the story is by placing him in a modern setting and seeing how that goes. Another, probably more interesting direction, would to replace a hero of a tale, like King Arthur for instance, with him and see how the tale changes. A possible source would the site Ancient Origins.

Cu Chulainn riding a chariait into battle by Joseph Christian Leyendecker

Source: Wikimedia Commons.

3. The next possible topic that might be interesting to write about would be a meeting of the Gods. Basically, the idea is: what would happen if you took the Gods from Greek, Norse, Egyptian, Japanese, etc. and put them all in the same room? This one could be interesting, but I also think it could be difficult to properly represent and organize all the different Gods. A possible resource would be the site Norse Mythology.

4. The last one is the most underdeveloped of all the ideas. This storybook would be about what would happen if a modern person was thrown into a mythological tale. Say for instance, if a modern business was thrown into the tale of Beowulf. Another possible direction would be having the modern person jump from tale to tale, becoming the hero of each one. Freebookapalooza or the UnTextbook would probably be my main source for potential tales for this topic.

My Feedback Thoughts

Feedback is not really something I've had problems with. Like pretty much everybody, I don't like receiving negative feedback. However, I also understand that negative feedback can be one of the best ways at improving oneself. So I'm fine with receiving and giving negative feedback as long as its constructive. If the negative feedback just bashes my work without giving any suggestions on improvements, or some other such suggestion, then I disregard the feedback. With that said, I hold the opinion that any kind of feedback, positive or negative, can be useful so long as its intent is on giving suggestions for improvements.

Moving on, the first article I read was "14 Signs Your Perfectionism Has Gotten Out Of Control." I definitely have a perfectionist mindset with a large majority of the things I do. However, I don't have the extreme characteristics this article points out. My mindset is more in line with striving for perfection but also accepting that nothing in the world is perfect. The other article I read was "6 Bad Mental Habits That Sabotage Your Success." This was an interesting article to read since it touches on a subject we don't typical like thinking about. I've definitely struggled with self doubt and second-guessing myself in certain situations in the past and realize that these habits are bad. However, bad mental habits are probably one of the hardest things to overcome since they're typically deeply rooted in our minds. Improving on these mental habits is something I need to do as I keep growing as a person.

I found this image pretty humorous and thought I'd share it. It will definitely make you think twice if your complaint is worth it.

The number is the the hand-pin of the grenade.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Week 2 story: The Summoning of Pygmalion.

Pygmalion and his statue by Ernest Normand.

Source: Wikimedia Commons.

“Please begin the summoning procedure when ready, young Magus.” Said the instructor.

This is my first time summoning a Heroic Spirit, so I’m excited to see which one will become my servant. After taking a few moments to calm down, I begin the summoning procedure. After saying the final verse of the summoning, a sudden bright light flashed from the summing circle. This momentarily blinded me. Once my eye recovered, I could see my servant standing there. A beautiful young woman who had features as fine and delicate as that of a statue. I was so stunned at the sight that I forgot to speak. Seeing this, my servant smiled and spoke:

“Greetings master. I am caster class servant Pygmalion, it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

Wait ………. Pygmalion? I thought Pygmalion was a guy!

I recall that the legend of Pygmalion was about how an artist named Pygmalion carved a statue of his ideal woman and then fell in love with it. The legend went on to state that the Goddess Venus decided to grant Pygmalion’s wish for a bride that resembled his lovely statue, and turned the statue into a human. But the Pygmalion standing before me is a woman!

As I’m racking my brain trying to understand what’s going on, I hear my instructor speak to my servant:

“This is quite interesting. I have heard of Heroic Spirits being summoned in a form that reflects their ideal. Am I to presume this is the case?”

In response, my servant said:

“Yes, that is correct. I have taken the form of my most beloved.”

Okay, I guess that makes sense. Having final calmed down, I say to my servant:

“So, you are the Heroic Spirit of Pygmalion who has taken on the form of you wife correct?”

Pygmalion Looks to me and says:

“That is only partial correct. I am Pygmalion and have taken the form of my beloved, but I was never married.”

A bit confused by this statement, I ask my servant:

“Did you not marry the statue you created after she became human?”

Pygmalion frowns upon hearing my question and answers with:

“My beloved never became human so I never wedded her. However, I did spend the rest of my days gently caring for her as if she were.”

I respond by saying:

“Then how did you have your child, Paphos, whom the city on the island of Cyprus is named after?”

My servant then says:

“I never had a child. Perhaps the people of Cyprus needed a reason for calling the city Paphos and decided to alter my legend.”

I’m not quite sure how to respond to this revelation. Regardless, Pygmalion is now my servant and I’m his/her? Master. I can only guess at what kind of strange events await me in the future. I finish this conversation by smiling and saying:

“Is that so? Well it doesn’t really matter. I look forward to working with you, Pygmalion.”

Pygmalion also smiles and says:

“Likewise. I won’t let you down, Master.

Authors Notes:

I provided a brief description of the original story in my story, so I don't really have anything to add to that. In regards to my changes, I set the story up as if Pygmalion was summoned as a heroic spirit in the same fashion as the Fate/Stay Night franchise. This is probably the approach I'm going to take for my weekly storytelling's since I have a lot of fun thinking in terms of what these legendary figures would be like as servants. Anyways, I thought it would be fun to have Pygmalion appear as his statue since that's not something you would be expecting. In addition, I thought it would be interesting if the statue never became human. I wanted this to give the impression that Pygmalion may not have been sound in mind and only believed the statue was alive. 

Bibliography. "Pygmalion" from The Metamorphoses by Ovid and translated by Tony Kline. Web Source.

Reading Notes: a Divine Metamorphosis Trickster ....... that sounds like Loki doesn't it?

Susanoo battling Orochi by Tsukioka Yoshitoshi (made in 1887)

Source: Wikimedia Commons

The Eight-Forked Serpent of Koshi: This is a pretty basic story out about a God slaying an evil being. Susanoo does most of the talking and the two elder deities talk some. Kushinada-hime does not speak at all in the tale which gives a lot of opportunity when rewriting. Overall, the basic nature of the tale and the lack of character development gives a lot of freedom in modifying the tale.


Pygmalion: Initial impression was that Pygmalion is crazy for devoting so much time and affection to a statue he made. The only characters are Pygmalion, the unnamed statue, and Venus. Plenty of opportunity to explore what happens after the statue becomes human. Likewise, it might be fun to consider that Pygmalion really was insane and the statue never became human.


The Tiger, The Brahman, and the Jackal: I’ve always been fond of trickster stories since they generally rely more on wit than anything else. Main characters of this story are the brahman, tiger, and jackal. Other characters are most irrelevant and might not need to be present in a retelling. The Brahman does not say anything during the exchange between the tiger and the jackal, might be interesting to have him monologue his thoughts.

Possible Reading Options

I quite like the idea of the UnTextbook since it gives so many options in what we read and what we write about. It’s a nice change of pace from my previous mythology class at OCCC since I usually only had about three choices about what I read and wrote about. Anyways, I think I’ll probably focus my readings around mythologies that focus on heroes. I’ve always been interested in the exploits of heroes in fictional works, and since those exploits are usually influence by old legends, it will be fun to learn about them. In addition, since my interest in mythology has primarily come from the Fate/Stay Night franchise, I thought it would be fun to take the characters from a mythological tale and imagine them being summoned as heroic spirits. So, I’m probably going to try and make my storytelling posts in a manner similar to this idea.


That brings me to the three stories that jumped out to me initially. The first was “Dante's Inferno” mainly because I’ve heard about this story but have never read it myself. In addition, I think Dante would make an interesting Heroic Spirit. Next was “The Monkey King Sun Wu Kung” and again it’s because I’ve heard about Sun Wu Kung but haven’t read his tale yet. The last one that got my attention was “Faerie Queen” and I choose this one because I think Britomart would make an amusing Heroic Spirit because of her cross dressing.

Stained glass window depicting Britomart by Frederic Shields.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

My Time Strategies

A clock with no hand, emphasizing the importance of time.

Source: Wikimedia Commons

Honestly, I’ve never really needed a time schedule to keep me on track for any classes I’ve taken. In the over a dozen online classes I’ve taken, I have never fallen behind, waited till last minute, or missed a deadline. I guess it’s probably because, by nature, I’m a pretty organized guy. So, I don’t see myself making some elaborate schedule to manage my time or anything. With that said, I do intend to, more or less, stick to my original planned schedule since those days are the ones with the least amount of other commitments. Regardless, I did read “How to Beat Procrastination” by Caroline Webb and “11 Ways Unsuccessful People Mismanage Their Time” by Áine Cain. While they did have interesting ideas and takes on time management, I didn’t really see anything that I felt I needed to consider for my own time management.

Wondrous Technology

First of all, about the only technological aspects of this course that I’m not familiar with are the blogging aspect and the website creation aspect. Everything else I’ve dealt with or experienced in some form, so I don’t see myself having much trouble there. Regarding this classes online environment, it is quite a bit different from other online courses I’ve taken. Most of my previous classes have primarily relied on platforms like Moodle or McGraw-Hill Connect, so this will be an interesting change of pace. Lastly, I have to say that I’m glad that the reading parts are all online since that means I don’t have to pay for yet another expansive college book.

Program coding, the base of all internet technology.

Source: Pixabay

Assignments Impression

The assignments I’m probably most looking forward too would definitely have to be the reading assignments. As I briefly said in my introduction post, I like looking into the original legends of mythological figures and learning about them. Other than that, the storytelling and project assignments may be the other thing I’m looking forward too. I kind of have an idea how I would like to do the storytelling each week, and if that actually pans out, I might try and make my project a sort of pseudo storybook/portfolio combination. Still not sure about that yet since it’ll depend on how the second week of the course goes. Finally, I’m glad to see that the extra credit is wide and varied since that’s not really something I’ve seen in other classes. 

Lastly, its important to remember............

Cat in the ceiling ......... not strange at all.

Source: Flickr

My Growth Mindset

I find Carol Dweck’s growth mindset ideology to be quite interesting. The logic behind it is actually pretty simple and seems like common sense. However, it actually isn’t and we generally need this mindset pointed out to us before we actually think about it. Overall, I do agree with the growth mindset and do think it has a lot of value both in education and in every day life.


Moving on, I can’t really say where I fit in the fixed-growth mindset spectrum since I tend to take different approaches depending on the situation. For instance, I don’t like failure and never have. But, I also have realized that I tend to learn the best after I’ve failed or made a mistake. I think this is because I tend to always put in effort afterwords to try and understand were I made the mistake so that i don’t repeat that mistake. However, this mainly only applies to things I’m interested in. If the subject that I made a mistake in is not something that interests me, I don’t put as much effort in to understand where I went wrong.

This applies when it comes to challenges as well. In general, I like to be challenged so long as it’s related to something I’m interested in. When I encounter a challenging problem, I tend to put in quite a bit of effort to overcome the challenge. Though this probably has more to do with my stubbornness to admit defeat rather than a growth mindset. Regardless, I tend to learn more this way because I have to apply myself more than usual. Just like the growth mindset emphasizes. However, like above, this also only really applies to things I’m interested in and I tend to care less about trying my best with things I’m not interested in.

Failing only plants seeds for growing, like the cat's doing.

Source: Growth Mindset Memes Blog

Introduction of an aspiring electrical engineer.

Hey there, my names Colton Cooper and my major is electrical engineering. This is actually my first semester at the University of Oklahoma. I Previously attended OCCC and have just transferred from there. Though technically I’m attending both Colleges since my engineering physics class is still at OCCC. Anyways, I’ve already completed my Associates Degree in Advanced Manufacturing Technology and so I decided it was time to move to OU to work on my bachelor’s degree.


To give some background on my choice of major, after high school I decided to attend Moore Norman Technology Center and took their Electrical Trades and Automated Industrial Systems course. Originally, I decided on that course because I wanted to learn a skill trade that would make it easier for me to get a decent job and have always been interested in how electronics work. It was during my time at MNTC that I decided I wanted to further my education past the vocational level and started working towards becoming an electrical engineer. In particular, there was one part of the course that really stood out to me and pushed me to make this decision. That part being when I learned about industrial robotics. It was really fascinating and I even learned how to program robotic industrial arms. 

Articulated welding robotic arm.

Source: Wikipedia

Changing subjects somewhat, now I would like to talk about what got me interested in mythology. This isn’t actually my first mythology course since I took one at OCCC beforehand. However, that was before I learned that I need 3000 level general education course. So, when I saw this course as an option, my choice wasn’t hard. Anyways, back to why I have an interest in mythology. For pretty much my entire life my hobbies have included video games and anime, mostly thanks to my elder siblings, and it just so happens that mythological figures appear in these things quite often. So that gave me a base interest but it was one franchise that really got me interested. That franchise being the Fate/Stay Night franchise otherwise known as the Fate Verse. Its basic premise is that modern mages summon famous figures from history and mythology that then fight in a battle royal to obtain the Holy Grail that will granted any one wish. It really fascinated me to see mythological figures like Hercules and King Arthur fight. Though the franchise does take quite a few liberties with these legends, for example King Arthur is a woman, it did make me interested enough to look into the original stories of these figures. And that’s pretty much the reason why I’m taking this class.

Storybook Favorites

The first storybook that caught my attention was "Project Humanity." Though the title did a good job of getting my attention, it didn’t really tell me what the storybook is about. Personally, I think that’s fine for this kind of storybook since it makes you intrigued to find out what it’s about. Moving on, I think the introduction did a great job of setting the mood of the storybook. It’s not overly long or short and gives just enough information to make the setting interesting. Finally, I found the overall design, use of pictures, and unique setting of the storybook to be quite intriguing. 

Picture of a planet similar to Earth.

Original source: Alliance United Planets

The next storybook that piqued my interest was “Hero Visa Pending.” Again, the title of this storybook didn’t really tell me exactly what the storybook was about, however, it did give me an idea of what to expect.  Moving on, I think the introduction does a good job of setting the tone and characters of the storybook, but I also think it dragged on for too long. After about halfway through the introduction I wanted to skip the rest and move on the actual meat of the storybook. Finally, I found the poem at the start to be a unique touch to the storybook.



The final storybook that got my attention was “The Temptation of Zeus.” I’ve always been amused by Zeus and his rather unrestrained courtships. I just always found it humorous that the strongest Greek God is also probably the biggest womanizer in mythology. Anyways, the title of the storybook makes it quite clear that the story is about how Zeus seduces women. The introduction is pretty basic and not all that flashy or interesting. It basically just gives a brief overview of Zeus and then gives brief introductions of the woman that will be featured in the storybook. Finally, the premise of exploring Zeus’s adventures with women from the woman’s point of view is interesting, however, I just wish the title and introduction did a better job emphasizing this point.

Favorite Places...... Kinda.

I really haven't traveled much in my life so there isn't really any place I would consider my favorite. However, there are a few places I fondly remember.

The sun setting over Orange Beach Alabama.

Source: Flickr

The first place I remember fondly is Orange Beach Alabama. I went on a trip there with my old churches youth group for a conference about 7 years ago. It was a ton of fun to just hang out with friends at the beach since that really isn't something you can experience in Oklahoma. 

The Grand Canyon.

Source: National Park Service

Another Place I fondly remember is the Grand Canyon. Me and my family went there when I was 13 years old. I recall that the view over the canyon was quite spectacular. However, this isn't why I remember the place so fondly. It was the train ride to the Grand Canyon that's so memorable to me since it was my first time riding a train.

Test post

Test.......Testing........guess it works.