This month has been a busy one for me. I can only imagine that it has for you as well. December is just one of those months that you can always count on it being busy. The month began with a bang, literally. On December 2nd was Megan’s band concert. I went to pick up Andrew from work and found out that he had literally just been laid off. We were not totally surprised by that because he has worked in the automotive field for many years and he saw the signs coming. There were two managers that talked to him and both told him how much they liked him working there and were sad to see him go, but the owners had given the managers the ultimatum and they had no choice but to let him go. He had already been looking for another job though, so we were one step ahead of them. I wish they had waited long enough for him to find something else. He has had several interviews with new places, but we haven’t heard anything back yet. One place sounds especially promising, but we are still waiting to hear back from them. I hope it’s soon. We have unemployment and very understanding landlords who agreed to work with us on the rent, but we can’t do that forever.
School is going well. I’m nearly done with both of my classes. I will be glad to get out of school, but I don’t know when that will happen. I think I’ll be around 40 when it does happen. I’m not just pulling that number out of the air either. I’m pretty sure that’s when I’ll be graduating. Next semester I take World Geography, General Psychology, and Oral Communication. Boy what a class load that is! The first one is a six-week online course and the other two are campus classes that are ten weeks long. I hope I do well and can keep up with the work.
As busy as the month has been, it’s not much to talk about this month. It was the usual stuff pretty much. You know; laundry, dishes, cooking, all those normal everyday things. With Andrew not working we have been spending more time together as a family and that’s been really nice. As a result though there isn’t much to say!
The Branch Christmas party was nice. We had lots of people show up and the food was good. We talked about how all of us put up stockings and give gifts but so many of us forget to give a gift to our Savior, and He is the reason we are celebrating in the first place. It really made me think about what I can give to my Savior and the only thing I can think of that I can truly give Him is my will to be the same as His will. This is much harder to do than one would think. I’m trying to do it, but I feel like I’m doing a pretty bad job of it some days.
Sunday, December 26, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
November update
Hello all,
This month seems to have not been quite so busy as last. Sadly I think I got less done personally than I got done in October when I was so busy. It seems funny that the busier we are with other things the more we get done with what we need to do. I find this true in many instances. It’s almost like we feel a greater need to accomplish our own agenda when we are busy working on other agendas. The month began with a bang if you will. Andrew came home and announced his manager had been fired. In the automotive industry this is always a scary thing because generally speaking they eventually lay off about half of the current staff as well. I’m not really sure why that is, but that’s the way it goes. We were on pins and needles for a few weeks, but now we are starting to relax. We still don’t know if his job is safe, but we are doing all we can for him to find a new job. We are leaving the rest in the Lord’s hands. For now things are still the same as they were on that particular front.
We had a leadership training meeting the next weekend and I was released from Activities Committee Chair. The Church has ended that part of the administration effort. The Ward or Branch Council will essentially decide what activities to hold. The actual committee for each of the activities will change. Since I had already planning the Christmas party I will be finishing that effort up. That will be on December 18th at 6pm. As always, I’d love to see you there. There were lots of other changes that were announced in that training session. It will be very interesting to see how they all play out.
The same weekend was also Stake Conference. Elder Dallin H. Oaks from the Quorum of the Twelve came and spoke to us. I guess it has never happened in the history of the stake to have a member of the Twelve come and speak to us. It was really inspiring. He had come to a Stake Conference we had back in AZ not too long before we moved here, maybe a year or so. I think it’s very interesting that he was at both of these conferences and I can’t help but think that maybe there was something I should have taken away. I tried to figure that out and am hoping I got it right, but boy am I curious to know if I really did so or not.
We had a youth service project and also had YW in Excellence this month. The service project was done to help a couple get their property ready to be foster parents for some horses. I don’t know if they have the horses yet or not, but I think we got them ready for it. At YW in Excellence we had a royal theme. We talked about how life is like a fairy tale and in between Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After every princess has her share of trials, heartaches and disappointment. It all turned out in the end for each of them and it will for us too if we hold onto our faith in Jesus Christ. This went quite well with a talk by Brother Young today. He said that whoever accepts the Son (of God) get it all. We get everything when we choose our Savior. We simply have to make that choice to put Him first and all else will follow.
Thanksgiving was interesting at our house this year. It was just the three of us. We had wanted the Elder’s to come over, but they had already been invited by another family. We had a smaller than usual turkey and didn’t end up eating until around 7pm because it took so long for the thing to cook! Next year we will go with a regular sized turkey and cook the way we usually do. I didn’t like having dinner so late. I like it around 2pm or so, then we can play games and eat again around 7pm when we are ready to. We started off the day as always watching the Macy’s parade. I have always watched it. I’m not sure why I like it so much, but I really enjoy it. This year Megan took a great interest in watching the bands. She loves to see a flute being played during anything. She has a great love for the flute.
Now that Thanksgiving has passed Christmas season is upon us. We put up some of our Christmas decorations, but not all. We were sad to see that one of our blow-up characters, Frosty the Snowman, will no longer blow up all the way. We took him back down. We have really scaled back from what we normally do for decoration. I think I prefer it this way. I was so excited to put out all my nativities. I have eleven and then I bought another. I have twelve now. I had to buy the one I saw this year, it was Charlie Brown and simply too cute to pass up. Plus it was on a pretty big sale. Normally $25, I paid $15. It was good. I guess I’m somewhat a collector of them. It’s what the season is really all about anyway. I’m hoping that eventually I will be able to put a nice one out in the front yard, but for now all we have is the Peanuts gang and the Pooh gang. Sadly, Snoopy, Woodstock and Marci all missing from the Peanuts group because they were stolen a few years ago. We bought some wood to make new ones, but they haven’t been made yet. They are quite an undertaking. I think this year we will get them made and painted, but I also need to repaint all the ones I have already made. They are starting to show their age. I’m nearly done with the Christmas cards. I like to get them off early.
Tomorrow is the Christmas parade here in town and I look forward to that. I guess it’s supposed to rain, so we’ll take our umbrellas, dress warmly and take something warm to drink as well. I think we’ll need it. Next Sunday, the 5th is the First Presidency Christmas devotional. I love to listen to that and watch it of course. It will be at 8pm local time. You can come to the building and watch it or if you prefer, you can watch it online at either the Church’s website or BYU will also carry it I’m sure. They will have video archive within a week on the Church’s website if you want to watch it later when it’s more convenient for you.
I guess that’s it. I’m always surprised by how much I have to say. I really enjoy sharing this with you each month and I hope that you enjoy hearing from me as well.
This month seems to have not been quite so busy as last. Sadly I think I got less done personally than I got done in October when I was so busy. It seems funny that the busier we are with other things the more we get done with what we need to do. I find this true in many instances. It’s almost like we feel a greater need to accomplish our own agenda when we are busy working on other agendas. The month began with a bang if you will. Andrew came home and announced his manager had been fired. In the automotive industry this is always a scary thing because generally speaking they eventually lay off about half of the current staff as well. I’m not really sure why that is, but that’s the way it goes. We were on pins and needles for a few weeks, but now we are starting to relax. We still don’t know if his job is safe, but we are doing all we can for him to find a new job. We are leaving the rest in the Lord’s hands. For now things are still the same as they were on that particular front.
We had a leadership training meeting the next weekend and I was released from Activities Committee Chair. The Church has ended that part of the administration effort. The Ward or Branch Council will essentially decide what activities to hold. The actual committee for each of the activities will change. Since I had already planning the Christmas party I will be finishing that effort up. That will be on December 18th at 6pm. As always, I’d love to see you there. There were lots of other changes that were announced in that training session. It will be very interesting to see how they all play out.
The same weekend was also Stake Conference. Elder Dallin H. Oaks from the Quorum of the Twelve came and spoke to us. I guess it has never happened in the history of the stake to have a member of the Twelve come and speak to us. It was really inspiring. He had come to a Stake Conference we had back in AZ not too long before we moved here, maybe a year or so. I think it’s very interesting that he was at both of these conferences and I can’t help but think that maybe there was something I should have taken away. I tried to figure that out and am hoping I got it right, but boy am I curious to know if I really did so or not.
We had a youth service project and also had YW in Excellence this month. The service project was done to help a couple get their property ready to be foster parents for some horses. I don’t know if they have the horses yet or not, but I think we got them ready for it. At YW in Excellence we had a royal theme. We talked about how life is like a fairy tale and in between Once Upon a Time and Happily Ever After every princess has her share of trials, heartaches and disappointment. It all turned out in the end for each of them and it will for us too if we hold onto our faith in Jesus Christ. This went quite well with a talk by Brother Young today. He said that whoever accepts the Son (of God) get it all. We get everything when we choose our Savior. We simply have to make that choice to put Him first and all else will follow.
Thanksgiving was interesting at our house this year. It was just the three of us. We had wanted the Elder’s to come over, but they had already been invited by another family. We had a smaller than usual turkey and didn’t end up eating until around 7pm because it took so long for the thing to cook! Next year we will go with a regular sized turkey and cook the way we usually do. I didn’t like having dinner so late. I like it around 2pm or so, then we can play games and eat again around 7pm when we are ready to. We started off the day as always watching the Macy’s parade. I have always watched it. I’m not sure why I like it so much, but I really enjoy it. This year Megan took a great interest in watching the bands. She loves to see a flute being played during anything. She has a great love for the flute.
Now that Thanksgiving has passed Christmas season is upon us. We put up some of our Christmas decorations, but not all. We were sad to see that one of our blow-up characters, Frosty the Snowman, will no longer blow up all the way. We took him back down. We have really scaled back from what we normally do for decoration. I think I prefer it this way. I was so excited to put out all my nativities. I have eleven and then I bought another. I have twelve now. I had to buy the one I saw this year, it was Charlie Brown and simply too cute to pass up. Plus it was on a pretty big sale. Normally $25, I paid $15. It was good. I guess I’m somewhat a collector of them. It’s what the season is really all about anyway. I’m hoping that eventually I will be able to put a nice one out in the front yard, but for now all we have is the Peanuts gang and the Pooh gang. Sadly, Snoopy, Woodstock and Marci all missing from the Peanuts group because they were stolen a few years ago. We bought some wood to make new ones, but they haven’t been made yet. They are quite an undertaking. I think this year we will get them made and painted, but I also need to repaint all the ones I have already made. They are starting to show their age. I’m nearly done with the Christmas cards. I like to get them off early.
Tomorrow is the Christmas parade here in town and I look forward to that. I guess it’s supposed to rain, so we’ll take our umbrellas, dress warmly and take something warm to drink as well. I think we’ll need it. Next Sunday, the 5th is the First Presidency Christmas devotional. I love to listen to that and watch it of course. It will be at 8pm local time. You can come to the building and watch it or if you prefer, you can watch it online at either the Church’s website or BYU will also carry it I’m sure. They will have video archive within a week on the Church’s website if you want to watch it later when it’s more convenient for you.
I guess that’s it. I’m always surprised by how much I have to say. I really enjoy sharing this with you each month and I hope that you enjoy hearing from me as well.
Monday, October 25, 2010
October 2010 update
Dear Lisa,
This month hasn’t been much of anything, yet still busy in its own way. The last Saturday of September was the General Relief Society meeting. I enjoyed it very much. I was surprised to see President Monson tear up and have to actually wipe away a few tears. It was very touching. He talked about judging other when we have no right to. He told the story of a young couple who moved into a new house and every week for a few weeks she kept complaining to her husband about how the woman next door couldn’t get her laundry cleaned, which was hanging up where the couple could see. After several weeks, she remarked how the woman must have learned how to finally clean her laundry. Her husband spoke up and said he knew what had happened. He had gotten up earlier that day and washed their windows. I couldn’t help but think about how we can each be that way so often in our lives. I know I am guilty of it. I am amazed at how when I get to know someone better, they are much smarter than I thought they were initially. I hope you know what I mean. It’s very sad to think that we are so mean to one another and yet all we want from others in their compassion and understanding.
The beginning of the month we had General Conference. We went to most of the sessions at the Chapel, but Sunday afternoon I gave up and decided to sit on my soft couch at home and watch it on the Internet. Those chairs are not the most comfortable chairs to sit on. I think the talk that most affected me was Elder Holland. He spoke about gratitude. He did so in such a way that I felt he was talking to me personally and thanking me for every effort I have ever made in the Church. I’ve never felt so appreciated from someone I have never met.
October also brought the Road show. We have been practicing for what seems like an eternity, on the 16th we finally performed. We went to the Vicksburg auditorium. It was so fun to watch what everyone had come up with. Although I know that I’m quite biased of course, I think ours was one of the two best. The one by Kalamazoo (all three wards) had some amazing dances, but there was no story line, so I didn’t like it as well as the other one. I can’t remember who did the other good one though. Sorry about that. Anyway, the kids had lots of fun. I was quite happy with the way it all turned out, but I’m also glad to moving past that and onto something else.
On the 23rd, just a week after Road show was finished, we had a huge garage sale at our house as a fundraiser for the Scouts and Young Women for camp for next year. We did pretty good. I think we made about $550. We probably would have made more, but the weather wasn’t getting along with us too well. We gave the rest of the stuff to Goodwill. They were pretty overwhelmed with all we had to give them. We probably could have done a 2nd yard sale and raised just as much money again, but I was so tired of the stuff being here and taking up my garage space that I wasn’t about to put it all away again. Still, if I had realized in advance how much there was I would have planned on two garage sales. Most of the kids came to help at one point or another and we enjoyed being together.
I finished my math class finally and ended with a B. It’s not what I had hoped for, but I’m glad it’s over with anyway. I also finished my creative writing class. I got an A in that one and I was happy to see that. Now I’m taking another creative writing class for fun and a Humanities course. I also went and enrolled at Baker College in Jackson. I will start there on January 10th. I go in for orientation in November. I am excited to be getting on with obtaining a degree, but I can’t believe all the schooling I will need to get my degree. I will need 239 quarter hours to finish the degree up and that seems like an awful lot. I don’t know how that works from semester hours, so right now I’m just in the dark as to what that really means. I am in high hopes that I will be able to transfer a lot of my classes over and not have too many to take once they are transferred over. I haven’t heard yet about that. I am planning to really get in and take a huge load of classes so that I can finish as soon as possible and get into a school and finally be able to teach. I want to try and take as many classes as I can on just two days of the week so that I can substitute teach on the other three days if anyone needs me for whatever reason.
I guess that’s about it for now. I hope you are all doing well. I’d love to hear back from any of you anytime!
This month hasn’t been much of anything, yet still busy in its own way. The last Saturday of September was the General Relief Society meeting. I enjoyed it very much. I was surprised to see President Monson tear up and have to actually wipe away a few tears. It was very touching. He talked about judging other when we have no right to. He told the story of a young couple who moved into a new house and every week for a few weeks she kept complaining to her husband about how the woman next door couldn’t get her laundry cleaned, which was hanging up where the couple could see. After several weeks, she remarked how the woman must have learned how to finally clean her laundry. Her husband spoke up and said he knew what had happened. He had gotten up earlier that day and washed their windows. I couldn’t help but think about how we can each be that way so often in our lives. I know I am guilty of it. I am amazed at how when I get to know someone better, they are much smarter than I thought they were initially. I hope you know what I mean. It’s very sad to think that we are so mean to one another and yet all we want from others in their compassion and understanding.
The beginning of the month we had General Conference. We went to most of the sessions at the Chapel, but Sunday afternoon I gave up and decided to sit on my soft couch at home and watch it on the Internet. Those chairs are not the most comfortable chairs to sit on. I think the talk that most affected me was Elder Holland. He spoke about gratitude. He did so in such a way that I felt he was talking to me personally and thanking me for every effort I have ever made in the Church. I’ve never felt so appreciated from someone I have never met.
October also brought the Road show. We have been practicing for what seems like an eternity, on the 16th we finally performed. We went to the Vicksburg auditorium. It was so fun to watch what everyone had come up with. Although I know that I’m quite biased of course, I think ours was one of the two best. The one by Kalamazoo (all three wards) had some amazing dances, but there was no story line, so I didn’t like it as well as the other one. I can’t remember who did the other good one though. Sorry about that. Anyway, the kids had lots of fun. I was quite happy with the way it all turned out, but I’m also glad to moving past that and onto something else.
On the 23rd, just a week after Road show was finished, we had a huge garage sale at our house as a fundraiser for the Scouts and Young Women for camp for next year. We did pretty good. I think we made about $550. We probably would have made more, but the weather wasn’t getting along with us too well. We gave the rest of the stuff to Goodwill. They were pretty overwhelmed with all we had to give them. We probably could have done a 2nd yard sale and raised just as much money again, but I was so tired of the stuff being here and taking up my garage space that I wasn’t about to put it all away again. Still, if I had realized in advance how much there was I would have planned on two garage sales. Most of the kids came to help at one point or another and we enjoyed being together.
I finished my math class finally and ended with a B. It’s not what I had hoped for, but I’m glad it’s over with anyway. I also finished my creative writing class. I got an A in that one and I was happy to see that. Now I’m taking another creative writing class for fun and a Humanities course. I also went and enrolled at Baker College in Jackson. I will start there on January 10th. I go in for orientation in November. I am excited to be getting on with obtaining a degree, but I can’t believe all the schooling I will need to get my degree. I will need 239 quarter hours to finish the degree up and that seems like an awful lot. I don’t know how that works from semester hours, so right now I’m just in the dark as to what that really means. I am in high hopes that I will be able to transfer a lot of my classes over and not have too many to take once they are transferred over. I haven’t heard yet about that. I am planning to really get in and take a huge load of classes so that I can finish as soon as possible and get into a school and finally be able to teach. I want to try and take as many classes as I can on just two days of the week so that I can substitute teach on the other three days if anyone needs me for whatever reason.
I guess that’s about it for now. I hope you are all doing well. I’d love to hear back from any of you anytime!
Monday, September 27, 2010
September 2010
Hi everyone,
What chilly weather we have been having! It’s nice, but reminds me a little too much of the winter that I fear is going to be a rather cold one. I sure hope I’m wrong!
We had RS craft day. I am used to a lot more stuff being offered back home, but by the time I would get home I was exhausted, so this was really nice to do a few things and then go home. I learned how to make knit a hat, make a button headband, bought some magnets to make later on, and got to chat with a couple of sisters.
This month has been quite long it seems. I started off with helping to cut and stack wood with my husband and daughter on Labor Day and found out that I’m allergic to trees. I have never heard anything like that before, but apparently I do have the problem whether I like it or not. I was pretty much flat in bed on Tuesday and sounded terrible for a few days after that. I told my husband I won’t be helping him anymore with anything like that without some kind of medication. I can’t afford to not feel good for a week over something so silly.
We are in the process of fixing a mini-van to drive around. Some friends of ours gave it to us. As you may or may not know, our truck was repossessed. There was a big mix-up with our creditor, but since it had happened anyway, we decided to just let them have it. The mini-van has some major repairs that need to be done, but soon they will be complete. It’s nice to not have a car payment, but I do miss the truck. Oh well.
It’s been a rather quiet month for me. Road Show practice each Wednesday and doing a few things related to it during the week. Also math, math, math and wishing I would do better in my math. My creative writing class is going much better, but I’m glad I’ll finish both this week or next. Then I’ll begin some new classes. After two more classes are completed (besides the ones I’m nearly done with) I’ll finally have enough credit hours to substitute teach. I’m looking forward to this quite a bit. I have been looking for a job with no luck and I’m hoping that once I can substitute I’ll be able to work at least a couple times a week and that will help out a lot financially. I’m also looking into skipping the rest of my AA degree and going straight to a university. I’m considering one in Jackson and another in Kalamazoo. They are about the same distance, so it’ll be more about which program is better and which is cheaper, mostly the cheaper thing for now. I’m a penny-pincher. I’m hoping to start at one of them in the Spring.
Andrew is looking for a better job too, but he’s been unsuccessful with that just as I’ve been. I know that soon the clouds will part and we’ll see the sun, but when it’s dark out it can get discouraging at times.
I have had a little girl over several times this month and that has been nice too. I’m sure getting tired of watching Barbie movies, but I enjoy having her around.
This past weekend was the General Relief Society meeting. It was wonderful. I have never seen President Monson get that emotional, ever. I was surprised at how strong his message was. He spoke of the need to be more charitable. Whether you are in RS or not, you should definitely read what he had to say when the Ensign comes. If you can get it via internet, it’s already on the Church’s website in both video and sound. This coming week is General Conference. The sessions begin at noon and four pm for the general sessions here. The Priesthood will be holding a tailgate party at the Branch building at 6:30pm and then will watch that session at 8pm inside via satellite. It’s kind of sad to have it so late at night, but at least we can sleep in I guess. Hahaha I can’t wait to hear what everyone has to say. It will be good to feel their spirit too. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to meet most of them, but I have been able to get to know the apostles better through reading about them. I’m so grateful for living prophets.
Oh, if you haven't heard, I changed both mine and Megan's cell. Email if you need the new number or if you want it. Andrew's is the same for now.
What chilly weather we have been having! It’s nice, but reminds me a little too much of the winter that I fear is going to be a rather cold one. I sure hope I’m wrong!
We had RS craft day. I am used to a lot more stuff being offered back home, but by the time I would get home I was exhausted, so this was really nice to do a few things and then go home. I learned how to make knit a hat, make a button headband, bought some magnets to make later on, and got to chat with a couple of sisters.
This month has been quite long it seems. I started off with helping to cut and stack wood with my husband and daughter on Labor Day and found out that I’m allergic to trees. I have never heard anything like that before, but apparently I do have the problem whether I like it or not. I was pretty much flat in bed on Tuesday and sounded terrible for a few days after that. I told my husband I won’t be helping him anymore with anything like that without some kind of medication. I can’t afford to not feel good for a week over something so silly.
We are in the process of fixing a mini-van to drive around. Some friends of ours gave it to us. As you may or may not know, our truck was repossessed. There was a big mix-up with our creditor, but since it had happened anyway, we decided to just let them have it. The mini-van has some major repairs that need to be done, but soon they will be complete. It’s nice to not have a car payment, but I do miss the truck. Oh well.
It’s been a rather quiet month for me. Road Show practice each Wednesday and doing a few things related to it during the week. Also math, math, math and wishing I would do better in my math. My creative writing class is going much better, but I’m glad I’ll finish both this week or next. Then I’ll begin some new classes. After two more classes are completed (besides the ones I’m nearly done with) I’ll finally have enough credit hours to substitute teach. I’m looking forward to this quite a bit. I have been looking for a job with no luck and I’m hoping that once I can substitute I’ll be able to work at least a couple times a week and that will help out a lot financially. I’m also looking into skipping the rest of my AA degree and going straight to a university. I’m considering one in Jackson and another in Kalamazoo. They are about the same distance, so it’ll be more about which program is better and which is cheaper, mostly the cheaper thing for now. I’m a penny-pincher. I’m hoping to start at one of them in the Spring.
Andrew is looking for a better job too, but he’s been unsuccessful with that just as I’ve been. I know that soon the clouds will part and we’ll see the sun, but when it’s dark out it can get discouraging at times.
I have had a little girl over several times this month and that has been nice too. I’m sure getting tired of watching Barbie movies, but I enjoy having her around.
This past weekend was the General Relief Society meeting. It was wonderful. I have never seen President Monson get that emotional, ever. I was surprised at how strong his message was. He spoke of the need to be more charitable. Whether you are in RS or not, you should definitely read what he had to say when the Ensign comes. If you can get it via internet, it’s already on the Church’s website in both video and sound. This coming week is General Conference. The sessions begin at noon and four pm for the general sessions here. The Priesthood will be holding a tailgate party at the Branch building at 6:30pm and then will watch that session at 8pm inside via satellite. It’s kind of sad to have it so late at night, but at least we can sleep in I guess. Hahaha I can’t wait to hear what everyone has to say. It will be good to feel their spirit too. I don’t know if I’ll ever get to meet most of them, but I have been able to get to know the apostles better through reading about them. I’m so grateful for living prophets.
Oh, if you haven't heard, I changed both mine and Megan's cell. Email if you need the new number or if you want it. Andrew's is the same for now.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Friday, August 27, 2010
Aug 2010 update
Hello again!
The month has gone by fast and furious as the saying goes. I always enjoy the end of the month because it’s full of fun things for me to do that keeps me up-to-date in my friends and families lives, however, it’s also full of more things to do and can be somewhat busier than the rest of the month. I don’t particularly care for that part of it. Hahaha
This past weekend the youth got the opportunity to travel to Chicago and do baptisms for the dead. I got to go and so did my husband who serves in the Young Men’s and my daughter, who is a Beehive. She rode with most of the other youth who went on the trip and she seemed to enjoy herself. I enjoyed talking with the other adults who rode with us, especially since it’s the rest of the YW presidency, except one of them just got released. Still, it was lots of fun. There is a beautiful spirit that can be felt only in the temple and I’m always grateful when I am able to attend. In the room where the ordinance is performed there is a very large mural of the Savior’s own baptism. I just kept staring at it for the couple of hours that we were there. It was very moving and I wish I could get a picture of it, though it would need to be much smaller of course and probably cutting off parts of the ends. It was probably about 25 feet long and 4 feet high or so. I would describe it better, but I would fail. It portrays many who might have watched the actual event and is absolutely stunning to look at.
I registered Megan, my daughter, for 7th grade yesterday. What a pain that was! Hahaha I am so glad I only have to do that once a year. She got her yearbook, ordered a t-shirt, bought a new flute book for band, signed up for cross country (that surprised me, but I was glad she did it) and we got her picture taken all while hearing about volunteering at the school, learning about fundraisers and the like. It took quite a bit of time to get through all the lines, but we made it through and now she is officially in 7th grade which makes me officially sad. I can’t believe how quickly she has grown up. She is going to be driving and dating before I know, in high school while I’m not looking and then out of the house, off to college and have a family of her own before I can turn around and catch my breath! Watching children growing up is an amazing process, but I’m trying to enjoy her all I can while I can. I want to have the same relationship with Megan that I have with my mom. We are best friends. Having one child makes it an all-or-nothing proposition. I sure hope I get it all. I’m sure those with more children still feel the same about each child, all-or-nothing that is. I am amazed at how different it is to parent one child vs. multiple children. There is no easy way. Both are difficult. Both have unique challenges.
We had Branch Conference and it was wonderful. All three members of the Stake Presidency spoke as well as Pres. Montross. I was going to include some of their comments, but sadly I took notes on my phone and the phone broke later that day. I can’t retrieve my notes until after I get the broken one replaced and due to several factors that won’t be until the beginning of September. I don’t remember things like talks for very long usually so I don’t remember what they spoke about (thus I take notes) or I would at least tell you that much. Sorry about that. Perhaps I will remember in a few weeks when I get my new phone to record some of it. I’m anxious to read again what I had written.
Our chickens are getting bigger and bigger. We finally started getting eggs from the full-grown ones. We only have four of them. The smaller ones that we bought later on are probably at least half way through the growing process. They sure eat a lot! I’m hoping they’ll start producing eggs in another couple of months. Ideally before that, but definitely by the end of October. I’ll keep you posted on that one. We have several people who want to buy eggs, but as of yet we’ve not sold any. We want to make sure that we are selling a quality product, so we have been holding off to see if there is anything that we aren’t catching up-front. We also have to decide on packaging and price etc. I would like to use plastic egg cartons that are reusable, but we have to see how that goes.
I went and took my mid-term for my math class. It went as well as it could I suppose. I did well, just short of an A, but I barely got to study for it, so I’m OK with that. Now I’m trying to stay focused and motivated long enough to finish this course and begin the next one. I have three more to go and I can’t wait to be done! I am hoping that they are going to be easier since they are supposed to focus on learning math for elementary –aged students. I’m really hoping and praying for that. I could use some easy math right about now. hahaha
Road show practices have begun. The Stake asks each Branch or Ward to put together a long skit basically. It is supposed to be 9 minutes long, be about the evolution of teenagers and somehow have kittens in it. Our is about a history class student who falls asleep dreaming of three events that happened to other teenagers and works in wearing modest clothes, including others and standing up for what we know is right. It sounds boring to describe it that way, but really is very cute. The youth are learning to triple swing, Charleston, and do the Virginia Reel as part of it. The actual Road Show will be on October 16th at the Vicksburg High School. I think the performances begin at 6pm. Each Ward or Branch will do their skit and then we will be done.
Our garden is winding down; as I’m sure most are. We got lots of ugly tomatoes, some pretty ones, onions, potatoes, huge zucchini, yellow squash, a few pumpkins and some corn. We might have gotten more, but my sweet husband decided to go big or bust and it turned out closer to bust as we could not keep up with the garden that he envisioned. I asked him to please scale it back next year, but we’ll see if he does that or not. Weeding here is much different than in AZ and the whole growing process is really much different. Things grow faster here and so you must care for it all much more frequently. It’s funny how something so universal as growing food can be so different from one place to another.
The month has gone by fast and furious as the saying goes. I always enjoy the end of the month because it’s full of fun things for me to do that keeps me up-to-date in my friends and families lives, however, it’s also full of more things to do and can be somewhat busier than the rest of the month. I don’t particularly care for that part of it. Hahaha
This past weekend the youth got the opportunity to travel to Chicago and do baptisms for the dead. I got to go and so did my husband who serves in the Young Men’s and my daughter, who is a Beehive. She rode with most of the other youth who went on the trip and she seemed to enjoy herself. I enjoyed talking with the other adults who rode with us, especially since it’s the rest of the YW presidency, except one of them just got released. Still, it was lots of fun. There is a beautiful spirit that can be felt only in the temple and I’m always grateful when I am able to attend. In the room where the ordinance is performed there is a very large mural of the Savior’s own baptism. I just kept staring at it for the couple of hours that we were there. It was very moving and I wish I could get a picture of it, though it would need to be much smaller of course and probably cutting off parts of the ends. It was probably about 25 feet long and 4 feet high or so. I would describe it better, but I would fail. It portrays many who might have watched the actual event and is absolutely stunning to look at.
I registered Megan, my daughter, for 7th grade yesterday. What a pain that was! Hahaha I am so glad I only have to do that once a year. She got her yearbook, ordered a t-shirt, bought a new flute book for band, signed up for cross country (that surprised me, but I was glad she did it) and we got her picture taken all while hearing about volunteering at the school, learning about fundraisers and the like. It took quite a bit of time to get through all the lines, but we made it through and now she is officially in 7th grade which makes me officially sad. I can’t believe how quickly she has grown up. She is going to be driving and dating before I know, in high school while I’m not looking and then out of the house, off to college and have a family of her own before I can turn around and catch my breath! Watching children growing up is an amazing process, but I’m trying to enjoy her all I can while I can. I want to have the same relationship with Megan that I have with my mom. We are best friends. Having one child makes it an all-or-nothing proposition. I sure hope I get it all. I’m sure those with more children still feel the same about each child, all-or-nothing that is. I am amazed at how different it is to parent one child vs. multiple children. There is no easy way. Both are difficult. Both have unique challenges.
We had Branch Conference and it was wonderful. All three members of the Stake Presidency spoke as well as Pres. Montross. I was going to include some of their comments, but sadly I took notes on my phone and the phone broke later that day. I can’t retrieve my notes until after I get the broken one replaced and due to several factors that won’t be until the beginning of September. I don’t remember things like talks for very long usually so I don’t remember what they spoke about (thus I take notes) or I would at least tell you that much. Sorry about that. Perhaps I will remember in a few weeks when I get my new phone to record some of it. I’m anxious to read again what I had written.
Our chickens are getting bigger and bigger. We finally started getting eggs from the full-grown ones. We only have four of them. The smaller ones that we bought later on are probably at least half way through the growing process. They sure eat a lot! I’m hoping they’ll start producing eggs in another couple of months. Ideally before that, but definitely by the end of October. I’ll keep you posted on that one. We have several people who want to buy eggs, but as of yet we’ve not sold any. We want to make sure that we are selling a quality product, so we have been holding off to see if there is anything that we aren’t catching up-front. We also have to decide on packaging and price etc. I would like to use plastic egg cartons that are reusable, but we have to see how that goes.
I went and took my mid-term for my math class. It went as well as it could I suppose. I did well, just short of an A, but I barely got to study for it, so I’m OK with that. Now I’m trying to stay focused and motivated long enough to finish this course and begin the next one. I have three more to go and I can’t wait to be done! I am hoping that they are going to be easier since they are supposed to focus on learning math for elementary –aged students. I’m really hoping and praying for that. I could use some easy math right about now. hahaha
Road show practices have begun. The Stake asks each Branch or Ward to put together a long skit basically. It is supposed to be 9 minutes long, be about the evolution of teenagers and somehow have kittens in it. Our is about a history class student who falls asleep dreaming of three events that happened to other teenagers and works in wearing modest clothes, including others and standing up for what we know is right. It sounds boring to describe it that way, but really is very cute. The youth are learning to triple swing, Charleston, and do the Virginia Reel as part of it. The actual Road Show will be on October 16th at the Vicksburg High School. I think the performances begin at 6pm. Each Ward or Branch will do their skit and then we will be done.
Our garden is winding down; as I’m sure most are. We got lots of ugly tomatoes, some pretty ones, onions, potatoes, huge zucchini, yellow squash, a few pumpkins and some corn. We might have gotten more, but my sweet husband decided to go big or bust and it turned out closer to bust as we could not keep up with the garden that he envisioned. I asked him to please scale it back next year, but we’ll see if he does that or not. Weeding here is much different than in AZ and the whole growing process is really much different. Things grow faster here and so you must care for it all much more frequently. It’s funny how something so universal as growing food can be so different from one place to another.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Lisa's degree update
For all those who have been wondering (and for those of you who haven't) I thought I'd post this update on my progression towards a degree. I am currently four classes away from my degree. I am in two classes right now, one is Intermediate Algebra and the other is a fun class I wanted to take (I needed 6 credit hours to be 1/2 time). That one is Creative Writing. I am enjoying the 2nd more than the 1st of course. hahaha
After my Algebra class I have three more math classes to take (I don't know the names of them) and then I will be finished with my AA degree. After I finish that degree I will be eligible for two things; one is to transfer to an in-state university and work towards my BA degree in Elementary Education and the other is that I will be eligible to begin substitute teaching. I need 90 credit hours for both. I am hoping to work very hard and finish all three math classes that are left during the fall semester. This might be tricky, but I think I can do it if I really work hard.
This math class I am in currently is much easier for me than the first one I took, which was purely awful. It was practically a full-time job for me to try and figure out and understand what I was doing and I barely got an A in it, which was miraculous. Thank goodness for heavily weighted finals is about all I can say on that one.
I have been thinking lately that I might change degree programs, but if I do then it will take even longer to complete a degree and I want to be done. We shall see what happens. I know that I'll still have to attend school after I start teaching (which is ironic since I'll spend all day teaching and then go to school to learn to teach), but at least I'll be working in my chosen career field.
I have heard from a credible source, though I no longer remember what source that was that I need a master's to teach, I am REALLY hoping that's not true. I am also really hoping that I'll be in high demand by the teachers after I'm eligible to teach. If so, then I can finally start working and helping to pay the bills and this is something that needs doing pretty desparately.
I guess that's pretty much it...
After my Algebra class I have three more math classes to take (I don't know the names of them) and then I will be finished with my AA degree. After I finish that degree I will be eligible for two things; one is to transfer to an in-state university and work towards my BA degree in Elementary Education and the other is that I will be eligible to begin substitute teaching. I need 90 credit hours for both. I am hoping to work very hard and finish all three math classes that are left during the fall semester. This might be tricky, but I think I can do it if I really work hard.
This math class I am in currently is much easier for me than the first one I took, which was purely awful. It was practically a full-time job for me to try and figure out and understand what I was doing and I barely got an A in it, which was miraculous. Thank goodness for heavily weighted finals is about all I can say on that one.
I have been thinking lately that I might change degree programs, but if I do then it will take even longer to complete a degree and I want to be done. We shall see what happens. I know that I'll still have to attend school after I start teaching (which is ironic since I'll spend all day teaching and then go to school to learn to teach), but at least I'll be working in my chosen career field.
I have heard from a credible source, though I no longer remember what source that was that I need a master's to teach, I am REALLY hoping that's not true. I am also really hoping that I'll be in high demand by the teachers after I'm eligible to teach. If so, then I can finally start working and helping to pay the bills and this is something that needs doing pretty desparately.
I guess that's pretty much it...
Evidence of our Heavenly Father's love
Today I just have to write about the way our Father in Heaven loves and cares for each of us. Yesterday Andrew did our Family Home Evening lesson on our Father in Heaven. He asked the question how do we even know that there is a God? I read the scripture in Alma when Alma is speaking to Korihor, an anti-Christ and Korihor asks the same question.
Alma responds, "Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of aall these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the bearth, and call things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its dmotion, yea, and also all the eplanets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator."
I then expounded a little on what that means. Each sunrise, each sunset, each plant and animal from the smallest to the largest living organism are testimony of the Living God. It saddens me to think that there are people who turn away from God because they feel that there is too much suffering in the world, yet this too means there is a God. He has given us the great gift of agency and even when we make poor choices, He loves us enough not to interfere. He loves us enough to suffer through the bad things we do to ourselves and others so that we may learn. How many people have turned towards Him as a result of true sorrow for the many sins they have committed? I would submit that all of us have to some extent or another. In His infinite mercy He also makes all things right in the end. Those who suffer innocently (meaning we have been wronged by someone else when we had no control) are blessed through the Atonement of Christ to overcome the effects of sin by another. How mighty are His ways! We cannot comprehend them, no mortal mind can.
Alma responds, "Thou hast had signs enough; will ye tempt your God? Will ye say, Show unto me a sign, when ye have the testimony of aall these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the bearth, and call things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its dmotion, yea, and also all the eplanets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator."
I then expounded a little on what that means. Each sunrise, each sunset, each plant and animal from the smallest to the largest living organism are testimony of the Living God. It saddens me to think that there are people who turn away from God because they feel that there is too much suffering in the world, yet this too means there is a God. He has given us the great gift of agency and even when we make poor choices, He loves us enough not to interfere. He loves us enough to suffer through the bad things we do to ourselves and others so that we may learn. How many people have turned towards Him as a result of true sorrow for the many sins they have committed? I would submit that all of us have to some extent or another. In His infinite mercy He also makes all things right in the end. Those who suffer innocently (meaning we have been wronged by someone else when we had no control) are blessed through the Atonement of Christ to overcome the effects of sin by another. How mighty are His ways! We cannot comprehend them, no mortal mind can.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Cooking mishap for Megan
I forgot to add another cooking mishap for Megan. Poor kid is going to have all this stuff that people know that she wishes they didn't, but I think it's cute. So, for those who read, please don't tease her.
First of all I want to say that Megan really does a good job of cooking, but like all of us learning something she makes mistakes along the way. She is learning a lot of cooking this summer and as a result has a higher concentration of mishaps than she would under normal circumstances.
Now for the story...
I was busy chatting with a friend onlie whom I hadn't chatted with for quite some time and asked her to make rice casserole for dinner. For those who don't know what rice casserole is, it's made of rice, hamburger and corn then topped with cheese. Pretty simple dish. Anyway, so I ask her to get out a package of hamburger from the freezer, tell her how to defrost it in the microwave and continue on with my chat.
Without too much convincing she gets up and does what I ask. Sometimes this convincing is a task unto itself, pretty normal. So, she comes back later and says that the meat is still fairly frozen on one side. I tell her to flip it over and run it a different amount of time for defrost in the microwave, which she does. She comes in and tells me that it's still frozen after the second try. Now I'll admit I'm not paying as much attention to this as I should have, I should realize at this point that something isn't right, but I'm really enjoying my chat and I just tell her to put it in the pan anyway and, as it fries, it will defrost what's left and it'll be just fine.
She comes back several minutes later and says that it's not coming apart-I can't think of why this wouldn't work as I've repeated this exact process literally hundreds of times before, maybe thousands. Still, I tell her to keep working on it and I go back to my conversation. I tell her she might want to turn up the heat ever so slightly. We have a gas stove, so you don't want to turn it up too much as it makes a big difference.
She comes in about 5 minutes later and says that the meat just isn't coming apart and asks if she can cut it with a sharp knife. Now I'm really starting to realize that something is wrong, though for the life of me I can't figure out what that may be. So with great annoyance I get up from the chat I'm having and head into the kitchen. When I reach the kitchen I look in the pan and immeadiately two things happen. I now understand why the meat isn't working like it should and I begin laughing hysterically, I'm talking about instant tears in my eyes from laughing so hard.
By now you're probably wondering, what did I find? Well, poor Megan had gotten out the wrong type of meat, she had picked out a package that contained two steaks and was actually frying them up. I laughed and laughed. I had to help her fix it of course and we had rice casserole anyway.
The steaks went into the refrigerator.
So there you have another cute story about Megan, who is full of cute and funny stories, though she doesn't realize it most of the time...
First of all I want to say that Megan really does a good job of cooking, but like all of us learning something she makes mistakes along the way. She is learning a lot of cooking this summer and as a result has a higher concentration of mishaps than she would under normal circumstances.
Now for the story...
I was busy chatting with a friend onlie whom I hadn't chatted with for quite some time and asked her to make rice casserole for dinner. For those who don't know what rice casserole is, it's made of rice, hamburger and corn then topped with cheese. Pretty simple dish. Anyway, so I ask her to get out a package of hamburger from the freezer, tell her how to defrost it in the microwave and continue on with my chat.
Without too much convincing she gets up and does what I ask. Sometimes this convincing is a task unto itself, pretty normal. So, she comes back later and says that the meat is still fairly frozen on one side. I tell her to flip it over and run it a different amount of time for defrost in the microwave, which she does. She comes in and tells me that it's still frozen after the second try. Now I'll admit I'm not paying as much attention to this as I should have, I should realize at this point that something isn't right, but I'm really enjoying my chat and I just tell her to put it in the pan anyway and, as it fries, it will defrost what's left and it'll be just fine.
She comes back several minutes later and says that it's not coming apart-I can't think of why this wouldn't work as I've repeated this exact process literally hundreds of times before, maybe thousands. Still, I tell her to keep working on it and I go back to my conversation. I tell her she might want to turn up the heat ever so slightly. We have a gas stove, so you don't want to turn it up too much as it makes a big difference.
She comes in about 5 minutes later and says that the meat just isn't coming apart and asks if she can cut it with a sharp knife. Now I'm really starting to realize that something is wrong, though for the life of me I can't figure out what that may be. So with great annoyance I get up from the chat I'm having and head into the kitchen. When I reach the kitchen I look in the pan and immeadiately two things happen. I now understand why the meat isn't working like it should and I begin laughing hysterically, I'm talking about instant tears in my eyes from laughing so hard.
By now you're probably wondering, what did I find? Well, poor Megan had gotten out the wrong type of meat, she had picked out a package that contained two steaks and was actually frying them up. I laughed and laughed. I had to help her fix it of course and we had rice casserole anyway.
The steaks went into the refrigerator.
So there you have another cute story about Megan, who is full of cute and funny stories, though she doesn't realize it most of the time...
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Megan's cooking what??
Cute story about Megan.
Yesterday we were making macaroni and cheese from scratch, we were making a pretty large batch so that we could have it for dinner and then quite a bit of leftover to freeze.
I put the pot on to boil with water for pasta and then turned my attention to other things. I asked Megan to put in a stick of butter and four Tablespoons of flour, which she did. Then I turned around to start stirring the mixture and to get started on the next step, which is adding cream cheese, milk and salt. When I turn around, there is no pot, so I look over the kitchen and find the pot, not worrying about it at all cause I never asked her to turn on the heat.
The pot was empty. Now I'm wondering what in the world happened? I go over to the stove where the water is getting warmer, thankfully not to warm yet and there is the stick of butter floating and four little clumps of flour, all gratefully floating. After laughing myself silly, I moved the butter and flour over to the other pot where it should have been to begin with and thankfully nothing was worse for it. However, it was soooo funny. Poor Megan.
Yesterday we were making macaroni and cheese from scratch, we were making a pretty large batch so that we could have it for dinner and then quite a bit of leftover to freeze.
I put the pot on to boil with water for pasta and then turned my attention to other things. I asked Megan to put in a stick of butter and four Tablespoons of flour, which she did. Then I turned around to start stirring the mixture and to get started on the next step, which is adding cream cheese, milk and salt. When I turn around, there is no pot, so I look over the kitchen and find the pot, not worrying about it at all cause I never asked her to turn on the heat.
The pot was empty. Now I'm wondering what in the world happened? I go over to the stove where the water is getting warmer, thankfully not to warm yet and there is the stick of butter floating and four little clumps of flour, all gratefully floating. After laughing myself silly, I moved the butter and flour over to the other pot where it should have been to begin with and thankfully nothing was worse for it. However, it was soooo funny. Poor Megan.
July 2010 update
I hope you enjoy reading these as much as I’m beginning to enjoy writing them. Hopefully all is well with you and your family. I’d love to hear from you anytime you might like to call, write or whatever.
This month has flown by so quickly, I can’t believe it’s already over! I realized yesterday that this is the last week of the month, but yet it seems like July has just begun. It has been a busy month. I started two new classes in school, Creative Writing and my next math class. I’m taking the writing class for fun, but the math class is of course required. I’m pretty bummed out about that, but I still have three more math classes after this one, so I’m doing my best to put on my happy face and have good thoughts. This math class seems less difficult than my previous one, which I spent as much time on as I normally would three or four classes. It was pretty crazy. This is builds on what I did in the last one and I think my brain is a little more accepting of what it’s trying to teach me.
I took my daughter Megan into the Dr. for a checkup and also for shots, but mistakenly believed that somehow the Dr. office knew her shot history due to having given it to the school (not sure why in the world I would have thought that) and they didn’t bother telling me that she needed her shot history (though I specifically told them that’s why I was coming in) so she didn’t get any shots that time. Now I have to take her back and get the shots anyway. She can’t go back to school until she has them.
Megan also went to Girl’s Camp for the first time. She had a really great time. The theme was “Valiant for Courage” and they learned much that would help them to be just that in today’s world. Megan said that other than the bugs she had a good time. She was so tired when she came home however because she was in a tent with other girls who would stay up and laugh until early morning (like 1am) and then they had to get up at 6 or 7am. Megan has been sleeping about 10 hours a night if I let her sleep it out, so you can imagine her exhaustion. My word how she is growing; like a weed sometimes. In fact, at her Dr. appointment, they measured her and with her shoes on and mine off she is only a few inches shorter than me. I always knew she would be taller than me, but I guess I didn’t want the day to come. I will be soon be the shortest person in the family, again.
Andrew leaves for Scout camp today right after Church. They will be there until Saturday some time, though I don’t know what time that will be. I’m not sure if they’ll need me to pick them up or not, but I know that I won’t be dropping them off, though I’m tempted to follow so that I know where I’m going if I have to pick them up.
We have lost power four times this month for a significant amount of time. Once was just out of the blue, no storm or anything for about four hours. We weren’t prepared when the electricity cut off our water supply too. I’ve been without power many times, but always had water…now we are trying to figure out what we can do to store up water for showers etc. and also to find some alternate source of power. Ultimately I suppose we’ll be buying a generator. We’d also like to get solar panels with a battery to store excess power at some point, but those are still pretty expensive.
We think we may have had a funnel cloud or something come through the north side of our house. Our garden was laid down in a circular pattern, thankfully it recovered, and our trees and such were all missing limbs on the north side of the house, just a few yards away were other trees with no damage whatever, so we are pretty sure something came by. Thankfully, nothing was hurt too bad except for one small tree, which we will cut up and use for firewood.
Yesterday I got on the mower and asked Andrew to show me how to mow the lawn. It’s too tall, he doesn’t always have time to do it and Megan isn’t allowed to as yet. I thought, “How hard can it be, you sit there, turn on the blades and ride around till you are done.” HA! If I had hired someone to do what I did and it looked like what mine did when I was done, I would have fired them. It’s by far the worst looking job I’ve ever done, no comparison. It was much harder than it looks and I even damaged a drain pipe…oops. Thankfully it wasn’t too bad and no real damage was done to the lawnmower. The drain pipe suffered a small chunk now missing. I felt better when Andrew said he had done something similar with a different drain pipe. I can see now why he doesn’t want Megan to do it. I also see why he says long pants and tennis shoes are pretty much required. Another thing we need to get is some kind of ear protection, man that’s loud. My ears were ringing when I was done. The ground is terribly uneven, there’s lots of objects to go around and I wasted a lot of time going over ground already mown because I couldn’t figure out how to do it without doing so. It was crazy. Thankfully I was spared the front yard. Living on a busy highway we get lots of traffic and I wouldn’t want people to stare at my poor job…hahaha, yes, it was that bad. It probably wouldn’t look so bad, but the clippings are just left there and with so much area to cover, we don’t even try to rake them up. Andrew says the front yard is actually harder because of the steep hill we live on. There are fewer things to go around though, so that’s good. Still…I’m glad I didn’t have to do it. He was so nice to finish what I had started!
OK, so that’s probably enough about me. Today I’m talking in Sacrament Meeting and also teaching the Young Women’s lesson. My talk is about enduring to the end and my lesson is on exaltation. It’s funny how those two are so connected. If we are faithful and endure to the end, we receive exaltation. I won’t add the talk this time because it’s quite long. I was asked to give a 15-20 minute talk. If you are interested in it, let me know and I’ll send it to you. J
This month has flown by so quickly, I can’t believe it’s already over! I realized yesterday that this is the last week of the month, but yet it seems like July has just begun. It has been a busy month. I started two new classes in school, Creative Writing and my next math class. I’m taking the writing class for fun, but the math class is of course required. I’m pretty bummed out about that, but I still have three more math classes after this one, so I’m doing my best to put on my happy face and have good thoughts. This math class seems less difficult than my previous one, which I spent as much time on as I normally would three or four classes. It was pretty crazy. This is builds on what I did in the last one and I think my brain is a little more accepting of what it’s trying to teach me.
I took my daughter Megan into the Dr. for a checkup and also for shots, but mistakenly believed that somehow the Dr. office knew her shot history due to having given it to the school (not sure why in the world I would have thought that) and they didn’t bother telling me that she needed her shot history (though I specifically told them that’s why I was coming in) so she didn’t get any shots that time. Now I have to take her back and get the shots anyway. She can’t go back to school until she has them.
Megan also went to Girl’s Camp for the first time. She had a really great time. The theme was “Valiant for Courage” and they learned much that would help them to be just that in today’s world. Megan said that other than the bugs she had a good time. She was so tired when she came home however because she was in a tent with other girls who would stay up and laugh until early morning (like 1am) and then they had to get up at 6 or 7am. Megan has been sleeping about 10 hours a night if I let her sleep it out, so you can imagine her exhaustion. My word how she is growing; like a weed sometimes. In fact, at her Dr. appointment, they measured her and with her shoes on and mine off she is only a few inches shorter than me. I always knew she would be taller than me, but I guess I didn’t want the day to come. I will be soon be the shortest person in the family, again.
Andrew leaves for Scout camp today right after Church. They will be there until Saturday some time, though I don’t know what time that will be. I’m not sure if they’ll need me to pick them up or not, but I know that I won’t be dropping them off, though I’m tempted to follow so that I know where I’m going if I have to pick them up.
We have lost power four times this month for a significant amount of time. Once was just out of the blue, no storm or anything for about four hours. We weren’t prepared when the electricity cut off our water supply too. I’ve been without power many times, but always had water…now we are trying to figure out what we can do to store up water for showers etc. and also to find some alternate source of power. Ultimately I suppose we’ll be buying a generator. We’d also like to get solar panels with a battery to store excess power at some point, but those are still pretty expensive.
We think we may have had a funnel cloud or something come through the north side of our house. Our garden was laid down in a circular pattern, thankfully it recovered, and our trees and such were all missing limbs on the north side of the house, just a few yards away were other trees with no damage whatever, so we are pretty sure something came by. Thankfully, nothing was hurt too bad except for one small tree, which we will cut up and use for firewood.
Yesterday I got on the mower and asked Andrew to show me how to mow the lawn. It’s too tall, he doesn’t always have time to do it and Megan isn’t allowed to as yet. I thought, “How hard can it be, you sit there, turn on the blades and ride around till you are done.” HA! If I had hired someone to do what I did and it looked like what mine did when I was done, I would have fired them. It’s by far the worst looking job I’ve ever done, no comparison. It was much harder than it looks and I even damaged a drain pipe…oops. Thankfully it wasn’t too bad and no real damage was done to the lawnmower. The drain pipe suffered a small chunk now missing. I felt better when Andrew said he had done something similar with a different drain pipe. I can see now why he doesn’t want Megan to do it. I also see why he says long pants and tennis shoes are pretty much required. Another thing we need to get is some kind of ear protection, man that’s loud. My ears were ringing when I was done. The ground is terribly uneven, there’s lots of objects to go around and I wasted a lot of time going over ground already mown because I couldn’t figure out how to do it without doing so. It was crazy. Thankfully I was spared the front yard. Living on a busy highway we get lots of traffic and I wouldn’t want people to stare at my poor job…hahaha, yes, it was that bad. It probably wouldn’t look so bad, but the clippings are just left there and with so much area to cover, we don’t even try to rake them up. Andrew says the front yard is actually harder because of the steep hill we live on. There are fewer things to go around though, so that’s good. Still…I’m glad I didn’t have to do it. He was so nice to finish what I had started!
OK, so that’s probably enough about me. Today I’m talking in Sacrament Meeting and also teaching the Young Women’s lesson. My talk is about enduring to the end and my lesson is on exaltation. It’s funny how those two are so connected. If we are faithful and endure to the end, we receive exaltation. I won’t add the talk this time because it’s quite long. I was asked to give a 15-20 minute talk. If you are interested in it, let me know and I’ll send it to you. J
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
June update
My goodness this has been a busy month! Just after I wrote last month I assumed the chairman position for Relay for Life for the branch team. I didn’t realize how much work it was. If you would like to participate in any way, feel free to drop by. We will be selling drinks and snacks as well as having a few silent auction items available to bid. Another thing would be to come and walk, if you don’t know about Relay for Life it is the largest fundraising event for the American Cancer Society and it’s held each year in many different locations throughout the country. Teams organize and raise money and people from each team are asked to be walking from 3pm this Friday through 3pm this Saturday (for our location this year). We will be at the Calhoun County Fairgrounds. Another part of the Relay this year is a study that people can participate in to sign up with a small blood sample and then answer some questions. Every few years for many years to come they will send new surveys to those who join to use that new information to help cancer research.
The Youth Trek is also this weekend. Although I am not going to the actual Trek I have been helping sew the last several days as the youth are asked to dress somewhat in period clothing. I have now made a bonnet, seat cushions, and bloomers. We tried to purchase the skirts and such that needed to be worn by the girls. The youth will gather at the building at 4:45am on Thursday and check in at 9:00am in Manistee National Forest. They will finish on Saturday at 3:30pm. I am sad not to be able to attend, but my daughter Megan isn’t old enough yet anyway, so I guess it’s for the best. They do the Trek every four years and we all plan to go then.
This week I finished my Math class. Now I’ll take a few weeks off to catch up on other things and then plow back into the next course I need to take. This class has been rather difficult for me as I haven’t taken math since the fall of 1993. I never did really grasp one of the chapters, but I’ve decided that for the tiny difference it would make to my grade it’s not worth retesting for.
About two weeks ago we picked up 25 new chickens, all girls this time. We have one that is picking, literally, on the others, so we had to separate it. We are also working on building an actual coop. We have the four walls up, but then the heat/humidity combination was too much for us and we stopped. We still need to build and shingle the roof and then finish the inside. Still, we are glad to have the four walls up as that seems to be the hardest part.
I will be very glad when this week is complete, it’s a busy one. The Open House was wonderful, as were the actual dedication of the building and the special session of Stake Conference. I always enjoy Church events. I’m not really sure why that is exactly, but they fill me with joy. One of the speakers at Stake Conference spoke about the difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is fleeting and joy is long-lasting. It was wonderful to hear much of what was said, the theme was about the joy we find in the Gospel. I know that the Gospel has filled my life with joy.
The Youth Trek is also this weekend. Although I am not going to the actual Trek I have been helping sew the last several days as the youth are asked to dress somewhat in period clothing. I have now made a bonnet, seat cushions, and bloomers. We tried to purchase the skirts and such that needed to be worn by the girls. The youth will gather at the building at 4:45am on Thursday and check in at 9:00am in Manistee National Forest. They will finish on Saturday at 3:30pm. I am sad not to be able to attend, but my daughter Megan isn’t old enough yet anyway, so I guess it’s for the best. They do the Trek every four years and we all plan to go then.
This week I finished my Math class. Now I’ll take a few weeks off to catch up on other things and then plow back into the next course I need to take. This class has been rather difficult for me as I haven’t taken math since the fall of 1993. I never did really grasp one of the chapters, but I’ve decided that for the tiny difference it would make to my grade it’s not worth retesting for.
About two weeks ago we picked up 25 new chickens, all girls this time. We have one that is picking, literally, on the others, so we had to separate it. We are also working on building an actual coop. We have the four walls up, but then the heat/humidity combination was too much for us and we stopped. We still need to build and shingle the roof and then finish the inside. Still, we are glad to have the four walls up as that seems to be the hardest part.
I will be very glad when this week is complete, it’s a busy one. The Open House was wonderful, as were the actual dedication of the building and the special session of Stake Conference. I always enjoy Church events. I’m not really sure why that is exactly, but they fill me with joy. One of the speakers at Stake Conference spoke about the difference between happiness and joy. Happiness is fleeting and joy is long-lasting. It was wonderful to hear much of what was said, the theme was about the joy we find in the Gospel. I know that the Gospel has filled my life with joy.
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
May 2010 Newsletter
Hello Everyone!
I have been feeling for some time that I needed to start sending out a monthly newsletter again. For the most of you, the newsletter is probably old news, but I will still send it out. I hope you will enjoy it. I have not been good for several years at this, but the Lord, knowing my weakness has made it easy for me. I have two visiting teaching routes now, one is in-person and the other is a writing route. I type my letters each month to my sisters and this gives me a pretty good start on my newsletter. What a blessing in disguise.
The month of May has been very nice weather-wise. I know probably most of the state of MI is tired of rain, but I love rain! I am glad this storm came during the week however as we do a lot of outdoor things on Saturday and the storms on Saturday really threw us off since we don’t have time to do it any other day of the week. Our grass sure got tall. Hahaha
We moved into the new building on Mother’s Day, May 9th. It is very pretty and it’s so nice to be able to meet in our own building that is planned for our use. I wish that some of the building was larger, the chapel area for instance, but it is sufficient for our use at this time. On Mother’s Day they handed out beautiful carnations-my favorite flower. I’m not really sure why it’s my favorite, but I think partially because they last so long. I also think it might be in part because my Dad used to work for a company called Carnation when I was young and I just associated the two somehow. The Open House will be June 9th. I believe it starts at 6pm. I know we’ll be going by 7pm though. I sure hope you are able to make it. I’d love to meet you and get to know you a little bit. There will be refreshments of course and I believe a short program and then a self-guided tour of the building. Each organization is doing something special for the event.
We planted our garden, but nothing is really growing yet, probably due to the temperatures still being too low. I sure hope the seeds are still going to be good because we spent a lot of time planting. My husband loves gardening and as a result he planted about ½ acre or so of seeds and a few small plants (raspberries and strawberries). I think all told we spent 20 work hours doing the planting, not something I wish to do again anytime soon.
We bought chickens too. One set is about a month older than the other set. We are now working on building a chicken coop. The difficulty we have been having is that we aren’t sure how we want to design it. In addition to that we haven’t had much chance to sit and talk about how to design it either. I told my husband, Andrew, that we need to build it over Memorial Day weekend since he’ll be off on Monday as well as Saturday and now I’m really hoping for good weather that weekend so we can get a lot of work done on the coop. The bigger chickens are in a pen now, but that’s not going to last forever. We are going to start introducing the second bunch with the first one and hope all goes well. A friend of ours introduced a new chicken to his coop and it literally killed the entire group because of a disease that he didn’t know the new chicken had. That scares me a little, but ours all came from the same source, so I hope they will all be OK. One of the chickens has a bottom beak which is crooked, but it’s still OK so far. The others are starting to peck at it though (I don’t know if it’s a boy or girl) so we may have to kill it off sooner than we had planned. We got both egg-laying and meat-producing chickens. I hope it’s one of the meat kind, though I have no idea how to tell about that either.
May 15th and 16th was Stake Conference. The adult session was wonderful on Saturday and I actually was able to spend some time reading while Andrew was attending the Priesthood session prior to that. That was a nice treat. The overall theme of the Conference was to be prepared. I can add my personal testimony to the value of doing just that. We are trying to prepare in temporal and spiritual matters for if you aren’t prepared in both areas I feel strongly that it won’t matter much when hard times come along, which they always do.
Andrew is serving as Young Men’s president and the Scoutmaster, for those who don’t already know that. He is working diligently at getting everything organized so that he can move forward. Scouts had become very haphazard and he is trying to get it all back on track. He has a lot of online training to get done, which he needs to do before Scout camp in July. I try to help where I can. I helped him create a calendar (our small branch doesn’t see a need to have one), I helped him get folders together for his Quorum presidents and a few more things that are kind of difficult to explain. I have spent quite a bit of time helping him. I think he is now ready to move ahead mostly. He is also still serving as Physical Facilities Representative, which included both moves in the last six months that the Branch made, the cleaning of the building, the scheduling of the building and also the security of the building (making sure it’s locked each night). He is a little busy with all of that. I help where I can.
I spent a couple of days trying to organize the Young Women stuff. I am 1st counselor, but I know that if I don’t do it, nobody will. The president works full-time and is very busy with that and her family, the 2nd counselor is working and going to school and the secretary has become inactive. Now that I have all the filing-type organization done I will take it all to the building and organize the cupboard that we have.
Megan is busy with her life. Next Monday, the 24th, will be her final concert for this year. She is pretty excited about it. I hope she does well. She really enjoys it very much. She is ready for school to be over, but sadly school here does not get out until June 10th, so she has a little longer to go. I feel badly for her since she has been going for so long, but she has had two month-long breaks (one when we moved and another for the funeral trip) so I think she’ll survive just fine. She will be taking a break from piano and flute during the summer as her flute gets turned into the school for cleaning and maintenance and her piano teacher will be gone a huge portion of the summer. She will keep busy I’m sure with all those chickens (22), a garden, a basketball hoop, friends, and of course Church activities. She also just found out that at some point her class is going to be taped for a Nickelodean show, though she doesn’t know what it’s going to be called nor does she know when it will be on. The school sponsored a week about cyber-bullying and apparently they are going to be doing something in regards to that. If we ever find out what it’ll be called and when it’ll be on, I’ll let you know.
I’m leaving in part of my Visiting Teaching message this month. The talk is by Elder James B. Martino and is titled “All Things Work Together for Good”. Elder Martino began by telling a cute story of a little boy trying to learn to hit a baseball. After three tremendous swings that resulted in no bat contact whatever he was disheartened for a short few seconds, then his face lit up and he said “What a pitcher!”
Just like this little boy, we all have adversity. Of course most of our adversity isn’t nearly so easy to overcome. Some struggle with health, others with financial concerns. Some have family that they worry about for various reasons. Oftentimes we have multiple types of adversity at the same time, but we all have one commonality, we all have the agency to choose our attitude in regards to the adversity we face. If we choose to be grumpy and feel that nobody can help us regardless of the trial, then that is the reality we choose for ourselves. However, if we will have the faith to choose to turn to our Savior and our Father in Heaven we will be blessed with the strength and knowledge needed to endure, and usually overcome, any adversity in our lives. The Savior suffered for our sins, He suffered for our weaknesses and imperfections. He knows intimately how we feel when nobody else can. He is waiting for us to turn to Him and make that Atonement a power for good in our lives. I leave that witness with you in His holy name, even Jesus Christ, Amen.
I have been feeling for some time that I needed to start sending out a monthly newsletter again. For the most of you, the newsletter is probably old news, but I will still send it out. I hope you will enjoy it. I have not been good for several years at this, but the Lord, knowing my weakness has made it easy for me. I have two visiting teaching routes now, one is in-person and the other is a writing route. I type my letters each month to my sisters and this gives me a pretty good start on my newsletter. What a blessing in disguise.
The month of May has been very nice weather-wise. I know probably most of the state of MI is tired of rain, but I love rain! I am glad this storm came during the week however as we do a lot of outdoor things on Saturday and the storms on Saturday really threw us off since we don’t have time to do it any other day of the week. Our grass sure got tall. Hahaha
We moved into the new building on Mother’s Day, May 9th. It is very pretty and it’s so nice to be able to meet in our own building that is planned for our use. I wish that some of the building was larger, the chapel area for instance, but it is sufficient for our use at this time. On Mother’s Day they handed out beautiful carnations-my favorite flower. I’m not really sure why it’s my favorite, but I think partially because they last so long. I also think it might be in part because my Dad used to work for a company called Carnation when I was young and I just associated the two somehow. The Open House will be June 9th. I believe it starts at 6pm. I know we’ll be going by 7pm though. I sure hope you are able to make it. I’d love to meet you and get to know you a little bit. There will be refreshments of course and I believe a short program and then a self-guided tour of the building. Each organization is doing something special for the event.
We planted our garden, but nothing is really growing yet, probably due to the temperatures still being too low. I sure hope the seeds are still going to be good because we spent a lot of time planting. My husband loves gardening and as a result he planted about ½ acre or so of seeds and a few small plants (raspberries and strawberries). I think all told we spent 20 work hours doing the planting, not something I wish to do again anytime soon.
We bought chickens too. One set is about a month older than the other set. We are now working on building a chicken coop. The difficulty we have been having is that we aren’t sure how we want to design it. In addition to that we haven’t had much chance to sit and talk about how to design it either. I told my husband, Andrew, that we need to build it over Memorial Day weekend since he’ll be off on Monday as well as Saturday and now I’m really hoping for good weather that weekend so we can get a lot of work done on the coop. The bigger chickens are in a pen now, but that’s not going to last forever. We are going to start introducing the second bunch with the first one and hope all goes well. A friend of ours introduced a new chicken to his coop and it literally killed the entire group because of a disease that he didn’t know the new chicken had. That scares me a little, but ours all came from the same source, so I hope they will all be OK. One of the chickens has a bottom beak which is crooked, but it’s still OK so far. The others are starting to peck at it though (I don’t know if it’s a boy or girl) so we may have to kill it off sooner than we had planned. We got both egg-laying and meat-producing chickens. I hope it’s one of the meat kind, though I have no idea how to tell about that either.
May 15th and 16th was Stake Conference. The adult session was wonderful on Saturday and I actually was able to spend some time reading while Andrew was attending the Priesthood session prior to that. That was a nice treat. The overall theme of the Conference was to be prepared. I can add my personal testimony to the value of doing just that. We are trying to prepare in temporal and spiritual matters for if you aren’t prepared in both areas I feel strongly that it won’t matter much when hard times come along, which they always do.
Andrew is serving as Young Men’s president and the Scoutmaster, for those who don’t already know that. He is working diligently at getting everything organized so that he can move forward. Scouts had become very haphazard and he is trying to get it all back on track. He has a lot of online training to get done, which he needs to do before Scout camp in July. I try to help where I can. I helped him create a calendar (our small branch doesn’t see a need to have one), I helped him get folders together for his Quorum presidents and a few more things that are kind of difficult to explain. I have spent quite a bit of time helping him. I think he is now ready to move ahead mostly. He is also still serving as Physical Facilities Representative, which included both moves in the last six months that the Branch made, the cleaning of the building, the scheduling of the building and also the security of the building (making sure it’s locked each night). He is a little busy with all of that. I help where I can.
I spent a couple of days trying to organize the Young Women stuff. I am 1st counselor, but I know that if I don’t do it, nobody will. The president works full-time and is very busy with that and her family, the 2nd counselor is working and going to school and the secretary has become inactive. Now that I have all the filing-type organization done I will take it all to the building and organize the cupboard that we have.
Megan is busy with her life. Next Monday, the 24th, will be her final concert for this year. She is pretty excited about it. I hope she does well. She really enjoys it very much. She is ready for school to be over, but sadly school here does not get out until June 10th, so she has a little longer to go. I feel badly for her since she has been going for so long, but she has had two month-long breaks (one when we moved and another for the funeral trip) so I think she’ll survive just fine. She will be taking a break from piano and flute during the summer as her flute gets turned into the school for cleaning and maintenance and her piano teacher will be gone a huge portion of the summer. She will keep busy I’m sure with all those chickens (22), a garden, a basketball hoop, friends, and of course Church activities. She also just found out that at some point her class is going to be taped for a Nickelodean show, though she doesn’t know what it’s going to be called nor does she know when it will be on. The school sponsored a week about cyber-bullying and apparently they are going to be doing something in regards to that. If we ever find out what it’ll be called and when it’ll be on, I’ll let you know.
I’m leaving in part of my Visiting Teaching message this month. The talk is by Elder James B. Martino and is titled “All Things Work Together for Good”. Elder Martino began by telling a cute story of a little boy trying to learn to hit a baseball. After three tremendous swings that resulted in no bat contact whatever he was disheartened for a short few seconds, then his face lit up and he said “What a pitcher!”
Just like this little boy, we all have adversity. Of course most of our adversity isn’t nearly so easy to overcome. Some struggle with health, others with financial concerns. Some have family that they worry about for various reasons. Oftentimes we have multiple types of adversity at the same time, but we all have one commonality, we all have the agency to choose our attitude in regards to the adversity we face. If we choose to be grumpy and feel that nobody can help us regardless of the trial, then that is the reality we choose for ourselves. However, if we will have the faith to choose to turn to our Savior and our Father in Heaven we will be blessed with the strength and knowledge needed to endure, and usually overcome, any adversity in our lives. The Savior suffered for our sins, He suffered for our weaknesses and imperfections. He knows intimately how we feel when nobody else can. He is waiting for us to turn to Him and make that Atonement a power for good in our lives. I leave that witness with you in His holy name, even Jesus Christ, Amen.
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
March 17th
Well, today is St. Patrick's Day. An interesting day. I hate green, but feel obliged to wear it nevertheless. I am not Catholic either, so what is that all about? If someone pinches me, they are going to wish they hadn't. I forgot to warn Megan, I hope she wore green. Kids in school are the main offenders of pinching. I have mutual tonight and already told the girls no pinching. As usual, I'm not wearing anything green. I don't even own much that could be called green, so this is truly a daunting task anyway.
In other news, I just stepped off the scale and I'm down to an even 313.0. Two more pounds and I'll have lost 10. I am excited for that to happen. I am glad that I can concentrate on it again. I think it will help. I did the Pound for Pound challenge with Biggest Loser and pledged 30 or 35 pounds, I don't remember which now.
My Dad isn't doing well. He went to the hospital a couple of weeks ago and had to have his lungs drained three times. He then was fitted with tubes to drain the lungs at home. His cancer has progressed to the point that the internal organs cannot keep fluid out.
Here is an email I sent out yesterday to family:
I sure hope I make it back there before he passes. I'm not sure if I will or not, his passing seems so imminent.
In other news, I just stepped off the scale and I'm down to an even 313.0. Two more pounds and I'll have lost 10. I am excited for that to happen. I am glad that I can concentrate on it again. I think it will help. I did the Pound for Pound challenge with Biggest Loser and pledged 30 or 35 pounds, I don't remember which now.
My Dad isn't doing well. He went to the hospital a couple of weeks ago and had to have his lungs drained three times. He then was fitted with tubes to drain the lungs at home. His cancer has progressed to the point that the internal organs cannot keep fluid out.
Here is an email I sent out yesterday to family:
"Dad went to the Dr. in Tucson today. He said that because of the situation that Dad has, he does not recommend chemo or radiation. Dad is terribly dehydrated and is having lots of trouble with keeping anything down. Today they discovered Ensure and that seems to be the best thing for him right now. Pretty much everything else gets thrown right back up. Dad is on morphine and they are trying to keep him as comfortable as possible until he is gone. They have signed a paper saying that they do not want him plugged in at all when the time comes. He is barely able to get himself to the restroom. Mom puts his food into his mouth, he chews it. She puts his medication (nausea and pain) into his mouth and he can take it from there. In short, he is suffering badly and is probably not far from passing on, though we of course don’t know for sure.
Hospice comes as needed. They brought him a chair for the shower as he is unable to stand long enough to take a shower, it wears him out. They call each day and see how he is doing and if they need anything, they provide it.
Dad is able to talk on the phone, but not for very long. He looks forward to visits, but again wears out very easily. Both Mom and Dad are in hopes that the Ensure will help him feel better soon, but there is no guarantee of it.
Thanks again to all who are doing anything to help them out in anyway, even if all you are doing is praying or thinking of them, it is felt."
Monday, March 15, 2010
March 15
It has been a long time since I wrote anything!
We moved again, this time the move went much smoother and the packing and unpacking was all mine to do basically. Megan was a big help though and Andrew did what he could as well. We are pretty much settled in now. I have been super-busy doing what I could here on the house and keeping up with school. I think things are a little more settled down now, so I can relax a little more and have time to keep up with things like this again.
I haven't been paying any attention to my efforts at weight loss, but last week sometime I weighed in and was at 313 something, I can't remember what. I'm glad it was down, not up. I will try to post an update on that in the next few days.
This Saturday is our Stake Temple Day. Assuming we can meet with Pres. Saye before Saturday, we will be heading to Chicago for the day on Saturday. I sure hope that we are able to pull that off.
I am starting a math class today. I still have to wait for my book to arrive however. It should be here this week sometime. It's my first math class in over 15 years and I'm required to use a graphing calculator. That should be funny since I've never used one before EVER! I laughed when Megan told me that she is required to have one for Math next year in 7th grade...holy cow!
There is so much more to say, but I just don't have time to do it today as I'm super-busy with a long to-do list of things waiting for me to get more settled in from the move. lol
Hope all of you are doing well. I shall try to post again soon!
We moved again, this time the move went much smoother and the packing and unpacking was all mine to do basically. Megan was a big help though and Andrew did what he could as well. We are pretty much settled in now. I have been super-busy doing what I could here on the house and keeping up with school. I think things are a little more settled down now, so I can relax a little more and have time to keep up with things like this again.
I haven't been paying any attention to my efforts at weight loss, but last week sometime I weighed in and was at 313 something, I can't remember what. I'm glad it was down, not up. I will try to post an update on that in the next few days.
This Saturday is our Stake Temple Day. Assuming we can meet with Pres. Saye before Saturday, we will be heading to Chicago for the day on Saturday. I sure hope that we are able to pull that off.
I am starting a math class today. I still have to wait for my book to arrive however. It should be here this week sometime. It's my first math class in over 15 years and I'm required to use a graphing calculator. That should be funny since I've never used one before EVER! I laughed when Megan told me that she is required to have one for Math next year in 7th grade...holy cow!
There is so much more to say, but I just don't have time to do it today as I'm super-busy with a long to-do list of things waiting for me to get more settled in from the move. lol
Hope all of you are doing well. I shall try to post again soon!
Friday, February 5, 2010
The Secret
For those of you who are unfamiliar with "The Secret", it's a good movie that is basically about the law of attraction. NO, not THAT kind. It means that you get what you think about the most. If you constantly worry about debt, that's where you'll find yourself. If you constantly think about how great it is to save money, that's where you'll find yourself. That being said, I realized the other night that I had unintentionally attracted the strange circumstances of our last move. I had for years been saying that the next time we move I wasn't going to pack much of anything but would have someone else do it. I also stated that I would not load the truck or unload it. I even went so far as to say that I wouldn't do much cleaning at either the old or new house and I wasn't going to unpack anything either. I was simply going to direct where it went. Sadly, that's pretty much what happened. I had meant that it would be movers doing it for me as I paid them, but instead it was Andrew as I was working and going to school full-time while he was at home doing schooling, but not working. I then became very ill as you all remember I'm sure. After we got here, someone else scrubbed the bathrooms for me and Andrew did most of the putting away himself because I was too weak. Looking back it's kinda funny, and we were both able to laugh about it, but as we went through it, I know neither of us found it humorous in any way.
I guess the old adage is true, be careful what you wish for cause you just might get it.
I guess the old adage is true, be careful what you wish for cause you just might get it.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Andrew the faker
So Andrew told me last night that on the night previous (Tuesday night in other words) when we had been laying in bed he pretended to fall asleep. We both do that, so I didn't think much of it, but I had forgotten that shortly after he decided to pretend snoring I audibly stated that I wished I could fall asleep so quickly. Quickly meaning within 2 minutes of laying down he is out like a light.
I didn't realize he was faking, although the thought did cross my mind. Well I guess he had decided that after a couple more minutes he would sit up in bed and try to scare me and tease me about how he had fooled me. Now I was sitting there listening to him tell me this and thinking he never did anything like that. His next sentence solved the puzzle. After he had that thought, he didn't remember anything else happening until he woke up at 3am for no particular reason. When he woke up, he thought about that fact that his plan certainly hadn't worked out too well. I laughed hysterically at that. Serves him right!
UPDATE: I guess this was confusing. Essentially Andrew was pretending to be asleep, but in fact he wasn't. He was going to fake a little longer and then scare me. Instead, he really did fall asleep until about 3am. Good thing too or I would have had a heart attack and gotten mad at him probably. :-)
I didn't realize he was faking, although the thought did cross my mind. Well I guess he had decided that after a couple more minutes he would sit up in bed and try to scare me and tease me about how he had fooled me. Now I was sitting there listening to him tell me this and thinking he never did anything like that. His next sentence solved the puzzle. After he had that thought, he didn't remember anything else happening until he woke up at 3am for no particular reason. When he woke up, he thought about that fact that his plan certainly hadn't worked out too well. I laughed hysterically at that. Serves him right!
UPDATE: I guess this was confusing. Essentially Andrew was pretending to be asleep, but in fact he wasn't. He was going to fake a little longer and then scare me. Instead, he really did fall asleep until about 3am. Good thing too or I would have had a heart attack and gotten mad at him probably. :-)
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Megan's birthday
Megan had a great birthday. We left around 1pm and drove to Lansing to see the capital. It looked like a capital of an older state. Very cool architecture and very old-style. Loved it. Wish more buildings looked that way. I don't enjoy the modern architecture as much, but that's OK cause I know others do. There is something for everyone. We got a free Baskin Robbins cone while in Lansing and then drove to Detroit and then into Bloomfield Hills which is where the Detroit temple is actually located. My goodness those are some rich people. Even the shacks were impressive. If it had been daylight after we got out I would have been snapping pics all over cause that's when we went through the impressive part of town (which I thought was what we drove through on the way there). I didn't get pics of those homes either, but maybe next time we go I will. I was floored at the whole thing. The temple itself is TINY!!! It is probably the size of the building we used to meet in for Church in Mesa. The baptistry is about 20 ft. from the entrance and off to the right through glass doors. Pretty cool. Andrew got to be the mouthpiece for both baptisms and confirmations for Megan and I. Megan went first on both accounts and then I followed. It was such fun and I wish we had been able to do more names. We went to dinner after we got out and then drove home, arriving just in time to see the temp outside hit zero and it was 10:30ish at night. We went to bed pretty quick after that.
On Monday I took Megan to get her ears pierced. She was super nervous and before she knew it, they were done. She cried a couple of lonely tears and then we paid and left. It went very well I think. We stopped by the dealership and showed them off to Andrew and then came home. Later Megan complained that her stomach was hurting, then still later she threw up. Then she did it again and again and once more for good show I guess. Thankfully it was all in the bathroom sink. She threw up several more times after that and only the one at midnight was on the carpet-all the rest in the bathroom (YEAH!). The one of the carpet was Sprite and water, so it was easy to clean-up. Andrew found online that in rare cases piercing the ears can cause equilibrium to be off and cause the stomach upset. While that might be what happened, she did have a small temp also, so we don't know for sure what the problem was but are glad she is feeling much better today. I kept her home, just in case cause I don't think doing that at school sounds like a very good idea. lol
This Saturday we are hoping to have a few people over for cake and ice cream and then her week of celebration will finally be over and we can move onto the next thing. I don't know why her birthdays always seem to last so long, but whatever I guess. You are only a kid once.
On Monday I took Megan to get her ears pierced. She was super nervous and before she knew it, they were done. She cried a couple of lonely tears and then we paid and left. It went very well I think. We stopped by the dealership and showed them off to Andrew and then came home. Later Megan complained that her stomach was hurting, then still later she threw up. Then she did it again and again and once more for good show I guess. Thankfully it was all in the bathroom sink. She threw up several more times after that and only the one at midnight was on the carpet-all the rest in the bathroom (YEAH!). The one of the carpet was Sprite and water, so it was easy to clean-up. Andrew found online that in rare cases piercing the ears can cause equilibrium to be off and cause the stomach upset. While that might be what happened, she did have a small temp also, so we don't know for sure what the problem was but are glad she is feeling much better today. I kept her home, just in case cause I don't think doing that at school sounds like a very good idea. lol
This Saturday we are hoping to have a few people over for cake and ice cream and then her week of celebration will finally be over and we can move onto the next thing. I don't know why her birthdays always seem to last so long, but whatever I guess. You are only a kid once.
Blog, blog, blog
I'm not doing great at blogging, sorry about that. I shall keep trying and hope that someday I'll be really upon it.
I thought it interesting that blog sounds like blah. That's probably what my blog seems like.
I enjoy reading other blogs now and I hope that someday mine will be worth reading too. lol
We went sledding last Friday. It was tons of fun, but oh my goodness was it an adventure. We got there and thought it was pretty awesome to have the hill to our own. The other people that had been there left just as we were getting ourselves unpacked. We got our stuff and started to go up the hill. As we walked in front of the hill to the other side where it would be easier to go up the hill I slipped and fell. Wasn't too bad. We went up and as we climbed we noticed that there was black ice, but didn't think too much about it cause it wasn't the hill. We've had pretty warm temps the last several days and much of the snow had melted off. We just figured that would be good for compacting the snow we'd had previously had. So Andrew and I jumped on the large tobaggan and decided that we'd have a great ride. We really did too. Straight down, super fast, enough to get airborn at least four times and probably went a quarter of a mile at least and bumped ourselves several times. I lost my hat, but we laid back and laughed our heads off. It was awesome. We both wish that someone had been videotaping so we could post the aventure on You Tube. It was truly amazing. Megan's wasn't quite as great of a ride, but she had fun.
We all trudged up the hill again. When I was nearly there, Megan decided that she couldn't wait for me anymore and went down. She had a good run, as did Andrew who went down solo. I waited for them to climb the hill again. Then I got on and Megan got in front of me. We took off and when we got almost the first part of the hill done, we started veering to the right. I tried to correct, but used the wrong foot and as a result we ended up going backward across the straight stretch and then down the second small hill. We stopped abruptly and I hit my head pretty hard (right on my barrette of course) and so I decided that we were done. I also realized that I had hurt my left leg somehow and the right side of my rearend. I was definitely done. Andrew's tube went flat (guessing it was change it temperature). He finally made it down though. Megan was scared out of her mind. We were still going very fast. Poor Andrew had to go once more to get the last of the sleds down the hill.
We got home and I could hardly move. I'm still in pain, but it's getting better. I can walk without limping and I can even move my leg most directions without shooting pain. I am also wiser now and have made the commitment to never again go sledding on black ice! lol
I thought it interesting that blog sounds like blah. That's probably what my blog seems like.
I enjoy reading other blogs now and I hope that someday mine will be worth reading too. lol
We went sledding last Friday. It was tons of fun, but oh my goodness was it an adventure. We got there and thought it was pretty awesome to have the hill to our own. The other people that had been there left just as we were getting ourselves unpacked. We got our stuff and started to go up the hill. As we walked in front of the hill to the other side where it would be easier to go up the hill I slipped and fell. Wasn't too bad. We went up and as we climbed we noticed that there was black ice, but didn't think too much about it cause it wasn't the hill. We've had pretty warm temps the last several days and much of the snow had melted off. We just figured that would be good for compacting the snow we'd had previously had. So Andrew and I jumped on the large tobaggan and decided that we'd have a great ride. We really did too. Straight down, super fast, enough to get airborn at least four times and probably went a quarter of a mile at least and bumped ourselves several times. I lost my hat, but we laid back and laughed our heads off. It was awesome. We both wish that someone had been videotaping so we could post the aventure on You Tube. It was truly amazing. Megan's wasn't quite as great of a ride, but she had fun.
We all trudged up the hill again. When I was nearly there, Megan decided that she couldn't wait for me anymore and went down. She had a good run, as did Andrew who went down solo. I waited for them to climb the hill again. Then I got on and Megan got in front of me. We took off and when we got almost the first part of the hill done, we started veering to the right. I tried to correct, but used the wrong foot and as a result we ended up going backward across the straight stretch and then down the second small hill. We stopped abruptly and I hit my head pretty hard (right on my barrette of course) and so I decided that we were done. I also realized that I had hurt my left leg somehow and the right side of my rearend. I was definitely done. Andrew's tube went flat (guessing it was change it temperature). He finally made it down though. Megan was scared out of her mind. We were still going very fast. Poor Andrew had to go once more to get the last of the sleds down the hill.
We got home and I could hardly move. I'm still in pain, but it's getting better. I can walk without limping and I can even move my leg most directions without shooting pain. I am also wiser now and have made the commitment to never again go sledding on black ice! lol
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Sledding
So last night we went sledding on a super fun hill. Not a bad climb for me (miraculous) and you go really far cause it's like two hills. Pretty awesome. First run down with Megan was flawless and we went for a super long time. The second run was more eventful, we nearly crashed twice and ended up doing a 360 on the way down...luckily niether of us fell off or out of the toboggan. I spent most of the evening talking with the YW President and just getting to know her better. So much fun! Andrew came along, though he's not in YM's. Didn't seem right to leave him behind by himself when we were sledding. Wish I had thought to take a camera, but of course I didn't. I'm probably the worst at taking pics. I always think of it AFTER the event is over. I shall try to do better. It is snowing like crazy right now, supposed to pick up 6 or 7 inches today-how exciting!
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
How would I react?
So we read in the Book of Mormon night before last about the reaction the people had to King Benjamin's stirring sermon and it made me wonder, how would I have reacted? Then I thought to myself, why is it that when we watch General Conference we do not have similar reactions? Don't get me wrong, I am frequently stirred within and resolve to do better and be better, but these people fell to the ground because they were so overwhelmed. Are we too proud? Are we too cool? I wonder...
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
So far so good, Megan's b-day
Well, we are just a few days into the New Year, but I'm proud to report that I have not missed a day on the treadmill, except for Sunday which I never intended to be a day that I would do it anyhow.
We are excited that this Saturday is Megan's 12th birthday! I can't believe I am old enough to have a child that old. How time flies! She is very excited. We came up with a fun and cool way to spend her special day. We are taking her on her first temple trip. We will go to the Detroit, MI temple (actually located in Bloomfield Hills, MI) and she will get to do baptisms for the first time. She is super excited. We plan to come back home through Lansing to see the state capital. We have been telling her she can get her ears pierced that day as well. She is excited about that, but I'm a little worried as I think she is going to hate the pain and will cry forever. Andrew is wimping out and won't go into the store with us to get it done, but I'm not going to be dissuaded from keeping our promise to her. We'll try to take some pics along the way and post them, hopefully much sooner this time than the way it worked out for our trip here. lol
We are excited that this Saturday is Megan's 12th birthday! I can't believe I am old enough to have a child that old. How time flies! She is very excited. We came up with a fun and cool way to spend her special day. We are taking her on her first temple trip. We will go to the Detroit, MI temple (actually located in Bloomfield Hills, MI) and she will get to do baptisms for the first time. She is super excited. We plan to come back home through Lansing to see the state capital. We have been telling her she can get her ears pierced that day as well. She is excited about that, but I'm a little worried as I think she is going to hate the pain and will cry forever. Andrew is wimping out and won't go into the store with us to get it done, but I'm not going to be dissuaded from keeping our promise to her. We'll try to take some pics along the way and post them, hopefully much sooner this time than the way it worked out for our trip here. lol
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