Endings

 

My goal for today was to get one of my three papers for the week done. And to go to bed by midnight. I just hit submit and still have 7 minutes left to blog! Whoo hoo!

It’s been a crazy day. I had to go to the house early and I spent my day working on my paper. Grace came back to the house around 2 and we went to grab sandwiches for lunch. 

This evening we went to the school to watch the band concert. Since December about a third of the band has quit, including Grace. I may go into more detail at some point but for now it will suffice me to say that it’s been a tough year and a lot of things that should not have happened have. Many of the kids who quit came to support their friends. It was a sad concert to go to. I love to hear Grace play, but here we are and it’s going to be okay. Definitely one of those bitter sweet experiences that comes with endings. 

Moving went well today. We have one day left. 

Packing

 The packing has begun. We have three days of packing and cleaning and then we’ll wave goodbye to our stuff and lock the door. 

It’s been a good little house. Rob hated it and we did have some flooding issues but I’ll miss it. 

My heart is sad to leave the Disney capital in the Sunshine State. There isn’t anything I haven’t liked about living here…umm, well there are two things: august- brutal, and being so far from the grands. 

I’ve loved living near family. We see each other not a ton but I’d say regularly, and it’s been really fun to watch Makayla and Maverick grow.  Of course now that Grace and I are staying with T&D we’ll see them a lot. I’m really grateful that we can stay here and feel at home. I’m delighted that  Grace has somewhere safe to be when I’m gone, with people who love her and will be there for her. It’s easy to be the giver, the helper, the open door. I know if someone in our family needed to live with us we wouldn’t even think twice about it & we’d be happy to have them. I know that’s how they feel as well. As the recipient, I still feel very grateful and blessed. This year has been a hard one but we have been looked after, we have been blessed beyond measure and as it’s now creeping to an end I’m hoping things will go smoothly. That Grace will graduate and that she can move on to the next adventure. And that we can enjoy these last couple months. 

I love our ward.

I love the friends we have made at church and at work and other parents and neighbors. 

I love that there is so much to do and that it’s so nice outside. 

I like living in a busy place with lots of restaurants and shopping and attractions. 

It’s been a really amazing 5 years! (Almost) when I move it’ll have been 4 years 10 month. It’s been a good chapter. Like in every good book I’m sad to turn to the last page and come to the end but they always do. 

I’m sure the next book will be good too.

Sabbath

 

This photo is called first selfie, 30A.D. Of course I love the Chosen, and I’d like to think that Jesus and the 12 had some fun moments together. That they enjoyed a friendship and adventures.

Our talks today was outstanding. Chris Gainey spoke and he was so articulate and his talk was so well organized and he presented it so well. I was really proud of him.  When we moved here he was starting 8th grade, like Grace, and now they are graduating and it’s been so fun to watch him grow up into the young man he is now. That’s the thing I love most about living in a place for awhile- watching the kids grow up, and having friendships that grow through time. 

Kristina spoke next and was her usual amazing self. She is so faithful, so focused on doing good, so strong in the face of great adversity. I love and admire her so much.

Ken Malquist was last and he is a wordsmith, truly he is an inspiring speaker and has such wisdom. I love whenever he speaks. 

After that we had a combined women/YW lesson with the men teaching primary so everyone could go. It was so much fun. 

I’m taking a little afternoon sit in the sun. I feel like Florida is taunting me a little. It’s just perfect outside, the sun is so sunny, and the breeze so gentle, and the water is glistening.  

Home again

I flew home today. It was snowing in Baltimore and we had to de-ice the plane before we took off.

It was 94 today in Orlando but a balmy 87 when I landed and I was greeted by a beautiful sunset during landing.

Grace missed me terribly while I was gone. (A-hem). Today she and Blake went with Sandy and Aldy to MK and HS. They got to ride the new Tron ride. 

 

MD

Rob picked me up last night and we went to the temple. 

Today I did school work, we visited the house, and went to Salsas.

 

Fire

 Grace and Blake made dinner tonight. It was really good.  They made honey garlic chicken and rice.  They used a lot of heat and my mouth is on fire.  I came upstairs and got four tums for dessert.

My day was spent doing school and cleaning things.  We are having our house packed next week and I had planned to do a lot throughout the week.  Now I am going to MD tomorrow for a quick couple of days and the prep time got condensed. I am bummed because it's time out for women this Saturday and I bought tickets a couple of months ago with plans to go with friends but the flights home on Saturday were way cheaper than Friday.

Yesterday was a good Sunday.  The talks at church were exceptional.  Ashley spoke about the Savior.  She did a very sweet job and I think everyone felt the spirit.  One thing she talked about was when the four friends took their paralytic friend to be blessed by Jesus and couldn't get to him because so many people were crowded around the home of Peter's mother in law. (which we saw in Israel). Of course we know that they opened the roof of the home and lowered him down and he was healed.  She talked about serving a mission and trying to be that kind of friend. She said sometimes the people they wanted to teach weren't interested.  Sometimes they didn't know that they were sick. Sometimes they didn't believe, and continued to suffer. Every once in a while she was blessed to reach out to someone who was sick and who wanted to be healed and then what a joy it was to participate in that process.  It was so heartfelt and I was very touched. 

The high counselor who spoke was a powerful speaker.  He talked about receiving personal revelation and it was highly engaging and interesting. In the afternoon I talked to Ethan about it and asked about his experiences giving blessings.  He told me that while he was on his mission he was serving in an area that wasn't a stake, it was a district, and the mission president presided over it.  He assigned his counselor that responsibility and so E got to know him quite well and one time asked him about blessings, seeking learning & guidance. That man said that the Lord never gives direction to a mouth that is closed.  When we have a task to do, or a question to answer, we have to step out in faith and start to do the thing we need to do, then we can be blessed and directed.  The speaker yesterday also talked about that principle. He said imagine when Nephi and his brothers were told to go back to Jerusalem for the plates if they had hopped into the tent and started to pray for guidance with the intention to wait until they got it before they took action. That would have been the end of the story. Action is a gospel principle. 

Sadly Tom has a health problem that brought him and Diana back to the states, cutting their long awaited trip short.  He is getting help and hopefully everything will be fine but in the meantime I wanted to do something so I doubled dinner and ran it over. Then Sandy, Kristina and I all went to mission prep to hear Blake speak.  He shared his conversion story and he did an amazing job!

Bishop Hansen, who is now a member of the mission presidency, also spoke and he did a wonderful job too.  It was an uplifting day.

Busy

I can’t believe it’s Friday. I spent so many hours writing this week! I had two papers to do and as I have mentioned I’m kind of slow at it. I think I spent about 30 hours on it. 

Last night we invited Sandy to join us for dinner and nertz. She’s a vegan for medical reasons and I was a little nervous how everything was going to turn out. It took awhile to do all the prep but the food was good.  Blake ate left overs and Grace ate the dishes deconstructed but Sandy and I both liked it.

This afternoon I came to Epcot. I walked around the world, rode a couple rides, and bird and people watched. 

I love visiting the dolphins!

Chalk art. 💕

 

Mooonnddaaayy

I studied a lot today. Did a little laundry. Grace and I went out for grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch. I got street taco grilled cheese which was delish!

I have a big paper due in a couple of weeks. The problem with writing on a graduate level is you have to research for 2 hours to write 2 sentences, or two paragraphs if you are lucky. And it’s a very cut and dried presentation and I’m much more of a narrative writer than academic so I still am really working on that.

This weeks topics are very interesting so that’s good. 

Tomorrow I am attending my second cultural experience, Torah & Tea,  and then I’ll start writing that paper. 

 And sometimes I get distracted and wonder what the back of my head looks like. 

Baby girls

Mom sent me these cute pictures. That’s me when I was a baby. Mom and Dad look so young! (As do I lol)

 I love these beautiful pictures of my favorite little family of 3! I’m excited for Poppy to be born! 

It was good Sunday. Rob and I had a lot of time to chat. I watched a movie and finished my weeks school work. Primary was good. Sacrament meeting was good. Luke Hill spoke and he did an amazing job. Hearing his testimony was so powerful. He’s blessed the sacrament the past two weeks as well. He memorized the prayer and says it with such sincerity. He is an amazing young man with amazing devoted parents. I’m going to miss watching him grow. 

What’s everyone doing?

I don’t usually know what everyone has planned on a given day. But today I do.

Greg, Dani, Chris, Sierra, Clayton, Jenna, Ethan and all the kids went to St George this weekend to celebrate Marshall’s birthday. They sent me these cute pictures and I also got to talk to Marshall and Ruby for a few minutes. Ruby told me she was very brave:)

Blake, Grace, Aldy, Sandy and I went to the Boathouse for an early Valentines Day lunch. 

Tami, Hannah, Sawyer, and Ezra went to Idaho Falls and went to the aquarium. 

Rob and Pete went to the outdoor show. 

I hope everyone had a great day. 

 

The Sacred and the mundane

Every day is filled with moments. Some that lift us, others that leave us empty. 

There is a constant ebb and flow in life. I’ll let you decide which moments that I describe fall into each category. 

This morning I got up and did some laundry. Later Rob and I had a zoom call with Grace and the SVU admissions office.

I went to the temple this afternoon. It was beautiful and instructive. I am so grateful for living prophets and modern revelation. I am so blessed to know the living Christ and our loving Father in Heaven. It is such a miracle and a gift that they love us. That Christ died for us. For me. That God, the Father, has done everything for us so that we can return to Him.

For my multicultural class I have to go into the community and participate with a culture that is not my own to broaden my perspectives. I chose to learn more about Judaism. Tonight I went to a Shabbat service. It was really lovely. 

I loved the way they got together to welcome the start of the Sabbath. There were prayers and songs that are only prayed and sang on the Sabbath. There was a lovely feeling of ritual and of reaching for the Devine. I loved the feeling of community there. Anytime people are searching for the Father there is beauty. 

Yesterday I was searching for a delicious looking vegan dish. Sandy is trying a vegan diet, on the advice of her oncologist. She and Blake are coming over next week and I want to make something that will be bright and exciting and vegan. 

Last night was our triad night. It was so fun. There is something about practicing therapy on each other that makes you fast friends!

I was brushing my teeth the other day. And my toothbrush felt weird. I looked in the mirror and was horrified to find that I had grabbed Lincoln’s tooth brush. It’s in my bathroom because when I change his water I use it to scrub out that slimey parts of the bowl! 🤢

Today the Brandts, Johnsons, Browns and Bub are all driving down to St George to celebrate Marshall’s birthday! I can’t believe he’s 8!

Yesterday Grace and I were waxing. She did my armpits for me and I took a picture to send to my sisters because we are close like that. Sadly sisters starts with the same letter as my cute friend Sarah Aina…you can guess where this is going!😬🤦🏽‍♀️ if you read this :Sorry Sarah!

Lincoln got a bath today. 

Wednesday friend

Last night I watched the last episode of the Chosen season  3. It was very powerful. I love Peter and loved this scene where his pain was so real and so in the way of what he really wanted. It was very relatable and I watched with tears on my cheeks.

Nicole and I like to go to Disney on Wednesday mornings. It’s like a magical play date. 

Today we went to MK. We rode the double decker bus down Main Street, a first for us both. We rode the train around the park, watched the parade and ate lunch at Be Our Guest!

 

Art

This morning I went to Epcot.  They released the new passholder magnet so I had to go get mine! I like my little collection.  The Art Festival is happening right now, which is one of my favorite times of year at Epcot.  

After I got the magnet I decided to do a loop around the world to get some steps in.  I love walking around and hearing snippets of conversations, and seeing all the people there.  Some are very very happy.  Others are crying (kids...and their parents).  It's smells good and the sights and sounds of joy are all around.  It was sunny and not too hot, which is perfect Disney weather.

The chalk artists are so talented! Seriously I am amazed.

They had a sketching demonstration so I stopped and learned how to draw Ursula.  I thought she turned out pretty well. 

 

Stormy

 Storm Be Still by Hyatt Moore

Sunday we rested. We went to church. I made dinner. We ate. I watched the Chosen, which I loved. I can’t wait for tomorrow night to see the next part. 

Today I did lots and lots of school work. 

Grace and Blake made dinner. They made very delicious cheesy chickpea pasta with broccoli and chicken. Grace is a good cook and she and B enjoy working in the kitchen together. 

home(ish)

It's cold in MD today.  Rob's been sick but he was able to head out to the house and check on the progress. It's one of his hobbies.  I bet Tommy, who is our builder, will be happy when our house is done😉

I spent the day writing my last paper of the week.  I turned it in around 4pm, with a sigh of relief.  I always feel relieved when the week’s work is done in the allotted amount of time. 

Yesterday we had class until a little before noon and then I made the drive home.  I was pleased with my time, it took less than 12 hours with only two stops.  That's a PR. The week was super busy and I felt like I learned so much.

Yesterday Penny had pioneer history day. Jenna and the girls went to watch all the festivities.  J's house is all torn up right now so they are staying at an vrbo this week. Not as much fun as it sounds I am sure.

This morning Sierra went with some of her friends to a big cat interaction at the zoo.  So fun! She got to feed a lion!

J got to go skiing today.  Grace went prom dress shopping with Lettie, and then they went to Blake's house to hang out.
 

Hannah and Sawyer are snowed in, well not literally but I bet they feel like it.  Ezra is having a time of it adjusting to living in an apartment without a backyard.  He's been a handful.  Luckily his mom and dad are very proactive and have found some great things to keep him busy.  He is a little behind in speech so he's going to have speech therapy, as well in home OT.  He is also getting evaluated for a preschool program.  I am happy for them.  Early interventions are fun for the kiddo and give mom a few hours of free time each week.  Win Win!

I came home and the house smelled good and was nice and tidy.  She did a great job living by herself for two weeks.  I guess she's really about ready to be on her own (ish).