My Mom and Me: Looking Alike

Last time I visited my Mom she told me that she had worn a hat and somebody had told her that she looked like me (or I look like her?).  I often wear a hat, at least in the mornings to cover my fun morning hair.  So, this time when I went to her house we wore our matching shirts, and put on hats, and took pictures.  I forgot my hat so I borrowed my Dad's.

I love my Mom!

She doesn't need glasses anymore except for reading,
 so I took mine off so we'd look more the same.

We used to be the same height.  She's gotten shorter.  I'm fairly certain I haven't gotten taller!

An Unusual Thanksgiving

This Thanksgiving was rather unique for us.  Our family ended up in a few different places.

Trisa, Chewy and Me at Trisa's apartment the day before Thanksgiving.

Connor, Amanda, Jake, Trisa, Derek, and Dan at Trisa's apartment -- again the day before
Thanksgiving.

My Mom, Me, and Derek at my Sister Jenny's house Thanksgiving Day.
Dan was there too -- probably off doing something with his cousin Owen.

My Mom and Dad at Thanksgiving Dinner!

Jake and Doug at Trisa's Apartment Thanksgiving Day.
It snowed so they stayed in Cedar.

Doug was being naughty and trying to climb over the back of the couch
onto Jake's lap.  Doug likes snuggles.

Pat, Derek's Mom, and Kayli celebrating Thanksgiving in Payson.

Kayli with her Grandpa C.

Tia the day before Thanksgiving at 3:30 a.m. getting ready to fly with her husband Mike
to Michigan.  She is holding her coat that her Mother-in-law gave her for Christmas.  She figured
she might need it in Michigan.  I was going to ask them to send pictures until I realized that it is after 11 p.m. their time when I'm writing this!

Trisa, Jake and Amanda's family's dog at Amanda's apartment for Thanksgiving.
Connor was there too, and Amanda and her brother Trevor and their Mom and their honorary Aunt Ellen.

Chewy snuggled with Trisa.  Jake's legs on the left :-)

We are thankful that all of the family were safe where they were for Thanksgiving and had people they love to spend it with.

Protecting The Family From The Evil Vacuum

Teddy seems to be under the impression that the vacuum is alive, and whenever it moves it is his duty to attack it.  We usually end up having someone hold on to him or putting him outside.  It is really very funny how desperately he wants to eat the vacuum when it is on.  So, if you ever have a scary vacuum that needs taming, you know which dog is willing to help out!

The Gospel Is Worth More Than We Have

I have things that I really love and enjoy.  I love Princess puppet.  I love the beautiful cedar chest Derek gave me.  I love my books, my piano, my flute, my clothes and my house!  I love my garden and my fake flowers (it's winterish).  I love my laundry machines, dishwasher, heater, and air conditioner.  I love my space heater and our fan.  I love Alexa (she plays music and is sometimes very funny when she doesn't "hear" properly).  I love my van. I love a fridge and freezer that make it so our food stays good longer.  I love jackets, coats, hats and gloves.  I love our library and my room.  There are so many things that I love.

All of that was things.  I have a family, friends, neighbors, acquaintances, and Kayli's doggie.  I have ears that hear beloved voices and music, eyes that see God's creations all around, and feet that walk wherever I want them to (within reason).  I have arms that I use for many things including hugging and holding babies.  I have so very much!  I didn't come close to listing everything and I didn't try listing everyone!  It is interesting to stop and really think about the gospel being worth more than all of that!  How in the world is that possible?

I think it is possible because the gospel is the good news that Jesus, who created all of this wonderfulness came so that the other things we have, like sins, and human frailties can be repaired through His atonement, and our awesome, but flawed bodies will one day be whole and well.  The memories associated with things is usually what makes them special.  We keep those, and there are always more and nicer things!  And people?  The gospel is the only way we are saved ourselves and the only way we can really "keep" the people we love, and hopefully the doggies too. 

Losing all of the things I listed would feel impossibly hard, and I doubt I would handle it gracefully, but the gospel is a gospel of hope during impossibly hard times and really has incomprehensible worth.

Chicken Soup

I just got done grumpily making chicken soup.  I'm tired and so I really just wanted to hang out in my nice, peaceful room.  I am glad that it is made though.  It smells good, and I am hungry, and Dan and Jake like it so I'm unlikely to have any whining over food this evening (because Derek doesn't whine)!  After Jake tried to help Kayli with her car's brake light, Kayli came in and offered her assistance and was cheerful to be with.  Now I am going to go hang out in my nice peaceful room until Derek comes home, and Dan is going to get the table all ready for dinner.   Hooray for helpful people and soup to eat on a cold night.

An Itchy Nose

This isn't about this cow's nose -- but I like this picture!

Have you ever heard that if you have an itchy nose a visitor is going to show up?  Well, if that were true then a huge group of people should have shown up after my MRI the other day!  This is the 3rd MRI I've had in my life.  I wasn't dreading it.  I actually was so relaxed that I thought I might accidentally fall asleep (It was evening).  And then .... I went in to the tube and my nose immediately started itching.  OH MY GOODNESS!!!!! It was awful!

I tried all of my usual things -- singing to myself, thinking of things I'm thankful for.  It was no match for my itchy nose.  The only thing that actually sort of worked for a few seconds was to concentrate on the loud banging that I could hear through the ear plugs and the headphones.  I was SO thankful when I got out and was finally was able to scratch my nose! 

The MRI was on my upper hamstring and I don't have the results yet.  I can walk just fine and felt a little silly being there when other people were limping along and cringing with every step.  I have more problems sitting.  Physical therapy wasn't working fast enough, or well enough and the Dr. wants to see if it is worse than he thought, or what.  I imagine it's just one of those things I need to have extreme patience to get over.
**Photo by Amanda Kerr on Unsplash

Giving Without Expectation of Return

Giving can be gifts in packages, gifts of money, gifts of time, gifts of love.
There are many kinds of gifts to give!

Today I talked to a friend who shared that she has learned to never give with an expectation of return from anyone but God.  She said that if you give expecting something, you are really doing it for you, and we want to live our lives for God.

Some might feel that it is better to give with an expectation of return than to not give.  I am not so sure.  If we give with an expectation behind it we can resent the person if they don't do what we want.  We were really giving as a form of manipulation -- to try to get that person to be grateful to us, or to love us, or do do something for us in return.

I've talked before about slamming cabinets and dishes around in the kitchen because I was doing them expecting help, or acknowledgement and it didn't come.  I was giving the "gift" of clean dishes but I resented it.  Then I realized this was a choice.  I can do the dishes cheerfully, I can leave those dishes, I can ask someone else to do them, or I can ask someone else to help me.  Any of those choices leave me without resentment for people I love!

God's reward might not be immediate -- but it is there in the peace and joy we get from not having unmet expectations, and from being able to see that we can be kind and helpful and generous just because we are good people!

**Photo by freestocks.org on Unsplash

Fun!

 I decided I wanted to volunteer to bring a craft to do during the Thanksgiving weekend, and so I've gone craft happy trying to decide what to do.  At least I think it is fun and nothing has turned out so terrible that I have gotten frustrated.  I put the salt shaker snowman first because he just makes me smile.  I actually made him last.  The candle was Wednesday's first project. I glued candies to it so that it would look festive.

On Pinterest this was in a larger jar with the candy canes glued to the outside and a dozen fake roses in the jar and a red ribbon.  I did not want to try to glue all of those candy canes and thought it looked festive enough this way.  I put a red ribbon on, but it bothered me that the red of the ribbon and the red of the flowers didn't exactly match -- and so I went with green :-)

This is all of my projects except the smaller snowman and my smaller star.  The stars took hours.  The other four projects combined took a little over one hour.

 So what project will I pick for Thanksgiving weekend?  Probably one I haven't tried yet.  There are some no bake cinnamon "cookies" that you can make, and dry, and then paint.  They are also supposed to smell good (Bonus!).  We used to paint ornaments as children and so this will be nice and nostalgic.  In the mean time I've been enjoying creating silly snowmen, festive candles, stars, and a festive looking jar of beautiful fake roses!

The Priceless Gift of A Friend

"Friends are the relatives you make for yourself."

Eustache Deschamps 

Today I am thankful for friends.  I have a lot of people that I think of as friends.  I am especially thankful that I have long time friends who, even if I don't see them for what seems like ages, or even talk to them, are still super happy when we do get to spend time together.  Today I called one of these friends and she answered!  She was getting ready to leave and so we tried to squish months of visiting into ten minutes.  Those ten minutes felt like a priceless gift to me.  I used to have quite a few chances to help her, but I always came away feeling like she had helped me more than I had helped her.

I have other long time friends who have helped me through the rough patches that come with living life, and who have rejoiced with me in the good times.  Friends like these are truly priceless.  I love them.

Doggies are good friends too.  But not quite the same :-)

Enjoy my lovely morning hair!

Belatedly Discovering The Joys of Pinterest

A lot of people have been scrolling through different things on Pinterest for years -- but not me!  I didn't want another thing to keep track of.  Then, a couple of years ago I decided it would be fun, but I couldn't seem to figure out how to do it (My computer genius self was hiding).  Then the other day I decided I would really like to find some simple Christmas crafts to do and so I went to Pinterest, and started scrolling through the crafts and selecting some to save.  I mostly figured it out myself, but I did need Kayli to help me get to my saved lists.

Now I have a lot of saved simple Christmas crafts and I tried my first one today!  My first Christmas star is above.  At Christmas decorating time I'll add the lights that are supposed to go around it.  Teddy and I had a lovely time out in the beautiful sunshine.  I would cut branches, he would try to steal them to chew on them, and I would tell him to find his own branches.  Naturally he obediently did that (If I held mine out of reach!)  Making stars was a fun morning project.

My smaller, second star.

What Are You Avoiding?

Have you ever needed to do something you didn't want to, and all of a sudden cleaning the house seemed super important?  Or maybe you have so many things to do that you have decided to watch something, or read something, or surf social media to make you forget how many things you need to do?

I know that I have done both of those things.  I think it might be a good idea for me to try to pay attention to see if I am distracting myself to avoid something.  It's easy to forget what I have learned before.  If there is something I am dreading, it is best to do it as soon as possible.  That way I am not carrying around the dread of whatever I am avoiding. 

The Belated Before Picture

I was trying to figure out what in the world to write about today and so I was going through old pictures and found a picture of the kitchenette when it was being torn out.  So it's before it was a library, but when it was done being a kitchenette.

I think this is pretty close to the time that we met Mike (Tia's husband).  He helped carry out the whole cabinets.  The library has gotten a lot more use for it's real purpose than the kitchenette ever did I think, and we've had it for a much shorter time!

I've posted this picture before.  But I don't want to go downstairs and take a picture of the full shelves and the messy bed.  The bed gets used quite a lot.  I am thankful for a beautiful, useful space!

The Most Beautiful Ballerina

This is my niece Madeline

She is a very talented ballerina.
She is also a very beautiful person.
She is sweet and kind.

This is me and two of my beautiful girls -- Tia and Kayli
getting ready to watch the ballet.

This is me with Maddie after the performance.

Madeline's parents (Jenny and Jeff), one of her brothers (Owen) and a friend were there too.  There is a picture of the big group, but it's on Madeline's phone and she is getting ready to perform again (We went at 2, and they perform again at 7).  It is fun to have a ballerina in the family!

What Shall We Give To The Child In A Manger?

I was watching the BYU basketball game with Derek the other day when I got distracted because a guy in a commercial looked familiar and I didn't know why.  I finally came to the conclusion that he was in a church Christmas video, but I didn't know how to find it.  I remembered, finally, that the song in it is "What Shall We Give" and, sure enough, there was the video by the same name.  It is a video I have watched many times because I love it.

In the video there are three men from the same family heading home from work, and it shows the way that they each go out of their way to help people where they are, and then, once the first one has picked up the other two they end up helping a man push his car.  Finally, they arrive home, and are shown participating in the family nativity scene as the three wise men.  It always makes me want to be a little more observant so that I can be more helpful at meeting the needs of those around me.

I have been blessed with a lot of things, but a lot of times, I think the need for a friend, or a smile, or help with yard or house work is greater than the need for more things.  And whether it is things, or some other way of helping, the gift we can give the child in the manger that He will most appreciate is love.  Love for Him, shown by love for those around us.

**Picture used by permission from Thechurchofjesuschrist.org

Something to Look Forward To

Decorating for Christmas
Is on the calendar!

I decided recently that I should deliberately try to put things to look forward to  into my schedule as much as possible.  It's nice to look forward to something in every day, but if that isn't happening, it's good, at least for me, to plan something at a not too distant time that I want to do.

Today I went on a fun shopping trip to Savers with Derek's cousin Melanie, and then out to lunch.  It was so much fun!  Another thing I look forward to is dates with Derek.  My girls and I have good plans to go watch my ballerina niece dance. For the first time ever, my girls and I are going to get our fingernails painted in a festive fashion, Apparently Tia has been waiting her whole life to do something like this with us! 

So, think of things you like, and put them on the calendar.  They might have to be rescheduled here and there, but they are a lot more likely to happen if they are on the schedule!

Don't Deify Problems

We are like little children to God.  He knows how to help!

I was listening to the Christian radio station on Tuesday and they said, "Don't deify your problems -- making them greater than God."  I had never thought of it that way.  When we believe that our problems are unsolvable, or too hard to handle, we are giving them more power than we are giving (in our mind) to God.  With God there is always hope, and help, and growth.

I have heard other Christians say, "Our God is a big God".  By that they are just saying that His power is bigger than any problem.  His knowledge is bigger than our ignorance (and our knowledge).  His plan is bigger, and better than ours.  His love can help us overcome any hate.  He is a BIG God!!

I am sure there are times when I have unthinkingly deified my problems, and forgotten in my distress that I believe in "The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace" and that when I trust in Him, and turn to Him, He can help me find peace, and rest.

Photo by Liane Metzler on Unsplash

Childhood Gratitude

Here are seven things I was grateful for as a child and how it compares to now.

1.  Brothers and Sisters -- and yes I am still very grateful for these, and for all the added brothers and sisters I have through marriage.

2.  Stuffed Animals.  I loved my stuffed animals.  I made them talk and considered them friends:-).  I have Elephant to hug now, but it is my puppets that I make talk, and the Princess is my alter ego and feels a little like a friend (though I know that sounds weird).

3.  Music.  I used to spend hours playing and singing at the piano.  I loved listening to the radio, and making recordings from the radio to my lovely tape recorder.  Music is how I have often found and expressed joy.  Music is still something I am very grateful for.

4.  Grandma's house (Which was Grandpa's too).  I loved going to my Grandma Fuller's house because there were lots of cousins and we had so much fun together.  The house itself was interesting, but it was the people there I loved.  My Grandma Cain's house was different, and we couldn't go there as often when I was young because it was far away.  Mostly I loved Grandma saying,  "Do you want more ice cream, Sugar?" in her southern accent, and I liked the time Grandpa took me to the store and bought me a peach soda.  Neither of those houses have people I know in them anymore, and my Grandparents have passed on, but I love that my children have "Grandma's houses" to go to!

5.  Books.  I must have loved them since I made my little sister sit still and listen to me read them!  I spent a lot of time I probably should have been sleeping reading instead.  I still love books!

6.  Hugs.  I had an extensive night time routine as a teenager.  It usually involved hugging my parents goodnight at least twice.  I have good parents!  I still enjoy hugs.

7.  Christmas!!  When I was young Christmas was magical.  We had SO much fun at our house.  Tina, Brian, Jenny and I rarely slept much on Christmas Eve.  Ray did not understand why so he didn't join us.  We spent lots of time sneaking around and playing with the toys Santa brought.  We did ridiculous things to wake up my parents who probably weren't really sleeping since we likely weren't as sneaky as we thought.  I do not know how my parents stood getting up at 3:30 a.m (I think that was the earliest) to open presents when they probably had just gotten to bed a couple of hours before!  Even though I don't sneak around at night anymore, I still find Christmas magical because it is a night to celebrate my Savior, the Creator, coming down as a baby to grow and do hard things all because He loves me and you.

Jenny, Tina, and Brian
My Christmas Even Sneaking Buddies

I'm guessing it was still dark outside.
This is in Missouri and it looks like we had plenty of gifts that year!

I am thankful that the good things I loved as a child are still mine to love today, at least in memory! 

Those Who Never Came Home and Those Who Did

I am writing this on Veterans Day.  Our flag is outside flying, and I am taking a few minutes to think of those Veterans who never came home, and also those who did.  I don't imagine that anyone who has never been in a real battle, or a real war zone, can understand the horror of it all, but those who choose to be soldiers know there is danger, and they put themselves between us and the danger willingly.

Having done that, how they must hurt when people dishonor the flag, or want to give the freedoms they fought for away.  How painful it must be, after fighting with honor, to see those who try to lead, but don't do it in an honorable way.  I hope that the families of those who do not come home receive help, and gratitude for the sacrifice they made of the person they loved and the dreams they had.  I hope those who do come home are met with thankfulness for their service, even by those who do not agree with the war. 

I know that those who never came home, went back to their heavenly home and are able to let go of the horror.  Those who do come home have to struggle to learn how to deal with it, and then, they are often sent back to face it again.  I am very thankful for those who have the courage to fight for the country that I love, and the freedoms that I enjoy.  I hope that I will have the determination to stand up for the freedoms we have been given so that our country can remain "The land of the free, and the home of the brave."

*Photo by Thomas Loizeau on Unsplash

Guarding The Door

Trisa and Chewy

The picture I am posting is of Trisa.  She is guarding the door to my bedroom because the dogs are not allowed in our room, and there were three who wanted in.  Chewy is the one with the ball in his mouth, leaning on her. 

Somehow this picture reminded me of a hymn we sang in choir when I was the director years and years ago.It goes, "Up, awake, ye defenders of Zion!  The foe's at the door of your homes; ........Stand firm and be faithful and true."

Now, the dogs are not our foes, and neither is Trisa, but she was cheerfully guarding the door so the rules could be kept.  But there are negative things trying to make it into our homes and minds all of the time.  We need to be on guard, recognize those things, and be faithful in resisting them -- in keeping them outside of the doors to our homes, and outside of our minds.

These things can come from media, and often do.  They can come from the words we tell ourselves that are untrue and unkind.  Sometimes we let in apathy, or neglect, or hopelessness.  Instead of these things we need to open our doors and our windows to love.  To words of kindness for and about ourselves and others.  To love for God.  To diligence in seeking the good.  And, when things do sneak past us, we don't need to waste time beating ourselves up.  Instead, we just do our best to quickly vanquish that foe -- tossing it out the door and as far away as we can get it!

My First Date With Derek

Derek and I at my apartment -- not on our first date :-)

On November 7th, 1987 I went on my first date with Derek.  We went roller skating with some of his roommates and their dates.  Then we watched Star Trek IV at his apartment.  When I got home my roommates were waiting to quiz me about how it went.  They always did this when I went on dates and I usually answered something like, "The movie was good", or "We won the ball game".  When I told them the date was fun (or something like that) they said, "You're going to marry him."  And, in a couple of months we were engaged, and in May 1988 we were married.  On Monday we will have been married 31 and 1/2 years.  I am thankful that Derek asked me on that first date, and that we still get to go on dates now!

Perseverance, Determination, and Love

Today I was thinking about my family and the challenges we have faced throughout the years.  Some challenges are short, and the solutions come quickly, but there are others that are long, and discouraging.  I am so thankful that through these challenges I have seen such good examples of perseverance and determination.  Determination to find a solution.  Perseverance when life is hard and the next step is not obvious.  Even determination to be cheerful when there are legitimate excuses to be frustrated and grumpy.  Through it all I have also watched my family set good examples of love, compassion, service, and forgiveness.

Every day I am thankful for the good people I know, and the good examples all around, but I do not need to look farther than my own home to find a group of people who, while suffering through some very hard things, will put a smile on, keep putting one foot in front in front of the other, and reach out to lift others, even when they feel like they might be sinking themselves.  I love this family of mine!

An Unexpected Hug

Tuesday the Payson Temple reopened after having been closed for maintenance and cleaning.  It was my day to work in the office, and it had been a month since I was there last.  About halfway through my shift, three people leave and three more arrive.  One of those ladies came in and hugged us all and told us how much she missed us.  I was surprised, but I believe she was sincere.  I think we all missed being together in the temple.  It is a happy place to be, with nice people all around.

I don't have a picture of that, but I do have pictures of Kayli and Teddy again.  She was snuggling him before work today, and I couldn't resist.

Tradition!

Wide.  The Thankful turkey.

It is kind of a bummer that you can't tell how wide the turkey body is.  We made him white this year and so he blends with the door -- except the feathers!

I was going to stop doing the turkey this year and try something else, but Dan said he loves the thankful turkey.  I even tried the idea of individual thankful turkeys, but that is not the tradition!  When I told Tia we almost didn't do it she said, "Mom!  You can't stop the family traditions!" So here is our bright colored turkey reminding us that we have a lot to be grateful for!

A Marvelous Monday

Today is not over, but it has been a good day even though I didn't wake up with a lot of energy.  I was contemplating how I could be better at pushing myself to exercise more since it's the only thing I can think of that will really help with my energy levels.  Eventually I just went with my current plan, which is to have an easy goal so that I can be good at meeting it over and over, and then I'll slowly bump it up -- and try for patience.

Today was laundry day, which I generally enjoy, and I had a lovely time dropping things off at D.I. and then going in and shopping.  I had some good finds!  I do not need more clothes, but I do like them!  It's pretty good when you can get 5 shirts and some Thanksgiving candlesticks for under $20 dollars!

I also enjoyed listening to a lesson on the computer while doing the dishes and folding more laundry.  Now the boys are home and are helping, and I even have a dinner plan and a plan for the evening.  I do love a good Monday!