There Is Beauty All Around

Picture from the Anasazi Trail just Past Santa Clara, UT

Fascinating and perhaps a tad creepy!

Derek's parents told us about this hike and so Derek and I went off on a very beautiful Spring day and hiked up to the petroglyphs.  We were glad we went and it was a very enjoyable part of a very good trip!

Grandma's Mountain

Pulpit Rock
(Though maybe my cousins remember the name differently)

When I was young we often got to go to my Grandma and Grandpa's house in LaVerkin.  This was pretty much always an awesome thing to get to do.  Cousins frequently came too and we spent a lot of time playing together, and climbing up what we called Grandma's mountain.  It is interesting to go back.  Things that once seemed huge don't seem as big anymore, but it is still impressive to me that so many of us climbed around on that mountain without getting hurt very badly.  I think the worst injury that happened at my grandma's house actually happened playing red rover on the lawn!

I do remember getting bitten by ants, and I know that there were a few run-ins with cacti, but nobody fell off a cliff, or broke any bones on the mountain that I know about!  I remember stepping on a rock and hearing a rattle snake once -- and deciding there had to be another way down the mountain.  What adventures we had!  We used our imagination creating our own forts or hide-aways and we came up with names for things.  Today Derek and I climbed around a little (which turns out to be a little hard while holding a drink).  I'm pretty sure I found a rock that some of us called "Pulpit Rock".  Or maybe it was "Church rock" but I'm not sure.  It was fun to be there, and I wished for more time to climb up farther.  I do think I was in better shape as a child!

One of my favorite things is always going up high and looking down.
This wasn't really very high.  It is above where my Grandma's old house is.
The street to the left and some of the buildings below weren't there
back in the good old days!

Just a look in a little bit different direction.

This is Derek at Pulpit Rock.  He told our kids that
this is "where the righteous kids pretended to
deliver grand sermons".  I'll just go with that.

The Glucose Revolution

I am not on Instagram and that is where "The Glucose Goddess" has a lot of followers that she teaches the benefits of keeping your glucose levels as even as possible.  There are many testimonials.  I heard about her through Kayli and Shannon who both told me about her book Glucose Revolution.  This was months ago, and I told my sister Tina about it even though I hadn't read it.  She read it and was intrigued, and convinced enough to try at least some of what the author recommended and so I finally picked it up and read it.  I was surprised to find it fascinating and hopeful.  If eating things in a different order, and learning about how to avoid Glucose Spikes can help my flagging energy levels then I am all for it!

The author is Jessie Inchauspe and once a glucometer was invented she started wearing one even though she isn't diabetic.  She was a part of an experiment, but also did some experimenting on herself.  Her book is full of graphs that show what caused glucose spikes and what made it so that the same food could be eaten with less of a spike.  There are ten "hacks" that you use as often as you can.  The first one is that you eat food in a certain order.  First you eat fiber, and then protein and fats, and last are the carbs.  I've been trying it since Saturday.  I don't feel a ton more energetic, but I sure don't feel worse and at least I feel like I learned interesting things and that, in the long run, they will be helpful for my health in general.

Showing Up

The one picture I took on our
walk in Santaquin Canyon
yesterday.

I just have a quick thought.  Whenever possible it is good to show up for people when they are going through a rough time.  It is good to show up to help celebrate happy times too.  It makes a difference and lets people know they matter.  People have shown up for me a lot and it has helped me to feel loved and cared for.  I like to show up for others too and hope I will get better and better at it with practice!

Things That I Enjoy

• 

  Photo by Patrick Schrödter on Unsplash

  Babies
• Children laughing
• Children singing
• Birds
• Mountains
• Trees covered in frosty white
• Rainbows
• The ocean moving in and out with the waves
• Crocuses poking up through the snow
• Deer bounding across a field
• Tall mountains
• Waterfalls
• Storm clouds
• Blue sky and sunshine!
• Soft pillows and cozy blankets
• Fire -- in a fireplace or fire pit
• Quilts
• Abundant flowers
• Flowers that grow in unlikely places -- like the cracks in cement
• Mail (of the non bill or junk mail variety)
• Love notes
• Listening to my children laugh together
• Warm homemade bread with butter and honey
• An acoustic guitar paired with a beautiful voice
• Soft rugs
• Rustic furniture
• A view from up high
• Wooden things
• Antiques
• Singing
• Dancing
• A good book
• pictures of nature
• Swinging
• Playing Princess (my puppet)
• Visiting with friends
• Lamp light
• Family
• Creating order and beauty
• Going for a drive
• Meandering through the woods
• Building a snowman
• Candlelight
• Thrift Shopping
• Quiet moments like this one to contemplate the many gifts God has given me.

Ideas Worth Thinking About

Photo by Joshua J. Cotten on Unsplash
There is beauty in seeing things from a different perspective.

I just finished listening to a book called Soulful Simplicity by Courtney Carver.  I really enjoyed hearing her story of the transformation of her life and the things she learned along the way.  She started her story from when she was in an abusive marriage.  Then she was a single Mom of one daughter who worked a ton and went into a lot of debt to give her and her daughter things she felt they "deserved".  Then she got married again to a good man and they continued collecting stuff and going places they couldn't afford until she got MS.  After that things slowly transformed as she worked to get rid of stress and be healthier so that she could be present and healthier for her family.

Some of the things she mentioned learning were that children need, and prefer, time with their parents more than piles and piles of stuff.  She learned that things own us as much as we own them.  Once we have them we need to store them and take care of them.  So many of us store piles of things we don't look at for years, but that we keep "just in case".  She and her husband took a class from Dave Ramsey and got out of debt.  They got rid of things they didn't love and ended up downsizing from a 2000 square foot house to a 750 sq. ft. apartment.  She quit her job and started doing something she loved and taking more time with family and friends.

Some of the things she learned would probably seem extreme to a lot of people, but she is happy with her choices and realizes that not everyone's situations are the same.  Some people are super glad not to have to work in a yard while others look forward to creating their own garden, or retreat, or play area.  Some people have larger families and more room makes sense.  Some people love hosting and staying at home, and some want to travel as much as possible.  

One of the interesting things to me was the thought that we sometimes avoid our problems through things.  We may not know how to solve our problems, or who to get help from, or where to find the energy and courage to face them and so we keep ourselves busy doing things that do not really add value to our lives.  We shop for things we already have too many of, or watch television so that we do not have to think.  We do things mindlessly to avoid things that are hard.  Sometimes this can be helpful, but if we do it all of the time, we may be keeping ourselves from moving forward.

I like to remember when I read or listen to books that the ideas in them are just that -- ideas.  I do not have to adopt them all.  On the other hand, there is research behind some of the ideas I read and reading about these ideas gives me a chance to think of something in a different way than I may have before.  Different perspectives can be life changing, or they can just give us an interesting view of how other people live.  I do recommend Soulful Simplicity.  I thought it had ideas worth thinking about!

Glimpses of Heaven

Last night after having traveled for a very long time to get home, I went to bed early.  I was exhausted.  But as I laid there I started remembering moments from my trip that I loved.  Little glimpses of heaven here on Earth.  I ended up getting up to tell Derek some of the experiences so that he could enjoy them too (though he was there for some of them).

I often feel like babies bring a little bit of heaven with them, and it is hard to beat a little boy running towards you yelling "Grandma!" and throwing himself into your arms, or laughing uproariously about the "scary face" he is making and how obviously terrified Grandpa or Daddy are because of it.  

I love watching a new Mom, who is tired and worn out, doing her best to smile and give attention to her toddler, or somehow looking joyful as she holds her new little one who has kept her awake a good share of the night.  I love watching a Dad who likes to be involved in taking care of his children, and who genuinely loves being with them.  I love when older siblings are so happy to greet a sibling and who want to help them if they are sad.

This world has so many hard things, and bad things, but if you have the chance to spend time with a good family who loves each other, then you can feel heaven is closer than you knew, and there is hope for a better world.

When You Go To A Children's Museum.....

 And the only picture that is taken on your phone is of you!

Brigham was not impressed with my tower.

Luckily, I was not the only Grandparent there and Derek took pictures of Brigham.

Brigham in a fireman coat and a Nasa hat at the magnet table.

Mike and Brigham.  The chair has a pulley so you can pull yourself up.

The first tower I built Derek helped me with and then a little boy joined us, handing blocks to Derek.  When the tower fell down he still wanted to play with Derek even though his Mom volunteered to build with him.  It was cute.  They built another tower.  Derek is really good with children.

When we got home Emily had a stinky diaper and Brigham wanted it taken care of immediately.
He plugged his ears while she cried.  He gets very concerned and wanted to make sure she was ok.

He was "snuggling" sister and rocking the swing.

I liked Brigham's face in this one.

Brigham is down for a nap now.  When he realizes where he is going he all of a sudden decides he is hungry and thirsty and needs to hug everyone -- even though he has generally done all of those things.  He is a good sleeper though and will be happier after nap.