Sweet Potators

It's been kind of a strange week.  A GREAT week, but also one filled with ups and downs. Rob flew to DC Sunday afternoon for business meetings and a day later Ally flew back to meet him for a week of fun.  So happy for both of them to spend this time together and for Ally to enjoy such a great great city. I was lucky enough to have TLB stay after the farewell.... soo blessed am I to have her for a mother!  Every time I say goodbye to her it gets harder.  Here I am in my late 40's and I bawl like a baby when I drive away from her home or when I drop her off at the airport.  It was more difficult than I could have imagined when she left today. Today, I'd dropped her off, hugged her and cried.... as I drove away and she was walking into the airport doors she never stopped waving.  I was planning to maybe go to a movie later with friends, so I decided to drive over to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and buy a caramel apple we could split amongst each...

Sunshine and joy and love. Matthew 5:14... Ye are the light of the world.  A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Isaiah 55:12... For ye shall go out with joy, and be led forth with peace: the mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing, and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

When my grandfather, Francis, the one I was oh so very close to, was in his early 20's.... and still single, he hadn't had much to do with the church.  His mother and sister and many of his other relatives had, though.  I don't think his father had had much to do with the church either. Anyway... one Sunday afternoon he took his mother, sister and her husband out for a drive in his new Cadillac.  They stopped way out south, in the vicinity of where my parents live now.  They were thirsty and hungry and decided to get something to eat and drink at a place called 'The Cotton Bottom'.  I'm sure it was the only place around for miles back then... this was the 1930's. My grandfather, having had nothing to do with the church, ordered a beer. His sister and her husband, being very active LDS, were completely appalled and had no qualms about showing it. My great grandmother, Sarah (who my daughter Sarah is named after and the same person where much of my...

Black and white... All or none... In or out... 100% Completely Totally Utterly Perfectly Entirely Wholly Fully Thoroughly So much of my life I've felt like everything (see, there I go) had to be in absolutes... Does it?

Spring is on it's way!

As I sit here on this lovely Wednesday, 11:15 in the morning, eating Homestyle popcorn (isn't popcorn just the best! such a cheery food!) lots of happy thoughts are rushing through my head... if I count, there are about 8 things on my mind every three seconds. Does that even make sense? Probly not. Oh well.  It does to me right now.  But I am, however, worried about tomorrow when I'll have no clue what the heck I was talking about. Recently I've gotten into Duck Dynasty... and boy do I love to watch... especially the wives!  I love the wives!  One of the things I love is that this family eats dinner together.... a lot!  It's awesome to see them lining both sides of this mega long, king-sized table... I'm sure sometimes it's for theatrics, but it's based on the fact that meals together have always been very important to them.  I also love the prayers the patriarch of the family offers... they're usually two lines long... but totally heartfelt.  ...

Louisiana, Alabama or NW Florida... like Pensacola... no desire to be anywhere near Miami.

I am actually up waiting for my cat to come home. Really. It's not as if I haven't been doing this for the last 10 years.... but I thought I was just about through with it.... And now I have to do it for a cat. I let her out thinking she'd come right back (since it's raining), and now she's nowhere to be found. *sigh* So anyway, while I wait, I'll post something. I've had several doctors appts for my heart lately. Today I had an ultrasound. When the tech starting looking at it she said right off (and maybe they do this with everyone for encouragement) "you have a great heart.... looks really strong!" I have to say, even if she was just saying that to make me feel good, it totally did the trick!  The ultrasound took like 45 minutes and the room was dark and quiet... so while she did a lot of looking, I did a lot of thinking.  These weren't new thoughts... more like REnewed thoughts.  Like, how grateful I am for a strong body....

A few days ago I came across this painting (don't know who the artist is) with a poem by 'author unknown'.... I knew this would be my Valentine present to Ally.... as Maddy still comes up at least once a day.  We still miss her so much! I stood by your bed last night, I came to have a peep. I could see that you were crying, you found it hard to sleep. I whined to you softly as you brushed away a tear, "It's me, I haven't left you, I'm well, I'm fine, I'm here." I was close to you at breakfast, I watched you pour the tea, You were thinking of the many times, your hands reached down to me. I was with you at the shops today, your arms were getting sore. I longed to take your parcels, I wish I could do more. I was with you at my grave today, You tend it with such care. I want to re-assure you, that I'm not lying there. I walked with you towards the house, as you fumbled for your key. I gently put my paw on you, I smiled an...

I LOVE Valentines Day! Like, BIGtime love it!! And for me it's not about romance.... at all.  Of course it is in some ways, but for the most part I think it's a day for letting others know you love them.  It's about heart-shaped waffles for breakfast, heart-attacked doors, dangling from long ribbons the large wooden hearts I had each of my family members paint when my kids were younger, delivering heart-shaped, pink frosted sugar cookies, fondue for dinner, hanging my red rose heart wreath on the front door (though I didn't get to it this year :-(( ).... so many things.  And hey, it's only noon and we've already gotten Valentines from three people and none were about oohlala love. A friend (and I got her permission) who lives down the street posted this on fb yesterday... and it couldn't illustrate my point above any better... February 12 So I just need to share…..today while I was in for treatment (#4 of 12 btw!) there was a young mother with her 3...

But in all actuality, it's often times my phone that puts me TO sleep...

You can buy this cute print and lots of other fun art by Stephanie Ryan on etsy:   https://www.etsy.com/shop/stephanieryanart

Or to love so deeply only to see it end? One of my favorite woman in the whole world is dying of cancer.  She was one of my young woman leaders when I was growing up, I babysat her children while she and her husband traveled, she was an amazing support while I was preparing for and on my mission, she had my big bridal shower for me when I got married.  And then, she NEVER gets on fb, but on my birthday this past month while she was very sick in the hospital from starting chemo, she posted the sweetest message to me. Last night one of her daughters posted a photo of her surrounded by all her grandchildren and a reply by another of my young woman leaders, and one of her dearest friends, really hit home as to some of the things I've been thinking about the past few weeks. "This is the sweetest picture and this is Heavenly Father's plan, love, risk, pain, love. All entwined. When you love someone so much you risk losing them temporarily and that causes great pain because...

"The practice of sport is a human right.  Every individual must have the possibility of practicing sport, without discrimination of any kind and in the Olympic spirit, which require mutual understanding with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play."  -Olympic Charter (from the google homepage^^) And I'm so excited for them to start! Wearing my USA Roots Olympic beret, and instead of cooking something Russian (I usually make something that has to do with where the Olympics are being hosted), I went with some all-American kind of food.  I really wasn't in the mood for borscht, I don't drink Vodka... and I felt like hamburgers, cream soda and apple pie anyway. It's been a 'snow day' here in winter wonderland and the kids got out of school.  So, it's the perfect night to snuggle up in front of the telly and ooh and ahh and cheer on the USA.... YAY! Let the games begin!

As a warning, I can tell before I even start this post that it's going to be a rambler.... and it might take me a few days to make much sense of it.  Though I've already been trying to understand these feelings and put them into words for quite some time. Anyway. Lately I've been thinking a lot about why we bump into each other during this journey on earth.  There's lots of ways you could describe how the relationships we've made or formed have come together.  Some are made by merely a pass in the night... or the afternoon.  Some by complete collision.  Some we just sort of bump into, spin around, bump again and so on.  Some are a tangle.... and we wouldn't know where to even start the unwinding to make sense of it all.  Some are a complete joining of the heart and difficult to comprehend where they begin and where they end, and if they even do. And are they meant to be... all of them? Or are some forged or even forced and we work on them u...

My cute friend made these for our ward Relief Society quilting bee... And then, because I'm lucky enough to know her and I loaned her my pans, she brought me one of these...

... and buying items to make a craft today.  Hehehe! TLB does NOT do crafts.  She pays others to make them for her.  Totally endearing!! And even though she says she doesn't enjoy them, when I can get her to do something (maybe once out of every ten years), she always seems extra proud when she finishes it. There's something she does do that I never have been able to.... knitting.  And she's great at it.  And knitting seems much more chic anyway.  So even in her non-domesticity.... except that she's also a very accomplished cook, she's mega cool! Anyway.... we'll see how the day goes. We're going to do a Valentine quilling project. I learned how to quill when I was 8.... it was one of the first crafty things I learned. TLB had a neighbor teach me.  She'd see I'd have an interest in something and sign me up for lessons or pay someone to teach me.  What a lucky daughter I've been!  I learned all the important things about life f...

This^^ so did... What an amazing earth we live on!  Divine powers.... only the ultimate creative mind could have begun all this and seen the potential in such a thing as an acorn.  Oh, I believe in evolution and science.  But I also believe in the great eternal round!  That it takes all.... the physical, the intellectual... the spiritual.  Meshing those three things together sends a thrill through me that's hard to describe.  And that'll be my goal for today... to put into words my thoughts and feelings on the powers and beauty of creation.  I can hope... there is that.