I have been on sabbatical from my BLOG - I seem to have abandoned it for Facebook and never came back. I miss my BLOG and the journaling I did. I think I will make a comeback and start journaling again in a good way (ya, MARTHA style).
So much has happened in nearly a year of my LOA. Lots of good, bad and ugly but I am still alive and back and ready to play. I needed a break I guess.
I am currently looking to replace my 1999 Odyssey van - it is on its way out of this old world - getting ready to go home to Jesus. It has been a good car with lots of fond memories in its interior - the trip with the fam to Las Vegas and driving back to SLC at 3:00 a.m. comes to mind....ME being the driver with a full van of loved ones and me trying to stay awake driving in the dark with my dad piloting me in the passenger seat, telling me all of his tricks of the trade as he was a long haul truck driver.....helping me keep my eyes opened and alert. The same trip I spent sleeping in the van while Angelo who was about 3 was hopping from seat to seat as Vegietales blared on the CD player....the rest of the fam in the casino playing slots while I slept in the safety of my air conditioned van with a 3 year old child jumping, jumping, jumping - oh I don't remember so much that day while I was trying to sleep.
Another great, memorable trip was just the 3 of us pulling the tent trailer on a trip up through Washington and down the Washington Coast to the Oregon Coast and the memories made on that trip. So much fun. Geeze I hate giving the old girl up - I feel like I am betraying her!
I was considering a more compact vehicle but those Odyssey's sure have a luxury feel to them - I like that comfort. I also don't want another van but I do - I have my parents I need to consider when we go places all together. I battle with myself over buying with the thought of enough room for them, I would save gas and upkeep with a smaller more compact vehicle but then that puts them out in the cold for upcoming trips.
Time will tell how this plays out.....
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Friday, July 10, 2009
Read this the other day.....short but so true.....
People who hurt others hurt....
People who wound others are wounded....
People who wound others are wounded....
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
I survived.....
I survived Friday night's crop with Xi Phi at SJRMC conference room. I was really hesitant about going because I couldn't round up anyone to accompany me but once I got there I knew most of the people and even caught up with my 7th grade teacher. Nice to touch base with her. I will definitely make plans to attend next year. Never mind I only got 1.5 pages done.....I had a blast socializing with people I had not seen in awhile and laughing with them. Nice crop idea for their sorority.
Saturday was my birthday. Ang had a soccer game at 11:00 and then we went to lunch at Thai Taste and hit Becky's Fabric before heading to my parents for the afternoon where I mostly planted myself on their deck and enjoyed the day relaxing. We ate dinner with them (that was unplanned) and came home and watched a movie or two and the guys had bought me a birthday cake complete with candles - number candles to boot - that had to be Ang's idea! They surprised me also with a pink ipod - I just love music.
Sunday I attended the quilt show in Moscow with a friend and then met up with our husband's for a late afternoon lunch. It is a small quilt show but WOW what talent and so much to see. I loved all the vendors at the show and got some yummy fabric to start a quilt with. I also managed to plan some basil, oregano and cilantro in the morning and pull some weeds. It feels so good to finally be able to get out on a weekend and accomplish some things.
Saturday was my birthday. Ang had a soccer game at 11:00 and then we went to lunch at Thai Taste and hit Becky's Fabric before heading to my parents for the afternoon where I mostly planted myself on their deck and enjoyed the day relaxing. We ate dinner with them (that was unplanned) and came home and watched a movie or two and the guys had bought me a birthday cake complete with candles - number candles to boot - that had to be Ang's idea! They surprised me also with a pink ipod - I just love music.
Sunday I attended the quilt show in Moscow with a friend and then met up with our husband's for a late afternoon lunch. It is a small quilt show but WOW what talent and so much to see. I loved all the vendors at the show and got some yummy fabric to start a quilt with. I also managed to plan some basil, oregano and cilantro in the morning and pull some weeds. It feels so good to finally be able to get out on a weekend and accomplish some things.
Friday, April 17, 2009
Wonderful....
This was a blessing in my life this week:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY
Never judge the book by its cover! What a lesson! Do you wonder what the church choir is like in her hometown!
It actually made me cry and as you know - I am not much of crier over things like this!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY
Never judge the book by its cover! What a lesson! Do you wonder what the church choir is like in her hometown!
It actually made me cry and as you know - I am not much of crier over things like this!
Thursday, April 9, 2009
The Daffodil Principle
A great little story.....
Several times my daughter, Julie, had telephoned to say, "Mom, you must come see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from my place by the beach to her lakeside mountain home.
"I will come next Tuesday," I promised, a little reluctantly, on her third call. The next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I got in the car and began the long, tedious drive.
When I finally walked into Julie's house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren, I said, "Forget the daffodils, Julie! The road is invisible in the clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and the children that I want to see bad enough to drive another inch!"
My daughter smiled calmly, "We drive in this all the time, Mom."
"Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears and then I'm heading straight for home!" I said, rather emphatically.
"Gee, Mom, I was hoping you'd take me over to the garage to pick up my car," Julie said with a forlorn look in her eyes.
"How far will we have to drive?"
Smiling she answered, "Just a few blocks, I'll drive ... I'm used to this."
After several minutes on the cold, foggy road, I had to ask "Where are we going? This isn't the way to the garage!"
"We're going to the garage the long way," Julie smiled, "by way of the daffodils."
"Julie," I said sternly, "please turn around."
"It's all right, Mom, I promise, you will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."
After about twenty minutes we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church I saw a hand-lettered sign ...
"Daffodil Garden"
We got out of the car and each took a child's hand, and I followed Julie down the path. As we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped.
Before me lay the most glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue.
Five acres of the most beautiful flowers I had ever seen!
"Who planted all these?" I asked Julie.
"It's just one woman," Julie answered, "She lives on the property. That's her home," and she pointed to a well-kept A-frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory.
We walked up to the house and on the little patio we saw a poster ...
Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking
50,000 bulbs
one at a time
by one woman
2 hands, 2 feet
and very little brain
Began in 1958
There it was ... "The Daffodil Principle"
For me that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than thirty-five years before, had begun - one bulb at a time - to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountain top.
Still, this unknown, old woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. She had created something of magnificent beauty, and inspiration.
The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration:
learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time, (often just one baby-step at a time)
learning to love the doing,
learning to use the accumulation of time
When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.
"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Julie, "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years. Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"
My daughter summed up the message of the day in her direct way, "Start tomorrow, Mom," she said, "It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of our yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson a celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask ... "
"How can I put this to use today?"
~~~
Jaroldeen Asplund Edwards, Author
Several times my daughter, Julie, had telephoned to say, "Mom, you must come see the daffodils before they are over." I wanted to go, but it was a two-hour drive from my place by the beach to her lakeside mountain home.
"I will come next Tuesday," I promised, a little reluctantly, on her third call. The next Tuesday dawned cold and rainy. Still, I had promised, and so I got in the car and began the long, tedious drive.
When I finally walked into Julie's house and hugged and greeted my grandchildren, I said, "Forget the daffodils, Julie! The road is invisible in the clouds and fog, and there is nothing in the world except you and the children that I want to see bad enough to drive another inch!"
My daughter smiled calmly, "We drive in this all the time, Mom."
"Well, you won't get me back on the road until it clears and then I'm heading straight for home!" I said, rather emphatically.
"Gee, Mom, I was hoping you'd take me over to the garage to pick up my car," Julie said with a forlorn look in her eyes.
"How far will we have to drive?"
Smiling she answered, "Just a few blocks, I'll drive ... I'm used to this."
After several minutes on the cold, foggy road, I had to ask "Where are we going? This isn't the way to the garage!"
"We're going to the garage the long way," Julie smiled, "by way of the daffodils."
"Julie," I said sternly, "please turn around."
"It's all right, Mom, I promise, you will never forgive yourself if you miss this experience."
After about twenty minutes we turned onto a small gravel road and I saw a small church. On the far side of the church I saw a hand-lettered sign ...
"Daffodil Garden"
We got out of the car and each took a child's hand, and I followed Julie down the path. As we turned a corner of the path, and I looked up and gasped.
Before me lay the most glorious sight. It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold and poured it down over the mountain peak and slopes. The flowers were planted in majestic, swirling patterns, great ribbons and swaths of deep orange, white, lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow. Each different-colored variety was planted as a group so that it swirled and flowed like its own river with its own unique hue.
Five acres of the most beautiful flowers I had ever seen!
"Who planted all these?" I asked Julie.
"It's just one woman," Julie answered, "She lives on the property. That's her home," and she pointed to a well-kept A-frame house that looked small and modest in the midst of all that glory.
We walked up to the house and on the little patio we saw a poster ...
Answers to the Questions I Know You Are Asking
50,000 bulbs
one at a time
by one woman
2 hands, 2 feet
and very little brain
Began in 1958
There it was ... "The Daffodil Principle"
For me that moment was a life-changing experience. I thought of this woman whom I had never met, who, more than thirty-five years before, had begun - one bulb at a time - to bring her vision of beauty and joy to an obscure mountain top.
Still, this unknown, old woman had forever changed the world in which she lived. She had created something of magnificent beauty, and inspiration.
The principle her daffodil garden taught is one of the greatest principles of celebration:
learning to move toward our goals and desires one step at a time, (often just one baby-step at a time)
learning to love the doing,
learning to use the accumulation of time
When we multiply tiny pieces of time with small increments of daily effort, we too will find we can accomplish magnificent things. We can change the world.
"It makes me sad in a way," I admitted to Julie, "What might I have accomplished if I had thought of a wonderful goal thirty-five years ago and had worked away at it 'one bulb at a time' through all those years. Just think what I might have been able to achieve!"
My daughter summed up the message of the day in her direct way, "Start tomorrow, Mom," she said, "It's so pointless to think of the lost hours of our yesterdays. The way to make learning a lesson a celebration instead of a cause for regret is to only ask ... "
"How can I put this to use today?"
~~~
Jaroldeen Asplund Edwards, Author
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Spring break.............
What are your plans.....
I have some.....I can't wait - relaxation and rest! Okay so it will be more like scurry/hurry/get as much in as possible but guess what it won't be sitting at they keyboard typing, typing, typing!
I am off to dinner with friends from sorority tonight! I think I may splurge and have a drink!
I have some.....I can't wait - relaxation and rest! Okay so it will be more like scurry/hurry/get as much in as possible but guess what it won't be sitting at they keyboard typing, typing, typing!
I am off to dinner with friends from sorority tonight! I think I may splurge and have a drink!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Green things to celebrate St. Patrick's Day....
May green be the grass you walk on,
May blue be the skies above you,
May pure be the joys that surround you,
May true be the hearts that love you.
May your home be bright with cheer,
May your home be bright with cheer,
May your cares all disappear,
May contentment come your way,
And may laughter fill your day.
Wishing you always—Walls for the wind
Wishing you always—Walls for the wind
And a roof for the rain
And tea beside the fire—Laughter to cheer you
And those you love near you—And all that your heart might desire!
Green M&M's - all the stir about what they would do for your desires.....isn't that funny what we remember?
What I would do for a pair of sneakers like these - do you love em or what? I wished I knew where I could lay my hands on a pair of these.....they are fabulicicous!
Last but not least.....I was hopin' to serve this tonight but I have a mtg to attend so I will be leaving the boys on their own - something was said about crashin' at my mom's house to see if she was having corned beef & cabbage today! Yummo!
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