Checking In, Catching Up with Faves of the Week

Oh my, I just looked at the date of my last post and am appalled and embarrassed that it has been so long since my last post.  I need to resolve to do better, since I really do love blogging and have met the nicest people here in the blogasphere!

So here is what is going on in my world this week.

It's hot in Arizona!  Far too soon for my tastes, the heat has arrived.  Triple digits forecast for tomorrow.  Six months of sweltering temperatures is the worst thing about living in Arizona. The best thing about summer here is that it is followed by a perfectly cool, but not cold, delightful winter. Needless to say, I am already looking forward to next winter.

With the weather warming up, I can start putting some of my clothes outside to dry. Even jeans dry in a matter of minutes in the dry  heat.

  

We did have some cloudy, overcast cool days since I posted last and that has been very enjoyable.

Last Friday through Sunday, we even got some much appreciated rain. This is outside of the building where I teach during a mid morning downpour.

It rained hard and heavy for about an hour.  We could really use a few more storms like this.

 We've had some family birthdays lately and have more to come this week and next.

Its been fun to pick out just the right gifts and mail them off to these very special people.

We have quite a cluster of spring April and May birthdays in our family - so Happy Birthday and best wishes to Judy, Clay, Eleanor, Miles and Amber!  We love you all!

One of my favorite things about sending birthday gifts are the sweet thank you notes...

...and pictures we get in return.

Charly has been very busy working in the yard in the past few weeks.  He got the pool ready for summer swimming and took down a big Cholla Cactus that was choking out this Prickly Pear growing underneath it.  That was a big unpleasant job. The Cholla Cactus was huge and heavy and filled with cactus needles, but it is gone now thanks to my handsome, hardworking husband!

We asked our happy and helpful missionaries to give us a hand with moving our "new," second-hand shelving units out of the garage and into our family room.

I wanted to park my car in the garage, out of the heat and that meant moving the shelves, so Elder Vandehei and Elder Green spent a Saturday afternoon helping us clean up the shelves and move them.  These young men are really great!

The shelves are now in the family room, still not installed, but out of the garage and waiting to become a summer "schools out" project! Can't wait to get them up and filled with books!

And speaking of happy, helpful missionaries, Elder Jones is doing very well is Mexico.  He is now working in a new area of the city, with a new companion, who is a native Mexican who speaks very little English.  Josh is having some interesting "cultural experiences" too, which explains the above collage of Chinese food.  This is a recent excerpt from an email we received from him:

"The other day she (a woman they met) was telling us that the Chinese food here is made from cats and dogs and rats, which I've already eaten once and I'll never eat again.  It's kind of a shame too 'cause I like Chinese food...it was cool they had it here but not anymore."

Poor Josh.  Other than the Mexican Chinese food, he is doing just fine.

I managed to read three books this month. (The third is pictured above and will be finished tonight before the clock turns to May).

I also indexed 300 names from historical records, which is a one month record for me. Last year, I indexed 500 names during the whole year, so I am off to a great start and looking forward to lots more indexing this year.  This past month, I have mainly been indexing information from death certificates from Chicago from 1909 to 1942.   To me, it is fascinating and also humbling to think of each person as I index their information.  Life is fragile and short, and I feel honored that I am able to help preserve some of the records and life history of people who may otherwise have been long since forgotten.  Indexing is like reaching out and touching history, and those who lived it.

My favorite thing of the past few weeks, was the Friday night that Charly and I spent cleaning the Gilbert Temple.  We had the privilege of being part of a late night volunteer cleaning crew.  We got to the temple about 9:15 p.m., after all the services were complete, and cleaned until after midnight. There were only about 20 other people on the cleaning crew and we were all alone in this huge temple - 17,000 square feet and four floors.  It was a lovely experience to be able to help care for this beautiful holy place - an experience I hope always to remember. 

Despite a pretty good months, there have been a few down days and some challenges we are facing, so this is a great thought for me (and maybe you) to end this week with...

Joining once again with Susanne at Living to Tell the Story for Friday Fave Five and Lisa at Home to 4 Kiddos for My Week in Review.  Have a great weekend!

Sunday thoughts: Walking in a Fog

I read this passage in a book recently and it spoke to my heart, because of some things our family is going through right now.  

“…do not let the fear of failure stop you from obeying [God] as He leads you.  Thankfully, God not only sees where you are, He sees where you can be.  He not only sees what you have accomplished, He sees what you will do with His help.  God is always leading us to greater things and wants us to look forward to the future.  Don’t fear the unknown because God knows everything, and you are safe with Him.

"Following God is often life walking in a fog.  We can only see one or two steps in front of us, but as we take those steps, the next ones become clear.  As we trust the Lord, we will have an exciting journey that will make life adventurous and enjoyable – every step of the way.”

A great scripture I love that goes along with this is Psalm 37: 23-24.

“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord:  and he delighteth in his way.  Though he fall, he shall not be utterly cast down: for the Lord upholdeth him with his hand.”

I am the kind of person who likes to plan ahead and be prepared for any and every eventuality.  While planning can be good, often, as believers, we must simply trust in God and know that he has a good plan for us.  Things don't always work out the way we think or hope that they should, but when we trust in God, His Plan B can become better than our Plan A. 

Have a great Sunday, trust in God and enjoy the week ahead!

Catching Up with Favorites of the Week

I haven't posted here for about two weeks, so it is time to catch up with some of my favorite things that took place during this time.

The Tuesday night before Easter, I attended the Mesa Easter Pageant with my friends Annie and Linda.  This annual, free outdoor event celebrates the life, teachings and atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ in song and dance.  The almost 500 performers are all volunteers. The Pageant is always well attended and is a spiritual highlight of the Easter season for many Christians in this area. 

The evening we attended was lovely. The temperatures were just right and we even got to see a beautiful sunset which we waited for the performance to begin.

The Easter Pageant re-enacts many major biblical events from the life of the Savior.  It is well done and really something to see.  This was actually the first time I had ever gone, although it has been on my "bucket list" since we moved here.  I knew that Charly wouldn't want to go simply because of the crowds (he is not a crowd guy) but I'm glad I got a couple of friends to come with me so that we could enjoy the evening together.

Spring has brought out some lovely flowers. These are on a bush on the high school campus where I teach.  I have passed this push every school day for years and enjoy the lovely pale lavender flowers, but this year, I decided to actually take a picture so I could share them with you here on my blog.

Fresh fruits are in season and I have been enjoying fresh black berries, blue berries and strawberries for breakfast this week.

Last week when we went grocery shopping, Charly spied these microwave stone cookers on manager's clearance.  Charly is kind of "kitchen gadget guy" and he likes to cook and try new things, so he bought one.  First he made an omelet and was so impressed by it that he sent me back to the grocery store to buy another cooker for myself, since they are small and only make individual portions.   We enjoyed trying some of the new recipes, all of which, turned out great and were delicious. 

 First, I tried the "Baked Apple Crisp Dessert" and really enjoyed it.  

We then tried microwave cakes in the stone cookers, and were very pleased with the result. Sometimes, I like to have a piece of cake, but don't want to bake a whole huge cake. With only two of us in the house, having a big cake for both of us to eat, isn't very healthy either. This microwave cake is the perfect solution.  It is super easy and quick and you only have one portion, which is perfect for occasional cravings or a quick after dinner desert.  There are a lot more recipes I plan to try with this nifty little stone microwave cooker.

Several months ago, my Striiv pedometer died.  It cost about $100 and I didn't feel like I wanted to spend that much for another pedometer that actually lasted less than two years.  I found this nice little pedometer online for about $12.  I also got one and sent it off to Josh in his birthday box so he can see how far he is walking each day.  I like this new pedometer even better than my Striiv.  It doesn't have any games, but it does have a calorie counter and memory so I can see how much I have walked in week's time.  It is also super light and small and fits well in my pocket so I have been wearing it all the time, and I have found that most days, between my school activities and my evening walks with Charly, I am walking about six miles.  

We had a three day weekend last week and I had some time to do some records indexing at familysearch.org.  I indexed marriage certificates from 1915-1919 in New York and death certificates from 1903 in Chicago.  I really enjoy indexing. As I type in the information about each person, I wonder what that individual's life was like.  It was rather sad indexing the death certificates because so many of them were babies and small children that died of diseases and conditions that would now be treatable or preventable.  

I love this Goodwill find from last week. When my girls were little, I had a little ceramic statue like this that my youngest daughter (now 30 years old) loved to carry around. She called it her "pray dolly" and she took it with her when she got married.  My grand daughter now has it in her room. This little statue isn't exactly like the one from years ago, but it does remind me of my sweet daughters and the special times we had when they were growing up.  It also reminds me that I am a daughter of God and can call upon Him in times of need.

Over spring break, back in March, Charly and I decided to get our passports, since our son is in a foreign country. We were told to expect a long wait at the passport office, but instead, we got there at just the right time, and both of us were completely finished with the application process in only twenty minutes.  We were also told that our passports wouldn't come in the mail for six to eight weeks, but mine arrived in only two and a half weeks. 

And speaking for Joshua, he is doing well in Mexico.  He has been transferred to a new area of the city and is working with a new companion.  I "google earthed" the area where he is and it looks like a pretty poor part of the city.  He will, no doubt, have some interesting experiences there.  I found this scripture last week, that so reminded me of Joshua and how I feel about his and what he is doing. His birthday is coming up and he was so pleased with the Christmas cards he got from my blog friends, that I will open up the invitation for any of you sweet friends to send him a birthday card, if you would like to. Email me for his address in Mexico.  Thank you in advance for thinking of him!

I am reading this book this week, after finishing a graphic novel about a girl who lived through the Iranian Revolution in the last 1970s and early 1980s.  The graphic novel was supposed to be based on true events and it was kind of a downer.  I needed something more positive to read after that, I decided to try this recent purchase The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.  So far, I am finding a lot to think about in this little book.  I hope to finish it in the next few days and I'll let you know how I like it when I am finished.  

Thanks to Susanne at Living to Tell the Story and Lisa at Home to 4 Kiddos for once again hosting this opportunity to look back on the good things that have happened during the last week.