Currently, This Weekend

The weather - is cold!  It was a little warmer by the end of the weekend than it was when I took this picture during our Friday afternoon walk, but it was at or below freezing most of the weekend.  Saturday was sunny and a little warmer,  but still cold.  On Sunday, the clouds were back. 

I'm reading - Learned Hopefulness by Dan Tomasulo Ph.D. and Fault Lines - Fractured Families and How to Mend Them by Karl Pillemer Ph.D.

I'm listening to - awesome podcasts like Be Bold, Leading Saints, Follow Him, Real Talk and From Crisis to Connection. 

I'm watching - Hillsdale College free online class lectures - on Dante's Inferno and Aristotle's Ethics. Friday night, I watched Dateline.  Saturday night, we watched an episode of Inventing Anna on Netflix. Sunday, we watched our church service on Zoom and I also watched some Youtubes later while exercising downstairs.  

At work - we continue to get our students ready for the ACT, which will be given to all juniors on Tuesday, March 8.  Last Friday, all junior had to come to school early to register for the test. I was super excited when the books from the latest Donors Choose project started arriving. These are the first three books that arrived at school on Friday. 

I'm cooking - breakfast burritos for dinner on Friday.  I make breakfast burritos with scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and cheese with some taco sauce thrown in.  Breakfast burritos are becoming an easy and delicious family favorite. 

Saturday night I made crunchy taco casserole, with rice and black beans. 

Sunday dinner was country fried chicken breasts with mashed potatoes and country gravy.  We also had sauteed asparagus and green salad.  Comfort food. 

I'm feeling - overall well and upbeat but tired.  Last week was a busy week, and I didn't get enough sleep several nights.  I had a headache a good part of the day on Sunday.  

I'm praying for - 

• The people of Ukraine
• Peace in Europe
• All of my children and grandchildren
• Wisdom concerning some situations and things going on in my family

I'm thinking about - vacation plans for  spring break and this coming summer.  I'm getting excited!

Other stuff about the weekend - Saturday morning, Josh needed some new steel toed work shoes, so I went to DSW with him.

Josh found the steel-toed shoes he needs and I found these great hiking boots on sale for 60% off, and got them with a gift card I got for my birthday last October.  

I also went to the library to pick up some books I had on hold.  I am "test reading" these titles, to see if I want to continue with them.  All three books show promise.  I think I will start with The Maid, and then try to recheck the other two if I need more time with them. March's reading is lining up.

Saturday afternoon, I met up with my cousin, Leah Dawn,  for lunch.  We enjoyed having some good food and a good catch-up chat. 

Sunday, Charly and I watched church on Zoom. Josh went to the service in person.  After watching the church service, I did some indexing of WWII death records, and some South African records, then I reserved some time at our timeshare condo resorts for some trips we have planned this year.  I am getting excited for the trips we are planning!

I'm also working on a puzzle, but it's going slowly. This puzzle is rather challenging because many of the pieces will fit in several places.

Weekend gratitude:

• Support and prayers from across the world for Ukraine
• Nice weekend walks with Charly
• Having a cousin who is also a friend
• Upcoming trips and vacations

That's all for now.  Thanks for stopping by. Have a great week!

💙Deb💛

Pray for Ukraine

 

 

My View

I am praying Ukraine and all affected by Putin's aggression.  I say Amen to the statement issued today by the leadership of the church I belong to. God bless all those who are fighting evil forces for their freedom and independence in Ukraine.  God bless our world with peace. 

I also love Pope Francis' statement on Ukraine when he said, "I invite everyone to make March 2, Ash Wednesday, a day of fasting for peace," he said. "I encourage believers in a special way to devote themselves intensely to prayer and fasting on that day. May the Queen of Peace protect the world from the folly of war."  I agree with the Pope and yes, I will join in fasting and praying for peace.  

💛Deb💙

"The world is full of enough hurts and mischances 

without wars to multiply them. "

~J.R.R. Tolkien

 

Thankful Thursday and Friday Favorites

The past week was a pretty ordinary one in my world, but there were still many bright spots and much to be grateful for. Again, this Thursday evening, I am joining with Rebecca Jo and friends over at Knit by God's Hand, for Thankful Thursday and Susanne and friends at Living to Tell the Story for Friday's Fave Five.  Let's get started. 

Clean bill of health - Charly had to get some prescriptions renewed, and he was way overdue for a check-up so he went to see the doctor on Monday.  He had some routine blood work done that the results aren't back on yet, but overall, he got a clean bill of health.  The doctor even told him that he can probably stop taking his blood pressure medication if he monitors his blood pressure every day for a while.  I am grateful that my husband got a generally clean bill of health at the doctor. 

More snow - We some more snow this week. There wasn't a lot here in our area, but there was more in the mountains and in the central and southern part of the state.  I am grateful for more snow, but we need even more.  Despite the small amount of snow, roads around here were very icy several mornings due to the cold temperatures.  I am grateful that my commute is a short one, and that I was safe and didn't have problems with icy roads. 

Short work week - Monday was President's Day and Tuesday was a teacher meeting/work day so it was a short school week.  I am always grateful for a little extra time off. 

Student-free work time - Tuesday we had a student non-attendance day. We had training for a couple of hours in the morning, and then we had the afternoon free to grade and work on lesson plans. 

Donors Choose Project Funded - After my last Donors Choose  Project, which was funded by the state of Utah, I decided to try to get a few more books that reflect the diversity of my student population.  I want my students to be able to see themselves in the characters of the books they read.  I created a project asking for just over $100 worth of diverse literature.  I wasn't at all sure it would be funded, but thanks to the generosity of my blogger friend Jean over at What's up at the Stauffer's , my sister Kathy and a total stranger from Alexandria, Virginia, the money was raised in about a week and now my students are getting more new and interesting books to read.  I am so grateful for the generosity of others who are willing to help a bunch of teenagers in Utah that they have never met.  There are truly kind, caring, awesome people in the world.  😊

Thanks for stopping by to share the good things in my week.  I hope your week held many good things as well.  Have a great weekend. 

😊Deb💖

Currently on President's Day Weekend

 

The Weather - started out spring like. Friday was a beautiful day with brilliant blue skies and mild temperatures.  Charly and I enjoyed a walk in the afternoon. 

We walked in the morning on Saturday - another sunny, spring-like day.  I love looking at the mountain views as we walk through our neighborhood.  We are literally surrounded by mountains. 

By Sunday afternoon, clouds had rolled in and there was a cool breeze as Charly and I completed our afternoon walk.  It became colder and cloudier as the day went on. 

I'm Reading - these two books - Learned Hopefulness by Dan Tomasuto (nonfiction psychology) and Just Shy of Harmony by Philip Gulley (second book in the delightful Harmony series). 

Listening to - This (A Lost Lady by Willa Cather) is the audiobook Charly and I are listening to when we walk.  It is freebie from Amazon Prime Classics.   I'm also listened  to the audio of the book Saints: The Standard of Truth, and several podcasts including 2020  (true crime) and Real Talk (scripture study). 

I'm Watching -  The Tinder Swindler on Netflix gave me my true crime fix Friday night when no Dateline was on due to the Olympics. 

Saturday night, we watched a couple of episodes of Inventing Anna - also on Netflix.  We also watched some of Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich.  It was a true crime weekend. 

Sunday morning Charly and I watched church on  Zoom.  We plan to go back to attending church in person in a March.  Josh attended church in person. 

At Work - Last week was a good week.  I have my students doing a lot of preparation for the ACT Test, which isn't very exciting, I admit, but something they need to do. We now have another long weekend and short school week with Monday being President's Day and Tuesday, a teacher meeting and work day with no students at school.

I'm Cooking - Teriyaki stir fry vegetables and noodles Friday night. Very good. 

Saturday night we had cheeseburger pizzas with green salad on the side.   These little goodies have become a real family favorite. 

Sunday dinner was spaghetti and meatballs and steamed broccoli.  

I'm Feeling - Well.  Charly and I seemed to have dodged the Covid bullet, and we did not catch anything from Josh.  Emotionally, I have been feeling more upbeat this past week. I think the getaway to St. George last weekend and several days of sunshine this week are both reasons.

I'm Praying for - 

• Ukraine and all of  the people there.  
• My children and grandchildren.
• Healing and reconciliation in my family.
• Specifically for Josh as he plans for his future.

I'm Thinking About - Several things concerning my family and the future. 

• Josh did not get accepted into BYU (Brigham Young University) where he was hoping to continue his education this fall.  It is disappointing, but not surprising.  BYU is very tough and competitive when it comes to admissions.  Only about 50% get accepted.  Josh will graduate with this Associate's Degree from Ensign College in April, then he will probably apply to BYU again for winter semester 2023.  As a mom,  I hope that my children won't have to be disappointed in life, but I also know that isn't reasonable, so I pray that my children can all be strong and resilient and find their way through life's ups and downs.

• Speaking of Josh, he spent his Saturday afternoon hiking with a certain young lady I have yet to meet.  He came home from his date, happy and talkative and said it was a perfect day for a hike, and, apparently the young lady met his expectations as well.  Inquiring minds want to know if another date is in the offing, and I know better than to ask too many questions. For my very shy son, whose social life was really thrown off-track by Covid, getting out out there on a date and coming home with a smile on his face, is definitely a win!

Other stuff that happened this weekend- 

Saturday, we took three bags of books over to our favorite used book store, to turn in for credit.  

Charly has been going to this used book store since he was a boy. It is still one of our favorite places around here.  We took three bags of books in for credit and only found one book to bring home, so I would say we made some progress on "book decluttering."

We met up with friends for lunch at our favorite Asian restaurant.  Charly and I both had Mongolian Beef. We enjoyed a delicious lunch and catching up with our friends Jeff and Sandy, who we have known and hung out with since before we were married.   It was a nice outing.  We plan to meet up again next month. 

Sunday, I was able to do enough indexing to achieve my goal for the month, despite the fact that I wasn't able to index last week.  I indexed more military records from the WWI era. 

I also started this puzzle Sunday morning while listening to church and finished it Sunday evening after dinner. 

Coming up this week:

Monday - President's Day - No school or work!

Monday - Doctor Appointment for Charly

Tuesday  - Teacher meeting/work day - no students at school

Saturday - Lunch with my cousin

Weekend Gratitude:

• I have Monday (President's Day) off.
• Josh went on a date!
• We were able to get together with our friends. 
• We had an overall good weekend.

That's about it for this weekend.  Thanks for stopping in for a visit.  

Have a good week!

😊Deb💖

"Become a possibilitarian.  No matter how dark things seem to be or actually are, raise your sights and see possibilities - always see them, for they're always there."

~Norman Vincent Peale

Valentine's Week Favorites on Thankful Thursday

 

It's time to look back on this Valentine's Week and remember all the goodness that was in it.  I am doubling up on the gratitude by joining both with Susanne over at Living to Tell the Story for Friday's Fave Five and Rebecca Jo at Knit by God's Hand for Thankful Thursday. 

Weekend getaway - as you know from my last post, Charly and I took a weekend trip to St. George, which was lovely and doubled as our Valentine's getaway. We really enjoyed it.  I am grateful that we had the time and means to make the trip.  It was an awesome weekend. 

Valentine's Day - Charly and I don't usually go all out for Valentine's Day, but we do remember each other with a card and Charly always gives me some kind of goofy little stuffed animal.  I also got a card and candy from the women in my ministering group at church.  

Our student senate decorated all of the teacher's doors for Valentine's Day, which made our hallway look so festive and fun.  I am grateful for a day of love and acknowledgment on Valentine's.  

More online classes complete - I finished a Hillsdale College class on the Shakespeare Plays Hamlet and The Tempest and a Coursera Course on Social Psychology.  Both will count toward the hours needed for the salary increase.  

I started two more Hillsdale College online class on Thursday - one on Dante's Inferno and one on Aristotle's Ethics.  I am grateful for these economical, convenient and interesting online classes. 

The return of winter - After mild weather and spring-like temperatures for several weeks, clouds rolled in Tuesday afternoon and evening, the wind kicked up and the temperatures dropped. 

Wednesday morning it started snowing and snowed off and on most of the day. This is the view from my classroom window where the mountains were hid behind the low snow clouds.  Most of the snow stayed in the mountains which is good because it can melt in the spring providing water down here in the valley.  I am grateful we got  some snow because we need it.  I hope we get more soon. 

The return of spring - After the snow storm of Wednesday, Thursday was a bright, beautiful day. The temperatures weren't quite back up to the spring-like temps we had experienced, but the sunshine was lovely and Charly and I enjoyed an afternoon walk.  Friday and Saturday promise to be even warmer, before we get another snowstorm (hopefully) on Sunday and Monday.   I am always grateful to be able to walk in the sunshine. 

Getting our lives back - As Covid rates continue to decrease, we have been scheduling social events again.  We hope to get together with good friends for lunch this Saturday, then next Saturday, I am meeting up with my cousin for lunch.  We have even rescheduled a meeting for our church book group.  It feels good to be able to become more social again.   I am grateful for friends to get together with and declining Covid rates. 

There is always more to be grateful for, but I will end this post here.  Thanks for stopping by.  Please let me know what you are especially grateful for this week in the comments.  Have a great weekend and see you again soon!

😊Deb💖

"Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us 

recognize our blessings 

but it also unlocks the doors of heaven 

and helps us feel God's love."

~Thomas S. Monson

Weekend Getaway to St. George

Because of having two 12-hour days at school for parent-teacher conferences last week, I got a comp day on Friday. Charly and I decided to head about four hours south of Salt Lake City to St. George, Utah where temperatures were predicted to be in the 70s with lots of sunshine.   

We got a last-minute deal on a room...

...got in the car and drove to St. George.

The room we got was large, updated and most important, clean. 

It was too late in the day to do much when we got to St. George, but first thing Saturday morning, we went to Snow Canyon State Park near St. George, to do some hiking.  We started out with the Jenny's Canyon trail, and we were not disappointed.  It was a great trail with a cool slot canyon at the end. 

Although it was a beautiful, sunny day, it was still fairly chili in the morning, but I was very happy to be out on a hiking trail again.  Here are some pictures from Jenny's Canyon. 

This was end of our hike of the Jenny's Canyon Trail.  As you can see in the picture, the trail was sandy, outlined by lava rock.  It wasn't a super long trail, but we LOVED the slot canyon at the end, and we definitely plan to return to hike this trail again next time we are at Snow Canyon State Park. 

The second trail we hiked in Snow Canyon State Park, was the Pioneer Names Trail.  This trail got its name because some early settlers to the area wrote their names in axle grease on the red canyon wall.  That would be illegal today, but because the names were written and dated during the dated 1800s, they are considered historic.  Here are some pictures from the Pioneer Names Trail. 

In this picture, you can see the names, in the sheltered area of the rock.  The names were very neatly written and we could make out most of them, as well as the dates that were neatly and clearly written under the names.  The names and dates we could make out were Albert Craf October 18, 1894, Jacob Wiltwer,  Jacob Gubler August 3, 1887 and Harman Gubler March 4, 1871.  

We also really liked this little natural arch that was right at ground level on the Pioneer Names trail. 

Later in the day, we went to the Red Hills Desert Garden, which is in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve.  It is a small botanical garden.  Here are some pictures from the Red Hills Desert Garden.

The easy stroll through garden was a nice way to end a busy day. 

Of course, anytime we go to a different town or city, we like to "treasure hunt" in local thrift stores.  These are some of the thrift stores we explored on this trip and some of the fun things we brought home - books, puzzles and a few clothing items. We always enjoy checking out thrift stores, but the hikes were my favorite part of the weekend.  

Charly and I listened to and finished a coupled of audiobooks on our road trip - first, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes by Anita Loos, and second Braving the Wilderness by Brene Brown.  I will have a review on both books in my February Reading Roundup. 

While we were in St. George, my grandchildren's father sent more pictures.  My heart smiles whenever I see these faces.  😊

We got back home from our weekend in St. George on Sunday afternoon.  As always, when returning home from a trip, there is always a lot to do to get things put away and back in order.  I am grateful for the trip, the fun things we did, and the great memories we made.  

Weekend Gratitude:

• Safe travels
• Fun Valentines trip with my Valentine
• Great hiking
• Health and finances to make the trip
• Josh is over Covid

Coming up this week:

Thankfully, not much is on the schedule at this point.  I go back to work on Monday.  Some snow is in the forecast for the middle of the week.  No appointments on the calendar yet. 

That's all for this weekend.  Thanks for stopping by. I hope you find much to smile about in the coming week. 

😊Deb💖

"I go to nature to be soothed, healed 

and have my senses put in order."

~John Burroughs