More Pictures From Josh's European Vacation

Josh is still in Europe. He has been pretty good about texting us photos, so I decided to share some here in this space. While he has been good about texting pictures, not so much about specific details on each place he sends a picture of.  I looked a couple of the churches up to satisfy my curiosity about what I was getting pictures of.  The churches are in Munich, Germany where Josh and his traveling companions spent several days. 

This is the Frauenkirche in Munich that serves as the cathedral of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising.  It was built way back in 1401. 

This Catholic church is The Theatine Church of St. Cajetan in Munich.  It was completed in 1690. 

Josh did tell us that the following pictures were from Dachau, the first concentration camp built by Nazi Germany clear back in 1933.

Josh said these pictures were taken in Germany, including pictures of a "famous" German castle.  

These pictures are from Switzerland.  According to Josh, the lion is a monument to Swiss mercenaries who defended the king of France during the revolution. 

Josh's European adventure is almost over and he will be coming home in a few days.  What a blessing for him to be able to travel and have such great experiences and see such amazing things. 

Until next time...

🙏💙Deb💛🙏

"A mind that is stretched by a new experience 

can never go back to its old dimensions."

~Oliver Wendell Holmes

The Last Weekend of June

It seems that 2022 is going by so quickly, and here we are already at the last weekend in June.  We are having overall nice summer weather.  We had a cool week, with a little rain. Now, on Sunday our  temperatures are in the low 90s, but with the blessing of air conditioning, we hardly notice.  

Charly and I started our Friday morning with a 2.27 mile walk through our neighborhood.  

It was cool for the beginning of walk, but by the time we finished the walk, the temperatures were starting to climb.  I love all the big trees in our neighborhood that provide lots of cooling shade.  Mornings are nice in my neighborhood. 

I have been experiencing some pain in my right shoulder and up into my neck since April.  I finally asked my doctor about it and he referred me for some physical therapy.  I was able to get appointment at this well-regarded orthopedic specialty clinic which is about ten minutes from my home.  My appointment was for 11 a.m. Friday morning.  

I liked the physical therapist.  He was gentle and knowledgeable and gave me so exercises to help my shoulder and neck pain.  I go back the week after next. 

After I got home and ate lunch, Charly and I went to Costco, then later, I went down to my sewing room to hem some pants I recently purchased.  I am quite short (5'4") so I frequently have to hem pants that I buy.  

Friday's dinner was chicken street tacos. Soooo good!  After dinner, Charly and I went to a couple of stores to get a few things. 

Saturday was a busy day.  Charly and I walked in the morning, then he took one of our cars to the shop for a smog check, inspection and licensing sticker (that is how we relicense our vehicles here in Utah).  I stayed home and got some things done here at the house.  Later we went to a couple of our favorite thrift stores.  

Now that I have gone through and purged my books, I decided that Saturday afternoon was the perfect time to go through my clothing and get rid of things I don't wear any more.  I got quite a few things out and they will be donated soon. I am always happy when I have enough to share with others. As you can see, both Charly and I still have plenty. We won't run out of clothes anytime soon! 😉 

While I was working in my closet, I listened to and finished this audiobook, Love Warrior, which I checked out from the library.  I will review it in my June Reading Roundup at the end of the month. 

Sunday morning, Charly and I got up and headed off to church as usual.  

After the main service, we headed off to the separate men's and women's classes for a lesson.  

After church, I took some time to finish up this book, Killers of the Flower Moon, which a friend loaned me.  It is an excellent "true crime" book about a criminal conspiracy in the 1920s that I had never heard of before reading this book.  I will be reviewing the book in my June reading roundup. 

We have been hearing from Josh daily - short texts and a few pictures. He said he is having an "awesome" experience!  Here are some of the pictures he has shared with us from Innsbruck, Austria.

These pictures are from Salzburg, Austria. 

Josh sent these photos earlier today from Munich, Germany:

We are grateful that Josh is able to have this amazing travel experience. 

Weekend Gratitude:

• Josh having a great time in Europe
• The chance to purge my possessions and share with others
• More fun summer adventures in the works for Charly and I

I am going to end here and post this a little earlier than normal for my weekend post.   Everyone have a good week!

🙏💙Deb💛🙏

"God gave us the gift of life; 

it is up to us to give ourselves 

the gift of living well. " 

~Voltaire

 

End of the Week Gratitude

It's the end of another week, time to look back and remember the blessings each day of the past seven has held.  Today, again, I am joining with Rebecca Jo at Knit by God's Hand and Susanne at Living to Tell the Story to remember the good stuff. 

More "Goldilocks" weather - our week started out with some morning rain showers on Monday, but then the sun came out and we had a couple of very nice days that were cooler than normal for summer.  Although our temperatures have returned to summer hot, days that begin with some rain and that aren't too hot or cold are always something to be grateful for.  

More rain - On Thursday afternoon about dinner time, we had quite a heavy rain storm, which the plants are grateful for. 

Summer blossoms - I love flowers and seeing these beautiful blossoms when I walk around my neighborhood makes me feel grateful for the beauty of the world. 

First responders - This morning, when we were out for our walk, Charly and I saw a mama duck out with a couple os sweet little ducklings.  A neighbor standing nearby told us that mama duck actually had five baby ducks and three had fallen into a storm drain.  The neighbor told us he had called the fire department for help, and as we watched, a fire truck pulled up and three firefighters jumped out and spent about twenty minutes rescuing baby ducks.  By that time all five little ducklings had fallen into the storm drain, and mama duck was waddling back and forth quacking frantically.  Baby ducks rescued, mama and babies were relocated to a safer location farther from storm drains. I am grateful for first responders and kind people who are willing take the time to help all creatures in need. 

Garden goodness - Although I haven't planted many new things in my little container garden this year, what has come back from last year is doing well.  I am excited about these baby grapes on my vine. They will be delicious in a few weeks. 

My hydrangea blossoms are fully out and turning pink. I love plants and am grateful for my little backyard garden. 

Book purging and donating- One of the things on my summer "to do" list is going through all of my bookshelves and pulling off books that I am no longer interested in reading.  I spent most of Wednesday doing just that and ended up with over 50 books to donate.  

Thursday afternoon, I loaded the boxes up in the car and drove to our city library where I donated them to the "Friends of the Library. "  The books will be sold on the "Friends of the Library" shelf and the money will help the library pay for supplies and programs.   I am grateful to get this chore finished, and donate my books so that other book lovers might enjoy them, and the library will benefit. 

European vacation - This is Josh on Tuesday morning just before we took him to the airport to catch his flight for the first leg of his adventure in Europe.   He will spend the next ten days or so exploring Italy, Germany, Austria and Switzerland with a tour group made of other young adults.  I am sure he is having a splendid time.  I am thankful that Josh has this opportunity to travel which he is completely planned and paid for himself.   Here are some pictures that Josh texted to us from Venice showing his hotel room and some of the sights he is seeing. 

It looks like he is having a great time and seeing some interesting things.  I am so grateful that he has this opportunity to have this experience. 

Thanks for coming along on my end of the week gratitude journey.  I hope you find much to be grateful for too.  Blessings big and small are always there when we open our eyes to see them.   Have a good weekend!😊

💕Deb💕