A Little Summer "Sunday Stealing"

I decided to do something a little different this Sunday and join with my long-time blogging friend Linda over at  Just Simply Linda for some Sunday Stealing questions (and a couple of my own added at the end).  

What are your plans for August?

We have one more end of summer vacation road trip planned to Great Basin National Park in Nevada.  Josh came home for his abbreviated summer break from college yesterday so he will be joining us on this little road trip.  I go back to school August 5, but Josh and Charly will be heading down to St. George for a few days to see how progress is going on the new flooring installation in the house we bought.  The new tenants (a single woman and her teenage daughter) move into the house on August 8.  Josh will head back to school shortly after that.  

We also have some family birthdays in August - our granddaughter Paige's birthday is August 3 and my sister Kathy's birthday is August 21. 

I'm also looking forward to taking a personal day and attending the BYU Education Week closing day on August 23. 

What are your mid year resolutions or goals?

I am continuing to work on losing a few pounds - ten pounds would be great!  I have cut back a lot on sugar and I am tracking and recording my calorie intake.  

Are you good at taking care of plants?

Yes, generally speaking, I think I have quite a "green thumb."  I have lots of plants both inside and outside of my house.  My vegetable garden, pictured above, is doing very well with year.  I am excited to have a very bountiful harvest!

What makes you feel nourished? 

Obviously good, healthy food makes me feel nourished physically.  On a mental and spiritual level, attending church, partaking of the sacrament (communion) and hearing great messages and lessons nourishes my soul. 

What projects have you been working on this summer?

My husband and I have been working together on painting a gazebo/covered patio area in our backyard and also our shed.  We have completely finished the gazebo and are about half-way finished with the shed.  

What books are on your summer reading list?

I've read quite a few books this summer, but honestly, my reading rate is down considerable from the last two years.  Right now, I am finishing up Kamala Harris' book, The Truths We Hold.  I will be finished with it in a day or so. I am also reading False Flag by Joy Pullmann and my new Sunday book is The Founder of Our Peace by John Hilton III.   I also recently finished the audiobook, Beyond the Shade of the Mango Tree by Edward Dube.

What summer treats are  you excited to enjoy?

Fresh cherry tomatoes from my own garden, and any and all other garden fresh vegetables.

What is your favorite summertime meal?

My favorite meal, no matter what the season, is pizza and green salad. In fact, that was what we had for Sunday dinner tonight!

How much time do you take for vacations?

We take quite a few road trips, mainly during the summer because I teach and have a long summer vacation.  This year, we cancelled a couple of trips we had planned because we were concentrating on finding and purchasing a house in Southern Utah. I think we made 5-6 trips to St. George since March to look at houses, and then to finalize the purchase on the one we bought.  We also have one more family road trip scheduled this summer to Great Basin National Park. We enjoy road trips a lot, and try to take several every summer.  I am not much of flier - I really don't like the entire process - but we will fly when we really want to go to a destination that is far enough away that a road trip isn't feasible.   This year, we have been enjoying roading tripping in the new car we purchased in February of 2024.  It is a a great vehicle and makes road trips comfortable, fun and easy. 

What is your favorite free/cost effective way to have fun?

We enjoy visiting national parks and state parks, which are usually not very expensive and provide great hiking and beautiful scenery.  The picture above is Snow Canyon State Park in Southern Utah, which has become a favorite of ours and is literally ten minutes away from the house we just purchased for our retirement.  We plan to get senior park passes and go there to hike often - mostly in the fall and winter when the weather is sunny and the temperatures perfect.  Southern Utah temperatures can get a little toasty in the summer. 

What things are you most grateful for that happened recently?

• Josh arrived home safely for a short summer break visit.
• We were able to find and purchase a house in a nice area of Southern Utah that we could afford and that will be a great retirement home for us.
• We were able to get the house we purchased rented.
• Our friend with stage 4 cancer, who has been suffering so much since her diagnosis in April, passed peacefully away on Saturday and is now with Jesus and out of pain. 

What and who are you praying for this Sunday?

• The 41-year-old son of our friend who just died of cancer.  He also has stage 4 cancer and was recently told that he has 6-8 weeks to live.
• My friend's family - she leaves behind a husband, four children and five grandchildren.  We have known her and her husband for over 45 years and my husband knew her husband for at least 3 years before that. 
• Another friend who has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease.
• Our country, that we can have peace and stability no matter who wins the upcoming presidential election.
• All of  my children and grandchildren - no matter what their needs. God knows!

Finally, I am planning to change up my blogging just a bit during August and participate in the August Happiness Challenge with one of my favorite bloggers, The Gal Herself, at One Gal's Musings.  You can read more about this August Happiness Challenge HERE.  I hope that some other blogging friends will decided to join in!

That's all for this post.  Have a great end-of-July week!

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"Being negative only makes a 

journey more difficult. 

You may be given a cactus, 

but you don't have to sit on it."

~Joyce Meyer

Favorites on Friday

I haven't been able to join in on Friday gratitude every week this summer, so I am excited to be here this week  to focus on the positives. Here are some of my favorite things about the last week.  I am joining with Susanne over at Living to Tell the Story for Friday's Fave Five. 

😊 Last year, Charly and I enjoyed attending one day of BYU Education week and this past week, I got us both registered so we can attend again this year.  The week long educational event, which has all kinds of classes taught by university professors, is coming up in August. While we won't be able to attend the entire week, I will take Friday off so we can participate in classes on the closing day.   We got our program schedules in the mail so we can look over and select which classes we want to attend.  I am grateful for Education Week, and I am also grateful that we will attending the closing day.  (When I retire, I want to attend the entire week). 

😊 We got a super sweet Marco Polo from our granddaughter when she got home from Uganda.  I love my grandchildren and I am always excited and grateful to hear from them. 

😊 My daughter texted me this sweet picture of my nine-year-old granddaughter with the new kitten the family adopted a few weeks ago.  I am so grateful when my daughter texts me pictures of what is going on with her family. I love surprise pictures and texts that help us keep in touch.

😊 We decided to make a rather quick, impromptu trip to St. George to look in on the progress of the installation of the new flooring in the home we recently purchased.  I am grateful that we were able to find a nice room to stay in with only a few hours notice.   I am also grateful for safe travels to St. George and back to Salt Lake City. 

😊  While we were driving to St. George, we got the great news that our property manager has found a good tenant to rent this house.   I am grateful that we will not have to leave the house empty for a long period of time before I retire and we move in ourselves.  Having the monthly rental income will also help our family finances, another thing I am grateful for.

😊 After spending some time at our house, we drove around the town a bit - just to get to know the place.  The town where our house is located is about ten miles Southwest of St. George.  In 2022, it had a population of just over 10,000, but there is lots of new construction going on, so I am sure that the population has grown.  It seems to be a lovely place with great views and nice people.  It is literally only ten minutes away from Snow Canyon State Park, which is one of my favorite places to hike.  I am grateful that we were able to find a good house in this beautiful area. 

😊 I have been reading this book, The Truths We Hold by Kamala Harris, this past week.  It is very good and is giving me a better picture of the woman who will most likely be the nominee who will run against Donald Trump.  I am not going to get political and reveal who I will be voting for in November, but I have said before that I was very unhappy with the choice of Trump and Biden and I am grateful that we will now have a a new alternative. I am grateful that Biden had the wisdom to "pass the torch" to someone younger and more energetic.  As I have been reading this book, I have found that I don't agree with all of Kamala Harris' views, but neither do I agree with all of Donald Trump's policies and rhetoric.  As Elon Musk recently said in an  interview with Jordan Peterson, "both sides have flaws." I am just grateful that as voters, we have a new choice to consider.  

That's all for this week.  Thanks for visiting. I hope that you had a positive week and that your weekend will be a good one. 

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"Gratitude is a choice: 

It's a conscious decision to focus on 

the good things in life 

instead of its shortcomings."

~anon.

Weekend Highlights

Here are the highlights of our weekend:

Friday was a pretty nice day.  We did our grocery shopping in the morning, then we worked on the cleaning in the afternoon.  Later, I went out in my garden which is doing great. I picked the first ripe tomatoes.   They were all delicious - and best of all there are more to come!

Friday night's dinner, I fixed BLT sandwiches using the tomato from the garden. 

Friday night after dinner, we went to the recreation center for a nice, brisk walk on the track. 

Saturday morning, I met up with my cousin for breakfast at IHOP.  We try to meet up for breakfast whenever we can.

We went to a couple of thrift stores on Friday and Saturday.  I was looking for some denim bermuda shorts, which is what I wear almost every day during the summer.  I found a couple of pair of shorts and also two nice summer blouses.  

We really wanted to get some exercise Saturday night, but it was too hot outside and the rec center where we usually walk had closed early, so after dinner we went to mall and walked for a while.  It's been several years (pre-Covid) since we have gone to walk at the mall. 

When we got home from the mall, I spent some time out in my garden.  I found these little baby cucumbers, which I am very excited about!  I love cucumbers - in fact I love all garden fresh vegetables.  

Our granddaughter finally arrived home from Uganda on Saturday after her flights were delayed a day due to the big computer outage on Friday.   It's a long story with a little miracle that finally got her on a plane to Salt Lake City instead of being stuck at least another 24 hours in New Orleans by herself. We are so grateful that she is home safely and we know that God was involved.  

Here are some of the last pictures and Instagram posts from her time in Uganda.  In the picture above, our Hailey is the second from the left.

In this picture, Hailey is sitting down just to the right of the girl who is up dancing.

In this picture, Hailey is in the front row on the extreme left hand side. 

Sunday morning we had a lovely church service. 

Right after lunch, I was relaxing for a while when the news broke that President Biden was dropping out of the presidential race. I think this is a good thing. 

Later in the afternoon, we went to the care center to help with the church services. The services are held in a large all-purpose room there.  Only about 5-10 residents of the care center attend the services which includes a couple of short messages, three hymns and the sacrament (communion).  Charly and I help get everything organized, and Charly helps with the sacrament and I helped with the music today.  (In all honesty, this "care center" is really a dismal place.  Many of the residents seem to have intellectual disabilities, and some perhaps addiction issues. Many have physical problems and are in wheelchairs. It is very apparent that the residents don't have very much at all, materially speaking, so I am glad that they can have a few minutes every Sunday to hear the hope and salvation that the Gospel brings.  I am thankful that we have been asked to be a part of this). 

Back home, I fixed our Sunday dinner which was chicken teriyaki with rice and broccoli, fresh green beans, Asian salad and French bread.  

After dinner, we listened to our scripture study class on Youtube.  

After I post this, I plan to read some more in this book, which I found on my "to read" bookshelf this afternoon. So far it's very interesting. I read J.D. Vance's book, Hillbilly Elegy, when it first came out, so I decided it was only fair to read Kamala Harris' book, The Truths We Hold, as well. 

Weekend gratitude:

• Having our granddaughter return safely home.
• Meeting up with my cousin. 
• Helping with worship services at the care center. 
• Enjoying fresh produce from my own garden.
• Witnessing history in the making with President Biden dropping out of the presidential race. 

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a good week!

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

• "...I learned that 'faith' is a verb
  
• I believe we must live our faith
• and show our faith in action."
• ~Kamala Harris

 

Currently in My World

 

The weather is summertime hot.  I took this picture of our backyard about 6 a.m. this morning.  It was wonderfully cool outside in the early morning, as I stood on my back porch in my pjs.  The morning coolness didn't last long however, and the forecast is for temps in the high 90s and over 100 for the rest of this week. 

I'm reading three books right now. The first is a fiction - suspense/mystery - Just the Nicest Couple by Mary Kubica.  The second is socio-political nonfiction - False Flag by Joy Pullman. The third is my religious/spiritual Sunday read - Choosing Glory by Lili De Hoyos Anderson, Ph.D. (who was one of my youngest daughter's college professors).   I just barely started all three books. 

I've been watching the Republican National Convention. I'll probably watch at least portions of the Democratic National Convention too.  I have always found politics interesting, and I am particularly fascinated by the rhetoric the speakers use to make their arguments convincing.  Words do matter. 

I've been listening to The Ramsey Show podcast.  I like Dave Ramsey's no-nonsense advice about money and staying out of debt.

I'm working on painting our backyard shed. Charly and I finished painting the gazebo and are now working on the shed.   We have been working for an hour each morning before the temperatures get too hot.

I'm looking forward to an an end-of-summer-vacation road trip to Great Basin National Park which is about three hours away from us in Nevada.  It's a one-of-a-kind, unique and beautiful national park that is a hidden gem in this region.  We've been there before, and in fact, our oldest son was a National Park Ranger there for a while, but we haven't been there for several years.  It will be fun to have a little getaway there with Josh when he comes home for a short summer break.

I'm also looking forward to fresh tomatoes from my garden.  I have a few that are just getting ripe. 

I'm thinking that I need to continue to go through my closet and books and continue donating things I don't use, need or want any more.  This afternoon, I took several bags of things to donate at a local thrift store. 

I'm feeling happy for and proud of our granddaughter Hailey who has had a wonderful experience in Uganda.  She will be home in a couple of days.  Here are some screenshots from Instagram posts of her group.

I'm thankful for safe travels home from St. George, and, now that I am down to the final couple of weeks of my summer break, I'm also thankful that this summer has been a very good and productive one. 

That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by.  

😊Deb💖

"People can't drive you crazy

if you don't give them the keys."

~Mike Bechtie

It's Been a Busy Week!

It's been a very busy (and sometimes stressful) week in my world, with something important happening every single day.  Here's a little recap of the highlights. 

Monday afternoon, I got a message from a dear friend who lives in California. She and her husband were having a little vacation at a ski resort about 30 minutes from our home.  She asked if we wanted to meet up, so we drove to the beautiful resort where she was staying (Snow Bird) and we had a nice visit, and enjoyed catching up.  This friend and I worked together for a few years clear back in the 1980s - so we have known each other a while!   Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture of my friend and her husband, but I did get a picture of the condo at the resort where we visited them.  

Tuesday we went to a Salt Lake Bees baseball game with our daughter's family.  My last post was all about that.  Everyone had a great time and we hope to make "Family Night at the Ballpark" a family tradition!

Wednesday, we left about mid-morning and drove to St. George.  It was hot. This picture of our car dashboard says it was 110, but actually it was more like 115 several days that we were there. 

We were very happy to reach and get settled into the large, comfortable, air conditioned condo where we were staying. 

Thursday, we had to sign lots of paperwork at a title company to make this home in Southern Utah officially ours. 

We then met with our property manager to begin the process of finding someone to live here until I retire and we move into this place ourselves.   It's a great house with "good bones."  I admit that it needs some sprucing up and we are starting with new flooring in the main areas.  Before we move in, I want it completely painted inside and all carpeting in the bedrooms will be replaced, and the sunroom (where the hot tub is) will be tiled.  

Right now, we are getting new Pergo laminate flooring in the living room, dining/family room, hallway, laundry room and kitchen.  We went to a recommended flooring company and narrowed our choice down to these these three samples. 

We then decided to go with this color which is the  sample on the extreme right in the first picture. This picture does not do the color justice. 

This is picture that the flooring company had of what the floor would look like. This is NOT our home, but it gives some idea of the color.  The cabinets in our home are light in color, so I think this flooring will look great! 

Saturday morning we got up early and drove to Cedar City where our grandson is going to school to become an auto mechanic.  We took him out to breakfast. 

Our grandson is a nice young man and it was fun to visit with him while eating a yummy breakfast. He had to go off to work, so we hope we can spend more time with him next time we see him!

Saturday evening, as we were watching the news about the tragic events that unfolded at the Trump rally in Pennsylvania, the power went out.  The condo complex where we are staying was completely in the dark except for some emergency lighting. We didn't have power for over two hours. It finally came back on after 10 p.m. and we were able to watch the news and get caught up on the horrible assassination attempt.  It's all so very sad.  American politics has reached a new low.  I hope that BOTH candidates will dial back their rhetoric. 

Sunday morning, we had some time before church, so I was able to finish reading this very interesting, thought-provoking and well documented book, Mind Wars by Connor Boyack.    The book talks a lot about propaganda and political rhetoric which is particularly relevant after what happened Saturday night. 

Sunday afternoon, we went to services at this church near the house we just bought.  It felt so good to be back in church after a busy and hectic week. 

Sunday after dinner, I watched President Biden's speech about the assassination attempt on President Trump.  I am praying for our country tonight. We must resolve our differences by voting - not by shooting those who don't agree with us. 

To end this post - here are few thoughts about the tragic assassination attempt that happened last night in Pennsylvania.   I have said before on this blog that I was not very happy about our choices in this presidential election.  That is still true, but I will definitely vote because I love my country and care deeply about what happens here.  Negative political rhetoric, on both sides, has gotten out of hand.  I hope that this horrible event will cause everyone to realize that both candidates, and their supporters, believe that they have the answers to what is best for our country.  Who is right and who is wrong comes down to a matter of perspective. I believe that God was protecting Donald Trump Saturday night. The bullet came too close to his head for me to believe otherwise.  This is not an announcement that I am (or am not) voting for him, but I do think that God's protection was upon Trump Saturday night. That being said, with all that has transpired this week, I also think that Trump will win the election.  I'm not even sure how I feel about that, but that is my prediction. I pray that the faith, prayers and benevolent actions of believing people - both Democrats and Republicans - will bring peace and unity to our country.  

Weekend Gratitude:

• Traveling safely.
• Getting some renovations/repairs lined up for the home we bought.
• Meeting up for breakfast with our grandson.
• Attending church at the new congregation we will go to when we move into the house we bought. 

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"We are Americans first - 

not Democrats, 

not Republicans, 

but Americans!"

~Norah O'Donnell