Gratitude at the End of May

 

It's the end of another week - a time to pause, reflect, and remember the positive things from the last week. Here are some things from the past week that I am most grateful for.  I'm joining again with Susanne over at Living to Tell the Story for Friday's Fave Five to remember the good things from the past week.

😊 I am grateful for all those who gave their lives for the freedom we all enjoy in the United States of America.  I'm also grateful for having the day off to reflect, visit the graves of loved ones, and enjoy some family time. 

😊 Charly, Josh, and I went out for a Memorial Day breakfast at a good breakfast place in our area.  The food was delicious and we enjoyed a little family time together, for which I am grateful. 

😊 Later, Charly and I went for a pedicure.  We enjoyed the great service and relaxing atmosphere of our favorite nail place.  I am grateful for pedicures that help Charly and I keep our feet healthy as we age. 

😊My granddaughter Hailey and grandson Miles both left on their summer humanitarian mission trips this week. Hailey is in Brazil and Miles is in Costa Rica for several weeks.  I am so grateful that they both are having such wonderful experiences to travel and help others. 

😊 We got this picture of our grandson doing some last-minute shopping before he left for his mission trip to Costa Rica.  We also got a nice "thank you" for helping both grandchildren with these trips and I am grateful that we were financially able to do so. 

 

😊 Thursday was our final contract day of the school year.  I am grateful that this school year has wrapped up.  It has been a challenging year and I'm honestly glad it's over.

😊 The other night, I was out walking around my neighborhood, and I saw this beautiful, perfect rose growing in the garden of a house I passed.  I am so grateful for the beauty of this world that God has created for us. 

That's all for now. Thanks for stopping by to share the good things.  Have a good weekend. 

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"The power of finding beauty 

in the humblest things

makes home happy and life lovely."

~ Louisa May Alcott

The First Part of Memorial Day Weekend

 

Here's a little about this past weekend in my world. 

School was a late start, early release, Goodbye Assembly day.  Basically, it was play-day for the students.  Which is totally fine with me.  I worked in my room.  Some students came to class, and I let them talk and play Uno because grades are closed and posted.  Yearbooks were given out at the end of the day.   After dinner Friday night, I went to worship at the temple by myself.  I needed the quiet prayer and contemplation time. 

Saturday morning, I got up early to go to breakfast with a friend who is probably going to be moving to Arizona in a few months.  The food and conversation was good.  I will sure miss my friend when she moves.  She is probably my best female friend in this area.  

After breakfast with my friend, Charly and I had a Saturday morning walk at the mall. 

When we got home, I put some flags up on the front of the house to commemorate Memorial Day.

The main thing on my to-do list for Saturday was beginning to clean out our backyard shed.  We spent quite a while going through stuff we have been holding on to for years.  We ended up taking two loads of things to donate at a nearby thrift store. 

I also spent quite a while going through some school files I had in the shed.  I kept a few things but recycled most of it. 

After dinner Saturday night, we visited the cemetery where Charly's parents and mine are buried and placed flowers on their graves. We also took some flowers to my paternal grandmother's grave, which is right next to where my parents are buried. 

Sunday was a beautiful day!  It was warm and the sky was blue and cloudless. We went to church about mid-morning (our main worship begins at 10:30 a.m.).  We came home after the worship service.  I ate a light lunch and got Sunday dinner put in the crock pot.  I had quite a bad headache all morning, so I decided to take a little nap after dinner was in the crock pot.  I ended up sleeping for about an hour and a half, which is quite a long nap for me.  When I got up, my headache was gone, so the extra sleep helped!

Sunday dinner was barbecued chicken, onions and potatoes, along with corn, baked beans, and green salad.  I got this new-to-me recipe from my blog/vlog friend Kathy at Kathy's Happy Home.  In her Youtube video, Kathy explains how to make this delicious chicken step-by-step.   I did modify the sauce a little.  I used Sweet Baby Ray's original barbecue sauce ("Award Winning") and added some ketchup, brown sugar, and dry onion soup mix.  It was excellent!  I will definitely make this easy recipe again! 

After dinner, Charly, Josh, and I drove to a town about 20 miles north of where we live to put flowers on my maternal grandparent's graves.  It was a lovely evening to be out. Lots of people were at the cemetery, but there was a good vibe and it was very peaceful as people remembered and honored family members who had passed on.  

As the new week begins, I am reading and enjoying this book, Bet Your Bottom Dollar by Karin Gillespie.  I am reading this book on my Kindle. It's good and a nice change from the mystery/suspense/thrillers I have been reading. 

Weekend Gratitude:

• Having beautiful weather.
• Being able to get together with a friend before she moves.
• Making progress on cleaning out our shed.
• Visiting family graves with family. 
• Worshipping at the temple and at church. 
• Having Monday off!
• Honoring those who gave their lives for our freedom! 

Praying For:

• My granddaughter and grandson (Hailey and Miles) both are whom are going on multi-week humanitarian trips this year.  Hailey will leave for Brazil tomorrow and her brother Miles will be going to Costa Rica on Tuesday. 
• Josh to be able to go full-time at his job, or transfer to a full-time position in another department at the same organization.
• Inspiration from God for big decisions we need to make. 
• Our nation.

That's all for this weekend.  Have a good Memorial Day and remember those who gave their all for our freedom!

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

Gratitude at the End of the Week

Here are some of the things I am most grateful for as this week wraps up.  I'm linking up again with Susanne over at Living to Tell the Story for Friday's Fave Five.  

😊 We are down to only three more days of school! Today (Thursday) was the last day with a "normal" schedule.  Tomorrow we will have an assembly in the morning and an early release at 1 p.m..  We have three days next week after Memorial Day, but one day is yearbook day, another day is graduation and the last day is basically a teacher clean-up day.  All of the grading is finished and report card grades for my classes are posted.  I am grateful that this school year is almost over. 

😊 As students have finished assignments, and classwork has wound down, I have had some time to read at my desk on my Kindle.  I have heard that it is good for students to see their teachers read for pleasure, and I always want to do what is best for my students.  One of the reasons I love to read, is that I had a high school English teacher who always brought a book with her to class. She read when we read and she was always willing to talk about the books she read.  To this day, one of my favorite books is one I saw this teacher reading. Earlier today, I finished this excellent mystery/suspense book, Family Money by Chad Zunker.  I am grateful that I enjoy reading and I am grateful when I have a few extra unanticipated minutes to finish a book I'm enjoying, while exemplifying a love of reading for my students. 

😊 After a cool and rainy weekend, our temperatures have gradually warmed up.  We were up to 84 degrees today! I think we are finished with snow for the season and I am grateful for that! I'm also grateful that I could get outside and enjoy a nice walk in the lovely weather.

😊 The plants I planted recently are doing very well.  I am in love with these pansies in the whiskey barrel in my front yard garden.  Pansies have always been one of my favorite flowers.  The Zinnia seeds I planted are also up and doing well, and the little vegetable plants we planted are thriving and growing.  I am grateful that so far, both my flower and vegetable gardens, are doing great this spring. 

😊 Charly and I have a little tradition of taking a special getaway trip together around the time of our anniversary.  We had this year's anniversary trip all set for the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California, but for some reason neither of us felt excited to go.  We finally decided to rearrange our trip to another location. We cancelled California and were able to reschedule and reserve one of our favorite getaway locations - Flagstaff, Arizona!  We haven't been to Flagstaff for several years, but it's a place we love and have wonderful memories of. I am grateful that we were able to get reservations for our timeshare resort for the week of our anniversary - with only about two weeks notice!  We will spend a few days in St. George on our way home, so it will be a very nice trip and we are both looking forward to it!

There is always more to be grateful for, but I will stop for now.  Thanks for visiting. Have an awesome weekend!

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"Find gratitude in little things

and your well of gratitude will never run dry."

~Antonia Montoya

Buzzing into a Late Wednesday Hodgepodge

Welcome to the weekly Q and A, also known as The Wednesday Hodgepodge. If you've answered today's questions, add your link at the end of my post, then leave a comment for the blogger before you. Here we go.

1. May 20th is World Bee Day...what's something that's kept you 'busy as a bee' lately? 

I have been busy cleaning a lot of things out of the cabinets in my classroom.  I made a trip to donate some games to the local thrift store last night, and I have some more things that I purchased for my classroom and no longer need, so I will be going to the thrift store again.  I plan to continue going through things at my own home this summer to get rid of as much as I can in preparation for retiring and moving to a new home.

2. Do you like honey? What's something you make or enjoy that calls for honey? 

I like honey on wheat toast, and hot, homemade biscuits. Last summer, I tasted honey candy for the first time, and trust me, it is a delicious treat!  I need to figure out how to make it.

3. "Gracious words are like a honeycomb, sweetness to the soul and health to the body." Proverbs 16:24 What's a proverb you love, or one that speaks to you or has helped you in some way? 

I really like Proverbs 18:21 which says:

Words can hurt or heal.  I want my words to heal. 

4. Tell us about a 'sweet' moment in your life recently that filled you with joy, gratitude, or peace. 

Whenever my sweet husband tells me how blessed he feels to have me as his wife, I feel joy, gratitude, and peace. Quality time with my children and grandchildren also brings sweet moments and memories.

5. When you were a child, what did you want to 'be' when you grew up? How close did you come to that?

I know that I wanted to be a wife and mom for as long as I can remember.  Other careers sounded interesting for a while.  In junior high, I wanted to be a veterinarian.  In high school, I wanted to be an investigative journalist like Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein - the journalists who investigated Watergate and brought down a president. I even majored in journalism in college. It wasn’t until after I had children of my own that I seriously considered going back to school to become a teacher.  I began teaching in 2001 and am now less than a year from retirement with 24-25 years in the field. 

6. Insert your own random thoughts here. 

Next week, I will end my 24th year as a teacher.  This summer break will be my final summer break as a teacher because if and when I return to school in the fall, it will be for the final time.  I may have mentioned it before, but I am REALLY looking forward to retiring!!  

We also rearranged our summer travel a bit and I am also looking forward to a nice trip to a couple of our favorite places early in the summer to celebrate our 46th wedding anniversary. A little later in the summer, we have a weekend trip to the last of Utah’s Big Five national parks that we haven’t visited.  Capitol Reef National Park is literally out in the middle of nowhere (which is why we’ve never visited it) but I have heard that it is stunningly beautiful, so I am excited to see it. 

That’s it for now. Thanks for visiting. See you again soon!

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

Best of a Mid-May Weekend

 

Here are some of  the best parts from the past weekend.  

I came home Friday afternoon to some personal snail mail - always an extra treat. Inside the envelope was this lovely belated Mother's Day card from my blogging friend Billie Jo over at Afternoon Coffee and Evening Tea.  Billie Jo has been a wonderful blogging friend of mine for many years and the card and sweet note inside made my day.

You can see the card on the right-hand side of our mantle with the other Mother's Day cards I received this year.   Thank you so much for thinking of me, Billie Jo!

Friday night after dinner, Charly and I went to worship at a temple not far from our home.  When life gets stressful, the quiet contemplation and worship in the temple help bring me peace.  

Saturday morning, Charly and I got some exercise by walking almost two miles in the mall.  It's a little weekend change-of-pace from walking at the rec. center. 

We drove to Utah County to have lunch at our favorite Asian place.  We love the food there. 

We also wanted to go to a couple of used book sale events that were taking place in Utah County.  One sale was a going-out-of-business sale for a used bookstore we had always wanted to visit. We finally went in and looked around on the last day it was in business.  We got several books for $1 each.  We then went to a warehouse book sale in the same town and got a few more books. Some were $1 and a few were $2.  We had fun looking at all the books and we weren't alone. Both sales were quite crowded with book lovers in search of a bargain.

Here are some of the books I brought home.  

I was very excited to find several Hardy Boys books and one Nancy Drew book to add to my growing collection. Three of the Hardy Boys books have the original 1970s cover. 

Here's what my growing collection looks like now.  It seems to be much easier to find Hardy Boys books than Nancy Drew books.  I'm guessing that more people have held on to and still collect Nancy Drew books. 

On the way home, we stopped and picked up take-n-bake deli pizza for dinner.   The one we got on Saturday was a taco pizza and it was delicious!

We have pizza quite often, but pizza with a green salad on the side is one of my favorite meals.  

Rain was in the forecast for Saturday evening, and the later in the day it got, the more cool, cloudy, and windy it was. 

The rain started over night, and continued into Sunday morning. This is the view of my street shortly after I got up on Sunday. 

By the time we got to church mid-morning, it was raining even harder.   There was a freeze warning issued for parts of our state, and a winter storm warning for the mountains predicted up to 17 inches of spring snow.  Fortunately, we got only rain where we are. 

Our church service was good.  I talked to a friend in the congregation who is one of my best friends in this area and found out that she plans to put her house on the market and move to Arizona where her father lives.  I was a little sad at this news, but I also know that she hasn't been happy with her current situation for a while, so I wasn't totally surprised.  After church, I was very tired so took a little nap.  A little extra rest is always good and napping is a great thing to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

We have a very "domesticated squirrel" in our backyard. One of my neighbors actually feeds him. He was up on the outside window ledge Sunday afternoon.  It was almost like he was trying to see what was going on in our kitchen!  Here he is sitting on the railing in the rain,  just a few feet from the back door.   He is quite interesting to watch. 

I did some reading Sunday afternoon and finished the book A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea by Melissa Fleming. The book is about a family of refugees from Syria and the horrific things that happened to them.  It was a hard book to read in parts, but very eye-opening.  I didn't know much about Syria or what had happened there in the mid-2000s so I learned a lot from reading this book. 

I admit to not being super energetic or motivated Sunday afternoon, but since it was the Sabbath - a day of rest - I think that's OK.  I listened to a couple of scripture study YouTube/Podcasts that I enjoy and always learn from. 

Sunday dinner was crock pot cooked beef cubes and gravy over rice and mashed potatoes, along with a green salad and fresh steamed green beans.  Good comfort food we all enjoyed.  

Later, Josh and I both decided that we needed a walk. The rain had stopped but there were still plenty of clouds and it wasn't very warm.  We walked at one of our favorite walking paths which is several miles from our home.   It was a nice way to end our Sunday. 

Weekend gratitude:

• Receiving a Mother's Day card from my blog friend, Billie Jo.
• Worshipping at the temple Friday night. 
• Enjoying a "day date" in Utah County with my husband. 
• Getting a good soaking rain - great for our garden plants. 
• Chatting with a friend before church. 
• Walking with Josh after Sunday dinner. 

Praying for:

• Josh to be able to go full-time on his job. 
• Our grandchildren.
• Resolution to my work situation so I can retire when I want to. 
• Help in selling out income-property condo. 
• Our nation.

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

Until next time,

😊 Deb 💖