Currently on the Final Day of July

Here's what is currently going on in my world on the last day of July, 2025.

The weather is hot, but we have actually had fewer days over 100 degrees than we usually do.  We have had an extremely dry summer, and need rain, which just doesn't seem to come.  

I'm reading The Second Mrs. Astor by Shana Abe.  I just started it a couple of days ago, but I am really enjoying this historical fiction.  I'm also reading an inspirational nonfiction book, Life Lessons by Trina Boice.

I'm working on updating and writing down all of our usernames and passwords. I have needed to do this for a long time. 

I'm also working on getting rid of things we no longer need like this load we took to donate at a local thrift store on Thursday.  We are planning to take another load to donate tomorrow. 

I'm loving this cool family crossword puzzle that I ordered. I honestly don't usually order things I see on Facebook, but when I saw this family crossword puzzle art, I had to have it. It arrived this past week, and I am very pleased with how it turned out.  I plan to put it up in our new home after we move in a few months.  

I'm also loving the variety of flowers currently out in bloom in my yard. 

I'm looking forward to finishing my teaching career this coming school year.  Next week is my LAST first day back to school.  This has been my FINAL summer break.  Next summer will be my first as a retired teacher, and I am excited about and looking forward to that!  

I've been enjoying occasional Diet Coke floats this summer.  I have been pleasantly surprised that a small amount of vanilla ice cream in some Diet Coke does not seem to bother my sometimes lactose-intolerant stomach. 

I'm celebrating this sweet granddaughter's 11th birthday this weekend.  We will be seeing her and taking out for her birthday lunch on Monday. 

In the kitchen we had a "clean-out-the-fridge" night.  I had half of a calzone we bought at the grocery store a couple of days ago, along with a few left-over tater tots and a green salad with tomatoes from my garden. 

I'm grateful for Josh's help as we work on getting rid of some things we've had in our shed and garage way too long.  As we prepare to put our current house on the market in less than a year, it feels good to get rid of things we don't need. 

That's all for now.  Thanks for stopping by to visit.  Have a good weekend!

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"Never regret a day in your life:  

good days give happiness, 

bad days give experiences, 

worst days give lessons,

and the best days give memories. 

~Saint Mother Teresa

July Reading Roundup

My reading fell off a little in July, and I only finished five books.  Four of the five were nonfiction.  One was an audiobook. All but one of the other books I completed were on my Kindle.  Here's what I thought of each one.

Somehow ****

by Anne Lamott

Genre: Nonfiction/Essay

Format: Audiobook/Library

I have read several (five or six) Anne Lamott books over the past decade or so.  I enjoyed them all.  While the author's political views (which she includes in her books) are way left of my own, the down-to-earth, God-oriented, autobiographical essays that comprise the chapters in all of her books, are sometimes humorous, sometimes poignant, and always thought-provoking.  Anne Lamott is still one my favorite authors and I gave this book 4/5 stars on Goodreads. 

Reclaim Your Life *****

by Natalie Brooks

Genre:  Self-Help

Format: Kindle/Own

This book was written by a young woman who has struggled with severe depression.  She explains her experiences and how, with the help of God and competent and knowledgeable therapists, she was able to manage her depression symptoms and lead a normal, productive life.   I was asked to review an advance copy of this book for a Christian publishing house, which is how I got my Kindle copy.  The book had some excellent information and was easy to read.  Sources were cited and references for information was given. Because it was written by a person who peronally suffered from depression, the writing was real and authentic.  I gave the book 5/5 stars on Goodreads because it would be helpful to a young person who desires help, however, the book and information in it does not replace professional mental health help. 

The Painted Pink Dress****

by Minu Cash

Genre:  Memoir

Format:  Kindle Unlimited

This book is an autobiography of Minu Cash who grew up in Cashion, Arizona, a part of the Phoenix metro area.  Minu's parents were Mexican farm workers who raised nine children in a small, dilapidated house.  The children's education often fell prey to the survival needs of the family, as everyone in the family was required to work, usually picking cotton.  The author's father was schizophrenic and extremely abusive; her mother seemed indifferent and often turned a blind eye to the father's abuse. Minu's story starts with her childhood and continues through adulthood with her two marriages and divorces, the birth of her two children, and the death of one of them.  Minu's white skin, much lighter than the other children in the family, hints that the abusive father who raised her may not have been her biological father. Her true paternity is revealed near the end of the book. I found this book to be interesting, compelling, and sometimes hard to read because of the abuse described.  Still, it is an excellent memoir, and I gave it 4/5 stars on Goodreads. 

Pathological Positivity ***

by Paul H. Jenkins

Genre:  Self-Help

Format:  Paperback/Own

The title of this book pretty much says it all.  The author, Paul H. Jenkins is a licensed psychologist and "life coach."  His approach to mental health is to frame or reframe everything that happens to us with a positive lens.  There is some very good stuff in this book, and I completely agree with Dr. Jenkins on almost everything he wrote. The book really presented nothing new and the author used way to many trite examples to try to make his points, which is why I gave it 3/5 stars on Goodreads. 

Murder Mystery Book Club ***

by Danielle Collins

Genre:  Cozy Mystery

Format:  Kindle Unlimited

Eva Stewart is a 40-something single woman with a chatty parrot who runs a bed and breakfast in the Florida Keys.  She also loves reading murder mysteries, discussing them with members of her murder mystery book club, and helping to solve real-life mysteries.  When a man is murdered in the alley behind her bed and breakfast, Eva and the members of her book club start doing some sleuthing to uncover who did what to whom.   In the process of everything, Eva meets an attractive new detective on the city police force, and makes friends with the female medical examiner.  This book reminded me of why I don't read many cozy mysteries.  The writing was OK, and the plot moved forward, but I found it basically bland, boring, and uninteresting.   I gave it 3/5 stars on Goodreads, and I probably will not read any more books from this series. 

In August, I'll be reading the historical fiction, The Second Mrs. Astor by Shana Abe, which I have heard is really good.  I'm about a third of the way through the Life Lessons by Dr. Trina Boice, a nonfiction inspirational book. As always, I try to begin every day in scripture, and I recently started the book of Joshua in the Old Testament.

Thanks for stopping by to share my thoughts on the books I read in July.   Please let me know in the comments if you have any good book recommendations.

Until next time,

📚😊Deb💖📚

Another St. George Getaway

This past weekend, we went to St. George for a few days.  Josh had Pioneer Day off from work (Utah State Holiday) and we had some time reserved at the time-share condo in St. George, so we went down and had a very nice few days.  It was too hot to hike, but we did go to Sand Hollow State Park and spent some time in the lake there and on the beach.  We also spent a lovely, peaceful evening worshipping at the Red Cliffs Temple in nearby Washington, Utah. It was a nice little end-of-summer vacation getaway.  I didn't take a ton of pictures, but here are a few scenes from a nice weekend in Southern Utah.

This is the view of the desert from the timeshare property. I personally think the desert is quite beautiful. 

This is Charly and Josh at the Red Cliffs Temple.  This was our first time to worship at this temple. 

Josh took this picture of Charly and I at the temple after worship.  It is a large and beautiful building and is less than two years old. 

This is the reservoir lake at Sand Hollow State Park, where we spent a morning. This was our first time to visit this state park, but we had a great time and will definitely go again.

Here is another view of the lake.  It isn't huge, but a lot of people swim, boat, and fish there.  

There is a good-sized beach at the lake, and a lot of people come to enjoy it.  Next time, we will bring a shade canopy, because the sun can get intense.

The lake wasn't super crowded the day we were there.  Josh enjoyed swimming, but I just waded.  Next time, I'll come prepared to go all in. 

I enjoyed wading. The water was cool, and the red sand was soft. 

It wasn't super hot the day we were there, but I was glad that we had some large umbrellas and hats to provide us with a little shade. 

Sand Hollow is a pretty place with amazing views of red cliffs and the Pine Valley Mountains. 

I really enjoyed the morning at Sand Hollow State Park and look forward to going there again next time we go to St. George. 

Later, we went to one of our favorite "sit-down" restaurants - Black Bear Diner -  for dinner.  This is the place Charly and I had our Thanksgiving dinner last November. 

Josh and I had burgers and Charly had a patty melt - his go to favorite.  The food was good and the price very reasonable. 

This is one of the beautiful sunsets we saw while we were in St. George.  I love desert Sunsets, and this one was a stunner!  I am grateful for a very nice few days in one of my favorite places - St. George, Utah. 

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"There's something about the desert

that feels like home."

~ Jessica Khoury

Pioneer Day Gratitude

I am posting a little early this week due to a little late July getaway we have planned. Here in Utah, it's a state holiday known as Pioneer Day! July 24, 1847 is the day that the first group of Mormon Pioneers arrived in the Salt Lake Valley, and their leader, Brigham Young proclaimed, "This is the right place!" Pioneer Day is a big deal here in Utah.  State offices and many other businesses are closed and there is a huge parade through downtown Salt Lake City, and fireworks at night. Today, as I celebrate the arrival of the pioneers and settling of the Salt Lake Valley, I am looking back with gratitude on what went right during the last seven days.  To do this, I am once again joining with Suzanne over at Living to Tell the Story for Friday's Fave Five.

😊 In the spirit of Pioneer Day, I will start by saying how grateful I am to live where I live.  Utah is not my home state (I was born in Colorado) but Charly and my two oldest children were born here in Salt Lake City.  I have lived across this awesome country in seven different states and I am truly grateful to now call Utah home, and I hope to do so for the rest of my life!  There are many beautiful places across the country and many great states, but Utah is the place for me and I am thankful to be here.  (U.S. News and World Report agrees with me.  You can see why Utah is ranked as the #1 place to live in the United States by clicking here.)

😊 I began the week in a sleep deficit due to staying up too late a couple of nights.  My brain tends to wake up between 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. no matter how much sleep I've had, so I was tired for the first several days of the week.  Finally, one afternoon, I went into my bedroom, closed my door, and took a lovely, long, deep nap.  It felt so good, and I woke up refreshed and feeling so much more upbeat.  I'm now trying to go to bed earlier, because I don't want to get into another sleep deficit with all that we have going on this coming week. I am grateful for the opportunity to get some extra rest that my body really needed.  It helped me feel much better!

😊 We had to go visit our insurance agent this week to review our coverage and make sure that everything is as it should be.  Our agent is so kind and helpful. She really goes above and beyond in her job. She has excellent information, ideas, and advice based on her knowledge and experience. Because we have several properties and some specialized insurance needs, I am grateful for the help of a good, honest, knowledgeable insurance agent.  

😊  Last fall, I had several sessions with my physical therapist after I injured my back putting up tables for a church activity.   My excellent physical therapist got me feeling much better until I recently aggravated my arthritic back again by pulling weeds and helping to move furniture that we had sold on Facebook Marketplace.  I went back to see him this past week, and once again he reassured me that my back and knee troubles are due to arthritis, He gave me some strategies and exercises to deal with the pain and discomfort when it comes up.  While I don't like having arthritis, I am grateful that I can combat the pain by staying active, and I am thankful for a good physical therapist who is helping me do just that!

😊 Charly and I wanted (and needed) end-of-summer-break pedicures.  I never thought I was a pedicure-kind-of-gal, but both Charly and I were having some problems with our feet and we decided that we to take better care of these important body parts that literally keep us going.  About Christmas time, we started getting pedicures every six weeks or so.   There are nail salons all over, but some are definitely better than others.  Last week, we found a new nail salon three blocks from our house, and the technician did a great job!  She also charged less than the place we had been going.  I am grateful that we found a good nail salon so we can keep our feet healthy and pain-free. 

😊 I received my LAST Welcome Back to School email this week.  As much as I am looking forward to retiring, I wanted to go back and work for a few more months (4 - 9 months) so that we can get our finances all ready for retirement.  There was some concern that I would not be "welcomed back" after a problem that arose last spring, when I got in trouble for reporting a s*xually inappropriate website that another teacher had.  Without going into more detail, I will say that the LBGTQ teacher crowd and the teacher's union were not happy with me at all, and I was afraid that I would not have a job this school year.  Teaching in a public school in our current societal culture is a true minefield, but I will continue to stand for right and true Biblical/Christian principles no matter what- even if I lose my job.  I am grateful for the prayers of blogging friends and others, and I am grateful that it looks like I will be able to retire on my own terms, instead of being pushed out.  I am grateful that the cultural tide seems to be going back to conservative common sense (at least for now). I believe that everyone deserves love and kindness, but I will not condone what is clearly wrong, and the s*xualization of children is wrong. I am grateful that I didn't lose my job for doing the right thing, and I am grateful that this coming school year will be my FINAL year in the classroom.  

😊 At risk of repeating myself, I love flowers, and I love having flowers everywhere in my yard!  I am grateful for all of the colorful beauty I have out in bloom in all parts of my yard right now.  Flowers of all kinds make me happy!

What are some things you are thankful for?  Thanks for stopping by.  Have a good weekend!

Until next time,

😊Deb💖

"Not every day is perfect,

but every day has something 

to be thankful for.  

Gratitude turns ordinary moments 

into golden ones."

~Anon.

Looking Back at the Weekend

 Here are some highlights from our weekend.  

Friday morning, Charly and I took our morning walk at the mall before the stores opened.  We have been doing that a lot this summer.  I enjoy walking at the mall early before stores open and shoppers arrive. Two times around this large mall is almost two miles and takes us about 40 minutes.  It is much less crowded than the track at the rec. center in the morning, and I enjoy walking and talking to my husband. 

After walking at the mall, we went to the grocery store to get our weekly shopping finished. 

As we were on the way out of the store, Charly bought me these beautiful roses.  I love them.

These Love In Faith shirts at I ordered about a week ago arrived today.  I really like shirts by this company, and they have been having a sale, so I decided to get a few new shirts for the upcoming new school year.   I love the positive Christian messages on the shirts, and yes, I proudly wear them when I teach in public school. 

We worshipped at the temple Friday evening.  You can see how cloudy the sky was when we came out to get in our car.  A little while after we got home, it started to rain. 

Saturday morning, I slept in until past 6:30 a.m. - late for me!  Once I was up, I ate breakfast, read scriptures, and did a workout in my family room.  Then, I showered and dressed and we were off to the mall to walk before the stores opened up. 

After lunch, I went to get my hair cut. Charly and Josh came along and just waited for me because the salon I go to is in the southern end of the Salt Lake Valley, and we had to go even farther south to southern Utah County to make a 3 p.m. appointment. 

Our appointment was with a realtor to look at four different places as we continue our search for a home to move to when I retire and we sell our current home. After looking at two homes that wouldn't work, we went to a lovely 55+ development in a town we love,  Springville, Utah. We really liked the two homes we saw there and plan to continue looking in this development with the possibility of buying a home there.  Time will tell, but we have some options we really like.  Of course, in a few days, we will be in St. George looking at other options there.  

A couple of days ago, I had listened the couch and wingback chairs in our current living room on Facebook Marketplace.  We decided that since we will be moving in less than a year, we didn't want to take this furniture with us to our new home.  It is old and isn't the most comfortable for me with my back issues.  I honestly didn't expect to be able to sell them, because I have listed the couch before with very little interest.  However, an immigrant family from the Middle East (who spoke only Arabic) bought the whole set Saturday night.  They paid cash for everything, then loaded the couch in their minivan (I'm still not sure how they got it in there). They returned Sunday afternoon for the two chairs.  I'm grate that we sold this still usable furniture to a family that needed it. 

After the old chairs were gone, we brought these new chairs in and put them in our living room.  Charly found these chairs for a great deal a while back, and they have been covered up in our garage.  Now they are in the house.  I really like the look of them, and I am glad that Charly got them. 

This is how our living room looks now.  You can see Charly in his favorite reading spot. We don't have a couch in the living room, but we still have a reclining couch in our family room.  

Sunday morning was clear and warm. We attended church and heard wonderful messages on being true disciples of Jesus Christ.  Good stuff.  

Sunday dinner was Crock Pot Swamp Potatoes and green salad.  Delicious.  Our family gave them 5/5 stars for deliciousness! If you have never had Swamp Potatoes, you might want to give them a try.  Here is the recipe. You can see a video of how to make these yummy potatoes here. 

• 3 pounds Idaho Gold potatoes, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces

• 1 onion, chopped

• 1 can of cream of mushroom soup. 

• 1 cup of sour cream or Greek yogurt.

• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

• 1 pound smoked sausage, sliced

• 1 pound fresh green beans, cut into 2-inch pieces

• 1 packet onion soup mix

• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder or minced garlic

• Cover the top with grated cheddar cheese

• 1/2 cup butter 

• Cook in crock pot for 5 hours on low or 3-4 hours on high.

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After dinner, I went outside to check out the plants in my garden.  I harvested a few little tomatoes and realized that we may be having BLT sandwiches soon.  

It was too hot to walk outside and I was tired, so I relaxed, read, took it easy and finished this blog post. As the new week begins, I am reading these two books, Life Lessons by Dr. Trina Boice and Murder Mystery Book Club by Danielle Collins.

Weekend Gratitude:

• Getting a lot done that we needed to get done.
• Worshipping at the temple Friday night. 
• Joining with other members of our congregation to worship on Sunday. 
• Selling our old couch and chairs.  
• Finding yet another place we really like as a potential home in our retirement. 

Praying For:

• Safe travels on upcoming end-of-summer vacation road trips. 
• Wisdom in preparing for retirement. 
• Special blessings for needs of specific family members.
• Our nation. 

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

Until next time, 

😊Deb💖

"Let's be good to people for no reason except

that kindness can make someone's day

a little brighter. When we are kind to others, 

we are following Jesus' example."

~anon.