Dear Children,
Wow, conference weekend was so good and we also had a turn in the weather here . . . sunny all day! The windows were open and it smelled like spring. Wait, it is spring and has been for a couple of weeks now (but you wouldn’t know it)! Dad skied in a blizzard on Thursday! He was so anxious to go up so I insisted he could go alone since I had class and I was committed to cleaning Grandma’s home that day since I was planning to ski on Friday with Dad (promised to be better weather). You know Dad, he was in seventh heaven on the mountain on Thursday even though the ski lift chairs were covered in ice and snow but you know what a blizzard gives you: fresh snow and that is what Dad LOVES.
This week Dad and I had planned to ski on Monday and Friday (Monday probably being the best weather day) but when I finally got to bed very late on Sunday I just couldn’t fathom the idea of getting up at 6:00 in the morning and skiing when I had so much Excel training yet to finish to give a report to Ivan Jones. He has been kind enough to try and figure out a job for me. He loaned me his training CD series (for Excel and Quickbooks) that he bought himself for training for their mission and wanted me to preview them since he hasn’t had a chance during tax season. Also D
ad hadn’t finished some leads on some future jobs that he was bidding so we really both needed to be working instead of skiing on Monday.
Staying home paid off for both of us. Dad returned a bid on Monday and made such good contact with the owner that when he received lower bids he called Dad and they negotiated a compromise so he will have that Summerlake area job. It was from a Yellow Pages call (that means a whole new set of neighbor and friend possibilities; we just need to get a sign up as he works and we haven’t designed that yet). Studying all day on Monday and part of Tuesday gave me good feedback to report to Ivan so we talked about a job for which I will receive training after tax season: calling for accounts receivable. It is not the easiest thing to do but it is a possibility of an income nonetheless and the best part is that it sounds flexible so it shouldn’t interfere with my most important job of visiting with, playing with and helping my children and grandchildren.
We still skied on Friday so Dad went two days in a row. It was suppose to be nice weather on Friday but it snowed most of the day on the mountain. There was so much snow and Dad said it was like Snowbird powder so he was thrilled. For me, I did best after the powder started to get skied out in the middle of the runs while Dad stayed on the sides or in the trees.
On Tuesday night Dad, Grandma and I saw Wicked! It was a last minute idea. A couple of weeks ago I thought I heard a radio announcement saying there were last minute $25.00 tickets. I did some research on it and even wrote to the radio station to learn that two hours before each performance they were handing out the tickets for cash on a lottery basis. On Tuesday we showed up two and half hours early and put our names in the witches’ cauldron for a chance at luck. They were only giving away 20 tickets so they went fast and our names weren’t called. But, they offered everyone who had lost out to be able to purchase ANY leftover seat for $41.00 (great marketing strategy since there were at least 100 people there and most of them bought the $41.00 tickets; seats they probably wouldn’t have sold at the last minute). We decided to do it instead of try another night since it was the last week that they were in town. We were able to sit all together and be on orchestra level; they were great seats.
It was SO worth it. Wicked is so good and it was really fun to share it with Grandma and see someone else enjoying it so much. Plus, I saw lots of things I had missed before. I would see it again!
I have been continuing to fine tune our food storage and add new products, seeds and grain that contain protein and amino acids, even vitamin C, that will add to our protein variety since I am low on meat ideas in my food storage. This week I added a new very dark chocolate (very essential you know!) with lots of flavonoids and antioxidants plus chia, quinoa and canned heritage seeds (for gardening). Our preparedness group is pretty edgy, no run-of-the-mill wheat and milk orders but I do plan to skip the gun meeting! Today I put the quinoa in the turkey dressing and Dad put chia in the bread. We should feel so healthy! We had the
I didn’t take as many notes over conference weekend; I just mainly enjoyed trying to sit back and listen to hear what I need to hear for myself. I took notes to help me remember (writing helps things stick in my brain) and noted some things that spoke loudly to me. One of the main things I heard to improve my life was pointing my life toward the temple, attending the temple more often and taking advantage of the power of the temple. Having meaningful Family Home Evenings (our FHE have mostly been entertainment or home projects) could be improved in my life, serving more and having faith/hope for a better future. Some of my favorite quotes were:
- Neil L. Andersen’s “Become what your spouse thinks you already are!”
- President Uchtdorf’s “As we walk in the way of gospel discipleship, we can find joy.”
- Robert D. Hales’ three thoughts in his great message about provident living: “Live joyfully within our means.”, “We can’t afford it even though we need it.” and “We can afford it but we don’t need it.”
- Kevin Pearson’s, “Faith requires us to DO not just believe.”
After he said that we need to learn to get on with our lives, I loved how Steven E. Snow taught us how to prepare for change (It summarizes lots of the messages of the weekend):
1-Follow the prophet for counsel to weather the storms
2-Keep eternal perspective about trials
3-Have faith and hope (faith and doubt cannot exist together)
4-Be of good cheer: laughter can soften the bumps
Gratitude is one thought that I had over and over during the weekend messages. I am so grateful that I already have the gospel in my life and can expend my energies towards a list of doable steps to gain more peace and happiness and come closer to the Savior. I love you all and hope you have a great week ahead, energized from the hopeful messages of the weekend.
These were some of my favorite pictures from Heidi and Bill's family photo shoot this winter. Most of you already saw this since they sent the Costco photo file to everyone.
I love you! Love, Mom
No comments:
Post a Comment