Thanksgiving Again

It's been just over a year since I began this blog. It has turned into a rewarding outlet for my thoughts and experiences, a new way to share myself with family and friends.

So this Thanksgiving I want to express thanks for modern technology that opens the door to such a variety of communication lines: email and Facebook and blogs and web cams and instant messaging and cell phones with voice and texting. I will always love phone calls and letters as well. I am grateful that we can stay in touch no matter how far apart we are and how seldom we see each other.

Of course nothing replaces actually being together. And so this Thanksgiving I am also thankful for the opportunities I've had this year to be with each of you in your own homes and at important events in your lives. I look forward to any chance we can share time and experiences.

Thanks to all of you for being part of my life.

I have been blessed beyond measure. I am forever grateful to my Father in Heaven for my life and my family and my understanding of his plan. Every day is one of thanksgiving for me.

Life in Logan

I've been spending the last few days with three of my adorable grandkids: Rachel, Elena and Creed. Ben and Heidi took Cadence with them to visit Melody and Brock in Tennessee and I've been here to hold down the fort. We spent the first two days at their home in Logan and then made a run to Cokeville to see Mariah's high school's production of "Thoroughly Modern Millie" and spend some time hanging out with Jason's and Sarah's families. Today we braved the winter storm to drive back through the canyon to Logan.

Rachel and Elena are both in school all day long, so Creed and I got to read books and color and watch shows and other such fun activities. At our house, he built things out of legos. Creed has lots of energy and, most of the time, a very cheery disposition.

The girls are remarkably self-sufficient, making their own lunches and doing their homework and chores unasked. They both like to read and play with friends. While we were in Cokeville, they made a chain for the days until Christmas. On the drive both ways we listened to "Wicked"; Elena knows almost all the lyrics and especially likes "Popular" and "Defying Gravity".

The only downside to the whole deal has been an ongoing bout with some kind of stomach flu, beginning that first night with Creed, then hitting Elena and I, and now Rachel....no fun for anyone! Luckily it is a brief (though wicked) flu and by tomorrow, I hope, we should all be well before Ben and Heidi get home again.

Taking the opportunity to spend time with the grandchildren this year has been a great way to get to know them really well AND give their parents a chance to get away to their activity of choice without worrying about the little ones left behind. This Thanksgiving I am thankful for my children and their children....what a blessing family is in my life.

Good things come to those who wait!

"Regardless of how much patience we have, we would prefer never to use any of it." (James T. O'Brien) That is me to a "T".

For many months now I have been making meals on the plywood counter tops of my partly remodeled kitchen. While I have been really grateful for the extra shelves Seth built and the greater space on the new counters, the process of clean up has resulted in a variety of painful slivers and a concern for the actual "cleanliness" of the rough surface. It is difficult to get spills out of plywood. And so I admit that I've grumbled a bit.

But this week I have new counter tops. What a change! I can't help but stop and just look every time I come into the kitchen. I find myself running my hand over the counter surfaces, admiring the newness and smoothness of them. It even inspired me to paint the kitchen walls. Seth also installed a new light above the island. It is like a whole new place.

As you can see from the photos below, we still have work to do: the cabinets need a veneer and doors; the table needs to be resurfaced, etc. But for those of you who know the before, you can't help but recognize the remarkable changes already made.

Yes, "patience is bitter, but its fruit is sweet." (Jean Jacques Rousseau)
My gratitude abounds....and it's been nearly a week since I got a sliver wiping a kitchen counter.

I Love to Read

There is really nothing like reading.

I like to read a variety of things--mysteries, dramas, comedies, plays and biographies, fiction or non-fiction, silly or serious, fact or fantasy, poetry and prose, picture books and even encyclopedias. I read food labels and cereal boxes and instruction manuals and prescription information pamphlets. I read magazines and newspapers and letters, blogs and emails and web pages. I read scriptures and self-help books and classroom tutorials and cookbooks.

I am grateful for the ability to read. I thank those who took the time and put forth the effort to teach me this valuable skill. I can't imagine my life without it.

I am grateful for those who write. I thank those who take the time and put forth the effort to put into words their stories, both real and imagined. I can't imagine my life without them.

While television and movies are wonderful and entertaining, I still find that it is in the act of reading a good book that I find my greatest pleasure and most valuable learning.

Curiosity and Hope

"Greet the world every morning with curiosity and hope." (Fife Robertson)

I love that thought. I think it's great advice.

If we could really do that, our lives would be full of learning and interest and anticipation. We would be positive, cheerful and happy. Of course, others around us would be touched as well. We could change the world one day at a time.

Yes. I love that thought. I think it's great advice.

Speaking Love

I recently read a book "The Five Love Languages" by Gary Chapman. Very thought-provoking book. I was familiar with his ideas from other sources, but found the book worth reading all the way through. Today I decided to summarize the main points of the book that I jotted down as I read it.

Mr Chapman comments that after the initial "in-love experience" couples must "pursue 'real love' with (their) spouse." "That kind of love is emotional in nature but not obsessional. It is a love that unites reason and emotion. It involves an act of will and requires discipline, and it recognizes the need for personal growth." He then suggests that loving someone requires us to "speak their primary love language." He then identifies five different love languages as described below:

Words of Affirmation
compliments, appreciation, encouragement, forgiveness, requests and not demands
to spouse, about spouse
verbal, written

Quality Time
"togetherness with focused attention"
conversation: uninterrupted, intimate, sympathetic listening, self-revelation, eye contact
activities: create memories, participate in each others interests
1-at least one spouse wants to do it
2-the other spouse is willing to do it
3-you do it to show love

Receiving Gifts
"Gifts are visual symbols of love"
symbol of the thought "I am thinking of you" expressed in action of securing and giving gift
"a gift is something you can hold in your hand" or
gift of self--being there, your presence (your body) becomes gift

Acts of Service
helping, doing things for, "crossing things off the list"
like Jesus washing disciples' feet
"Requests give direction to love, but demands stop the flow of love."

Physical Touch
emotional love, "loving touch", hugs, kisses, sex, massage, physical affection
frequent, spontaneous or planned, regular, intimate, familiar
"reach out and touch"

Just like spoken language, we all have a love language--a language that speaks love to us. We must identify our partner's love language and learn how to speak it for them to truly receive and understand the depth of our love for them. Though we may appreciate expressions of love in all five languages, most people have one primary love language. A few are bilingual.

A few parting thoughts from Chapman's book:

"What we do for each other before marriage is no indication of what we will do after marriage."

"Love is a choice and cannot be coerced."

"People tend to criticize their spouse most loudly in the area where they themselves have the deepest emotional need."

"Love is something you do for someone else, not something you do for yourself."

To love you must "invest time, energy and effort."

"True love always liberates."

Good read. Worth the time.

I've got Seth figured out and will continue to speak his love language so he can understand how much I love him. To love him is a choice I made a long time ago and continue to make every day! He's definitely worth my time, energy and effort!

Breaking Bread

What is it about eating together that erases uneasiness and creates bonds of friendship?

Today we invited a couple of long-term guests from California in for Sunday dinner. They have stayed with us five years running for almost the whole month of October each year. Don owns some property north of town and his father, Ron, comes along. They both love the outdoors and love to hunt. Some years they have brought along other family members, but this year it's just the two of them.

Ron is a gardener and fisherman at home. He brought us vegetables from his garden and fish he caught in the ocean and bottled himself. He is not the hiker he once was and spends lots of time glassing the hillside and positioning himself for a good shot close to the truck.

Don is more of a mountaineer, younger and more agile. He works hard for his trophies and has also helped others to bag and pack out their animals. Don is a plumber by trade and after dinner today even helped Seth repair a leak in one of our water heaters. (Now he can write off part of his trip expenses, because it was business!?!)

Anyway, as we sat down to eat, there was some awkwardness between us all--two strangers, Sarah and Jon and their boys, Seth and me and Mariah. A quick blessing was offered and then the food was passed around. All "weirdness" evaporated as food disappeared and cups were emptied and refilled. No one felt inclined to leave the table too quickly(except the little ones), and we carried on a lively conversation while Mariah's blondie brownies baked. Then the table was cleared and dessert served and still we sat comfortably sharing the afternoon.

Guests regularly come and go here, often soon forgotten . But those who share a meal or two will
be remembered and welcomed back as friends. It's something magic about breaking bread together, sharing a meal and a Sunday afternoon.