There Isn't A Person You Can't Love.....

Had a great time at church today,
I'm excited to share a recap with you.

It was a well spent four hour block of time.

I say 4 hours.....rather than the normal 3, 

because McCauley and I have joined the choir!!

Sheeeesh.

We don't know what we are doing.....

at least I don't.

M is lucky enough to have music a few times a week at school,

she is really enjoying it.

I am bumbling my way along.

I won't lie....

It is torture making myself walk in that room and stay that extra hour....

however, once we get going, 

the time scoots by pretty quickly.

It's just the getting started part,
 the part when you see everyone else walking out to their

cars to go gorge themselves on food and sleep.

Jealousness.

I tell myself this is only temporary.....just until after Christmas.

..................

Anyway,

sacrament was excellent.

We had three great speakers, a youth speaker, and 

a sister that is fairly new to our ward that I don't know well.

She shared some personal experiences with us,

and a strong testimony. I know her much better now.

I am happy for that, and thankful for the trust she had in us to open up.

The last speaker, a brother in our ward was giving a good talk,

just kind of going along.

I was listening, 

but sometimes veering off to watch these guys.....

 The Jorgensen's have twins.....they are hard not to stare at.

At one point McCauley had her head down, 

and suddenly popped 

up and said that she had counted the speaker saying 42 ums so far.

oh. K. 

This surprised me, 

because  

I had actually also started mentally counting them as well.

(stay with me....this sounds like I am bashing this poor brother,

I am not....hang in there)

When at last he came to what he really felt inspired to say

to us today,

his entire countenance changed.

 His talk became personal,

and meaningful to him,

which in turn, made it personal for us and brought 

him into full focus, for me at least.

The ums were lost,

 and he was now speaking from his heart.

He said that the sister before him had changed what he had

intended to say for the course of his talk.

She had shared how her father had died,

and he felt impressed to share his own experience.

He was on his mission when he got a call from his mission president 

to come to the mission home.

When he got there, 

the president told him that he needed to call home.

This brother said that he thought the mission president was 

testing him or something,

because just the previous week he had called home for Mother's Day.

No,

go call home son.

He spoke with his mom, she told him that his father had passed away that morning

from a sudden heart attack.

He was shocked.

It was so sudden.

The loss so full and instant.

After as he was alone, the emptiness was terrible.

He prayed.

He told us that he prayed for Christ's Atonement to work in his life.

He was filled with a deep love and peace.

It filled him up.

He was sharing the experiences of his heart.

The spirit was very tender.

Throughout it all,

 I kept thinking of my own dad.

This brother sort of looked like him.

I'm serious....when he was much younger.

But the thing that really got me, 

was when this fellow pulled a white handkerchief out of his pocket.

He said he is always prepared.

My dad also, 

always carries a folded, ironed, white handkerchief.

That used to be one of my few jobs when I was younger,

ironing dad's white hankies.

First,

 lay them out and iron flat, then iron in half,

then fold into fourths, 

iron. 

Repeat all the way down to a small square.

I liked seeing my little stack grow tall.

My dad had a ton of hankies.

This brother did something else like my dad,

he dabbed his eyes and nose, just like him!

It was so great.

I realized this is a wonderful association I have for my father,

one I was not aware of before.

Just the other day I practically broke into tears at Publix because

I saw a box of brightly colored straws.....

these make me think of my mom!

Life is precious.

Memories.

Relationships.

Sharing.

............................

The second best part of church was during Sunday School.

Again, Brother W nailed it, 

but with something that at first 

sounded kind of simple and insignificant.

He likes to go around the room and have people introduce themselves 

and share something personal.

A few weeks ago it was something others would not know about us.

This week he asked us to share, 

THE NICEST THING ANYONE HAS EVER DONE FOR US.

Ok, easy, one popped right into my head.

As we went around the room I was astounded time and 

again with the precious insight I was glimpsing 

into each person's life.  

I don't really know any of the people in the class well.

Some are brand new converts,

others are just coming back to church,

still others, like me,

 come to this class because it is a little more low key,

back to basics.

Several are missionaries.

Here are a few Nice Things I made note of:

Brother V said he remembers the time when he was 10 years old,

he was supposed to mow a yard for someone, but did not show up.

His older brother went and did the job for him,

and then took him horseback riding with the 

money earned from the job.

A sister missionary shared the time her older brother 

gave her a piggy back ride up the temple steps 

when she had a cast on her leg.

A brother shared that he had left the church

23 years ago, but the nicest thing was that the 

sister missionaries found him at the library

and invited him back.

Jim told us of the time his car broke down in a blizzard

going up Parleys Canyon,

he got out to walk to a gas station.

A woman with three small children stopped to pick 

him up.

He said he thought she was crazy.

He could kill all of them!

What was she doing?

But he was so very thankful for her kindness.

He has thought of it many times since.

One of the missionaries shared an experience

from when he was about 10 or so.

He spoke about his dad, and how he had just gotten

a really cool new running shirt.

It was a very nice material and they both really 

liked it.

They went on a bike ride together that day.

The missionary crashed his bike and badly banged up

his head.

He remembered his dad taking off his new shirt and

ripping it up to wrap his head and stop the 

bleeding.

One man simply said that the nicest thing that anyone

has ever done for him was that is wife saved his life.

That was all he could say.

You should have seen his sweet wife.

I was sitting right beside these two....they reached 

across laps and held hands.

One brother, had asked to be skipped at first,

so Bro. W came back to him.

He told about the time when he was 14,

he was at a baseball game,standing against a tree. 

Overhead was a big bees nest,

they swarmed him and he was badly stung.

He said at that time a girl came up to him

and gave him a hug.

He had never had that in his life.

He felt such compassion from her....he 

feels that was how he first learned to have 

compassion for others.

..............

The stories went on.

All heart felt.

Many life changing....

yet they were all simple acts of kindness from another person,

however

 the effects had significant impact on the one receiving.

It reinforced one of my very favorite quotes:

"There is not a person you can't love, once you 

hear their story".

How true this is.

The way our lives are shaped and molded, and our views and beliefs

become our own is so amazing....

Intertwined and tangled with our daily experiences

and contact with others.

I feel a deeper admiration and respect for the brothers and sisters

in that little class.... 

I wish I could hear more.....from the whole ward....

my neighbors....the mailman....

You know what I mean?

I wonder if reading those snippets gave you the same sense 

it gave me in that room.....

I wish you could have been there.

............................

The nicest thing anyone did for me......there are many 

(as everyone said)

but the one that came to mind very first was on my birthday when

I was around 11 or so.

I had had a lousy day at school.....

kind of felt forgotten and insignificant.

I was down in my basement room after school....

possibly crying,

when my mom came and told me I had a visitor.

What?

Who?

For me?

Come on up and see.

My primary, or beehive teacher stood in our foyer holding 

a small round pink cake, with my name

printed in frosting on it.

Mindy

(that was what I went by then)

I could not believe my eyes.

She had remembered ME.  

You made this for me??

You took time out of your busy day to come see me?

She did.

That little cake changed my day.

It left a mark on my life and memory.

I have never tasted a cake more delicious.

The sweet feeling and confidence boost was precious to me.

 I have wondered....

did my teacher do this for each lucky member of her class?

Or was she on an errand from Heavenly Father to rescue a little 

insecure girl for that day?

...................

The best part is......who are you rescuing, 

and doing the 

Nicest Thing EVER for,

and aren't even aware of it every single day of your life?

That is our potential.

I would LOVE to hear your nicest thing.

Please tell me.

COMPLETE.

Before.

Kind of, smart person that I am, I don't seem to have a real

before picture, with our outdated, curved - drop ceiling with florescent lights.

Too bad.

After!

After.

I am so happy to be saying AFTER!

I love it so much.

At the start of the project K ran into a few road blocks.

When he originally took down the old ceiling,

he was surprised, 

and quite depressed to discover

that.... Oops! 

no rafters.

They had all been sawed out by the previous owner.

(This is actually how all projects go in this home....

might be why Kev's resistance to them is so high.)

Turns out the job was going to be a step or two above K's 

carpentry skills.

It was at this time that we reached out to our friend Danny, 

a talented handy man in our ward.

After a really long period of staring up into the ceiling 

together. Along with prolonged pauses and 

periods of silent chin rubbing,

Danny and K took an entire day to pain stakingly build make-shift 

rafters back into the ceiling so they could then start,

 where we thought

he would have been when K first tore into the job.

..........

One thing to know about our home is that it has built in

"Character Building" situations.

They came at no extra cost when we purchased the home

almost fourteen years ago.

..........

Over the course of the job,

Kev sometimes accused

 me of wanting to change the ceiling on a whim.

Ah Contraire my darling. 

I did indeed dislike it.....however, the real reason(s) I wanted it 

changed so much were that,

A.  The florescent light fixtures held dust, grime, and BUGS in them 

constantly!

B.  The fixtures (holding pens for the long bulbs) were stained, 

brittle, cracked, and chipped.

C.  The lights were always going out, at least one entire side at a time.

I would report this to K, and he

would come and magically touch them, and voila, they would be 

back on!.....for an hour or two.

D.  We had already changed ALL of the plastic holding pens

once since we moved in.  It was a major pain, costly, 

and just as unbecoming as they were originally, but more white,

until they turned yellow again.

E.  It is not until we get all the way to E. that do I say yes, I really wanted a

cleaner, more updated look.  Streamlined.  I am not asking to redo the kitchen,

just the ceiling.

 Danny did a lot, 

but K also did quite a bit he'd never done before.

I noticed him googling how to dry wall and plaster, etc.

I loved it!

K does not enjoy doing (house) projects as much as I thrill at having them done....

but he does them, and he does a great job!!

One of my favorite new additions is having a hanging water

mug for every family member.

Ta daaa!

I am hoping that this will help cut down on the numerous 

cups and glasses

left all over the kitchen.

Everyone knows where their mug is hanging, 

(if they forget their

initials are printed under the cupboard).

There is plenty of light.

K was worried there would not be enough light with 

spotlights......not a problem : )

Kev also purchased us a new dish washer recently....

YEAH!

unfortunately it was not secured for a few weeks.... 

well, it is now!!

This will never happen again.

I primed and painted the ceiling,

 and cleaned, and cleaned all the fine

powder white dust off everything from the sanding several 

times.....that was my contribution.

That and 

also I decided to go the extra mile and borrow a good friends

Shark Steamer.

I really wanted to deep clean the kitchen and get it shining 

like new money.

I even went to work on the outlet covers.....

this is where things took a wrong turn.

Apparently getting steam, (drips of water) down into the outlets 

is a big NO - NO.

While K was out of town I short circuited the brand new lights out,

and the switches quit working correctly.

I wanted to cry so hard....

and did.

I didn't want to admit to K what happened.....but I had to, 

because I am working on being honest.

But not until he got home.

It was not the first thing he wanted to spend several more hours on.

But he did......xoxoxoxoxo.

and now it really truly is done.

It is beautiful and wonderful!!

Thank you honey : )  

 .........................

A few other side notes:

Currently I am listening to 11/22/63 on cd as I work.

I'm really enjoying it.

Have you heard of it?

I bought the book for K a while back,  he has read it a few times.

I saw the cd's at the library and snatched them up for myself!

Getting endless projects done is so much more fun listening to a 

great audio book.

E got his first "Store bought" hair cut yesterday.

He would prefer I no longer cut his hair......

(we are both ready to move forward)

I said the first cut is on the house, but after that we will 

need to split the cost.

This guy was fast, and we both really like the job he did!

$16 dollars including the tip.

The even better news is that we discovered,

by reading their sign,

that every Tuesday is $11 haircut day!!  

That will be the day for E in the future.

This is Cost - Cutters with Michael on A1A.

We recommend it.

M and I got matching insulated cups at CVS.....75% off......
we are LOVING them.
(Barb from sculpt said the straw was a BAD idea at my age,
I would accelerate lip wrinkles!!
Dang you Barb!  
However, I demonstrated that I do not pucker,
but straight -lip-sip through my straw.....
I hope this spares me at least a little, I am not
prepared to give up straws at this point.)

Cauley's has a swirly straw and mine has a cool hand grip.
We take them everywhere.

At $1.50 per cup I wish I had purchased the whole lot!

McCauley won her first silent auction item at a recent 

Sally's House fund raiser.

She was SO pumped.

She had a lot of fun watching (guarding) her horse basket, and 

even got in with a partner so they could afford to go a little 

higher to control the bid again.

(Thank you Tandy!! ...and Jana!)

 Lastly, Lawson recently had some foot work done.

He had been suffering with an ingrown toenail for a while.

We went to the foot specialist and he cut out the offending portion of the nail.

Yowsers!!

This is not for the faint of heart.
(his foot really WAS that orange)

BRU - TAL.

The results however were practically instant relief.

(ps - can you even believe how young that doctor looks?!)

 That is it for now.

Except I forgot to mention,

 that I also got my broken towel holder fixed in our bathroom!!!

Happy Happy Day!

I feel like everything is as it should be.

Complete and in order.
....................

It makes me think back 
about when I first walked into this house 
way back when.
It felt like home the moment I stepped in the door.
The decor was not ours, 
the pictures, the smell, but the feeling sold this home to me.
I knew it was meant for us.
Kinda small.
Pool-less.
Annoying and Jerry Rigged at every turn.
But for just as many reasons there are to superficially whine about.....
there are twice as many more ways 
it is just right.

"Become the ROCK......."

.....the River Cannot wash away."
- Richard J. Manes 

I think that is my favorite quote from today's General Conference.

I have to agree with President Monson's statement at 

the conclusion of the 

early session.

I will need to re-watch to be certain, but I believe he said,  

that this was the 

"most inspiring general conference ever".

I certainly felt that way.

After one of the speakers finished, I heard Lawson say to Kev

that taking notes meant just to write a sentence or two on what stood out

for you in that particular talk.

That you didn't need to write down a whole page.....

referring to my notes.

I said that is what I did.

I wrote down what stood out for me.

I felt each talk was filled with spiritual nuggets for me.

For our family.  For our time and circumstance.

I am excited to re-watch and read the council a second time.

There is no way to glean it all the first go.

...............................
I have to say, one of my very favorite parts of the conference
was this song by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.
I loved it.
I always like them, but this song, wow....
O Divine Redeemer 
listen!
................................

I'd really like to just post the entire session.....

but for now I'll stick with President Monson's talk.

He spoke about the path of life, and the temptation
we sometimes have to 

want to ask,
Why Me?

He counseled us all to make the Gospel of Jesus Christ the center of our lives.

The comfort acquired from its principles and teaching are

Priceless, Incomparable, and Irreplaceable.

Heavenly Father gives us so much to Delight in,

but he knows we only grow, stretch, and become better when we

go through trials and endure....

Don't be driven to humility before we remember him....

(These are not his exact words....just a few of my notes, take a listen : )

Lastly,
it seemed a bit odd that at the end of conference President Monson 

wrapped up his talk several minutes early.

I don't remember a time conference ever ended
before the allotted time.
I wished for it many times growing up,
but not once can I recall that being the case.
At first we thought our recording was messed up.

After the closing song and prayer, we all just sat there,

the cameras still rolling.

We watched as the prophet and apostles got up and began to file 

out of the conference center.

One by one they gathered up their wives, or daughter, or

other family member and smiled and waved as they left the stage.

We watched as the conference hall stood and watched and waved

and bade them fair well until next time.

The kids asked why is no one leaving?

It's over.....
why aren't they going home?

I don't think they wanted to.
I don't think they wanted it to be over.

Surprisingly, to myself,
I agreed.
It got me thinking about the Nephites, when   

the Savior was in their midst.....3 Nephi 17: 1 - 6

I am grateful that every six months we have the opportunity
to participate in General Conference.
I am thankful we can hear the will of the Lord
through his servants.

I'm thankful for technology and the blessing of being
able to watch and re-watch these messages in our own home.

Our Very Own Giving Tree.....

I have meant to write a post about the best thing about our

yard for a really long time.

There are not many highlights about our yard.

It is pretty small, fairly weedy, 

there are not many stand out points, 

EXCEPT for one thing:

We have the best tree in the world in our yard.

(IMO)

It has provided countless hours of entertainment and joy for 

our children and their visiting friends.

I think that is why I love it so much.

We don't have a great yard to begin with.

We don't have a basket ball hoop or pool.

But we have this guy.....Our TREE.

It's one of the things that makes our place somewhere special to live,

and a fun place to visit.

(we also have ping pong, and that is a big draw as well!)

Our tree has provided

shade while visiting with neighbors in the nearly unbearable Florida heat.

Shared it's 

perfect branches for party pinatas.

It is a great hiding spot to spy from.

 It's a fun way to surprise dad when he pulls in from work.

Over the last 13 years we have really only had it cut, and thinned out a bit

one time.  It was way over due, and time again a few weeks ago.

Not surprising, 

Kev and I had differing opinions on how to go about it.

He wanted it off the house......this we agreed on.

He also wanted it off the drive way, so that the birds would quit pooping

on our vehicles.

Well hold on.....wait a minute!

My vision and goal is to have the two oak trees on either side of our driveway 

meet in an ark over the parked cars one day. 

NO WAY 

are we chopping it back so harshly.

He wanted to have it "balled"and manicured.

Say again?

This is a wild, natural OAK TREE sweetie.

Not some Karate Kid Bonsai tree we need to shape and restrict.

P l e a s e .

We did end up compromising a bit.  

But not before the poor kid planning to do the trimming asked 

if we'd like him to come back later once we came together

on our tree cutting wishes.

I made the mistake of not getting before and after pictures.....yet again.

: (

But suffice it to say, it looks a bit bare and hacked up.

However, I know that 

just like a new bang trim, it will grow into its cut.

If you look closely you can see K, M and Charley waving in the 

distance.

Our tree looks different, but it is still with us.

Strong, stable, firm, and always giving what it has to our family.

I love it.

We love it.

Bird mess or not....this tree is practically part of the family.

This is my favorite picture of this old girl.....

I love all the different ropes, and knots.

We have had many a broken rope.

Lots of wind knocked out, and fairly rough landings,

but they always go back for more.

In fact Charley was the one that originally put up the rope ladder.

I made this short little video....it does make me a little sad.

Somehow I didn't capture the older two boys enjoying our tree when I had

the chance....