behind in blogging

i don't seem to make enough time for blogging anymore. not sure of my excuse - i feel like i sit at the computer way too much as it is and i don't know what i have to show for myself. yesterday i finally made myself put together a post for the "tightwadinutah" blog i contribute to and the thought occurred to me that i should get credit for blogging over here too. so, here's a link to my latest post. i'm a bit pleased with it if i do say so.

Vision

Look what I finally finished! It has a list of our values and goals along with pictures so we can visualize all we want to accomplish in 2011. Bret found the pictures and together we wrote the goals then today I glued it all together and hung it in the office.
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hope

i was talking to an old friend today. we were talking about hard things. when i got off the phone with her i felt really sad that i was unable to lift her burdens more. i immediately sat at my computer and searched for some message of hope. i intended to find something i could share with her, instead i realized i needed a message of hope. i needed to be hopeful for her and trust that god would care for her where i felt i had failed. anyway, i watched this clip on god's "tender mercies" and it did my soul some good. maybe it will do you some good too. we can always do with a bit more hope can't we?

navel gazing

that title makes me a bit uncomfortable. maybe it's the word navel.  anyway, i'm afraid i got caught up a bit in doing just that this morning.  i've heard the phrase used in terms of doing absolutely nothing.  i'm using it in relation to too much purposeless self reflection.  i went looking for a blog post on being frugal for something related to my tightwadinutah blog when i got distracted by a bunch of my old posts.  it's strange going back in time of your own life.  i got busy looking at all the posts related to my bunion surgery a couple years ago. my husband and i had just barely started dating.  our second date was on the weekend i got home from surgery.  so it was fun just remembering a time long ago.  anyway, later this morning i came across a blog post from my good friend julie - my ultimate blogging hero.  she used to be my teaching hero, but now i don't teach so she is my blogging hero.  she's still the best teacher i know, though.  for the record.  anyway, i decided i needed to follow the lesson she gave her students.  i decided i need a sentence for my new year.  i came up with "she made her family's progress a priority."  last week my husband helped me come up with about five basic values.  then we generated a few activities related to each one that we wanted to work on this year - trying to be specific.  i decided that i really need to make those values and activities a priority in my personal life to see true progress in our lives.  i love having someone to share my "visions" with and i love that he is so supportive. 

yummy cheap dinner

i'm not sure if i've mentioned it on here before, but i've become a blogger for tightwadinutah.  it's a kick in the pants since i enjoy being frugal.  the trouble is coming up with posts that are about saving money that don't go something like "stay out of the stores."  good posts use pictures.  there aren't a lot of pictures that go with staying out of stores.  anyway, my mother says i don't blog on here enough.  this post is an effort to please mother (even though she is out of the country and won't see this for weeks anyway) and also a way for me to make record of a really delicious recipe.  maybe it will be on tightwad some day but i have to take photos before that happens.

so anyway, i should first mention that i got this recipe from a book from the library called "dinner for a dollar" - what a great idea for a cook book!  but keep in mind i think it takes the approach that it's a dollar a serving.  i don't know - math isn't my thing.  anyway, this is a cheap yummy recipe.

sweet potato and peanut stew
3 large sweet potatoes (2 1/4 pounds) peeled and cut into bit size pieces (1"ish)
1 Tb olive oil
1 crushed garlic clove
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp red pepper
2 cans garbanzo beans rinsed and drained
1 can (14 1/2 oz) broth
1 can (14 1/2 oz) diced tomatoes
1/4 c peanut butter (creamy best)
1/2 c loosely packed chopped cilantro (optional)
1) Place sliced potatoes in 2 1/2 qt microwave safe dish.  Cover and nuke until they are tender, about 8 minutes.
2) In 5-6 qt pot heat oil over medium high heat.  Add garlic, cumin, salt, cinnamon, and crusehd red pepper, and cook stirring, 30 seconds.  Stir in beans, broth, tomatoes, and peanut butter until blended; heat to boiling and cook, stirring occasionally, 1 minute.
3) Reduce heat to medium-low; add potatoes to bean mixture and simmer, stirring occasionally, 2 minutes.  Stir in cilantro if using.

thoughts of happiness

i have two unrelated thoughts.  but both have made cry and smile.

i think i've written before about the girl i tutor as a volunteer at my local elementary.  last week she was in a terrible mood and did even less than she usually does during our session.  it was frustrating and i'm afraid i left in a huff and a bit rudely when our time was up.  so monday, when i went to tutor again i strained my brain for some way to make a connection with her.  i had taken her a sticker the day i got fed up and she was disinterested in it totally.  i couldn't take another sticker - i wasn't up for further rejection.  i finally decided that all kids like gum.  i took a stick of my favorite gum, not knowing for sure how or when i would give it to her.  for one thing it was boring silver paper wrapped kind of gum - nothing that would make a kid smile.  finally i had an epiphany - but really it was revelation.  really, i truly believe that the holy ghost prompted me in coming up with that solution.  i decided to tear the piece of gum in two and let her choose a half, all the while explaining that we needed to work on her math together - i couldn't do it without her and she couldn't do it without me - we had to share.  well, she took the gum and slowly did her part.  for all of about two minutes.  then her mother came to take her to a doctor's appointment.  well, this morning i was really dreading going in.  i was worried she wouldn't be happy.  i was worried that the gum idea wouldn't work a second time.  i was worried that i would come away feeling like a failure again - for really, that was the overall feeling last week, and that doesn't do a body any good.  i took a piece of gum, but i put it in my pocket, deciding i would pull it out when it felt right.  well, she came out with her workbook, sat down as happy as could be, and willingly and easily did everything.  she even smiled and kept trying when she got stuck.  she was excited to do her math.  she asked about a sticker, so i found the one i had given her last week (it was in her math bucket) and she put it on her hand.  (i just have to interject a funny thing about the sticker.  i don't own a lot of stickers.  when i got called to teach sunbeams at church i bought a bunch of little christian type stickers at the dollar store.  i found one that had a picture of a lamb on it and it said "love."  i figured that was not too religious and would pass for a school sticker.)  by the time i left she had laughed and made friendly conversation and had done her work and felt proud of her accomplishments and she told me she would miss me.  she even gave me a hug on my way out.  now i'm tempted to say it was the magic of the piece of gum.  they say when you break bread together you create bonds of friendship - maybe with a fifth grade girl breaking gum is just as effective.  really, i think she felt love.  i think she felt the spirit - the same one i felt when prompted to share a piece of gum and give a sticker that said "love."  the tutoring miracle of today far outshines the beautiful sunrise miracle of yesterday - but both were gifts from god.

okay, now in other news.  i've been discussing gift giving with a few people lately.  after all, tis the season, right?  in processing my mixed feelings of yesterday with bret he suggested i do some reading and pondering on service.  how can i have the right feelings in relation to service.  well, this evening i came across an excellent talk by president eyring, forwarded to bret from his father who got it from his sister.  i love being a part passing on such good talks.  maybe you'll enjoy it too.  http://speeches.byu.edu/reader/reader.php?id=6756&x=-47&y=-85

beautiful morning

it was one of those mornings where i woke up on the wrong side of the bed.  i was way grumpy and whiny and even more mad that i was in a bad mood.  i headed to the gym - knowing it would help but mostly because it's part of the routine.  on my way, though, i totally mixed it up.  the sunrise took me by such surprise i couldn't bring myself to arrive at the gym so i kept driving.  finally i pulled into a random parking lot so i could watch it without being a hazard on the road.  it went from the pretties of all pinks to a light golden color - like the hair of some princess.  it was perfect.  i was lucky to see it.  while watching, there was a christmas hymn playing on the radio - something about mary eating cherries, i think.  anyway, it was a really nice touch.  i love christmas hymns.  i did make it to the gym, and it did help.  well, it added to the goodness anyway.  when i got home i finally decided to tackle the pile of leaves in my yard.  you know how procrastinating a chore can only add to a bad mood, well finally facing it is the best feeling.  and it really didn't take that long!  when i went inside the house, though, i discovered that despite my great efforts to pick up the dog poop in my yard before raking, i somehow stepped in some.  it was nearly enough to return me to my grumpy mood, but then i realized the leaves had stuck to it and protected me from getting any of the poop on my floor before i was able to wipe it all off.

i know - pretty exciting stuff.  my point is, when i look back, it was a really good  morning. 

time well spent

some might say blogging isn't time well spent, but i do it anyway.  this is the last of my gratitude posts.  i wasn't sure what i would write, but then after a conversation with my mother on the phone i decided on a topic. i was telling her about our relief society lesson on sunday.  it was based on a talk by president uchtdorf in conference this last session.  a lot of people liked his talk and refer to it as the "simplify" talk.  it's true, he does talk about simplifying our lives.  what got me, though, was how he directed us to do so.  he said we should focus on four relationships: god, family, others, self. our teacher on sunday pointed out that it should be in that order.  i'm a to-do-lister and often those things on my list don't get done or don't get done in a timely manner.  lately i've been trying to make myself plug tasks into time slots - to help pace myself.  that hasn't really worked all that effectively, though, since i'm the boss and often tell myself i can do what i want.  anyway, after the lesson on sunday i got wondering if maybe i should try organizing my list into those four categories: relationship with god, relationship with family, relationship with others, and relationship with self.  i think it's easy to tell myself that a certain task is not important or just something making me busy.  if i look at a particular task, though, from the perspective of how it might improve one of those four relationships, then i think/hope that the task will take on new meaning and significance.  i'm pretty socially motivated.  if a task is all about bonding with someone then i enjoy it a lot more. i think if i can see a lot of my tasks as bonding with "someone" then i'll enjoy it more.  when president uchtdorf gave the talk i was initially drawn to the idea of having more charity for myself as i improve my relationship with myself, but really, i think when i work on my relationship with god or others or family i really am feeling better about myself and in effect i'm strengthening my relationship with myself.  i think that's why putting it in the order he did is so significant.  anyway, i haven't started organizing myself according to those categories yet, but i intend to next week (i try to schedule myself a week at a time).  what do y'all think?  really you should check out his talk yourself, if you haven't for a second or third time.  so anyway, today i am grateful for my many relationships - all of them!

grateful for inspiration

i was stumped all day today - wondering what i'd be grateful for. then i read julie's blog.  she's the one who got me started on this.  apparently her post today is in gratitude to the fellow that inspired her to do her own posting.  funny how things can spread.  i'm grateful for him too, i guess.  but mostly i'm grateful for julie who is and will probably always be my hero teacher.  have i already posted gratitude for her?  i can't remember.  if so, well, she deserves it doubly.  or we can just say i'm thankful for the guy who inspired her.

Gratitude

Today I was grateful for a good book to read while Bret took a much needed nap.
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Gratitude never ends

Well, it shouldn't anyway, just because Thanksgiving is come and gone.  Thinking of things to be grateful every day is a good exercise.  I like that it gets me to post more - maybe if I keep that as my general objective in blogging it will help me do it more often.

I failed to post yesterday, but I had a good excuse.  I spent the entire day with my oldest niece.  She's in college right now and needed to work on an assignment that involved coming to SLC and visiting the Family History Library.  My good friend works there so I'm somewhat familiar with the place and since I've always wanted to learn more I was happy to spend the day with her looking for dead relatives.  As she pointed out, though, it's a lot easier to look for people who have already been found - we were just reworking the problem to find out how they were found in the first place.  I learned about the microfilm and microfiche and even the books they have there.  The microfilm and microfiche machines brought back lots of memories as that's one of the ways we had to do research back in the dark ages before the internet.  She was surprised that I had used them before and was familiar with them.  The computer and internet are amazing inventions, but I think the micro machines were pretty amazing too - considering the amount of data they contain in such a small size.  There was a lot for me to feel gratitude for yesterday, but in the end I settled on being grateful for the millions of people who have slaved over the thousands of years to record information.  One of the books we found looked like it was hand written and individually typed using what I think was onion paper.  I vaguely remember that type of paper from my days of learning to use a type writer.  The book was a just an index of a bunch of graveyards in Kansas somewhere.  It's not the sort of book that brings glory or fame or money.  But it is useful to those who seek to find their connections to the past.  It certainly reminded me of how every little act of service no matter how small it may seem can have lasting repercussions. 

So today is a new day and I haven't done much other than eat breakfast.  I had chocolate pecan pie for breakfast.  I don't think I've said it yet, but I am grateful for pie.

finally rest!

i spent half of today trying to find some craft thing for a rs activity coming up.  i am NOT  a crafter.  then i spent the other half baking pies.  they didn't work out as perfectly as i planned.  then it was time to make dinner.  bret got home and after we ate we headed for a party (dessert first - pretty clever if you ask me). and now we're finally home and getting ready for bed.  i love bed.  especially after a long day like today. and even better tomorrow is a holiday!  i love holidays!

and i'll go ahead and express tomorrow's gratitude.  am i allowed?  i think so.  i've been waiting all month to say this.  i'm grateful for my good husband.  being married is wonderful.  i highly recommend it.  but bret's taken.

Safety

Tonight's is easy. Big blizzard warning led to fear for husband's safety driving home. Both turned out to be no big deal. Now hopefully tomorrow goes well.
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flying

i've been "flying" for at least a year now and thinking about it for a few years.  i figured it was time i proclaimed my gratitude.  i'm not perfect at it, but it has changed my life for the better.  i seriously recommend you checking it out for yourself.  look over the old lady cheese of it and find some gems that will make a difference in your life.  this is what i'm grateful for today as i just finished "blessing my house."
http://www.flylady.net/

happy endings

today was one of those church days where i anticipated a lot of hard things.  i'm always amazed at how in the end things turn out really well.  much better than expected.  in particular i had to visit someone and apologize for an off handed comment that was taken wrong.  i hate it when i put my foot in my mouth, and this was one of those incidents that reminded me i probably do it more often than i'd like.  i'm sure i need to apologize to many people, but at least i learned about this incident.  i having been worrying about it for over a week, but was finally made amends today. i am grateful for happy endings, or maybe i should say resolutions.

Cool weather

Today was one of those utterly cool fall days where the leaves are fascinating as the race all over in the wind. I also just discovered it has snowed. I'm glad I was indoors for that. I'm grateful my days of driving to work in snowstorms is over but I'm also grateful I could enjoy being out among the leaves today.
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Hymn

I know I missed yesterday. It wasn't the best day. Bret was sick and so all our plans went out the window leaving me grumpy. I felt bad that my reaction was selfish. But apparently not bad enough to change. Poor husband. He still isn't 100% better but I wasn't as bad. Hooray for improvement.

Tonight we went to the temple and the whole time I had a Sacrament hymn stuck in my head. One line in particular: "In the midst of affliction my table is spread.". Isn't that a great line? I love hymns. I love how they can realign your thoughts to where they should be. My table really is spread and I am grateful.
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More gratitude for church leaders

I'm finally getting a leg up on this gratitude posting thing.  It's not even noon and I already came up with something I want to share.  I have been trying to follow a routine in the morning, to make sure I get the essential things done first, and one of those things is to spend some time reading and pondering the word of God.  Today I decided to read out of the General Conference edition of the Ensign.  I thought for sure I had the perfect thought to share after reading President Uchtdorf's talk, but then I read Elder Christofferson's and I couldn't help but want to share something from it instead. So I decided I could just be grateful for them both.

President Uchtdorf talked about slowing down and focusing in on the most important things in life when things seem to get hectic and out of control.  I figured with all the hub-bub gearing up with the holidays it was a perfect message.  I loved that he quoted Elder Dallin H. Oaks, from his talk about Good Better Best (one of my all time favorites), “We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen our families.”  He lists three key places to focus our energy: "First, our relationship with God is most sacred and vital....He desires our happiness....Our second key relationship is with our families. Since 'no other success can compensate for failure' here, we must place high priority on our families. We build deep and loving family relationships by doing simple things together, like family dinner and family home evening and by just having fun together....The third key relationship we have is with our fellowman. We build this relationship one person at a time—by being sensitive to the needs of others, serving them, and giving of our time and talents."  And the fourth was my favorite when I heard him speak because it was something I had been pondering a lot at the time:  "The fourth key relationship is with ourselves. It may seem odd to think of having a relationship with ourselves, but we do. Some people can’t get along with themselves. They criticize and belittle themselves all day long until they begin to hate themselves. May I suggest that you reduce the rush and take a little extra time to get to know yourself better. Walk in nature, watch a sunrise, enjoy God’s creations, ponder the truths of the restored gospel, and find out what they mean for you personally. Learn to see yourself as Heavenly Father sees you—as His precious daughter or son with divine potential."  And in his summary he said, "Strength comes not from frantic activity but from being settled on a firm foundation of truth and light."

Well, now that I've shared highlights from his talk you won't have to read it yourself - unless you can't help yourself.  It really is good.

I'm not sure it will be as easy to paraphrase Elder Christofferson's, but I'll try.  He talks about living a consecrated life.  He shares the scripture about the purpose of life being happiness.  He also praises hard work.  I've recently been thinking about the original 12 apostles (Bret and I have been reading the New Testament) and I'm amazed at the degree of sacrifice they made for the gospel.  Not to mention the sacrifice Christ made himself.  Elder Christofferson quotes Joseph Smith at one point and I was again reminded of the sacrifice and work offered by men who have lived consecrated lives.  Somehow that sacrifice is tied to joy.  It certainly seems like a contradiction, but in his talk he manages to explain and show how true it is.  I'll just share his conclusion and hopefully if you need more clarification or inspiration you'll just go directly to his talk:  "A consecrated life is a beautiful thing. Its strength and serenity are “as a very fruitful tree which is planted in a goodly land, by a pure stream, that yieldeth much precious fruit” (D&C 97:9). Of particular significance is the influence of a consecrated man or woman upon others, especially those closest and dearest. The consecration of many who have gone before us and others who live among us has helped lay the foundation for our happiness. In like manner future generations will take courage from your consecrated life, acknowledging their debt to you for the possession of all that truly matters. May we consecrate ourselves as sons and daughters of God, “that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope” (Moroni 7:48; see also 1 John 3:2), I pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen."

I am grateful for wise leaders who know how to expound the scriptures in ways that make them all the more precious to me.  I have loved reading the New Testament and I love that through the ages God has blessed his children with comforting words of truth and hope.

Relief Society

Tonight I went to RS presidency meeting. Usually it goes way too long and I come home way too impatient and discouraged and frustrated. Tonight, though, it was different. I felt like we truly had a spirit of charity. That felt good. I am grateful for the good sisters in my Relief Society but especially for the good women with whom I serve. They are good examples to me of hard work and true charity.
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Grateful for health

Today I took a woman to the bishop's storehouse to get some food. She told me some of her stories. Our ward has a lot of people that struggle with mental as much as physical health issues that keep them from being self sufficient. In her case she sounds like she was perfectly fine until due to some unpredictable moment she wasn't. For her sake of privacy I won't say more but I AM learning that there is a fine line between well and ill and sometimes there's nothing you can do to control which side of the line you're on. Today I am grateful for my family's health.
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