Virtual Correspondence and Mail

            Jenna took the college placement test – more for practice than for placement.  But ever since she has been receiving brochures from different colleges and is a bit fed up with the amount of mail she’s been getting.  Yesterday she received a piece of mail that wasn’t college related and thus felt very excited about it.

            One of the YW leaders had contacted us by phone, and another had sent the mail which contained a brief note, a word search puzzle, a recipe for something called tail mix bites and a coloring page.

            Jenna handed me the word search while she worked on the coloring page.  It was quite a challenging puzzle with 900 letters.  Who does that?

            Most puzzles are less than 250 letters.  I never did find the word TRUTH even though it appears I had crossed it out.

            Jenna made the mix using measurements – though I don’t hink precise.  The misture was supposed to stick together but is definitely too dry for that.  Jenna and I had some by the spoonful.  However we plan to add an egg and some flour to it tomorrow and make cookies with what’s left.  That will be interesting.

            Today I have a virtual meeting with the RS presidency.  We have had one before.  Two of us were able to sign on, the other two had problems.  I think it will be the same today.

            Jenna has listened to a couple of AP lectures and will have her first virtual seminary class tomorrow.

Great Great Great Grandpa's Journal

          Yesterday morning I took a shower and then got dressed for church – although I knew I wouldn’t be leaving the house. I wanted our Sunday to be a lot more spiritual than it was.  Both Jenna and I had listened to different “Come Follow Me” programs – but from different rooms.  Roland was watching cowboys or some movie or something not spiritually themed.

          Roland got on Jenna’s case about something which triggered thoughts of my youth and how my mom had always been getting on Corey’s case about something – every Sunday.  I would stay in my room until if was time to go.  I hated Sundays.

          I attempted a “testimony-online” and though I had received some likes (which is truly not what I was after) only one other sister had joined me for written testimony.  Later, in the afternoon, when I had signed back into facebook, I found a post from my cousin who shared with us a journal he had found. 

          I could not read it myself.  Nevermind that my left eye had been bothering me all day (allergies) but the blurred scan was hard to read.  On top of that were a bunch of names that Jenna was not familiar with, and she is the one I gave the laptop to so that she could read as Roland and I were working on a puzzle.  She read 10 of 57 pages although struggled through and butchered most of what she read.  Roland continued with reading two more pages.

          I felt the Spirit – not so much in his words but with the fact that I knew that both of my brothers were reading the same journal at the same time that I was.  I thought that was cool and really enjoyed reading Corey’s comments because of the excitement he felt at this new discovery.

Traveling Through Time

20 years ago I was still living with my mom in Midvale.  I was serving as the young women’s secretary in my ward.  The following year I had signed a contract to purchase a house.  We moved Roland and the boys in on March 17 – which happens to be my brother’s birthday.  Patrick had helped us to move in.  I remember painting rocks and Patrick’s youngest daughter thinking Roland was a funny man.

Three years later I was pregnant with Jenna.  The ward had thrown a baby shower on March 27 – my other brother’s birthday.  Jenna was born the following week. 

5 years ago I had started packing to take a trip to Oregon during spring break.  We started looking at houses (see here).  We moved into a rental.  Less than a year later we closed on a house in Tri City.  Three years ago today, Jenna and I took pictures as we visited downtown Myrtle Creek in this post.

Last year I was still in school.  I had just started a communications class.  I was also subbing for an instructional aide at the elementary school.  I had used my experiences at the elementary school to assist with the subjects of my assignments (here).

Last month I dropped Jenna off at the bake sale on our way home from church.  She was helping the choir to raise money for a trip they would like to make to San Francisco (here). 

And then there’s this month – which seemed to start out normal enough.  And then everything changed.

Last week I sent a facebook message to my cousin wishing her a happy birthday – one of many that will be celebrated in a far different way than imagined (if at all)

Several birthdays spent in solitaire.  Today I have joined my prayers with so many others in a worldwide fast.  Last week felt like the longest spring break that I can ever remember.

Nature Around the House

Today I took a walk - not to Millsite.  Not up the street.  The only place I walked was around the house.  My walk in nature (LOL) .  It's a pretty pathetic post folks.  But then so is our yard.

backyard near the shed

the back side of our house

the hill (not much of a yard)

this snowball bush has definitely seen better days

looks like the remains of a campground firepit

where we had our greenhouse before the
snow storm ruined it last year

taken May 2017

I don't know why these remainders haven't made
it to the garbage can.  I'm certain it's rotted now

shelves could still be useful

grass has gotten high and needs to be mowed

trench - or part of it
https://beneaththewraps.blogspot.com/2019/08/changing-yard.html

reminder of the pepper plants?  

find it interesting what fall lies beneath; for
the most part it does feel like autumn

decayed trees lying on the ground

it does get green this time of year

vines that gave us pumpkins; their very existence
was quite by accident - at least on our part

other side of shed (as opposed to top picture)

view from driveway

another fall/autumn leaf beneath the spring clover

I usually remove the dead flowers in November.
I missed doing that in 2019

This is what it normally looks like  in spring

and then we get blossoms

This is how our rosebush looks currently

this is how it looks during the summer

with two shades of yellow

This is the neighborhood cat.  We call him/her Salem

symbolic of hibernating due to Covid-19

Purpose in our Being

For my post today I would like to share this special message presented by David Butler and Emily Freeman.  I think it applies to more than just full time but all of us as well.  I hope they don't mind my sharing on my blog

video:

handout:

Enjoy

Gratitude

I remember last general conference when it was announced that our upcoming conference would be like no other.  Many had speculated change in doctrine.  I don’t know of anyone who would have guessed that most of us would be in quarantine due to a pandemic. 

My brother, Corey, is an introvert and has been enjoying his time at home – possibly too much if there is such thing.  I think our parents must have taught us to always make the best of a situation and to look for gratitude.  Because we have.

Recently Corey shared what I consider an epistle.  This he shared on facebook, and I am sharing many of his thoughts on this blog post as it mirrors a lot of my own gratitude as we experience this weirdness.

Although we know that not everybody has these things, we are both grateful for electricity, running water, for the ability to communicate electronically and by phone.  We are grateful for the time that we have to focus on unfinished projects, meditation, and the opportunity to feast upon the words of Christ.

We are grateful for concern that others have exhibited toward one another during these difficult time.  And though there are some who may find social media jokes and poking fun at something so serious, we are grateful having the ability to laugh and use this as a defense mechanism.

We are both grateful for the opportunity this has given humanity to recognize that we are all in this together.  I am grateful that as Roland has always worked from home (at least since we’ve been in Oregon) that he is still employed.

Corey also mentioned how grateful he is to be in quarantine with Joh and how blessed they are to have quality time between them as their lives often seem to become complicated and will sometimes pull them in different directions.

I also enjoy being in quarantine with optimistic people.  I know not everybody has someone or else they might have more than they feel they can handle for months at a time.  For example, I know the families next door and across the street already had more people than what their houses were designed to accommodate. That many people in that small of a space can get overwhelming quickly.

There is so much to be grateful for.  Corey used this quote from Maya Angelou:  “Every Storm runs out of rain.” 

May we all endure this in a positive way and remember we haven’t been forgotten; we are all in this together.   

How Much Salt?

          I remember my dad always salting his food when I was younger.  At times it seemed he was over-salting. 

          I remember one time he had asked for some popcorn.  Patrick and I put some in a bowl and added what we believed to be a generous amount of salt.  When we went into his room to see how he liked the popcorn, he said it could use more salt.  Patrick and I both dropped our mouths in disbelief.  So his next batch got an almost equal salt/popcorn ratio.  He said it was perfect.  Are you kidding me?  If I ever used salt on anything, it definitely NEEDED it.  I hate the taste of salt.

          Now that I am older – even older than my dad – I find myself using salt more and more as I believe all my food is bland – and maybe it is.  Or maybe my lack of smell is finally catching up with my taste buds and I salt in order to taste.  How wicked!