Sunday, December 27, 2009

Warm Fuzzies

I was shopping in Sam's the other day and ran into President J - a counselor in the Stake Presidency...

We visited for a little while about how the families were doing, school, vacations, etc. You know, the normal stuff but, as we were parting ways do you know what he said to me?!?

"I am so glad that I ran into you, seeing you always makes me smile."

It gave me the warm fuzzies. Hope someone says that to you today!

"Give" - Little Stream

At church today Brother Smith gave a wonderful talk about the importance of giving and not just during the Christmas Season. It truely touched my heart and made me want to do better. So, just as in the words of a well loved Primary Song,
1.
"Give said the little stream,
Give oh give,give oh give.
Give said the little stream,
as it hurried down the hill.
I'm small I know but wherever I go
The fields grow greener still.
2.
Give said the little rain,
Give oh give, Give oh give.
Give said the little rain,
as it fell upon the flow'rs
I'll raise their drooping heads again
As it fell upon the flow'rs.
3.
Give then as Jesus gives
Give oh give, give oh give.
Give then as Jesus gives;
There is something all can give.
Do as the streams and blossoms do
For God and others live.
Singing, singing all the day,
Give away oh give away.
Singing, singing all the day
Give oh give away!"
Remember, no matter who you are, you have the ability to give of yourself to others. And others will love you for it. I know that I do.

A TRUE Vacation

When JP and I got married, we moved into a new city. The church ward that we moved into was fairly large and we were enjoying getting to know some new people. One day about six months into our residence there, Bishop Peterson came up to us in the hallway and said, "Are you guys new? I have not seen you here before..." We had a good laugh and introduced ourselves and went on our ways...The next week we were both called into his office and were given our first callings as a married couple - Ward Missionaries if I remember correctly...

And thus began the very long stint of different callings. Everything from missionaries to primary presidencies (Sunshine) and the Bishopric (JP) plus just about everything you can imagine in between.

My most current calling was that of the Primary Presidency in which I was first counselor. Before that I enjoyed teaching Sunday School to the 14 and 15 year old youth in our ward. A calling I had for the better part of three years. Well, the week before General Conference, I was released from my Sunday School calling and placed into Primary.

Now keep in mind, with my Sunday School calling, I was able to go to Relief Society for three years straight. If you are not familiar with the church, that is the class with the women. A wonderfuly spiritually feasting hour without the children. THREE YEARS PEOPLE - can we say HEAVEN? So when the Bishop asked me to go to Primary (two hours with ALL THE CHILDREN) I felt that it was my "time" and was happy to go after THREE YEARS of Adult lessons.

That was the last weekend in September when I was given this new calling. January is my month to teach Sharing Time...UNTIL TODAY! Yes, ladies and gentleman, I was released and only two months into my time! And, for the first time in the twelve years that I have been married, I DON'T HAVE A CALLING!

And no, there is nothing that I need to repent of that would have precipitated this release ( you know you were thinking it and shame on you for that!).

The Primary President was called to be a Seminary teacher and when they release the President, they release the counselors as well.

NO CALLING! :) Did you hear me? I am truly on vacation! No school, no lessons to prepare. And if JP is anything to believe, there is nothing in the works as of today...

Too bad I am married to the first counselor in the Bishopric, otherwise, I think that my favorite game would become "Dodge the Bishop" at least for a little while!

Post note: If you are not familiar with the church, we are a lay church which means that the members of the church are given "callings" in which we teach each other. Everyone from the Prophet all the way down the line are not paid for our time or services (unless you count blessings, then I would be a MILLIONAIRE!) I myself have had the opportunity to teach in every aspect of the ward (local congregration) and have thourghly enjoyed each of the different callings and was sad when I was released. There is a saying that I have heard before that states that the Lord calls those who need the growth most to teach, and I have found that to be true in every calling I have had. I learn so much from those that I serve and feel that each calling helped me to become a better person, if I let it. If you would like to know more, go here.

Sunday, December 20, 2009

Memories...



On December 18, twelve years ago, JP took me to the St. Louis Temple where we were married for Time and All Eternity.



Sorry, no picture of the happy married couple on their day...
my scanner isn't compatible with the new computer and all the pictures are "old school" -

Three years ago this past week, we brought home the cutest little puppies "for the kids" (JP?)

Hannah Montana and Harley Davison
December 2006

On December 18th this year, our puppies were called home. They loved to chase rabbits, mice, whatever ventured into our yard, out. They loved to play catch with us and with each other and were always up for a really good belly rub.

We loved them, we miss them, and we will never forget them.


Thursday, December 17, 2009

Finals Week...Christmas List

OK, so if you didn't know...THIS IS FINALS WEEK.
(Can you hear the angels singing too?!)
Monday, I was studying in my room.
Ralphie is watching a movie in the Living Room .
(Yes, that is how we spent that day...WAY MORE THEN THE RECOMMENDED 2 Hours of TV)Jake comes home from school -"Hey sweet guy! Mommy is studying go ahead and make your self some popcorn and finish the movie with Ralphie."
(Girl's are still at school)

10 minutes later...

My house is filled with smoke...
Not just smoke.
Smoke so thick it is only three feet off the ground and burning my eyes and throat.
WHAT IS GOING ON???
Seriously, I thought the kitchen was on fire....
After we got all the windows open (30 degrees NOT counting the wind chill) I get the story.
Ralphie cooked popcorn...
Jake cooked popcorn....
Ralphie cooked popcorn...
The problem???
They cooked the same bag...THREE TIMES!
Apparently, Ralphie cooked it. Jake thought that he didn't start it so he went in there and without checking it cooked it again...then Ralphie thought that Jake put a new bag in and WITHOUT looking AGAIN...cooked the popcorn....

Funny story right? Are your toes curling from the thought of popcorn so very burnt that it doesn't even smell like burnt popcorn anymore? Can you imagine what my microwave looked like? (Yes you are going to have to imagine because I forgot to get the picture of my mess).

Fast forward...now I get to clean the microwave. It was awful...The smoke was so very sticky and yucky.
Now, I thought,"The best way to clean this is to steam a little water in a cup and then wipe it out"
Sounds good - RIGHT?

OK, so that is what I did. I put about 1 to 1 1/2 cup water in a glass cup in the microwave, set it for 3 min and walked away to let it do its magic...

And magic it did! I hear JP call from the Living Room..."Um, Sunshine, you better get in here your microwave just did something!"

I go in there, there is water POURING out of the bottom of the microwave...I swear it was growing!
What happened?
Mystery to this day...
I asked JP about it and all he said that there was a gurgling sound then a bang then a sizzle...I told you it worked magic!

So, as I am pondering on this occurance, I pick up the microwave to move it to clean up the expanding puddle underneath (and yes the cup was fine and there is still water in it - truely a mystery!) and water just comes pouring out from some hole in the bottom and JP says,
"Um, I don't know much about microwaves, but I am pretty sure it isn't supposed to pee."

LOVE HIM!

So, what does this have to do with christmas lists???
All I want for christmas is this and three new kitchen outlets to replace the three that got FRIED!

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