A Simple Woman's Daybook~September 26, 2013

Our lives pass swiftly by! I want to do something to remember

the everyday moments and my thoughts about them.  

That is what this Daybook is all about.

Focusing on the little things that become my life.

One entry at a time.

Just for today~Thursday, September, 2013

 

Outside my window...it is a little after 10:00 am and it is chilly here in my office.  As I look out my window onto our porch I am struck by the blending of summer into fall as I gaze upon a rustic pot of impatiens still in full bloom and a pot of rusty colored chrysanthemums still budding.  The mums are sitting near a pumpkin I got just yesterday.  Umm, love that color.

It is a time of transition that is clearly marking the end of a very busy summer and a bit of hibernation and solitude ahead.  I love autumn and the coziness of bringing out the toasty throws and pillows.  We love the fireplaces ablaze and and steamy mugs of gourmet hot chocolate.  It is movie time in our household, it's like cuddling up in your blanket and watching someone tell you a good story.  Autumn evenings=shorter days and longer nights ahead and popcorn.

It is a time to nest and be revitalized for the winter around the corner.  Saturday I am getting all my fall decorations out which are not many, thank goodness.  But I love them they are loaded with memories both old and new.  They also feature all my favorite warm colors.  And like a squirrel preparing for winter I went shopping yesterday and replenished our pantry for the first time in months.  It feels good.  I love autumn, it is my favorite time of the year.  And I especially adore the leaves that change colors and fall and rustle on the ground as you walk through them.  And I never feel the compulsion to have them all raked up immediately.  I think there are people that wait for a leaf to fall so they can throw it away.  And I wonder...Why?

I am thankful for....the over-the-top spectacular summer we have had, the miles we have covered and the incredible memories made.  I am grateful for being home now and for having quality time will our family members in far away places, several times over these past months.  I am grateful for all the family history learning and the wonderful things discovered this year with the help of God and good friends and teachers.  Seriously it has been the best summer in years.  I am thankful for the safety we enjoyed on the trek around the east coast and to and from Utah four times since June 1st.   And I am happy my knees and legs are feeling a sense of recovery from all the running around.  When I am sick and tried of mobility issues and feeling sorry for myself the best therapy is writing about our wonderful life.  Then like a plant that has just been watered after a drought...I spring back with some vigor I didn't know I had.  It was important for me to write this today.

From the learning room....I have learned so much this year.  Learning is one of my favorite things to do.  I feel I have time for it now like never before and it lights up my life.  And I love teaching and sharing with people that are interested.  I believe learning is one way to remain vital in our older years even with body parts start to degenerate, our minds and spirits can experience enlightenment daily.  What a blessing.  The more I learn the more I know I do not know, as the saying goes.  It helps me be excited each day and to have something substantial to look forward to when I wake up in the morning.  I know Jim feels the same way and he is making great strides on his workshop that will be his new reality by spring.  The foundation is poured and the electrical is being put in place and soon there will be framing and a roof.  He wants to get at least that far before he has his hip surgery in the next few months.

I am reading...The God That Weeps and it is magnificent!  I started reading it on the plane coming home from Utah last Saturday and it has given me a lot to think about.

From the kitchen..All stocked up and ready to go.  Lots of great choices for meals and the ever present soup when Jim has to go back to his routines.  All is well in this kitchen for the foreseeable future. Whew!

Some spiritual thoughts I have been having...Everyone can choose for themselves what they believe and that agency is one our most important gifts from God.  You cannot get to heaven on someone's else testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  No one is forced to do something they don't want to in the spiritual realm.  God beckons but he does not push or pull.  He invites with love and with open arms for all those who seek him.  We should all be more like Him.  

He knows something that most of us struggle with all of our lives.  We are one, not more or less than the next person. We can never change another person, we can but influence.  We can only change ourself.  Our agency is all ours.  It cannot control another's choices nor should it.  Think of the book, Man's Search For Meaning.  You can destroy a person's life, even unto death, but his mind and heart belong to him or her alone.  In those places, the heart and the mind, every person has their agency to choose for themselves.  Without that what good would faith be?

I am hearing...Sunny by Jose Feliciano.  Love this song.  A moldy oldie but so cheering.

One of my guilty pleasures...computer, computer, computer.

Pet Peeves...just when we start getting ahead, something happens with my car.  Going to the car hospital on Monday for a check-up because lights have lit on the dash.  $159.00 to diagnose and then we know it will be cha-ching, cha-ching, cha-ching from there.

I am quoting...Pinterest

If I could change one thing it would be...that Hazel would be having a great kindergarten experience.  Not happening and has been the straw that broke the camel's back for our kids to move to Salt Lake for a do-over.  The school has been deplorable in their behavior and getting her the special help she needs to be truly mainstream. Their house is up for sale and they have found a house they love in SLC.  Praying it all works out for them all.  They all need and deserve a break.  They are a great family that seem to always be climbing some big mountain.  A plateau would be great even.  Jen staged their condo in one day.  She is my hero.  I would have loved to have worked side by side with both of our girls in my active decorating years. We would have rocked it and had so much fun together.

An enjoyable movie/ TV show we have watched lately...nothing on the big screen for the last week.  We did see Now You See Me last time we watched something.  That was interesting.

Little screen has been dominating my time with 45 hours of classes that I attended in Utah last week and a two hour class I was preparing for work that was finished on Tuesday just hours before the class began.  Too close corners cut for me, but got it done.  Tomorrow night is our movie night so I better start looking for an movie option....or the option will be Harry Potter or something like that again.

I am curious about...how things will proceed from here on the sale of the condo.  They have had four or five showings now and it has only been on the market since Friday.  So hopefully some good will come of that.  We just want to see them get settled soon.  And get Hazie back in school.  And we want to see all the girls and parents with less angst.  It is hard when you don't know what is next in a long line of possibilities.

Plans for the rest of the week...tomorrow more writing and research, Saturday maybe the Farmer's Market and bringing on Autumn in the house.  That night a General Women's Conference broadcast from SLC and dinner at church afterwards. Sunday, genealogy and church. Monday, some finances need attending to and Tuesday work.  Beyond that hopefully nothing.  I think I am coming down with a cold.  How sweet, it waited until all my plans and deadlines are past.  Hitting it head-on with Cold-Eze and it is working well.
 

One of my favorite things...my favorite and best friends~you keep me going and I love you.

One thing that made me so happy this past week...being able to help celebrate both Aynslee (11) and Hazie's (6) birthdays with them.  That was a joy.  Love those little girls.  The other thing...saying "night night" to my suitcase for awhile and getting resettled in the house with the hubster again.

The most surprising thing this past week...after 45 hours of intense training I didn't want the training to end. A weekend off and I could have kept going.

Some photos I am sharing this week...

Love it, it's that simple!

This is a recipe of our friend's that I put on Pinterest.  
It has gotten over 250 repins..
I am glad in spite of how good it is,
 that that many people copying it is astonishing.
Shall I post the recipe? 
Non-sticky carmel corn?  Yes or no?



From the Inspired Room!
Adore a cloche with something fun inside!


     
Are we ready for the above? 
 I know I am!  There is something about
 Autumn that denotes a new beginning for me.  
Something that makes my heart yearn for home 
and hunkering down into that schedule that
suggests a gathering or harvesting of the past~
accompanied by a routine and
stability that makes life feel almost new again.
  Perhaps it is a throw back to when
the kids would all start a new school year
with an excitement and promise
of still better things to come?

Whatever it is I love it.
 And I enjoy it completely before
it turns into the holiday season~
and the frantic pace that accompanies it.
 Don't get me wrong, I love that too but this,
this is something special that reminds me
of another way of life, when things were simpler
and exciting at the same time!
  
UNTIL THE NEXT DAYBOOK,
 BE HAPPY AND CARRY ON!

❤♡♥♡❤♡♥♡❤♡♥s, Bon