Happy Birthday Ken!

So what do you do when you want to celebrate someone's birthday, but they're too busy and stressed about school?

First, you celebrate with ice cream on Sunday while friends are here to sing "Happy Birthday" to him.

Then, you let him study . . . 

Next, you cook him one of his favorite dinners - Halibut au Gratin - Yummy! 

And then you let him study some more . . . there is, after all, two tests and a presentation due this week.

And finally, you let him eat cake . . . 

But first, he has to blow out all the candles* - Good Luck!  (*Disclaimer - the cake was too small to fit the right amount of candles)

Happy 40th Birthday to my best friend, hiking partner, rockin' drummer, PT student, eternal companion, sous chef, and sounding board.  Love you lots!

(Perhaps someday we'll get to celebrate Ken's birthday like birthdays are supposed to be celebrated!)

General Conference

I love General Conference weekend!  I love getting spiritually fed for 2 days, rather than just 3 hours on Sunday.   I love participating in sustaining new apostles.  Isn't that just an incredible blessing, to be a part of something so significant?  And even though I wasn't in the Conference Center, I still felt the Spirit confirm to me, that indeed, Bro. Anderson, was called of God.  I take notes while I listen; not so much to refer to later, but more likely to share with others - sisters I visit teach, people I work with, etc.  The trick is trying to implement the things I learned and want to work on and/or share with others.  I always have such great intentions, they just don't always materialize.

 I'm grateful that we are able to watch conference at home.  We don't have cable, but we do have the internet.  For the last 3 sessions of conference (Oct '07 - Oct '08), Ken and I have crowded around our computer monitor to watch conference.  This is somehow preferable to dressing in Sunday clothes and watching it at the Stake Center.  However, a week ago, Ken started researching computer cables that could be connected from our laptop/computer, to our TV.  We didn't really have the money for the cables, but he found them cheap on Amazon, so I took money out of my "baby fund" (who knows if/ when I'll ever get to use that), and let him buy the cables.  Wow - what a great buy!   Today, we watched General Conference on our TV, as it came through our computer internet, with the clarity and sound as if it came from the TV (okay, there were occasional blips, but that wasn't so bad).  How I love technology!

Every 6-months, during the Priesthood session of conference, my mind goes back to my youth, and tonight was no exception.   My cousin Kathryn used to come over to my house, while our dads and brothers would attend the Priesthood session.  While they were gone, we often made cookies or brownies or some other treat, which went perfectly with the ice cream the men always brought home - those were great times.  (Ken - I'm sorry I didn't have cookies or brownies waiting for you when you got home from the Priesthood session, but I'm so grateful you went.)  And I always want to know what the men heard, what stories were shared, messages given.  I don't want to miss out on any part of Conference.  As a matter of fact, I always read the Priesthood session talks first when they come out in the Ensign.  Ken's intepretation of the theme for the Priesthood session tonight was "stand by your man".  Ooh, intriguing - now I can't wait for the May Ensign . . . I may just have to read the articles on the internet as soon as they're available.

Bucket List

Rules: Anything you have done has to be in colored, bold, and/or underlined. Mine are in red. I've noted Bucket List items in blue. 
1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band - nope but sang back-up once
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a Praying Mantis
10. Sang a solo (only during sections of songs, never the whole song by myself)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched an amazing lightning storm - every summer in Flagstaff
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Ran a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice - wanted to but I was cheap; always regretted it
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language (Spanish)
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (those were the days)
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa 
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea diving
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris - nope, but ate escargot at the base of the Eiffel Tower, does that count?
51. Gone scuba diving
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater 
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury (Grand Jury - 4 long months)
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a lawsuit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Visited Italy

Done: 44   Bucket list:  9

I'd have to say, I'm pretty happy with what I've done, and have very few unfilled wishes.

Pay It Forward

I'm intrigued by this idea, and without having anything planned about what I will be making, I decided to take up this challenge from my cousin to "pay it forward".

So, here's how it works: the first 3 people to leave a comment on this post will receive, at some point during the year, a handmade gift from me. What it will be and when it will arrive is a total surprise! The catch is that you must participate as well. Before you leave your comment, write up a pay it forward post on your blog to keep the fun going (or copy paste it like I did). Then come back, let me know you're going to play, and sit back and anticipate the arrival of your gift! Come and play!! :)

St. Paddy's Day Celebration

Well, it's St. Patricks Day and as a salute to our heritage (ok, only Sharon has irish blood, as far as I can tell) and the love we feel for our native Ireland, Sharon and I made the traditional green ice cream and ate until we had freezer burn in our brains. Next year we plan on wearing our green leprechaun tights, hats and of course clovers with the ice cream to bring our celebration into full bloom.

We both got food coloring in our clothes and under our fingernails trying to color our ice cream - a little bit goes a long way, and more than a little bit, well, it got everywhere.   I think that everything we spit or comes out of any orfice in our bodies will be green for the next month! Praise the Irish!

May St. Paddy bless all who feel with the Irish and fall with the potato!....What? Just laugh and be merry will ya O' kay?

Grand Jury Duty

Well, 4 months of Grand Jury duty are finally to an end.  I'm so excited to stop working 4, 10-hr shifts every week so that I can have Thursdays off for Jury duty; I'm happy to stop hearing about the drunk and stupid things that people do in Coconino County; but I am just a tad sad to get that weekly break from work.  In honor of my last day, I wrote "Ode to Grand Jury Duty".    It's probably funnier for those that served with me, but hopefully you can all appreciate a bit of what I've been dealing with for the last 4 months.

"A letter in the mail, a day in the court, we all gave our excuses, the judge she did sort.

At last the process was done and 16 jurors were selected that day;

A four-month commitment was made we and we started our Grand Jury foray.

The AZ Law manual was read; thank goodness it doesn't have to stay in our head.

One after another the cases did come, an average of 14 a day until we're done.

A summary of cases brought to be, assualt, drugs and burglary.

Lots of cases of DUI's; too many people with red watery eyes.

100s of pounds of marijuana travel through our state; DPS officers help drug traffickers meet their fate.

The accused pays of court fines, oh but wait, "that credit card wasn't mine".

The re-po officer trying to get back a car; ramming into the car, I think she went a bit too far.

Important questions asked by the jurors were, "how old were they?" and "what kind of beer?".

We've learned a lot about what not to do, but now that it's over, "What are we to do?"."

I even got a certificate of completion, (but I couldn't figure out how to rotate it).

Rambling Thoughts

The other day at church, one of the ladies mentioned that she hated reading people's blogs because everyone was boasting so much about everything, and it made her feel inadequate.  My first thought was, "you must be reading the wrong blogs."  A lot of the blogs I read are people being honest about themselves or their children, which usually involves them disclosing how inadequate they feel about something, which in turn, makes me feel normal because I have similar feelings of inadequacy.

Which brings me to my next random thought.  Why do you think it is that people blog about things they seem to have a hard time telling someone?  It seems to me that people are much more honest and open in their blogs than they are in person.  I think it's because it's a form of journaling, and even though they know they're "posting" the blog, it's like we don't really expect anyone to read it, and yet, we want everyone to read it because then they know what we're really like/ feeling/ experiencing.

Last Saturday, Ken and I went to Phoenix for the day, so that Ken could volunteer at a Wheelchair Rugby Tournament.   After he was through there, we went to the Mesa temple to do an endowment session.  February marked the 2-year anniversary of our sealing.  I couldn't help thinking how incredibly happy it made me to be at the temple with Ken, and how lucky I felt that I had this great blessing in my life.

I'm also incredibly blessed to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life.  As the world around us struggles and panics, it's easy to get caught up in it.  Recently, my employer gave all the employees a 5% pay cut.  There was a lot of panic and concern at my work, but I was amazed at how calm I was compared to the majority of the employees.   The Gospel brings great peace to my life; I know where to turn for answers and strength.

As I struggled with concerns of my own (I fear I'll never be able to have children), the lesson at church one Sunday spoke about Fear vs. Faith, and how it's impossible to have both at the same time.  I have slowly realized that I need to stop fearing, and put my faith in the Lord.  He will bless me with what I need and give me the strength to handle what ever comes my way.