Zumba WED

Good day!

1.  I finally paid the reservation deposit for the VW vanagon in HI.

2.  I had a blast at Zumba tonight.

3. Did I mention I ate alligator yesterday!?!  I loved it.  TY Sharon, Ron and Nate.  And then today for the most amazing caramel popcorn ever - Nate - thank you for straight teeth so your mom would make it and be willing to share it with me.

4.  Shannon and Mandy gave me the Roca for my family across the Pond and bedding for foster kiddos!  Bed to arrive this weekend.

5.  Matt D. told me that his brother and sis in law are going to be baptized! I cried with joy.  Oh, the blessings of the gospel moving throughout the families of the faithful.  :)

6.  I was getting grumpy about having to prepare my lesson for this Sunday when i realized I could do it on my phone!!!  Anywhere anytime!!!  I am so grateful for the righteous application of technology.

A concern:  My mouth still hurts.

April 22-24

Hello Blogger Following, lol..of 1. 

I have been thinking about the importance of journaling and so here is my pledge: to write at least 5 happy thoughts from each day and if necessary to get it off my chest, one struggle.

Today it was GORGEOUS!  I mowed the lawn and basically had a good day. I went to a homeless Love In Action meeting today and learned about tons of resources for our kiddos.

Let's see...a quick recap of the weekend (or you could just look at FB).  I have been working at Abby's since July 2011.  I'm tired of working there and just pure tired, but what good does that to?  I closed on Thursday, short shift on Friday then on Sat I went to Foundations training for Foster Care Certification and then to Abby's for 7 hours.  Abby seems to be taking over my life. Ugh...anyway.

Sunday church where I was called to be the youth Sunday School teacher - again.  :)  I am excited, there were 5 kids in there when I stuck my head in at the end of the hour.  I felt the need to save them from Brother Noreen, lol!

I skipped out of church just a little bit ealry (posterity, hopefully you still respect me), to go to Newberg and pick up Mark, Kerri's husband (Kerri and I work together) and then we drove to the Couv to pick up Mark's mom to then drive back down to PDX Hollywood Theater to watch Amadeus. It was spectacular!  And Edmond Stone, host of The Score on All Classical 89.9 was dressed up as Amadeus.  It was amazing to watch that movie on the big screen.  We had watched it as kids not knowing anything about it being moninated for 11 Grammy's and both lead actors bein nominated for Best Actor. I mean, geesh, how does that happen?  

Mark was a trooper and ran all over downtown PDX for us.  Trader Joe's for goodies and then after the movie, we headed to VooDoo Donuts.  Just for the record: Really long line for a normal tasting donut in the WORST part of PDX.  Meth users every where.  

This is how the convo went: 

"Is it always this busy?"

"Yes, except for between 3-5 AM."

"You are open 24 hrs?"

Head nod...

Is this a safe thing? 

"No.  There are stabbings almost every night and drug dealers on the corner and users will come in and steal the tip jars and it's just not safe"

And I'm like: And you still work here?  GET OUT before you get stabbed!  Those doughnuts are not THAT tasty.  We decided if it had been dark, we probably wouldn't have stopped by.

Then we dropped off Mark's mom who lives just up by Legacy Salmon Creek and then went to my families place.  I finally was able to drop off clothes for Alex that I've easily had for like 3 months.  Oh that's right, he's 3 months old now, Hope they FIT!

Got Abraham's (cousin who is getting married in like 9 days!) wedding announcement.  I also say dad's cool books...he has 3 that he's wanting to sell.  They are rare and very old.  So...I'm going to help him.

Then I came home.  It was overall, a GREAT weekend and Monday.  Just one week and I'll be in HI! :)

Bring it on...

Check, check

Apparently I'm not cool enough to keep blogging. But I have to blog about this weekend. It was a-maz-ing!

Mission Journal, Vol 3, Dec 10, 1996-Mar 30, 1997

10 December 1996

I'm not supposed to write in here yet but I love it, and only have 3 more pages in the other volume. Na ja. We taught Family Schurig and Frau Gessinger today.

12 December 1996

Endlich, ein neues Tagebuich! Ich freue mich so sehr! Finally, a new journal. I'm so happy. [End Translation].

I just wanted to say that I hope that I can be positive and excited about missionary work and just do it! I have a new motto- it's called: "The best way to get anythning done, is to do it. (You can substitute learn, love, study, help etc.) Also, the verb! [I don't understand what I meant here but I'm sure it'll come back to me? lol]

I'm excited to be serving in Zwichau with Sister Chadwick. I can't believe I've only got 3 more weeks with her. Christmas iks almost here and I've got nothing but a card from Aunt and Uncle Mark Parker and $10 from Jim. I did hear from Jim, Carrie Gunnn, Rachel Carey-Fuson and Aunt Lizzetta and Uncle Mark twice and Kim Tarbutton. It was really nice to get post [mail]. I lvoe this new journal and hope it doesn't take me longer than 6 months to get through it!

We had Austausch with Sister Sedletzek. We met her at the Hospital and visited Sister Mitlander. We had a great talk about WWII. They were young girls as it happened. They could feel the pressure before the Wall went up. They decided to stay.

They bore their testimonies! I love them to death. Sln

You've got to see these: a Sister Roseann Chadwick was my companion at the time. I had never laughed so hard or often, been so joyous or been so humbled by anyone in my life. She was just letting me know, with Aufrichtem Herzen, a heart in the right place, her feelings on the matter. This was my life with her and for too short of a time. I loved her right back!

Sln

The Priesthood

As I sat in the back row of a ward I was in for over a year, 6 years ago, I heard my nephew being blessed by a friend of my brother's family.

While it was tragic and sad that his father, my brother wasn't performing the blessing, it was also hopeful and happy. I listened intently as a really good friend of my bother blessed him instead. He blessed Kona with the strength to be an example to his family, to be worthy to hold the Priesthood and then to serve a mission and marry in the temple.

During the blessing I was holding his older brother and I whisphered (shhhh, no juding that I waS talking during the prayer!) that I had those same hopes and prayers for him, Aukai. I told him that his baby brother was getting a blessing from Heavenly Father and that I knew what a great example he would be, how he would grow strong in the gospel and hold the Priesthood and serve a mission for the Lord and then marry a bride in the temple.

After the blessing came the sacrament. Aukai wanted to color and I told him that when the Deacons sat down and were finished helping the Savior with his work, he could. I then decided that wasn't enough - I should explain that when the Savior was about to die, he fed his apostles the Sacrament and now, we take the Sacrament on Sunday's to remember Jesus and we do this with the help of the those who hold the Priesthood. I then talked to him about how in just a few years he would be able to help the Savior too by receiving the Priesthood and passing His sacrament. He said he wanted to help the Savior and that during the Sacrament we could think about Jesus and Heavenly Father. I was so thrilled to be able to share that moment with him. I think he "got" it. I know I did. I don't think it's ever too early to talk about the mantel of the Priesthood that men will bear and how important it is for them to use it wisely for His purposes because we NEED them!!! To make and keep our covenants.

Love the little men in your lives and train them up to be great daddies and husbands. Every woman needs a GREAT man. (And vise versa!)

Blessed Be the All-American Girl

I lived the All-American girl dream today.

I woke up in the land of the free. I had food available to me. It tasted onolicious! I selected which clothes to wear today and had my choice of pairs of shoes. I left in my safe, red, taller, smaller SUV and drove to my job. The ones that pays me way more than $1 a day or an hour. I met with a friend, went to the Dr and got tested for a disease that there is treatment for (I don't have the disease, but there is treatment none-the-less). I visited a high school, a college, my colleague, my girl, my dog.

I got in my functioning car and drove home where the lights burned brightly. I greeted my dog and decided we should take a walk. The weather was so fantastic that I didn't need to put on a jacket even. I slipped on a different pair of shoes and heaqded out. Dog on the leash. I have an adorable dog, little, white, cute lap dog.

We headed out down the side walk, my ankle swollen, knee with throbs and I just looked ahead of me and felt something special - here I was, just me, my dog, in my small American town. I passed the little library that is one room with computers, a bus stop and the ability to have books delivered, the local bank with a branch in our small town...i passed the little coffee shop that is so adorable and cute and serves great fruit shakes in the summer and warm milk in the winter. I passed the local Fire House, with it's statue of a dalmation and fire fighter and flag waving so brightly. I passed the only gas station in town to the town offices. I saw some pictures in the window and wondering what was on display, I walked to see them. They were showing the difference the new sidewalks were making in the improvement of our little down town area. I was so grateful for those who who meet, raise money, write grants, hire folks, inveset in down town businesses. I felt like writing to each and everyone of them or writing into the Amity Grapevine, yes, the little local gossipy newsletter placed in everyone's water bill, to say thank you.

The downtown looks great with wineries now lining the road, fresh paint on every building, new side walks, a new little grocery store with so much class. I'm just grateful to be able to have the life I live. It's such a HUGE blessing to wake up in America, every single day. Living the dream.

Hugs,

Even more updates...

It's been asked that I provide more info on the "motherhood" thing. Sarah [her name has been changed to protect the innocent, remember, she isn't mine!] is a 15 year old whose father passed away when she was 9 and her mom is bipolar and simply put - could not care for her daughter. She is an only child with a half brother and sister who she doesn't really have contact with.

She has been in 4 homes in a year and two months of that was with her grandparents in a residental senior center. She hardly qualifies and they were looking for a home for her. They heard through the infamous LDS grapevine that I was thinking about adoption and contacted me. Obviously she is not brothers ages 8-12 but she needs stability and a mentor. She doesn't need a mom - she has one of those. What she needs is someone to explain to her what social norms are and how to be treated like a tea cup instead of a styrofoam cup that you crinkle up and through away or nibble on before you toss into the can. She talks to her mom a lot - I'm going to limit way more once school starts and she needs social interaction. Living out here and going to school in MAC doesn't help. Not that she has that many friends anyway.

Our dog is adorable.

And finally smells good too. I still need to get an electric toothbrush and some chicken toothpaste (I hear) to make him smell even BETTER.

Day camp starts tomorrow. I want to quickly write about how I felt when Sarah Palin was selected and nominated as the Vice President of the United States on the Republican ticket.

I knew the annoucement was coming and I was up early watching the news. I was watching some morning show (maybe even FOX news but I cannot confirm or deny that as I am not sure I had cable at the time). I cried. I was sooooo happy that a woman, strong and a Governor, could be Pro-life, pro choice in that she believed in life, strong and educated. Strong mother, strong and grass roots...she, to me, represented me way more than the two female senators from WA ever had, would or could. I didn't believe in aboration, gay rights or more regulation. I don't need the government to tell me how or when to cut down a tree, put up a fence or retaining wall or how much I "owe" them. I think my return on investment would be better if I kept my money. I feel this strongly about local and state government as well. I also don't think it's fair to borrow without the ability to pay it back.

ANyway, I have NO idea why I felt the need to say hwo I felt when I first realized that other American women were conservative. Because I have felt like a freak for a LONG time. I consider myself thoughtful, smart and flexible. Why then shouldn't I feel normal?

Have a good night!