I am enjoying finding new places for our decorations. This year we gained two mantels and a banister. We lost our tall ceilings, but gained built-in bookshelves.
I’m not sure what I’m doing with mantel #2 downstairs.
We had to get rid of our tall tree when we moved, but luckily we still have the tree that Richard and I bought 17 years ago at an after Christmas sale at Ben Franklin. That makes the cost of the tree about $3.50 a year. Bargain!
As a teenager, I made a decision that my house would be filled with books someday, and I began collecting literature. If my class was studying a text, I would buy my own rather than use a classroom copy. If I had a few extra dollars, it would often go toward the purchase of a classic. My efforts have continued all these years, depending on circumstances. As we packed up the house, I realized that we amassed around 7 bookshelves of books while we were in Arizona. Many of these books were for home school, but since we were so literature-focused, it means that most of our books are useful for everyone.
I have my library.
Have I read all of the books in my library?
Not yet.
This week I picked up the copy of Silas Marner by George Eliot (a woman) that I bought 20 years ago but never read. My maiden name is written in the cover. I read somewhere that Silas Marner was a sublime tale of restoration… you know how people go on when they feel elevated by a book. I finished it today. I loved it.
I’m getting back into reading. During the move I just didn’t have time. After the move, I had no energy. I fell asleep when I tried to read. There were more naps inspired by my reading of Peter the Great: His Life and World than I can remember. Oh, those monarchs! Oh, those battles! Oh, the exhaustion! But I finished Peter in the last few days, too. Hooray.
My mom took me out to lunch for my birthday. We couldn’t remember the last birthday we spent together. It was warm and sunny and everything tasted good.
My mom brought a home movie that my cousin made of my grandmother’s surprise birthday party. Watching my grandma and great aunt laughing together brought back beautiful memories of family celebrations with them in Salt Lake City when I was a little girl. Susan always had something special to give each guest so we could remember the occasion. The food was always delicious. I have never found anything to equal Great-grandma’s and Aunt Susan’s parties.
Mark was appalled that he had to go to school on my birthday. He said that he should stay home with me and help me with my work, eat with me, and wash my car. What a lovey.
Timothy gave me a diorama of a road leading to some mountains, I think to remind me that my wish to live in the mountains has finally come true.
My cake was cream filled and delicious and Richard got me the book that I wanted.
I was disappointed to watch my friends preaching to one another about the election online. If only everyone could have just come over and given me birthday hugs, I am sure that would have been a better use of everyone’s time.
We love to walk to school through the fallen leaves. We love having enormous trees, even if they drop so many leaves that it takes all afternoon to collect them.
I just discovered that my favorite tree on my parents’ block was chopped down this year. I have so many memories playing under that tree, jumping into its piles of leaves and the tough crunching sounds those leaves made under my feet as I walked home from school.
I had actually planned on walking through those leaves tomorrow to celebrate my birthday. Yes, that’s really what I was going to do.
I’m a nut for sentimental traditions.
“You is smart. You is kind. You is important.”*
I got a note in the mail this week that said all of this and more from someone I admire. I blushed, I beamed, I bloomed. (Name the Kevin Henkes book.)**
I also opened up my blinds to see that the leaves outside had changed to this vivid yellow color.
A stamp and some pigment. That’s all that it takes to make me happy.
* The Help
** Chrysanthemum
Each morning I watch my youngest children grow small as they walk away from me, eventually merging into lines of children ready to go in to school. For a time, I am able to distinguish Mark’s backpack and Timothy’s walk, but eventually I turn away, realizing they have become indistinguishable from the other children and there is no sense in watching any longer.
It’s one of those paradoxes in life, I guess, that when seeing so many children, I am reminded of the individual nature of Heavenly Father’s love. He knows my little ones better than I do and I can trust them to His care when I’m not there. He knows his children and can pick out each of us from the crowd.
On Sunday I accompanied the choir on my violin for the first time in my new congregation. The first time is always nerve wracking, but with Daniel’s encouragement and prayers and holding a text message from Richard, I braved another “first” and it went just fine.
The kids are settling in very well to school. It’s taken a month, but we’re falling into a routine. The transition was a lot smoother than I expected. Richard gave each child a priesthood blessing the night before school began. I know that this has helped. I look back without regret at the years we spent together and pat myself on the back when I see their reading, math, and science scores. It helps soothe the ignominy of facing the skeptical public school administration a few weeks ago.
We went to our first church party. Paige and Daniel immediately found their friends and we didn’t see them all evening. Let me repeat: Paige and Daniel IMMEDIATELY FOUND THEIR FRIENDS. Tim and Mark played ball with a handful of primary children and came home with pockets stuffed with candy from the pinata. On the drive home, I asked the kids if they had a good time. They all said yes. Let me repeat: THEY ALL SAID YES! Daniel said, “Mom, this must be the right place for us.”
Absolutely.
I’m emotionally spent, despite most of these things being good developments in our lives. My sister-in-law Becky Sanchez unexpectedly stopped by our house late one night this week. She was in town for a funeral and had an just an hour to see us. It was a good visit. Her conversation was just what my tired nerves needed. I’m thankful to have her as a sister in law and that I got to hold her sweet new baby.
I am a tired but very blessed woman.
Hello, friend. Thanks for reading and checking on our family adventures. Some posts I write for myself, others are a history, and sometimes I write with just you (dear reader) in mind. What can I share that will help and lift you? Today I’m writing a religious post.
Sometimes the familiar can become almost invisible. About a year ago I realized that my religious study was not feeding me. The familiar words of scripture weren’t making a difference in my life. I needed something to help me focus.
I decided to journal what I learned about my Father in Heaven as I read The Book of Mormon. At first I kept a notebook at my side, but then I found that notes in the margins of the scriptures kept my mind focused on the words more effectively. I just wrote short statements about Heavenly Father’s interactions with his children based on the stories I was reading. It wasn’t difficult. I just asked myself over and over, “What does this passage tell me about my Heavenly Father?”
I didn’t use my regular set of scriptures. I used an old copy so I wouldn’t worry about taking up too much room in the margins with my notes. I did this for 18 months (I’m a slow study). What I now have is an old copy of the Book of Mormon filled with insights about my Father in Heaven. I learned so much and I am sure I could repeat the project and wonder why I didn’t see more.
I’m not going to make a list of what I learned, but perhaps if you feel that your study of scripture has become a little peripheral this may help you to focus. I found my Father in Heaven in the words and I felt his influence in my life more fully through the exercise. If God is unchanging, these miracles and principles from the Bible and The Book of Mormon should still occur today. As I searched for principles and practices, I found that my life was rich with blessings and my mind was opened to the miracles in my life. It was a simple way to feel the power and love of God.
Here is what a few of my pages look like. Sorry some pictures are blurry. I’m in a hurry today.
The familiar back-to-school feeling with its gold-toned memories and crisp air is all around us. I can’t keep my eyes off the mountains above our house. The red maples have been brilliant for a few weeks, but this weekend, the aspen trees erupted into bright yellow color. My autumn heart is satisfied and happy.
Over the weekend we opened up our bed and breakfast to some cousins. Some of our activities included playing with Legos, Styrofoam, cars, planes, remote controlled vehicles, board games, markers, Sparky, Polly Pockets, and Ellos. We played basketball, painted the girls’ nails, gave jeep rides, slid down the banister, watched Scooby Doo, and invited my aunt and her family to join us for dinner. Nine house guests at once made me smile. That’s the total we would accumulate in 2 or 3 years in Arizona.
In addition to learning a new city and a new house, I’m learning how to be alone. I often do this by going places where I won’t be alone.
I visit the elementary school almost daily. Sometimes I just eat with Mark. I’m also helping one or two mornings a week with reading lessons and I love the kids and the window it gives me into Mark’s world.
I shop for fabric and furniture that I don’t purchase. I walk down aisles of picture frames, autumn decor, and dishes which I never put in my cart. I’ve tried on a lot of jeans that I don’t buy.
The other day I did buy a Utah counties puzzle because how can we live without that? I guess this shows that I’m still the same person who finds more enjoyment from educational material than fabric and more happiness teaching reading lessons than just about anything else.