We went with Tim and Queenie to Temple Square on Saturday. I was excited to see the new First Vision statue. I like the depiction of movement and life in this rendition, and that heaven and earth are reaching for one another.
I think people spend a lot of time decorating and seeking musical and artistic experiences at Christmas time because we are all in search of that feeling of connection with heaven.
We’re celebrating 29 years of marriage! (This was taken at my parents’ 50th anniversary party.)
After reading through my 2023 blog posts, I’ve decided that I want to end the year by listing one daily, one weekly, and one monthly thing that helped me get through a year which was actually very challenging.
A daily practice that helped:
A weekly practice that helped:
A monthly practice that helped:
I have also looked over my reading list from 2023 to see where I have been. I have a special shout-out for Charles Dickins’ David Copperfield and Annie Dillard’s Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.
As I prepare for 2024, I don’t have any major resolutions. I do have plans to keep my good habits, while giving myself the grace to just do one thing at a time, including new things.
Wishing you a gentle look back at your 2023, and a hopeful look forward to your New Year.
Love,
A.
This was our first Gentri concert, and it was a great way to begin the Christmas season. Our favorite from the group is their pianist, Stephen Nelson. And look who stopped by during the concert to visit with the people at the end of our row, Casey Elliott!š¤©
The most extraordinary thing in this world is an ordinary man and an ordinary woman and their ordinary children.
G.K. Chesterton
The end of all activity in the Church is to see that a man and a woman with their children are happy at home and sealed together for time and for all eternity.
Boyd K. Packer
Many who knew her, thought it a pity that so substantive and rare a creature should have been absorbed into the life of another, and be only known in a certain circle as a wife and mother. But no one stated exactly what else that was in her power she ought rather to have done…
Her finely touched spirit had still its fine issues, though they were not widely visible. Her full natureā¦spent itself in channels which had no great name on the earth. But the effect of her being on those around her was incalculably diffusive: for the growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life.
George Eliot, Middlemarch
We are big fans of Nate Bargatze. Clean comedy, yay!
I had never been to New York City, so Richard took me there this week. We stayed in an Airbnb not far from Times Square, but definitely on a quiet street. We could walk to our shows in about five minutes.
Vacations and major family events are tough to condense into blog posts. Trips planned by Richard are usually so full that it’s impossible to cover everything, and this trip was just the two of us, so it also feels more personal.
Still, I know that Paige will probably like to see her old stomping grounds, and the future me will like this place marker in time showing some of our adventures together, so here goes.
Trip Stats, according to Google maps:
It is a stunning gift to enter into the covenant of marriage within the temple. This covenant is not just between husband and wife, but also with God. This has breathtaking implications, not only in the eternities, but now.
Today I share a quote from a mind-shifting article that President Nelson wrote. He is teaching about all the covenants we make, and as I study these words in relation to the new and everlasting covenant of marriage, I see the years of our marriage with more informed eyes. The Lord’s imprint is everywhere.
Just as marriages and families share a unique lateral bond that creates a special love, so does the new relationship formed when we bind ourselves by covenant vertically to our God! This may be what Nephi meant when he said that God āloveth those who will have him to be their Godā (1 Nephi 17:40).
This is exactly why, as part of the covenant, a special mercy and loveāor hesedāis available to all who enter this binding and intimate relationship with God, even āto a thousand generationsā (Deuteronomy 7:9).
Making a covenant with God changes our relationship with Him forever. It blesses us with an extra measure of love and mercy. It affects who we are and how God will help us become what we can become. We are promised that we, also, can be a āpeculiar treasureā unto Him (Psalm 135:4).
Russell M Nelson, “The Everlasting Covenant,” Liahona, October 2022.
Dear Friend,
Here is a letter to begin the month of April.
Our lives feel like they are on pause in this endless winter with so much snow that our canyon is closed.
We watched general conference all weekend. For us, this looks like Legos and blocks on the floor, blankets on the sofas and chairs, a whiteboard and markers for making summaries of talks, and so many snacks. Every crumb of snacks that I poured into bowls was consumed. I made cinnamon rolls and broccoli soup, and served a key lime pie and lots of other things. We walked each day to restore ourselves after the stupor of watching television.
I write this on a scheduled lazy morning. We are expecting another pile of snow today. (Happy spring break to us!) I can’t get excited about this week of snow and the removal of Mark’s wisdom teeth. In fact, I dread, dread, dread the wisdom teeth appointment. (Snuggling deeper into a blanket) Maybe if I think about Easter and make some plans that will help.
I am also watching another flight for Tim. He is always chatty and energized when he gets a transfer, which for the Micronesia Guam mission means an oversea flight. Richard watches YouTube videos analyzing plane crashes for enjoyment when I am not around. He knows that I don’t need to feed my mind any more death scenarios. I will be glad when the little green dot on the website lands in Guam later today, which is tomorrow for Tim.
I had several unconnected conversations with friends last month that led me to pick up my orthodontic retainers and wear them again. Never stop wearing your retainers is my piece of wisdom for today. There are lots of retainers in our lives, not just orthodontic ones: Date nights, repentance, the sacrament, finding God in prayer, finding Jesus in scripture study… Never stop with the retainers.
I have a quilt to finish, but I think I will wait to shop for more fabric. My stack of books is growing. Last week I was a little sick, and one night I went to bed discouraged by what I hadn’t accomplished. But then I felt the impression to consider all I HAD accomplished that day, despite all. Sometimes we just need to make a backwards TO DO list, and simply list what’s DONE. For me, this is the ultimate self care routine.
It is Holy Week. Happy Easter celebrations await.
Love,
A