All In A Days Work

Yesterday was the first time in my life that I planted flowers all by myself. I have never had a yard before that I could plant in. We had a small back yard in Vegas but it was landscaped when we moved it. And I say don't fix it if it ain't broken. Yesterday I mowed the front lawn, trimmed the edges, and then I bought some flowers to go in the flower beds. I was so excited. Now I am paying for it today because I worked out there from 8:30 am to 7:00 pm, but it was worth it. Everytime I look out the front window I smiled. It is amazing what a little color does for a yard. I have watched my mom do yard work for years. She is so good at it. I thought of her a lot yesterday and was grateful that she made us work outside with her when we were little in the garden and flower beds. Poor Ashlee, in the next few weeks she is going to have that same experience when we plant the garden. She is not looking forward to it but I think she will appreciate it when she get's older like I do now.

Paybacks

Ever since my boss, Cody Schiller, put the red carpet down on the office floor making fun of my shoes I have been waiting for the opportunity to get him back. Well Friday the opportunity came. Cody is a Miami Dolphins fan. On Thursday when he left for lunch he wrote "Dolphins" on the back of my car window right underneath my Denver Broncos sticker. So on Friday I decided that I would give him a little office make over Broncos style. We even changed his computer's background to Broncos. I took down all his hunting pictures and replaced them with a Broncos poster. I can't wait for Monday.

Seminary Prayer

Last night I had a little bit of frustration with one of the other seminary teachers in our area. Her daughter is in my class and so she gets a daily review of what our class was on, where we are at in the Old Testament, and so on. For a lot of the year I have been behind the other teachers schedule of lessons but recently I have caught up. She seems to think that I have been skipping certain lessons or something. In addition I tend to have more of a relaxed attitude with the kids than some of the other teachers.

My view on seminary is this. I want to make my class a place that the kids look forward to come to. I am lax on the tardy's. (None of my kids can drive yet and they have to rely on others to get them there) I have worked very hard to develop a relationship with my class so that they would want to be there and they would be open to the spirit. Finding out that this teacher is annoyed at me just ticks me off. So last night I struggled to prepare my lesson thinking that I needed to do it to someone elses standards. But then I decided that I would continue to do things my way. I am moving quickly through some of the books becuase I really want to put an emphasis on the scripture mastery scriptures in the last week so that when the kids leave for the summer the last thing they will remember is those scriptures and how they apply not only to the stories that we talked about all year but to their lives. Nonetheless I was troubled about this as stupid as it was.

This morning the opening prayer was given by one of the boys in my class, Andrew White. In his prayer he said all the standard "teen age" things, and then he paused and thanked Heavenly Father for "such a great seminary teacher". All of my frustrations from the night before went away and I remembered the reason why I was there. I remembered that I was there to serve the Lord and those awesome kids and try to make a difference for them. Andrew's prayer told me that the Lord must be proud of my efforts and that my love for my class has been rewarded in their love back for me.

I am so grateful for the opportunity I have had to teach seminary this year. I have learned so much about the Old Testament and it has strengthened my testimony. Most of all I have learned that you truly love who you serve. Although I am looking forward to summer and a few extra hours of sleep and nights to myself, I am going to miss the choice spirits that Heavenly Father allowed me to teach and learn from.

Sitting For Something

Yesterday on the way to church Ashlee told me about something that is going on in show choir. She said that the choir is working on a new medley that is a collection of Broadway hits. She said that last week they started on one of the songs that she felt was sacrilegious because it takes the Lord's name in vain. She said that it made her very uncomfortable so she spoke with some of the other LDS kids in the choir and they decided that they were not going to sing the song. They all went to the teacher to let her know that the song made them uncomfortable and that they would not sing it. So the teacher is letting all of them sit out during that song. With all of the LDS kids sitting out it takes out half of the choir.

I am grateful for Ashlee's courage to stand (or should I say sit) up for what she knows is right. She said that she was thankful for the other LDS kids that have the same standard and were there to support the decision.

Grandpa's Wallet

This is going to be long...but worth the time to read.

Yesterday was my Grandpa Bradley's birthday. He would have been 93.

Last night I was cleaning out the closet in my spare bedroom (which gets messy a lot because that is the "catch all" room). I ran across the plastic zipper bag that holds a few of the personal items that belonged to my Grandpa Bradley who passed away a few years ago. I was reminded of an experience I had last summer and I wanted to make sure I write it down.

I was very close with my Grandpa and I had a very hard time when he passed away. I have so many wonderful memories of him. He taught me to drive (which is why I am so good at it :) ) he taught me to hit a baseball, to ride a bike, to swim. I spent much of my past 10 years driving to his house to visit him and I loved to be able to just sit and talk to him more than anything. He had such a sweet spirit and I knew that he loved me. Many times when I was a single mom with Ashlee he would call me to see if I was doing okay and I would always tell him yes. Then he would say "You aren't telling me stories are you?" He would then tell me about how his dollar bills on his money tree outside were just about ripe and that he would be happy to go out and get me a few. Grandpa helped me out many times when funds where short. He would send it in an envelope with a note that said "Now you can go get you a Happy Meal!" I loved his sense of humor but more than that I appreciated his kindness. The weekend that my Grandpa passed away I was headed up to Utah to see him. When I was less than an hour away from his house he had a stroke and when I got there he was in a lot of pain and was not able to speak. Thinking about his condition always brings tears to my eyes and that evening was one of the hardest ones I have ever been through. He was vomiting and moaning and Ashlee and I were the only ones there to help him. Ashlee was so great but very emotional. After I cleaned him up and changed his clothes he struggled to get out two words to me "Thank You". My Grandpa was always the perfect example of selflessness. I was grateful that I could do something to help him. He passed away the next day.

After the funeral each of us were allowed to take something of his to keep. I chose two things, his sweater that he used to wear all the time because it smelled like him, and one of his old wallets. Over the next year I would often take the sweater and the wallet out of the bag that I stored them in. I would smell the sweater and then look through the wallet at all of his old cards and pictures. Each card would hold a different memory for me. His drivers license because he was so stubborn about giving that thing up in his old age and because I would remember all the times when he would take me out driving when I was 14 &15, his insurance card because we would discuss his insurance often due to my profession. He had a business card in there for the medicine shoppe where we would always run errands to when I was little. I loved to look through these things and think about all my happy memories.

Last year when we moved to Montrose it was an especially hard year for us. We struggled financially with Bill being in the mortgage industry and the housing market being what it was and is his paychecks were few and far between. There were several months when we would get down to our last few dollars trying to make it through. We continued to pay our tithing each month and I am convinced that is why we did make it. We witnessed several times when we "proved the Lord" and the blessings did follow.

Last summer I was cleaning out the closet in the guest room. I ran across the bag that had Grandpa's stuff in it and I stopped for a minute and sat on the floor to look at it. I opened his wallet and began to thumb through his cards and pictures like I had a million times before. As I did the plastic picture holder slipped out of the wallet along with three pieces of paper that were hidden in a pocket that I had not search before. I pulled them out. The first was an old business card from somewhere I don't remember but on the back of it was my name, written in Grandpa's handwriting with my old phone number that I had in Vegas while I was a single mom. The other two pieces were 2 one hundred dollar bills. I could not believe it. I had looked through that wallet so many times before and had not ever run across the money or that card. I immediately called my Mom and told her that I needed to send that money to my Grandma since it did not belong to me. My Mom told me absolutely not. She said that I found that money from Grandpa at a time when I really needed it and that was his way of taking care of me even when he was not here. I had just the day before payed our tithing and we were down to the last $40 in our account for two weeks. Finding this money helped us to buy gas and groceries. Grandpa's "money tree" was at it again.

This experience was such a blessing to me. I was so grateful that day for my Grandpa who was always there for me. I am so grateful for tithing and for the blessings that come from obeying that law. We had several other experiences last year with tithing that helped to strengthen my testimony, but this one is the most special to me.

My Idol Overview

This is going to be short. Your welcome.

So in a nut shell here is what I think. First of all Jason Castro was the best of the night. I loved the Jamaican version of "I Don't Wanna Cry". It actually made it so that I could listen to it. (I am not a huge Mariah Carey fan. I can't get past her dress code. Her get up last night on the results show was horrible. I am also really distressed that Brooke didn't go home. She is just on my last nerve. I don't mind her singing all that much but I can't stand how she talks the entire time anyone else is speaking. She is a really nice girl but I just want her to be quiet.

TTA- Something I Want To Have Professional Lessons For!

I really want to go to cosmetology school. I have even looked into it. I am fascinated by hair. I really want to know how it all works and I would love to be professionally trained to cut hair. I used to cut Bill's hair when we were first married. I love the sound that the scissors make when they cut, and I would take at least an hour to cut his hair. He would always get impatient so I finally told him to start paying someone to do it.

I would also love to take violin lessons. I love the violin. I have often thought of just buying one and teaching myself to play it like I did the guitar but I think it is one of those instruments that you need to have some instruction on.

And finally I would love to be a pyrotechnic and learn how all of it works. I LOVE FIREWORKS. I want to know how to make them. I am fascinated by the things that they can do with them, the colors, the different shapes, the timing. I wish I could design them myself.