True disciples of Christ

Yesterday about 30 gay protesters were gathered outside the temple gates of the Washington DC temple (owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints). It was a pouring rain, and evidently at least some of the protesters weren't prepared for the weather. Sister missionaries brought umbrellas to individuals who were accusing their church of bigotry and hate.

By that act of kindness, the lady missionaries showed what it means to be true disciples of Christ.

Cox Farms

There is a family owned business in Northern Virginia called Cox Farms, which has had a Fall Festival for the past umpteen years or more. We've been going to it for a long time. Each year the farm gets some new fun thing to do. They have rope swings, slides, hayrides, and a corn maze that isn't just a corn maze. They let you eat all the apples you want, and guzzle as much fresh apple cider as your heart desires while you're there. We had some special folks visiting from out-of-town, so of course we had to take them there.

I have a new baby, and it's pink!

Yesterday I received a Gazelle, a new electronic cutting machine. I haven't had much time to play with it, but it cuts beautifully! I've been using a Wishblade for the last few years, and I've loved it, but it is limited to 8 inches wide and is having trouble cutting thick cardstock. It won't cut chipboard. The Gazelle will cut 12 inches wide and will also cut chipboard. I'll try to post pictures of the machine and projects in a few days.

Flat tire was a blessing

I was frantically trying to finish a few things on our kitchen, including getting new curtains, before company arrived. I had gone several places the evening before, but didn't see any curtains that suited either my budget or my taste. I decided I'd have to make the curtains, although I wasn't sure when I'd have the time. I dropped off my daughter at her work and had gotten about two lights away. While stopped at the red light, I heard a tapping on my window. A man was standing there. I opened the window a crack, and he asked me, "Did you know your rear tire is almost completely flat?" No, I'd had no idea.

So I said a silent prayer that I'd make it to the Goodyear place before it got so flat the rim would be damaged. I kept thinking of how much I had to do before company arrived in a few days, and thinking of the expense of a new tire, and possibly a damaged rim. I was rather upset, but turned my problems over to the Lord.

I did make it to Goodyear before the tire went completely flat, for which I was very thankful. I didn't want to just sit in the Goodyear lobby, so I decided to walk to Lowe's Home Improvement Center to see if they had something I needed. I wasn't there long. They didn't have what I wanted. So at that point I decided to walk to K-Mart. I haven't shopped at K-Mart for a long time. Both selection and service had lessened over the years, and I rarely went there anymore. However, I had nothing better to do, so I walked to K-Mart.

I found "my" curtains there. They were a perfect match for the colors of my kitchen, and they were a pattern I liked, too. And they definitely were less costly than making them would have been, and far less expensive than most of the ones I'd seen the evening before. Goodyear called me and told me my tire was ready, so I paid for the curtains and walked back to get my car. Now here is the kicker: the tire repair didn't cost me a dime. (I had road hazard insurance on my tires.)

I never would have thought to check K-Mart for curtains, so the flat tire turned out to be a blessing, especially since the tire didn't cost me anything.

Some people probably would figure this was just a cool coincidence or a lucky break, and not that curtains are important in the Lord's plan. I cannot help but feel that while curtains may not be a big thing to the Lord, He is willing to help His children, even in little things. It's what a latter-day apostle referred to as "the tender mercies of the Lord." Sometimes those tender mercies come in small quiet ways that let us know He knows us and loves us, and will help us with any problem if we are willing to turn to Him.

Petrified Forest

I haven't posted any scenic photos lately, and that is kind of one focus of this blog, so I decided to show a couple photos of the Petrified Forest that is in Mississippi. We saw a sign from the I-20 freeway and ended up going back later with family to see it. You can see a rather large petrified wood piece outside the entrance. You have to pay admission inside and then you are allowed through a door to the fenced in area of the Petrified Forest where there are paths and signs to follow. It started to rain before we got into that area, so the photo on the right isn't the best.

Savior of the World musical production

The kitchen floor is done. Now we're working on lower cabinets. At least I have my range back and usable again.

Yesterday we had our first rehearsal for the musical production of "Savior of the World" that was written under the direction of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Our stake is putting it on this December. We had tried out a few weeks ago. I wasn't holding my breath for getting a part--well, I thought I wasn't anyway. We were supposed to hear who actually was assigned parts by last night, but got no email. We got a clarification email this morning which only confused us because we'd gotten no email. So we figured that either the email went astray, or we were just in the chorus (which would have been all right, too). At church, though, we were told that we will be Elisabeth and Zacharias! So I am very excited! We got home from church to find the email had been resent. Apparently we weren't the only ones who hadn't gotten it.

It's been a difficult week in other ways. Jordan's missionary status is on hold for a little while because his blood pressure is a little high for someone his age. So we need to find out why. There are other reasons this week has been upsetting and challenging, too.

So hearing we had gotten the parts of Elisabeth and Zacharias was a blessing & privilege that made me feel the Lord is mindful of us and gave us parts of individuals whose trials were far greater than anything we've ever known. They also had to wait many years for their prayers to be answered, although they did receive answers to their prayers. They just had to wait a lot longer than most of us.

Kitchen Renovations Part 1

It's already been a couple of weeks since I updated my blog. One thing that has kept me busy is working on renovating my kitchen. We are doing a lot of the work ourselves. We had been to a demonstration at Home Depot on how to lay tile, and it looked pretty easy to do. What turned out to be not so easy was (1) ripping up the linoleum and subflooring, (2) pulling out the cabinets and countertops, and (3) the muscles required to mix the mortar and lay the tile. It's been a lot of hard work. Just putting down the new backerboard subflooring was really hard. My husband and son did most of that. I helped with one panel, and that one panel wiped me out. After the subfloor was down, I began laying the tile. I got a mere 6 tiles down, and it took at least a couple of hours. With help from a daughter, we got 13 tiles down the next attempt. Then we went on vacation for a week. After coming back, I started working harder on trying to get the floor done. Even so, I found it took me about 2 to 3 days to recover from each day of laying tile, and I could only manage about 14 tiles each time. Jon and Jeanne helped me lay tile, and Josiah was my go-fer. Jordan helped with mixing mortar and cleaning up. This has been a family project.

With about 156+ tiles total to get down, it has taken a lot longer than I expected. Now all we have left are the tiles that need to be cut. Above are two photos taken about a week ago, so we've gotten more done since then, but it shows somewhat how the floor will look. My kitchen has been totally ripped apart for more than a month now, and I think it will be the end of the week before we have the floor completed. Then I need to paint, and finally after that we'll be able to put the stove back in place and start putting cabinets together. I'll have to have a makeshift countertop for a few weeks. Hopefully it will be all done before we have company coming later in September.

Time is stampeding past me

It's the last day of July already. Summer is more than half gone, the year is more than half gone, and I am far behind where I want to be.

This post is mainly a test to see if I can add a photo to a post instead of just at the bottom of the blog page. This is a photo of the fireworks in Washington, DC. We got what we thought was a great spot to view the fireworks, but there was very little breeze, and what there was blew the smoke in our direction, so we had the worst view of the fireworks we've ever had. Afterwards we couldn't get back to our car (long story), and we ended up walking at least 3 miles (possibly as many as 5) to my niece's apartment. Her husband then drove my husband back to the Pentagon where our car was parked. By the time we left for home, traffic was light.

It was a lovely walk along the river, though, even if it was a long one. DC is beautiful at night.

A First for Me

I've never been a blogger. I've occasionally considered it, but it was one of those things that didn't seem particularly necessary to my life until I had to create an account to view my son's blog. So now I am entering the world of blogging, and we'll see where things go from here.