A Rare Moment: an actual entry from my personal journal

Today I am posting twice because my last post about my talents was mostly typed and pictures uploaded a few weeks ago, then I got busy and didn't actually finish the post until today.  The second post is something I want to publish for people to see/read if they so desire and today happens to be the day I'm putting it up.  So, in putting up the second post I figured I had better finish the first post before I complete the second post.

And, moving on...

Today is a rare moment for anyone who reads this because this will be an actual full-length entry from my personal journal...the journal that is the most open avenue of my mind.  I hope as you read it you will see why I want to post this publicly.  If you view yourself as one of the politically-vocal persons I make reference to, please realize this is just my view and voice about politics because I do far more listening to others' voices than I do of sharing my own.

July 03, 2012

I was reading scriptures yesterday morning and found myself easily identifying with what was happening on a broad scale.  This is a presidential election year for the United States of America.  There is much what I will call wickedness both among the American people and within the ranks of government.  This nation has been blessed and prospered by God for a few hundred years, but we now are ripening for turmoil and destruction.  We seem to be very much like the Nephite nation as talked about in Helaman chapter 5

          (2) For as their laws and their governments were established by the voice of the people, and they who chose evil were more numerous than they who chose good, therefore they were ripening for destruction, for the laws had become corrupted.

          (3) Yea, and this was not all; they were a stiffnecked people, insomuch that they could not be governed by the law nor justice, save it were to their destruction.

Because of all the corruption that has been developing and happening of the last probably 50 or more years, it seems now to be a constant cycle of corruption and deception, no matter who is elected in to the office of President of the United States.  So, especially during the last several presidential elections, which happen every four years, it seems like the options are more or less bad and worse.  During the year or so leading up to the election, politically-minded people really become vocal as to who will be the best candidate and why (and how) they will be the current savior for the worst of our nation's woes.

Interestingly, in Helaman chapter 5, Nephi "had become weary because of their iniquity" so he gave up his position in the judgment-seat, which seems to be a governmental position similar to U.S. president, and "took it upon him to preach the word of God all the remainder of his days..." [Note: upon further review of verses one to four, it is quite possible that Nephi was voted out and chose to preach the gospel then.  Either way, it seems he and his brother Lehi decided to pursue preaching for they had remembered the words of their father Helaman, which included the following:]

The words of his father which he remembered, found cause to be written down in conjunction with the political turmoil, and possibly went about preaching, included a reminder "that there is no other way nor means whereby man can be saved, only through the atoning blood of Jesus Christ" (vs. 9), that repentance of our sins is the purpose of Christ's atoning blood (vs. 10-11), and that (vs. 12) "it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall."

          Please notice Helaman does not say it is upon the platform of our redeemer, who is the current candidate, that ye must place your trust and hope; that when the devil shall use the winds of politics, yea his shafts in the whirlwind of current thoughts of how things should be run and done, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm of uncertainty in current worldly leadership shall beat upon you when they don't fulfill the promises of redemption which helped get them into office, this shall have power to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of your trust in the arm of flesh (2 Nephi 4:34).

          Believe me, it is a gulf of misery and endless wo to hear politicians' promises and politically-vocal citizens' opinions.  I am already less miserable and less wo-weary to hear Helaman's counsel as to who my foundation of faith should be built upon.  In the grand view of politics and this world, I was not here when it began, and I doubt I will be here when the full transition to God's government takes place.  So during my time here, it may be best to follow the example of Nephi and Lehi as told in Helaman 5:14

"And they did remember his words; and therefore they went forth, keeping the commandments of God, to teach the word of God among all the people..."

Talents Buried

I have talents that sometimes want to shine at the most random times.  Okay, so this one probably wasn't all that random as you will see in the following story.

My child was born nearly four years ago.  One of my sisters welcomed a baby into her family in March.  Between my child growing into a toddler and her child being born I have discovered something I wish I had been creative enough to think of on my own and that I would probably like to have for future infants.  Of course, it is an item that can be ordered and paid for at potentially a much higher price than someone with basic sewing skills (like myself) can make on their own.  So, wanting to see if I could actually make one, I found an online pattern, purchased the materials I did not already have, and set to work making the item.  I made a reversible carseat canopy, but did not think to take pictures of it on the carseat, so here is the finished product in flat:



Animal Print side



Plain side

Anniversary

Welcome January 2012!  It's clearly been a few months since I last posted and as I perused my previous posts to maybe get an idea of what to write today, I realized it's been almost one year since I began this blog.  So much has changed since then.

One of the most desirable changes is that, as a family, we are done with school for a while and Brett finally (just within the last few weeks) was offered a professional job--it's temporary, but it's a good start toward something better.  Another change is that we have been blessed during the holidays to spend time with family we haven't had opportunity to spend time with outside of phone and internet for a few years.  Other than these few changes, right now I'm thinking that there are more changes yet to come that I look forward to.

As Brett has been saying lately, 2012 is going to be a good year for us!

Move it!

So I missed posting in July because I was very busy with preparations for and the aftermath of moving.  Now we are more settled for at least a month or so until my husband can find work.

Moving and I have a love/hate relationship.  Moving loves me because it kicks me out of my current comfort zone and causes me to evaluate if I am going in life where I want to be.  I am slowly beginning to stop hating moving because I hate saying farewell to local friends with the promise that we'll be back to visit--It's nearly impossible to coordinate a visit that lets us see ALL the friends we've made and for a long enough time to enjoy it.  I'm beginning to stop hating only because of social networking sites that let us all stay in touch a little easier.

I certainly am thankful that snail mail is not the only way to communicate visually long distances these days and that technology makes easier sharing parts of our lives with our friends around the world.

Matters In My Own Hands

My son loves to watch a show called Shaun the Sheep.  He asks me almost daily, "Watch sheep?"  I really would prefer he spends most of his time doing something active rather than just mindlessly sitting watching a television screen or computer monitor.  So one day when he asked if he could watch sheep I decided we would make a sheep instead.  I got on the internet and found a simple project idea, gathered the supplies I had, and I helped him make his own sheep.  And here is how it worked out:



The supplies







Finished project







It was a really easy project and my son was able to help cut out the sheep outline, then letting him put the cotton balls onto the glue was far less messy than giving him the glue to squirt.  And when the sheep was done he had a fun new sheep he had helped make rather than just sit and watch an animated sheep again and again and again.

The Plague of My Own Doing -- or putting off doing

Why is putting things off so easy to do?  When I started this blog I wanted to post at least once a week.  And here I am on the last day of May writing a post so I can keep at least one post a month--at least for the last few months.  And the dumb thing is that I'm on the computer at least once a day, I just don't take time to create a post because I carry the attitude that I can do it later, or do it tomorrow.  And then I find myself looking back at a whole month having gone by without having written here.

Sadly, blogging is not the only thing I have experienced this disappointment with.  And then when a deadline comes I find myself stressing to get that particular thing done the way I want, without the time I want.  You would think that after so many years of recognizing that I create the stress for myself (and often others who are affected by any activities I put off) by not just being consistent about doing a little each day that I would somehow find encouragement to change.

I suppose I can take a little courage that I wrote this in the morning of the last day of May rather than pushing it off to the end of the day...

A Bite About Food

I love food.  To allow that part of my mind a little air time, I will share a memory and a guilty pleasure.

When I was growing up, one of the salads we learned to make was "Belly-button Salad".  I think there are still debates about whether the name came about because Mom was trying to encourage us to eat it or whether some people in this world (outside of my family) actually call it by this name.  Here is a picture from a recent endeavor to make this salad:

As you can probably guess, most people who are familiar with this salad know it as Carrot-Raisin Salad.  It makes perfect sense to call something by the most obvious ingredients.  But, for the sake of argument, can you deny that raisins have a subtle similarity to some belly-buttons?

RECIPE:

Carrot Raisin Salad

4 CUPS grated carrot

1 CAN 20 oz. crushed pineapple

1 CUP raisins

3/4 CUP mayo

3 TEASPOON sugar (up to 1 Tbs)

1/2 TABLESPOON lemon juice

Chill all ingredients but sugar 30 minutes before salad prep.  Dissolve sugar in pineapple.  Combine and mix all ingredients adding mayo last.

Serves approx. 8

**If you think you will have leftovers, to make them less "soupy", drain pineapple juice out of can (and do not use in salad) before dissolving sugar in pineapple**

Okay, now let's discover the wonders of melted chocolate.  Not just any melted chocolate.  Around Easter many stores bring in a wonderful kind of candy called the Cadbury mini egg.  I believe it was during my college experience that I was introduced to the fine art of microwaving these gems to bring out the silky goodness of melting the chocolate inside the "crisp sugar shell".  After I was introduced to the microwave method (Depending on how many eggs you microwave at one time and the power level of the microwave, it takes about 30 seconds to one minute with the standard "high" power level.  The more eggs at once, the more time. I usually start at 30 seconds and if the shell has a noticable crack and squishes easily when picked up, it's done.  If it still feels hard, try another 15-30 seconds), I found myself having a harder time eating these eggs just plain and hard.  And now, a visual representation of what I am suggesting as a very near experience of heaven on earth:

Exhibit A: hard, just cut open

Exhibit B: after the microwave...I couldn't help eating half

Exhibit C: side-by-side comparison

Crunchy is good, but with this candy I say liquid smooth with a hint of crunch is better.