Today I love.....

I'm stealing an idea from my friend Paula. Since I don't really feel like i have much to blog about in regards to my daily doings, I'm going to blog about things that I love about that day or week. If nothing else, I figure it will help me to be more grateful and remind me that there are things to love about each day. Thanks for the idea Paula and hope you don't' mind my 'mooching' it off of you!

TODAY I LOVE...

Winters in Arizona, because it means that I can go walking (outside) at 8 in the morning without dying of heat exhaustion or drowning in my own sweat! It was a beautiful, cloudy, overcast morning! I love that!

I live just a few streets south of a retirement community.

You might not think that's ideal, BUT it's a quiet neighborhood (perfect for walking in). AND...there are NO speed bumps in this little community! I LOVE THAT!


I happened to glance into a window as i walked past a house and noticed that they were watching 'Little House on the Prairie'. I LOVE 'Little House on the Prairie' and that people still watch it!

I own the first 5 Seasons. My roommate has given them to me over the years for birthdays or holidays. I grew up on Little House on the Prairie, and decided a long time ago that when i grew up and had children, I would 'tape' all of episodes and raise my children on Little House. It's such a great show that teaches great values. So, imagine my delight when I saw the 1st Little House 'video' for sale years ago. Glad I waited to start my collection until it came out on DVD.

I love that I heard thunder on my walk and that it sprinkled a couple of drops on my eyelid...but didn't downpour on me.

What a great way to start the day!

Magnificant Monday!

What a great day! First of all, I didn't have to work.

My oven CLEANED itself! Gotta love self-cleaning ovens!

Then I went to a cookie exchange at my sisters house with my sisters, sister in-law and mom. Here is a peek at some of the yummy cookies we exchanged.

Tis the Season for baking and eating!

Then...I found these cute shoes (picture doesn't do them justice) for just $23! I returned some that I had previously bought for $60...which I really couldn't afford.

The evening started with this BEAUTIFUL sunset!

Can you see the chickens in the chicken coop? All hunkered down for the evening.

I made salmon, which my roommate didn't like. That's o.k. She doesn't like fish but she agreed to try it. I didn't like Salmon for years. I still don't like Seafood. Just tuna and Salmon these days.

Tis the Season to get a Christmas Tree too! Woo hoo! We need more lights so we can decorate it!

Aaaahh! What nice day. Back to the grind tomorrow. Love this Season though!

Prophecy being fufilled...

"Make no mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years head, events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. President Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had 'never hesitated to follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my social, professional or political life.' "This is hard doctrine, but it is particularly vital doctrine in a society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ...Your discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted...This new irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those opinions grow out of religious convictions. "Resistance to abortion will be seen as primitive. Concern over the institution of the family will be viewed as untrendy and unenlightened...Before the ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost. Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that the choices are clear, letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. There will also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probably, but others will step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself. Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves,'summer is nigh.' thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of the heat.'

Elder Neal A. Maxwell

"A More Determined Discipleship", Ensign, Feb. 1979, pp. 69-73

Sleep Aid

Last night I met some friends at the:

for dinner and visiting.

I ordered the:

(Pumpkin Soup)

...which was VERY good!

Last night, I

like a
...I can't remember the last time that happened. It was AWESOME!

So now I'm

...if there was something in that pumpkin soup...some herb/spice that is a natural sleep aid.

Now I'm watching 'Dancing with the Stars' and wondering if I should eat some pumpkin soup...so I can sleep that good tonight!

During troubled times...

"Life has it's share of some fear and some failure. Sometimes things fall short, (we) don't quite measure up. Sometimes in both personal and public life, we are seemingly left without strength to go on. Sometimes people fail us, or economies and circumstances fail us, and life with it's hardship and heartache can leave us feeling very alone. But when such difficult moments come to us, I testify that there is one thing which will never, ever fail us. One thing alone will stand the test of all time, of all tribulation, all trouble, and all transgression. One thing only, never faileth-and that is the Pure Love of Christ. I testify that having loved us who are in the world, Christ loves us to the end. His pure love never fails us. Not now. Not ever."

-Jeffrey R. Holland-

Thoughtful...

Our weather is finally starting to cool down a bit in the evenings and so tonight I thought I would take a walk through the neighborhood. The sun was just setting and it was beautiful. Pink, purple, yellow, orange....peaceful. It fills me. There is a retirement community in the northern part of my neighborhood. This neighborhood...where I walk ...is the same neighborhood that both my grandparents on my mother's side and father's side used to own homes. I visited this neighborhood as a child and as a teenager. This is now my neighborhood...it's strange sometimes...to think...
I see kitchen windows lit in some of these homes, and I remember my grandparents...being in their kitchens...you know...a grandma and grandpa kitchen. You know that smell? Not a bad smell but that smell that always reminds you of your grandparents and lets you know that you are in a special place. I remember as a child traveling out here to Arizona to visit them. My one grandpa was tall with big feet. I remember his clothes...his face...his voice. When we would arrive he would open the door which was in their car port and led right into their little kitchen and say, Well lookey what the cat dragged in. They came out when my brother was born and he was busy doing projects around the house. Even bought the dogs, flea collars. My grandma told me once that I could catch a jackrabbit if I could get salt on it's tail. It got me out of the house and allowed the grown ups to visit, I'm sure. I never did catch one. Fresh squeezed orange juice in little green juice glasses. Grapefruit and grapefruit spoons. I remember sitting in her little t.v. room with her and her describing to me how she was filled with the spirit as she watched General Conference on t.v. Hiding her pills in her grapefruit. Watching her wiggle her fingers at the little puppies we had at the time. My other grandpa....I can still hear him whistling in the bathroom as he shaved. His mustache tickled when he kissed me. He'd come out after getting ready and rub his soft face against my cheek so that I could smell his aftershave. When I smell that smell....I still look around sometimes. His laugh. Dancing. The way he treated my grandmother....so sweet. My grandmother....classy lady. Always dressed so pretty. Her wigs! They were gorgeous on her but I did have a nightmare about them one time. Cooking. Grandma cookies. Sweet tooth...just like me. Dentures. Social butterfly. The hostess with the mostest. I miss them. I'm blessed to have known them. Families are blessings.

Weekend in VEGAS!

Thanks to the stimulus checks we got this year, my roommate and I decided to go to Vegas! I've never been. I've had a couple of trips planned with friends in the past but something always came up and it never worked out. This was my birthday present this year! Part of the whole experience for me was staying in a really nice hotel...something I've never done. We stayed at the Venetian. Here's a picture of the lobby of the Venetian.

We went to Madame Tussuad's (Wax Museum) ...another little something I've always wanted to do. Here are just a few of the many pictures I took there.
Can you see the resemblance between Cameron and I?

Stevie and I are going on the road together! Al Roker stopped Lesli for a quick interview as Larry King waited for his turn.

and so many more...

We saw the very interesting, bizarre, but very entertaining Cirque Du Soleil "O"

The show was at the Bellagio, so when we came out of the hotel, the 'Fountain' show was about to start. Pretty cool! Of course this picture doesn't actually capture how cool it was.We took taxi's to the different hotels and that was part of the whole fun experience. We went to the Dolphin Habitat at Treasure Island. There was a baby dolphin just born that morning. Cute. We also saw the White Tigers and Lions. All of the lights and people, and fun hotel lobbies made the whole thing feel kind of like Disneyland. It's a great place to 'people watch' too. I know that's a stretch...considering it's VEGAS. It was just a fun weekend to get away and do something different.

Oh...and we did waste a ton of food. The first night there I ordered a chicken pot pie. I know...a pot pie? It sounded good at the time. Anyway, this was my pot pie... It was HUGE! It's not like you can get a doggie bag either. Where are you going to keep it? Lesli made me feel better by telling me that she saw an episode of 'Dirty Jobs' that told about a Pig Farm in Nevada that got all of their 'slop' from the left over food at the hotels in Vegas. I felt a little better knowing it was "for the pigs". I just had to keep telling myself that.

See...people can enjoy Vegas without drinking, gambling or going to strip clubs!

Good Times!