Conference, painting decisions, and a new chair….

 

Conference weekend was the perfect beginning to a greatly anticipated Spring Break!

Conference is one of my favorite spiritual feasts.  Twice a year we get to listen to wonderful messages from our church leaders, and all from the comfort of our own homes (and in our pajamas if we want to)!

General Conference is broadcast from the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah to all parts of the world.

I enjoyed all of the many messages and realized how each one pertained to me.  (Yes, I have a lot of weaknesses!)

Some of my favorite ideas include: 

(Thanks to www.SpirituallyThinking.blogspot.com for the following.)

This thought was from our Prophet, Thomas S. Monson.

This advice came from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.

Check out his wonderful talk  here. 

President Uchtdorf always gives wonderful messages. You can listen to him here.

and

This message from  Elder Ronald A. Rasband was  both touching and comforting  for anyone with a special needs family member.  You can watch it here.  It made us cry.

WHAT A BLESSING IT HAS BEEN TO LISTEN AND LEARN FROM THESE SPIRITUAL GIANTS!

* * * * * *

After a lot of debating, pondering, uncertainty,

and gnashing of teeth (mine), we decided to change our “red” family room to a “brown” family room.

As the dark chocolate paint went on the walls I was ready to immediately abort the whole project, but my husband refused to stop painting until I could see the whole effect.

I only  hated him for two days, but his strategy paid off in the end.  (Sorry, Ken!)  It does look much better now that it doesn’t touch other colors.

Another big decision we made was to paint the book cases and mantle a creamy white.

I’m still holding my breath on that one.

I’ll post some pictures soon.

* * * * * * *

Do you like our new chair?

Phewww…..

My very long post is now finished! 

I’ve got some pansies that need to find a new home in my flower beds.  Guess I’d better get some work done!

JoAnn

P.S.  Does anybody know how to spell “phew”?

Is it a real word?

 

Spring

 

“Spring is when life's alive in everything.”

—Christina Rossetti

One more day…

and we officially start Spring Break.

Can I say I am so excited?

I’m so excited!

JoAnn

♥

Sisters

Yesterday,I hung out with some cute sisters.

It reminded me of something.

link

I’m grateful for the sisters in my life!

Have a nice weekend!

JoAnn

Kids…

I spend my days associating with little people.

(Sorry, it’s Saint Patrick’s Day and Darby O’Gill is on my mind!)

They are a source of joy

and

frustration.

It is exciting to see them finally catch on to a topic they have been struggling with and rewarding to watch as they gain confidence and skills.

It is frustrating to teach them when they don’t want sit still and listen.

I love hearing about their adventures and dreams.

I worry about their personal challenges.

Sometimes I complain about the endless paper work.

link

Other days, their papers make me happy.

(These notes came from the Kids in my primary class at my church.  I was “heart attacked” on Valentine’s Day.)

I drag myself home on Friday afternoons, positive that I’m much too old to keep up with them.

By Monday mornings, I’ve recovered a bit and head back to start all over again.

So…..

Even though it isn’t always easy,

I guess I count myself lucky that I have this opportunity.

This quote I saw on Facebook pretty much shows how children embrace life!

 

link

 I I hope you have a nice St. Patrick’s Day.

(I only got pinched once today!)

JoAnn

 

A little road trip…perhaps?

My husband and I have been talking about taking a little vacation.

I suggested Europe.

Not in the budget.

New England would be nice.

Too far to drive.

(That would require air- line tickets, car rentals, and hotels.)

I hate Las Vegas.

We’ve been to Washington quite a few times.

(We do love it, however.)

California?  Maybe.

We will probably end up driving up the California/Oregon coast and then spending a few days in Portland with our daughter and her husband.

We are just in the beginning-to-talk-about-it-stages.

Wouldn’t it be fun to have one of these?

 

link

(Check out this blog.)

I would be perfectly happy camping in a beautiful little meadow full of wild flowers.

Some rugged mountains would be nice surrounding us.

Maybe a quiet little beach.

Sigh……

I don’t know where we will end up going, but it is fun to think about it.

Now, let’s just hope gas prices don’t keep going higher and higher!

JoAnn

 

There’s nothing a little rest and relaxation can’t fix….

 

Ever feel like life is going too fast?

Is there more to do than time or energy permits?

Want to stop the world for a little break?

Wouldn’t it be nice to just fall asleep when you really need to?

-No matter where you are,

-or what you are doing,

-or what you might miss out on.

Liz and the girls at Disney World (with their other grandpa).

Liz and Ken twenty something years ago at Disneyland.

Joshua during his lunch time.

It has been a very long week. 

EVERY NIGHT has been busy.

We’ve had two nights of conferences with parents at school and I went to see the play “Zorro, The Musical”, too.

(I’m not complaining about the musical night.)

Maddie having a restful time in an unconventional spot.

Yes,

Life can be very busy.

* * * * * *

I almost had a “house-guest” to sleep in my new room.

The night of our play was a snowy, windy evening and my friend Peggy lives half an hour away.  We thought about just keeping her here and sending her off to work the next morning in the same outfit.  It would have been fun to sit by the fire, sip some hot cocoa, and talk about the evening, avoiding the slow and dangerous drive home.

However,

Due to the fact that it had been a very busy week, the house wasn’t really “guest worthy”.

(Visions of clutter, some unwashed dishes, and bathrooms that didn’t get cleaned on the weekend due to a short trip to Idaho, quickly sent my brain into a panic mode.)

(Could she just enjoy the bedroom without having to venture out to the rest of the house?)

Peggy decided that her own bed (and a fresh start in the morning) was worth the extra time driving home so she didn’t end up staying. 

I was secretly relieved, yet a little disappointed, too.

So,

Here’s my real problem.

How do people do all they do

and still stay on top of everything? 

(Please don’t remind me that during the time I wrote this blog I could have cleaned a bathroom!)

How do you keep up with everything?

JoAnn

P.S.  Thanks for the pictures, Liz and Irene.

A few more changes….craft bedroom

We’ve done a bit of rearranging in our little guest/craft/spare bedroom.  We upgraded from a twin to a full size mattress.  An old metal bed that lived in the garage got a coat of paint to match the little table.  The room still needs a few final touches, but it is available for a guest. 

If you chose to visit you could:

1.  Read old Trixie Beldon or Nancy Drew  books.  (I know, pretty hard to resist.)

2.  Count the buttons in the jar.  (Or, match them to the colors on the bedspread.)

3.  Work on some of my unfinished craft projects.  (Knitting, anyone?)

4.  Recline in the chair and do absolutely nothing at all.

If those reasons don’t make you want to jump in your car and come for a visit, then remember that we live close to Trax, malls, movie theaters, sport arenas, and live entertainment (G rated-not what you were probably thinking!). 

Any takers?

JoAnn