I like getting older!

A dear friend of mine sent this to me. I understand these thoughts and I am thankful I do. I love my age!

"I would never trade my amazing friends, my wonderful life, my loving family for less gray hair or a flatter belly.

As I've aged, I've become kinder to myself, and less critical of myself. I've become my own friend. I don't chide myself for eating that extra cookie, or for not making my bed, or for buying that silly cement gecko that I didn't need, but looks so avante garde on my patio. I am entitled to a treat, to be messy, to be extravagant.

I have seen too many dear friends leave this world too soon; before they understood the great freedom that comes with aging.

Whose business is it if I choose to read or play on the computer until 4 AM and sleep until noon? I will dance with myself to those wonderful tunes of the 60 &70's, and if I, at the same time, wish to weep over a lost love ... I will.

I will walk the beach in a swim suit that is stretched over a bulging body, and will dive into the waves with abandon if I choose to, despite the pitying glances from the jet set. They, too, will get old.

I know I am sometimes forgetful. But there again, some of life is just as well forgotten. And I eventually remember the important things.

Sure, over the years my heart has been broken. How can your heart not break when you lose a loved one, or when a child suffers,or even when somebody's beloved pet gets hit by a car? But broken hearts are what give us strength and understanding and
compassion. A heart never broken is pristine and sterile and will never know the joy of being imperfect.

I am so blessed to have lived long enough to have my hair turning gray, and to have my youthful laughs be forever etched into deep grooves on my face. So many have never laughed, and so many have died before their hair could turn silver.

As you get older, it is easier to be positive. You care less about what other people think. I don't question myself anymore. I've even earned the right to be wrong.

So, to answer your question, I like being old. It has set me free. I like the person I have become. I am not going to live forever, but while I am still here, I will not waste time lamenting what could have been, or worrying about what will be. And I shall eat dessert every single day(if I feel like it)."

TOFW-

This past weekend was Time Out for Women. I believe I have been to all the TOFW that have been in Florida. I always enjoy them. The first year I went I went with friends and each year I have been able to add someone I love to that circle. Kathy moved down here and then Alyse came and then we added Emma and Kristen. Then last year we added Michelle to our mix. I look forward to these conferences not only for the spiritual uplift but the bonding moments we always have. It is a time to leave the rush of life away and enjoy some soft moments basking in the Spirit of love.

This year we missed Kathy as she had a commitment and couldn't come. Michelle couldn't make it due to numerous things and Brittany is in Idaho. One day maybe we will all be able to make it. We did add Lindy, Kristen's roommate to our group and Emma brought up her friend Erica. We stayed at the Rosen Centre and walked to the conference.

The talks and music were wonderful. I will say I enjoyed one talk the most. It happened to be by Kris Belcher. She shared her story of her life and her dealings with cancer. We laughed and cried and I sat in amazement of her strength and courage. She is now one of my heroes. I am glad I bought her book since it contains some of her talk and some other stories. She has given me a different perspective on trials and how they can become some of our holy places. Thank you Kris Belcher for enriching my life.

Thank you Alyse, Becky and Tom

Well it's Tuesday night and this is the night Becky and I walk around her neighborhood. We try to do it twice a week. 5 times around her neighborhood is 2 miles. She has a killer hill that we always huff and puff to get up but we do it. Lately with the days warming up it is harder to walk in the heat. Last week I swear Becky counted wrong and we went 6 times around. She assures me that we only did 5. We repeat this ritual on Thursday's as well.

I do feel better when I exercise. Tonight I had a headache and Becky thought she couldn't walk so we agreed we would start back up next week since we both wouldn't be able to do Thursday night as well.

I was watching the "Biggest Loser" tonight and the challenge was to run a half marathon. I want to run a marathon sometime in my life and hopefully soon. I wanted to see if I could run for a little while but I have a problem with my knees. I am in pain most of the time. I talked a friend Tom, who told me he could give me shots in my knees. He gave me my first shot in my right knee and it felt amazing to not walk in pain. 3 months later I asked him for another shot but one for both knees. For the first time in years I can walk and not have pain. It is glorious.

So tonight I asked Alyse to go run with me. She said now??? It was after 9:00. I said sure... lets go. We got on our shoes and exercise clothes and out the door we went. I RAN a 1/2 mile. It felt great and as I ran I kept saying... just keep going. My lungs wanted to fly out of my body and flop on the ground but I told them to knock it off. Alyse was a great cheerleader who kept me going and encouraging me.

So Alyse, Becky and Tom- I say THANK YOU! You are helping me inch towards my goal! Italy here I come!

Remember Lots Wife

Well, I have waited a long time for Elder Hollands talk to be put online. And I found it today. I am so excited. Here is the link if you would like to listen to it. It is one of the best talks I have ever heard! I will be adding this to my Mp3 player. I hope you enjoy it as much as I have and will continue to have. And I would like to say Thank You, Elder Holland!

http://speeches.byu.edu/?act=viewitem&id=1819&tid=5

These are the best of times, these are the worse of times

I was checking the news on the Internet. I don't remember where I went online but as I scanned the headlines I saw that a man had killed his family and himself because of financial problems. I felt sad for the family and wondered why this man thought he could take their lives. I had a scripture pop into my head as I read about his possible financial ruin. "Men's hearts shall fail them...." I grew to a greater understanding of this scripture and how increasing this problem is becoming. Men's hearts are failing them. I have taught this scripture many times and I have thought about the great depression how Men's hearts failed them but I am now living to see it really happen.

I think about Madoff who stole billions from investors and how some people who were once wealthy now have nothing. For months after we read how men killed themselves because of financial ruin. Finally I think I am understanding these 2 things and how they are connected together. Then of course my mind is left to ponder over this and I end up asking myself, how do you insure that your heart does not fail you?

This past week I have had another scripture running through my head for some reason. "Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding..." I have pondered upon it as well. Then this morning as I was laying in bed pondering on different things these two thoughts came together. Men's hearts shall fail them.... lean not unto thine own understanding but to Trust God.

My thoughts then went back to those who have taken their lives because they trusted in Man and not God. These two thoughts intrigued me and how they fit so well together. I got out of bed and went to the computer and to the internet. LDS.org is our home page. There was the sweet face of Pres. Monson. I pulled up his current Ensign talk. What did the first sentence read??? “Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

Now while this is all very cool to me and now I have come to understand the theme that was building in my head better, I have no idea why these thoughts have come to me? Is something coming on the horizon and I need to have this knowledge and testimony in place? I sure hope not! Is it a wink from God saying I'm just checking to see if your still thinking about me? Perhaps I use it to make sure that I always trust in the Lord and not in man's arm or knowledge.

Which is very interesting to me since I work with people who achieve what the world acknowledges as the highest degree of education that of being a Ph.D. I often listen to them talk and while they know their stuff they are relying on the arm of flesh and how long will that carry you or will it carry you? I think I can say no that when we rely on ourselves solely we fail.

So I might not have a Ph.D but I have a sure knowledge and I am grateful that I don't have to fear the future because I can trust Heavenly Father. That is worth more than any amount of school knowledge, life knowledge and all the money in the world. Thanks for the wink!

Sometimes life is just that way!!!

So Kath asked me if Mike and I were going on Saturday and I said, where would that be? She told me there was a High Priest Temple trip. I said oh, well let me ask Mike if he has anything planned for Saturday. What would be better than a trip down to Orlando with Devin and Kathy.

As it worked out Mike was free to go and so we took the opportunity to snag a ride down to Orlando with some of our favorite people. We got up early Saturday morning and headed down. Mike and I both had talks to finish/start writing but we just chatted the whole way down and back. Ya have to love family who are also very dear friends.

We made it to the temple and to our great surprise the temple was stuffed full of people. Kathy and I had to wait in the dressing room because there was standing room only in the halls and the Chapel. I thought this is great. This is exactly how it should be every time. We were able to do 2 family names for a women from So. Florida as she stood in line with us. I looked at the name and other stuff on my card and noticed she was born 29 Feb 1872. She would have been 43 years old. Her birth day date is a leap year. How cool is that. Anyhow, we eventually make it into a session and gather back together in the celestial room.

We decided that we were very hungry and decided we would go to lunch at "Sweet Tomatoes."
We were hungry and nothing better than stuffing yourself with yummy salad, soup, pasta, bread and you even get to have dessert. We were finally settled into our table with our salads, drinks and good conversation. We ate until we thought our eyes were going to pop out. But we still needed to have dessert. Some of us were sitting for a moment to let our stomachs digest some before taking on the dessert bar.

I happened to look to the right of me and my eye caught an older women quickly putting her chocolate muffin into her purse. I didn't think much of it until I continued to watch her stuff more chocolate muffins into her purse. She was quick. She was scanning the restaurant for anyone that might be watching her. I tell you she had this move down pat. Before I could blink she had 2 then 4 muffins in her purse and that was just what I saw go in there. Kath was getting ready to get up and I said.... sit down... and shared with her the old women who was high jacking all the chocolate muffins.

She didn't have the "hot" muffins in her purse too long before an elder gentleman came walking up to her with 4 more chocolate muffins on a plate. He sat it down in front of her and she went to work again. She did leave one on the plate which told me her purse must be full. By this time we were counting how many she had in her purse. I counted 10 and that was just what I had seen. She excused herself from the table and I wondered what she was going for next. She came back with a yam. I wondered how that was going to mix with the muffins. I was disappointed because she ate that at the table. We chatted about why the need for so many chocolate muffins. We all eventually made our way to the dessert bar. I went to try a chocolate muffin. I assumed they were very good! But they were ALL GONE. Awe darn! But while standing at the dessert bar out came a whole new batch of you guessed it "Chocolate muffins." My face broke out with a huge smile. I figured it wouldn't be long before the word got out there was a new pile of chocolate muffins.

We finished up our meal and knew we needed to head back home. I noticed that the elderly man had cut the last muffin into 4th and was sharing it with their friends. They all seemed to like what they tasted. But by the looks on their friends faces they had no idea they were sitting with Slick Finger Sally and Sam. We were getting ready to leave when here he comes again with 4 more chocolate muffins on a dish. We just looked at each other and laughed. That was sure some purse you've got there sister but I think the friends on the other side of the table were cramping their style. As we headed out to leave we could hear the elderly man ask his friend if he didn't need to go and get more ice for his tea. To which the man replied. No I'm fine. Our final decision about why they were taking all the muffins was the grand kids must be coming over!

We talked about that on the way home. I only hope that if Mike and I get so bad off I can still make chocolate muffins for him and anyone else who might like to have one. I hoped she was able to make it out the door carrying her 15+ chocolate muffins. That had to be one heavy purse!

Oh and by the way... they really weren't that good. Kind of tasted like they had lots of bran in them.

Thought for the week!

There are days that I truly still miss Pres. Hinckley. I love the sound of his voice and the way he taught. Someone shared this with me and I thought I would share this touching story with you. It has caused me to want to be better person.