Cleaning!!

So I had a great mother who taught me how to clean well.  She is on my mind quiet often as I clean my house.  This morning I decided I needed to tackle our shower and bathroom.  Neither of which was a thrilling thought.  I hate scum!  Let me say that again... I really hate scum.  I feel last weekend and tweaked my shoulder and so to stand in the shower and scrub isn't working well.  So I lined up all my strong bathroom chemicals and off I went.  The shower is now almost done.  I will need to rub it down with one coat of lemon oil pledge so it I don't have to repeat the whole process as much.  I had wanted to add a picture of shower scum for fun but the ones on the internet are horrible....  wow they needed to be trained by my mom.  I'm feeling a whole lot better about my bathroom scum.

I found this interesting little tidbit about shower door scum-  Dryer Sheet: You may be surprised to know that the dryer sheets can also be used to clean soap scum. If the shower door is wet, then take a dry dryer sheet and rub it on the dirty areas of the door vigorously to get rid of the soap build up. In case the surface of the shower door is dry, then dampen the dryer sheet and rub it on the door. Both the methods are equally useful to solve the problem.

Now that the shower is done it should all be down hill from here!  That is until I open the cupboards under my sink and throw everything out.  Drawers be aware you are next.  I'm in a haven't used get rid of it mode.  Okay put off cleaning the rest of it long enough.   

Who AM I? Would you like to know?

I received an email from my sister who said it bothered her that she was getting older and forgetting the past.  She was going to write her life history and asked if we all wanted to join her in this process.  So my brother and sisters and I are giving it a shake.  I had to get a few things under my belt before I started this process.  I sat down last week and wrote up my time line.  We are suppose to work on a time line in Jan.  Well what I could think of took me about 30 mins to do.  I figured I was missing something so I called my sister Kathy up and we talked about this life stuff and how to go about it.

Janet made a good point that when we die the information about our grandparents dies with us if it isn't passed down.  So we are sending emails back and forth about grandparents and things we remember.  The interesting thing is when someone emails it jogs a memory and it adds another piece to the puzzle we had forgotten about.

As I sat down to do some more thinking and reading I was able to figure out how to do my history.  I had learned a trick at work called hyperlinking.  It was as if someone laid out in my mind how to set up my own story.  Ya have to love it when Heavenly Father does that!

Another thing that has been fun is seeing what was going on during the years my grandparents where alive.  My grandmother was 7 when the right to vote for women in Utah was brought about.  It was taken away and then given back around 1894 ish.  The constitution was amended in 1920.  My mom was born in 1921.  So my grandmother was 31 years old.  She grew up during a very interesting time.  She was quite the woman and my mother would tell me she was one of the first women libbers.  I now understand why she was the way she was.  She went on a mission to the Central States Mission where she met my grandfather.  Not many women were sent on missions in the early 1900's.  She sat on Hyrum City Counsel as well.  Not many women do that either.  All the sudden looking at what was going on in life during those times helps me to understand my grandparents better.

What life must have been like for my grandfather who was born in 1893 and died in 1983.  Just the mode of transportation alone changed like crazy during his life time.  He owned a coal mill and I'm not sure those even exist anymore.  And I can't wait to get to know 3 grandparents who I have no memory of. 

While Mike and I were down in Orlando for our anniversary, we talked about our first years together.  There were things we couldn't remember or the order of  what happened during those first years.   And that bothered me.  I am happy Janet brought this idea up.  So this is my journey back through life.  It's going to be pretty fun I think!  I can't wait to truly set sail.

When the Time is Right by Merrilee Boyack

When the Time is Right

by Merrilee Browne Boyack

November 17, 2010

I was reading a terrific book today, Life over Cancer, that has been amazingly helpful to me. As of today, I have officially survived two years after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Wahoo! Only forty-eight more years to go to reach 100! (I am absolutely planning on that huge cake with 100 candles.) As I read the book, I thought, “Gee, I wish I had had this information a couple of years ago!” And then I stopped myself. I realized that that was not right. In fact, I was receiving this information at exactly the right time for me. I was now in a position to physically and mentally act on what I was learning. I have prayed diligently that I would be led to learning that I would need and Heavenly Father had answered that prayer over and over again. At exactly the right time. When I was ready.
Sometimes we beat ourselves up over things we don’t know. People comment all the time after reading my parenting book, “Oh, I wish I had this ten years ago!” Wishful thinking doesn’t change anything and just makes us feel guilty. Instead, we need to celebrate! Yeah! Wonderful, new knowledge exactly when we needed it!
All we have to do is to keep asking. Then we get to act on the information when we get it.
I was worried that my grandson, the utterly splendid and perfect Keaton Roger, wasn’t crawling when he was “supposed to.” Thankfully, I have a patient and level-headed daughter-in-law who assured me repeatedly that he would crawl “when the time is right for him.” Sure enough, he’s now a crawling machine.
But I am often gripped in the tentacles of “It needs to happen right now!” I want that extra weight to peel off effortlessly right now, ignoring the fact that I’m still recuperating from surgery. I want my children to behave flawlessly right now, ignoring the fact that they’re mortal beings. I want all of my financial woes to just magically disappear right now, ignoring the processes of life and savings and investment.
It will happen when the time is right. Or it won’t. All my fretting will not change a thing and will just give me indigestion.
But oh, when the time is right, it is a wonderful thing. People come into our lives at just the right moment to teach us just the right thing. Events happen just as easily and naturally as if we had orchestrated the whole thing. Things just flow.
Which leads me to realize something I have learned most pointedly in the last two years. The Lord is in charge. He is orchestrating when the time is right. He knows when the time is right for each of us.
And as I let go of the fretting and the worrying and the impatience and the puny attempts to control and orchestrate my own life, His will is manifest. And the beauty of His will is a wonder to behold.
So I’m glad He sent me this book right now. It sure was the right time for it. Go figure.

I was reading a terrific book today, Life over Cancer, that has been amazingly helpful to me. As of today, I have officially survived two years after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Wahoo! Only forty-eight more years to go to reach 100! (I am absolutely planning on that huge cake with 100 candles.) As I read the book, I thought, “Gee, I wish I had had this information a couple of years ago!” And then I stopped myself. I realized that that was not right. In fact, I was receiving this information at exactly the right time for me. I was now in a position to physically and mentally act on what I was learning. I have prayed diligently that I would be led to learning that I would need and Heavenly Father had answered that prayer over and over again. At exactly the right time. When I was ready.
Sometimes we beat ourselves up over things we don’t know. People comment all the time after reading my parenting book, “Oh, I wish I had this ten years ago!” Wishful thinking doesn’t change anything and just makes us feel guilty. Instead, we need to celebrate! Yeah! Wonderful, new knowledge exactly when we needed it!
All we have to do is to keep asking. Then we get to act on the information when we get it.
I was worried that my grandson, the utterly splendid and perfect Keaton Roger, wasn’t crawling when he was “supposed to.” Thankfully, I have a patient and level-headed daughter-in-law who assured me repeatedly that he would crawl “when the time is right for him.” Sure enough, he’s now a crawling machine.
But I am often gripped in the tentacles of “It needs to happen right now!” I want that extra weight to peel off effortlessly right now, ignoring the fact that I’m still recuperating from surgery. I want my children to behave flawlessly right now, ignoring the fact that they’re mortal beings. I want all of my financial woes to just magically disappear right now, ignoring the processes of life and savings and investment.
It will happen when the time is right. Or it won’t. All my fretting will not change a thing and will just give me indigestion.
But oh, when the time is right, it is a wonderful thing. People come into our lives at just the right moment to teach us just the right thing. Events happen just as easily and naturally as if we had orchestrated the whole thing. Things just flow.
Which leads me to realize something I have learned most pointedly in the last two years. The Lord is in charge. He is orchestrating when the time is right. He knows when the time is right for each of us.
And as I let go of the fretting and the worrying and the impatience and the puny attempts to control and orchestrate my own life, His will is manifest. And the beauty of His will is a wonder to behold.
So I’m glad He sent me this book right now. It sure was the right time for it. Go figure.

Work and Miracles!

I should share with you my tender moments of last week.  A few years back I chose the greatest New Years resolution ever that was to have faith not fear.  So I worked on having more faith and less fear for a whole year.  It proved to be a touchstone in my life.  As you know I am down in Orlando testing.  The testing for the 1st graders is going very slow.  We were suppose to be done with our school on Friday but it appeared that we would be there until after Thanksgiving.

Another problem came up and I realized we were not going to reach our numbers of 100 children in 1st and 3rd grade.  On Tuesday my mind was called up if you will to this year long experience that I had a few years ago.  This wasn't the first time this had happened.  So I knew this was what I needed and it was a prompting from above.

I turned in prayer and asked Heavenly Father to enlighten my mind as to how I could accomplish this goal.  I set to work it out...  things were laid out in order for me.  I saw what needed to be done.  The goals were lofty and I wasn't sure if the would be attainable.  But I knew Heavenly Father knew what he was doing.  So on Wed I prayed that my abilities would be extended.  That his tender mercy would seek me out.  It was granted.

As the day went on I also saw I needed to pray that the Lord's Tender Mercy would fall on those who were testing with me.  Friday came and I asked my prayer that morning that not only would my abilities would be extended but my testers abilities would be extended as well and we would be able to accomplish the goals I had set.

As I went through the day I watched once again in amazement how even the slowest testers were working fast.  By the days end we had finished 38 1st graders.  I was given more permission slips for 1st grade that took us well over 100.  I was given 6 permission slips for 3rd grade bringing us to 93.  My Friday was a day of modern miracles.  I felt so in awe that thank you just didn't seem to be enough.  What a wonderful Father we have.   The words seem to lack adequacy to fully express what happened, how I felt and how tender those mercies were. 

Oh how great are the tender mercies of the Lord.  He is truly a kind and loving Heavenly Father who cares about what we care about and when we ask for his help he extends our abilities far beyond our abilities.

LeClaire Who??? LeClaire What? LeClaire Where?

So Bruce and I discovered that we love the same show called American Pickers.  He told me their place was only an hour or so away.  I said what are we waiting for ....  lets go!  Bruce looked up their website and got the address.  He did see their hours were pretty short...  12:00 pm - 4:00 pm but we decided to go check them out non the less.  We were not disappointed.  The American Pickers is located in LeClaire Iowa.  I said LeClaire what?  As we drove we discovered there is another famous American who also came from LeClaire. 

Buffalo Bill!  That info might win you a million dollars on a game show.  

115 1/2 Davenport Street Le Claire, IA 52753

I had the GPS plugged in but how do you put 1/2 into the address?  Fortunately as we drove up the street Bruce said.... I think I see it.... 

 We were just about to leave when Mike Wolfe pulled up in his old VW truck.  He was bring up the garbage cans for the store.  It was cool and he was soooo nice.  Someone left on their step these isle markers.  Mike's comment...  people are always leaving junk here!!  Anyone want them?  I of course never look a gift horse in the mouth.  Alyse had him sign it.  

He was so nice.  My camera was about to die and he took a ton of pictures with us.  I was so excited to see/meet him.  He said if he had keys to the store he would have let us in.  But he didn't. 

I know be jealous! 

Iowa you steal my heart!

Alyse and I met Bruce and Midge in Nauvoo Tuesday afternoon and then went back to Iowa City with them.  We had so much fun. It was about this time that I became fascinated with barns.  Oh my they are wonderful to look at.  Bruce and Midge taught us about "Quilt Square Barns."  As we were driving to Iowa it started to rain pretty hard so it made it harder to see these  new found delights.  I told Mike I wanted to go on a barn quilt tour.  Want to come?

Bruce, Alyse and I drove all over in Bruce's blue 65 Mustang WITH the top down.  He drove us over to Kalone where the Amish folk live.  What fun it was to see the homes and to listen to Bruce as he drove us around.  I learned that the Amish put steel wheels on their tractors and such.  I guess rubber isn't used.  I also learned that you can tell an Amish home because it has no electric or phone lines running to the house.  And of course there was usually an Amish carriage in the yard.  No matter what you think about the Amish you have to take your hat off to them for living the way they do in this world and in today's mass media makeup.  This first car is not an Amish family...  it's out of order but it is way to hard to move so...  you get to see it first! 

Wow that's a lot of people in one car and family! Alyse and I passed this car on our way home... just had to get a picture. 

An Amish grocery store. Those are propane lights you see.  Very fun store to walk through. I found some cough drops my mom use to use that I hadn't seen in years.  This is a place I need to go back to someday.

Amish Farm!

I have always loved looking at barns but this was amazing.  These were barns made with sweat and hard work.  Barns that were probably built with the help of a community.  Amazing.  I love the Midwest.  There is nothing better and no better people then those who live in the heartland of America. 

Amish horse and buggy!

Lots and lots of corn and soybeans.  I learned another tidbit of information.  Do you know how many ears of corn grow in each stock?  ONE!!  That is generally the rule of thumb.  This is field corn for the livestock.  The soybeans are beautiful when in bloom but I kept thinking.... those little things can kill my husband.  Pretty to look at but not so much to eat!

Largest truck stop in the world.  It was huge. 

One thing I do miss living in Tallahassee is the open and flat land.  For those who haven't been to see us yet we have more trees than people here.  While I love what Tallahassee looks like I do miss seeing a horizon!! 

This is the biggest cross I had ever seen.  Too bad I can't remember where it was...  but it was massive. 

Carthage Jail

 One of the places Alyse wanted to go was Carthage Jail.  We had a very nice sister missionary who was from Hawaii.  It always brings a sense of sadness to my heart when I go here but it was in the building that prophecies came to pass!

On June 25, 1844, Governor Thomas Ford of Illinois told the state militia that Joseph and his brother Hyrum were "dangerous men" (History of the Church, 5:563) and guilty of treason. The two brothers went to Carthage, Illinois , to deliver themselves up to the "pretended requirements of the law" (Doctrine and Covenants 135:1), according to the demands of the governor. Joseph Smith said of the event, "I am going like a lamb to the slaughter; but I am calm as a summer’s morning; I have a conscience void of offense towards God, and towards all men. I shall die innocent, and it shall be said of me—He was murdered in cold blood" (Doctrine and Covenants 135:4).

The fireplace inside the jail/home. 

After delivering themselves up, Joseph and Hyrum were confined in Carthage Jail. The men were accompanied by John Taylor and Willard Richards, members of the Church administrative body known as the Quorum of the Twelve. The four men remained in the jail for two days, during which time the jailers treated them well and friends visited them. On June 27, 1844 a mob, made up of members of the town militia who were in charge of protecting Joseph, overran the jail. The mob, later described by John Taylor as men who were "armed" and "painted black" (Doctrine and Covenants 135:1) entered the room in which the men were being held. The room was on the second floor of the jail, at the top of the stairs. The mob forced the door open and poked their gun barrels into the room. They began shooting, despite efforts by Willard Richards to deflect the gun barrels with his walking stick. Hyrum Smith was shot multiple times and died, falling to the floor. John Taylor was also shot in several places. He was not killed but sought refuge by rolling under the bed. Joseph Smith ran toward the window where he was shot in the back from inside the jail and shot in the chest from outside the jail. He either fell or leaped out of the window, landing on the ground outside the jail, where he was again shot by members of the mob. The Prophet Joseph Smith died at that time. (See History of the Church, 6:602-618, also Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual, 348).

 This is looking out the window of the downstairs bedroom.  The days were so hot that the jailer brought the Joseph and the others down so they would be more comfortable.  He then realized that anyone could see inside and knew there there were men who had said they wanted to kill Joseph.  So he moved them back upstairs. 

 The dungeon room where some of their time was spent.  This is where John Taylor was drug to hid him from the mob.  What was not known at the time is the weight of the straw and the straw in his wounds were what saved his life.  John Taylor had more work on this earth.

 The window in the dungeon cell.  Didn't give forth much light. 

 I loved the floorboards in the home... these happen to be in the room where Joseph and Hyrum were killed. 

 The window on the second floor.  This was the jailer and his wives bedroom.  So it wasn't as secure as it could have been.  But both Joseph and Hyrum had pistols with them.  

On June 27, 1844 a mob, made up of members of the town militia who were in charge of protecting Joseph, overran the jail. The mob, later described by John Taylor as men who were "armed" and "painted black" (Doctrine and Covenants 135:1) entered the room in which the men were being held. The room was on the second floor of the jail, at the top of the stairs. The mob forced the door open and poked their gun barrels into the room. They began shooting, despite efforts by Willard Richards to deflect the gun barrels with his walking stick. Hyrum Smith was shot multiple times and died, falling to the floor. John Taylor was also shot in several places. He was not killed but sought refuge by rolling under the bed. Joseph Smith ran toward the window where he was shot in the back from inside the jail and shot in the chest from outside the jail. He either fell or leaped out of the window, landing on the ground outside the jail, where he was again shot by members of the mob. The Prophet Joseph Smith died at that time. (See History of the Church, 6:602-618, also Doctrine and Covenants Student Manual, 348).

 The bullet hole from the inside.  Hyrum was pressing against the door and a ball went through this door and into his head.  Hyrum is dead

John Taylor and Willard Richards were both present at the martyrdom and survived. John Taylor, who later became the third President and Prophet of the Church, wrote: "Hyrum was shot first and fell calmly, exclaiming: I am a dead man! Joseph leaped from the window, and was shot dead in the attempt, exclaiming: O Lord my God! They were both shot after they were dead, in a brutal manner " (Doctrine and Covenants 135:1).

 A picture of the door shut looking into the room where Joseph was shot and killed.  It shows the window perfectly.  Like many of "the Lord's anointed in ancient times," they sealed their works with their own blood; "in life they were not divided, and in death they were not separated"

 The stairs leading up to the upper level of the jail/home

The window Joseph fell from

After Joseph was shot he fell from the window and landed next to this well.

Joseph Smith, the Prophet and Seer of the Lord, has done more, save Jesus only, for the salvation of men in this world, than any other man that ever lived in it. In the short space of twenty years, he has brought forth the Book of Mormon, which he translated by the gift and power of God, and has been the means of publishing it on two continents; has sent the fullness of the everlasting gospel, which it contained, to the four quarters of the earth; has brought forth the revelations and commandments which compose this book of Doctrine and Covenants, and many other wise documents and instructions for the benefit of the children of men; gathered many thousands of the Latter-day Saints, founded a great city, and left a fame and name that cannot be slain. He lived great, and he died great in the eyes of God and his people; and like most of the Lord’s anointed in ancient times, has sealed his mission and his works with his own blood; and so has his brother Hyrum" (Doctrine and Covenants 135:3).