Thankful Thursday

It's Thursday again, so I am making my gratitude list for the week.

1. I am thankful to have been born into a family who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Grateful to be born at this time, having the scriptures available to me. I am reading both the Old Testament and the Book of Mormon right now and every day that I read I get this overwhelming gratitude to be born here and now. To know that the Savior has come. To have His words to read. To have His life as an example. I think it would have been hard to remember our Father in Heaven during the time when Christ had not come. There were so many people who had so much faith to believe something that had not happened yet.

2. I am thankful to have a wonderful job that allows me to work part time and to be able to take off time when I need to; whether it's for Girl's Camp, Youth Conference, vacations or any other time. I am thankful for my job because I am able to make money, so that I can help pay bills and put money away for our retirement and mission.

3. I am thankful for Gary (always) and his love for me. He is the greatest!

4. I am thankful for the many talents the Lord has blessed me with. I was finally able to start painting again. It took me many years, but I finally finished a painting. This painting is actually from a picture of the Italian forest.

My Painting

The Original Photograph

5. I am thankful that Lizzie's graduation announcements came. I would put one here, but that would take away her surprise. It was fun to make them and hope all her friends enjoy them. I am thankful she is three weeks away from being done with school. She is so great and I am so proud of her.

Well it has been a great Thankful Thursday!

Mondays

It's another Monday. It is actually a beautiful day outside with sunshine and everything. Last night Gary and I attended a beautiful fireside by Rob Gardner. He composed a musical production called "Lamb of God" that was recorded by the London Symphony. It is about the Savior from the time of His raising Lazarus from the dead through His resurrection. Rob spoke of how this production came about and of his love for the Savior. He had one of his friends sing some of the songs from the production and one of her own songs. It was a wonderfully spiritual experience. I felt so much peace as the music was sung and as he was speaking about his life and the life of the Savior. I was so glad I went. Lizzie was called to be in the Young Women organization in her ward (Miamaid Advisor). She will be such a good advisor. She will be able to help these 14 and 15 year old girls learn and know the Savior. I knew that she would be called to the Young Women Organization because she is such a great person and I know I would love to have her as one of my advisors. I cleaned my office. Gary had made a mess of it while changing light fixtures on Saturday, so I decided to a little bit of a deeper cleaning and even dusted (wow, I know). It looks great now. I am working on a painting (something I have not done in many years). I was thinking I couldn't do it, so I was struggling to start. I bought some canvases about a year and a half ago, but could not bring my self to start. At our Laurel Legacy, I painted on a pillowcase and it helped me to remember that I can paint. It is a work in progress. I will post it when it is finished. Knowing my perfection, it may be a while though. Have a Happy Monday. Make the most of each Monday you have!

Mondays

I think I like Mondays because it is not the start of the work week for me (usually). I only work one Monday a month. This way I get to do some fun things and make sure I am still relaxed when I start work on Tuesdays. It also helps me to get prepared for Young Womens.

I can tell you all about what happened on the weekend, too. Gary and I went to the Deseret Industries between conference sessions on Saturday. He was looking for some business books for his Columbia classes. I have been reading more because I love reading. (I had stopped reading for a while, but am now back into it and am glad I am.) Anyway, we found a lot of books. In fact we got $450 worth of books for only $36.50. Don't you just love the D.I.? I do! What great finds!!

My favorite talk for conference this year was probably Elder D. Todd Christofferson's talk about God's expectations for us. He wants us to be perfect and experience ultimate joy. He said that the Lord chastens those whom he loves. He said the Lord chastens us because He knows waht He wants us to do and be. He has special plans for us and we must be willing to listen to that chastening and then act on it so that we can become who the Lord knows we can be and do what He knows we can do.

Chastening pursuades us to repent, refines us and redirects our course and our lives. He chastens us through our prayers, through the remembrance of our deficiencies, through our leaders, family, friends and neighbors. We should be willing to listen and to take a look at the things they say to see if there is any truth to it. If there is, we should make the change (repent) and redirect our lives.

Elder Christofferson also said that we should be self-correcting. If we notice that something is amiss in us, we should change. Like the scriptures say about removing the beam from our own eye before we try to remove the mote from someone else. We must start with ourselves.

Sometimes I know we wish we would not be chastened, but I am grateful for the times He has done this. I have always ended up being a better person for it and come closer to Him. Conference is always a great time and I am glad on this Monday that I can reflect on the words of the Lord through His Apostles.

Thankful Thursday

Today is Thursday and I have not posted my Thankful Thursday for a long time, so I thought I should do it today.

1. I am thankful for Gary. He is such a wonderful person. He is my best friend and my favorite person to be with.

2. I am thankful for our new bishopric. Our old bishopric was great and we will miss them, but I know the new men will do a great job.

3. I am thankful for the flexibility in my job. I love that I am able to call Shellie and change schedules if something comes up.

4. I am thankful for our beautiful home. I am so glad that we live here. I am thankful for the ability to turn this house into a home.

5. I am thankful for my love of reading. There are so many good books and I am so glad that I love to spend hours reading.

6. I am thankful for my big chair in the bay window where I get to sit and read while enjoying the view of the mountains.

7. I am thankful for the scriptures. They are the word of God and they help me to know what to do in my life.

8. I am thankful we are going to Hawaii with Lizzie and Luke soon. We all need a vacation.

9. I am thankful Sara is having fun with her friends camping, but will be thankful when she comes home.

I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture. I am so grateful for everything I have. I needed to say it today because it has not been such a good day for me. Now I can look and see what great things I have in my life.

Personal History

I completed my personal history for my Individual Worth Value Project. I was so excited when I was done and I am so glad I did it. It took me about 60 hours or more, so it was a long project. It was well worth it though. I was able to see how I have changed and remember many fun times I had as a child. It also helped me to remember how important keeping a journal is. Without my journals, I would have had a much harder time completing this.

I know this personal history will never be completed until I am no longer here, so I will be adding to the already 120 pages that I have periodically.

I recommend to everyone to start their personal history now. Hopefully, you will have as much fun as I did.

Happy Birthday!!!

Today is my birthday! I am 45 years old. Wow! I can't believe I am that old. I still feel like I am about 30, only it doesn't match because Doug is almost 25. It has been a great day so far. I got a new church bag for my birthday. My old one was too small.

This one is huge. I love it. It holds everything and has so many pockets on the outside and the inside. I can keep track of things without having to take everything out of it. I was going to make myself one, but then I saw this one at Target and had to have it. Thanks to Gary who bought it for me.

Lizzie woke me up this morning at around 12:10 am, so she could be the first one to wish me a Happy Birthday. She is so funny and I love her to death. She is one of my best friends. Sara is going to make me dinner (either her or Tasha, Jared and the kids may bring over something) and she bought me a ice cream cake for a surprise dessert. Can't wait to eat it later today.

Lizzie and Luke sent me a present. It got here last week. Lizzie wanted to make sure it got to me before my birthday.

This is so cute. I love Willow Tree statues. The flowers and the vines on the dresses intertwine. they go from one dress to the other. It's called "Close to Me" Apart or together, always close to me. It truly symbolizes my relationship to Lizzie.

Gary and I are not sick anymore, so that is one of the best birthday presents I could ask for. I was able to go to church and feel good. The best present I am getting is a trip to Hawaii. Gary and I are going to go with Lizzie and Luke to Hawaii from April 30 to May 5, 2011. I am so excited. That's why we are not doing much for my birthday. The big present comes later.

A thanks to all those who have sent their birthday wishes to me. Love you all!

Nice Valentines Present

So yesterday was Valentines Day. It is supposed to be a good day with love and laughter and presents. The Wilson 2011 Valentines Day did not turn out like we had hoped. Gary's present to me was to get me sick. I love my hubby and I know he loves me because he is willing to share everything with me. However, he could have kept his sickness to himself. So Valentine's Day was pretty sad. My birthday is coming up on Sunday, so hopefully we will both feel good enough to celebrate then.

We went to the doctors this morning. Gary was not getting any better, so we made the trip. Two hours later (they forgot the doctor wanted a chest x-ray, so we sat in the room for forever) we found out that Gary has Pneumonia and I have the onset of Bronchitis. Yeah for us! Then I dropped Gary off and went to the base to get our prescriptions filled. There was something going on and I had to drive about a mile out of my way to get to the hospital. So another 2 hours later and I was finally home.

Now I am just resting after having gotten Gary his lunch and made sure he took his antibiotic. It's going to be a long few days but this too will pass and we will be well again. It also allows me to work on my personal history because I can do that while I rest or watch TV.

I hope no one that has come in contact with us gets sick. Lizzie make sure you wipe your phone down so it doesn't come through to you. Can't have you getting sick when you have recruits coming.

Happy Valentine's Day

Just wishing everyone a Happy Valetine's Day especially to Gary!

To Lizzie and Luke: I hope you have a wonderful fondue dinner at home tonight. Can't wait for Hawaii! I am glad you have each other.

Sweethearts Dinner

On Saturday, we had our annual Sweethearts Dinner and Dessert Auction in the Adamswood Ward to raise funds for girls camp. It turned out to be a great success. We netted about $2300 with about $450 in expenses, so we should have about $1800 or so for girls camp. Everything went so well and I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for helping everything go smoothly and for all of the Young Women leaders and our wonderful young women who helped.

The gym was decorated with hearts all around. We had 19 table set up with 8 place settings at each table. The centerpieces were plastic water bottles covered with beautiful valentine paper. We put beans in them topped with red hots and then put some suckers in each one. Linzy Fletcher had cut out heart chains from napkins to put around the bottles and then we had conversational hearts and mints scattered around. Linzy had put up lights that went from the basketball hoops to the sides of the gym. With the lights low, it was beautiful.

We made penne pasta topped with either chicken alfredo or meatball marinara. Last year we had not had some things heated enough, but this year it went well. The plates that were bought were white and square. They were very elegant. Everything was hot and delicious. Kelsey Zollinger again made homemade breadsticks. They were delicious. I don't ever want her to move because no one makes them like she does.

Sheri Knapp made a delicious salad with red onions, strawberries and candied pecans on it with a poppy seed dressing. Yum! We got many compliments on everything and most people said they had fun.

The girls were on top of taking care of their tables. They worked really hard and I was proud of them.

When dinner was almost complete, we started the dessert auction. Tammie Rees had placed all the goodies the girls and young women leaders had brought out so everyone could look at them before hand. Then Brother Leavitt began the auction. He is a great auctioneer. He got people to bid high, so we made about $1100 just on desserts. He made it so fun. He is hilarious. Gary and Steve Lemburg helped take the money.

What a great time for all. I feel so blessed to have the leaders I have working with me. Once someone is given a task, they complete it without me having to bug them all the time. What a blessing from the Lord!!

Sara was Gary's date and she had a good time too.

We are making sure to keep detailed notes for next year so that we do not have to reinvent the wheel again. It will make next year all the more easy. What a great start to Valentine's Day.

Reflections

Today I attended the funeral of one of my favorite aunts, Bonnie Jean Liedtke Wagstaff. I had not been able to get over to see her at the care facility and she probably would not have recognized me anyway, but I still feel like I missed an opportunity. Seeing my cousins and other uncles and aunts today and hearing about my aunts passing a few days ago has put me in a reflective mood.

Aunt Bonnie

I started my personal history the other day which has also made me reflective.

I have been remember all the things I did as a child with my relatives and friends. I remember going to my Aunt Bonnie's for Liedtke family Christmas parties. They have a home on Dimple Dell Road in Sandy. This home had a really steep driveway and when I was little I was always worried about sliding off the cliff in the snow. I also remember their stone stairs that led from the front door to the upstairs living area and the downstairs living area. They had another set of stairs at the other end of the hall, so us kids would run around and around, up and down both sets of stairs until the adults told us not to.

Remembering these family times also made me remember times when all the kids in our neighborhood would get together and play games. We would be together for most of the day playing football in the street, listening to Battle of the Bands on 1320 AM (Casey Kasem was the DJ. An oldie but a goodie), playing Ghosts in the Graveyard and Monster. What fun times we had.

Then I read Lizzie's blog and started remembering all the times I have had with her, Sara and Doug, and the new ones with Gary and Luke. I remember all the times we went to soccer tournaments for our vacations. I remember going to Disneyland when the kids were little and taking their first airplane flight, and then to Disneyworld. I remember the time I came home from Young Women and found spots of blood all over the wall by the stairs in our apartment. Doug had gotten a hold of my rotary cutter and cut his finger. It hurt so he waved it back and forth and got blood everywhere. I remember the time Lizzie stayed awake with me all night when we were driving us and some other girls to a tournament in California. I was getting tired and all the other girls were asleep, but Lizzie stayed up to keep me awake. I remember time Sara was visiting a friend and the friends parents took her to a concert. She forgot to call us. When we could not get a hold of the girls parents at around 2:30 am (she was only about 12) we had to call the police. When she finally arrived home she looked so sorry that I could not get mad at her. I also remember she sang her 1st solo in choir in junior high. The Spirit was so strong it made me cry. She still does make me cry whenever I hear her singing.

I remember when I met Gary. He was the professor of my history class when I went back to school to get my Associates Degree in graphic design. He told us to watch this piece of a movie. Then he showed the movie, Princess Bride. The part where the guy is testing Wesley with the poison. Then he paused it, put his face near the tv screen and asked if we saw any resemblances. He did look like Wallace Shawn and we all laughed. We became friends and it went on from there.

I remember when Lizzie texted me and told me that she thought she had found the man she was going to marry. Needless to say a few weeks later, she and Luke were up here and we were looking for wedding dresses while Luke and Gary talked in the car.

I am so grateful for all these loving memories and for the many memories to come. What a great life I have had and have now. I am so blessed.

Happy New Year

Saturday January 1, 2011

So today is the very first day of 2011. The year 2010 was a wonderful year. Gary was promoted to a Program Manager at WGU and then made the program manage over the new MBA program which began July 1, 2010. Needless to say we had to postpone our anniversary trip. We were going to schedule it for October, but that was the time of the Columbia College graduation. So we ended up going in September. We went to New Mexico, Albuquerque, specifically. It was a blast.

We moved Sara out of the house in August (it was great to have the house to ourselves), but then we moved her back in in November. Her roommates are moving and she wanted to be able to save some money. She may move to Long Beach, CA and live with her Aunt Melanie. She is doing well and has made so many new friends since she moved back. She has been on many dates and been attending the Singles Ward. She is working more hours at Dairy Queen.

I was put in as the Young Women President in the Adamswood Ward. I am learning so much. With the help of the Lord I am able to do many things and hopefully help each of my girls. It has been a lot of fun and a lot of work so far.

We found out that Lizzie and Luke are going to have a baby in July. I am so excited!!!!! I can't wait to be a grandma. I have two other grandchildren from Gary's oldest daughter, Tasha, but this one will be so special because SHE will be the first from my children. I know Lizzie will be a great mom. She has such a special spirit and will be able to teach this grandchild all about her Heavenly Fathe and Savior. Lizzie is a great example of endurance and faith and she married a very special guy. Luke is wonderful to her and will make a fantastic father. I think they are having a girl, but no matter a girl or a boy, this child will be spoiled by her/his grandparents.

We spent Thanksgiving up here with Luke and Lizzie visiting us (with Luke, Gary and Sara spending the night out in 15 degree weather on black Friday). We headed down to Las Vegas and spent Christmas with Lizzie and Luke.

That was a recap of 2010.

I did forget to mention that Gary kicked me out of his office at the end of December, but I did not finish creating my office/craft room until today. I got a sewing machine for Christmas (I had been using Sara's) so I needed a place to set it up. So I guess him kicking me out was a blessing in disguise.

This is my new office/craft space

Now I have an office area and a craft area.

Craft area: My sewing machine and accessories and my easel. I want to start painting again, too. Now I have room to do both.

My new office area

Gary's new office. Notice the green area? That is the putting green that Luke and Lizzie gave Gary. He has fun with it.

I have also set some new goals. I am still working on my Personal Progress, so I am setting goals all the time, but the beginning of the year is a good time to set more. I love achieving my goals. Last year one of my goals was to read the Standard Works. What a great time I had doing this. I started with the Old Testament, then the New Testament, Doctrine and Covenants and then the Pearl of Great Price. I read the Book of Mormon every day along with the others, so I ended up reading it 4 times. It has made my life better and me a better person, so I am going to do it again this year. Only I am going to read them chronologically, so some of the Pearl of Great Price will be intermixed with the Old Testament.

Anyway, that's about it. I hope everyone's 2011 will be great. I look forward to many wonderful days.

Life is grand!