Heav'n can heal

I heard it again today....

When listening to music that is an instrumental arrangement of a song that has words,  sometimes I know the words and sometimes not. Then the music comes to a phrase, that whether or not I know the rest of the words, I know the one phrase. 

We got a copy of a new CD of Lyle Hadlock’s arrangements of hymns that Karl was listening to last Sunday, nice stuff. I didn’t even know the title of the hymn, but there suddenly in my mind were the words to the last phrase  “Earth has no sorrow that Heav’n cannot heal”.  It was a very comforting thought at that moment. 

Tonight I decided to listen again to some of Lyle’s stuff  from the new CD and chose his arrangement of a combination of 2 hymns, “Come, Ye Disconsolate” and “Sheep May Safely Graze”....I didn’t know why, didn’t really recognize the titles but like to listen to “merged” songs. Then there they were again, the words.... “Earth has no sorrow that Heav’n cannot heal”.  Maybe I needed to hear them again, maybe I need to be reminded of that truth regularly.  What the words inspired me to do tonight was go and find the video we have of another instrumental piece of merged musical works....quite different from any hymns. It is Jon Schmidt’s - “Love Story meets Viva La Vida”. I don’t know the words to the songs. From the first time I heard the piece, it had nothing to do with the words, it was simply the music. What joy I heard in the music and even saw in the artists performance.  The music settled in my heart and lifted me up. It made me smile and made me want to dance.  I go and find it every now and then and listen....for I have found that one of Heaven’s tools to heal sorrows, is music. 

What's Up?

As I have been absent from the blogging world for about 3 months I was asked today (by a person I truly admire) if there wasn't anything going on in my life that I could blog about. First of all I was touched that she cared, secondly,  as it is much easier for me to do the reading , I wondered if there was anything I could write that anyone else would be interested in???     That was the question.

I have started a couple of blogs that I just chickened out on....I think one was along the lines of asking....Have you ever felt completely alone and lost...I couldn't quite get a grip on what I wanted to express and it was going the wrong way, it felt dumb, I can't write, all these feelings jumbled up so.......(don't you love the delete button). I've never really had a successful  journal for the same reason, "Why would I ever want anyone else to read this stuff???" followed by the sound of pages being torn out of the journal, or the journal burning in the fireplace, or you imagine the type of destruction.  I know blogging is suppost to be for yourself and if anyone drops by for a visit, great, but some days there is the confidence in yourself issue, and occasionally, in your own book, you lose.

I thought may I just needed to the right kind of format. Some people tell about what has happen in the past week.  For me it might be:
Monday-read Ink Death
Tuesday-read Ink Death
Wednesday, didn't read Ink Death
Thursday, got to read Ink Death again (yes!)
Friday, finished Ink Death (it was a looong book) and now need a new book.........well that's exciting, maybe it's harder when there are just 2 of us!?!?

What I told my friend and have decided for myself is that I'm not sure I have things that are interesting enough to blog about, but I'm sure that the bug to blog will come again...and it has, twice today. Why, how, I don't know.  Maybe it was a nudge from my friend and maybe I was also in a good place. If you came along for the ride, thanks, and I hope you enjoyed it or maybe even smiled.

I'm sure I'll be back again, the only question might be, when.... Until then, I"ll  take great pleasure in being the reader

My favorite fleeting season

I notice today that my favorite season may be on it's way out. Sadly it doesn't last long....It comes when it's not quite still winter, but may still snow, and it's not quite all the way Spring. It's still cool enough to want a coat or jacket, but the sun is shining more and more. I noticed that my season might be waning, because when I got in the car after work today, it was almost too warm inside. You see my favorite season of the the year, is the season of the perfectly sun warmed car.  Can you feel it?
You are chilly, maybe not cold, but in your bones chilly. You've been out running around doing whatever or maybe even been in church and as a reward of some kind the car has been in the perfect spot getting the perfect amount of sun.  You open the car door and rather than being stifled by an overbearing heat, you are welcomed & enveloped, by the most wonderful warmth you can feel. You settle into the car seat and close your eyes. The warmth seeps into your bones, you take a deep breath.....and relax. What bliss! The only thing that makes it even better for me, is to have a good book to read in that perfect environment....quiet, no phones (cell or otherwise), no one else. I make it last as long as I can. I've even been known to nod off....ahhh the simple fleeting pleasures of life. 

New Year

So, only 4 days left in the year (counting today) and I'm already thinking about every things that needs to be done!!! Oh, wait, most of that is just left over stuff from this year.

It has been a good year, the vehicles are still operating (very well for over 400,000 and 200,000 miles); we've learned more about living with a Bishop in the house (some learning curves are bigger than others and suddenly I'm sad that I can be so slow to learn some things, leaps of faith are not my strength); welcomed a beautiful new member to the family (see picture of Raelee); said good-bye to the Rylands (be safe in Australia) and look forward to having Jim and Becca back in Utah county; we have jobs; learned about and use Skype; figured out that we'd rather have a picture of us or family, where we don't look perfect, rather than no picture at all; Camren started school; welcomed the idea that Mom and Dad Veech are thinking about moving to Utah; am learning again about how lovely and important laughter is.

How can the movement from one day to another be so significant? Is it more than just marking time? Old year, new year, I think I may just be pleased to be a part of another day.......In my mind I see January reaching out to hold hands with December, to complete a circle, but instead of Jan of '09 reaching out, it's Jan of '10 to Dec of '09 and it's not a circle they make, but a continuing spiral that starts a new cycle rather than completes an old one.

I'm blessed with today and hope for a tomorrow....I'll try to learn from yesterday, make today a little better and try again tomorrow to get to the things I failed at today.  I know I'll have failures, but I'll try harder to do more than just mark time. Does it sound a bit like a prayer, I hope so. I hope I'm still learning. Some things I have to write down to really see.

Happy New Year

The Two Foundation Undergarments Story

Fair warning, this is a little long...

When my niece told me that she hadn’t heard the 2 bra story and my sister-in-law said yea, it’s pretty funny,  I thought maybe it’s time to put it in writing. It is a funny story and we laugh about it now all the time, especially poor Karl’s part in it, but at the time it scared me to death.  It’s a good thing we have Grandma Martha (my mom). She helped me to put things into perspective...

I can’t say exactly how long we’d been living with Grandpa when this happened, somewhere around a year.  The bishopric Karl had been serving in in the singles ward had been released. We were now attending the Hobble Creek 1st Ward. 

While living with and helping care for Grandpa was stressful, I don’t remember being stressed that day. It was Sunday, and Karl and I were both speaking in sacrament meeting. The talk was ready and I felt pretty good about it, now I just had to get ready for church. I was getting dressed, but I couldn’t find my bra. I looked all over the place! I finally asked Karl if he’d seen it. He looked at me kind of funny, but said, “No” had I checked the laundry hanging up on the line. (We have a drying clothes line in the basement by the washer and dryer). I did look there and my “other” bra was there, but not the one I was looking for. Since I couldn’t locate the dumb thing anywhere, I finally put on the bra that had been on the clothes line and finished getting ready. Off to church we went and I believe all went well. It was a good day, until I got undressed for bed... That was when I found my bra, I’d had it on all the time! I’d worn 2 bras all day long and didn’t know it. I couldn’t believe that I’d put a 2nd bra over the 1st with absolutely no recognition! That was it, I knew that I’d gone crazy, I’d totally lost it! I called out to Karl and told him what had happened. I remembered that funny look that he had given me that morning and asked “This morning when I asked if you’d seen my bra, did I have one on?” to which he replied “Yes”.  I yelled back, “WHY DIDN”T YOU TELL ME I HAD IT ON?” Now Karl knows me pretty well, he knew he was looking at the equivalent of someone holding a double barrel shotgun, filled with rock salt, with a twitching trigger finger. He knew the rock salt wouldn’t kill him, but it would sting something fierce, so he answered the only way he thought he’d have a chance, honestly... “I thought you knew”, he said simply. He had assumed that for what ever reason, I had been looking for my “other” bra that morning...that was the only thing that made sense to him as I was already wearing one. He’d wondered why, but hadn’t bothered to ask and I hadn’t filled him in.

Well sure I was nuts, I called Grandma Martha, who laughed and assured me I wasn’t insane. Stress can do strange things to your body and mind, she said. She certainly knew what she was talking about having taken care of Granny Own (who had Alzheimer’s) for 5 yrs. We talked for awhile and she got me to laugh, telling me about things that had happened to her while she’d been taking care of her mom, that were stress related. She helped me see that stress can “unbalance” a normally “balanced” body and mind. I did go see a Dr. and I did get some help. We survived and I now have a funny story and a stress meter. At the end of the day, if there is only 1 bra, it couldn’t have been that bad.

Tree Day

The tradition of tree day, whoo hoo. We love the 1st weekend in Nov. Go to Solders Hollow, wait in a line for 2 1/2 hours, buy a tree permit, then off to get the tree.  Yes there is a little bit of sarcasm about the waiting in line, but for me this year wasn't too bad. Karl and I went up on Fri to get our permits and it was so beautifully mild. The sky was beautiful, we weren't freezing, all good. 

Julie, Jodi and Kyle got their permits on Saturday, a different day, not as mild. I was grateful to spend another couple of hours in my warm bed before going off on the adventure. Karl and Robbie went early to keep the others company. Misti, the boys and I got up there about 7:35 or so and found them all starting to get cold hands and feet. Half and hour later, permits in hand, we went to visit Rick,  Sherie and the boys at their condo at the Zermot...way cool place. Next a hearty breakfast at Mick-o-Donalds (that is Noah for ya), 1/2 hour delay to fix Misti and Robbie's car and finally (for Camren) off to get the trees. 

This was the first year for Kyle, Jodi's husband, to go off in search of a fresh tree, think he had fun. Saturday he was definitely Camren's new best friend. Cam had a hard time understanding why Kyle would want to ride in the same car as his wife, instead of with him.

On the mountain there was only a skiff of snow, the sun was out and the boys didn't even wear their coats. Karl and I had done some scouting in Oct and had GPS'ed the tree we liked. WE FOUND IT AGAIN!!! YEA.  Tall and slender is our tree this year.  A reminder to lay off the holiday goodies, so that in the new year we might also be tall and slender. (Ah, Christmas wishes!)

Because Misti is only 3 weeks from delivering baby Raelee, she stayed at back at the parking lot while the rest of us went into the forest. It is a hard thing not to be there when the tree for your house gets cut, but Robbie and the boys did a good job. Their tree is very pretty and full. 

After cutting the trees, it was time for some pictures. It was a bit hard for me, but I decided that, hat hair and all, a picture with Karl was more important than how I looked. (Last year we were all bundled up in snow clothes, the more body covered, the better the look) Anyway,  here we are, Tree Day 2009, a wonderful day.

Our tree in it's natural habitat

 at Solder's Hollow, Still cold                                                     

all the trees

                          

Kyle, Jodi and Camren

The Jones Family

Us

Julie, Kyle & Jodi

How much can it really matter?

How much can it really matter? Apparently, quite a lot! I was standing in my kitchen and was transported back to high school chemistry...saw the classroom and everything. Action, reaction, laws of nature, etc. 


To pass along a lesson learned, my original question was,  "Does the flour really have to be at least room temperature when you're making bread?"   Why would this be an issue?..... Since flour can get old and taste funny when not used fast enough, it was suggested that we pre-measure the bread flour for a yummy recipe and store it in the freezer until we were ready to use it, which we did. Then I get a call from a friend who has found the cinnamon chips (like chocolate chips) I've been looking for,  to try and make cinnamon chip bread (think Great Harvest bakery).  I get the flour out and hear in my head, " let it warm up", but I can smell the bread, I can even taste it. Patience is a virtue I do not possess  in great abundance, so I ask, "how much can it really matter?".


Well......when you put hot water into cold flour, instead of getting a dough that is elastic and pretty, you get something like clay going bad...dry, lumpy, unyielding.  When I thought about it, it really did make sense, laws of nature and all (chemistry class flashback). Not wanting to waste perfectly good ingredients and with sweet Sister Annette Holm's bread making philosophy sounding in the background (don't give up, don't get discouraged, keep trying) I went into salvage mode.....More water!, More flour!, heck, throw in the cinnamon chips! (they have a very low melting temperature by the way). 


By the time Karl got home, the kitchen was clean and the bread was just coming out of the oven. He commented on how good it smelled and I told him the story. He tried to be kind and supportive, but on this occasionally the chuckle gave him away, so we laughed together.  He said the bread tasted good, and this morning that it was even better than last night.....I think it's a salvage job,  "a sturdy bread", but eatable. I do take comfort in another of Sister Holm's philosophies about bread making...."there is an artistic element to how your bread looks, it's ok for your bread to have its own character." This batch definitely has that going for it.  (Ah, if you're interested there are still a couple of loaves....)