Morning Walks

Even though it's only June, we're well into the heat of summer here in Texas.  It jumped from the 70s to the 90s sometime around the first of May and from what I've heard, this is where we'll hover until August when it will be over 100 degrees every day.  (Hooray for Utah vacations in July!)

Last year, when we moved here in early August, I wondered how I would ever be able to stand being outside longer than the walk from my air conditioned house to my air conditioned car.  But this week, I found a way...you just have to get up early!  


On Monday morning, I started my new "schedule" including a one hour BRISK walk every morning...apparently my summer internal alarm has been adjusted to go off at 7:00am instead of 5:30am.   Fortunately, even though it's blazing hot in Dallas, there's ALWAYS a breeze and it's not humid at all, so it's bearable...sort of.  And at 7:00am it's still only in the 70s so it's the perfect time for a walk. 


Here's what my walk looks like...

 

It's a beautiful, very wide, very well used walking/running/biking path.  This morning it was mostly a dog walking path, but they were friendly dogs, so I didn't mind.   The mostly shaded sidewalks lead from the subdivision to the elementary school to a couple of small bridges over a now-dry creek, past some apartments, and then to another bridge over a not-so-dry creek.  I stop and turn around before I get to that last bridge because that's about the 30 minute mark and because I'm not a huge fan of bridges.

And here's the best part!  I've never been big on doing things by myself, and up until now, I've had one of a handful of walking buddies available whenever I felt the need to exercise.  But with summer here, they're all busy or out of town, or not willing to get up at 7:00am,  so I decided that if I was going to walk this summer, I either needed a new plan or a new companion.  

I found one...

Have I already mentioned how much I LOVE my BFF Droid??...Every day my relationship with this thing gets better and better.  This week (I know, I'm totally slow...) I realized that I could play the music from the playlist on this blog while I'm walking!   AND I have the security of a phone (just in case one of those bridges gives out), AND the convenience of a camera, AND I can track how far I've walked AND see what time it is, AND I'm sure the thing could even take my pulse and calculate the calories I burned, too, if I could find apps for those things.  And it's all RIGHT IN MY HAND, so it's the perfect walking companion.  It's going to be difficult to re-work all those walking buddies into my new exclusive relationship with my Droid.

Back to the trail...
 
This morning I saw a huge snake on one of the smaller bridges, so I took Mack back there this afternoon for a bike ride to see if we could find it.  We didn't...but we did stop to taste his first ever honeysuckle!  He asked if we could pick all the flowers and put all the "honey" into a little jar to take home.  We decided that might take too long. 

I love that trail and I love those morning walks and I LOVE that there's always a way...even when things seem like they're impossible (exercising in hot weather.)  Even when seasons change...even when there's some obstacle (no walking buddies, bridges, snakes), there's ALWAYS a way to make things work if you have a heartfelt desire and enough motivation (and a Droid doesn't hurt.)

The Truth of All Things

I have spent the last several days trying to get answers to specific questions.  (stupid, insignificant questions)  I've Googled.  I've asked experts.  I've polled the audience.  And mostly what I've gotten is frustration and a long trail of footprints that lead to places I don't want to be.  I've been consumed, grumpy, anxious, and impatient.  And still...after all of that effort and all of that wasted energy...no definite answers. 

I've never thought of myself as a fact finder,  You know, those scientific types who have to have everything proven and spelled out with concrete evidence before they can believe it?  That's typically not my style.  But apparently I have more of that in my personality than I realized.  

This morning, though, I realized that there are some things that don't have concrete answers.  Sometimes, you have to just be satisfied with the reassurance and comfort that comes only through the Holy Ghost.  This morning I realized that by only going to unreliable sources (like Google) I would only ever receive unreliable, frustrating answers.  Even my husband, who knows me better than most people, and who understands most of my concerns and frustrations, doesn't have all the answers.  He can't, because he doesn't have all the details.  Only Heavenly Father is aware of everything...every concern, every frustration, every desire of our hearts, no matter how seemingly insignificant. 

So I made some changes today.  I cleared my head.  I opened my scriptures.  And I was just quiet.  

And here's what I heard, "And by the power of the Holy Ghost, ye may know the truth of all things." (Moroni 10:5)

That's it.  I didn't get a spreadsheet or a dissertation.  I didn't get details.  I didn't even get a clear answer.  Instead, what I got was reassurance, hope, and motivation to keep doing what's right, to keep being in the places I'm supposed to be, and to keep listening.   

Be Good.  Be Patient.  Don't Forget. 

 

Eleven

I'm not sure how it's possible that ELEVEN years have gone by since June was born.  I totally remember bringing her home from the hospital like it happened just last week.  TCD was almost 4, Spell Girl was 20 months old, and I was not even a little bit prepared to be the mother of three little girls.  Things have gotten better since then. 

ELEVEN things I love about this girl...

1.  She works REALLY REALLY hard!  In April, my husband told the girls he would buy them each a new outfit if they got As and Bs on their final report cards, and TWO new outfits if they got all As.  At the time, June had mostly Bs and a couple of Cs, but she kicked it into gear and qualified for the TWO outifts!  (It's amazing what you can do with the right motivation.)

2.  She loves to cook.  Whenever I'm in the kitchen, I can count on June wandering in to see if she can help. The other kids come and go, but June is ALWAYS my sous-chef. 

3.  She was my most patient baby.  She never complained.  She never cried for anything.  She just waited patiently for her turn.  There were times when the other two girls had completely finished their lunches and I would look over and notice June still sitting in her high chair waiting for her food.  (She has found her voice since then, and she doesn't wait as patiently as she used to, but what a huge blessing she was when my hands were full in those early years!)

4.  She is hilariously funny.  June has always had a great sense of humor.  Hers is more mischievous than TCD's lightning fast wit, but hilariously funny nonetheless.

5.  She loves hanging out at her desk...writing letters, cutting stuff out of magazines, creating.   I don't know where she gets that.

6.  She has inherited my organizational skills.  I can always tell when June has unloaded the dishwasher because the silverware is all lined up beautifully and the tupperware is stacked.  That makes me exceedingly happy.

7.  She has more friends than I can count.  That has always been the case.  It's the same here as it was in Mendon.  She knows every kid in the 5th grade and on our street.  If we need information about our neighbors, June is the source.  She knows who's moving, who's on vacation, and who's having a party.  We just let June answer the door anymore because 99% of the time it's someone looking for her. 

8.  She is fearless!  She rides every roller coaster, runs for every office, and tries absolutely everything at least once.  I LOVE that about her!

9.  She loves to watch the Food Network with me!  Our favorites are The Next Food Network Star and Cupcake Wars.

10.  Her eyes.  June has stunningly beautiful eyes.  

11.  June was the best best best helper when I was pregnant with Mack and SICK as a dog!  I couldn't eat ANYTHING.  I could barely get out of bed.  In the mornings, after my husband and the girls would leave, June would toddle into my room and sit with me for three hours until I had to drag my nauseous self out of bed to pick up Spell Girl from Preschool.  She would sit in her little pink chair and patiently watch her PBS shows, brush my hair, get me water and crackers, and ask, "How are you feeling Mommy?" every five minutes.  She saved me during those few unbearable months. 


I'm amazed that we've had her for eleven years, and I'm so grateful to be her mom!








 

The Greatest Place on Earth

There are two missionaries currently serving in our ward, Elder Tolman and Elder Falau.  Both will be transferred to other areas in the mission sometime this week, so they were asked to stand and bear their testimonies this morning in Sacrament.  They've been in our ward since November, so it will be an adjustment for all of us when they leave.  Elder Tolman was the first to speak and he talked about how great the past 7 months have been and how much he's enjoyed the members of the ward.  And then he said, "I think this might be the greatest place on earth!"   I smiled and thought, "He'll probably think that about the next place he goes...and all the others after that."

I have heard that many times from people in the different wards we've lived in.  I used to roll my eyes when we first moved to Mendon and people would say, "Welcome to Zion!"  They frequently gushed about living in "the greatest place on earth" and I always wondered, "How can you think that when you've only ever lived here?"  I used to think that making a statement like that required knowledge and experience with every other possible place and opportunity.  It doesn't.   I used to think I could actually find the "greatest place on earth" if we moved often enough.  But the thing is, you could move 100 times and never find it.  Or you could stay right where you are, and just know that you live in "the greatest place on earth."  It's not really about the place...it's about the eyes that you look through to see it. 

I realized today, when I listened to Elder Tolman, that not only was he right that Allen is the greatest place on earth, but so were all those people who said that about Mendon...and so were the people who said that about Seattle and Atlanta, too...and everywhere else that we've heard it.


There are amazing people in our current ward.  They love their families.  They go out of their way to serve.  They genuinely care about the people around them.  They magnify their callings.  And there have been people like that in every ward we've lived in.  That's not a coincidence.  Wherever there is a group of people who has the Spirit and who center their lives on the gospel and on Jesus Christ, it is actually the greatest place on earth.  

"For where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them." (Matt 18:20)

This is from my friend Allie's blog...
"We really ARE here for each other, to help each other get back to Him. We are placed in the places we are, not by accident or sheer coincidence. Nothing is random, we are placed in each others lives to be the instruments in helping one another learn what we need to learn. By trying to be like Him while we're here on Earth, we ultimately will BECOME like Him in the eternities." (go here to read the rest of her incredible testimony)



The thing that I've learned from moving around a lot is that even though leaving is difficult, you can take a part of all those people and places with you to the next place.  I have little pieces of Mendon woven through my personality and my character and in my heart everyday.  I'm different because I lived there, because of the people I met, and because of the experiences I had.  They have forever changed me, hopefully for the better.


I'm unbelievably grateful to have lived in a few of "the greatest places on earth" and to currently live in one of them now. 

Summer

I LOVE summer! 


But I'm a detail girl, so I love plans, structure and schedules, too.  It's difficult for me to let the day unfold on it's own.  When my kids were little, I used to plan daily activities every summer to keep them all occupied.  I sent out letters to all the moms I knew telling them exactly where they could expect to see us over the summer and inviting them to join us at any of those places if they wanted to...because stuff is always more fun with friends!  I scheduled Park Days, Library Days, Pool Days, movie days and field trips, and I had a huge calendar on the refrigerator so the kids would know exactly what we were doing at any given time.  We also had reading time, nap time, and craft time built into every summer day.   And at the end of the summer they would draw pictures of the things they did and we would turn their pictures into Summer Journals.  Good grief!  I was way more amazing then than I am now.  I'm not sure how the heck I did all of that.


But now with older kids, it's less likely that we'll have a set schedule.  They stay up later and sleep later than they used to.  It's more difficult to find things they all want to do together.   And although we do still have reading time in our house, it almost always happens late at night when they're supposed to be sleeping.  


So, on this first official day of summer vacation, I have decided to commit to only a few things:

• Make breakfast everyday (because with the way a typical summer day tends to go, I need to know that they've eaten at least one healthy meal.)  

• Keep the freezer stocked with popsicles. 
  

• Be more relaxed. 

• Wear flip flops as often as possible.  

...and enjoy every single day because they go by way too quickly!

The Last Day of School

I officially LOVE the last day of school.  It has been a completely insane two weeks packed with craziness, so we couldn't have a quiet ending.  
 
10:00 Temple (last two hours of quiet before summer officially starts) 


12:30 Savannah had a half day at school, so I took her to lunch at Free Birds.   

I had this minus the chicken and the sour cream

1:00 Shopping for Emma's birthday party.

3:00 Kids home from school!

5:00  Dropped Savannah and Megan off at two different End of the Year swim parties.


6:00  Emma's party! (Mall Scavenger Hunt/Late Over)


It's the funniest thing to be in a car full of almost-11 year olds.  They want to listen to music, but they don't stop talking long enough to hear it.  We listened to Justin Bieber until three of the girls confessed that they don't actually like him.  Then we listened to Sean Kingston, but I think I was the only one who could hear him, and I don't actually like him.  


Then they talked about how hot Taylor Lautner is...

And then I heard this conversation...

10 year old:  "You know that guy R**** A*****??"

11 year old:  "Ewwwww....yes!  He's creepy!"

10 year old:  "I know!  He tried to put his arm around me at school yesterday!"

The whole van:  "EEEEWWWWW!"

Once we got to the mall, we split into 2 teams to hunt for our scavenger stuff.  I had my doubts about how this activity was going to go, but we had SO much fun!

Here's what we had to find:
a paperclip
a hanger
3 business cards
tissue paper
green eyeshadow (we got 10 bonus points because we were WEARING it)
a french fry (guess who got talked into asking someone in the food court for that one??)
a straw
a ketchup packet
a map of the mall
a brochure
a receipt
a stranger's signature
a piece of tape
a sale tag
a clearance tag

We had one hour and we could only collect one item from each store.  Totally fun!  The people we bothered were SO nice.  (Apparently everyone is happy it's finally summer!)   
Oh, and my team WON!!  

GREEN EYE SHADOW!

my team was very focused and serious

meeting in the food court after the scavenger hunt

8:30  Cupcakes, jammies and presents at home.

10:00  All of Emma's guests left and I went to pick up the other two girls. 

11:00  Home...sitting down...sleeping in tomorrow...


 

Dancing Flowers

A few weeks ago, Spell Girl went to a birthday party, and this little plastic flower was in the gift bag she brought home.  Somehow over the past few days, it has migrated up the stairs and onto my nightstand.  And I have totally fallen in love with this little thing! 

It's a solar powered dancing flower, so when it sees the sun, it sways back and forth.  The brighter the sun, the more enthusiastic the swaying!  Dorky, huh?  That's what I thought, too, but it is the happiest little thing I've ever seen.  

Sometimes, I'm not in the best mood.  (I know that's difficult to imagine, but occasionally it happens.)  But when I walk into the room and see that little flower dancing, I can't help but smile.  It's the part where I realize it was dancing all by itself before I even got there.  I wish I were more like that...dancing just for the sake of dancing.  Sometimes...rarely...when I'm sure I'm not going to be caught, I let myself get lost in the music and sing really really loud.  Someone told me a long time ago that I should do that more often...worry less about who's watching or listening and just sing when I want to sing.  That's a hard thing for me.  But that dorky little flower reminds me every day that the littlest things can make us happy...music, the sun, dancing flowers...and we should thoroughly enjoy all those little things and dance when we want to dance...and sing when we want to sing.

Graduation

Today, at Spell Girl's graduation, I cried through the Class President's speech about making today count.  And then I cried when I watched the video montage of all the 6th grade kids talking about the things they loved most about the year (that always happens to me, though...even when ESPN runs football clips that are set to music, I get a little teary.)  And then I cried when all the kids walked out of the gym to Pomp and Circumstance.  

After graduation, we took Spell Girl out to lunch...

Those are my extra crispy, well done fries...YUM!

And then she spent the rest of the day at a 6th grade pool party with her friends.  


All afternoon, I was amazed at how grown up she is.  And then it occurred to me that my little kids aren't so little anymore.  As of Friday afternoon, I will have a 3rd grader, a 6th grader, a 7th grader, and a 9th grader..unbelievable!  I remember when the girls looked and sounded like this...

How can that have been 11 years ago???

Watching that video makes me so grateful to have had those baby years with four incredible children and even more grateful that we're out of the baby years and moving into the teenage years.  As yet another school year comes to an end and I think about how quickly the last 11 years have flown by, I am completely overwhelmed at what the next 11 will bring...seminary, dating, driving, more graduations, college, weddings, grandchildren.  (yikes!)  I can't imagine how we will prepare for all of the changes that are coming up, but I am sure that these incredible children will continue to bring challenges, blessings and unlimited opportunities for all of us to learn and grow.  I can't wait!

Balance

You don't have to HAVE something all the time to love it, right?  Balance has always been one of those elusive things for me.  I have it occasionally, but as soon as I realize I have it, it somehow slips away.  But I can happily say that I have experienced it often enough to know that I LOVE it.  


Balance for me = spiritual, personal, physical, and mental contentedness...not always JOY or EXCITEMENT, but just that quiet, contentment when I look around at my life and feel glad to be exactly where I am, hopeful for the future and grateful for right now.  

This is my last full day by myself before school ends on Friday.   The next three days will be filled with more end of the year activities, celebrations, lunches, and half days.  Knowing this, I carefully carved out the entire day and planned to "tank up" on peaceful tranquility before the school year ends.

I listened to two incredible Conference talks from last October. 
Pride
Faith and Character 

I played the piano.

I listened to music. 
I wrote in my journal.
And I watched Oprah's Season 25 Finale that I've been saving since last week.


All day long, I've tried to fill the day with good things, and to store all the things that will help me to be balanced and "awesomely enthusiastic" when the kids are home everyday.  But, as 3:00 rapidly approaches, I'm starting to feel more panic than enthusiasm.  

And I'm also realizing that you can't store balance.  It's not very realistic to think that in one day, I can store all the quiet and spirituality I'll need for the next three months.  And I think I might be exaggerating the situation a little in my head.  It's possible, even with four kids home from school, a family trip across the country planned, and yet another move coming up, that I will have a place and an opportunity to be quiet once or twice before August.  (Maybe that 5:30am thing will come in handy over the summer.)


So, as I make the transition right now from ALONE and PEACEFUL to ATTENTIVE and CONNECTED, I'm grateful that I have had the last 6 hours and the last 9 months to know what BALANCE feels like, and I look forward to carving out creative ways to be BALANCED over the summer.  

Cilantro Lime Dressing

It's possible that I have just made the most amazing dressing on the planet!  

About a month ago, I read a friend's gushy post about how much she loved CILANTRO and totally agreed.  And if I hadn't been paranoid that she would have thought I was a big copycat, I would have posted an almost identical tribute to cilantro on my own blog, because I LOVE that stuff, too!

But today, I found yet another way to love cilantro, and technically it's not copying her anymore because I'm writing about cilantro DRESSING...besides, it's been 6 whole weeks since there's been a post about cilantro from anyone, so it's about time, I think.

We were invited to a BBQ/Pool Party this afternoon and the hosts were serving typical BBQ food...burgers, hot dogs, etc.  So I offered to bring a side dish.  Initially when I volunteered myself for that, my ulterior motive was to make sure that there would be something non-meaty for me and TCD to eat.  But, it turns out, some little birdie told them that we're vegetarians and they're making marinated, grilled portobello mushrooms for us!  YUM!!  How nice is that??  I would have been happy with chips and my little side dish.


This morning, I threw together this salad.  It's kind of a combination of a few recipes I found on Google because they all sounded like they needed each other.


Here's the salad recipe...


1 box bow tie pasta (the little ones are cuter, but I could only find the regular sized ones)
1/2 cucumber, peeled and diced
1 C frozen corn
1 can black beans, drained
1 C edamame
grape tomatoes, halved (I'm not sure how many??  maybe 3/4 C?)


I cooked the pasta and then threw everything in the bowl and tossed.  I didn't even defrost any of the frozen stuff because the pasta was still hot when I threw it in.  The salad looked really pretty and colorful, but it needed some kind of dressing and the ones on the original recipes didn't sound great.  So I blended a few and came up with this...


Dressing


1/3 C olive oil 
1/4 C lime juice (I happened to have fresh key limes leftover from dinner last night)
2T balsamic vinegar
1 clove garlic
1T sesame oil (because I LOVE that stuff)
1/4 C cilantro (it might have been more than that)
1/3 C honey
1/2 t salt
1/2 t pepper

I threw everything in the blender except the olive oil and blended on high until it was all combined and everything was green.  Then, with the blender still running, I carefully opened the top (because in the past, I have not always had luck with that sort of thing) and poured the olive oil in gradually.  That's called emulsifying.  It just makes it so that the oil doesn't separate from the other stuff. 


I tasted it before I dressed the salad just in case it was gross.  It wasn't!  And then I let Spell Girl taste it (because she was the official lime juicer today) and she LOVED it, too!


Here's what the whole salad looked like when we were done...it would be prettier with red tomatoes, but I only had yellow ones.

I was seriously tempted to lick the inside of the blender after I poured the dressing on the salad - it was THAT good!  (I restrained myself, though.)  There are so many layers of flavors in it...lime, garlic, honey, sesame...serious YUM!!   It's the most amazing dressing I've ever had!!  I might have to use it on EVERYTHING. 


Pictures from the Pool Party: