I've survived 40

I've been 40 for two and a half days now, and big surprise, I'm still alive.

What am I thinking? 40 is young, right?

"Almost all enduring success comes to people after they are 40. For seldom does mature judgement arrive before then."--Henry Ford

I hope this is true...I believe it is. One child was asked how old is old..."Forty is old. Dude, after 40 your youth is Gone."--Brandon, age 14

Another child...Darren, age 11..."Definitely 40. That's when you start getting wrinkly."

One girl, Katherine, age 15 said, "Forty is old because you have your youth in your 20's, your goals in your 30's, but after 40, you just kinda give up."

I just have to laugh. One thing I know for sure...I got here and so will they. It's amazing how fast the years go by. I think that's why 40 is such a pivotal year. It's the year you start asking "what have I done with my life?" and "what will happen next?" I've decided that I'm just grateful to be here at all.

"40 is the old age of youth", Victor Hugo once said. And that sounds true to me. By 40 the body has begun the slow fade.

testosterone decreases 1% per year starting now.

muscle mass is down 10% per decade

lung capacity at 86% of peak--and dropping

oxygen intake down 10% since 30--also dropping.

flexibility drops 25% from late 30's to 40's.

"It may be true that life begins at 40, but everything else starts to wear out, fall out, or spread out." Beryl Pfizer

That doesn't sound so cheerful. But since cheerful isn't my nature, then it looks like I'll wear the 40's well! Happy Birthday to me!!

I think I deserve a trip to Paris...what do you think?

We're All in Accord

This weekend we found a good, clean, inexpensive car for Hunter to drive. It also happens to be Hunter Green colored....a match made in heaven.

It gets the official nod of approval from everyone, but especially a certain teenager....Our family is all in Accord on this one....

Quoting Hunter

http://smithvilleherald.com/200909236050/community-living/community-living/walking-for-a-change.html

"“It makes me feel so much better to talk to these girls about all my memories of Megan,” Hunter Kanenwisher, a Staley High School junior who went to church with Megan, said while chatting with others who were close to Megan in one way or another."

My Living Prayer

In this world I walk alone

With no place to call my home

But there's one who holds my hand

The rugged road through barren lands.

The way is dark, the road is steep

But He's become my eyes to see

The strength to climb, my griefs to bear

The Savior lives inside me there.

In Your love I find release

A haven from my unbelief

Take my life and let me be

A living prayer, my God to Thee.

In these trials of life I find

Another voice inside my mind

He comforts me and bids me live

Inside the love the Father gives.

In Your love I find release

A haven from my unbelief

Take my life and let me be

A living prayer, my God to Thee.

Take my life and let me be

A living prayer, my God to Thee

Alison Krauss

For the last several weeks I have felt lifting from darkness and a release. I know that comes from Him. I lift my "Living" Prayer to Thee.

Coats for a Cause

I know many of us have coats that are tucked away in our closets, with no need of being worn. If you are one of us that do....this post is for you...:)

Winter is coming!

Our Church Ladies, or Relief Society are donating coats to the Don Bosco Foundation this month. These coats are then distributed to those in real need. We'll take any coats, any size in good and clean condition.

If you have any coats that you'd like to donate...let me know and I'll come get them. Of course, I won't make the trip to Utah for them but I'd be happy to chip in for the shipping. We're hoping to have all coats collected by the end of this month.

Happy closet diving and purging!

A Walk to Remember

This morning was the first annual "It won't happen to me" walk-a-thon at Macken Park. The day was perfect and so deservedly a blessing. The turn out was good. The donated lunch...even gooder.

Because Chloe couldn't be there...Bridger thought she would hike up her shorts so she could be there with us in spirit.

The Kissingers and all their helpers pulled together a wonderful and memorable event. I'm so proud of how much they were able to accomplish in such a short period of time.

Unforgettable. Impressionable. 3 miles of memories, great conversation, and united purpose. All teenagers need to be involved in this program. How many of us remember being invincible? Just think back to when you were a teenager and then add the distractions that the youth have today. Unbelievable.

Thank you, thank you to all those who made this walk...a walk to remember.

www.itwonthappentome.org

A Pay Off

I was totally impressed with this article I read today. Getting rid of their debt was not easy and yet they did it.
http://customsites.yahoo.com/financiallyfit/finance/article-107752-2691-0-how-one-family-shed-106000-in-debt?ywaad=ad0035
And I wonder....10% to their church....hmmm...that may have helped too. ♥

Formal Induction

Hunter is offically now a member of the International Thespian Society. Last night Staley High held a signing and pledge ceremony of their first troupe...No.7378

Their motto: "Act well your part, there all the honor lies."

Still to this day, I'm always surprised at how much my children like acting and drama. I can't even get the nerve to stand up in church, let alone memorize scripts and perform them on stage.

It's a bit of good news. In other news...Norway may be called off for this year. We are having some parent meetings over the next week and we should know by the 25th whether or not we'll be making the trip.

We're looking forward however....this year's Musical will be Little Shop of Horrors. Also, Hunter will be participating in two other plays, including Clue, the Musical. They will be having a dinner show along with Clue and the audience will choose how the play will end which requires the cast to memorize 250 different scenerios.

In many ways, this year will give Hunter plenty of opportunity to "act well" her part.

Message for Me

"It is a mistake for anyone to think he has lived too long in his old, unsatisfactory ways to make the great change. If you switch on the light in a dark room, it makes no difference how long it was dark because the light will still shine. Be teachable. That is the whole secret."

Vernon Howard, 1918-1992

I loved this message when I read it this morning but I also got something else out of it other then "be teachable".
Be a forgiver. I think that may be something that I need to work on.
Hmmm. A lot to think about today.

Lesson 40

I've known about Lesson 40 for over a month now. When I read the title..."How Glorious Are Faithful, Just, and True Friends", I was needless to say, a little discouraged. I'm no authority on being a good friend or having many friends, much less teaching about being friends. I'm usually content to stay in my own little world. But, I'm learning...it's not about me.
Then this morning, as I was putting together my thoughts, I watched this video. President's Monson's birthday wish was just the thing I needed to hear. Be a friend. What does it mean to be a just and true friend? Make someones life a little easier. It doesn't have to be something monumental, expensive or grand although it can be very consequential.
A hug or kiss in friendship.
A phone call.
A letter or email.
A smile.
A positive attitude and happy countenance.
An act of service.
Prayers on other's behalf.

A couple of weeks ago, I came home to an opened pink package on my kitchen counter. My daughter, coming home from school, had found it on the front porch with no note and in her excitement she'd opened a gift that had been intended for me. A sweet smelling candle with a beautiful inscription printed on the glass saying, "Trust in the Lord." It wasn't my birthday. It wasn't a special occasion. But I later learned that a friend had just dropped it by to say...hope you are okay and I'm thinking about you. I felt like I related to Joseph Smith when he said, "one token of friendship awakens and calls into action every sympathetic feeling".
While I wasn't imprisoned in a cold jail cell, suffering all kinds of inhumanity, I found myself that day in my own Liberty Jail moment. A time when I needed to feel hope. A time when my own mind felt cold and dark, sad and insecure.
Because of one token of friendship, hope was awakened in me. That token was the knowledge that someone else knows me and my heart and cares for me.
There are so many out there who are in need of hope. That is what this lesson is all about. Not about me...not about ourselves, but others.

In this time of sorrow and hardship in other's lives around us, may we remember this quote by Woodrow Wilson, "Friendship is the only cement that will ever hold the world together."
Be that friend that holds a world together.

Something to smile about

Shameless Plug

Hunter has a special request and I'm not above asking for help in our fundraising right now. If you want to buy some future Christmas gifts, this may work out for you.

Go here....

I have no shame.

19 years

19 years....just doesn't sound the same as 20 years does it?

19 years I've been married. In some ways it feels like more, other ways less.

19 years ago BYU beat Miami. Last saturday was the first time BYU beat a team ranked in the top 10 for 19 years.

So when you think about in that way, 19 years is pretty significant.

What do you do to celebrate your 19th Anniversary? It's not your 10th...not the 20th...not the 52nd...like the Richardson's.

19 reasons I love being married to you:

1. You are a "can do" kind of guy. I believe you can do anything you set your mind to do.

2. You have blessed my kids with your amazing hair. Wonderful, thick hair.

3. I love it when you sing classical, or church music.

4. You pretty much let me take over the house. Your stuff is relegated to a room while I take over all of the rooms!

5. You're pretty handy when you want to be. The best anniversary gift for me was having the shower unclogged. :)

6. You never hesitate to do your church duties, even when I'm annoyed with how much time it takes. I admire that. What crazy wife would ever be unhappy when their husband is serving the Lord? Not me. ;)

7. You are spontaneous. It gets us into trouble sometimes, but other times it makes for great experiences.

8. Lucky for me, you really love eating out. I like the breaks from not cooking and being a mom at the stove all night.

9. You are loyal to your friends.

10. It's a good thing you like video games and like playing them often, otherwise I would have disappointed teens. I'm not one for video games.

11. I love it when you quote movies lines with the girls. I'm jealous that you can remember lines from a movie after seeing it only one time!

12. I haven't had to work outside the home for many years because you provide for our family and make it possible for me to stay home. I will always be grateful for that.

13. You think my chili is the best, even though it didn't win the ward chili cook-off.

14. I like your bum. Enough said.

15. You've never freaked out on me if the house wasn't clean or had high expectations of how you thought I should behave as a homemaker.

16. You've kept up on your scouting skills and I'm sure I'd never go hungry and could live in the wilderness for months with all your expertise and equipment.

17. You can tell a story like no other.

18. You are a worthy priesthood holder and after 19 years, one truly becomes more and more grateful for that authority in their home. You give amazing blessings.

19. You put up with me and still love me.

Somehow we've managed to put up with each other for 19 years!
My mom recently told me that I married the perfect person for me. She was right.
Happy Anniversary, love you.

Labor on this

Chick-fil-AFree Original Chicken Sandwich
When you show up in your favorite sports team logo
on Labor Day from 10 a.m. to Close

I can neither confirm nor deny this statement. But if I were a Chicken sandwich lover, I'd be high tailing it over there to find out. L., what do you say? :)

Labor Day.
Just another day at the zoo for me.
One thing is for sure...I'll still wear white after today.
Happy Labor Day.

The 2nd Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Next to Christmas, September is my favorite time of the year. It's a cure from the summer time chaos heat wave.

It's cool nights. Sleeping with the windows open.

It's High School and College Football along with the enthusiasm of winning....Yes, when Staley High wins, the fountain overflows with bubbles....It's the Cougars beating the Sooners! Go BYU!!! Boyd took Hunter and Bridger to Dallas to watch the game last night. We'll see if we get any photos back.It's finding the biggest, yummiest marshmellows on the planet and roasting them on your stove..

It's all about fighting the urge to put up all the Halloween decorations...come on...I've only put up two scary candlesticks so far. :)

This year's September includes my passing into the "Fall" of my life. Yes, it's midlife crisis going on right here, right now. Lot's of thoughts going through my already anxiety ridden head right now. And it doesn't help that I'm in an Oscar funk too. I think September can cure me of that too.

Family Photos

My favorite photographer, who happens to be my sister-in-law, is making plans to come visit on Oct. 8-12.
She's offering a special if you would like a family photo in time for your Christmas cards.
Check out her blog: http://www.meetmycamera.blogspot.com/


And her website: http://www.meetmycamera.com/

for information, details and to contact her.
Maybe you just want to take rad pictures like her...she can help you Meet YOUR Camera too.

The more interest she has the more likely she'll come.

Trust me, you want these family photos.

"Never Been More Real"

As the anniversary of the 9/11 approaches every year, I always stop in awe of the sheer magnitude of how impacted our country and it's people have been through such devastation. I know for me, I've often wondered how those who live near DC or NYC or those whose loved ones flew on those planes have coped and managed over each year. Having seen the location of the twin towers myself, a couple of times, I do see growth and new life more and more each time I visit. I plan to visit there again next June and I've heard that ground zero is almost unrecognizable as a place of destruction. I imagine the scars that aren't seen visibly may or may not be undergoing the same transformation.
This video shows the hope of healing. That hope comes from our Savior.



Healing comes even in the pits of hellish reality...through Him.
That is what I hope to never forget this 9/11.

September Kick-off

I hadn't planned to can salsa today, but when Shirley gave me a whole bag of jalapeno peppers, I couldn't pass up the chance to put away some homemade salsa for the winter.
This batch turned out 4 quart and 4 pint jars total. That ought to last us a week at least. ;) I still have a ton of peppers left if anyone is interested in having some. Also, I'd love to swap some for some tomatoes, if someone has an abundance of those!

Happy September!