A Good Day Consists of...

1.  A good hike...

or two...

in this case....two...or 11.2 miles total.

2.  Hiking with great people....

including a great bunch of women, youth and even a few strangers along the way...

3.  Enough sunshine to boost the farmer's tan...

4.  Berry pies from Croshaw's Bakery...

5.  The right amount of wind to keep you cool...

6.  Eating a meat and cheese sandwich on the edge of a 500 ft cliff...

7.  Russell Stovers marshmallow and chocolate eggs.

8.  Swiffer dust spray.

9.  American Idol's deep voiced Country Boy...Scotty....

10.  A glimpse of the Desert Tortoise....truly a gift and a treat to us on the trail this evening...

11.  Sand in your shoes....and then clean socks....

In other words...today was a good day.

Pay Day

Photos out of India, came at a most needed moment today...

Precious widow sisters receiving their loan money to begin their businesses which will become their livelihoods...

Even as I get caught up in my fretting about my own misfortune and struggles, I see these photos and I am humbled.




Payday in every way.

Remember that time?

Remember that time last week when I looked out grandma's window and what did I see?  Sheep.  Sheep in the front yard.  That was almost as fun as watching grandma herd the sheep back into their pasture.

And then there was the time we put both pups in the dog carrier?  And they liked it?  They liked it a lot.

And who could forget the petroglyphs I saw on the "slots" hike last week.

Or the "eye" of the man on the Turtle Wall trail too...

Remember how we drove to Las Vegas to pick up Rachel in rush hour traffic and got to the airport late?  And remember how her flight was late anyway so we ended up waiting 45 minutes for her?  And then we drove thru the "strip" on a Friday night just because we plum lost our ever lovin' minds?  Yeah, I remember that one time too.

One thing I didn't remember though...

to get my girls to the Young Women's Conference last night.

And another thing I forgot...

to wash my favorite wool socks for tomorrow's hike.

One time I hope I don't remember for long...

how nervous I was to give my lesson at church today.  After several months of practice, you'd never guess that I was trying to keep myself from passing out.  It's awkward passing out at church, when you wear dresses.   And thank goodness that visual kept me standing on my feet throughout the whole ordeal.

A time I hope I remember....the Montazuma Trail that I'm leading a hike on tomorrow.  I hope I remember how not to get lost.  That could be really embarrassing.

I'll always remember the time I went to church...today...on second day hair. Yep...first time I've gone to church without shampooing my hair the morning of, thanks to a little product called Dry Shampoo by Suave.  

Remember that time I used to go to the KC temple lot and stalk it?  And then remember how I missed Mr. Moroni take his trip to the east spire?  Remember how I used to ride in the car with the Ritter-babes to get Route 44 DCs and corn dogs?  

Remember that time that I went to visit KC again?  

3 days, 18 hours and some odd minutes to...RTT...Remember that time.

A part-time job

I've been a little busy these last few days.

It seems that Social Networking has become my part-time job.

It began with a blog in October of 2008...a separate one from my own subscription.

The Temple Chaser

I have been driven to chronicle the construction of the LDS Kansas City Temple ever since I heard the announcement made on a General Conference Saturday morning.

In the last week there has been a couple of significant, historical events involved with the process of building a House of the Lord.

I don't live near the temple any more, so I've been on the computer quite a bit. There have been phone calls, texts, emails...facebooking too.  It has been a wonderful whirlwind and it's kept me quite busy.  No pay, but the benefits are amazing.

I'm profoundly humbled by where this "chase" has taken me.  I look forward with anticipation to the completion of this temple and it's open house and dedication. And then, all my months of stalking will pay off!

Some recents posts on Chaser:

Read a fellow Chaser's account of watching Moroni being lifted into place....
View stunning pictures of Moroni's first night bathed in twilight...
Watch the photographic process of Moroni's journey with pictures from Valerie Anderson...
Take a last unique look at the temple sans Moroni...
Witness spires 1 and 2 as they reshape the outline of the temple...

All of these posts and more...within a week.

I'm so grateful for the talents and gifts that others have shared on this "Chase".

This is a part-time job that I look forward to every day. I have the greatest co-workers and I worship my "Boss".  Temple Chasing is the best job ever!

These Two

These two things bring me much joy...
Being a...

And getting out...

"Me thinks that the moment my legs begin to move, my thoughts begin to flow."

Henry David Thoreau

Ageless and Evergreen

With only an afternoon of decent weather between cold fronts and storms, we spent a couple of hours last week in the majestic Redwoods.

The bulk of our time was spent in the Trees of Mystery but we did try to access Grandma's favorite Reef Simpson Grove Trail.  When we arrived at the trailhead, there were barricades and orange cones blocking what used to be the entrance.  Grandma spoke to one of the workers there who gave her the hard news that the trail had been closed, it was being reforested.  Apparently, in a tragic accident, a tourist was hit by a car and died while trying to cross the highway there and because of that the trail would be no more.  With the trailhead closure, it will be difficult and next to near impossible to ever get back into that pristine grove of trees.

Pictured here is Grandma, the forest service man...and a baby redwood...

The Redwoods by Joseph B. Strauss

Here, sown by the Creator's hand.
In serried ranks, the Redwoods stand:
No other clime is honored so,
No other lands their glory know.

The greatest of Earth's living forms,
Tall conquerors that laugh at storms;
Their challenge still unanswered rings,
Through fifty centuries of kings.

The nations that with them were young,
Rich empires, with their forts far-flung,
Lie buried now-their splendor gone
But these proud monarchs still live on.

So shall they live, when ends our days,
When our crude citadels decay;
For brief the years allotted man,
But infinite perennials' span.

This is their temple, vaulted high,
And here, we pause with reverent eye,
With silent tongue and awestruck soul;
For here we sense life's proper goal:

To be like these, straight, true and fine,
to make our world like theirs, a shrine;
Sink down, Oh, traveler, on your knees,
God stands before you in these trees.

The Trees of Mystery is a place of folksy, nostalgic fun...laced with a little bit of the stuff hokey legends are made of...

It's no mystery to me why these trees are so spectacular.  They've been around for awhile....a long while.  I swear...they have souls, they are ageless and evergreen.   

Beachy Keen

Grandma took us to the California coast for an afternoon.  Sometimes the best experiences aren't necessarily when it's sunshiney and warm.  The key to enjoying the experience is by just getting out there...in the rain and all!

Hunter finds a star fish...

Bridger finds sea anemones...

Sea food always tastes better at the sea...

Lighthouse...sigh...here's my dream home.

Sea lions doing what sea lions do best...

This is Crescent City, CA...supposed ground zero for the tsunami in America two weeks ago.  We did not find any damage whatsoever, other than an abundance of wonderful drift wood sticks....which we gathered by the bag load...to be used for a project at a later time...

Thanks Grandma for the beachy keen day!

We got lucky...

We knew it was going to be a good trip to the Redwoods when we saw this...

And we knew we were lucky when we saw this on St. Patty's

And our luck paid off as we survived the "Wilderness Hike" even though the sign didn't...

In spite of snow in the forest and rain on the beach, I still consider us lucky....

Fluff

We're buried in fluff here at G-ma's....

Fluff and other stuff...

Home

In the words of Ozzy..."mama I'm coming home"...

Look at the "home" I found in my yard this week.

Maybe this feller moved on to something with a little more square footage.

It's spring break...and we're outta here!

Tipped

I'm always amazed at the tips I see online for bettering our lives.

I came up with an idea the other day that I think qualifies as a good tip.

It started as an accident.  I unintentionally ordered two bottles of Eucalyptus essential oil a while back.  So I was trying to figure out all the places I could use my new overabundant stash.

Eucalyptus essential oil
Properties:  Analgesic, antibacterial, anti-infectious, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, insecticidal, and expectorant.

I added several drops of this essential oil to the water that I use in the machine that I use for cleaning tile floors. It can be added to steamers as well.

My floors are so stinkin' clean and smell so wonderful and have I mentioned how stinkin' clean they are?  They are anti-dirty, that's for sure.

There.

That's my tip.  

Consider yourself tipped.

Crowd pleasing Chicken Pasta Salad

It almost seems so trivial to be posting something so menial as a recipe today. Earthquakes and Tsunami devastation throughout the world has me riveted to the tv, mourning for those that mourn.

This recipe is a family favorite...a staple.  It makes a massive amount and so it works well for large party entertaining as well as left over lunches for several days.  We use it as a main dish and in the summer months I make several batches a month.  A nice cool salad yet hearty.

Chicken Pasta Salad

1 box of tri-color rotini
3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded
several cups of green grapes
2 cups whole or halved cashews
1 cup diced red onion
1 1/2 cup diced sharp cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cup diced smoked cheddar cheese (or another flavor of your choice)
1-2 bottles of 1 pint Coleslaw salad dressing
1 Tbsp of poppy seeds

Cook pasta al dente.  Rinse under cold water, set aside.
Prepare chicken, grapes, onion, cheese and cashews and combine in a large bowl with cooked and cooled pasta.

Pour in a bottle of Coleslaw dressing.  In the Mid-west, coleslaw dressing is sold in a huge variety of sizes and brands.  I could only find one size and one brand here. Midwesterners love their coleslaw. If you can find the really large bottle...good for you, use only one of those. Stir all ingredients and add in poppy seeds.

Cover and chill the salad.  It tastes better if you let it chill for about an hour before serving.  You may find that the dressing absorbs into the pasta and leaves the salad dry.  This is the reason for the second bottle of dressing.  Add as much as you choose.  We prefer our salad creamy.  Feel free to add or subtract more or less of your favorite ingredients.  Sometimes we use entire bricks of cheese, sometimes we use red grapes.  It's a very flexible recipe.  It satisfies the sweet and savory flavors in every bite.

Be well.  Eat well.  And keep the well being of the world in your prayers.