Me and Jim went to La Fiama Pizza for lunch. That's our parking receipt.
It's so fun to see your birthday numbers out in the wild.
We had a lot of dessert. Rice crispy treats three ways, tiramissu, costco muffins.
I blew out the candle as stoically as I could.
I don't know but writing this blog post is so hard. I just need to write and who cares.
Avery gave me the yearly foot massage. She's getting less and less enthusiastic about it.
Yesterday we ran across Galbraith, from point A to point B. We ran on trails we have never been on before, with the quest of seeing Mount Baker because the sky was clear and the sun was shining.
We took the long way round (Mama Bear) so that we could catch a glimpse of Baker. And there she was! So pretty and snowy white.
Then on to Baby Bear and Papa Bear, and all the while there was Baker to our left because we were on the other side of the mountain. It was so great.
Topics (of conversation) included:
Lord of the Rings: Gandalf, Treebeard,
Bailey starting High School at the end of the month,
Both Mary and Zacharias question the angel Gabrielle about the miracles, so why does Zacharias become dumb? So that Elizabeth's voice can be amplified?
Then as we turned onto the trail 187, the forest got so dark and strange! I am in the middle of Two Towers, so Fanghorn Forest is on my mind. Everywhere I looked there were Ents and Treebeards.
On our way to pizza from the mountain, Lisa said something about how many screen shots she has that she never ended up sending to me, and I said, "me too!"
So then we instituted "screen shot debt forgiveness day" in which we HAD to send three of the unsent screenshots to each other.
These are two of the ones I sent...Content that's pretty good, but you know, maybe not good enough to bother your friend with.
But then Lisa said, "this one is EXACTLY my talk tomorrow!"
haha. nice.
Oh yeah, this one is a quote by Kurt Vonnegut is a good one. I don't know how it didn't get sent originally. ha
I love to hang out in my bed. Is that a problem? It's not a problem for me.
I'm in my bed right now. It's just very comfy.
These are the books I read in 2023. I didn't read many, but I did discover A Gentleman in Moscow, which is one of my very favorite books ever, and I read it twice IN A ROW.
I read two more of that author's books (Rules of Civility and Lincoln Highway), and now I follow him on instagram and let him know how much I enjoy his writing. I'm a fangirl.
He is in the process of writing a new book, and I can't wait.
I found this pretty little bouquet on the ground in my forest, so I hung it on one of the tree arches.
For Christmas, Andrew made me a coupon book.
But not just any coupon book...a Chor - e - Mon book.
"only adults herd about us".
mixed throughout the coupon book is Chore - e - Mon cards.
I cashed in the foot massage coupon right away. My kids LOVE massaging my nasty feet, don't they?
haha.
He is so funny while pampering me because he tells me to relax and think zen thoughts.
Last weekend we ran up to Woopsy Woodle overlook.
Topics included:
middle schoolers and conflict resolution - friends being mean, Evan behind the scenes crying because he thinks they don't like him,
when and how to intervene as a mom, and when to let the kids figure it out on their own,
The need for a higher being (Jesus Christ)
We got a new basketball hoop for Christmas, and it is the best way to go outside and blow off steam.
Now that the kids are older, they don't really go outside and just "play" like they used to. They need an objective while hanging out, and this is just the ticket.
That mirror by my nightstand is a gift from Roxanne. She gave one to us all for Christmas. We are supposed to write a word on it. It's a word we will tell ourselves or a word we are working on, or whatever.
My word is "Lichen"
and here is why:
So I've been thinking about the concept of why we need to depend on a higher being (in secular speak). Why does having Jesus in our lives make a difference as a society? (besides the obvious answer that includes the atonement and that kind of thing).
Then I read this great analogy that worked really well for me:
A lichen is actually a symbiotic relationship between a fungus and an algae.
Alone, a fungus can survive.
However, it cannot photosynthesize.
But when it combines with an algae, it can.
Together, it becomes something new—a lichen.
Together, the algae can gather moisture and nutrients.
It provides an anchor for the fungus.
But importantly, algae is not capable of growing the tough layers of protective tissue or digesting rock for the fungus until it is partnered with it.
Only then is it an anchor for the fungus.
Only then is it protection.
Only then does it provide nutrients from rock.
Together, they form something entirely new that is capable of so much more, helping each other thrive.
So this idea translates to me that something scientifically invisible happens when we have Jesus in our lives. We are literally anchored, strengthened, protected. It was a satisfying answer for the moment.
But THEN I gave a lesson last Sunday using the talk "Jesus Christ is the Strength of Youth". When I read this part that Uchtdorff said:
"Jesus might point out that your covenants with Him—made when you were baptized and renewed each time you partake of the sacrament—give you a special connection with Him. The kind of connection the scriptures describe as being yoked together so that, with His help, you can carry any burden."
It was the perfect doctrinal validation to the analogy!
I guess it seems obvious, but the idea of something "scientifically invisible" happening when algae and fungus are combined helps me understand "spiritually invisible" things also happen.
