Winter Has Arrived and Other Such Things

Over the last two weeks, temps have plummeted and several inches of snow have fallen.  While I'm happy that winter has taken a little longer to arrive than last year, when it literally started snowing in October and didn't stop until April, it was still a bit of a rough adjustment for me.  Despite growing up in one of the coldest places in the US (Minnesota), winter and me do not get along so well and I struggle with my mental health during the winter months.

  The biggest of the snowstorms dropped about 6ish inches on us,

but the snow was so dense and heavy, it took us nearly an hour for two of us to clear a strip just wide enough to back one car out. 

We will definitely be looking into more powerful snow shoveling/snow blowing options should we stay in Northern Utah long-term, but for now we continue to shovel the old-fashioned way...with shovels. 

Because of the aforementioned weight and density of that particular snowstorm, it took even Utah natives off guard, and roads (especially side roads) were terrible for a couple days.  They canceled the 2nd hour of church that Sunday for the EQ and YM to go dig people out.   Thankfully we live on a road that gets plowed early and often, so it's not an issue of us getting out, it's when we get off the main roads and into neighborhood roads/ parking lots, that we started slipping around.

 

 

In the meantime, I am getting tired of treadmill workouts  and the gray, cloudy skies that seem to hanging over us of late.  

Here are a few other tidbits from the last week or two...

I not only made some more sourdough and talked Cami through making her first batch with some starter I brought to her on my last trip out there...

but I made enough for Glen to take an unbaked load with him to Saint George...a fact which made him very happy....

 

 

 

We also sent a loaf on same-day delivery to one of my Thailand boys in the MTC.  He was a HUGE fan of my bread at a couple of Thailand reunion events (and he is mildly obsessed with energy drinks), so we figured we'd send him off with some fun travel food before he embarked on an early morning travel day to Florida....

Ellie said goodbye to our Alabama peeps...

and arrived home in the middle of some newly falling snow which pretty much froze to ice by the morning time. 

I also greatly enjoyed getting pics of Lucie wearing a couple new dresses I got for her.  I had noticed a little girl in our ward who always wears the cutest clothes.  I finally asked her Mom where she got them from and she told me she was the marketing director for this cute local boutique, for which she now gives me the scoop on when clearance sales are about to kick in! The clothes are so classy; I may be a little obsessed (though not obsessed enough to pay full price...haha!)

I finally planned a menu again!   We eat so much better when I menu plan, but it is one of the things that tends to slide when life gets out of routine or crazy (like the holidays).  

Also, I got called up for jury selection.   It was my first time that I could actually go, because homeschooling and breastfeeding, had excused me every other time.   I didn't end up getting selected, but I was happy to do my civic duty and have the experience. 

While we were getting snowed on here, there was a huge swath of wintry air pretty much blanketing the whole country.  It snowed in DC, Philly, Alabama, Texas, and other places that don't get hit very often.   But Portland got hit almost worse than any other place, because they got snow AND ice.  Adam was without power for a couple days and they were stuck inside for almost an entire week.   After talking to him on his p-day, I got the impression they were all a little stir-crazy, so I decided to Doordash them some lunch.  (A joy of having a stateside missionary!)  I tipped the driver well for driving in that weather and I think brought them a little smile on that icy day!   

And, last but not least, we just sent our Ellie girl off on a grand adventure.  She's off-track at BYU-Idaho this semester and, for multiple reasons that we supported,  decided that spending it at  home is not what she wanted to do. 

So...off she goes...starting in the Phoenix area with a roommate who's also off-track... 


 

Chilling with Emma

 It was so fun to have Emma home for the holidays.  She's an easy person to have around, because she's easygoing,  so helpful, and loves to cook! 

So, together, we cooked, played some games, went to the temple, watched movies and a goofy TV show, and just enjoyed being able to spend some more time together. 

And we also donated blood together.  

I started donating blood back when I was in high school and regularly donated for the next few years into college.  I was really excited when I received a special pin for making it to a gallon.  Then the 5 pregnancies, breastfeeding, daily life,  kept me away for many years.

  Then, almost exactly 12 years ago, Spencer was diagnosed with AML (leukemia) and received dozens of blood donations  through his treatment.  It was then  I decided I wanted to get back to donating again.   Too bad by then, I really struggled with my iron levels, which were often low even when I was taking an iron supplement, so, for several years, I tried to donate just once a year--every January--in Spencer's honor.  

Then I had my hysterectomy in 2022.  

Hallelujah!   In addition, to many unpleasant symptoms being eliminated, having the hysterectomy also meant that  low iron is no longer a problem, which means I can give more regularly. 

Giving blood together  worked out perfectly...the first week of January (the month of Spencer's diagnosis) and our stake held a blood drive.  I talked Emma into coming with me and we did it!   Emma struggles with iron like I did, but she was good to go this time.  I was grateful for her presence, since I actually got a little lightheaded this time, which is very unusual for me when donating.  I let her drive home and we felt good that we'd done our small part in helping a cause that's near and dear to our hearts.  

Plus we got cool t-shirts...

If you are able and you haven't done it recently, I highly recommend donating blood! There's a critical shortage currently and I know firsthand that blood donations were a part of what saved our Spencer and countless other cancer and trauma patients.  Get on the Red Cross website and look for a blood drive near you. 

Visiting with Old Friends!

Moving across the country in middle age is not for the faint of heart!   The part I miss most about living in Virginia is people knowing us and our story.  I feel like I will always be a  stranger in this land where  3/4 of our ward grew up in Utah County, many of those in the same neighborhood we live in. While I admit that it was nice to have had a fresh start, I was not mentally prepared for the anonymity that comes with being the newbies in a place where outsiders are such a rarity.  I think I had this naive notion that our outsider status would somehow make us more interesting (like it often does in other parts of the country), but when you're  boring introverts at heart, there's just not that much pull for people to leave their comfort zones to really get to know us. 

BUT...all is not hard about living in Utah!   There are some parts about Utah that we love (other than the scenery)!  For example, I love, love, love being close to my college kids.  It's been fun to meet their roommates and friends and feel like our connection is stronger with them once they leave the house.   I also love being able  to stay connected with old friends.  Utah is such a crossroads for so many members of the church and, although it's less frequent than I'd like,  I really enjoy being able to keep in touch with others that have also moved here, are going to school here, or are passing through here. 

One of those opportunities came up this past week. 

  Elena is Emma's oldest friend.  Their birthdays are a week apart and we met her and her family back in 2002 and love them all.  If you look back through the archives of this blog, you'll find a lot of posts with Elena and Emma together over the years.  

A few weeks ago, Elena and her husband, Harlan (also from Virginia), had a baby.   I loved being able to see and catch up with both of their parents, as well as being able, along with Emma,  to meet and hold their new baby.   Elena was in YW almost the entire five years I served as YW president, so in addition to feeling connected to her as one of my daughter's best friends, I also got to watch her grow in the YW program.  

It does make me feel a bit old to realize that someone who is only a week younger than my THIRD child is already married and has a baby (even after both of them served missions), but I am a grandma and have a full head of gray hair under all the dye, so I guess I should just embrace that I actually am old! 

It really is moments like these that make living in Utah worth it to me. 💖

Things that Made Me Smile This Holiday Season

The older we get, the more low-key our holidays become.   We are not on anyone's party invite list and it's frankly rather difficult to get excited by gift-giving when my kids are so specific with what they want.  It's been many years since I've had an ounce of confidence about buying an article of clothing or jewelry that my kids will actually wear and that's usually mostly what they want.  So they send me links and I try my best to also make sure they have something that's kind of a surprise to them.   I miss the days when I could get Lego sets, art supplies, or doll accessories, depending on the kid, and know that they would be totally happy.  

With Adam on his mission and Cami taking her turn with the in-laws, this holiday season we had 3 of our 5 kids here.  Combine the smaller crowd than usual with the fact that Glen only had a couple days off of work and Ellie left for Alabama on Christmas night (to help babysit Lucie), and it felt even more low-key than normal. 

Here are a few things that made me smile this holiday season...

Our Christmas tree is wild and crazy with a collection of ornaments from the last 30-years.   I keep thinking that I *could* get a second tree that we keep all fancy and matching, but, frankly, that's not me and I rather love our Tree of Memories.   We collect ornaments from our travels and special events from the year and it keeps getting more and more covered with ornaments every year. 

These missionary ornaments that we've gotten for each of our missionaries while they were serving, were making me extra smile this year.  This is our second Christmas without Adam at home and I found myself looking at that ornament a lot!   We did laugh when we put them side-by-side and saw the height differences between them.  Cami and Emma are both 5'5" in real life and Adam is 6'2", so the ornaments are definitely not to scale.  Haha!

 

I also really loved this ornament I found at the BYU-Idaho bookstore.  I love the artistic style of it and I love that BYU-Idaho is a new special place for our family now that Ellie attends there. 

 
Here's a collage of some more of our Christmas activities...a trip to Temple Square to see the lights, more treat making, our Christmas Eve devotional with my Mom and Heather, and some Christmas Eve pajama pics!  

 

We were completely charmed by the Christmas Eve Nativity pictures sent by Cami with their Christmas crew in Alabama.  Lucie was Garrett's parents' first grandchild too, but they now have four (almost five), while we are still anxiously awaiting number two! 

Christmas morning involved a delicious breakfast made by Emma! 

She could sell her  gluten free cinnamon rolls...they're amazing! 

Actual gift opening was  slow and pretty low-key...

We loved being able to talk with our missionary {and Cami, Garrett, and Lucie} for a while...

Some other Christmas break happenings, included a temple trip with Emma, Glen, and I....

Dropping Ellie off at the airport on Christmas night for a red-eye to Alabama so she could help babysit Lucie...

WE introduced my Mom and Heather to the game, Codenames, and totally laughed when both of our last names were *almost* in the first set of words! 

We saw a beautiful sunrise...

We saw our first American kestrel in the wild on one of our morning walks...

We ate a lot of good food, including this charcuterie board that Emma made us for NYE. 

I got a bee in my bonnet and took down the Christmas decorations before New Year's this year.  As much as I love our tree, I hadn't loved the way the rest of the decor came together this year, so I wanted it down while I actually had helpers in the house to make it happen.   I went straight for the Valentine's decor...

Also, I couldn't help but throw this great photo of Spence and Kiwi in here that my sister, Heather, took of them.  Much like when he was a teen, he still doesn't love sitting still for photos, so I'll take what I can get! 

Hope you all had an amazing holiday season filled with many happy memories!  

17 Years of Christmas Cards and our 2023 Card and Newsletter

After 16+ years of blogging, you might have noticed some trends here on the blog. For instance...though I have not a single shred of wit in real life, I sometimes think I'm wildly funny here on the blog and I post silly things that make no sense to anyone other than....me. Also, I have a real problem with using the blog as an outlet when I'm feeling upset or hurt. I usually end up editing or deleting those posts later, but a lot of you regular readers have probably seen a few of my PMS-driven rants pop up and then quickly disappear over the years. And last, but not least...almost every year I post something about Christmas cards and how much I love them sending and receiving them.

Sooooooo...in the spirit of all three of my blogging trends....allow me to rant about how annoying it is that I'm still not funny, still get PMS despite not having a uterus, which means I can't predict when it will hit anymore, and how I still get so dang obsessed with Christmas cards every single year. I literally work on getting the cards sent out before buying gifts a lot of years (like this one)!   

Here is a glimpse of this year's card....

With Adam being on a mission for the entirety of 2023, we never got a family picture, so this collage was the best I could come up with.

I had great fun creating this newsletter with a template I'd purchased on Etsy. In years' past, I've mostly created our newsletters from scratch on either Microsoft Publisher or Photoshop, but this year I needed a creative boost, hence the Etsy help. I was happy with the way it turned out.

Last but not least, I FINALLY got a bee in my bonnet to gather all of our Christmas cards and compile it into one big collage. I wasn't able to locate any from pre-2007, but with a good bit of sleuthing, I was able to find them all from the last 17 years at least.

Wow!  It was kind of crazy to see a little glimpse of all these years in one place.   From cancer, epilepsy, unemployment, the failing health and death of a parent, mental health struggles, to a wedding, a grandbaby, 11 years of homeschooling, 3 missionaries, 5 high school graduations, a whole lot of adventures, etc... these years represent A WHOLE LOT of stress, heartache, struggles, and also deep deep joy.

A closer look at previous years' cards: 

2022 (the card full of regrets and TMI newsletter)
2021  (the artistic card and NEWSY newsletter)
2020 (the covid update)
2019 ( the simple card and the SECRET FILES newsletter)
2018 (the super small airmail card and the ANNUAL REPORT newsletter)
2017 (the basic, but pretty fall leaf card and a  GAZETTE newsletter)
2016 (the Jefferson memorial card and the CANCELED newsletter)
2015 (the card with a pic from a Lord of the Rings filming site in NZ and funny CATALOG newsletter)
2014 (the card where we look a little disheveled and DICTIONARY newsletter)
2013 (silly mustache/pajama card and GAZETTE newsletter)
2012 (middle of cancer card and FAIRY TALE newsletter)
2011 (Alleluia silhouette card and GOOFY newsletter on the back) 
2010  (letter here) (the card where 2 of us were photoshopped and NUMB3RS newsletter)
2009 (the professional photograph card and the TRIFOLD CHURCH PROGRAM newsletter)
2008 ( card in fall leaves and WANTED POSTER newsletter)
2007 (my early attempts at graphic design card )

 

Thanks for coming along for the ride!  HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!