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. 💖

YW Camp 2022

Earlier this spring, I was asked to be the assistant stake camp director for our YW camp.  It's a calling that I would have been petrified of in days past,  but I'll be honest, at this stage of my life,  I was actually pretty excited about it.   My life was relatively calm at that time and, as long time blog readers might remember, I had callings in YW for several years (5ish years in Vienna and 2ish years in Pennsylvania), so I was excited to be able to get back to doing something I felt passionately about.  I love working with young women and I love being a part of something that helps stretch young women to their full potential.     

Little did I know  when I committed to doing it, though, what absolute chaos my life was soon to become.   In the weeks leading up to camp, we traveled out of the country, to Hawaii, my Dad got put on hospice care, I was in charge of a family reunion, we hosted a bunch of  people at our house, I was getting two kids ready for their summer adventures, I hosted a baby shower, and basically I was about as busy and overwhelmed as I could be....all the while trying to process the difficult emotions that come along with your Dad dying and to fulfill my responsibilities as ASCD.   

Looking back at that time now, I think being too busy might be better for me than being too open-ended with my time. Many of the days leading up to camp were 100% filled from morning to night, but somehow I not only "made" it, but I felt useful and fulfilled.    I really don't like feeling like I don't have any free time, but I also really don't like feeling like the time I spend is not meaningful.  Since I don't really have any friends in Utah, my calling is light, and I strongly feel like it's not the right time to get a job while Ellie is still at home,  my life tends toward self-inflicted busy most of the time {hence the resurgence in blogging again}, rather than actually being busy.  

When camp came along finally, it was just what I needed.   It was time to unplug, enjoy being outside in a gorgeous setting, and just be.   Most of my camp related responsibilities were for BEFORE and AFTER camp, so I found my time at camp to be not stressful at all.  I got to enjoy meeting young women and getting to know the other stake leaders.   I have felt quite lonely since moving away from VA three years ago, so getting to know people  in a laid back environment was lovely!   

I became somewhat of the allergy expert for the kitchen staff and got to put the knowledge I'd gained cooking for people with severe allergies to use....

I made these gluten free ice cream sandwiches (with the GF cookies I had made at home) to be a special treat for the GF girls...

It ended up being a weirdly rainy few days (for Utah at least), so a lot of our activities were interrupted ...

The vibes of camp were laid back though, so it didn't feel super stressful to get sidetracked.   We didn't enforce a dress code and, since the yearly certifications were gotten rid of a few years ago, we didn't really have to force anyone to participate in anything they didn't want to.  I had the opportunity to put my arms around a few struggling girls (figuratively) and, again, I just enjoyed the opportunity to just "be".  

I felt like I really connected with a few women and I thought I might have found my first Utah friends, but, alas, they ended up seeming to  be interested to be Sunday friends only...like everyone else I've met in Utah.  

We had a blast at the lip sync night.   The brand new stake presidency put on a great performance...

And we had a couple energetic choreographers that made sure the stake leaders' performance was polished and very fun!  {I'm in the red tophat and mint sweats} 

I very much enjoyed being a part of YW camp, but,  in the two weeks after camp ended,  I went  back to being super busy and my Dad passed away, so the let-down was huge.  I'm happy to have more friendly faces to greet around town now, but I am definitely  still searching for "my people" here.   That's okay, though.   It's been reaffirmed to me a million times in the last year that we are exactly where we're supposed to be right now...

A Bright Side of Utah...

Back in this post here, I shared a little about my experience serving with the Young Women in Virginia.  It truly was a life-changing time for me and each of those young women still holds a special place in my heart.  

 I'll be honest, though that calling was time-consuming and stretched me waaaaaay outside of all my comfort zones, it was actually pretty rough when I finally got released.  For five years, I'd lived and breathed all things young women related and I missed it deeply when my time ended.  I tried to throw myself at other hobbies and callings, but, dang it all, making the programs for sacrament meeting just isn't quite as rewarding as having a posse of 30 young women to hang out with! 

Eventually I realized that though my role had changed, I could still love and support the young women in different ways.  I wrote them letters on their missions, attended their weddings, brought them birthday treats, and gave them hugs in the hallways.  Once again, I think those interactions have been as much for me as for any girl.   

Then we moved and it all got a little harder.   We were far away from anyone we knew, searching for new connections, and trying to figure out how to find engagement and meaning in our new place.   

Much to my happiness though, I ended up with YW callings in both my wards in Pennsylvania. I very much enjoyed being back in my element and trying to find creative ways to connect with the girls during a time we couldn't meet in person.    COVID meant that everything was done virtually or at arm's length, so it definitely wasn't quite the experience as it could have been, but I grew to love the girls in PA too and feel like I made a small difference at least.  

Then we moved again. 

We never wanted to live in Utah.  Ending up here was definitely part of a providential plan because a lot of pieces had to fall into place to get us here...and pieces we weren't trying to push.   We have felt confirmed to us many times over, that we are exactly where we are supposed to be right now, but, man, Utah is weird. 

After living on the East Coast for the last few decades, it was a bit of an odd experience moving into a new ward and having no one care.  No one was happy to see us; we were just "another new family." Ho hum.    Not one neighbor knocked on our door to welcome us.  Even the church organization seemed lukewarm on us.  We are just now, very much through our own effort of reaching out over the last 5 months, starting to form connections.  Just in time for them to reorganize our stake this past weekend and put us into another ward.   For anyone keeping track, that'll be our 4th new ward in 2-1/2 years.   

With all its flaws, though...Utah is definitely a gathering place among members of the church, which means that some of my former young women live close!   In a time when I've been struggling to form connections, it's been such a blessing to be able to take little treks down to Provo to say, "Hello" to my former young women.  Here's Anna...

Here is Ana.  It was just her birthday, so a perfect excuse to make a treat I've been craving and share it with her... 

Elena (on the right) was Emma's best friend for many years and it was fun to bring her a birthday treat a couple weeks ago too!  She's dating Harlan, another friend of Emma's, and is roommates with Ana (mentioned above), so it almost feels like a visit to Virginia when I go!    I'm excited for Emma to come home in a few weeks to join the fun.  

I can't even tell you how much these little visits mean to me....

And as we embark in yet ANOTHER fresh start (about 2 fresh starts more than we expected when we moved away from Virginia a couple years ago)...I'll take all the positivity and connections I can find.   

💗💗💗 

For Good

The other day I took a trek down to BYU to wish one of my former young women a happy 23rd birthday!    I was surprised when I got there  -but not too surprised- to see that she was roommates with two more of my young women!  I hadn't seen any of them since before their missions and it warmed my heart to hear the amazing things they're all a part of and to see how well they're doing. 

 

I was a broken mess when they called me to serve as young women's president just a couple weeks after Spencer had ended his treatment for leukemia and I worried immensely that I was the wrong person for the job.  Looking back on the 5 years I was in that calling though, I firmly believe that that having this  calling during that period of my life was truly a gift from Heavenly Father to help me along in my healing process and to shift my focus outward again.  It was a steep learning curve for me that brought me outside of my comfort zone repeatedly, but it also brought 30ish amazing young women into my life that inspired and taught me. 

Those young women did far more for me than I ever did for them and I am grateful every day for the love, laughter, and richness they brought to my life at a time when I needed it most.  It has been a joy to watch them grow into amazing missionaries, mothers, students, and overall awesome women who are making this world a better place! 

💓💓💓

YW Camp Recap

Since blogging seems to be a bit beyond my skill level currently, I've decided to start publishing some of our letters to Cami, so that these days don't get forgotten.

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Hi, Sweetie! How's life this week? We've had a week of camps with Adam as senior patrol leader at scout camp and us girls at YW camp! Emma was a YCL and Ellie was a first level!

We had 30 girls from our ward attend! Alyvia was supposed to come, but ended up with knee surgery a few days before camp and she sadly couldn't attend. Amelia sprained her ankle at camp and had to leave early , but even still we had the largest group in the whole stake!

The theme of camp was BOOT camp (Build Our Own Testimonies), so we decided to dress in themes for the week! Tuesday was camo day where we talked about enlisting and engaging in the work!

Wednesday was Rosie the Riveter day where we talked about becoming the women God wants us to be.

 

 We shared Sister Nadauld's quote:

"Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity."

Thursday was patriotic day and the bishop talked about the role of women in the church.

Ellie had a great week overall, but had a "friend" who treated her poorly. This picture was taken after she told me about her "friend" who had yelled and screamed at her when Ellie didn't want to do the same activity as her. She called her selfish and mean...

Then instead of apologizing, sent her a mean note blaming her for everything and claiming that she had been the victim.

Um, yeah. We've got a bit of mama bear protectiveness going on here. ....  😥

I'm glad I was there with her to see this go down and to give her a hug and talk her through it! Other than that it was a great week with GORGEOUS weather and I was happy to be there!

And here's one last picture to make you laugh. This is what I looked like when we got our camp T-shirts on patriotic day. Pretty much I looked awesome!

Well, I love you and hope you've had a wonderful week! Can't wait to hear all about it!

Love you!!!!!
Love,
Mom ❤️

My Wonderful YW

In case you couldn't tell, the Young Women of our church congregation play a big role in my life. I've been serving and working with them for almost five years now and they definitely hold a special place in my heart.   Here's a few snapshots of what we've been up to recently:  

Our basketball team has been undefeated for several years now, yet they are still down-to-earth, show good sportsmanship, and are welcoming of all players, regardless of skill level.     I love attending their games and cheering them on! 

We also recently did a YW retreat, which consisted of doing service at a nursing home...

Including performing some scenes from the Wizard of Oz.   

We also helped decorate for Easter and visited with individual patients...

It turned out to be a great experience.

After the nursing home we went to Sandy Springs Adventure Park in Maryland, where the girls spent about 4 hours at the ropes' course.  

It was so cool to see their confidence grow as they did progressively harder and harder courses...

and I loved seeing the friendships that were formed and/or strengthened.  

The girls seemed to have a great time and could have kept going all night I think.  

I enjoyed the challenge and being out there with the girls, but, man, I was exhausted and bruised up by the end!

After the ropes' course, we went and had some more activities and a campout in our camp director's backyard.   

It took a lot of planning to make it happen, but I think it was worth every second of it. 

Last, but not least, we had a personal progress activity where we asked people to dress up in rainbow costumes.   Some of the girls got really into it.  :) 

I love the privilege it is for me to spend time with these beautiful young women each week. 

They have blessed my lives in more ways than they will ever know 

New Beginnings 2017

After 4-1/2 years as Young Women's president of my ward, there have been a lot of things that have gotten a lot easier as time as gone on.   For instance, big events, like New Beginnings and Young Women in Excellence.   They used to stress our presidency out to no end, but now they seem to come together with a lot less stress.  

 I think this year's New Beginnings was the best yet.  It had a theme of Ask, Seek, Knock.  The decorations were simple, but cool enough to have "wow" factor.   The girls really came through and did their parts well and I loved that the theme really came together and we all left that night feeling inspired about how to seek answers our questions.  

Here are the wonderful Young Women I have the privilege of serving ... 

Ellie was thrilled to be one of the newbies (girls that turn 12 this year),  which meant that she got introduced to everyone and got lots of special attention!   She is sooooooo excited to be a part of YW!  

It was also so cool to see Nicole (who was just baptized in December) be introduced too.   Her and Maria even dressed in matching dresses and were cute as can be together! 

I am blessed to work with these wonderful women.  They've been in the long haul with me and I am grateful for their great ideas, willingness to work hard, and friendship!  

Here's the introduction that Emma read about Ellie:   

(Ellie opted to have her skip the part about her seizures)

When Ellie turns 12 in a couple of weeks, she will become the first new beehive in our ward in almost a year and a half. Energetic, cheerful, and creative, Ellie is the youngest of the five Goold kids and as such is an expert when it comes to dealing with annoying older siblings and delayed bedtimes. She loves all Broadway music, but especially Hamilton. When she’s not listening to Hamilton songs, that means she’s probably SINGING Hamilton songs, perhaps while cooking herself a quesadilla or playing with her Legos. Ellie is a world traveler who has been to 13 different countries and about 40 states, but she still hopes to get to Florida and Australia someday too. One thing Ellie would like everyone to know is that she has a form of epilepsy that causes her to have frequent seizures that cause her to pause in the middle of what she’s doing. They’re nothing to be nervous about, but if you happen to notice one, just be patient, and when her seizure is done you can remind her what she was saying, and Ellie will pick right back up where she left off. Ellie is very comfortable talking about them, so if you’re ever wondering something about them feel free to ask her questions. Just remember to be nice and be patient. And, on a more light-hearted note, I’ll finish up with a funny story about when Ellie was young. When she was a baby, she loved to suck her thumb. One time we were visiting one of our cousins who is only a couple weeks younger than Ellie and they were both lying on a blanket on the floor taking a nap. A little while later we checked in on them and found that Ellie was wide awake and had wiggled her way around and was happily lying there, not sucking on her own thumb, but happily sucking on her cousin’s big toe. All the while her cousin was still soundly sleeping. I promise, though, that she hasn’t sucked anyone’s toes in about 11-½ years or so! We are so happy that after years of tagging along with Mom and me to mutual, that Ellie will finally be an official young woman later this month. Welcome to Young Women’s, Ellie!

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Five Things

With the new school year in full swing now, life has felt a little crazier than ever.    We always have a gazillion thing going on, but here are five things that have been taking up more of my time than usual.  

1.  Cami's Christmas package!     It was due to the mission home on November 7, so I sent it off on October 15th to give it plenty of time to get there.   It was a crazy shift of mindset for me  to buy Christmas presents this early and pulling it all together really has sucked up a lot of my "extra" time lately.   

2.   The weather has been exceedingly lovely lately, which means we are trying to spend every moment we can outside!   

3.   I recently learned that I will not be released from my calling anytime soon, so I have spent the last few weeks re-immersing myself back into  the swing of things.   I was a little emotional at first realizing that my time as YW president is not yet finished after four full years, but I've  had some pretty amazing experiences the last couple of weeks that have really confirmed to me that I am right where I'm supposed to be and that, apparently, we still have a work to do with the amazing young women in our ward.  

This food was for a family history night that we had at our house, where the youth found over 100 names to take to the temple.   

4.   I am finding that supporting TWO kids,  that are far away from home, is a little more time consuming than I expected.    I try to write them a letter and a couple of emails each week, which is basically the reason why I haven't been blogging much recently.    Writing to them has redirected the energy that I would normally give to blogging and put it into letter writing instead.    I miss these girls! 

5.  I'm trying really hard to exercise and eat better.  After my little bout with pancreatitis this summer, I decided that I really needed to acknowledge that I'm not as young as I used to be and I need to be a lot more careful.  I've been eating a fairly low-fat diet and trying to up my exercise threshold.  I had been doing well and feeling a lot better, but I've been struggling more with the eating lately.   I am committed to stay on top of it though, because pancreatitis (and the requisite fasting for four full days) was not something I'd like to repeat.