A Snowy Day in April

Once upon a time there was a girl who spent most of her growing up years in Minnesota.  She took great pride in having an extensive collection of cozy sweaters and an excellent tolerance to cold.  

Later, when the time came, she headed to BYU for college.   She was immediately underwhelmed with Utah winters and loved to tell her friends how wimpy they were compared to "real" winters in Minnesota.   She laughed when others became alarmed when experiencing the sensation of their nose hairs freezing  for the first time when they took a roommate trek to Idaho.   Pshaw!   That happened all the time in Minnesota.

Yeah, she was no doubt quite an annoying person to be around sometimes.      

Then she moved to the DC area, where she spent the next 25ish years experiencing a true four season climate.   Yes, it would get cold in the winter, but generally only in the winter and everything would get canceled if it snowed at all, so they could stay warm and cozy at home.  Yes, it was hot and sometimes miserably humid in the summer, but only in the summer.   And Virginia falls and the springs were glorious and long!   She got spoiled.

Then they moved to Utah and she quickly realized that Utah winters, though not as cold as Minnesota's, were not as wimpy as they had been in her memories.  The Utah springs and falls have moments of intense glory, but they get overshadowed by winter a whole heck of a lot more often than she remembered.    And somewhere during those ensuing years, her aging body seemed to have lost all tolerance to temperatures below about 75°.  I think that, perhaps,  she just used up that tolerance in the first 18 years of her life. 

So what happens when that completely cold-intolerant, done-with-winter girl wakes up on April 18th to a sight like this?     

After grumping around the house for a bit, she pulls back out her winter clothes, pastes a fake smile on her face...

and turns her morning walk into a photographing-snow-on-flowers walk.  

Because, it was either that or crying...

And that didn't sound fun.    Hope you all had a beautiful Easter! 

*********************************

 

Scenes from this Winter

Most of you probably know that I grew up in Minnesota, which you would think would make me a bit more tolerant to the cold than I am.  Instead I would say that my growing up years in Minnesota might have made me a little more jaded against the cold than I otherwise would be and I strongly prefer to be hot over cold (except when I'm sleeping, but that's a story for another day. haha)  It's not that I hate winter, because I don't.   It's just that I happen to like winters with a little more variety to them than just cold and snowy...like Utah's tend to be.  I am grateful that it does not get near as cold here in Utah, as it does in Minnesota, but it's not the ups and the downs in the temps like in Virginia, that gives you  plenty of mild days mixed in with the cold.   

Enough complaining from me!  I'm trying hard  to focus on the positive, so here is a glimpse of some of the lovely scenes from our winter this year:  

This photo was taken on the way home from the dentist a couple weeks ago.  It had nary snowed a drop when I walked in for my cleaning and looked like this when I walked out.   It was long, white-knuckled trip back home and I was grateful that there was little traffic. 

 

I found this cute scene from BYU campus in our camera roll after a recent snowstorm, which means it was taken by Emma or Adam. The beard made me laugh!  😂

Here's an icy sight that caught my eye recently when I was taking my Mom to visit with her sister...

Glen and I came across this sunrise on one of our morning walks recently!  😍

And here's another one from another morning hike...  I love Utah sunrises!

Even the Alabamans got a good snowfall this year and enjoyed getting out and  playing in it!

Adam recently got out into the canyon with his friends and had a snowy adventure of his own...

As I sit here typing up this blogpost (on Feb 13th) with this view out my window...

I am drawn to this postcard I recently received in the mail that reminds me that winter is a great time to slow down and prioritize self-care...

Which I'm pretty sure means staying in my sweats as often as possible, right?!  

Have a lovely week!  Stay warm, my friends!  💗

A Miserable Adventure!

 Once upon a time, Glen was out of town and Ellie decided to join me for my morning walk.  It was sprinkling very lightly with temperatures in the mid-40's when we left.  We had put on a couple of light underlayers with our rain jackets and winter hats and expected it to be like 99% of Utah rain"storms" and continue to sprinkle.   Alas,  that was not the case that fine morning...

When we were more than 2 miles from home, it suddenly started raining harder.  Then the wind started blowing.  Then the temperatures dropped.  Then it started snowing.  

It was kind of fun at first, but before we knew it, we were completely drenched to the bone and shivering. 

I don't say this lightly, but the last half of that walk was one of the more miserable walks I've been on in my life.   How miserable was it?     (This was the view as we rounded the last corner to home.  You can see by all the leaves in the road how much the wind had been blowing. )

So miserable that we were this close to hitting 5 miles by the end and didn't even consider for 2 seconds extending our walk to get in that last .08 to make it even!   That is an exceedingly unusual thing for me not to do when I'm that close.  Haha! 

It took a long, hot shower and a couple hours before I could fully feel my hands again!  

Note to self:  Next time it's sprinkling when leaving on a walk...check the weather app and make sure a storm isn't rolling in!  

Snow in May and Other Such Happenings

I mentioned that my birthday marked the beginning of a short quiet stretch of time with fewer things on my schedule.   Alas, it was a pretty short-lived stretch, but it was rejuvenating nonetheless 

Here is a little glimpse at that gloriously quiet stretch...

 First off, the weather got really springy and lovely after several days of rain the previous week and it made me really, really happy.    I went on lots of walks OUTSIDE, though I'm still keeping my mileage a little on the low side for the sake of my sore foot, though I think it's getting better.   Hallelujah!  

I spent a day with my friend Sarah G.,  who came to town from Santa Fe, NM for BYU Women's Conference.   Mount Timpanogas Temple is closed currently, so we went to the one in Saratoga Springs.   It was my first time doing a session there, since it only opened a few months ago. 

After eating pretty poorly for a few weeks (while the boys were here, while we traveled, and while we celebrated two birthdays), I'm FINALLY back to eating in a way that makes me feel better.   Lots of nutritionally dense whole foods with minimal added sugar is what my body seems to crave and now I just need to keep it up!

I FINALLY got a long weekend with Glen at home.   Between his trip to Colorado, his work retreat, and his normal weeks in Saint George, I was really really missing him.  I can't wait for him to be home full-time again soon!   

We went to the tulip festival at Thanksgiving Point on that Friday.  The weather that day and Saturday was exceedingly lovely and we enjoyed spending some time together outside.  

Then on May 6th we woke up to this....

Yes, it snowed in May...and not just once, but a few days in a row.    Don't ask me how I felt about it, because I might start swearing.   Or crying.  Beautiful blossoms, like the ones on our tree in front of our house, are not supposed to be covered in snow.  Ever.   It's wrong.   Winter needs to go back to where it came from...like the North Pole. Or Outer Darkness.   Or wherever besides here. 

The good news is is that that same day it was not actually snowing in Provo, so we decided to take a walk while Glen's truck was getting its oil changed.    It was still quite cold, but the Provo River Trail up by the Provo Airport is exceedingly lovely and we enjoyed the change of scenery from our normal walking locales.  

We heard tons of birds, though we couldn't see very many of them, because of the tree cover.   I love the Merlin app that "listens" and tells you what birds are currently singing!   We tried really hard to capture glimpses of some of those yellow birds...next time we need to bring binoculars! 

I love walking along the Provo River

And though the trail is closed in one spot and we got a little muddy trying to figure out how to get around the closed section...

We very much loved having the water right there and all the trees.   It totally had the vibes of not being in Utah (besides how cold it was) and I rather liked it.  

And this cute pig family we came across was quite adorable.  Glen may or may not have even petted a pig before continuing onward...

Then we went back home to more snow falling.  Of course, it didn't stick, but I was still grumpy about it.   May is a good time for spring to stick around for a while. 

So that was our exciting week that wasn't actually all that exciting, but kicked off some bigger things coming soon...

Stay tuned!  

Adam in Oregon!

Adam has been on his mission about 18-months now, which, having only sent out his two sisters before him,  officially means we are entering into unknown territory as far as missionaries go. Two years is seeming like a really long time right about now and I'm eagerly looking forward to August!    It's been a while since I've done a recap on how he's doing (have I ever done one?!),  so here's a little glimpse at the last year-and-a-half of his life.   I'll do it in little sections to break it up: 

THE TEMPLE:  
He is able to attend the Portland Temple once or twice a transfer, which I love.  Cami didn't have a temple in her mission in France and Emma was a COVID missionary, so despite serving in Utah, she only went three times total during the entirety of her mission.  Even though it means that we don't get to communicate with him as much on the p-days he attends the temple, I am just happy he gets to go feel that peace and gain that strength on a regular basis.

THE WEATHER: 
He's serving in Portland and, as such, often has rather unpleasant weather to deal with.   As expected, it rains A LOT and we sent him with waterproof everything.  I'll be interested to hear how it all held up after two years of heavy use.   He doesn't complain about it, so I assume he's keeping pretty dry...most of the time at least!    

  It also gets quite cold sometimes and has random snow/ice storms in the winter, which Portland is not well equipped to navigate.  He and his fellow missionaries recently spent almost an entire week in their apartment due to a pretty severe ice storm, which turned the streets into ice skating rinks and knocked out power to their apartment for a couple days. 

HIS COMPANIONS:

 His current companion, Elder N,  is 6'10" tall...

  

So at a measly 6'2", Adam looks positively short when he's with his companion! 

I never can quite get a full feel for how he's getting along with his companions, but I can tell that he connects with and works better with some than others.  I'll be interested to get the full scoop when he's home and can talk freely about it.  It did seem like Elder S (in the snowy picture above) has been one of his favorites, but what can I tell?!  

ADAM-ISMS: 
Writing was his least favorite subject in school by a mile, and I'll be totally honest, that I've been quite surprised that he is a faithful weekly letter writer.   His letters are informative and bring the spirit into our days!   I also loves that he sends sky, scenery, and animal pictures on a regular basis.  He's definitely a picture taker after his mother's heart!  

 

 

PHONE CALLS: 
I know I've mentioned it before, but I LOVE LOVE LOVE that we live in a day and a time when we can talk to our missionary on a weekly basis!   Cami served her mission entirely before the communication changes were made and it makes such a HUGE difference being able to hear his voice and see his face every week!     We usually manage to get most of the family on at one time for his p-day calls, but usually someone or the other (often Emma, Cami, Glen, or Garrett) are at work and unable to join.    These calls are such a happy part of my week! 

 

QUOTE FROM HIS LAST LETTER:

"This is the Lord's work. This is Jesus Christ's church. If it wasn't, it simply just wouldn't happen. No humans could ever organize this and see as many miracles as there are EVERY DAY!!


One last little spiritual thought this week is going to be the words of the prophet Jacob. He taught:

"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you. And while his arm of mercy is extended towards you in the light of the day, harden not your hearts." (Jacob, 6:5)

Turn to God! His arm of mercy is extended towards you! He is quite literally trying to reach you, love you, comfort you, and lift you up!

If you find a way to focus on God a little more this week you will feel that love!

I love you all! I hope you have a great week! Let me know if I can do anything for you all!"

 

OTHER RANDOM STUFF:  
I'll finish up this post with a few random pictures and thoughts.   He got a new mission president (from Ghana) this past summer and I think it's been a great change for Adam.  You can see his mission president and mission mom in this picture. 

Not that there was anything wrong with the former mission president, but I get the impression that the new one has been a blessing for Adam.    He's been a Zone Leader for the last several months, and I think that opportunity for growth and stretching that that calling has given him, has been good. 

He's been in the same area for the last few transfers (longer than any other place on his mission) and it seems that he's really enjoyed being able to get to know the ward and the area better. 

We love this kid and are proud of the sacrifices he's made to serve a mission. 

We've recently got his living situation all figured out for fall semester at BYU, so, despite it seeming like it's still a long ways off,  it's really happening!

  Here's hoping the next six months will fly!