on happiness...

When one door of happiness closes, another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us. ~~~ Helen Keller

Quote for the Sabbath ~ The Lord's Day

Why has God asked us to honor the Sabbath day? The reasons I think are at least threefold. The first has to do with the physical need for rest and renewing. Obviously God, who created us, would know more than we do of the limits of our physical and nervous energy and strength.

The second reason is, in my opinion, of far greater significance. It has to do with the need for regeneration and the strengthening of our spiritual being. God knows that, left completely to our own devices without regular reminders of our spiritual needs, many would degenerate into the preoccupation of satisfying earthly desires and appetites. This need for physical, mental, and spiritual regeneration is met in large measure by faithful observance of the Sabbath day.

The third reason may be the most important of the three. It has to do with obedience to commandments as an expression of our love for God. Blessed are those who need no reasons other than their love for the Savior to keep his commandments. The response of Adam to the angel who asked Adam why he made a sacrifice unto the Lord is a model for all. Responded Adam, “I know not, save the Lord commanded me.” (Moses 5:6.) James E. Faust, “The Lord’s Day,” Ensign, Nov 1991, 33

I have THE most wonderful husband...

To all of you out there that THINK your hubby is the most wonderful... I'm sorry... I win...

My hubby regularly tells me that he loves me... he regularly mentions that he misses me when he is away from me... even just for a work shift... he regularly plans dates and helps plan weekends away... he very often rubs my feet... and even though I tell him not to waste his personal mad money on them... he regularly brings me flowers... This is not because I am particularly attached to flowers... I like them... but he really likes giving them... and cards... he has become engaged by sappy cards, and looks for just the right one that says just what he wants to say.

These are not occasional blips in his choices or efforts to demonstrate his affection... These are regular events... Often enough that I worry at times that I take for granted how thoughtful he is...

I try to do things in return that speak to him in his language of love... I try to make his favorite meals, leave notes in his lunches... plan a romantic evening... express my own love for him in ways that he will recognize...

Today I got these beautiful yellow roses... The yellow rose within marriage implies sweet domesticity and familiar love. Contentment, everlasting joy and a sense of snugness are what the yellow roses convey. A love that has matured with age and no longer seeks to achieve impossible heights, a relationship secure in the knowledge of its strengths - In marriage the yellow rose stands for steadfast affection.

Along with the roses I received a very sweet card which reads...

For My Wife,
The Love of My Life.

Sometimes I can barely believe
how lucky I am
to be sharing my life with you...

I know a lasting marriage
takes work and compromise,
and yet I feel incredibly lucky
to have found someone
I love more each day
and who I keep falling in love with
over and over through the years.

The world may change around us.
but that doesn't worry me,
because I married the love of my life---
and that makes me
the luckiest man alive.
Happy Anniversary [ALL year] *

*(italic words added.)

I need my head examined...

Sometimes you just bite off more that you can chew... you know? I really gotta quit doing that!!!!

Quote of the day:

Being steadfast and immovable also means that you keep moving forward with “a steadfastness in Christ” (2 Nephi 31:20). Several years ago, I had the opportunity to run the Boston Marathon. I had trained hard and felt I was prepared, but at mile 20 there are hills. The locals call the steepest and longest hill Heartbreak Hill. When I reached that point, I was physically spent. The hill was long, and because I was a novice, I allowed myself to do something no seasoned runner ever does—I started to think negatively. This slowed my pace, so I tried to think positively and visualize the finish line. But as I did this, I suddenly realized that I was in a big city, there were thousands of people lining the route, and I had not made any arrangements to locate my husband at the end of the marathon. I felt lost and alone, and I started to cry. I was wearing a big red T-shirt with the word Utah printed on the front in big block letters. As the spectators saw that I was crying, they would yell, “Keep going, Utah.” “Don’t cry, Utah.” “You’re almost finished, Utah.” But I knew I wasn’t, and I was lost. I also knew that even if I stopped running and dropped out of the race, I would still be lost.

Do any of you ever feel like you’re running up Heartbreak Hill and that even though there are people lining the route, you are alone? That’s how I felt. So I did what every one of you would do—I began to pray right there on that marathon route. I told Heavenly Father that I was alone and that I was on a hill. I told Him that I was discouraged and afraid and that I felt lost. I asked for help and strength to be steadfast and to finish the race. As I continued to run, these words came into my mind:

Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid.
I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand,
Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.
(“How Firm a Foundation,” Hymns, no. 85)

That sweet answer to my prayer gave me the strength to continue on until I crossed the finish line. And despite my fears, my husband was right there and all was well.

That day I experienced more than a marathon. I learned some important lessons. First of all, never wear a big red shirt with the word Utah printed on it. Second, I learned that no matter how well prepared you think you are, there are hills on the course. I learned that people cheering for you along the way are absolutely essential. I learned again that day that we are never alone. Our Heavenly Father is only a prayer away, and the Holy Ghost is within whispering distance. Elaine S. Dalton, “At All Times, in All Things, and in All Places,” Ensign, May 2008, 116–18

Where are those promised early monsoons???

Heat... It's not something my body does well. So when a few weeks ago the weather people across the state started handing out rumors that we were going to have an early (and very wet) monsoon season. I foolishly took the information to heart.

Typically (meaning historic averages, I suppose) in our area the monsoons start around July 4th... Since that is only a couple weeks away, AND there is NO sign whatsoever that the monsoons will be arriving any time soon... I'd say the weather man MISSED on that prediction... AGAIN...! In AZ I don't see a lot of "right predictions" when it comes to weather actually.

So here we sit, waiting for the rain... relief... intervention... something... Drought conditions continue... and it is HOT... DRY... and windy... UGH...!!!

Seattle Vacation/Alaskan Cruise Part 2 (days 6-10)

Day 6 (Cruise day 3) The coastline coming into Juneau was majestic... We spent part of this Sunday morning watching several family of whales... humpback this time, which we learned was distinguished by the ability to see a tail fin appear just as they make their dive back into the water... I have posted a zoomed picture to share which I discovered as I was editing. That I caught this on camera is purely an accident, I assure you... Still, I am so glad that I got a few photos of the hundreds of whales we saw, as it was an important and glorious part of our trip and experience, it's just that even though I do love photography, I am a true amateur! We saw three kinds of whales on our trip, Orca, Humpback, and a lot of Minke, which were nearly impossible to capture for me with the camera, because mostly all you see is the dorsal fin, like of like a dolphin...

Juneau IMO had the least amount of "history" to see, and since we stayed near the wharf area... Well, we weren't terribly impressed with the commercial sites... but we did have fun as we viewed the houses, stores and shops... all built to withstand winter winds and weather... What we saw the most of was lots of other tourists...

Day 7 (Cruise day 4) Glacier Bay on the other hand was beyond glorious. To me it is one of those places in this world that simply must be "experienced". I was mildly surprised, (but pleasantly assured) that there was little talk by the Park Rangers about Global Warming, since that could have taken up so much of the discourse we were given. The main focus as they took us through the glaciers and gave us interesting information... was on how much we are learning about the earth and it's ability to regenerate life after the ice recedes... they described how that actually happens from studying Glacier Bay. It is true that the Glaciers have receded tremendously in recent years (the last 200)... But there is also greater understanding that Glaciers are how much of what we now call homelands in California and the Northwest were formed...

The Native Tribes have followed the Glaciers for thousands of years, and they tell ancient legends that led to the discovery of places that receded and then were covered in ICE, then receded again... There is in many parts of this group of Scientists the feeling that not all is as Doom and Gloom as they thought just 20 years ago... and the park is simply oh so nice as a place to soak up some of God's natural beauties.

Day 8 (Cruise Day 5) Sitka, AKA Little Russia... What a charming place. One of the first things you see are beautifully built houses and a nice little lighthouse on small pieces of the rocky heavily treed coast. We had to be tendered to the dock... meaning they had to set anchor in the deeper waters and use the ship's life rafts to take us over to and back from the small dock.

We went to an incredible Museum all about the Native Cultures and history, we viewed St Micheal's a Russian Orthodox Church that was wonderfully rebuilt and preserved as best as the members were able, after a devastating fire... The homes are neat and pretty, truly an inspiring place. At every turn we saw really pleasant flower beds and clean little alleyways. Victorian homes that had been turned into galleries and shops. More churches, parks and schools. We would have liked to have wandered around there longer.

Day 9 (Cruise Day 6) I was too tired to spend any time off the ship, but hubby got off in Ketchikan. The town appeared to be really lovely, but several days in a row of site seeing were more than I could stand, and I needed a rest. We were also there for a very short visit (only 4 hours). Knowing what I know now, I think I would not visit Juneau and reserve my strength to take in Ketchikan. As it was I had a wonderful day just relaxing on the ship and reading in a deck chair. This was the one overcast day we had, but it did not actually rain. The information we had was that the annual rainfall is something like 13 FEET a year and we caught this port on one of the 10 days that it had not rained so far in 2008...

Day 10 (Cruise Day 7) Our last port before returning to Seattle was to spend the evening in Victoria B.C on Vancouver Island. Really a lovely experience as well. We took a bus tour of the island and saw the whole thing in a little over 2 hours. Hubby was ready to move, he was so impress with the scenery (of course there were several places we felt that way about, we just could never afford to live there.) The view from the top of one hill was fantastic, so that is the one I will share here... You can see 2 ships in the harbor, the far one was ours.

There is actually one final day of our trip, which was spent traveling home. We disembarked early that morning and made our way to the airport by shuttle. Our flight home was uneventful but long as was the shuttle ride to our home town... So we don't really count that last day as part of the vacation... it was just... the end!

Seattle Vacation/Alaskan Cruise Part 1 (days 1-5)

During the later part of May hubby and I took 10 whole days to be together... This year we will celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary, but since they don't have Alaskan Cruises the month of our anniversary we booked our cruise in May... We left only a few days after Princess Bride and Sir Knight's wedding.

Day 1: we got to Seattle and rented a car, then we had dinner and drove to a friend's home north of Seattle where we were staying for the first few days of our trip.

Day 2: we went to the Seattle Temple and spent the rest of the day just exploring . Neither of us had ever been to this part of the Northwest and we had a GREAT day...

Day 3: we went to the Museum of Glass in Tacoma. We saw a visiting Artist name Preston Singletary in the Hot Shop, (you can watch a youtube video of him working on a different piece, and in collaboration with another artist,) there are other videos and even some live streaming stuff on the museum's site...) His heritage is Tlingit. (Eskimo, while on our cruise we learned that there are many distinct Eskimo Cultures.) We saw lots of the Tlingit culture's ancient and updated art work and could recognize the beautiful similarities in his work. It really helped to start our Alaska trip in a bang-up way... In this snap of him working his piece is an Orca Sculpture.

Day 4 (Cruise Day 1): We set sail at 4 pm and had fun exploring the ship, ate too much and simply enjoyed spending undivided time together... Something we do NOT get enough of in everyday life. As we left the Port of Seattle we were both struck by the beauty of the day and the wonders of 0ur Heavenly Father's world. I personally have committed myself to taking better care of my small corner of His beautiful and amazing world. We do not have the wonderful seas, but we have many beautiful places that need to be well cared for.

Day 5 (Cruise Day 2): The southern Alaskan Coastline was breathtaking as was most of the scenery we witnessed on our cruise. I took 100s of pictures. Each minute on a cruise ship can be as active (activity enhanced) or as leisurely (quite places abound on board believe it or not...) as you like. We chose to spend our time mostly enjoying the scenery and our time together... We spent many hours just watching whales frolic (there is a group of them in this picture but they were not very close to the ship...) We saw a great deal of wildlife and I would go again in a MINUTE. We talked, laughed and celebrated why we got married 25 years ago... We are STILL best friends!