Thursday, April 30

a few thoughts on food in today's economy...

Lately I have been doing plenty of reading, and when I read online it is often on my kindle... less eye strain and I actually prefer mobile layouts without all the garbage ads I have to put up with while online, on my computer. Even Facebook is better too look at on my kindle, without all the "stuff"...

One article I read this morning from a Seattle newspaper focused on companies like Starbucks that have seen a huge drop in sales over the last year... they appear to be closing stores this year faster than they used to open them. I never really understood the "wooohooo" about them anyway, not being a coffee drinker and not willing to pay what they charge for a mediocre cup of hot chocolate... But anyway, that wasn't my point... they are not the only specialty business that is having major "rethink it" moments... There are a ton of companies built up over the last 10 years that were designed to be narrowly specialized to a specific market, and they are finding it very hard to survive right now.

Another thing I was reading is that restaurants all over are being forced to change the way they operate, especially the big chains... This is a good thing, if you ask me... Not that we eat out a lot, but the places we did like just kept getting more and more outrageous in their pricing and consumer practices... That trend is changing... I don't mind paying .50 for an extra plate when hubby and I share a meal... (we do that often... in fact most of the time...) But it REALLY bugs me to be charged a "non-drink surcharge" too, when we order water w/lemon at a restaurant where we are sharing a meal...

I have started to frequent more and more "copy-cat" recipe websites and making meals at home when we want something special, on a date night... and I am evidently NOT alone in my approach... Restaurant revenues are down the MOST in the last year, over any other market, at least that is what I am beginning to believe, from the articles I have read... So restaurants are starting to re-learn what they had forgotten... Value and service to customers are important...

Lastly I have been doing some revamping the way we cook, because my family is almost all grown and we were not eating big meals together every often... Following the example of some articles on still cooking big but then freezing parts of our meals for later use, we are not only eating simpler and more healthy, we spend less time cooking the main meals and more time enjoying tasty dinner time adventures together... some things, like fresh bread just tastes better... so I am developing my own way of freezing the dough we like best, so that we can pull it out and cook on demand. It is fun to spend some of our time doing this together on hubby's nights off, and it's a new take on a "date"... Hubby likes having stuff he can pull out for his meals at work that are easy and taste good and I like having a healthy normal serving I can pull out of the freezer and re-heat also when I am alone to eat I don't have to cook...

I find am eating more salads and quick veggie meals, too... But oh MY, we are going to be enjoying rice and bean dishes more and more as I an finding a LOT of new ways to cook and serve both of those items, which come right out of our food storage... So, I just thought I would share a few of the things that I am learning... because we are saving a TON of money storing what we eat and eating what we store... and we find are enjoying food in a whole new way...

Wednesday, April 29

to quote...

President Thomas S. Monson:
"Mortality is a period of testing, a time to prove ourselves worthy to return to the presence of our Heavenly Father. In order to be tested, we must sometimes face challenges and difficulties. At times there appears to be no light at the tunnel’s end—no dawn to break the night’s darkness. We feel surrounded by the pain of broken hearts, the disappointment of shattered dreams, and the despair of vanished hopes. We join in uttering the biblical plea “Is there no balm in Gilead?” We are inclined to view our own personal misfortunes through the distorted prism of pessimism. We feel abandoned, heartbroken, alone. If you find yourself in such a situation, I plead with you to turn to our Heavenly Father in faith. He will lift you and guide you. He will not always take your afflictions from you, but He will comfort and lead you with love through whatever storm you face." ~ President Thomas S. Monson, "Looking Back and Moving Forward", Ensign, May 2008, 87–90

Sunday, April 26

feasting on the Sabbath...

In a very practical sense...

I did too much this last week trying to catch up with all the things I couldn't do while I was limited after surgery... so I had to leave right after Sacrament Meeting today... This was actually our Ward Conference Meeting and the focus was again on Provident Living... I was spiritually fed and felt that in view of that worthy topic I wanted to share 10 of my favorite websites revolving around food storage, and especially ways to use that food storage...

Everyday Food Storage ~
The Idea Door; Food Storage and Supply ~ (this site has a BUNCH of links to other sites...)
Food Storage Recipes ~
The Enlightened Homemaker ~
Food Storage Recipes and More ~ (an online recipe book in PDF format that is easy to print...)
BellaOnline LDS Families Site ~ (this site has a BUNCH of links about all kinds of Home Management...)
Healthy Familes Warm Hearts ~
It's Not Your Mama's Food Storage ~
Food Storage, A Necessary Adventure (recipes) ~
Everything Under The Sun ~

Some of the websites I am sharing overlap ideas and even some recipes... but I have found that there is SO much help out there already given that I thought I would share just some of what I have used... The very last link above is from last November when Wendy Dewitt posted on her blog called "Everything Under The Sun" an article she has become famous for... with helpful hints, recipes, and a lot of other information... There are videos from the 3 BYU classes she taught in March on this topic at YouTube and other sources for this article elsewhere on the internet... in the last few months it has been floating around the internet as PDF file so maybe some may have gotten it in an email (I personally have gotten it half a dozen times in the last 2 months...) The PDF file is in a convenient format for printing... if you would like that version of this article, you can get it by emailing her or you can email me and I will share my copy with you...

I have used tons of the recipes which you will find in the posted resources as we have virtually lived out of our storage since hubby's accident last November. We are a lot less stress financially than we were while he was not working, but we have a lot of medical bills still left to pay, so it's not just the economy that is pulling at our income... Even if things were better for everyone else we would be living frugally... Over the last months we always had plenty to eat simply because we have in the past followed the council to store what we eat/eat what we store... My testimony of a long term ~ rotating food pantry continues to be strengthened each time we go through a challenge that makes it necessary to live on our storage, to date that has happened more than 10 times in our marriage of 25+ years... so now living out of and rotating our storage is a normal part of life... I feel this is a huge blessing to us, rather than a challenge...

With these few links I have been able to limit to site searches for help with so many problems that I have needed to find solutions for. I have been able to quite often cook with just what I store in my regular food supply/pantry... The ideas I have read on the websites I have shared align well with the messages of our Ward Conference today of living a fugal and provident life, and I have never personally come across anything bad in them, so I feel confident in sharing them... I have been using some of these blogs as a resource for some time... some are people I actually know and some have only been passed on to me by mutual friends...

I hope they are helpful to others...

Monday, April 20

less ouch... ugh... and bleh...

...even though I am still recouping from last Saturday...

I would not have given up that day for anything in the world, but it sure took a lot out of me... We will be repeating the same general schedule in mid May with the whole immediate family and many extended family members planning on being at the temple together... I hope I continue to get stronger by then, so I can enjoy the day even more... We always love going to the temple together as a family... and that trip will be extra special next month for a few reasons... We are all definitely looking forward to that day...

I hope we can get some more family photos after, that I can share... it might be our last chance to get everyone "snapped" while in nice clothes before Son2 leaves for boot camp in July... and just maybe we can get some new, great couple/single shots of all the kids, that we can use to update the family picture wall in the living room... Most of those are at least a year old...

In other news I am gathering recipes/ideas and planning a birthday dinner for Son2 in early May... and wishing we could all be together for that... But with work and school schedules... well, that is probably a hopeless dream... I have a few ideas that sound like fun, but Son2 gets to pick the food and he hasn't settled on a menu, so I am not sure what we are eating... gotta' zero in on that... the date is fast approaching.

Hubby and I need a new "long weekend get away~marriage renewal" trip (which we actually don't usually do on a true weekend, because hotel pricing/deals are often better during the week...) We are looking at the end of May or early June for that plan of action. We haven't done anything really special since our anniversary last November because of hubby's accident and then my surgery... But it has been our practice to do something special together once a quarter for a few years now... and we are really hoping to manage an inexpensive get away very soon...

We have had some great times in the last few months while being at home, and just spending time together... Since all the kids are grown it is pretty easy to find time alone... But there is something wonderful and magical about going somewhere and seeing something or some place new... Not to mention we have friends in several cities within a few hours of our home that we haven't seen in ages, and would like to... so we are looking at a lot of options for a 3-4 day mid-week trip.

I'm feeling pretty good these days... I have less pain than I have had for a lot of months, now that I am mostly healed... I don't have much stamina, but when I do feel up to doing things I am mostly able to manage doing them without much pain... a major improvement over last fall and winter... so hurray to that!

Life is good... I am a little slow at times, but good... so to those that have asked about why I have been so quiet lately on the updates... I just haven't had much to say, except that I am doing okay... and, how many different ways can you say that??? (Without sounding totally boring???) Life is good, it's just fine and dandy... but there is nothing much to report... So all you worry warts out there can stop worrying about me... honest...

Sunday, April 19

feasting on the Sabbath...

I love the temple... Yesterday was a chance for hubby and I to again make a trip to the temple... Elder Bednar's talk from the Sunday afternoon session of conference 2 weeks ago was on my mind all day as we went about our busy but wonderful temple experience:

Within the sound of my voice are many young women, young men, and children. I plead with you to be worthy, to be steadfast, and to look forward with great anticipation to the day you will receive the ordinances and blessings of the temple.

Within the sound of my voice are individuals who should have but have not yet received the ordinances of the house of the Lord. Whatever the reason, however long the delay, I invite you to begin making the spiritual preparations so you can receive the blessings available only in the holy temple. Please cast away the things in your life that stand in the way. Please seek after the things that are of eternal consequence.

Within the sound of my voice are individuals who have received the ordinances of the temple and for various reasons have not returned to the house of the Lord in quite some time. Please repent, prepare, and do whatever needs to be done so you can again worship in the temple and more fully remember and honor your sacred covenants.

Within the sound of my voice are many individuals who hold current temple recommends and strive worthily to use them. I commend you for your faithfulness and devotion.

For me there is great comfort in the blessings of the temple... over the years it's been one of our favorite "date" places... yesterday was no exception...

I am reminded WHY we have 3 new temples being built in AZ... We NEED more temples... this time of year each year that starts the Saturday roll-call of what is often referred to as "wedding season"... from here until next fall every single Saturday is beyond crazy busy... (though generally all year long, Saturday's are busy..) Weekly there are from between 25-40 weddings/sealings every single Saturday depending on the time of the year it is...

All in all our day was great... but I am really looking forward to more temples in AZ... the new Phoenix temple which will be an hour closer to us will be a much smaller one, and like Snowflake we will make an appointment to attend, after it is built... that is always a calmer experience, I have discovered... Even stake and ward temple excursions are handled differently I am told... and yesterday I was reminded why we try when at all possible to go during the week when hubby is off instead of Saturdays when it seems like everyone else in AZ goes to the temple... LOL... But no matter what the circumstances... I am grateful for the opportunity to attend and for the blessings of the temple in my own life and the lives of my children...

I love the temple...

Wednesday, April 15

windy spring...

Honestly I can't ever remember in 15 years of living here through weather of all kinds, a spring that was so windy... even considering the general & normal windy-ness of our area... this year has been over the top WINDY... almost every day... I am immensely tired of the wind... I guess that is why last night I started dreaming of living in a wind free area... I refined the dream as the night aged to a tropical hut... in a sheltered lagoon... Bora Bora would do...

or a very private luxury cruise liner... lol...


Hubby's allergies have been worse this year because of the wind... mine, for some reason, not so much... that is highly unusual... personally I will take that small benefit as a HUGE plus...

Now back to that calm and peaceful Bora Bora dream, I think I will add a waiter offering pink lemonade....... at least while the wind blows outside, here in my real life world... ;)

Sunday, April 12

the atonement...

it's Easter...

Last weekend at General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints an apostle of the Lord, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, gave a very moving testimony of the Atonement. I have always appreciated Elder Holland's talks wherever he is speaking... in conference, at firesides, or with his wife when I heard them many years ago... I love to go back and listen/watch his talks over and over... I know that this talk about the atonement will be one that I turn to often in the years to come...



I just wanted to share...

Saturday, April 11

one of the things...

...that is very good about today's economy is that more and more people are looking to make do with what they have, pass on what they don't need to others that are in need and fix things up that they find available... because suddenly no one had as much "disposable income"... It has been my personal experience over the last 25 years or more to refinish furniture and fix things up or make do... I really like doing it... and I think there is more than just one reason to come to the reality of: "use it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without"... Something most of our parents or grandparents knew very well... I find it interesting the number of forums, blogs and articles you can look at if you do a search.

The truth is that that people are learning in droves, that there is real and lasting satisfaction and joy in being truly creative and frugal with what you already have. I really have enjoyed watching and reading about a whole new generation (one that really didn't seem to be willing to learn some of these lessons on their own...) live more frugally... The waste in our society, and especially young adults has been out of control, for a long time... to me the "entitled attitude" I have been seeing in so many youth and young adults that live today is not only foreign, it is disgustingly selfish and detrimental to their learning and growing abilities...

It appears that the government is not choosing to learn many lessons from the current economic cycle, they continue to make a lot of the same mistakes they have been making for way too many years... but a lot of my family and friends, my loved ones and the people I think the most of... ARE doing a GREAT job at tightening belts and are actually having a good time learning to do with less and enjoying being a lot more creative with what they have, in the bargain... Personally... in my view that is, as I mentioned only ONE of the blessings of the current economic challenges we as a society face... a second advantage that is gained from this frugality is helping one another... I have seen some really fabulous giving and grateful receiving happening around me...

I have learned over the years of dealing with a debilitating disease that we really don't know how much we can do until we are asked to do it, and then are asked to do more, and more, to give even when we think we have nothing left or are stretched beyond what we thought we could manage... We find out who we really are when the biggest challenges come...

I am happy to say that I know a lot of really fine people that are making the most of their challenges, by happily accepting and growing in amazing ways...

Wednesday, April 8

Easter...

It's been 2 years since both of my parents passed away within a few weeks of each other... Last year near the 1st anniversary of those events, I wrote about some of my feelings regarding their passing in the spring of 2007... 2 years later, I still miss them both very much... Today I was thinking that the year they both went home to our heavenly Father, Easter Sunday was on April 8th (I will always remember that because my daddy left us that Easter evening...) This year Easter is on a different day of the calendar because of the way that Easter is connected to the cycles of our earth... but the actual calendar day isn't really what is important in my recollections... what is important is that as a Christian I personally recognize the Atonement of the Savior of the world at Easter each year. In fact it is important that I personally recognized the great GIFT that is given me by my Savior each and every day of the year...

Somehow it felt very right that my father went home to our Heavenly Father on the day that we celebrated that gift of the atonement from our Savior in 2007... I realize today that forever in the future Easter will be even more special to me than it used to be... that is because of the connection to Easter of my earthly father's passing. That Easter was the end of many long weeks, months and years of watching them leave us a bit at a time... and knowing that ther were now free of the pain, sorrows and physical limitations they had in this world... and that they had been reunited again...

Easter each year will always be a reminder, to me now more than ever, that my father and mother are not gone from me forever... I will see them again... My parents lived lives of humble service, even while confined at the end by frail bodies... they were very Christlike... They are still those same generous and loving people they were in life... and because of how I miss them now it is my goal to live so that I can be with them again forever... because missing them forever is too much to bear...

This Easter season I am so very very grateful for the loving example of Christlike service that my parents gave me during their lives... I don't often measure up... but their examples give me hope and a mark to reach for. Maybe if I live to be 90 or more, as they did... I can get close to leaving for my own children a similar example??? It is a worthy goal in my estimation...

Tuesday, April 7

more wise words...

from Dr Elia Gourgouris' Mormon Times article today:
My point is that we must cherish and celebrate perfection whenever and wherever we find it! But it usually doesn't happen in big ways or even very often in the lives of human beings. It happens in moments, and those moments can become etched in our memories forever.

The problem is that those moments usually come unexpectedly, so we need to be open to recognizing them when they do so fleetingly occur. Oftentimes we are so focused on the tasks at hand, or the desire to force perfection in some other place or time in our lives, that we miss those perfect moments entirely. As a result, our lives can feel like an exercise in frustration, for as surely as we live we will have many more imperfect moments, days, weeks, months and years -- actually a lifetime.

But God does bring us moments. And those moments add up to create a rich and wonderful life. I think that at the end of my life, I'd rather have an imperfect life filled with some perfect moments that I loved and appreciated than a life filled with my own attempts at order and control that led me to miss the gifts that God was setting right before my eyes -- in his time, not mine.
Way too often we (all mortal beings who are certainly less than perfect...) become so focused on what we don't have, haven't yet achieved, and aren't able to do because of sometimes temporary limitations... that we stop seeing "the wonder" which is all around us... We ignore "everyday miracles" and "minor glories"... always wanting the major stuff to happen...

In the last year I have been trying to concentrate on what IS, instead of what isn't. Two things have been apparent to me... first: is that the adversary has done his best to try and confuse and discourage me from this goal by putting a lot of major problems in my way, and trying to force me to look at what isn't happening the way I want... and second: that there are tremendous blessings to witness every single day, just waiting for anyone that focuses on what IS the way "it" is. "It" is the relative variable... "IT" is not as important as recognition of whatever "it" is that is good...

The 13th Article of Faith says:
We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things. [italics added]
The one thing I disagree with in the article is that these moments of perfection happen rarely... I personally believe that once we train ourselves to recognize and accept all the good that there is in our lives that we will see daily many moments of near perfection if not complete perfection. As pointed out in the article these moments do not have to last to be perfect... And they do not necessarily have to be maintained by us... only acknowledged... plus I think it helps if they are marked (noted) in a journal... At least that is becoming true in my life... Each day lately I am finding more and more moments to be happy about... My life did not change, in fact in some ways life has gotten harder... but the way I choose to view my life... complete with moments of perfection, joy, happines, faith, and wonder (just to name a few) is changing... It's more of that "PollyAnna in practice" attitude...

Monday, April 6

family is forever...

...although this last weekend went WAY too fast...

Our online conference connection let us down on Sunday, so we missed the sessions live... and only managed to get a few bits out of an internet connection that just would NOT cooperate... Fortunately we will all be able to download and listen to the talks we missed through the next weeks... and we really enjoyed the extra time we had to visit and just be together... We had ALL the immediate family together on Saturday night and on Sunday in the morning, because unexpectedly Son1 was switched to on-call and got to be with us... We had lots of extended family on Sunday (Sweetee's family came to try and watch conference too... but as I said that didn't work so well...) and it was fun to all be gathered at Son1 and Sweetee's new house... since they had just barely moved, it was crazy busy for Sweetee to get things settled in fast the week before our planned weekend... but all our work to have plenty of food and lots of fun worked out great! It was a FABULOUS weekend of family togetherness... I wish we could do this a lot more often...

We took a family photo...

and here is one of Princess Bride and Sir Knight with their puppies...

a very handsome one of Son1


my beautiful DIL ~ Sweetee and her best friend


and last but NOT least Son2 ~ about a week before, this was taken during the move to the new house...

Friday, April 3

eternal love...

Love doesn't end at death... Anyone who has lost a loved one knows that... Because of that truth, in my opinion, the eternal nature of family just makes sense... Love also does not start with losing someone... It starts with spending time and energy in a relationship while they are a part of our lives. Which brings me to the most important relationships we will have in this life... they are the family connections we work so hard to develop, with a happy marriage being the crowning achievement that many couples strive for... But, do we do enough in our here and NOW to encourage "eternal love"? Most of us could probably use some work at this...

Yesterday hubby and I had a date in the middle of the day, he'd had the night before off from work... and after a leisurely morning, we ran some errands and then had an late lunch/early dinner together... We'd spent the evening before watching a DVD and cuddling, laughing at the show we were watching and relishing in the chance to hold hands as we fell into a peaceful sleep... (holding hands is one of our favorite communication avenues...)

We spent a while talking during our errands and lunch about this or that... not terribly important stuff... Some of our conversation centered around current events, some was sharing interesting opinions... we joked about the too large portion that hubby's salad contained with the manager of the restaurant... and remembered again why we usually share a meal... (Hubby's eyes were bigger than his stomach and so I splurged on a very wonderful gourmet burger and ignored most of my fries, while he ordered the "I can't believe how big this is" salad... yummy, but WAY too much food...) Through the day hubby held the doors for me as is his custom (and something I am very glad he taught our sons...) We shared stolen kisses here and there and murmured words of love... it was a lovely morning... then we watched another DVD together until hubby fell sleep in the early afternoon, in preparation of working last night.

I spent the afternoon thinking and writing in my journal about this day... It's not really an unusual day for us, but I had a kind of ah ha moment... Even though we have repeated a similar type of event very often over our 25+ years of marriage, I realized something about the quality of our relationship these days... The truth is that we still "date" each other... meaning that I realized that we don't just have date nights... we "date"... all the time... we are still dating even when we aren't together... just like when, previous to our wedding day, we were falling in love... all those many years ago... We often send private messages to each other... little love notes and words of encouragement... We used to have to work harder at sending notes... but now with electronic means of communication sending notes is so easy... and we use email, a lot...

Sometimes his notes to me are sent in the middle of the night while he is working and I am sleeping... I wake up to read these wonderful reminders of hubby's love, and they start my day so beautifully... The notes I send are often collected and read by hubby during lulls in his work schedule, or while on a break... It may sound mushy and unreal to some, but we really enjoy our "lifetime dating" relationship... It's fun to be not just married but eternal sweethearts...

While I constantly pray that my children and grandchildren will be a part of my family for eternity... and that we will all be together forever... it is my relationship with hubby that completes my heart... Even when we are apart I feel his love, and have many reminders of it... I know that he works as hard as he does for me, for us... I know that he would spend every minute with me, if he could... but we also know that work and commitments outside of our relationship are a part of life and learning as well... That includes the need to provide service to many others too... not just working, but giving of ones time and means... Personally I think we have learned a valuable secret... that time away from each other doesn't have to separate us... it can actually help us be more connected... we have learned how to share our separated time... and it's not really as hard as it sounds...

You will both need to constantly work at that eternal love you want to share... The good news is that whatever works for a couple can be a way to keep the romance alive forever... It doesn't cost anything to say I love you and mean it... and it doesn't take too much effort once you get into the habit of really loving to find new and inventive ways to express your love... It is a wonderful feeling to know... really and truly KNOW that what you share with the one you love... is an eternal love...