Furniture

I gotta tell you that I have always wanted one of these. It is nice that our house is built so that this fits so nicely right in the front hallway. It has a place for two of my hats, and a great mirror. And although you can't see it well, there is a glass shelf that my scriptures are on (I am, after all, the master of taking up all the flat space in a room). Take it out and it would be a place to keep umbrellas (para aguas). We are thrilled because this piece sat out in front of a house nearby for most of a month with a price on it that kept going steadily down. Finally yesterday, with a sign on it that showed $50, we stopped to see what might be wrong with it that it was so inexpensive. So while we are examining it, the owner comes (literally) running out saying "$40 and its yours". But upon examination we could find nothing wrong with it. It is solid wood, not necessarily the most expensive wood, but nice looking, and not veneer.

Sunset at 8,000 Ft.

I have a number of posts I need to finish and get posted, but for now you will have to be content with these photos from about 8,000 feet above sea level along the Mormon Emigrant Trail over the Sierra Nevada. This is where we held our stake's trek a week ago. It was a great and wonderful event, as evidenced by these beautiful sunset scenes. The only downside of the event was the dust - everywhere - I don't know how the pioneers managed months of it. We just about choked on 3 days of it.

I Spy

When I was in Salt Lake, Sharon showed me how to make an I Spy quilt. It seemed like it was something I could do and I have really wanted to do some quilting. I thought it would be fun to do one for Kate's birthday. One of the things I enjoyed the most was looking for the material to make the quilt. I do love to walk through the aisles at JoAnn's and look at material. Once I got it all put together it was time to bind the quilt. I have not had much experience in the area but Sharon also told me there was a way to make praire points to bind the quilt. Rather than making the praire points one at a time you can make continuous praire points and the tutorial on the internet is amazing. Here is the finished project. Don't you just love the binding?

Lesson to Learn

Grandma Hall loaned me this book and it was a good reminder of things that I need to do. The opening line of the book is "When I turned fifty, some of my more smart-alecky friends were quick to inform me that the warranty on my body has now expired, and I could expect things to start breaking down on a regular basis." Hits close to home. There was one chapter that I found gave me much to think about. The author quotes Gracie Allen, who for those who don't know was a comedienne and wife of George Burns. Gracie said, "Never put a period where God has placed a comma." The author goes on to say, "I like closure. I like to put the period on the sentence of a situation and move on. But life doesn't work that way very often. The Lord frequently invites us to trust Him, to hold on, to endure, to wait and see what He has in mind. As Psalm 27:14 tells us,'Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.'"

I find that many times in my life I have not been as patient as I should have been but that my Heavnely Father has been so unfailing patient with me and has blessed me in so many ways that I would not have expected. So I just share this with you in hopes that you might learn this great principle much earlier that I have.

At the end of each chapter there is an exercise and this is the one at the end of this chapter, "If you're finding that you want the hindsight now, try a prayer that asks for strength to be patient instead of for resolution. Ask to be able to endure the commas rather than for the period to be placed. "

The Most Important

"The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life."

I am continually impressed by Sister Beck. If you will look back to my post from November 23, 2008, (and if you recall what I say all the time) you will recall that "Follow The Prophets" is what I consider the most important counsel I can give. That means knowing what is taught in General Conference each six months, pondering it, and applying it. This quote from Sister Beck is one great reason why that is so.