Monday, March 30, 2015

Growing and Learning

One of my roles in life right now is that of Relief Society President.  It has been an eye opening experience.  I spend a fair amount of time worrying about the women in my ward.  The widows.  The divorced. The ones dealing with health challenges in their families.  The ones who can't say no to anything and are burning the candle on both ends.  The ones who won't say yes to anything because they are so wrapped up in their issues that they feel they have nothing to give.  The ones who are unhappy because life hasn't turned out how they planned.

I guess that is just about everybody!

But it is not.

What I have discovered is that there are a handful of women in my ward who can step past the issues in their own lives to live joyfully.  They are patient and kind.  They are quick to serve and to volunteer for anything.  They look for ways to lift others and they know who is in need because they are good listeners and observers.

They are examples for me of how I can grow and improve.  I am so grateful for the women that Heavenly Father has placed in my path.  I am grateful for the members of my "team" both past and present who have skills that I do not and see things that I miss.  I am learning, but it is slow and sometimes painful.  I had one of those situations today where I feel that I reproved someone with sharpness.  Before, her actions and words would have bothered me for a while, but one thing I have become much better at is letting things go.  Now I just have to figure out how to show an increase of love to this woman who probably really needs it.  I know that with some prayer Heavenly Father will help me find the best way to smooth things over.  And that's another thing that I have learned- more trust in my Heavenly Father.

Although some days are hard, I am grateful for my calling.

Removing Blogs from your Blogger Reading List

Maybe I am just really slow, but this issue drove me crazy for at least an hour before I figured it out. I am posting this so that I will be able to remember the next time. . .an maybe I can save someone else a headache.

When you are on your blog's dashboard there is a feature called "Reading List."  I like to use this to keep up on my friends' blogs but a couple of years ago I had connected to a lot design blogs and I wanted to clean things up.  I generally connect to my friends' blogs using Google Friend Connect, so I was having some issues.

1.  Click on the settings button for the Reading List.  It should take you to a new page called "Manage the Blogs I'm Reading"

2.  Next to the blog name that you want to remove, click on the word "Settings."

3.  Here is the key: you will have to sign in AGAIN!  How stupid is that?  Anyway, once you sign in you can click on "Stop Following."

4.  Voila!  You may now clean up your list.

These days I tend to connect to favorite blogs through Instagram, but I want to make sure I can always find my friends.

Sunday, March 29, 2015

Wanderlust

I have been travelling a lot lately.

  March 4-7, 2015  Las Vegas, NV

I went to Las Vegas to visit my friend Leisa and to go to the Rascal Flatts concert at the Hard Rock.  The concert was AMAZING!!!!  It was fun to see their new home and meet their new foster daughter, Caleigh.  I spent some quality time playing ball with the boys and had a great break.

 March 8-10, 2015  San Clemente, CA

Yup.  I was home for less than 24 hours.  We left Reed home alone and went to see Parker’s graduation from MCT.  He had liberty on Sunday afternoon so we were there for that.  On Monday we explored a bit and I took a long nap because I had a bad cold.  The best part of this trip was the 5 or so hours we spent with Parker in LAX!  It was super hard to leave and watch him walk away.  I had no idea how many people witnessed the event, but about half the plane spoke to me as they went by me.  The flight attendant kept a steady stream of Diet Coke and chocolate flowing, but I could not stop crying.  I’d think I had it all together and then a tear would slide down my cheek.  Yesterday Parker posted this about that day:

“A few weeks back I was at the airport with my parents saying my goodbyes before they boarded the plane my mom was crying like moms do and I remember looking over and I saw a lady crying. At that moment I realized something. For 18 years my mom has loved me and supported me through all of the long nights after surgeries. the days where I was so tired I'd pass out in the shower and her and my brother would have to carry me into my room, she'd take me to the gun shop to buy a new rifle. she fed me, taught me what is right and wrong. she made sure I knew what she expected of me. And she is what made me the man I am today. I don't say this enough but I love my mom to death! And yes my mom is so cool she can do failure drills with her handgun. #‎watchoutshespackin and she even let me play with machine guns. Sorry guys but my mom is the coolest. Love you mom can't wait to see you!”

Yeah.  I cry every time I read it!!!

  March 11-19  HOME!!!!
       Ed did some travelling but I didn’t.  Reed had a couple of concerts.  It is fun to watch him perform because he seems to enjoy it.  He is excited about being in Encore next year.

 March 20-27  South Portland, ME
      Uncle Len died on the 16th, so I headed to Maine- and so did ALL of my brothers.  We cannot remember the last time we were all together.  How sad is that?  I was supposed to leave on the 25th but so was the rest of the tribe so I stayed a couple extra days to feather it out for Aunt Thelma.
·        
March 29-30  The Cabin
      Ed brought the dogs down yesterday since we were getting new tile laid to fill in the holes from our construction project.  Today we switched places so that he can go to work and I will take them home when the grout dries tomorrow.

And yes. . . we leave on Friday for Miami and the Eastern Carribean.  Then maybe I will stay home for longer than 8 days.