Valentines & doing what St. Valentine would have done

This year for Valentines Day I had a wonderful experience. Rather than think inwardly as it is so easy to do. I wondered what could be done to help someone else (please see my post on January 7, 2009 entitled "In True Form" in the 5th paragraph...). It may be the first time ever that I have actually followed a New Years "Resolution" for very long.

So for Valentine's Day we made 4 bundles of fresh flowers, purple tulips and white daisies. After they were all wrapped up in plastic bags to keep them fresh - homemade Valentine cards were attached to them with bright colored ribbons. Then we started out on our visits. Our first 2 stops were to couples. Our last 2 stops were to some wonderful widows. They were so happy to receive the beautiful flowers and to have visitors. We spent nearly 30 minutes with each of them and talked about whatever they wanted. We talked about a myriad of things, from fishing in Montana, to how they met, to being in the service in California, why or how they ended up living in Arizona, and the places they had been during their lives. It was so nice to be able to be there and listen to their stories.

I had such a wonderful time visiting them and spreading a little Valentine's day cheer!!

Broadway...for B-day

For an early birthday gift I was able to go to The Lion King! It was such a nice surprise and a wonderful evening. If you haven't seen the Lion King and it is in your neighborhood I recommend it. Enjoy the costumes, the acting, the music and the night. The cast did such a wonderful job!

Caution – Life is Fragile.

This morning I want to tell all of you just how thankful I am and how blessed I am to have you a part of my life. Lately I have been reflecting on the blessings received after passing from this world. Just imagine what it may be like to not have the pains of this world, to have the opportunity to be made whole and to be at peace.

Oddly enough after pondering this subject over and over in my mind for roughly the past month I arrived at work this morning to find out that one of the ladies who I work with lost her daughter over the weekend. Her daughter was 14 and was born with both physical and mental handicaps. She was such a joy in the life of this family and their world seemed to revolve around her. I can’t help but be happy for her daughter to be free from the pains of this world. I do feel for the family and hope that they will make it through this hard time in their lives.

…I am so blessed to have the Gospel of Jesus Christ in my life and I wanted to take a moment to thank all of you for being a part of my life. After being reminded that this life is so fragile, and after reading the October conference talk, from President Monson last night, “Finding Joy in the Journey”, I wanted to express my love for each of you. In the conference talk there is a quote by William Shakespeare., “They do not love that do not show their love.” I hope that all of you may know that I love each of you and the joy that you bring to my life.

Do you remember...I didn't.

So this weekend I reviewed the Conference opening address given by President Monson and also his closing remarks...I was reminded of what he had asked us as a church to do. My question is how many of you remembered...?

Opening remarks... (quoting President Monson)

"As did President Spencer W. Kimball over 32 years ago, I urge you to pray for the opening of those areas, that we might share with them the joy of the gospel. As we prayed then in response to President Kimball’s pleadings, we saw miracles unfold as country after country, formerly closed to the Church, was opened. Such will transpire again as we pray with faith."

Closing remarks... (quoting President Monson)

"May we long remember what we have heard during this general conference. The messages which have been given will be printed in next month’s Ensign and Liahona magazines. I urge you to study them and to ponder their teachings."

"There are those throughout the world who are hungry; there are those who are destitute. Working together, we can alleviate suffering and provide for those in need. In addition to the service you give as you care for one another, your contributions to the funds of the Church enable us to respond almost immediately when disasters occur anywhere in the world. We are nearly always among the first on the scene to provide whatever assistance we can. We thank you for your generosity.
There are other difficulties in the lives of some. Particularly among the young, there are those who are tragically involved in such things as drugs, immorality, gangs, and all the serious problems that go with them. In addition, there are those who are lonely, including widows and widowers, who long for the company and the concern of others. May we ever be mindful of the needs of those around us and be ready to extend a helping hand and a loving heart."

I was resolved to do all of this when conference was over...but I have to admit I have not been as good as I had hoped. Luckily I still have my Ensign and there is still time until the next conference to study. I plan to do just that.

Educational Weekend…

This last weekend I was down in Tucson visiting a couple of educational sites. First thing we went to the Titan Missile Museum (http://www.titanmissilemuseum.org/) it is the only one of 54 missiles that the US had during the Cold War that is still intact. Actually the missile during that time is no longer there but they have a training missile that was never fueled that is housed at the museum. A few highlights were walking through the crew area, the missile launch simulation and the facts that I learned. Top speed of the missile was 13,000 miles an hour, and within 2 minutes of being launched the missile was 47 miles straight up. Fascinating.

After viewing the missile we went over to the Pima Air museum (http://www.pimaair.org/) there we saw many historic and modern planes…B-17, B-24, B-25, F-14, F-15, just to name a few. You are even able to walk through one of the old Air Force One planes, which Kennedy flew on. They have a black bird, fastest plane ever built (it has no defense system because it could out run any missile that was shot at it), and many other planes. I do however recommend taking the 1 hour tram ride, the driver will give you a good back ground on all of the planes that are there then you can walk around and view after and know what you are looking at or what you want to look at. After the tram ride I knew that I wanted to go in to the Space hanger and see the piece of moon rock that they have there…about the size of ½ a peanut, but still it was from the moon!

A few complaints...then I will stop

OK so 2009 has been interesting so far...2 complaints is all.

1 - On Monday morning I tried to make a deposit in the bank...the ATM froze and wouldn't let me complete the deposit or get my card back. After calling the 800 number I had to cancel all ATM cards since there was one in the machine with my pin number all keyed in. Now I am still trying to find time to make it to the bank to complete my deposit.

2 - This morning as I was leaving for work I walked into the garage and the ceiling (below the upstairs bathroom) was leaking and dripped right on my head. Good thing I have a cousin who is a general contractor and he is on his way over this morning to check it out!

...I am done now~