Taking a Break...:(

Hello!

I have been absent from the Blog world for awhile, trying to figure out whether to actually take a long break while we are in California or to continue on while we are away...We will have zero Internet in the home where we will be staying and I will only be able to access my blog or to visit others if I go to the neighborhood Starbucks.  For those of you who know me well, you know how much time I spend in Starbucks (ZERO - as I do not drink coffee).  So, I think that the answer to this dilemna is obvious...I need to take a large blogging break.

I hate to do it, especially to stop visiting my sweet friends on the Internet.  I have grown so accustomed to keeping up with everyone's lives.  But I really don't see any way for me to continue on.

So....I will begin my blogging break this week and continue to the first of August.  I hope that those of you who follow me will come back then.  I am sure I will go around visiting when I first get back so that I can catch up on your news and to let you know that I am blogging again.

I may surprise you with a visit now and then while I am gone, if I can plug in to some Internet somewhere.

Otherwise, dear friends and visitors, I wish you an awesome Summer filled with many wonderful adventures.  I will see you August 1st and we will all catch up!

Ta ta until then!

Love,
Elizabeth

A Few Thoughts

Dear Friends and Visitors,

I haven't blogged in awhile because I've been thinking a lot about Life and trying to follow the Lord's direction for our family on a number of issues and while I am sorting through things it is difficult for me to sit down and write a post about some homemaking subject.  Are any of you like that, too?

As many of you know, my mother-in-law passed away last October and so her beautiful house now stands empty, not of furniture but of people to live in it.  We are currently paying for some small upgrades to be made to prepare the house for being put up on the market (a sad day).  My husband and I have been considering the idea of taking our family to California as soon as school is out and living in my mother-in-law's house for at least part of the Summer and help with whatever needs doing before the house is sold.  It would be an open-ended vacation and a chance to spend a last stay in the home that has been a center post for my husband's family since the early 70's.

After much discussion and prayer, my husband and I feel strongly that this is what the Lord wants for our us this Summer.  So, we are in the midst of planning out this trip.

I have to admit that it feels strange not to be planting this Spring.  At this point, we would be in the process of tilling and putting in the veggies, etc.  My little preparedness-centered heart is more than just a little concerned with recent devastation in our country due to severe weather, which feels like a warning to get our house in order and have plenty of food, clothing, water and fuel on hand in case of long term emergencies.  Also, the rising cost of food due to flooding in farmlands is another point of concern.  So, normally I would really be planting like crazy.  But when I take these concerns to the Lord, He stills my soul and tells me we need to be with the family in California.  So, I am putting my trust in Him...and also buying rice and soy beans and other food that should rise in price over the next while.

(For those of you who have never considered food storage of emergency preparedness, check out Food Storage Made Easy)

What are your plans for the Summer?  Are you prepared for emergencies?

I will be around to visit blogs today.  Looking forward to "seeing" everyone.

Love,
Elizabeth

Apple Blossom Days

Well, I had to go to the Internet for lovely Springtime pictures.  It is raining on the foothills here and snowing a lot up in the mountains.  It just looks like warmer weather will never come and stay, although of course it will.  I counted the number of months we can have snow here, from Halloween through May (and June, if you count the mountains).  That is a lot of cold weather and few really warm months.  A little tough for a person whose mood is deeply affected by a lack of light.  But I am thankful that light will return and flowers await.

                          ~~~~~~~~~~

Several years ago, our landlord tried to chop down the apple tree, a much beloved part of our backyard.  I guess he didn't want to pay to have it pruned and even though it was also much loved by his late wife, he took a chain saw to it and cut off all the branches, leaving nubs on a naked trunk.  It broke my heart and I shed many tears over it.  The children stopped playing in the backyard because they hated to be reminded that the apple tree was gone.  However, the following year, shoots began to grow from the nubs at the top of the stump.  Over the next few years these shoots grew and strengthened into branches.  Last Spring, a few of these branches held blossoms.  Our landlord, somehow softened by the regeneration in our backyard, actually hired someone to prune the tree.  This Spring blossoms abound in magnificent profusion.  Our lovely tree is back.

Who would have known that heartbreaking Spring when "our" tree seemed gone forever, that in a few short years it would be better than ever?  Watching this miracle unfold, I couldn't help but relate it to life.  I have lived long enough now to have experienced several severe periods when life was bleak, when I could barely envision a better future.  However, with  much prayer, perseverance, and as much faith as I could summon, the healing power of Christ took what seemed like the nubs of my life and brought forth beauty that I could never have imagined.  Sometimes we hold on so tightly to what we have and we don't want it to change; we don't want to let go.  The apple tree reminds me that when all seems lost, Time in the hands of the Master can bless us beyond what we would had before all of the wreck and ruin.  After all of the cutting, comes the blossoms.

I may have written about this before and if I have, I apologize for the redundancy.  But our apple blossoms always set me to thinking, even under gray skies and incessant rain. :)
Love,
Elizabeth

Wake Up Call for Mothers!

Well, it just stopped sleeting outside...Yes, it is May 17th and it has been sleeting.  An outdoor thermometer I passed on the way to do errands today registered 36 degrees.   There is white stuff all over the blossoms of new flowers I planted in the backyard.  I am feeling equally weighed down by cold.

Utah, is a very beautiful place, especially Northern Utah, where we live.  The mountains are very beautiful and the farther north one goes it becomes greener, which is what I like.  I am definitely not a high desert girl.  But the winters in Northern Utah are very long; the summers are short.  This can be difficult on someone who is easily affected by a lack of sunlight.  It slows me down and makes me want to hibernate until the warmth returns.  We were on our way to Spring recently and I am sure that this is just a small step backwards, but it feels like forever to me.

On a lighter note, it is looking increasingly like our family will be leaving for California at the end of school and may be staying there for much of the summer.  Now that both of my in-laws are passed away (what a huge hole they have left behind), their home in Southern California is being prepared for sale and this may be the last time we can spend any time in it.
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Here is a video that really woke me up today! Hope it is meaningful for you, too!



Love,
Elizabeth

Bathroom Organization Solutions - Shoe Organizer!

Hello, Sweet Friends and Neighbors -

I am always looking for creative ways to control clutter in my home and I just found one that I absolutely LOVE...We have a tiny master bathroom, with no place to store the lotions and potions that are used tub-side.  Then, I read a post on Home Made Simple in which a shoe organizer on the inside of a bathroom door is used to hold bathing supplies...

For more creative ideas, please click on the above link.

How about you?  Do you have any creative ways of keeping bathroom supplies handy but organized?

Have a lovely day!
Elizabeth

Happy Mothers Day

"How thankful I am, how thankful we all must be, for the women in our lives.
      God bless them.
May His great love distill upon them and crown them with luster and beauty, grace and faith."
                    —President Gordon B. Hinckley

 

  Happy Mothers Day to one and all!

Love,
Elizabeth

And Then It's Winter...

Hello, Friends and Visitors!

One of my dear friends sent me this lovely thought which I have copied for you below.  I don't know the author, but the sentiments are true....

                                                      ~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And Then It's Winter...

It seems just yesterday that I was young, just married and embarking on  my new life with my mate.  And yet in a way, it seems like eons ago, and I wonder where all the years went.  I know that I lived them all... and  I have glimpses of how it was back then and of all my hopes and dreams.  But, here it is... the winter of my life and it catches me by surprise.

How did I get here so fast?  Where did the years go and where did my babies go?  And where did my youth go? I remember well.... seeing older people through the years and thinking that those older people were years away from me and that winter was so  far off that I could not fathom it or imagine fully what it would be like.

But, here it is... my age is beginning to show and we are now those older folks that we used to see and never thought we'd be.  Each day now, I find that just getting a shower is a real target for the day!  And taking a nap is not a treat anymore... it's mandatory! Cause if I don't on my own free will... I just fall asleep where I sit!

And so, now I enter into this new season of my life unprepared for all the aches and pains and the loss of strength and ability to go and do things.  But, at least I know, that though the winter has come and I'm not sure how long it will last, this I know, that when it's over... its over!

Yes, I have regrets. There are things I wish I hadn't done and  things I should have done.  But indeed, there are many things I'm happy to have done.  Its all in a lifetime...

So, if you're not in your winter yet ... let me remind you, that it will be here faster than you think. So, whatever you would like to accomplish in your life, please do it quickly!

Life goes by quickly. So, do what you can today, because you can never be sure whether this is your winter or not!  You have no promise that you will see all the seasons of your life... so, live for God today, and say all the things that you want your loved  ones to remember.

Life is God's gift to you. The way you live your life determines where you will spend eternity.

So Live It Well. !!!!!

Grapefruit Bird Feeder

Okay, so I saw this cute grapefruit bird feeder online and have decided to give it a try, especially because Costco has HUGE grapefruits for sale.  We have been going through those like crazy because they are delicious!  So, I have saved 4 halves...

..scraped them out, poke equi-distant holes, strung them up and filled with sunflower seeds and birdseeds.

How is that for a nifty, thrifty new feeder?

Have you used any unique or interesting objects for bird feeders?  If so, please share!

Love,
Elizabeth

Relief and Apprehension

 Last night, my husband and I were watching a little TV and as I flipped through the channels to get to PBS I noticed that one station was showing pictures of Osama Bin Laden.  Oh well, I thought.  I gave up hope of his capture long ago.  As we settled on our program, my son came running up the stairs to tell us that one of his friends had just called to tell him that Osama Bin Laden is dead.

WHAT?!?!?

With haste, we switched to a network station.  They were all carrying the story at this point and watched for hours the replay of this incredible turn of events.  How was it possible after all these years?

I admit to mixed feelings.  I am thankful this man and a few of his associates are no longer able to hatch plans to hurt our country.  But I am also a little apprehensive about the possibility of reprisals.  I can only pray that the good Lord will bless and protect this country.  I am aware that our society has to some degree gone astray in sin, but I am just as equally aware that many good men and women live lives of service to others and try to the best of their abilities to honor Him.

For those who have sacrificed their lives to protect our nation, beginning with those who fought back on Flight 93 to the present day, all I can say is I am deeply humbled by their willingness to give their lives so that we might have an opportunity to make a better future for our children.

Please pray for our safety, but also we must try our best to live our lives in such a way that we are worthy of the Lord's protection.  We must be vigilant - watchful of our enemies, but also careful in how we live.  In this way, we honor the fallen.  By this, their sacrifice is not in vain.

Happy May Day

Photo from skiptomylou.wordpress.com

"The world's favorite season is the spring.
All things seem possible in May."
-  Edwin Way Teale

Happy May Day, One and All!

Yesterday, we awoke to 8 inches of snow on the ground, a disheartening sight for one who desperately craves warm weather and some hope for Springtime.  This morning, we awoke to a bright sky and green grass everywhere and absolutely no sign of SNOW.  What a wonderful treat for May Day.

As many of you probably know, a fun May Day tradition is to leave posies by the doors of friends and neighbors.  However, there are no flowers growing around here yet ((sigh)), so our posies will have to wait until another day.  But, oh what a beautiful Sabbath day.

Rejoice and be thankful!
Elizabeth