The Chicken and the Egg

2 quotes today that I have read recently that make me feel hopeful--both by God's messengers.  Faith and hope go together.  In fact sometimes, it's  hard to know which comes first and which leads to the other.

"As members of the church, if we chart a course leading to eternal life; if we begin the processes of spiritual rebirth, and are going in the right direction. . . then it is absolutely guaranteed--there is not question whatever about--we shall gain eternal life.  Even though we have spiritual rebirth ahead of us, perfection ahead of us, the full degree of sanctification ahead of us, if we chart a course and follow it to the best of our ability in this life, then when we go out of this life we'll continue in exactly that same course.  We'll no longer be subject to the passions and the appetites of the flesh.  We will have passed successfully the tests of this mortal probation and in due course we'll get the fullness of our Father's kingdom--that means eternal life in his everlasting presence."  Bruce R. McConkie  Speeches of the Year 1976 BYU

"To the individual who is weak in the heart;  fearful in the heart:  Be patient with yourself.  Perfection comes not in this life, but in the next life.  Don't demand things that are unreasonable, but demand of yourself improvement.  As you let the Lord help you through that, He will make the difference."  Elder Russell M. Nelson Video Segment for the Plan of Salvation Lesson--New Youth Curriculum

It's encouraging to think that faith and direction determine my ultimate destination; not how close I am to perfection right now.

"Wherefore, ye may also have hope, and be partakers of the gift, if ye will but have faith."  Ether 12:9

"Having faith on the Lord; having a hope that ye shall receive eternal life; having the love of God always in your hearts, that ye may be lifted up at the last day and enter into his rest."  Alma 13:29

Even when I have faith, I still need to hope that I am good enough; that I will overcome and accomplish; that God will accept and forgive me.  Some days that's easier than others.

Sweet Sixteen

My little girl is on her first date. 

His name is Cole.

  I am calm—not stressed; not scared or worried. 

I don’t know if that’s good or bad.
The day had a lot of twists and turns, but that’s another story for another post.  This one is just about how beautiful she is and how much I love her.

25 Words or Less

I didn’t listen to all of general conference yet because I was on vacation with my hubby  of 20 years.  One talk did make me think and I decided to see what I could come up with.  There was a story of a prisoner of war who after years of being held was allowed to write to his family, but had to give his message in 25 words.  I had heard the story before.  This time though--I think because I haven’t been able to speak to Ian for years now-- it struck me.

What could I say to my husband and kids that they would be sure it was me and let them know how much they meant to me.  I don’t think I would be as overtly religious in tone as the man in the story.  I think my whole family would know those expectations anyway.  Let me give it a try.

For Ian

GooberSnout-  I hope you are cooking “stuff in a pot” and talking about Superheroes.  I hear you telling me to take a breath.  I love you.

For Lucy

Lulu-  Please don’t be tough all the time.  You’re smart and pretty and you’ve always been good enough for me.  Now be happy.  I love you.

For Mikey

Somebody loves you little sweetie.  Don’t ever stop being ticklish or patient or compassionate.   Pick some blueberries and climb a tree often.  I love you.

For Keith

Red beard; green eyes; perfect man.  Thanks for waiting for me and calling me beautiful.  You were usually right;  happy, and obedient.  I love you.

Apparently there’s a game called 25 words or less.  I think I’m going to have to start looking for it at thrift stores so we can all play it together.

20 years

Keith and I have been married 20 whole years.  It’s hard to believe.  We’ve been through a lot.  Cross-country moves;  lay-offs; chronic serious illness;  debt;  loss of parent;  loss of child.  Maybe someday I’ll be able to tell what those things really do to a marriage, but for today, I just want to celebrate.
I booked us a trip to Seattle to commemorate the occasion.  I’m really cheap—no frugal.  There’s a difference.  I spent hours looking things over online before booking.  I got airfare for 2 and 4 nights hotel for $800.  Yeah, I know!  I also bought us CityPasses to cover most of our expenses while we were there for another $150.  I think if I hadn’t found it for so little, I’d still be wishing we could see Seattle.  Here it is:

This is one of my favorite shots.  Of course Keith’s aren’t in the computer for me to choose from, but I got some really great pictures too.  We had dinner up in the Space Needle on the 2nd—our anniversary.  I had scallops, just like on our honeymoon.  In fact, I think I had them either 2 or 3 times.

This is where I bought $30 worth of smoked salmon to snack on the rest of the day (also a honeymoon memory).  Pike’s Market reminded me of both Faneuil Hall in Boston and Hong Kong.

There was a tulip festival going on so all the bouquets had tulips.  Some had cherry blossoms and some had pussy willows.  It was amazing.

This is my best shot from the aquarium.  This otter kept rolling under the water while he was eating the clams.  He would tuck them in his “armpit” not to lose them while he was under.

I love my cheap simple camera.  It does such a good job. 

I can’t remember what the name of this fish was, but it should have something to do with camouflage.

What kind of attraction is a gum wall?  If you can believe it, there’s no vendor there selling gum.

View from the Harbor Cruise.  Keith got some great ones with the Space Needle, but I didn’t.

Butterflies at the science museum.  It was especially fun to see them after watching the IMAX movie about Monarch Migration.

Museum of Flight at Boeing Field was so interesting.  I loved going up in the tower and seeing all the live blips on the screen where all the planes in America were at that minute.  I also loved the Concorde.  Our tour guide was really great and told us stories about so many of the planes.  We spent the good part of a day in this one museum. 
None of my pictures of the EMP turned out.  It was pretty dark in there.  It was probably my least favorite as I’m not a fan or horror movies or Kurt Cobain.  The art museum had some neat stuff in it but we were amazed by the blown glass at the Chihuly Garden and Glass right next to the Space Needle.

This is the inside and next is the outside.  Yes, those things in the background are blown glass.

We rode the Ferris Wheel.  In the rain.  It was great, no line, we got a car all to ourselves.

We went in the coolest hot shop where Keith looked at fedoras.

We went to the first-ever Starbucks;  Ate the “World’s Best Mac and Cheese” and tried donuts we’d heard about at Top Pot.  We shopped on 5th Avenue;  Visited Chinatown and did all our traveling on public transit, including the monorail.
We visited a glass blowing factory and stood there gawking for nearly an hour.

I even got a photo of them throwing the fish at  Pike’s—it’s just blurry. 

Finally, one photo of me—not the best one, I might add.  It’s taken riding the light-rail train back to our hotel at the end of a long day.

It’s been a good 20.  There have been some days lately where I’ve been surprised at how thankful I feel.