Enough with the whine

I have been reading in the Bible about the Israelites the last couple of days. It seems all they ever did was whine. Moses lead them out of slavery, they whined because they saw Pharoah coming. They were saved from Pharoah and they began to complain how hungry they were. They received Manna and began to moan about the lack of variety.

This theme of traveling through the wilderness has struck a chord with me, as we are living in the 5th month of a temporary move. I felt the Lord's direction to sell our house when we did, and we have definitely received guidance on what NOT to buy so far. We just haven't made it to the promised land. But I think of how the Israelites traveled in the wilderness for 40 years. For that generation, the wilderness WAS their promised land because they were unable to be content or even hope for more.

This has gotten me thinking in 2 directions. First, I don't want to be a whiner. I know I do it sometimes, but I really have got to eliminate it. (The second direction will have to be another blog).

So I think that I will list a 4 things I am really grateful for in my wilderness.

1. I am overwhelmingly grateful for prayer. I cherish the thought that I am heard and someone who knows the future and has my best interest at heart can hear and respond to me.

2. I am grateful that Rob has been busy doing something that he enjoys. He could have been gone all the time working 2 dead-end jobs. Instead he has been able to do research and work in an area where he can potentially make people's lives better (he is currently designing sensors that can help amputees move prosthetic arms easier and better).

3. I am thankful that I have developed the ability to operate and run the household on my own. With Rob gone a lot, I have found out that I am stronger than I thought I was. I have been able to teach myself things like putting up light fixtures, staining my deck or furniture, and using the new imovie... stuff I would have probably just delegated to him. I think that I have also become more sensitive to the amazing women who do everything alone because there isn't someone else to do it with. Before, I never thought about doing things alone like easter egg hunts or carving pumpkins... but now I know what it's like to be, and hopefully I can be sensitive to others who may be struggling. I shouldn't say alone. I mean one-parent. My kids are really fantastic and I have had a ton of fun with them going a TON of places with them. We've even vacationed just the 3 of us a bunch.

4. I am thankful to live in family housing. It is funny to move backwards in life when you know it isn't permanent. A lot of things are funny when you know that they aren't permanent. I think only 1 bathroom per family is funny. If we had more then 1 bathroom, I would never have had to explain to my children that they should not go the bathroom on 1 toilet at the same time even if they could do it.

GOLD!

Tonight, I am sitting down and watching the Olympic races for the first time. Olympics cause the world's top athletes to push themselves to the extreme, and the rest of the world to push handfuls of chips and candy in our mouths as we gasp in awe. Hold on, I'm getting salsa on my keyboard. Last night I went to the Banff Film Festival World Tour, and enjoyed another evening of watching films with world class athletes doing amazing things.

All of this excellence has gotten me thinking. That could be me. I could be out there, pushing the extremes. Except I'm afraid of crashing, falling, or high speed. Dang it, maybe I'm not gold-medal materia... wait a minute, isn't there an event with brooms, sweeping the ice? I could totally do that! And the stress of the Olympics wouldn't be an issue. I always have to clean my floors when I get stressed.

Maybe I should start training. Well, our apartment only has about 7 square feet of ancient linoleum, so maybe I will have to start practicing in our new home. Pass the chips.

dearest trilobites

Some women would love a to get flowers or new clothes. Me? My thrill came today in 3 rocks and dead bugs. But not just any dead bugs. We now have a fossil collection! Is that the coolest!! They are really great specimens, too. Bekah has already named one "Spider" and one "Calerpitter." I should take pictures...oh wait, I think I will.

As Rob and I talk about what we want in a home, he knows I would absolutely love a wall or big panel in our study to be made of tiles with fossils. I saw this in one of the buildings in the U and seriously fell in love. Since that is probably out of our budget, my sweet husband was totally supportive to shell out to buy these babies. I want to frame them in 3 black shadow boxes.

Am I totally insane? They cost more than some of the furniture we need! I know. I'm so weird. But it's so dang cool!

I always wanted that!

We were looking at houses yesterday (again). When we walked into the garage, my cute kids looked excitedly, "Look mama, a garage! I always wanted a garage! We needed dat!" I was laughing so hard. So apparently that's all it takes... a garage.

Advice from Elder Busche

I have listened to this several times. Perhaps it is because his voice reminds me of my own ever-positive grandfather. Perhaps because the message is so uplifting and true.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snAjZ8mfoYw

Love is in the air

The princesses were so sweet. Just look at his face. He's in love. He was seriously giddy. It still cracks me up just looking at the pictures.

But he's still a boy, and sure loved those jedi knights.

Disneyland

Our Disneyland trip... wow. It was like a disney movie in itself.

Let's see... you have the beginning, the heroine, Princess Christinella, leaving on an adventure with her trusty sidekick chipmunks, Bekah and Kyle. She meets with difficulties as she journeys through the forest, but thanks to the help of the forest animals (especially a very nice fox), she overcomes. She stops to rest at a cute cottage of energetic dwarves, where her chipmunks can run around (another musical number). Ready to embark again after a few days of rest, the beautiful princess (hey, this is my story), finally comes to her land of dreams where she meets a handsome prince and his sidekicks: a kind owl and energetic muskrat, Kyle and Jill. They fall in love and dance through a magical wonderland, where the resident creatures literally come out and sing to them. Big musical number, performed flawlessly! Even a singin' in the rain scene. Handsome Prince then takes Princess Christinella on his trusty steed to ride off into the sunset. But as they do so, out jumps the Big Bad Blizzard (da-da-da-dum), which maims and nearly kills their horse. Big fight scene where Prince's sword skills saves the horse and then Princess grabs the chipmunks and Prince and stears the horse past the Big Bad Blizzard (chase scene). They finally set off into the sunset... well, except by now the sun has long since set. Closing love song as the prince and princess kiss (chipmunk sidekicks are sleeping sweetly in their tree).
And that is our trip. It was wonderful.

(I left w/ kids, lost my keys and needed a tire replaced in St. George, stayed in Las Vegas with a cousin and her family, whom we love, went to Anaheim. Rob flew in as well as his parents, and we had a wonderful time. Short lines, lots of magic, and one day of rain. It was SO FUN! Headed back to Las Vegas, then on the way home, while driving in a blizzard, had car problems but Rob worked it out and we made it home safe and sound at 2 am. It was a great trip!)