Faith. Family. Story.
15 Things: Sundays
I told my kids at dinner that I needed something to blog. Taft said, "Since it's the 15th, write a list of 15 things." Ah! Great idea. I like it. I'm going to try it and then maybe it could become a recurring thing.
15 Things on the 15th
What we do on Sundays
1. We go to church. Right now our ward/congregation meets at 11:00am. We attend a three-hour block of meetings, beginning with Sacrament meeting, followed by Sunday School and then 3rd hour, Young Women's for me (I'm currently teaching 14-15 year old girls), Priesthood for my boys and Primary for Addie. Note: There are two weekends a year, when we don't go to church. The first weekend in April and the first weekend in October are scheduled as a worldwide General Conference for all members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We get to stay home and watch multiple sessions of conference online!
2. Geoff and I get up early. 5:30am (yikes) He has a 6:30am meeting and I fix him old-fashioned oatmeal, and we eat breakfast together. After he leaves I enjoy a couple of hours of QUIET time! This happens three out of four weeks. The first Sunday of every month is what we call Fast Sunday and Geoff doesn't have his super early meetings those days.
My FAVORITE grain-free chocolate chip cookies
Real Deal Chocolate Chip Cookies
from Danielle Walker at Against All Grain
Ingredients
1/4 cup palm shortening or grass-fed butter
1/4 cup coconut palm sugar
2 T honey
1 large egg, room temperature
2 t vanilla
1 1/2 cup almond flour
2 T coconut flour
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t sea salt
1/2 cup chocolate chips
Alexa's cabinet, my new bathroom solution!
Alexa lives in our bathroom. We put here there so that we can ask her about the news and the weather while we're getting ready for the day, and so that she can play music so that we can sing and dance. You should see Addie in the shower rockin' out to 80s dance tunes. The other morning, Geoff requested Howard Jones and sure enough our, "Everlasting Love" song came on. Cute! Eine Kleine Nacht Musik is my favorite request and this morning, we listened to Martin Luther King's I Have A Dream speech.
The only thing is Alexa isn't waterproof, so she can't hang out on the counter or sit on the edge of the bathtub. We put her on the floor initially, but that is not very inspiring or clever? Alexa really needed a place. Grandma always says, "A place for everything and everything in it's place!" Ok, in actuality my Grandma didn't say that, but I'm certain someone's grandma does. Anyway, I pondered this Alexa challenge for a few days until I found this ...
How to get a FREE pass to RootsTech 2017
I'm NOT sure why I haven't blogged RootsTech 2017 yet, especially because it is now less than a month away—Ack. I can be such a procrastinator! Anyway, RootsTech, the most awesome family history and technology conference and trade show will be held February 8-11 at the Salt Palace Convention Center in downtown Salt Lake City, Utah. I am attending and teaching (again) because it's fast becoming one of my FAVORITE things to do all year. And, the BEST part? I have a FREE full-event pass to give away. All you have to do is ...
1. Check your calendar/availability and make sure you really can go.
2. Check your travel options to make sure you can get there.
3. Leave me a comment telling me which of the keynote speakers shown above is most interesting or exciting for you. Note: Their bios are below.
I will be promoting this giveaway on some social media channels, but you must leave a comment here to WIN. I'll select a winner by the middle of next week.
This FREE PASS is a $299 value and includes the Innovator Summit (the first day of the event), over 200 classes, all general sessions + Keynotes, RootsTech classes, getting started classes, full access to the Expo hall and all evening events.
The Dash
On my trip to Croatia and Slovenia last year, our tour director would begin each day on the bus with a story or thought of some kind. When he read The Dash one morning, I asked him for a copy. It's the kind of prose I like. It rhymes, has a catchy rhythm to it and it conveys a thoughtful message.
Last fall, I took my Mom with me to an event in Wisconsin and we visited Campbellsport, where her grandparents lived and raised 10 sons (the oldest was my grandfather). I knew my mom would enjoy this trip and I would enjoy taking her, but I wasn't prepared for how much I LOVED being there. Campbellsport is a small town, that hasn't experienced much growth over the years, so it was easy to imagine my great-grandparents living there and feel their presence as we located the property that had been their family farm and explored other locations that would have been a part of their lives. For years I've shared what I know about my great grandmother Minnie McDougal. I have access to a decent collection of photos and we have letters she wrote and several other documents and memorabilia, but it still isn't enough. I want more. When I stood at her grave marker with my mom, I thought about her life and what I don't know. Then I remembered this poem and thought about the influence her 1890 - 1950 (dash) has had on my life. I am in many ways the product of her courage, faith and fortitude. I'm certain that I parent in similar ways. I definitely want the same things for my boys that she wanted for hers. And because of what she demonstrated and sacrificed for her family, I have been immensely blessed.
I'm so tickled that FamilySearch has created the Define Your Dash challenge. I'm going to write more about it tomorrow, but I wanted to share the poem first, so you can reflect on the dash of someone you have loved and lost and consider how much you wish you knew that you don't know. This deficit can become the motivation you need to better define your own dash by writing and documenting personal stories. Read on and stayed tuned.
Don't Look Back!
I listened this week to one of my all time FAVORITE talks given by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. When I attended BYU, he was the president of the university and he, often along with his wife would address us once or twice a year. I did not hear this talk as a student, but it reminds me of many that I did hear and I always left feeling motivated and encouraged. The video above is a much shorter message that pulls from Elder Holland's talk. The full version is below ...
Ask in Faith!
In my husband's church calling as a stake president (oversees several congregations or wards) he is responsible for stake events. Tonight we held a fireside for all youth, 12 to 18 years old where we introduced the 2017 theme. Each year, a specific scripture is chosen as a theme and the purpose is to provide opportunities for teens worldwide to learn about, study, internalize, and apply the principles taught in scripture—to study its doctrine, and act on the principles learned throughout the year. The theme this year comes from the New Testament in James 1:5-6 (see image above) and we decided we would stand up together to speak which was definitely more fun that speaking by yourself (yikes!).
