Can't help lovin' that man of mine!

FEBRUARY FABULOUSNESS!

One Sunday before church.  My husband is hot!

Paul's Valentine surprise for me

Paul set the table and made a delicious dinner for us 

 Paul seeing my Valentine surprise for him

Just me

The sunshine of my life

See this guy right here...well, he is the sunshine of my life.

I love him so much. I can't imagine my life without him.  He is such a blessing to me.

grateful.
i am grateful for the knowledge that God is there and that he loves me.
i am grateful for parents love me, that raised me to have faith, encouraged me to know for myself that I have a loving Heavenly Father, that taught me that living and obeying the commandments of God will only bring happiness and joy.
i am grateful for my Savior, Jesus Christ.
i am grateful for the temple and eternal covenants.
i am grateful for life's experiences that have molded me, even broken me down and times and the experience of being reborn through repentance made possible by the atonement of my Savior.
i am grateful for love.
i am grateful for forgiveness.
i am grateful for Paul, for his love, his thoughtfulness, his kindness, and that he "gets me".
i am grateful for my siblings, their spouses and their children.
i am grateful for my sweet doggy, Luna, for her kisses and love.  she is the best.
i am grateful for the kindness and love of friends.
i am grateful, so grateful.

Some excellent reads I have just loved

This summer I have been reading and reading.  It started with one book, The Goose Girl, by Shannon Hale.  It was recommended by a good friend of mine and I was more intrigued because I went to high school with the author.  She graduated 2 years before me but still, there was a connection.  The Goose Girl was awesome.  I loved the fairy tale aspect and love the fun characters.  By the end I felt like Isi and I were friends.  I quickly continued with the next in the series, Enna Burning.  I loved Enna. Holy crap Batman, I was hooked to these books.  For many reasons but for one, I think because they are about strong women who are realizing their gifts and their greatness.  Another thing I noticed while reading these books was my scripture study was more enjoyable for some reason.  Loco...I know! Of course I had to begin book 3 after finishing Enna Burning.  River Secrets is the most recent one I have finished.  Again, loved it! The main character in this book is a boy named Razo.  He is seriously one cool kid.  Razo is sweet, kind, flirty, loyal and he falls in love (squeal!)  

So really friends...these books are fun and entertaining and you can't help but love the characters.  Let me know if you want to borrow one or all of them :)

Loving being domestic - English Scones & Raspberry Freezer Jam

For some lovely reason, once in a while I get bitten by this little bug that makes me want to be domestic-like.  So....... this week I have made chocolate chip English scones and raspberry freezer jam.  Hooray for me!! 

The chocolate chip English scones recipe I got from the cook book, The Joy of Cooking, which was given to me by my dear friend Fiona.  It was easy and fun, and the scones were delicious :) woot woot! 

The raspberry freezer jam was inspired by an excellent deal on raspberries at Costco :) I made some last year at Relief Society and remembered it was not too difficult so I found a  recipe on google (I love the internets) and got to work...after I got a handful of jars from my parent's on the way home from work. I have yet to taste my creation and hope it tastes good.  I am most excited for Paul to taste it because one of the things he loves most is jam on toast or bread.  To him that's dessert. 

Soooo friends....if you have any suggestion on things I should try let me know, bring it on, I am ready :)

  

I love teaching Relief Society

So, last Sunday I taught Relief Society again.  This time as an officially called teacher.  I teach the 4th Sunday, teachings for our times.  The lessons come from General Conference talks.  This month's lesson assigned was the talk given by Elder David A. Bednar called...

The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn

DAVID A. BEDNAR

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

As I prepared and studied, this talk literally sang to my soul. I have had experiences like this before but it has been a while. I took dad's big, framed photograph of William Carter and Sophronia, the photo of Grandma and Grandpa Dunlop on their wedding day and a photo of Paul and I on our wedding day as well as my big William Carter book and the book daddy wrote.  I also took handouts of the poem If You Could See Your Ancestors and chocolate.    As I began to teach I had to pause and breathe because the spirit was guiding me in a direction different than I had planned.  It was amazing to be led by the spirit and to testify with all of my heart.  I am so grateful for this calling and for the Lord's love.  May we all be inspired by the Spirit of Elijah and be blessed with a desire to do our genealogy, to go to the temple and to continue to build the kingdom of God on the earth as we prepare for the second coming.    

Here is the poem I gave as a handout.  

If You Could See Your Ancestors

By Nellie Winslow Simmons Randall
If you could see your ancestors
All standing in a row,
Would you be proud of them or not?
Or don't you really know?
Some strange discoveries are made
In climbing family trees.
And some of them, you know,
Do not particularly please.

If you could see your ancestors
All standing in a row,
There might be some of them perhaps
You shouldn't care to know.
But here's another question
Which requires a different view -
If you could meet your ancestors
Would they be proud of you?

Super fun weekend - Vegas baby!

Last week was Paul's 38th birthday! (May 8th) We celebrated by going to dinner at Mo' Betta, a Hawaiian bbq joint in Bountiful.  We love their teriyaki chicken and steak that comes with rice and a salad.  I gave Paul a couple of polo style shirts and a silver pocket watch.  After dinner we ran a few errands and then headed home.  Once home I asked Paul to wait in our bedroom while I got his surprise ready.  I set up my massage table, lit some candles and then let him know he could come in.  I gave him a great massage.  We both enjoyed it thoroughly.

May10th
We started our weekend early by attending the wedding of my nephew Jeffrey and his cute bride Mary Ann.    They were married in the Salt Lake temple.  What a beautiful day!  I love being in the temple with Paul, and being reminded that we get to be together for all eternity.  What a blessing! Jeff was so handsome and sweet to Mary Ann.  I love the look of love...you know, the way a man looks at a woman when he truly loves her.  I loved being there to witness their sealing.  I am so grateful for Heavenly Father's plan and for the love he has for us that he let's us be together forever and husband and wife.  That there is no, "until death do us part" in the temple.  After some picture on the temple grounds, we headed to a luncheon at my parents ward house.  Yummy chicken salad sandwiches, salads, chips and a fabulous dessert. My brother Gordon and his wife Kristine are such great parents.  They have and are doing such a great job raising their family.  You can tell by the gratitude and love their children have for them.

May 11th-13th
This past weekend Paul and I took a little get away, motorcycle trip to Fabulous Las Vegas.  Paul's birthday was on the 8th and we wanted to celebrate by doing one of our favorite things - tour on the bike.  We are still deciding on what kind of tour bike to get so Paul rented a Harley for the weekend.  A silver and dark blue with little flecks that made it sparkle motorcycle was our transportation.  We stopped in Sandy at the Harley shop to get the rear shocks filled and Paul told me to go pick out a jacket.  So I am the proud owner of my very own riding jacket.  It is black and has a cool design and a really great red liner that is removable too.  I love it! We took our time riding and the weather was nice.  As we entered Hurricane, Washington and St. George holy cow...talk about a heat wave.  We stopped took the liners out of our jackets, drank some water and had ice cream. We took some deep breaths and got back on the bike.  Our ride into Vegas was beautiful, but I won't lie, it was hot!

By the time we got to the Excalibur, the bike was so hot.  We checked in and took cool showers.  Becky and the kids were as excited to see us as I was to see them so we headed over to Beck's house shortly thereafter.  She made us a yummy pasta and salad dinner.  I love Rebecca!  The kids were so cute and hugged both Paul and I as we came through the door. We had fun talking, eating, watching, The Princess Bride and making plans for the next day.  Becky cut Paul's hair too.  We were a bit tired so we didn't stay long.  We rode back to our hotel and went right to sleep.

 The next morning Paul and I went to breakfast and then went over to the Luxor to go to the Titanic exhibit.  It was really amazing.  There were all kinds of artifacts that had been pulled from the ocean depths.  Dishes, silverware, playing cards, leather bags, jewelry, metal vent grates, floor tiles, a tiny pair of glasses, tweezers, and a huge piece of the ship. The exhibit was set up in a way that I felt such a quiet reverence.  They showed 1st, 2nd and 3rd class cabins and replicated the grand stairwell.  They even had a chilly balcony with a starry night sky.  There was a huge piece of ice to feel the temp. of the water that At the beginning they gave us all a ticket with an actual Titanic passenger's name on it, what class their ticket was for and a short bio.  At the end of the exhibit there is huge wall that lists each class and who survived and who died.  Both mine and Paul's tickets had people who died.  It was kind of a sad and a huge realization of how many really did not survive that fatal night.  I am so glad we went.

After our dramatic exhibit visit, we met Rebecca and the kids up at our room to get ready to go to the pool. We changed and walked down.  The pool area was huge.  There were 4 different pools, one with a water slide, one that was like a foot deep for little little kids and one that was basically a huge jacuzzi and one adult only pool (where they let the partyers can take their drinks in the pool).  They had a DJ playing music.  It was pretty packed when we got there and it took a few minutes to find a home base with some chairs but, knowing Becky she did it.  The kids loved swimming and loved the water slide.  Carter is hilarious and loved jumping into the water to Paul. Marin is so cute and had fun helping watch the kids and taking Carter on the water slide.  Janet is sweet and swam for a while then would go cuddle with her mama.  We spent about 3 hours at the pool and had a ball.  Paul even took a short nap on a lounge chair.

That evening we went to the Tournament of Kings with Rebecca and the kiddos.  We sat in the Russia section.  We were served a small chicken, a few potatoes, some broccoli, and a biscuit. They did not give us  silverware, we got to eat with our hands.  Paul and I got pina coladas in the cool, take home, silver goblets.  Merlin welcomed us as Ladies and Lords.  The show was great!  Horses, sword play, kings, knights, jousting, death, fire, dragons. It was so fun to especially watch Janet and Carter's faces. We ended the evening by going to the Belagio and to the Paris for a yummy dessert.

Sunday morning we had breakfast at Becky's and then hit the road.  Just before we left Vegas we stopped by a Harley shop.  Paul bought the device for the rear shocks and a denim Harley vest.  We looked pretty hard core in our gear.

When we got to Cedar City, we headed West. It was fun to be on a country road and see something other than highway.  We stopped in small towns, saw a few antelope, and enjoyed the scenery.  We rode through Delta, where Paul went high school.  He even drove past the high school :0 We headed to Lemington to where Paul's Aunt Marsha lives.  Uncle Dan had already gone work so we didn't get to see him.  Marsha made us dinner of ham, potato salad and rolls.  She loves to talk and is so energetic.  I really like her.  I also met Paul's cousin Dawn (Marsha's daughter).  After our visit we headed home via Tooele.  The last two and a half hours were dark and cold.  Finally at 12:15am we arrived home.

Hooray!!! What a wonderful trip!!  We loved the time we spent together and with Beck and the kids!! Yay!!

Yesterday, there was some amazing, beautiful 80 something degree weather when I got finished with work. So I sped home, changed, got the Luna and headed to Tanner Park for an off leash walk/hike. We had so much fun and the sun felt SOOOOOO GOOOOD!   There were so many dogs and so many different breeds. Weimeraners, golden retrievers, labs, pugs, poodles, Australian shepherds, beagles, ect.  All so excited to be outside in the sunshine, in the water, playing fetch with sticks and balls and to be off their leashes :) I love observing people and the type of dog they choose to have.   People were so funny when they saw Luny.  They loved how small she was and that she was just plugging along.

After our hike, we drove up to the Sons of the Utah Pioneers building where Mountain Jubilee Chorus was doing their competition preview performance.  They will compete in Colorado this weekend.  Mom has sung with the chorus on and off for 40 years.  She says that singing with the chorus is and was cheaper than therapy.  Mom's chorus sings music in 4 part harmony.  Mom sings the bass part. The parts can sound funky by themselves, but when sung together, the harmonies are amazing.  I still get chills when I hear mom's chorus sing.   I even got a little teary.  I think because of the nostalgic factor.  I remember at a little girl hearing mom practice with her practice tape.  And Tuesday nights have always been chorus rehearsal night for mom.  When the chorus sings, I swear I can hear my mother's voice.  I love to hear my momma sing.  In fact for Mother's Day this year, I am taking my mom to a recording studio to record all of the songs that she used to sing to us when we were younger.  My earliest childhood memory is of my mother singing me to sleep.  I am so excited.  I don't know if this is more for her or me :)

Serving in the kingdom

I never in 5,000 million years thought I would have so much fun doing my Visiting Teaching.  Last night I went with my companion Eugenia Perez and enjoyed myself so much.  Eugenia an older lady from Guatemala, who speaks Spanish and only a few words and phrases in English.  She lives here with her two grandchildren Alex and Mayali.  Her daughter Ana is stuck in Guatemala trying to get her visa/immigration paperwork figured out, so she can return here to Utah.  Eugenia is such a sweetheart and longs for her daughter to return, whilst staying strong so she can take care of her grandchildren.   She is a wonderful cook and loves to cook for others. Her sons also help her out.  Eugenia almost always has a smile on her face.  Our paths crossed when I was asked to translate for her in Relief Society.  Her visiting teacher asked me to come to their visit to translate too. Let's just say I became her unofficial translator.  I adore her. She has the most loving, contagious, smile.

Eugenia and I first visited Andrea and her daughter Tonia.  Tonia is 18 and has down syndrome.  Andrea is the mother of four, the youngest two are twins.  She is a very smart and interesting woman who has put herself and her family on a gluten-free diet.  She is a sweet mommy who also acts as an activist for Tonia - she has fought for integration and involvement and for her to be treated like a normal kid (within reason).  Andrea loves to talk and talk and talk.  One of those people that just needs to be listened to.  We finally had to excuse ourselves to get to our next visit. Nonetheless, one of our sisters that needs our love and kindness. I am excited to be able to serve her in the future.

We then went to visit Kerri, who is an elementary school teacher that will be retiring at the end of this school year.  She has older children and grandchildren, who mostly live out of state. Kerri's garden is gorgeous.  She grows  Her husband is a hunter and there are birds and animal heads displayed in their home (kind of cool, kind of creepy).  Kerri is darling and I just love her.  She was so grateful for our visit and thanked us for coming.

Our last sister is Monica Perez.  There is no phone number for her on file and so we just decided to swing by to visit her.  There was no answer so we left a note and a treat for her.  Hopefully we will get to meet and visit her in the future.

We left each sister with a prayer and hugs.

When I got home I felt so good. Happy. Like my evening was well spent.  I am so excited to continue to serve these women, my sisters and to spend time with Eugenia each month, serving her so that she can serve too.

October fun!

October flew by for me. Time seems to fly faster the older I get.

Lots of fun adventures though!

Paul update: Yes, I am still dating the adorable redhead known as Paul Kerr. He is so kind and loving, I don't think I want to live without him in my life. This last time he was here we went on some really fun dates.

One night he came over, I made dinner and we played cards for a few hours. He taught me a couple of new games. It was so much fun.

He came to Amelia's birthday dinner and had a great time talking with Jenna's dad about Alaska and such. He stayed after and watched Milly eat her cupcake and then fling it all over. :)

We went to see my nephew Paxton in The Mikado a Taylorsville High School's fall musical. He held my hand and we really enjoyed the show. We grabbed some burgers before and got ice cream after.

We enjoyed going to Frightmares. For part of the time we were with Tyler and Dillon, Paul's friend's boys. The boys were cute and after every ride would say, "That was awesome!" I loved walking holding hands and waiting in the lines with his arm around me. We would hug and kiss once in a while - I like that he doesn't mind a little PDA. Our favorite ride was the old, white roller coaster. There was fog and no lights on, so it was pretty creepy. We also like Wicked. It was the last ride we went on - we laughed and screamed the whole time.

We also went to an antique car show. He is knows all about old cars and can tell what year they are just by looking at tail lights, a fender, or the trim.

The night before he left, we went on an evening stroll through Memory Grove and then out to pizza at Este Pizza (both my idea). I loved just being with him. Having it get cold and feeling him put his arm around me to keep me warm. He really is such a good man. I am going to Colorado with him for Thanksgiving at the request of his mother :)! I am so excited to go and hoping to return home with a pretty accessory on my finger. It may not happen yet, but I am hoping, and a girl can hope and dream. :)

This month I also got to attend the MATT NATHANSON concert with Jenna! I love Matt! His music is awesome, makes you want to groove, fall in love and be a better person. I love that I got to share this with my best girl friend.

Craig and I went to Airborne, an indoor trampoline park. We laughed and played like we were 10 again. Although, our bodies sure felt our true ages. I love spending time with my Craigers!

To end the month off, I went to one of my favorite events of the season, The Kirkin of the Tartan. I sat with my Uncle Jack and Aunt Nancy and 2 of their grandchildren. I love to celebrate my Scottish heritage, and to hear the bagpipes play Scotland the Brave and Amazing Grace is always a treat for me.

That same day I went to Witch's Tea with Jenna, her mom Carol and sister Jessie as well as Milly, Devin, and McClain. It is a tradition for them and Carol says I am part of their family now. It was a lot of fun.

So yes, October was super eventful!!

I can't wait to see what happens next!!

the heart - a Valentine's poem to myself

the heart

it's perfect design

ventricles, valves, chambers,

the flow simply complex

capturing and delivering oxygen

effortless, without struggle, fight or discussion

it's constant song; love love, love love, love love

may my mind align with my heart

constant thoughts singing; love love, love love, love love

love for myself, love for my friends, love for my foes,

love for mankind, love for the world

effortless, without struggle, fight or discussion

flowing simply flowing

my finger now on the pulse I not only hear

I can also feel; love love, love love, love love

the heart flooded with love love, love love, love love.

***when read aloud the "love love" should be read in the rhythm of a heart beat.

Her Hands

This past Saturday morning, I got to do one of my most favorite things. . .give a massage. Yes it is work, but fun work. I especially love working on people I love or care about. Why you may ask. Here's a story to tell you. . .

So my lucky client this time was my sister-in-law Kristine. Kristine is married to my oldest brother Gordon and therefor has known me most of my life. She is the mother of 4 boys and 2 girls. I sometimes like to call her super mom. Kristine is a great cook, plays the piano, has had many callings in her wards and stakes, does scouting with her boys, likes to garden, participates in the PTA at her children's schools, is always helping out a friend or a neighbor and much much more (this is all I can think of at the moment). Anyway, last week her mother mobile broke down and it took a few days to get fixed. By week's end she had, had one tough week and asked if I could give her a massage. We agreed on a time and it was on. I had no idea what I had in store for me.

I started the massage as usual, working on her back and neck and then to her arms and hands. As I started massaging her hands, Rosie her youngest (a fabulous, curious 5 year old) asked, "why are you massaging mommy?" I told her that her mommy works hard and needed an hour for just her, to rest and relax. My eyes welled up with tears as I continued working. Why? Because my mind started to wander as I thought about all of the things these precious hands have done and do.

The tears they've dried.

The noses they've wiped.

The meals they have cooked.

The hands they've held:

my brother's hand across the alter in the temple, babies hands as they learned to walk,

walking children to school, comforting a friend in need.

Her hands reached out in fellowship, love and service to family, friends and the community.

(she is always willing)

The piano and organ keys they have touched to make beautiful music.

Her waving hand, inviting others to sing and directing voices in choirs.
Getting her hands dirty

to plant in the garden, pull weeds, chop down trees

and to play in the sand.

Kind of crazy - these were my thoughts as I massaged her precious hands. It was the least, the very least I could do to relieve, aliviate and hopefully revive her hands, after all they do. I felt blessed to do so.

Kristine is not merely my sister-in-law, she is my trusted friend and I love her.

Yoga

I have started a new adventure.

A dear friend of mine invited me to attend a yoga class with him about the middle of December. I had always wanted to try yoga but did not think I was strong enough physically and also believed I was not flexible enough to do the poses. Taking a chance, I decided to stretch and step out of my comfort zone and go to yoga. The class was taught by Lyndsey, in a church in a small, carpeted room. There were about 5 other people in the class. My favorite part of the class was the meditation at the end. My thoughts after class. . . This was hard. Very challenging. What was I thinking. I was sore the next day. But I knew I wanted more.

So the following week, I went again. This time 5 of us in the class. I was able to breathe more steadily and pushed myself a bit further. At the end of class we did a pose, similar to a bridge or back bend, but with our body weight on our shoulder blades and our heads and feet. Lyndsey gave me blocks for between my ankles and knees and told me to squeeze them. After holding this pose and laying on my back I had the most amazing experience. I began to weep. This weeping swelled into bawling to the point of shaking. The meditation was sweet and the emotion felt wonderful. What a release. Not sure what it was all about, but is felt good. Earlier in the class Lyndsey had talked about belly fat as protection. That it protects our most vulnerable energy chakras. Maybe that was part of it. After this class, I was hooked.

I was notified that Lyndsey and her boyfriend had just bought a yoga studio and she would not be teaching her class at the church for a while. I couldn't go long without craving more, so I went to the studio. The Yoga Center is beautiful! Just remodeled by Lyndsey and Sheldon, new paint, new bamboo floors and took out the ceiling tiles. Such great energy. Sheldon is just as great a teacher as Lyndsay. I now have been practicing Anusara Yoga 3 times a week for a couple of weeks and plan to as much as I can. It is my new passion. Yay for new beginnings!

Praise the Lord. . .I PASSED!!!

SO. . . . . . .this massage therapy license exam has been hanging over my head for years, since 2001 to be more specific.

Now, it's done!

I am soooooooo excited, relieved, happy and holy crap, why did I wait so long to take this damn test!

The passing score was 630, my score 737!

That's right folks I not only passed but passed with room to have missed a few more.

When I saw my results, screamed.

I WAS outside, but I literally screamed and shouted for JOY!

Then I got on the phone and called my family and friends who have heard me say a million times that I was going to take the test and reported the good news.

Can I just say, SENSE OF ACCOMPLISHMENT!

THIS has been a goal/new year's resolution for 9 years now!

GO ME!!!!!!

A shout out to my mother, who never stopped encouraging me, my brother Gordon & my sister-in-law Kristine who love getting massage from me and ask me often for it and to my many friends who have allowed me to practice on them and have made me realize for years now that massage is something that I am truly passionate about.

peace, love and massage!