Gratitude

This week, and tonight in particular, I have been very grateful for a kind Bishop and a prayer offered on my behalf in tithing settlement on a rainy Saturday morning last week.

I don't remember everything about the prayer, just a few parts. The part that has come to mind literally every day this week is the part wherein he petitioned the Lord on my behalf for the energy and strength to do all that was required of me this coming week.

What he didn't know is that I've been praying for just that nearly every day for a month. I've had things to do nearly every day for about that long, and not just the normal things, but extra things that have kept me up later than usual and left me exhausted. Good things. But tiring things.

Like tonight, when I had work all day, and then ward temple night, and then a grocery run for tomorrow's holiday party, and then I made two pies (which are just barely done baking), also for tomorrow's holiday party. Normally, midnight is not the best time to be taking something out of the oven. But this is not a normal week. :-)

Last night it was library books, dinner with a friend, Christmas shopping and planning, laundry, etc... suddenly it was midnight and I was still going. (I can usually only do that for about 3 days in a row before I crash hard, for the record. Right now, we're going on 7. I think. (Actually, I don't think well when I'm tired. But whatever.))

So... that's a long way to say I'm grateful to my Father in Heaven for answering my prayers and the prayers of my Bishop. It has helped me to enjoy my Christmas season with an added measure of peace.

PS - And as an added bonus, He has also helped me remember the things I would typically forget since I'm so tired! Yay!

Adventures and Holidays

In the opposite order.

I went to family for Thanksgiving. It was exactly what I needed... 10 days with no work responsibilities except the occasional checking of email to make sure nothing had exploded (figuratively) at work. Children who like to sit on me and snuggle (and wiggle - eek!). Rereading the Dealing with Dragons series and various other quality literature. Eating pie... an abundance of it. Nighttime talks with nieces. Writing poetry just for fun. Sleep... again, an abundance. Morning walks and conversations with my sister. A neat temple trip with my 12-year-old niece. Disney DDR. Laughter. Good food. So fun.

Here is some of our poetry. M came up with the topic. Then we each wrote a poem on it in about 10 minutes, then read them to each other.

The Purple fire breathing armadillo - me

The mean armadillo breathed fire

At the student who sang in the choir

His singing was high

And they thought him a spy

Plus, the music filled him with ire.

That bad, purple beast was so scaly

He scared people off almost daily

This poor little lad

Suffered horribly bad

So they carried him* off by his tail-y.

*the armadillo

The Purple fire breathing armadillo - M

What strange creature is this?

That breathes fire with a hiss?

It's a rather sickly shade

Of moldy purple marmalade

This monster is quite hideous

And it is very perfideous

It's eyes are colored red and green

With ghastly shades all in between

It's armor is as hard as rocks

With the lingering scent of odorous socks

Yes this is quite the unusual creature

With a scary fire breathing feature.

M's is pretty good for an 11-year-old, right? (I think mine might need some work...)

If that isn't enough to make you smile, hopefully this will.

Saturday I went to New York - Rockaway area - to help clean up after Hurricane Sandy. It was an awesome experience. Two of my friends came with, and we had great conversation in the car on the way down and back. We were able to help three homeowners with their basements - one needed help hauling away debris and sweeping up rubble as he prepped to rebuild. The second needed help hauling out all the stuff that had been waterlogged and sitting for a month since the flooding. We hauled his ruined belongings to the street, where they were picked up by giant construction vehicles, and then mucked out the basement as well as we could. Simultaneously, another team worked on clearing out & gutting his first floor. Then we helped a wonderful woman by pulling out all the sheetrock from her basement and gutting a tiny bathroom. I learned how fun it is to take a hammer to sheetrock and rip it down. (Destroying things is always more fun then putting them back together.) My hammer was pathetic compared to what I should have been using but I was glad to contribute! 

It was so rewarding to offer some assistance to these folks who had lost so much, and to see how gracious and generous they were in return. There was a group of men who owned a restaurant who offered hamburgers and hot dogs to the volunteers and hungry residents - they just set up a grill on the street and cooked until everyone had eaten. While we were eating, a truck drove by and the guys in the truck offered more donated food for them to cook up. Residents were so kind and friendly, and it was a good experience to be able to offer help. Especially since I have so much - the area where I live was not damaged by the hurricane - I was glad to offer a small part of my abundance to those in need.

Plus, I got to wear a yellow Mormon Helping Hands vest! Awesome.

Happy Christmas season!

I Need a Clone of Me

This weekend I found myself wishing there were two of me. One to get up at 4 am on Saturday morning and drive down to New York to help a suffering people who are still without power after Hurricane Sandy. And one to do the grocery shopping and the laundry and the yard work and the other responsibilities that accompany adulthood - that one would also get enough sleep and recover physically and emotionally from the strain of the week. Too bad I didn't discover how to clone myself in college (I just studied transcription of collagen genes instead).

It was warmer than usual this afternoon, so I went for a little walk after church and before it got dark. As I walked past a house with distinctive hand railings on its front steps, I thought of President Monson's talk from October General Conference called "Consider the Blessings". Why, you ask? Because I was listening to that talk the last time I saw that house and noted its railings. It caused me to think back on the blessings I have received since that walk a month ago - and how grateful I am for prayer and the knowledge that my God walks by my side.

... our Heavenly Father is aware of our needs and will help us as we call upon Him for assistance. I believe that no concern of ours is too small or insignificant. The Lord is in the details of our lives. 
- President Monson

I am grateful we have a living prophet who knows what to say in General Conference so that I can be blessed with a witness of truth a month later. It's one of the reasons I love being a Mormon.

General Conference

It was General Conference weekend! My favorite time of year, when I sit with my feet up under a blanket on my comfortable couch with a few snacks at my side and listen to our prophets speak. When I started, I was hungry for guidance and revelation. When I finished, I felt filled. And it was good.

Curious about what a prophet would say in today's world? Find out by watching/listening/reading their talks here.

Sunday Thoughts

It has been a while since I posted.

My apologies.

 

Baby M was super adorable in Sacrament Meeting today.

She smelled like baby shampoo,

and (mostly) listened quietly

to the beautiful musical number.

 

At one point

she decided to experiment with how her voice sounded

as I bounced her on my lap.

That made it hard to hear the speaker,

but made me smile.

 

Lest you think I did not pay attention,

we heard three lovely talks on testimony.

They brought the Spirit

and made me grateful to see

the hand of God in the lives of my friends.

 

Lastly, I will just say this:

 

I love Elder Holland.

He gave the most awesome devotional tonight.

It was a good reminder of how to live.

 

He taught that in true discipleship,

we must never "check our religion at the door."

It's all or nothing, folks.

 

I choose all.

 

I Heart Technology

Tonight we held a multi-site FHE. Most of us were at my place. But one of us was over an hour away and couldn't drive in for the meeting. So she called in, and we set up a webcam and the iPhone and  changed a bunch of settings on my gadgets and used technology to have FHE via video conference. She gave us the wonderful lesson she had prepared. It was awesome. 

I recognize many of you already knew how to do this. But I didn't. So just celebrate with me my move up the spectrum of technological forwardness. :-)

Now if only I could figure out how to Skype the treats. Any ideas on that one?

Summer Adventures

Summer is nearly over. What happened? It seems like it just started. Yet, this coming Saturday it will be September. September! I can't believe it.

On Thursday my friends and I decided to go to Tanglewood the next day. The planning was a little frenzied and scattered, but it was a fun adventure. It reminded me that there are lots of things to do nearby that I haven't done yet (or enough, depending on the thing). I would like to be more deliberate about enjoying what I have around me, less wrapped up in the daily routine of my life.

They announced at church today that our meeting schedule will be changing. Instead of starting at 9 am and having the third meeting first, we will start at 12:30 and have the first meeting first. It will be nice to switch, for probably everyone but our leaders' children who now have to come to church during nap time. One more reason to continue helping by sitting on the front row and playing with / wrestling / holding sweet little ones! My favorite part about helping is when it's time for little miss's bottle, and she pauses her constant wiggling to take a little nourishment. The bottle was just at the same time as the musical number again today, and it was so sweet to see her be calm and listen intently as she ate. I love that little beauty, and her big sister, who was so funny when she drew a picture of Jonah "in a submarine" in the belly of the whale. (That must have been how he survived those three days...)

I feel grateful for moments when I can pause and remember that Heavenly Father loves me and wants me to be happy.

A Story

Once upon a time, I was about to graduate from school

but I didn't know what to do with my life.

I knew where I belonged,

but not what I was supposed to be doing there.

So I tried to figure it out

by making a list of my marketable skills and interests.

It must have worked,

because

a few weeks later I found a job

and I loved it.

I found the list again this week.

It made me laugh.

Not because it was silly,

but because it was still accurate!

Here it is:

I am a

detail-oriented,

organized

independent thinker

with a

science background

who is really awesome at

finding patterns & connections between disciplines

and

synthesizing, compiling, and presenting information,

complete with outstanding

computer, technical writing,

and communication skills.

I love

working with people -

teaching, helping, serving, etc -

being a leader,

working independently on specific responsibilities,

and

learning new things.

Success = a day when people are better off

because of the work I've done.

Almost a decade after writing this list,

I am pretty much just the same.

And I am glad.

The End

DV, Day 7

You thought I was done, didn't you. The Alaska part was done, but the trip wasn't! Now you get the rest!

We spent the morning at sea, which was lovely - I read more, attempted another crossword, and amused myself by wandering around to see who I could see. I found a few friends around noon, so we went to the kids circus show. That was mildly entertaining. Then we had lunch, which included the now-typical lengthy post-meal dessert just for fun.

At 2 pm, we docked in Victoria, BC, and set off the boat on my first Canadian adventure. Three of us jumped on a CVS shuttle set for downtown, and made our way to the Royal BC Museum. Oddly enough, my traveling companions managed to get a better deal on the entrance fee than I did (only by a few dollars), but whatever.  (Different agent. Apparently the other one knew about the super secret better-than-your-lousy-coupon deals.)

The exhibits were cool - we saw a bunch of stuff about dinosaurs, a neat photography exhibit about Queen Elizabeth, a land-and-animal-history-of-the-area exhibit, and a "First Peoples" exhibit, that traced the culture of the people living in the area from the earliest known peoples all the way up to about 1990.  It was neat to see the weaving, totem polls, and tools and learn about the culture of the ancient inhabitants of that land. It was also educational to learn about the gold rush, whaling, and other various and sundry things. They had a cool grandfather clock that played music - it looked like it was the original concept behind the record player (like the one I grew up with) - and I thought it would be cool to have a clock like that in my house.

The wierdest part?

Seeing my childhood preserved in a museum case. Mario. The Original Nintendo. Spice Girls dolls. Transformers. Old-style cordless telephones. Baseball cards - the kind that came with the gross stick of gum in the package. (I loved collecting those things, until I was about 10 or 11, when I realized if I sold them I could buy something I wanted more. Conveniently there was a store opening a few blocks from our house, and they bought my whole collection. Best decision I ever made about selling collectibles.)

Who knew my childhood was museum history?

After that, we wandered downtown Victoria.

The Empress Hotel - complete with Canadian flag

We stopped in only at important places like Roger's Chocolates and the candy stores.

This pic taken specifically for Author N, who
(along with my sis) collects Angry Birds plushies.

If I had felt like figuring out how to ship an Angry Birds candy apple to my sister and brother-in-law, they would have gotten more than just this awesome picture. But it did make me laugh!

The view of Victoria from the ship

When we got hungry, we went back to the ship. And ate.

We attempted to watch the sunset, but didn't really get to see anything spectacular, so we just sat around and talked outside on deck 7 instead. And watched the moon rise.

Later we tried to go stargazing (it was the first time we had seen night since we left!) but it was a total fail. There is too much light pollution on a cruise ship, even when it's the only thing around. Oh well.

We woke up the next morning in Seattle. I won't bore you with the details of my trip home. Only one thing is necessary to note: they have Chick-FilA in the MSP airport. That made me happy.

The end. For reals. Although I do want to go on another vacation (already).

DV, Day 6

And so we continue...

Day 6 was relatively boring compared to many of the other days, but I was grateful for a chance to sleep in. We spent the day at sea. So I spent the day with books.

In the morning, I ate too much and finished reading Silas Marner. I found a cozy little place to sit in the library that had enough windows so I could look out if the ship's movement started to make my head spin. It was nice to just sit for a while. And I love the book - so bonus for me!

When I finished, I discovered they had copies of a daily crossword puzzle in the library. So I grabbed one and worked on that for a little mental stimulation.

Then I read another book (one of the #1 Ladies Detective Agency series). In the early afternoon, I found one of my friends and we went to the crew talent show. It was fun. Then I read some more. Then I ate some more.

It was foggy and cloudy all day, so I didn't take pictures of the vast ocean in every direction. But there wasn't much to see anyway.

The evening entertainment was Cirque Bijou, which was pretty amazing. I've never seen a woman do a headstand on the back of a man's neck/shoulders before. This was just one of many things - the other crazy thing she did while her partner was holding her up was bend back and grab her feet (so she was in an oval) and then he would drop her around him (so he was inside the oval) - and catch her with his knees. You kind of have to see it to believe it. I could never do any of that; I can barely touch my toes!

After the evening entertainment, we went to the chocolate buffet. This was pretty neat. See?

Chocolate Sculpture (one of many)

An even more amazing chocolate sculpture

They had about 25 different kinds of chocolate treats for people to eat, and a drooling ice dragon at the entrance:

The welcome dragon. Lit up by blue/white lights.

It was fun. But the best part about going into the buffet every single time was the Washy-washy Team. Their job was to spray hand sanitizer on the hand of every person who walked into the buffet - every time. It was always accompanied by the phrase "washy washy, happy happy!" in a cheerful singsong voice. They were the favorites (if favorites are defined by achieving the loudest cheers) when the crew came out onstage at their final performance. It was pretty awesome.

After eating too much, we walked a few laps around the deck 7 promenade to make up for it.

Other than that, I just wrote postcards. Not too eventful. I actually thought at one point, I think I'm done and ready to go back to work. Then I tried hard to squelch that thought - who wishes their vacation was shorter!?! That's silly.

DV, Day 5

I get up earlier on vacation than I do in real life.

At 6 am, night turned to day when the alarm went off and the light went on. We met in the buffet for breakfast and then got off the boat (we were in Skagway) for our next excursion - glass blowing!

A short bus ride to Jewell Gardens with our excursion director, who happens to be a professional bum of sorts - he has nowhere to call home, just a backpack and a few seasonal jobs, from what I gathered - and we were ready to get started. There were only ten of us in the group, which was nice, and we got to know a cute gal our age who was on her own (there were three of us, so it seemed natural to pair up with her to make an even four).

Our glassblowing expert/teacher was a guy in his mid-twenties who has been blowing glass for 7 years. His goal was to make it fun and entertaining, and he succeeded. (He also reminded me of a former colleague, which was super weird and made it impossible to remember his real name.)

The colors and patterns we chose from

We all picked 1-2 colors, a pattern, and whether we wanted gold leaf on our glass ornament, and then we each had the chance to work with our instructor to make the ornament.

The glory hole - a furnace where you re-heat
the glass so it is hot enough to work with

He did the hard stuff, and we did the easy stuff - turning the glass on its rod as it heated in the glory hole, blowing as he shaped the ornament, etc. At the end, we each got a cheesy picture (this was a mandatory part of the process!) with said instructor.

(As you may have noticed, I generally don't post pictures of entire people, so just imagine two people in an "awesome, thumbs-up!" pose, one wearing a thick gardening-type glove to protect his hand from burning while holding the still-super-hot ornament.)

Adding colored glass to the clear glass we started with

The ornaments had to "cool" in a 950 degree oven all day (and then it was turned off in the evening to continue the cooling process overnight) - otherwise the glass would shatter from the sudden extremes in temperature. After we made all ten ornaments, our instructor made a horse - in about 30 seconds.

A rearing horse, made without having to reheat the glass

Then we had tea. Seriously. Linen napkins, goblets with lemonade, and snacky foods - including cucumber sandwiches, carrot cake, a triangular cheese pastry, salmon quiche, and a rhubarb dessert. It was all yummy, and ended up substituting as lunch (of course, we didn't determine that until later).

After tea, we wandered through the gardens, which were beautiful and ornamented with blown glass. Like this blowfish.

Yep. He's wearing a cowboy hat.

We won't talk about my favorite flowers in the garden, because somehow I didn't take a picture of them, and by the time I tried to write down what they were, I had forgotten the name.

After our excursion ended, we went back to Skagway's downtown and shopped. It was a lot of walking even though downtown was not very big. We stopped halfway through to buy cold water at a local grocery market - that was the smartest thing we did. Once we finished shopping, two of us stayed and watched a movie about the Klondike gold rush (and Skagway's part in it) and then went on a walking tour with a Historical Park volunteer. It was interesting - thousands of people trying to get to the gold by doing crazy things like hiking Chilkoot Pass in sub-zero temperatures with a year's supply of food. Did I mention that the end of the Chilkoot Trail was all stairs? Yep. Stairs carved out of the snow and ice. I'm glad I wasn't a gold prospector in 1898. There are easier ways to get into Canada.

By the time we got back on the boat, we were exhausted. The evening entertainment was a show by a world famous (discovered by America's Got Talent) juggler. He is better at that than I am (or ever will be).

The end.

DV, Day 4, Part 2

I got back on the ship, and after lunch, I moved from there to a littler charter boat that took us through Tracy Arm Fjord and over to the Sawyer and South Sawyer Glaciers. Here is another small sampling of pathetic pictures that don't do the views justice:

Tracy Arm Fjord

Another picture of Tracy Arm Fjord

The glacier basically carved all of the fjord. Rounded peaks are parts that were below the glacier during the ice age; pointy peaks were above the glacier (and therefore capable of sustaining life) during the ice age. That's the hypothesis, anyway. The naturalist on our little boat said that the water is 900 feet deep in places here, which is in itself pretty incredible.

One of two fabulous waterfalls

Isn't it amazing how trees grow right up next to the ocean?

The glacier was cool. Literally. :-) We navigated through icebergs to get close - the Coast Guard apparently doesn't let you go any closer than 1/4 mile away - and stood there in awe, taking pictures. Then we saw it calve - a piece fell into the ocean, we heard the white thunder, and saw the splash - and then everyone stood, lined up on the edge of the boat, cameras poised, just in case it happened again... because who wouldn't want to digitally capture such a fantastic event?

Sawyer Glacier - from about 1/4 mile away. It's much
cooler in real life. (It's not calving in this pic, so don't look for it.)

Sawyer Glacier was pretty awesome, but South Sawyer Glacier was even neater. For one thing, more icebergs. A few years ago (maybe 2004?) the glacier receded almost a foot, which is unnaturally far for a single year. Maybe that's why there are more icebergs.

South Sawyer Glacier

You can also see the striations where the glacier carved away the rock.

South Sawyer Glacier

We also saw two other neat-o things: a rocking iceberg (I was hoping it would turn while we were watching, but alas, it did not) and harbor seals! This was the best picture I could get of the seals, despite there being a few dozen of them hanging around.

Harbor seals!

Needless to say, it was super awesome and totally worth it, and as a result I have no recollection of what I did that evening - although by the time we got back on the cruise ship, I was tired, so it was likely nothing of importance. Relatively speaking.

Looking at all this reminded me of the scripture in Alma, when he testifies "all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it ... do witness that there is a Supreme Creator." (Alma 30:44) He made it all for us! Isn't that simply amazing?

DV, Day 4, Part 1

Day 4 was also known as Glacier Day, and it was one of my favorite days on the trip. It also means there are a ton of pictures to show, so I have to break it up so it will load on your computer. :-)

We woke up in Juneau. After breakfast, I headed off the boat with one of my traveling companions, and we jumped on a bus that took us to Mendenhall Glacier in Tongass National Park. This bus driver was just as entertaining as the rest, and he showed us where to sight the bald eagles and jumping salmon along our route. He also explained the logical sequence of names leading up to Mendenhall Glacier - including...

Mendenhall Loop Road is in Mendenhall Valley, and turns off to Mendenhall Blvd. The valley also contains the Mendenhall River, which feeds into Mendenhall Lake, which is the home to Mendenhall Glacier.

Creative, huh.

Here is what we saw after hiking about 3/4 mile in from the visitor's center to Nugget Falls:

My 360 degree view from the beach of Nugget Falls-1

My 360 degree view from the beach of Nugget Falls-2

My 360 degree view from the beach of Nugget Falls-3

My 360 degree view from the beach of Nugget Falls-4
Note the icebergs in the water.

My 360 degree view from the beach of Nugget Falls-5
Yep. That's the glacier! A little teeny tiny part of it, anyway.

My 360 degree view from the beach of Nugget Falls-6
The falls themselves.

If you've never looked at this from Google Maps, I suggest you do. The little part of the glacier you can see is boring by comparison. These pictures don't do the view justice in the least, but at least it gives you a sense of the amazingness.

Then... it got even better!

DV, Day 3

Isn't this fun? You're either enthralled by my travelogue or bored silly and wishing I would stop posting already. Either way, here's another one!

We woke up in Ketchikan, Alaska on Monday morning. At 7:45, we had to be ashore and ready to go on our excursion... so we were up early once again! Here is what we saw as we walked out to disembark:



The view from the ship

We met up with our excursion guide and drove about 10 minutes out of town to a pier near Eagle Island. On the way, we had a driving tour of Ketchikan. Our bus driver told us about how the city gets 13 feet (on average) of rain every year, and how 4-5 days in a row without rain = drought. He told us about how everything that gets into Ketchikan has to be flown or shipped in, and then recounted what happened the day Walmart opened: they opened for 4 hours, then closed to restock their shelves. Then they opened for 4 more hours, then closed for 4 days until they received their next shipment of goods. Oh, well. We saw shipping containers stacked 5 and 6 high, sometimes with semi trailers or houses on top of them. We learned about slugs. Banana slugs make your tongue numb if you lick them. Apparently the slugs are everywhere (he was not wrong here; we saw 3 or 4 of them on the walk down to the pier when we arrived!). It was an entertaining drive.

After a brief training from our sea kayaking guide, we jumped into our kayaks (OK, not really. We were carefully helped in ... but jumping sounds more exciting) and paddled off into the sea. We saw starfish - purple and orange ones, bald eagles, jellyfish, a few quick glimpses of seals, and even a curious sea lion (he was just a little too close to some of the kayaks for comfort, though!). I was sitting in the back of the kayak, and therefore was responsible for steering. For the most part, I figured it out, although going backward was not my forte. 

Unfortunately, my camera was inaccessible, so images of this fun adventure will have to wait until I have downloaded my friends' pictures. I did take a picture of the trees after we finished our adventure, though. The entire island was green and absolutely beautiful everywhere you looked.

Trees ... and proof of a sunny day in Ketchikan!

After our kayaking journey, we traveled back to the town, learning about how most out-of-town folk capture rainwater in cisterns to obtain water for drinking and other household functions, hence the perception of drought conditions after 4-5 days. No rain = no water. No water = no way to wash clothes, dishes, you, etc. Folks have to buy their water when it doesn't rain - and it's not cheap. I'm sure our bus driver told us other things, but that's the one I remember.

We wandered through Ketchikan, and discovered a few treasures along the way:

The welcome sign for this little city

Whale Park - a cute little place to walk

The park benches were all fish and whales!

We wandered Creek Street, explored Married Man's Trail,
and saw Fish Ladder.

This is the path to Civic Center via stairs

Paths like the one above are often public streets - and therefore the city is responsible to plow if it snows. That sounded appealing. Especially for those whose homes are at the top of these stairstep streets!

We got back on the ship in the early afternoon, and after lunch, I sat on the deck and watched the world go by some more. And wrote postcards to some of my favorite people. Later in the evening, we tried to spot some whales, but all we saw was this:

The sunset

The sunset, 30 minutes later

Tragic, huh? No whales. Only a phenomenal sunset. It was absolutely stunning and one of my favorite moments of the trip.

For reference, whenever we were up on deck taking pictures like the ones above, I was dressed in a windbreaker (and sometimes another long-sleeved layer over my shirt), ski cap, and gloves. The wind was blowing constantly (a natural byproduct of cruising at about 30 mph) and it was cold! But well worth it, obviously. Especially after we found the vents that originated in the sauna and were blowing warm air. That made the starboard side of deck 13 the ideal place to watch the view. :-)

DV, Day 2

I woke up early (6 am) since my body was still on Boston time. After breakfast at the buffet, we got ready for the day. We were cruising all day long, so it was a quiet Sunday. I studied scriptures for a while, then went outside to the upper decks to see what I could see.

Sunday morning was one of my favorite times on the ship, because almost no one was awake early, and I could enjoy the quiet on my own. I spent the morning bundled against the wind and chill, looking for wildlife in the vast expanse of ocean. All you could see in all directions was ocean.

I spotted a few whales and some other animals, at a distance so great that taking a picture of them was useless. See?

If you zoom in a lot you can see where the whales were.

It got me thinking, though. All that water! Captain Lars said the ocean is over 6000 feet deep in this part of the world. When Heavenly Father created the world, He made a lot of water. I felt grateful to experience such marvelous beauty. It makes even the giant whale seem small in comparison.

After lunch, I spent time with two of my group sitting and talking outside on deck 7. It felt more normal to be outside where you can see the horizon move when the ship sways, and made the motion more tolerable. Then we came in for an hour to warm up (and learn about the best places to go shopping in port). Then two of us went back out, this time up to deck 13 (where it was a lot windier but had better views) for a while.

The late afternoon view

The view an hour later

After a yummy dinner, we walked laps around deck 7 promenade to burn off the extra calories (and because it was something to do).

Days at sea are relaxing but not very eventful. Overall, I felt it was an OK way to spend the Sabbath despite not going to church; I came to appreciate the beauty and vastness of God's creations more than I had before.

Dream Vacation, Day 1

We woke up early - 3:30 am - to catch our flight out of Boston. I was grateful I had made a list of last-minute things to do the night before, because my brain doesn't work at that time of day. The taxi picked us up at 4, and we made it to the airport in plenty of time. Pay the cab driver, online check-in at the kiosk, bag drop, and security - it all went smoothly considering we weren't quite awake. (I did discover I don't calculate tips - or do any other kind of math - that early in the morning...)

There was time to spare when we got to the gate, so I wandered over to Dunkin Donuts and picked up some breakfast for later. As I sat at the gate, I realized my boarding pass didn't have a seat assignment on it. For a few minutes, I wondered what would happen if I wasn't able to get on this flight ... but eventually my name showed up on the "cleared list" and the desk agent provided my seat assignments for both legs of the journey. Phew.

Once on the plane, I went back to sleep, basically coherent only for the mid-flight juice handout. When we landed, we had just enough time to walk to our next gate before boarding the second leg of our flight. Breakfast, another nap, and a magazine, and we were in Seattle.

After we claimed our luggage, we checked in with our cruise line, gave them our bags, and boarded a bus for the pier. After I got on the bus, I realized the cruise documents I should have kept with me were in the bag I checked. Oops. (See brain not working part above.) We arrived at Pier 66 around 12:15. For the next hour, it was like waiting in a Disneyland line, only with a longer ride at the end.

The sign: Pier 66 Jul/21/12 12:25 pm

Once inside, we waited in yet another line, went through security (again; fortunately they didn't look really closely at anything but the passport) and up an escalator to a third line, and finally were checked in (they were able to look me up by name, so it was OK that I didn't have my paperwork after all. Phew again.). Then we waited in line (again) - this time to have our picture taken (because everyone wants a picture of what they look like after having gotten up at 3:30 am!) before we boarded the ship.

We had lunch in the all-you-can-eat buffet, and oriented ourselves to the small city we would be enjoying for the coming week. Fourteen decks, ten of them accessible to cruise patrons. For scale, walking 2 2/3 times around the promenade on deck 7 is one mile. The ship is 965 feet long and can hold over 2,300 passengers.

By mid-afternoon, we set sail, leaving Seattle behind. The party started in full force, including a sail-away BBQ on deck 12. Swimming, food, sunshine and gorgeous views; what more does one need?

The view from deck 14 at the start of our cruise

The rest of the day was spent enjoying the view, and going to mandatory emergency training, wherein they demonstrated how to put on a life vest in the unlikely event we would need one (we didn't).

The view

The view about half an hour later

The view a little while later.
Check out the colorful sailboat.

We went to dinner at one of the sit-down restaurants that didn't have a cover charge (there were three of these and about 13 others that did), and discovered it was a 3-course meal with different specials each evening - starter, entree, and dessert. And all the rolls you want. Mmm...

Dinner's entree: salmon with spinach and potatoes

The main difference between eating here and eating inland was that the portion sizes were actually reasonable here. And since one of three main activities on a cruise is eating, that was good.

Considering I had been up for longer than was reasonably normal by the time we finished dinner, I called it a day pretty early and went to bed at 9 pm. We cruised all night at about 25 knots.

The stateroom: three of us shared an inside stateroom. It was approximately 143 square feet. The bathroom was tiny but very functional, all things considered. The shower was about 3x5 feet (that might be a generous assessment), and two people could stand (but not move) in front of the mirror. There were enough cubbies and places to hide things that we stowed our luggage fairly effectively. Considering we didn't spend a whole lot of time in the room while we were awake, it worked. Inside rooms have no windows, so when we wanted it to be night, we just turned off the lights. That has its advantages during the summer in Alaska.

Gratitude

I try to be grateful for my blessings. Some days I am better at it than others. Today, I am grateful that in my work I have been doing a little bit of html coding. It helped me just now to fix my broken button on my blog. :-)

I am grateful that my graduate schooling taught me problem-solving skills, and that it taught me how to not be afraid to try different ways of doing things until you find the one that works.

I am grateful for the children in my life. My niece gave a talk in Primary today that was shared by her mother on her blog. I learned a lot from it. After church today, I saw our only three-year-old, Miss C, in the gym. She was running from one side to the other while her daddy timed her on his iPhone. She wanted someone to run with her. So I grabbed her hand and we raced. It was fun.

I am grateful for air conditioning. My dear friend gave the closing prayer in Sunday School and expressed this in her prayer. I couldn't agree more.

I am grateful for mercy and forgiveness, and for examples of these virtues in the scriptures and in my own life. I am grateful for those who take time to prepare spirit-filled lessons so I can be taught at church.

I am grateful for friends whose lives have touched mine. I have four such friends leaving Boston this week. I am sad to see them go. The quiet, steady faith and faithful filling of callings will be sorely missed. So will the gentle love and consistent hugs. So will the musical talent and love of the gospel, the willingness to do that which the Lord asks just because He asked. Not to mention the faithful, consistent friendship and self-reflective conversations. I love these men and women because they have helped me become better.

I am grateful for naps. They make hard things seem less hard. I am grateful for the Spirit of the Lord, and for this statement by George Albert Smith: The companionship of the spirit of the Lord is an antidote for weariness, … for fear and all those things that sometimes overtake us in life. I needed to remember that today.

I am grateful for good colleagues who accept me and respect my values and standards. I am grateful for the example of generosity I see in those around me. I am grateful to have confidence in God's plan for me, and to know that I can be successful because I am doing what He wants me to do.

I am grateful for quiet times to reflect and acknowledge that God has been kind to me. It helps me feel of His love.

The Land of the Free

O beautiful for heroes proved

In liberating strife,

Who more than self their country loved,

And mercy more than life!

I'm guest posting over on Mormon Perspectives today. Come on over.

And in other news,

as I sat in my sunroom

writing this post,

I noticed a sparrows' nest

in the hollow of the tree

just outside my home.

The babies are chirping

and their mother is diligently

going back and forth from the nest

to feed them.

It's kind of cool.

Independence

It's the Fourth of July (in an hour, anyway). Time to think about our independence and be grateful for those who did something to help us attain it.

As I sang our national anthem with the rest of the Relief Society on Sunday, I was struck by how important the American flag must have been to those who were fighting for their freedoms: freedom to worship, to speak their minds, to defend their properties and homes, and more.

What is that which the breeze,

o'er the towering steep,

as it fitfully blows, half conceals, half discloses?

Now it catches the gleam of the morning's first beam,

in full glory reflected now shines on the stream;

'tis the star-spangled banner!

It reminds me of another flag, the title of liberty, that an ancient military prophet-leader erected to inspire his people to defend their country's freedoms. (read the story here)

In memory of our God,

our religion, and freedom,

and our peace, our wives,

and our children.

The stars and stripes remind me that our God watches over this land, and that He prepared it as a place of peace and freedom for His children so the fulness of the gospel could be restored. Seeing it makes me grateful for the blessings I enjoy.

Oh, thus be it ever,

when free men shall stand

between their loved homes and the war's desolation!

Blest with victory and peace,

may the heaven-rescued land

praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation!

To those (and their loved ones) who give part or all their lives in defense of my freedom, thank you. I am grateful.

Random Thoughts

I have been meaning to post here for ages. (Today, ages is defined as about two weeks.)

Here is my pathetic list of excuses:

- I think about it when my computer is at work and I am at home.
- I think about it at 11:00 pm or later.
- I don't think about it at all.

Now I will humor you with something interesting. (Maybe.)

Summer is here. I am grateful for my friend, who I will call Z-squared, who carried my AC units up from the basement last weekend, braving the two flights of stairs with hands full of heavy, awkward metal after a long day that started with a 13-mile run. There are lots of reasons why I admire him. One is because he decided the other day to run a marathon - and it's happening in less than a month. Another is because he's willing to serve me simply because we're friends. I also like our deep and philosophical discussions.

At any rate, I am much happier when my house is cooler than 89 degrees in the evening (and 84 degrees in the morning).

I wanted this week to be calm. On Sunday morning, there was nothing on the calendar except work, Monday FHE, and Saturday temple service. By Monday afternoon, I had things on Monday night, Tuesday morning, Wednesday night, Thursday night, Friday night, Saturday afternoon, and possibly Saturday morning. Plus my car had to visit the shop (I finally got there on Wednesday) to have the windshield wipers fixed. Plus it rained every day - but only until Wednesday, of course. My head is spinning. Stop the world, please. I want to get off for a while.

T=23 days.

Family Fun

Family reunions are the best.

It was fun to watch M & MR become good buddies as they shared a room. It was fun to watch L & her similarly named cousin spend time together - and want to spend time with me because all three of us share a name. It was fun to watch A & Aa have a ball together. It was fun to see Young M and Young T and learn more about their personalities and the things that make them characteristically them. And Baby S is pretty awesome herself. The oldest cousin B is also a delight. They are all growing up so quickly! All the girls are beautiful; all the boys are handsome. (Not kidding... we're a good-looking bunch!)

My favorite parts - early morning scripture study on the balcony while M & MR read The Friend on my iPhone - hugs from Miss E (given in abundance!) - the view from the top of Bible Point - silk painting - talking in the hall with my fabulous sisters in law - Young T's giggles when he lets you tickle him - watching Aa and L be soft and gentle with Baby S - late-night Poohead games - a campfire after a hailstorm, s'mores, and watching everyone get the giggles - just hanging with the family - awesome hats and plenty of sunscreen.

And now I will leave you with this view from the top of the mountain near our gathering place:

Aah, the beauty of the desert mountains. :-)

Nothing Terribly Exciting

I felt accomplished today. I did about 6 loads of laundry... and most of it is folded and put away! That's the first time in, well, longer than is proper to admit (ahem... the folding and putting away part... not the doing laundry part). Anyway, I wouldn't remember even if you asked.

While I was putting things away, I also got rid of some clothes that I never wear/have holes in them/are otherwise generally useless, and put spring-summer clothes in one place and fall-winter clothes in another. It will be a lot easier to decide what to wear when I don't get mixed up about what season it is by looking in my closet.

I also managed to clean the church this morning - and arrive on time! - and edge the yard (until I ran out of cord, at which point I totally switched gears and cleaned the garage instead, and now I can actually park my car in there, which is amazing, especially considering that when I tried the other day, I realized even if I did successfully park, I wouldn't be able to get out of my car because there was too much junk hanging around in there) - and go to the grocery store - and finish a few other various tasks that have been hanging around much too long, waiting to be done. Sadly, the list is still longer than my energy level. Does anyone want to come visit and clean my bathroom? :-)

Last night I went to a friend's home for dinner and we talked. She told me about one of her friends who is dealing with lots of tricky issues. It was a good reminder that I can be grateful for what I have, even if it isn't ideal, because I have more than many others do.

I bought myself tulips today because they are pretty and make me happy. Pink tulips. Warm weather makes my heart happy too. I opened windows today!

Once upon a time I had a plan to go to bed early tonight. Somehow that changed. So I guess I'm done.

If you want to read something more substantive, I'm guest posting on mormonperspectives.com again tomorrow.

Serve, Love, Hope

You thought there wouldn't be any more April posts, didn't you? Wrong! Tonight we had a great FHE lesson on President Eyring's talk from General Conference. Since I had gotten a text from a friend and fellow ward member who reported she had a cold similar to the one I had for the last two weeks, our little group accepted the challenge to serve and drove over to her place in Somerville to provide needed succor. One might think that all we did was pick up a few library books and bring by some OJ. But it was more than that. We bonded. We served. We forgot ourselves for an hour and brightened someone else's day. And in so doing, we gained perspective on our own troubles, answers to our own prayers, and felt of God's love for us and for the sister we helped. It was great fun.

Rainy Sunday Thoughts

I attended a funeral service yesterday for the father of one of my colleagues. In the last seven months, four of my colleagues have lost a parent. One has lost a spouse. One has lost a grandparent. (That makes up 20% of the company, by the way.) I have been to three funerals in support of these dear friends, guided a few memory-sharing sessions for the staff as we worked through the emotion of losing our beloved leader, and prayed - a lot - for those who grieve.

Each of my friends who struggles with loss copes in a different way. There are similarities, too. Faith and religion bring comfort, regardless of the denomination. Families bind together and succor one another. The dear friend I visited yesterday has seven siblings. As I walked into the greeting session before the service, it sounded like a party. (It reminded me of an LDS gathering - lots of love and noise!)

There are moments when I wonder whether one of the reasons why I am right here, right now, is because these beloved friends need to know what I know about life, death, and resurrection. I appreciate that I have been able to learn a bit about what they believe as I attend funeral services and talk with my friends. I wonder how I could (or whether I should) be sharing in ways beyond basic teach-by-example-ness. Then I reflect on the experiences I have had - just showing up as a silent supporter has meant so much to my colleagues. I usually don't know what to say, so I just say I'm praying for you. That, I hope, means something, too. The sacred experiences I have had in connection with the choice to attend these funerals have taught me about God, His love for me, and His love for my friends.

Today is one of those days when I wish I could see my life from my Heavenly Father's perspective - you know, the view where time is irrelevant - and understand what the significant parts of now really are, so I can appropriately focus on them. I am aware that end-from-the-beginning-itis leaves no room for faith. (No need to lecture me there.) For even while I wish it, I also know that the gentle nudgings of the Spirit will teach me the significant things and help me adjust my focus appropriately. I just need to listen.

It's Easter

It is Easter Sunday. (Just in case you didn't know.)

Celebration this week included three temple trips, all of which were a blessing; a trip downtown to hear Brahms' Requiem performed by the BSO and TFC, which was nothing short of absolutely amazing; and a music-filled Sacrament Meeting.

If it were a sunshine-filled afternoon, I would go walking in the cemetery and ponder what it would be like to be there on resurrection morning. I have always thought that would be an interesting sight to see "many graves ... be opened, and ... yield up many of their dead." (Helaman 14:25)

How grateful I am for the gift of resurrection and the opportunity for eternal life that comes because our loving Father saw fit to provide a Savior as part of His plan, and because His Only Begotten Son atoned for our sins and gave His life that we all might live!

Behold, I shew you a mystery;

We shall not all sleep,

but we shall all be changed, 

In a moment,

in the twinkling of an eye,

at the last trump:

for the trumpet shall sound,

and the dead shall be raised incorruptible,

and we shall be changed.

For this corruptible must put on incorruption,

and this mortal must put on immortality. ...

then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written,

Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is thy sting?

O grave, where is thy victory? ...

But thanks be to God,

which giveth us the victory

through our Lord Jesus Christ.