Following the Spirit

Two more nights of racquetball and weeding?  I was definitely ready for Sarah's massage last night.  Since my upper body is usually so tight thanks to racquetball and she works frequently on my back, she decided to do my pecs instead this time to help open my shoulders up.  I have some faint bruising now on the left side extending out of my armpit, but it was awesome and totally worth it.  Hurts so good!

Earlier in the day I went with my work buddies to Crown Burger to meet up with our old coworkers Kathy Barlow and Linda Clawson.  Linda is always so sweet and brings us dessert from somewhere.  This time she hit Sweet Tooth Fairy because she knew I'd enjoy the Key Lime Pie cupcake.  And. I. did!

Jenny sent out a text yesterday to several of us that I wanted to share here because I was so impressed by Jeremy following the Spirit.  Not always an easy thing for a 16 year old boy to do when he's afraid someone will get the wrong idea.  My heart breaks for the poor girl and her family!

"I have to tell you a cool story about Jeremy.  The Spirit has been prompting him to ask a certain girl out but he didn't want to because he didn't LIKE her.  So, he told the lord yesterday that if He wanted this to happen, he needed help to ask the girl out.  When he was walking out of seminary, all the other friends disappeared and the Spirit said GO.  So they went out after school to get something to eat and the girl said, My dad is bipolar and won't take his meds and has been threatening to kill himself and take some of us with him.  So my mom is getting the cops today to help her move him out of the house.  I told my mom I wished I had someone to go out and talk to today.  How did you know?"

Mom's text response was, "They tell us here that one way you can tell if you are living acceptable to the Lord is if you can feel the Spirit working through you. :-) "

Holiday Weekend

It's become a tradition for Lori and I to get each other pedicures for our birthdays.  Since Lori's is coming up, we went to Royal Nails on Saturday.  It's too bad I have to wear nylons at work all day, every day.  These toe nails are too cute not to show off!

The family came over to exchange birthday presents for the months of April, May, and June before we all headed over to the Johnson family reunion at the Scera Park.  Jenny had found a fun game of throwing tennis balls at a larger bouncy ball and it became pretty competitive with everyone trying to get their side to win.  I ended up on opposite teams from Dana and he didn't even bother trying to throw the tennis balls at the other ball...just at me.  Those things sting!  Didn't hurt nearly as much as taking a ball to the gut thrown by Aislynn's husband when I wasn't even playing.  At least his wasn't on purpose and he felt bad about it.  Dana giggled like a little kid everytime he landed one on me!

Sunday when I went to collect grandma for Church, I found her just climbing out of bed.  She must have been worn out from the reunion because she slept over 15 hours straight through the night instead of getting up a couple of times like usual.  While she got ready, I went to Church and then came back and picked her up to go visit some of the graves.  I'd looked up the grave sites ahead of time so I was able to drive us straight to her brother Bob's grave at Camp Williams.  Then we drove up to Salt Lake to put flowers on Vernon's grave, and then headed back to the Pleasant Grove cemetery for grandpa Backlund.  She was tired by that point and just watched me from the car put the flowers on his grave.  Took about two and a half hours, but she was so happy we did it!  Amy brought me some dessert later that night and we watched a few episodes of VM.  We're slowly working our way through the seasons!

Even though Monday was the holiday and I had big plans for finally sleeping in, I decided to get up and went over for the ward Memorial Day breakfast.  I pushed Ari in her tricycle stroller during the children's parade and then ran over for a double header of racquetball.  I'd meant to only play Melissa, but on Saturday, Jenica Pack had said she wanted to learn how to play.  I told her I had a game already on Monday, but that I could schedule us a court for right after that game and I could start teaching her.  She said that was great and to text her.  Once I got the court, I texted, and then texted again Sunday night.  Since she never responded, Amy took her place.  So, though I didn't mean to exercise that much, I got two hours of some serious play in!  It made Amy made mad that she couldn't beat me even though I was tired out already.  I, of course, loved it.  =D

Earring gift from a coworker (one of the GA secretaries.)

Racquetball Mania

Racquetball, racquetball, racquetball!  Oh how I love thee!  Though you make my knees hurt.  I played Melissa Monday night and she really gets our hearts pounding because she hustles and it makes me step my game up too.  Afterward, I trimmed the dead rose branches so all that is left now are healthy stems.  For the sad, dead bushes that they were this spring, they have certainly made a comeback.  Here's hoping the roses won't be wild when they finally bloom!

Why yes, I played racquetball again Tuesday night.  This time with Amy Morby.  She had me try out a $300 racquet and a glove.  Amy is a fan of what she calls 'the kill shot'.  Basically, she hits it at the very bottom edge of the front wall, and it's so low it doesn't even bounce up afterward and rolls along the floor instead.  With her kill shots, I still managed to stay about 15-9 each game until right before our last for the evening.  I finally told her that I wasn't sweating or breathing hard and that we were only working the muscles in our right arms.  I play for exercise and we weren't getting any.  She said that she is out of shape and can't run around a court but I told her she had to hit the ball at least a foot to a foot and a half off the ground so there was at least a chance that I'd be able to get to it for a return volley.  She'd still do some kill shots, and then she'd say, "that's for making me run around the court!"  Yeah, I made her chase a few which was funny.  And when there's a chance for me to return?  I win 15-9.  Felt pretty good about that as my goal isn't a kill shot and actually exercise.  Right on target then!

The HR Director came in to talk to me late Wednesday afternoon.  I was not pleased with what he wanted to discuss and it made me completely forget about my ride home.  I missed the van pool!  My good friend Sarah Mayfield who lives on about 3300 South drove up and picked me up from work, took me all the way down to Utah County and then returned home.  Now that's a true friend!  I had called grandma to give her a heads up that I would be later than usual and she said, "I'll wait up for you then."  Made me laugh that she was 'waiting up' until 6 p.m.!  Of course, all of this meant I didn't have time to change out of my work attire before running to my Primary presidency meeting which went two and a half hours.  I came home, didn't eat dinner, and just climbed into bed.  Ugh!

I was invited to a surprise birthday party for Elder Walker yesterday.  He turns 70 this weekend and will be made an emeritus general authority.  Quite a few of the GAs he's worked with in the Temple Department came as well as all the Directors in the TD and the GAs secretaries.  I'm not sure how I ended up in there too (there were less than 30 people total), but it was a pretty nice experience.

As the party wrapped up, Elder Walker spent some time going through the remembrance book made for him. He LOVED it!

And yes, Melissa and I played racquetball again last night.  Followed up by a chaser of two hours pulling weeds.  My knees!  My back!  I'm getting old!  I hobbled going up the stairs this morning when I got to work.  Of course, I was very on-time for work thanks to me being the van pool driver today.  As I'm the only girl in a group of 12 passengers, I find that unusual.  But, I did it!  I woke up multiple times last night though thinking I was going to miss my alarm and not get to the stops on time.  Stupid subconscious!

When It Rains It Pours

All my activities seemed to hit this week.  Tuesday we met up for our monthly book club at Zupa's in American Fork.  This time, me and Lori, Deborah, Karen, and Shauna were the ones that made it for our chat and book review.  It's always a good time meeting together.  I had to pack that night though and drive to work on Wednesday as I was heading to Heber after work.  Jon had hip replacement surgery that day and was at a hospital on South Temple in Salt Lake so I was able to stop and see him before heading up the canyon.  He was doing really well and looked healthy, and his eyes were clear.  I think it was a really good thing that I saw him while he still had his spinal block so that he was cheerful and in a good mood without any pain yet.  :-)  Every time someone came into the room (nurse, physical therapist, etc), Jon would say his sister had come to visit him and that I was his sister.  He sounded so happy and excited when he would say it that I was really glad I had stopped by.

Jon after his hip replacement surgery.

Jenny and Brett were going with Jeremy to a school banquet and it fell on TJ's pinewood derby night.  I went with him as his pit crew and he and Chris really enjoyed it and had a good time.  Micah was home from his scouting activity when we got back.  We all played a game of chess, read scriptures, then I put the two youngest to bed, after singing some songs together.  Micah asked if he could talk with me in his room after Chris and TJ were in bed so I headed in there to see what Micah needed.  Turns out he didn't have anything in particular, he just wanted to chat.  He needed a little quality time I think!  As I was ready for bed already, and it was 9 p.m., I sat and talked with him.  Nate came home from his scouting activity soon and we talked until Jenny and co. got home, who also stopped to chat.  11 p.m. later, I finally got to bed!  I had told the boys I wouldn't see them in the morning since I had to leave so early, but when I went into the bedroom to put on my makeup, Jenny came in to sit and talk while I finished up getting ready, and pretty soon Nate trickled in, then Chris, and Brett.  We had family prayer together before I had to head out.  I'd forgotten what it was like to be part of a family!  It was a nice feeling that lasted all day.

I had to leave work again a little early to meet up with my friend, Brittany Pacini, at the Wingers off 90th south and Redwood road.  We hadn't seen each other in a little while and needed to catch up as well as trade off Veronica Mars seasons.  I lent them to her last January during her maternity leave and she's still working on them!  I still made it back home in time to go to my stake Primary presidency meeting which Bishop Osguthorpe joined us for (his dad has just been called as president of the Bismarck North Dakota Temple so we got to talk about that).  

Friday we went to an old coworker's husband funeral, I hit lunch afterward with Sarah Mayfield, and then that night I had a double header of racquetball with Amy first and then Melissa.  The rec had been closed all week so I need to get some exercise in!  My games with Melissa were so hardcore!  I did really well in them too...right up until my racquet twisted as I went to hit a return off the back wall and I ran into the edge of my racquet with my head on one side and the wall on the other.  It about knocked me unconscious and I had a lump on my head almost immediately.  Doh!

Sarah came over yesterday to give me another 90 minute massage while she's still in town.  I am definitely going to miss this when she's gone!  Today, Lori had grandma and me up for Sunday dinner and then I stayed around afterward to play some Rummikub and dice games with them.  Ari was cuddling and interactive today and when she got in trouble by her parents for trying to eat the tiles and was told she had to go to timeout, she started crying and came to me and tucked up under my 'wing'.  Do you know how hard it was to resist that knowing she was supposed to be in trouble?!!  I lasted a long time.  All of about ten seconds before I had to pick her up.  Good thing I'm not the disciplinarian!

Back to the Grindstone

I was only able to get one night of racquetball in this week as the rec was closing for their regularly scheduled maintenance and to take the pool bubble down.  I decided to get my exercise in while taking care of something that needed to really be done - weeding.  I would have thought twice if I knew how sore I was going to be.  One week of no playing thanks to a trip, followed by multiple nights for extended periods of time bent over.  The backs of my legs were so sore, that I couldn't get my nylons on this morning!  I had to inch my way down slowly, maneuver a part of my foot up so I could slip it on then try to pick the rest of my foot up.  Good thing nobody could see me struggle!

Amy Felix and I were bound and determined to make it to the temple Friday after work.  She came to pick me up, only for us to discover it is closed for maintenance too!  So much for our good intentions!  Of course, that just meant we had to pick up Los Hermanos salsa and then the ingredients for her to make us our own fried ice cream instead.  =D

Karen came over Saturday for a movie.  I'd forgotten she owed me money and was going to be bringing Los Hermanos salsa and fried ice cream.  I definitely would have changed up our Friday night eating if I remembered that ahead of time!  I think my stomach was sloshing tomatoes by the time we were done.

I picked up flowers to give grandma yesterday for Mother's Day from mom.  I snuck them in Saturday night after she'd gone to bed so they'd be there in the morning.  She really liked them.  At Church they gave candy bars to all the moms and had skipped me.  The bishop wouldn't let me leave until he'd called someone over to give me one which was pretty embarrassing.

Dedication Day!

We were able to attend the second dedicatory session in the Fort Lauderdale Florida Temple.  I had been seeing lots of people from Church headquarters that I knew who were working at the dedication, and Sunday there were even more.  The Area Director, Mark Robbins, was near the front doors when we came in and stopped to say hi.  After we were seated, Elder Richards saw me and came over to shake my hand and say a few words.  Then he had me introduce him to everyone in my party (President and Sister Warren were there with us again).  It was really nice of him to stop and take the time.  Tom Coburn, the Temple Department Managing Director, saw me and waved.  It was nice to see President Uchtdorf and Elder Christofferson stop too and wave and greet everyone in our room.

I glanced up just in time to catch Heather taking this photo as we waited to enter the dedication.

After the dedication as we went to walk out, I ran into Kevin Holman who is the Director over the Interior Design division.  He stopped to shake my hand and I left my party for a bit.  He took me in to the Celestial Room to see it and then Mark was there and walked me over to meet President and Sister Boggess, the new president and matron of the temple.  I had a temple tie pin for President Boggess that a sister missionary had asked that I pass along so it all worked out really well that I was able to take care of that.  I rejoined my group outside and we were able to take pictures together before all breaking to head to different destinations.

I had to go to South Beach of course, so Blanca drove me out there.  I got pictures of the Miami Heat arena knowing TJ would LOVE those.  We hit a vegan bakery for cupcakes, went to the holocaust memorial, and visited the new ward building that has since been built on Miami Beach for the members.  No more meeting in the rooms above Taco Bell!  While I loved visiting my mission again and seeing the temple dedication, I don't think I'll necessarily head back for any more visits.  We couldn't find anything because I just don't remember the areas anymore and I already stay in contact with all the people that I want to.  Guess it's the end of an era!  :-)

Miami Heat arena

 

Holocaust memorial

South Beach LDS chapel.

My last view of the temple from the freeway.

We recreated the photo taken on our mission on New Year's Eve.

Our Burger King run at the airport.

This morning we drove back up to Orlando to catch our flights back home to Utah.  Brrr, cold!

Step Back in Time

This morning we drove from Orlando down to Fort Lauderdale.  We checked into our hotel then headed over to see the temple and met up with our mission president and his wife.  Turns out we got a great hotel location that is super close to the temple.  Since there are just a handful of us, we went to Chili's for a late lunch together.  My dear friend, Blanca Jiron whom I met as she was a new member in my mission, joined us there.  I was expecting the question of why I wasn't married yet, but as everyone got to talking and reminiscing, it turns out that a LARGE number of missionaries and members have either left the Church, left their spouse, gotten divorced, are on their second marriage, etc., and that my position is enviable.  A strange turn of events!

Our first view of the temple. It's a peachy color and small, but so beautiful.

I went for some frozen yogurt and a chat with Blanca afterward and then we all met up at the hotel again to head over to the cultural celebration which was held at a nearby college.  We were a little concerned with President and Sister Warren being able to drive and find the event so I actually took over driving their car and Blanca joined us.  Heather and Christie followed behind and we headed over.  The kids were so enthusiastic at the celebration and cheered so much that as Elder Kent F. Richards (soon to be new executive director of the Temple Department) was acknowledging the leaders in attendance, he had to pause after each name for the cheers and clapping to die down.  President Uchtdorf, Elder Christofferson, Bishop Stevenson, Elder Rasband, and Brook Hales were all there.

Elder Richards conducting.

 

President and Sister Warren accidentally got their hotel at a far location out by the beach so we drove them all the way out there, stopping at a store so they could stock up on food, and then headed back to our hotel.  It was so good to see Blanca again!

After the cultural celebration.