Temple time
Category: Life according to Angela
Cold snap
Many years ago, I bought two hot water bottles, but until recently, I have been almost the only user. This year, our pup is my new hot water bottle buddy. It got really cold all of a sudden around here. Sorry about a post about the weather. Life isn’t always very noteworthy.
Museum of miniature art
I have opened a miniature art museum on my front porch. It delights me to find the children in the neighborhood are displaying their art here. I got the idea online and sent invitations to create pieces no bigger than a library card. Slowly, the art began to appear. Paige kindly contributed a piece early on just in case no one showed up. 🙂 I have never “caught” anyone leaving art, and that is part of the fun. What will I discover in the museum today?
Autumn light
This year for our church conference, our family paused the t.v. after each talk to write a summary statement together on a white board. It didn’t take long, but it was a good way to review quickly and work together. I love autumn light, and it comes in many forms: sunrises, sunsets, golden afternoons, and general conference talks.
Here are just a few of my favorite talks.
Old times
I have been thinking about the way things were before I had a smartphone. Things were simpler because I wasn’t connected to news and images all the time. I used to get a magazine each month of beautiful decorating and home ideas, but now I can see the equivalent of a magazine in images online in about 10 minutes. It is a great tool, and I used the phone to take this photo, but I don’t think I benefit from the incessant information. It has been a goal since August to be phone-free for the morning hours, and I decided on this goal after praying to know what I needed to do help improve socially. The idea came easily, but I have been surprised how big a difference this has made. Obviously, this extra morning time opens my day to more possibilities. I have mostly used the time to study, read, and spend time with Tim working on mission prep. Another benefit is that I have felt more sure in myself. Being my authentic self in my interactions with others is taking away some of my intensity and fussiness. It has been a good thing to go back to the old times before I had a smartphone, even just part of the day. I find that spending the morning “off” tends to spill into lighter phone use in the afternoon and evening, too. My next installment should be to read the news like we used to when we had a daily newspaper, just once a day.
Old photos
Slowly, I am thinking more about my grandmother. I think it hurt too much to look at photos or read her writing after she passed away. A few days ago, I read her last message and looked at a few pictures and it didn’t kill me. I listened to her voice, recorded on my phone, and I didn’t cry.
I packed up a bunch of pictures right after she passed away and they spilled in my car on the way home. Every few weeks I discover another picture I didn’t find when I cleaned things up. If I make a sudden stop, this tends to bring them out of their hiding places. It’s like I have been showered in pictures since she left us. She was a little mischievous and LOVED being surrounded by photos. I like to think she smiles as I find these happy old memories.
A little mountain view
This is my new view from my kitchen window. The dead cherry tree is gone from the neighbor’s yard, so I have a clear view of the mountain. The colors from the autumn leaves on this little patch of mountain just delight me.
The house behind us is being renovated, the mean dogs are gone, and my tree has grown tall this year, blocking the 70’s era windows in the neighbor’s house. Everything is very pleasant lately.
Work day in the gully
To commemorate 9/11, our neighborhood gathered at the entrance to our beloved trails and removed Russian Thistle (tumble weed) and a nasty weed called Goat Head, which can puncture tires. The rain softened the soil and kept the temperatures comfortable and we were able to clean out a portion of our favorite trail. Now it looks like a sunflower garden, no longer choked by spiky thistles. Can you believe this beautiful area is just a few blocks from our house?
Retreat
This picture is low resolution but I think you can see what beautiful and amazing women my friends are. If you spent an afternoon with them, you would be even more impressed by their faith and fortitude. Last month, my friend invited this group of women to her cabin for the day. It was an inspired idea, and so much fun. We sat outside in the sun beneath the Aspen trees and took a walk to a dairy and some ponds. It was a rare, maybe once-in-many-years thing for me to do.
I didn’t hear every conversation, but we were not talking about shoes or hair. It was real life stuff. A simple comment someone made about the food sparked an idea for me about something I needed to do to help my health. I saw faith in the way each friend framed her own challenges.
I guess what I want to say today is that women need women. The life wisdom that spilled forth during these hours continues to be a point of reference for me, weeks and weeks later. I write to forge connections with whoever may read, but it isn’t the same as sitting around a picnic table in the mountains, eating salads and beautiful fruits and cheese and talking about what it takes to be alive right now.
List of the Week
Here are a few nice things from my week:
Sunday: I felt added courage to speak in a meeting.
Monday: Tim took me on a long drive in his convertible on a gorgeous early autumn evening.
Tuesday: We had pepperoni rolls, and the recipe remains a family favorite. It’s from a Family Fun magazine from 15 years ago. This magazine gave us several of our favorite no-fail, detailed recipes.
Wednesday: I had energy to do lots of laundry and time to rescue someone when they ran out of gasoline.
Thursday: A straightforward appointment at the international travel office for Tim. No surprises, and a big step forward.
Friday: Feeling inspired by the goodness of Janice K., a Primary president I spent time with today.