My first sick day

I hate using sick days for migraines.  I usually try to push through migraines.  But not today.  When I woke up to get ready for work I knew there was no way I could make it.  This is me...

I have used this picture before when I made presentations on migraine pain.  I truly reflects the pain that I feel when I get a migraine.  I also get pain in my neck.  OK, enough about that.

No, I am not Procrastinating!

Since today I have designated as a day to clean the house, I think it only appropriate to start the day writing in my blog.  Then I will probably organize all my paper work.  I definitely need to look at all my photos on my phone before I start cleaning too.  That's just how it works.  Almost everything else takes priority over house cleaning.  But clean, I must!

Just a comment about my residency.  Right now I am doing a rotation in the oncology infusion center.  Of all of my rotations, this is my favorite.  It really is stretching my brain.  Everyday I come home exhausted.  I get up early every morning just to keep up with reading about each of the different cancer treatments.  I say a special prayer that I don't make any mistakes and that I learn quickly and clearly.  I extended my stay on this rotation.  It was supposed to end after 5 weeks, but I asked to stay an additional 3 weeks.  It was approved.  What is most exciting is that a position is opening up at the right time in the department for a pharmacist.  It has to be offered to internal applicants first, but I will definitely apply if it isn't filled.  This has really excited me. I have started praying that this will happen for me.

In other news, we are super excited for the Christmas gift that we have planned for our kids this year.  It took some planning, but we just finished it last night.  I cannot wait to see the final product.  I think the kids and the grandkids will be surprised.  It may not be appreciated right away, but it is definitely something I would like from my parents.  After we finished last night, I woke up with a migraine this morning. It's one of those, "project's done" migraines.  So it's ok.  I will live.

Picture, I need to add a picture.  Since I am "wasting" time before I start cleaning the house, I thought I might add a picture today...

This isn't really how I see myself.  I just thought it was cute.  OK, so....everyone should have a good day.  I am going to finish this episode of "Hawaii 5-O" because it is extremely important that I finish it before I start cleaning.

Haha, I just love hippos.  Do you think he is running from the birds? Do you think he is playing with the birds?  Makes me laugh and giggle thinking of what he is thinking?  If I saw this in real life, I would hide because I would think he would charge after me and try to kill me.

I should be beginning to look a little like Christmas

Let's hope my battery lasts.  I have only 5% and the cord is in the other room.

I am looking forward to this Christmas season.  No, I haven't even decorated yet.  No, I haven't a clue what I am going to buy for anyone.  In fact, I have less money this year, than any year in my previous 33 years as an adult at this time of year.  But for some reason, this year really feels like Christ has entered our home and will be a part of Christmas.

I like to think it might be due to a few things that we have changed in our home. First off, we have tried to follow the direction from the prophet to keep our Sabbath more holy.  I used to be horrible at this.  In fact, I could find a reason every single Sunday to go to the store.  Most Sundays I just needed Diet Pepsi.  When the kids got older, and maybe were "less active," I would send them, and "save" myself from having to break the Sabbath.  At some point, I realized that I needed to stop the shopping.  But I didn't really change my heart.  I just didn't shop.  This year, I have truly tried to make it a day of rest and worship. I temper the media that I watch.  I listen to more spiritual music.  I read more conference talks, etc.  I feel this has changed me for the better.  Second, we have tried to have a scripture to "ponderize" on a regular basis.  Neither of us has the energy to actually memorize the scripture or thought.  So I make 6 copies.  I put a copy in each car, one in the bathroom, one on the mirror, one on the fridge, and one on the door as we leave the house.  And lastly, I have tried to study the conference issues more regularly.  I think these things have helped me to come closer to Christ in the past 6 months.  I like it.

oooo 3%.  So with what little money we have, each Christmas gift that we give will need to be very well thought out.  In the past, if we bought a gift and didn't feel quite right about it, why not just buy something else?!  A few gifts always outweighs the problems of the "just not quite right" gifts.

I should probably get decorating though....

The Spirit in my life

I am pretty sure I take for granted the fact that I can draw upon the Spirit in my life.  When I am tired, down, lonely, sad, stressed, anxious, (insert any unsettled word here), I know that all I really have to do is get on my knees and pray.  The Lord has always blessed me with the comfort and peace that the Spirit brings.  What a great gift this is!  Even in times in my life when I was most unreasonable, most rebellious, I turned to a loving Heavenly Father in prayer and found solace.

Follow up to "The Commute"

I have learned a little more about commuting.

1.  Driving north on Hazel.  The left lane goes faster, but if you are going to stop, get in the right lane quickly because there are less people.  You can pass a bunch of those people who are on the left!

2.  Again, driving north on Hazel.  As you approach Madison, always get in the right lane.  That extra right lane opens up and you can always pass about 20 cars because no one remembers that you get that short area where there are 3 lanes.  It is a glorious feeling!

3.  Coming home, south on Hazel.  There are no tricks.  No matter what you do, you will get stuck in a slow lane.  Live with it.  Turn on the music.  Call someone on the phone so you don't have to think about it.  Do whatever it takes to take your mind off the irritating drivers in the afternoon.

4.  Sunrise in the morning.  I go the opposite of the bad traffic, so it isn't as bad as for me as it is for the rest of the world.  This this the road that it always helps to weave in an out of traffic.  You can always get ahead because no one really drives the same speed.

5.  Sunrise on the way home.  There is one bad spot coming South.  About 1/2 mile south of Madison, get in the right lane.  You wouldn't think this is wise, but just as you hit that Taco Bell at Winding Way, you are going to be at a dead stop, and the only lane that moves is, you guessed it....the right hand lane.

I got this down folks!  Oh, and one last thing.  It DOES NOT MATTER how you drive, it will take you exactly the same amount of time everyday to get where you are going.   You cannot shave off even 30 seconds of your commute by weaving, getting in the correct lane, or beating the traffic "gods."

The Commute

I've started commuting.  I am a regular 9-5'er.  I always try to leave early enough so that I am not stressed on the road.  I get to work a good 10-20 minutes early so there is no rush either looking for parking or getting into the building.  In fact, I have to clock in.  And the clock is unforgiving.  It doesn't round to the nearest hour.  I will lose money if I clock in late, and I will get paid overtime if I clock in early.  If I get overtime, I get in trouble.  So there is a new stress about time in my life.  

Anyway, something amazing has happened this week.  You know those stupid highway entrance lights that only let 1 car at a time enter the freeway during rush hour, even if traffic is fine?  Yeah, I hate them.  Well for the last 3 days, the light has been off!  It has given my life and extra boost at 7:04 in the morning.  I want to shout, yah!!! You go girl!  And then cruise on into the highway traffic (which there usually is none).  

Another thing about traffic...I don't understand why people who drive slow feel like it is ok to drive in the left lanes.  Don't parents teach their kids that slower drivers should be in the right lanes and faster drivers in the left?  I think we need to do an ad campaign to set the record straight about driving.  Not that I am getting road rage or anything like that, but seriously, I do more passing on the right lately!  If you are in the left lane, and you have a big space between you and the car in front of you and there is a car close up behind you....SCOOT OVER TO THE RIGHT LANE!!!!

OK, I am done.  

A migraine in my teeth?

I graduated a couple of months ago.  It feels like I have had a headache every single day since then.  I have been attributing it to the release of stress from school.  But since it seems to be getting worse, I have had to do a little investigating.  In fact, it is getting so much worse, that my teeth hurt every day now.  My teeth hurt so much that my eyes throb.  This is a weird predicament.  Here are a few of the things I have been possibly blaming it on:

1)  Working at the computer all day.  I took out my contacts and went with glasses for a few days.  This almost resulted in divorce.  I became so crabby and unhappy at living this way that I finally put my contacts back in and thought I would be better off living with a migraine.  My head actually felt better when I put back in the contacts.

2)  Maybe the popcicles I am eating every night have aspartame.  I checked the box, no.  Whew!  Because I really didn't want to give them up.  Yay, win on that one.

3)  De-stressing from school, exams, etc.  I already explained that one, and surely that should go away by now.

4)  Stressing in my new job.  Um, no, I actually like my new job.  It is a good 9-5 job with very little stress.  I enjoy the people I work with.

5)  Money.  This is a possibility to look at down the road.

6)  Bell's Palsy.  Ha!  Nope, it didn't happen.  Good thing I didn't go to the doctor, right?  It was just a joke, but kind of a, he he, maybe kind of a joke.

7)  Diet.  So this is today's thought.  I went to the internet this morning because, yet again, I am in excruciating pain.  For lunch everyday I eat some random easy thing to fix like a sandwich or cottage cheese with fruit and a baggie of almonds.  Guess what!?!  Almonds and other nuts can trigger migraines.  Starting today, I am going to cut out almonds and see what this week brings.  Ugh.  I can only hope that this helps.  It is something new in my diet, so it fits the "temporal" category of when these headaches started.  You can see I have even already eaten almost half the 3 pound bag.

I hope, hope, hope, this is the root of this evil!

This IS the life...

I just walked through the kitchen barefoot and there was something sticky on the floor.  I kind of squished my nose up thinking, gross.  Then I realized, wow, that hasn't happened in a while.  But it got me realizing how blessed I am.  Right now I am sitting on my couch.  My little 5 month old granddaughter is asleep, zonked out on the floor in front of me.  Two other granddaughters are camped out by the toy closet playing, who knows what.  I am nursing the last of a 7 day migraine.  But here I sit, happy as a clam.  It brings back memories of days when I could just relax and be with the kids.

When I was raising 7 kids, I used to love to sit on the couch and listen to the sounds of children in the house.  It didn't bother me too much that the house was a mess.  In fact, to me it meant that there was life in the home.  Yes, it needed to be cleaned up, but in reality, kids will be kids, and should be allowed the freedom to make a mess until it was time to clean up said mess.  Most people disagree with this philosophy, particularly my husband.  I miss children in my home.  I miss the sounds of laughter at silly things.  Sometimes kids get to giggling and cannot stop.  I love that.  I don't care that it is over the top giggling.  It is a beautiful sound.  I also love to hear when children are planning or working things out after an argument.  To me that is how they become future leaders in the world.

Oh, looking back makes me nostalgic and sad that my time is over.  Here is to all the parents of young children out there.  My hat is off to you.  Enjoy it.  It will end too soon.

Here is a picture of the tent that we like to put up in our house when our grandkids come to visit. We do this so they can have their own "room."  Notice the piano in the back. It is our indoor tent.  It has never been put up outdoors, so it is clean.

Bell's Palsy

As you all know, I am pre-hypochondriach.  My face has been tingly all day, especially around my mouth.  I have been paranoid that tomorrow I will wake up with Bell's Palsy.  This doesn't come just randomly.  My brother had it at age 40, and my son got it at age 20.  So, if it is hereditary, I do have some risk.

If I wake up fine, like what usually happens when I go to bed thinking I will wake up with some weird disease, then ... nevermind.

My new friend, Lewie

As you know I have started a new career.  I am having the most wonderful time of my life in this new career.  One of the greatest aspects of going back to school is to feel young again.  I get to spend most of my days with younger people.  This is why I changed the title to my blog.  It's not that I want to be 30 again.  It isn't that I think I am 30 again.  It isn't that I behave 30 again.  It is that I don't feel old.  I don't feel tired.  I don't feel sick.

Anyway...this week I am at training for my new job down in Oakland.  I have a co-resident.  His name is Lewie.  He is young.  I don't know his age, but he is about the age of everyone else in the room except me.  He could be one of my children.  In our training, we sit in a large room with all the other residents from Northern California.  We also do lots of interaction with each other.  I get that I am older, so I am very careful to make sure that I do not force myself upon anyone.  I sit down first so that if people don't want to sit next to me, they can steer clear.  What I have found to be the most Christ-like genuine friendship, is that Lewie has always sat next to me, always picked me to be his partner, always talked to me, and always made sure I was invited into conversations or out to dinner, etc.  I couldn't have even dreamed that I would be treated so nicely.  Don't get me wrong, I didn't think I would be treated poorly.  I just figured I would be on my own.  I am not.  I have a new friend, my co-resident, Lewie.  And, I thank my Heavenly Father for someone so kind.

21 Day Challenge - Day 21: A simple miscalculation

Today is the last day of my challenge.  But weird, I am in Oakland doing training for my new residency.  I don't have my family history folder here to work on anything.  So I feel like I am kind of dangling here.  And, man....I hate dangling.  What is a girl to do?! So I have decided that I will continue to work on family history.  But not tonight.  I am going to commit to continue my efforts.  Years ago when I worked on this before, I worked every Sunday and when time permitted.  Now that school is over, I believe that I will be able to work into that same pattern again.  These 21 days have been a blessing to remind me the beauties and joys of working with our ancestors.  The miracle of it all is the awakening of a spirit of belonging to my ancestors.  I surging of fire in my blood to be a part of something with them.  I hope to pass that on.  Thanks for following =)

21 Day Challenge - Day 20: New Discoveries

Today I was finishing up my lesson on Patriotism for Relief Society.  When I was finished, I set it aside and decided to read a history of my great-great grandfather, George Washington Taggart.  I found some of the most amazing stories.  I had no idea that he played the fife for the procession as the bodies of Joseph and Hyrum were brought back from Carthage jail.  But something that really struck me as I was thinking about patriotism was this statement in a letter to his wife Fanny as he prepared to join the Mormon Battalion:  "I feel, Fanny, as though I had made as great a sacrifice as I could wel make, in that I have forsaken for the time being My possessions My Family and at the risk of life start for Mexico as a United States Soldier with 500 of My Brethren in order to show that the Blood of my Grandfathers, who fought and bled in the revolutionary war and the spirit of liberty and freedom still courses in the veins of some of their posterity that are called Mormons, I go forward on this expedition with ful faith and confidence that I shal have your prayers and blessings and that My life wil be preserved and that I shall again have a joyful meeting with you and Eliza Ann and enjoy a long and happy life here uppon the Earth." (I left the misspellings).  When I read that, I felt the full force of patriotism flow through my veins.  I was able to teach a lesson on patriotism from the bottom of my soul.

In his patriarchal blessing, which was given to him through Hyrum Smith, it was stated that his name would be "commemorated unto the latest generation."  I have never felt to be a more proud citizen of this country than I feel today.  God Bless America!

21 Day Challenge - Day 19: Home Stretch

I am getting to the end of the challenge.  Frankly, it has been very long and quite difficult to maintain. As any excuse will do, I won't even begin to enumerate them.  I am a little saddened by the fact that it was difficult.  I wanted the experience to be completely uplifting and easy.  However, I am realistic enough to know that nothing is easy.  It takes work and dedication. I am not giving up.

Today is the 4th of July.  In looking at both my ancestors and Paul's ancestors, I notice that we both have grandparents with the name of George Washington as a first and middle name.  Paul's Great-great grandfather George Washington Wiggins was born in 1822 and died in 1923.  My Great-great grandfather George Washing Taggart (Pvt) was born in 1816 and died in 1893.  The little that I know about my relative is that he fought in the Mormon Battalion.  His father's name was Washington Taggart, and his father's name was Lieutinenant James Taggart.  This makes me think, maybe he fought in the revolutionary war.

I actually stepped aside and found some interesting history about this Taggart line.  James Taggart (Lieutenant) fought in the Revolutionary War as did two of George's great-grandfathers, John Taggart (Captain) and William McNee.⁽¹⁾John Taggart also fought in the French and Indian War.  I ended up actually printing up an entire history of George Washington Taggart.  It will be interesting family history reading tonight while I go to bed.

Happy 4th of July!  May you all remain patriotic! 

21 Day Challenge - Day 18: A great Example

Yesterday, on my 18th day of the challenge, I got a pretty interesting email from my brother.  It was a handwritten mission report from my grandparents that described their feelings about their mission to Florida.  They finished their mission in 1974.  As I read through their mission report I thought about how great and brave they were to leave their home in the small town of Lewiston, Utah to go to the large mission that covered approximately 6,000,000 people.  I hope someday to be able to serve a mission when I retire.

Here is the picture of the document.  I don't know what the blacked out stuff is all about.  AND, I am not sure why it ended mid sentence...(?)

My Grandmother died in 1987 and my grandfather died in 2003.  It seems like much longer than that.  Knowing what I know now, I wish I would have spent more time with both of them, actually of my grandparents.  I think I need to spend more time with my grandkids.

21 Day Challenge - Day 17: Sad, I missed a day

Yes, it is true, I was unable to keep the 21 day solid run.  And it stressed me out.  I ended the day so sad and frustrated.  I laid in bed and nearly cried myself to sleep.  But I woke up this morning resolved to continue to move forward.  When I got home from my work today I was trying to clean up a little. As I picked up something to organize on my shelf in the bedroom, I opened up a plastic envelope.  I found 8 men who have been sitting in the envelope since December 2011.  Their baptisms and confirmations were done, but they are waiting for their initiatories, endowments, and sealing to parents to be done.  One of them happened to be someone that I had reprinted a few days before.  Four of them are brothers along with their father.  Tonight I will be looking at all the work to make sure that everyone is still ready and waiting to move forward.

Everything seems to be a miracle to me at this time.  I can't believe I live in this great nation.  I can't believe I live in such a wonderful home.  I can't believe I get to be married to such a wonderful man.  I can't believe I get to do this residency.  I can't believe I get to be relief society president.  The list goes on and on.  My life is so blessed.  Everywhere I turn, it is beautiful.

This is one of my favorite pictures.  It is of my beautiful daughters. From the back/left...Amber, Christina, Ashley, Melanie, Emily, Sydney, Whitney.  The picture was taken at Sydney's wedding.  I love these women!

21 Day Challenge - Day 15: Technical Difficulties

Today has been beset by technical difficulties.  It was my first day at my at my new job, and I was signing up for my new benefits.  It took a little longer than expected due to computer issues.  Since today is the 29th, I have to sign up right away for the benefits to go into effect by the 1st, I was a little stressed about the whole thing.  After taking care of that, spending some quality time with the grandkids, and then root beer floats, I got to the computer to work on my family history.  I had planned to print up about 3 different temple cards, but the website is down.  I logged in and out about 3 times trying to get in.  Maybe it is under maintenance.  So tonight I will post some pictures.

 This is a picture of my father's parents.  David Frederick Roberts and Moletta Taggart.  I think the picture was taken in the 1970s.  She always had cookies made in her freezer.  We used to go see them a lot.  They had cows in their fields.  They also had a bike that I would ride around the town. They  lived in Lewiston, Utah.

 This picture has my grandmother, Clara, with her in-laws.  Many people say I look like her.  When we visited her and asked for food, the only thing she ever offered was honey water.  Ugh.

This picture is so funny.  It was taken the same day as my mother's funeral/memorial in July 2012.  It is a picture of all the grandpas.  From the back, my husband, Paul Allen. My uncle, Mark Hart.  My brother, Kent Roberts.  My Uncle John Murray.  My Uncle Seth Beal.  My Brother Scott Roberts.  My Uncle, Wally Bennett.  My Uncle David Hart.  

21 day challenge: Day 14 - Wait...what?

As you can see, I skipped Saturday.  This was done on purpose. AND as you can see, I didn't say Day 15 and skip a day.  That was also done on purpose.  I spent the entire day in the car yesterday.  We drove Andie back down to LA and had to drive back.  I don't figure that I missed a day of family history/temple work since there was no time.  It isn't an excuse.  It just doesn't count. No guilt.  So today is Day 14.

You may have noticed that I changed the name of my blog too, I will get to that later. Today is a big day.  Big things are starting today.

• I start my residency tomorrow morning.
• Yay!
• I am starting a 20 pound, 12 week challenge with Paul, Ashley, Chris, Emily, Christina, Clayton, and Sydney
• It started very well.  I didn't eat chocolate in ward council this morning
• We shared a sandwich at lunch
• I also started being more available to my children and grandchildren since I graduated by spending more weekend time with them.
• I gotta buy one of those big 10x10 shade thingies and some water bottle misters!

Hopefully all of this means more blogging and communication with the world.  I have so much to say.  

So, back to family history/temple and the 21 day challenge.  Interestingly our little Jullie looks like she was listed as a daughter but also listed as male.  But not only that, on the same census report, it appears that there are a lot of members of the same family that lived on the same street.  I cannot wait to decipher all this!  I was able to print up her card.  I hope I can find a time before the 21 day challenge is over to go do the baptism for her.  That would be a special experience. 

This picture below is of my mother, her siblings and her father.  She was the oldest of 9 children. My grandfather died in 1994 at age 90.  My mother died in November 2012.  All of her other siblings are still alive. I don't really miss her as much as I should.

21 Day Challenge - Day 13: It's a......girl?

Tonight I was working on the same lost brother.  I found that he was already in the system under another set of similar parents.  It is going to be a little while before I can sort through and figure out if his parents are actually tied to the same parents (aka the same parents) that I have information about.  However, what I did find that, while he is in the system and already sealed to his wife and one child, he did not have his other daughter in the system.  It was with great pleasure that I added the little girl to his family.  When I pushed the button to request the temple work to be completed, I was SURE it was going to say again...."possible duplicates."  But it didn't this time.  Yay, I feel like I have accomplished something again.

On another front, I took out my patriarchal blessing tonight.  Since I read Paul's mother's blessing recently it gave me the desire to read mine again.  I haven't read it in a while.  It talks about my education.  It talks about how I will share the riches of the gospel with others in this life.  We are so blessed to have these wonderful documents in our lives.

A funny event took place today.  I went home teaching with Paul today.  I have been trying to call this woman for 3 months.  She NEVER returns my calls.  One time I even left her a message stating that I was worried about her because she never called me back.  Finally, I gave up.  I knew it was her phone because the message said her name in her voice.  Today when we were meeting with her, I asked her why she never returned my phone calls.  She said she never got any messages from me.  In fact, she never got messages from any one.  Come to find out, 8 months ago when she got a new phone, the ability to retrieve her messages was shut off.  SHE HAS 8 MONTHS WORTH OF MESSAGES on her phone that she cannot retrieve.  She had no idea that people were calling her and leaving her messages.  All this time I thought she was mad at me.  So funny.

Miracle:  Last Sunday when we were driving home we were stopped at a light.  When the light turned green we were pulling forward.  I saw that a car was not stopping and was going to fly through the intersection.  I yelled "stop" at the top of my lungs.  The driver stopped.  It would have been a tragic day.  I know that the Lord was involved in saving us.  It has been hard to express how I felt about the whole event.

Today is Andie's last day with us.  We took several selfies throughout the day.  My favorite one is the one with the people at the Enterprise Rent-a-Car who were having so much fun with us and our selfie stick!  See below...

21 Day Challenge - Day 12: The Temple

Recently the bishop read a letter in ward council stating that there will no longer be sealing assignments given to the wards but that the wards will be responsible for getting the members to the temple.  As the leaders of each organization, we were supposed to come up with events for our organizations that involved the temple.  After a couple of meetings, the bishop turned to me and asked what I had planned.  I hadn't done anything.  I was quite embarrassed and by the next meeting had our first RS temple activity planned.  It was attended by me and Nancy (the first counselor in the RS presidency).

So I asked around the Sisters asking if maybe we should try to do it on a weeknight instead of a Saturday.  Maybe more sisters would be able to attend.  Yes, they said, that would work better.  I also thought that maybe we would give much more attention and advertising to the second event.  

Tonight we had our second RS temple event.  Thursday evening.  It was me and Erin (the second counselor in the RS presidency). 

AND this is the other group that also went.  Yay, we had a total of 8 sisters who attended.  I am so excited.  I hope they don't mind that I posted their picture on my blog =). Funny, we never crossed paths inside the temple.  Too bad I missed them.  I would have loved to be in this group picture!

Tonight was wonderful.  It has been at least 5 years since I have done initiatories at the temple.  The blessings that are pronounced in the initiatory are so beautiful and profound.  I forgot how much I need those blessings on a daily basis, particularly while I am in school and preparing to take my boards.  After we did a set of initiatories, Erin and I went to to sealings.  I think I have mentioned before that sealings really are my favorite part of temple work.  The are the culmination of the work we do.  It is the final moment when we allow families to accept the plan to be together forever.  Tonight I was able to be proxy for at least Scandinavian 15 daughters to be sealed to their parents.  Five of them were sisters in one family.  It was beautiful.  I could imagine them as they were finally able to realize their dream of being together.  

I love this work. I love the temple.  I love the plan of salvation.  

21 Day Challenge - Day 11: fixing the unconnected

Frustration:  That will explain my thoughts for the day.  I have been working on this family line for 3 days now. I search and search for the names.  I can't find any names in family search.  I verify who they are.  I feel like I have everything ready.  I enter them in Family Search, ready to submit their names for temple work.  AND then, it says "possible duplicates."!!! What?!?!  How can that be?  I have already searched many times for them.  The machine said there was nobody with that name, birthday, child, spouse, etc.  It is frustrating.  I can tell there is work to be done here.  I know there are families to be completed.  I can feel it.  I just have to figure it out.

This is me...

That blanket on the floor is a gift Andie, Paul, and I are making for Brady for his birthday. =)

21 Day Challenge - Day 10: Back on Track

Yay, I was able to get back on track an work twice on family history.  Tonight I was able to get through the befuddlement that I was confused about earlier this week.  I have introduced Paul to some of the excitement of my challenge.  His response?  "Did you take a caffeine pill?"  Ha!

21 Day Challenge - Day 9.5: ugh

It is 12 hours late.  Yesterday was a looonnnng day.  That isn't enough of an excuse, but I didn't get home until 2:00am this morning.  So .... fail.  But, just because I didn't get to my family history yesterday doesn't mean I will stop in my challenge.  It means I will get right back up and double up today.  (Don't do this with your pills, though.)

This morning when I got up, I was so excited to tell Paul all about my progress.  I showed him the fans and all the work that is yet to be done.  I showed him where we need to concentrate and where the families are right now that are "nudging" me.  He seemed to be a little interested.

I will write more tonight, when it is actually Day 10 *smiles*

21 Day Challenge - Day 8: Father's Day

Today is Father's day.  I called my dad.  I love my dad.  I have a written history of him somewhere in my storage unit, along with another box of other family history stuff.  That box isn't likely to make it out of storage during this 21 day challenge.  It is work for the future.  Hopefully, I won't wait too long to get it out.

I was invited by my friends to have dinner at their house.  It was such fun as they sat the 4 dads around and asked questions of the dads.  They asked questions about their childhoods.

1.  How did you learn to drive and what was your first car?
2.  What was the first movie you remember seeing and how much did it cost?
3.  Who did you hang out with when you were a youth?
4.  Who was your idol, and why?

I loved these questions.  I don't think most of us know the answers to these questions about our parents.  So for my family history today, I will answer these questions for my children, or anyone else that is interested.  AND I challenge the rest of you to write down yours answers and give them to your kids, and find out from your parents the answers to these questions.

1.  The first time I ever drove a car was when my brother made me drive a car because he didn't want a Dairy Queen ice cream to melt.  It was on the back roads of Missouri (Misery, as I like to call it).  I was so frightened when another car came up that I pulled over to let it pass.  Since I had driven a tractor prior to that, it really wasn't that difficult to drive a car.  My first car was an orange VW bug. =).  Back then, if you were pulled over before the age of 16 (between 15 1/2 and 16) without a license, they didn't give you a ticket.  They just assumed you were learning to drive and gave you a warning.  I imagine this really only happened in the back roads.

2.  My parents took me to see the original M*A*S*H when it came out in the theater.  I know, scandalous, right?!?!  I was a little kid!  I don't remember what the cost was, but I do know that movies cost about 75 cents when I was about 12 years old.  I used to go every Saturday.  What fun.

3.  I had several friends in the neighborhood.  We used to play kick the can. Everyone would run around in all the backyards.  Nobody had fences.  We would leave our bikes all over the place.  My best friend's name was Robin.

4.  I don't actually remember having an idol.  I had four older brothers that I didn't really admire or get along with.  My mom was my best friend and that kind of ended weird.  Looking back on it now, I would recommend teaching your children to have heroes.  I wonder if I would have been better if I would have looked up to someone who was hero-esque.

Today was stake conference.  I was mesmerized by the talks.  I don't think I have felt that way about a stake conference in a long time.  *miracle*

This is my dad...sorry it is fuzzy.

21 Day Challenge - Day 7: A befuddled mind

Today I drove down to LA and back.  I picked up my granddaughter, Andie.  We get to spend the next week with her.  Tonight I sat down with her and showed her Grandpa's fan and explained who her ancestors were and who I was looking for on the chart.  She seemed mildly interested.  I made a copy of the chart for her after I put her and her mother's name on it to show how she was related to everyone on the chart.  Who knows, maybe the same ancestors who hover near me will follow her home and hover around her a bit.  Wouldn't that be kind of fun?!

As I tried to continue on the work tonight, everything felt a little befuddled.  I don't know why.  In fact, the generations felt convoluted.  So I set it aside.  I don't want to make any mistakes.  I feel a little frustrated by that, but I will let it go.

Miracle:  I got down and back to LA without incident.

21 Day Challenge - Day 6: New doors opened

Remember how I told you they hover!!!??  So last night while I was putting things away, I started messing around looking at interesting things.  I decided to print a fan for both Paul and me.  Then when I printed them, I thought I would look up just real quick a name that looked interesting on another area of Paul's family.  I was trying to find the mother's parent's.  In doing so, I found various death records with the mother's maiden name attached as the mother of the decedent.  This lead me to find that one of her children had not been included in her children under family search.  These are the miracles that make this work worth it.  He wanted to be found.  He wasn't on the census in 1900 because he had moved out of the home, so he wasn't listed as one of the children.  Yay, we can now get him linked up with his mother and father and brothers and sisters.  Oh this is such awesome work!

Opening the door on this other side of Paul's family has given me two fronts to work on now. Looking into this man has given me many new names that now need researching.  I am quite excited about this.

Miracle:  I cleaned up the counter (Paul is coming home soon, I can't have the mess continue.)

Miracle:  I really am getting through my pharmacy stuff.  I am retaining it and I feel great about my upcoming exam (July 20).

Miracle: This entirely new line of ancestors that I got information on.  The internet is an amazing miracle all on its own.

This is an ancestor FAN of my family.  I am not working on this FAN, but I thought it was fun to share.  I will show Paul's tomorrow.  I will try to figure out how to show where I am working.

Graduation

I graduated a month ago with a Doctorate of Pharmacy degree.   It was an amazing experience.  I haven't written much about it, some, but not much.  I got this picture from a friend today of me going across the stage.  It really encompasses a little of my feelings.  Check out the tension in the hands.  I am really feeing it!!

ugh, I hate the double chin....

21 Day Challenge - Day 5: They are beginning to Attend

If you sit in a park with a bag of bread crumbs and throw out a few, very quickly you find yourself surrounded by birds.  They don't jump on you, they don't harass you, but they know you have bread crumbs and they are hopeful, so they come close.  I think that is what happens with family history.  Once we get started, and sit on the bench with a few bread crumbs, the ancestors begin to hover.  It is an amazing thing that happens.  As you begin to work, your thoughts turn to them because they are there.  This morning, the first thing I wanted to do was hop online and find a story about a particular ancestor to share with my kids. This is what I shared.

• I have a new little granddaughter named, Hazel Elise. (I also have another grandson named Levi).  Hazel Tippets is my grandmother's mother (therefore my Great grandmother).  She was born on November 7, 1891 and died January 31, 1987.  She was married to Thomas John Walberger, and they had 5 children.

  Beatrice Walberger

  
  

  Clara Walberger (My grandmother)

  
  

  Dora Walberger

  
  

  Hazel Eliza Walberger (1916-2006)

  
  

  Edward Levi Walberger

  Her father's name was Levi William Tippets, and her mother's name was Eliza W. Easthope.
  I know you didn't get Hazel's name because it was a family name, but I thought it was interesting to see the "Hazel" and "Eliza" and "Levi" all over. 
  So there you have it, fun family history for the day.  Love mom

 I cancelled most of my studying for the day to work on visiting teaching and such.  When I felt a good portion of that was done, I moved on to my hour+ of family history.  It was really down and dirty work today, trudging through the data, looking at census records and matching up dates and names.  I do have a miracle to report, though.  Years ago, Paul's dad gave me the stack of books and stuff that I had put into a box.  Most of my work had consisted of information I had downloaded from a historical book I found on the internet.  Along with the stack of books was a hard copy of the downloaded book.  Super interesting because it had all the pictures, etc.  That stack of books also had the bible that I posted a couple of days ago.  One of the items I was looking at today is an update of "The Zahnisers, A History of the Family in America." It is dated 1996.  I haven't had time to read the entire update, but I will be taking the time to do that in the next few days.  I was using the appendix of this book today as I was verifying data along with the census records, and a stack of folded paper kept falling out of the back.  I kept shoving it back in because it was getting in the way.  Finally, I was starting to finish up and put things away.  These papers fell out again.  I thought, hm, maybe it is another update or something.  It is a copy of Paul's mother's patriarchal blessing.  Knowing that things like this don't just happen by coincidence I read through the blessing.  There were two things of interest to me.  #1, there was something very beautifully stated that I will use in my upcoming RS lesson, and #2 There is an entire paragraph in her blessing about the work to be done for her ancestors.  She must have had the desire to do the work herself.  

Still on the lookout for someone to do my two male endowments so I can do my 2 sealings next Thursday!

I am sharing a picture of 5 Zahniser brothers who were ministers.  I love this picture, though I wish they were smiling.

Oh, and I have another picture to share.  If you have read previous postings of my blog at all, you may have noticed, that I find it very interesting that hippos are so dangerous.  I happened upon this picture today while I was perusing Facebook.  Enjoy.  Hope it doesn't keep you up tonight.  

21 Day Challenge - Day 4: Just barely squeezed it in today.

I was looking for a talk about temples by President Monson, but stumbled across this talk in April 2015 by Elder Whitney Clayton.

He says, "Every day, each of us faces a test.  ...Will you choose to believe in Him, ...or will you refuse to believe and insist on traveling alone in the dark?...There may be times when we have been hurt, when we are tired, and when our lives seem dark and cold....Let your hope for the Savior's love and grace, found in His gospel and His church, overcome your doubt."

So today, I am not stressed, but I am not getting things done like I feel like I should (hm, maybe I should rethink my definition of stress).  I finished studying vaccines, TB, and I have started depression meds.  I rode my bike, and I went grocery shopping.  Tonight I am attending a lecture on HIV meds and am trying to figure out where I am going to put my family history work in.  I again was feeling the pull of the temple all morning, so I decided I would take my print request up to the temple and print up the card.  It was a nice drive, and I studied in the car while I went.  I was trying to take a selfie afterward when a kind couple decided to help me out.  Yes, I am the same person as the ugly lady yesterday.  ha! Amazing what a little make up and a flat iron can do for 50 year old!

I only get a few minutes tonight to work on my family history.  I am reprinting a card that seems to have gotten lost for one of the men in my research here.  His daughter is waiting for him to have his endowment done, so she can be sealed to him.  So now I have two dads that need this work done so their children can be sealed to them.  I need two men who will be willing to do these before my temple trip on the 25th so I can get these kids sealed.  Looking for a miracle ....

This brings me to a memory a few years back.  When I was doing family history before pharmacy school, I saved up all my sealings.  I think we had about 500 of them in a little box that I carried with me to Orlando, Florida.  Paul's dad is a sealer there in the temple.  We had a family reunion where we spent 2 days just doing sealings with Paul's siblings and parents.  They actually pulled away the cushions from the altar because our knees were too fatigued to kneel for that long.  What an amazing experience!  The sealing ceremony just tops off the whole temple experience.  It is when you really feel the families being bound together forever.

Looking forward to the activities of tomorrow.  I have many things I must accomplish!

Miracles:  I survived the day.  I remembered something just in time (I had forgotten it).  I didn't overeat.  My studying is progressing faster than I thought. I actually finished depression, bi-polar, and got a good start on schizophrenia tonight.  I understood everything in the HIV lecture.  So, yeah, feeling pumped and ready for tomorrow.

21 Day Challenge - Day 3: Bringing the dead back to the dead.

This morning I read from April 2011 - President Monson's talk "The Holy Temple - A Beacon to the World".  There were two particular quotes in the talk that will get me going through the work today.  

• President Joseph F. Smith stated, "Through our efforts in their behalf their chains of bondage will fall from them, and the darkness surrounding them will clear away,..they shall hear ..of the work that has been done form the...and will rejoice with you in your performance of these duties."  

• And President Monson stated, "As you and I go to the holy houses of God, as we remember the covenants we make within, we will be more able to bear every trial and to overcome each temptation. In this sacred sanctuary we will find peace; we will be renewed and fortitied."

Oh, what a fun time I had tonight working on family history.  All day I worried about what would I do.  I thought I would just drudge through my stuff and see if all my previous work had been done.  Well I started with a small pile of sealings that needed to be completed.  I figured I would check to see if they had already been completed.  The first person I checked had been completely deleted!!! Someone had decided he didn't exist at all!!!  What!?!?  I quickly checked his 2 brothers and 2 sisters.  They were all still there.  Why did this person delete my poor Ray Smith?  Of course, it wasn't even an unusual name that I could go hunting in census records, his dad's name being George and his mom's name being Martha.  I said a prayer and continued to try and find the census records.  I found two census records, an obituary, and a cemetery record for Ray.  I tried calling a few of the family history consultants in my ward to try and figure out how to revive my poor deleted Ray.  No one answered, and I eventually figured out on my own.  Then I reviewed 4 little blue and pink papers.  They were all 4 siblings waiting for Ray's dad, George, to have his endowment completed, so he can be sealed to his wife Martha (whose work I completed years ago).  When George is done, all the kids can be sealed to their parents.  Yay, a miracle!!!

Weirdly, one of the daughters was already sealed to her parents, who aren't sealed together yet.  I have found this to be the case quite a bit.  They don't re-seal people who were sealed in the wrong order, they just figure it out in Heaven.

Miracle: Not only did I have time to study while I took a 1 hour bike ride, but I also cleaned my fridge.  Who knew I would have time to do that?  I might be getting overly ambitious.

Miracle:  Yesterday I set my alarm for noon.  When it went off, I had no idea why.  Scary right!?!  Well today, when it went off again, and I still couldn't remember from yesterday, so I used it as a reminder to pay my bills since we got paid a couple of days ago.  So this little miracle isn't actually a miracle of my 21 day challenge, but since I have your rapt attention....let me remind you of the miracle of tithing.  Yesterday I got some milk at CVS (the closest "grocery" store).  I saw the ATM machine and thought, yes, I am going to get my tithing out right away.  I like to always pay my tithing in cash.  If it sits too long in my bank account, sometimes it disappears.  Paying my bills was a breeze today.  You know that warm, fuzzy (obviously the Spirit) feeling you get when you know you are being blessed?  That is the feeling I got today after paying the bills.  I love paying tithing.  I don't always have such a great time paying my bills, even when tithing is the first thing to come out.  But He knows this is a tough month with the last of my student loans dwindling.  

Quick, change of subject....My mode of studying is to read about the type of drugs (today is HIV and vaccinations) twice, then to listen to a lecture review.  I finished the reading about HIV and then thought it would be a grand idea to ride my bike while I listened to the lecture.  See the picture below for the ragged mess that I was when I got home.  hahah.  Please don't tell anyone how ugly I can really get.

My nails....

I know, this doesn't have anything to do with family history,....

I forgot to mention yesterday that I got my nails done.  While that seems trivial in nature, you have to understand the story behind it.  My nails are ugly on their own.  I work really hard to make them pretty and to keep them up.  I polish them, and I file them.  I always keep them clean.  But for some reason, nail polish always chips.  My nails always look bad.  One day, I was feeling particularly ugly all over and fat on top of that.  I moaned a little about my ugliness, and Paul said, "Hey, let's go get your nails done."  What an amazing man!  It fixed my whole world.  He sat right there with me and helped me pick the color.  So since then, I have been getting gel nails.  Yesterday, I got them done again.  Paul is out of town.  He would NEVER have picked this cute, tuttie, frutie color, but I just couldn't resist.  AND, I always have them add a coat of sparkles, just because.

21 Day Challenge - Day 2 : Figuring out the website

I started my morning off with the current conference talk by President Monson about the temple.  He says, "As we attend the temple, there can come to us a dimension of spirituality and a feeling of peace which will transcend any other feeling which could come into the human heart."  I already know this to be true.  I plan to attend the temple on June 25th (day 12 of the challenge).  Since bringing out my family history box yesterday, I can already feel the "pull" of the temple.

I got 11+ hours of compete studying in today.  Wow!  Finished my antibiotics and antifungals completely. Tomorrow I will tackle HIV meds and vaccinations.

I haven't been on the family search website in over 4 years.  It looks very different than it did 4 years ago.  However, it isn't difficult to navigate.  My most difficult problem was finding where I left off in my research so long ago.  It looks like lots of work may have already been done that I had left undone.  Those beyond the grave don't wait for slackers like me to get the work done.  I was able to upload a picture of a couple, William Zahniser and Ruth Carnahan, who were married in 1841.  They are Paul's great-great-great grandparents. I don't see any family resemblance with any of Paul's family or any of our kids.  

Miracle:  I woke up completely awake, none of that groggy, "I gotta lay here for 45 minutes to wake up" stuff.  AND, it was before 6 am.  How often does that happen?  Not very often.

Miracle:  When I opened my box last night, I found an old bible.  In the front was written "Presented to J. Wilbur Zahniser by Grandma Stright, May 1911."  As I was messing around in Family Search, I found J. Wilbur Zahniser.  His Grandma Stright happens to be one Mary Jane McCormick who was born in 1839.  She happens to be another of Paul's great-great-great grandmothers.  However, J. Wilbur Zahniser is not a great-great grandfather, but rather the brother of Paul's great-great grandmother Mary Jane Zahniser. (Now that I am re-reading this, I may have shorted a "great" or something here, rrg, I will have to figure that out in the morning.) Mary Jane is a pretty cool family name, it is Paul's mother's name.

Setback:  I guess I should add in all the dirt as well.  I didn't give up my iPad game that I play every day.  I thought that would be the first thing to go.  But I did only play one round as opposed to 3 or 4 rounds.  Also, my counter is a mess from all the family history stuff on it.  Paul will be mortified at the disaster.

21 Day Challenge - Day 1: Let's get started

Today I was preparing for Relief Society early in the morning.  I started by reading the lesson.  I looked at my calendar and thought, oh, cool, Lesson 13 on the 13th.  The lesson was all about temple work.  It was a great lesson.  Since we don't have a chorister right now, I pulled out the hymn book and looked for just the right songs to sing.  I paused as I read the title to "Come Listen to a Prophet's Voice," then quickly went on to pick two other hymns that went with temple work.  I turned on the television to the BYU channel to listen while I continued to get ready for the day.  There was a BYU women's conference address by Elder Nelson's wife, Wendy Nelson.

(http://www.byutv.org/watch/60960c78-e80f-4459-a4d9-cf26ad573401/byu-womens-conference-wendy-watson-nelson-2015).

It was all about temple work and family history.  In this talk, she presents a 21 day challenge.  We are able to call upon the angels of heaven to help reduce the stress in our lives.  As counterintuitive as it may sound, she invites the sisters "to make a sacrifice of time to the Lord by increasing their time in Family history and temple work for the next 21 days."  I am accepting this challenge.

I am a little stressed out.  I have my national and state board exams coming up.  I feel the time closing in.  I feel like my time is too short, but I must get it done.  I cannot delay.  On this blog, I am hopeful to record the blessings and miracles that occur during these 21 days as I give a little time every day to the Lord for family history and temple work.

Oh, and I am sure you noticed....today is the 14th, not the 13th.  The lesson was lesson #11.  I caught it in time.  It was on the modern day prophets.  Miracle #1, I was prompted to notice that today was actually the 14th, able to read the lesson on time, change the hymns to "Come Listen to a Prophet's Voice" and "We Thank Thee O God for a Prophet," actually get the box of family history stuff out of the garage by myself (in my church clothes), and get started.

My goals....
1) to have angels accompany me not only in my family history journey, but also throughout the day as I study for my boards and in my other callings;
2) to finish the Zahniser family history book that I started 8 years ago but didn't finish;
3) inspire other to join me in the challenge;
4) recognize and record the miracles and blessings that happen on a daily basis!

A testimony

I wrote this in December

My first two grandchildren were baptized in November.  That was pretty cool...yet another reminder that time is flying by, and I am getting older.  For Adam's baptism, Christina asked Ashley to give a talk about baptism and asked me to give the talk on the Holy Ghost.  I felt quite honored and put my all into making sure it was perfect.  Both Christina and Ashley related the experience about why Christina asked Ashley to give the talk on baptism.  According to Christina, Ashley has a testimony that she isn't afraid to talk about, and she doesn't apologize for it.  In fact, Christina described it as the green side of a Scotch Brite.  Then someone followed up to say, "and everyone knows that the yellow side is useless."  This got me thinking.  I, myself, have a strong testimony.  But every testimony meeting I usually just sit over on my regular pew and keep it to myself.  I rarely feel the need to bear or share my testimony with anyone.  It's mine.  It's strong.  I work daily to strengthen it.  However, what good is my testimony?  It must be just as useless as the yellow side of the Scotch Brite.

For December fast Sunday, I needed to fast for a very important reason.  I know that part of fasting is also bearing your testimony.  My whole mind and body felt compelled to get up to the pulpit and share the story about the Scotch Brite as well as bear a strong testimony about my knowledge of the Savior.  So I did.  My words were powerful, and I was unapologetic.   It felt amazing.  

Aw, yes....my blog

I love reading other people's blogs.  It is so exciting when someone updates.  Then I go to my page.  I write a paragraph and decide it is too boring and erase the whole thing.  Well, blogs are not a thing of the past.  There are some amazing stories out there that should be shared.  There are good times and bad times that can be great inspiration to others.

I am just in the last leg of pharmacy school.  Who knew that an old lady with 16 grandkids could get her doctorate degree?!?! Right?  It is crazy.  Sometimes I stop to reflect and think that I am really crazy to even dare to go into debt ($175,000) for it.  Other times I think that I am having the time of my life.  I love every single minute of this learning and participating in people's lives.  How could I possibly NOT do this.

Every day I wake up completely exhausted from the day before, but energized by the activities and excitement of the new day.  I figure there will be a day, somewhere in the future, when I can nap. Every time I feel like I have just finished a project, I look down and realize that my list of assignments and projects is just as long as it was before.

Last week I hit a milestone.  I was so excited.  After months of hard work pursuing a residency, I was rewarded with a match.  I felt like I was walking on cloud 9.  I took the whole weekend off and just relished in the accomplishment.  It felt like I was jumping on a trampoline, and I had really hit the big one.  I was flying high in the air after hitting the trampoline just right.  Then Monday morning, when I looked down, the trampoline was gone....I had forgotten to turn in an assignment (big fat zero on that one) and forgotten to send some vital information to my preceptor that I had promised over the weekend.  Lesson learned....just because you accomplished something doesn't mean you are done.  Just keep on, keepin' on.

I'll post more, if others post more.  Deal??