Favorite Smells - Summer Blog Challenge 2016 Entry #6

Newly washed baby
Freshly baked bread
Cedar chips
Lilacs
Just-mowed grass
New-house smells - clean wood, fresh paint, etc.
Puppy fur
Pumpkin (pie, bread, cookies....)
Pine trees
The ocean/beach
Leather
Movie theater popcorn
Campfire

If I Could Change the World Blog Challenge 2016 - Entry #5

I don't know if I really like the way this title is worded....the concept of me changing the world almost suggests that I would have all power over something, and I don't like that idea. I believe in agency, meaning that each individual needs to be able to choose for themselves.

What I WISH, therefore, is that every person would choose to accept others as they are. What would it be like if race, color, or economic status really didn't affect our opinions of each other? What if every person actually took the time to get to know others--to honestly seek to learn what is the best part of that human being, and then encourage and celebrate those qualities?

THAT'S how I would like the world to change.

My Dream Home - 2016 Blog Challenge Entry #4

I've actually put quite a bit of thought into this. My dream home's physical features are not as important to me as other things. BUT, those physical features would include:

*Wrap-around porch
*One level (no basement or upstairs)
*Lots of windows/light
*Big stone fireplace and hearth
*Walk-in pantry

HERE are the features that mean the most to me in my dream home:

*Weekly maid service
*Landscaping and lawn maintenance services
*Located in Colorado
*Close to all my children and grandchildren

Hey, we did say "Dream", didn't we?! That's what I want.

This could work.

Places I've Lived (And my favorite so far) - Blog Challenge 2016 Entry #3

In order, I have lived in the following places:

Ann Arbor, MI - 1960 to 1971

Grand Junction, CO - 1971 - 1981

Vernal, UT - 1981 - 1983

Clifton, CO - 1983 - 1984

Broomfield, CO - 1984 - 2006

Montrose, CO - 2006 - present

And my favorite place (so far) (drum roll please..............) BROOMFIELD!

The reasons are obvious - I lived there longer than anywhere else in my life, and it's where the 2nd half of my children were born, and where all of them were raised. It is the hub of the axis of my kids' lives, and even though there were many, many difficult years, the blessings and memories we built there overrule the trials!

Favorite Time Wasters - Blog Challenge 2016 Entry #2

I wish that my response to this topic was unique and creative.  It isn't. My favorite time wasters are Facebook and Words With Friends.

Quite awhile ago, someone posted that Facebook was like going to the refrigerator and staring into it...you know there's nothing good there, but you can't help opening the door over and over again. That pretty much sums it up for me. These days I seem to spend more time "hiding" things than I do reading them.  But yet I go back, and go back, and go back.  It's worse in the summer, because I have so much more down time.

But it's thanks to Facebook that I have a stronger relationship with my extended family than I ever have. I can participate in the major and minor events of my Michigan relatives' lives. I can also keep tabs on the "kids" I went to high school with. Many of them weren't close friends when we attended good ol' FMHS (class of '78), so I have loved getting to know the funny, amazing, inspirational people they are! And I am also grateful to be able to maintain my friendships with my beloved former co-workers and church friends.

Then there's "Words With Friends". Kelli recently said "You're still playing that game?" Yep...I'm kinda addicted. It doesn't even matter to me how many points I score, I just like to challenge myself to play the best word I can. My average word score is around 17-19 points, and I rarely have more than 8-10 games going at once, but that's OK. I often choose a word to play because it opens up the board, not because it'll give me the most points. After failing to reach the Weekly Challenge goal for the 3rd week in a row, I turned off that notification (It annoyed me when they created that, anyway!). It's just for fun...plus I learn all these interesting words like "ki", "qi", "qat", and so on.  No, I don't know what they mean, I only know that the game accepts them!

True confessions 101.

Someone I Admire - 2016 Blog Post Challenge - Entry #1

Well, for starters, I hadn't figured on this topic until later in the summer, so I haven't had time to ponder it.

But do you know who comes to my mind right away? My friend Janela Karlson.

Janela and I have known each other for more years than I can remember. I met her and her husband Jesse when they only had one child (and that child just got married!).  Jesse, Michael and another dear friend, Hans Christiansen, all co-owned a silk tree plant business.  For awhile, our three families lived the closest thing to the United Order since Joseph Smith's day....we were all desperately poor, and shared vehicles, food, and even housing (not us, but Karlsons and Christiansens lived together for awhile).

Janela has to be experienced.  I cannot do her justice, but here's the general scoop--she is the most sincere, the most genuine, the most guileless person I've ever met in my life. She is amazingly intelligent, incredibly gentle, and has the sweetest temperament and spirit of anyone I've ever known. I would be shocked to discover that she had ANYONE who didn't like her, because her love for others just radiates out to the world. In spite of all that, she in not a push-over. She sticks to her principles, and cannot be swayed when it comes to questionable choices.

Janela can bring a smile to the grumpiest of faces. Nobody can resist her earnest heart. She is very humble, and exemplifies the true definition of meekness in that she is quiet and gentle, but strong and stalwart as well.

I'm a better person for having her in my life. I hope she know that. I can never be as good as she is, but I'm sure that I'm a bit more kind, a bit more faithful, and a bit more Christ-like because of her example.

https://youtu.be/uzrGFQysfYU