Thanks

I've been trying to find who said the Quote:
 " If the only thing you ever say is 'Thanks'
 that will be enough."

I have felt very, very Thankful, lately. 
 We had a great Thanksgiving time in Utah with most all of our family (Rocky was missing), but we also had Mom & Dad Winters.

I have a great family and home and husband and life and.....and...
I could go on and on..
I use to write down 3 things that I was thankful for - everyday.
I had a journal and did this for quite awhile.  I go back to this journal often and feel much better everytime I look at it.
I don't know why I have to be reminded of the many things I'm grateful for.  I guess it's human nature to dwell on the things wrong in life. We have to consciously remind ourselves of all the good things and all that is 'right' in our lives.
I'm so thankful that Jay & I have weathered through 33+ years together as a married couple. It's not always easy, but looking back - it's not been THAT hard either.
I'm so thankful for our kids and grandkids. They have given us so much Joy. (especially since the grandkids have arrived.....:)
Also, I'm thankful that we've had a good home and it's warm right now!  This time of year is sooooo cold. Today has been particularly cold and I've thought of it a lot.
I've also thought of the good friends that we have around here. We've been very blessed to live in small towns most all of our lives and know most of the people around us. 
 I loved going to church today and feeling like we really have a good, tight knit community.
Some days I feel like I don't really like that, because I like to feel anonymous and not noticed.  But that's just my mood swinging...:) Anyways, I feel very blessed to be part of a community and have a somewhat good reputation in this community.
I'm also grateful for a pretty good functioning body. I've worked harder the last few years in maintaining my health.(probably because I have had more time to do it), but I do feel better and notice that my body is paying me back for it.  So all that walking/jogging is paying off.
I have taken quite a long break these last couple of weeks, but I'm determined to get back at it soon. (just gotta keep telling myself that)  The Holidays tend to mess up routines.
  Well, I know I haven't even touched on all that I am thankful for, but this is a long enough blog. I'll stop for now. Chow!

Today's Quote - Balance

Just as your car runs more smoothly and requires less energy to go faster and farther when the wheels are in perfect alignment, you perform better when your thoughts, feelings, emotions, goals, and values are in balance.   - Brian Tracy

Wow, I don't know if I've ever felt that I've had all these things in perfect balance for myself to perform my very best.  But I have had times that I've felt pretty close.

Lately, I've had a cold that is making me feel quite out of balance.
I hope to get some feeling of balance back soon. I've got things I want to do and places to go, but all I feel like doing is hiding at home and not going anywhere. Yea, that's life.

Quote Today - Henry David Thoreau

"It's not enough to be busy, so are the ants.  The question is, what are we busy about?"
Henry David Thoreau

Yea, I hope I can not be wasting my time away too much. I tend to find plenty of things to be busy with, but a lot of it doesn't matter that much. I'm usually pretty content and happy with my life and what I do.
But for some reason, last night, I kept dreaming that I was busy, busy, busy and running around like a chicken with his head cut off - for no reason at all. Is this dream trying to tell me something??
Probably.......
I've spent a lot of time on the computer, lately. And most of it is trying to update the address list of my classmates in High School.
I'm on a committee to help with our 35th Reunion next year and we want to send out a postcard soon now to tell everyone about it so that they can reserve the date.  I don't know......I really don't mind doing this stuff, but I can get to caught up in it and spend too much time on it. I am a perfectionist in some things and have to have things right. Oh, well. I guess I'm an ant.

But still, I know I'm more than an ant. I think we are all like the iceberg above. So much is below the surface.  We are all really quite complicated - if you think about it.....:)

Halloween time.....

Yes, we decided to be Doctors this Halloween. It was pretty easy to do, since I had some of Rocky's old scrubs and lab coats from Medical School. I bought Jay an outfit from Wal-mart and there you go.   Anyways, I also bought more candy this year than I ever have for Trunk or Treat.  Our daughter, Staci is a couponer - so I got some coupons from her and really went to town on the candy.  It made it much more fun. We had plenty to give all the scores of kids that came by our trunk and we were able to help some of those that ran out of candy around us..

Here's a few more pics and some below of those that came to our trunk!!

Pretty good, huh?!   The battery went dead again on my camera, so I really didn't get all the pics I wanted.  But all in all - it was a great Halloween.  And the picture below is of our son Greg as a Ghost on Halloween.  I took this off of Facebook.

HA!

Beezley Hill - Ephrata, WA

This is the first time that I have ever lost a whole post.
I honestly don't know what happened, but when I tried to Publish it.  It went blank and did nothing.
I think it was because I left it and came back to it later and hadn't saved it all along the way.
  Well, now the post won't be so great, but I'll hurry and try to re-coup part of what I said.

I climbed Beezley Hill last week and quite enjoyed it.  I have gone with friends a few times over the years, but this time I went alone. This is a picture of looking down about 1/2 way up:

Here's some pics of the new Breast Cancer Awareness memorial that's part of the way up, too:

Then right next to it - is the Autism Group's special spot:

Really nice, both of them.  I can't find the pictures I thought I took when I reached the top, but I do have a few of the lights that are up there. Depending on what time of year - they either have a cross, a flag, or a star.  I think that's it.  I don't live in town, so I don't see the hill every night.

Yes, it looks kind of dry and desolate.  That's why I like to drive to Wenatchee and walk the river.
But I think I'll try to walk this more.  It's nice to look down on the town of Ephrata. It's a nice town to be from.
Oh, and I almost forgot this picture.  It's one that I stole off of the Ephrata town website. Cool, huh?

Quote of the day - Helen Keller

The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched.  They must be felt with the heart.

-Helen Keller

Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow.

-Helen Keller

The story of Helen Keller always reminds me of how important each one of us are.

I'm sure that it was very hard for her to keep her face to the sunshine, since she was both deaf and blind. But yet, she still said that quote.

Today I had lunch with some friends and I noticed that we had a hard time dwelling on positive things - when there is so much negative that we can talk about.

 One friend just found out that her Mom has breast cancer, so you know that we all have plenty to say about that. Then another has a lot of pain with her back and she is much too young for that. (I know she is at least 10 years younger than me.) She's been having a very tough time finding any relief .   Another had just got her daughter out of the hospital and had a very big ordeal with that.

Her daughter was there and I was amazed at how great an attitude she(the daughter) had. She said that she really had a life changing experience (spending a month in the hospital and almost dying). 

 I realize now that she was the one that was looking at all the positive around her, even though she couldn't walk very well yet.

Now that is putting your face to the sunshine and not dwelling on the shadows.

I hope I can do that more.

Quote of the day: Neal Maxwell

Time isn't your natural dimension.  There are days when you wish that time would pass quickly, and it won't, and there are days when you wish you could hold back the dawn, and you can't.  A fish is at home in the water, but we aren't at home in time; we belong to eternity.  If we were really at home in time we wouldn't wear wrist watches and have clocks on the wall.   We have to function in time, but in those moments when life presses in upon you,  remember you are struck out of eternity."
- Neal Maxwell

Time is a thought-provoking subject. I've thought about it alot.....:)
I worried about time a lot when my kids were young.  I was always in a hurry.
 I felt like I never had time to do all that I wanted to do.

I still worry about time, but I feel that I have more of it now that I'm older and don't have so many jobs to do.  And I have noticed that always worrying about time and having the frantic lifestyle leads to all kinds of problems.  Some of the symptons ( or problems) that showed up for me were:  Poor health, frustration, confusion, always losing things, chaos (no order), and loss of personal peace. These are just the few that I can think of right now.
 But I've realized over the years, that I'm not one to handle a chaotic lifestyle. I do have some friends that seem to thrive on it and do very well with a lot of things thrown at them at once.  Infact, I feel like my husband is pretty good with handling a lot.  I've just found that I'm not very good at it.  So I'm trying to do the best with this realization and handle my life accordingly. I know I'm not a lazy person.  I always find or have something to do.  But I also know that I'm not one to handle a whole lot. Yep, it's a fact.  I hope I don't get worse with age on this problem.
So for right now, I'm very happy with the life I have and I'm trying to manage my time to the best of my ability.
I'm so happy today that I had time to go walk the river in Wenatchee again. It was a nice fall day. It is feeling colder, but still nice walking weather.  I did do a little running, but I'm kind of slowing down on that.

 Life is good.

C.S. Lewis Quote

I believe in Christ like I believe in the sun at noonday-  not because I can see it, but by it I can see everything else.
- C. S. Lewis


   Yep, I really like this quote and I like C.S. Lewis. I've read a few of his books and have been very, very impressed.  I especially like his book  'Mere Christianity'.
 In fact, I'm pretty sure that is the book that this quote came from.
In 'Mere Christianity' he explained why he came to believe in Jesus Christ. He was an atheist before that. I wish I could put into words the way he explained it, but all I can say is that it made my testimony of Christ stronger. He really laid out the case that this explanation of Christ and his dying for our sins makes more sense than anything else.  Why else could we be here? Being the imperfect human beings that we are - this is a way for us to become more perfect.  Repentance makes sense.......Forgiveness makes sense.
And a God that loves us unconditionally makes sense.


On another note:
Today I saw some news on Mitt Romney.  They said that the poor guy has the plague of being a 'Mormon'.  They just won't let him hear the end of that.   I will be very surprised if he does get the Republican nomination next year, because they keep on bringing up his Mormonism as a problem.  And people say it is "A cult".   Now you know I'm a Mormon and I can assure you that our church is not 'A Cult'.
We are Christian. We believe in the Bible.
  Christ and his teachings are the basic foundation of our religion.
I guess they keep getting us confused with the 'fundamentalists' that are not members of our church, and they practice polygamy- which our church has not practiced in over a 120 years.

I really feel sorry for Mitt. They bring up this Religion Issue constantly with him. I guess they can't find any dirt - so they are trying whatever they can.
 I really loathe politics anymore.  I'm really surprised that anyone even wants those jobs.  I guess you have to get use to critics every where you turn and can you really trust anyone??    I can't ( in politics that is).

Laughter

Laughter is to life what shock absorbers are to automobiles.  It won't take the potholes out of the road, but it sure makes the ride smoother.
-Barbara Johnson

- Yes, don't we all love laughter? I tried to pick a picture that kind of shows some laughter in my life.  I always feel laughter and fun when I'm around my grandkids.  Wish I was around them more.

Quote of the day - God's answer to prayers

We ask for strength and God gives us difficulties which make us strong.  We pray for wisdom and God sends us problems, the solution of which develops wisdom.  We plead for prosperity and God gives us brain and brawn to work.  We plead for courage and God gives us dangers to overcome.  We ask for favors....God gives us opportunities.   This is the answer.

-anonymous

Yes, I finally got a chance to walk the river. (yesterday)
I had a harder time, because I haven't done it in awhile. For some reason my ankle was bothering me.
go figure.......
As we get older, things start hurting on our bodies that we have no explanation for.
 I've always been told this, but now I'm experiencing it.  I hope I can learn to be one of those old grannies that doesn't complain about every ache and pain.  I can see that will be a challenge.....:)
    Anyways,  it was  still a nice day.  It was overcast and the wind was around, but it still felt good to get out and walk.  I feel so blessed.

Today there was evidence of someone piling rocks for some reason.  It reminded me of a recent trip that we took to Oakland to see our son and daughter-in-law. (Greg & Heidi).
We saw a guy piling rocks on a waterfront in Sausilito, CA.  I have one pic of it, but you can't tell how good he was at it by this picture.

Here's a classic picture of the Golden Gate bridge, of course.   We really had a great time visiting these kids. And what a fun and exciting place this area is.  There is always something to see and do.

So that's all I've gotta say today.

Honesty Quotes-

If you tell the truth you don't have to remember anything   - Mark Twain

Who lies for you will lie against you.  - Bosnian Proverb

No Man has a good enough memory to make a successful liar.  
-Abraham Lincoln

A half truth is a whole lie.   - Yiddish Proverb


Ok. okay,  that's probably enough quotes on honesty.  But this is something that I've been thinking about, lately.  My mother lost her check book in a grocery store in Salt Lake City, Utah.
She was so worried about it, but got a call the next day that some one had turned it in and all the checks were there.  How nice.....that was a good example of honesty.
Unfortunately, I've had a bad example of honesty show up in my life this last week.  My credit card was compromised on-line.  Some how somebody hacked my # and started charging things on-line.
Luckily the credit card company caught it right away and had my # cancelled and changed.
But the damage is done in my trusting the security of using my card on-line.   I had that card and the same # for the last 20+ years.  I used that for everything.  Now I have a new # and I'm afraid to use it.
Oh, well......life goes on.  I still like the convenience  and ease of ordering things on-line.

Quote on Time

The assumption of time is one of humanity's greatest follies.  We tell ourselves that there's always tomorrow, when we can no more predict tomorrow than we can the weather. Procrastination is the thief of dreams.   

- Richard Paul Evens (The Walk)

I've been procrastinating my walk/running workouts.

Quote of the Day - Professor Edwin Conklin

The probablility of life originating by accident or chance is comparable to the probablility of the unabridged dictionary resulting from an explosion in a printing factory.

- Professor Edwin Conklin
Princeton U. biologist

I really, really believe this with all my heart.

Amazing Grace - words by John Newton, 1779

Amazing Grace  how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me!
I once was lost but now am found, Was blind but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed!

Thro' many dangers, toils and snares - I have already come;
'Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me, His word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be, As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
and mortal life shall cease,  I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon disslove like snow,
The Sun forbear to shine;  But God, who call'd me here below,
Will be forever mine.

When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun,
We've no less days to sing God's praise  than when we first begun.
- John Newton, 1779

I've always loved this song. There are so many versions of it done by all kinds of musical artists.
And I haven't heard a version of it yet that I don't like.
I just reread the story of the author - John Newton.  It's a very inspiring story.
If you've never read or heard it before - look it up on Wikipedia.

Quote of the Day - The hand that rocks the cradle

Blessings on the hand of woman!
Angels guard its strength and grace,
In the palace, cottage, hovel,
Oh, no matter where the place;
Would that never storms assailed it,
Rainbows ever gently curled.
For the hand that rocks the cradle
Is the hand that rules the world.

- William Ross Wallace

Quote of the Day - Failure

Failures are divided into two classes:
Those who thought and never did, and those who did and never thought.

- John C. Salak

   I like this quote, but now I'm not sure if it's positively true.  There are times that I've thought I totally failed at something - but it really wasn't classified as failure. 
If I learned from it and it made me smarter about things-
 and what I should do and not do in the future  -
Is that really failure??   hmmmmmmmmm.......something to think about.

Quotes of the day - J.R.R. Tolkien

All you have to decide is what to do with the time
 that is given you.
 -Gandalf, Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien

Even the smallest person can change the course
of the future.
- Galadriel, Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien


I really wasn't into the 'Lord of the Rings' that much.
But these are good quotes.

Quote of the day: Jenkins Lloyd Jones

Anyone who imagines that bliss is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he's been robbed.  The fact is that most putts don't drop, most beef is tough, most children grow up to be just people, most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration, most jobs are more often dull than otherwise.  Life is like an old-time rail journey- delays, sidetracks, smoke dust, cinders, and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed.
The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.

- Jenkins Lloyd Jones

This quote was often quoted by Gordon B. Hinckley, including in 'Standing for Something'.
(One of his books)

A Sunshine Quote for today.....

Those who bring sunshine to the lives of others
cannot keep it from themselves.

-Sir James Barrie

Matthew 5: 16
   One of my favorite scriptures.

Quote on Happiness

The grand essentials to happiness in this life -
are something to do, something to love
and something to hope for.

-Joseph Addison

Today's Quote (Poem) - E.B. Browning

How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways.
I love thee to the depth and breadth and height
My soul can reach, when feeling out of sight
For the ends of Being and ideal Grace
I love thee to the level of every day's
Most quiet need, by sun and candlelight.
I love thee purely, as they turn from Praise.
I love thee with the passion put to use
In my old griefs, and with my childhood's faith.
I love thee with a love I seemed to lose
With my lost saints. - I love thee with the breath,
Smiles, tears, of all my live! - and , if God choose,
I shall but love thee better after death.

- Elizabeth Barrett Browning

I remember having to memorize this poem when I was in the 7th grade. Of course now, I can only remember the first 3 lines, but I did once know the whole poem by heart. That's something you never forget......:o)  I also remember there's a story to this poem, but I will have to Google it to remember. Oh, well...........it's  just a beautiful love poem.

Quote of the day - Our deepest fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.  It is our light, not our darkness, that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, "Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?" Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God.  Your playing small doesn't serve the world.  There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so other people won't feel insecure around you.  We are born to manifest God's glory within us.  It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone.  And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fears, our presence automatically liberates others.

-Nelson Mandela, Inaugural Speech 1994 or it may have originated from Marianne Williamson

After yesterday's post, I thought I'd put out something a little more serious. Yes, I deeply believe that we are all very valuable and are children of a great and wonderful God.

Quote of the day - Dr. Seuss

Today you are you!
That is true-er than true!
There is no one alive
That is you-er than you!
Shout aloud " I am glad
to be what I am!"
Thank goodness I'm not
a clam or a ham or a
dusty old jar of
gooseberry jam!"
I am what I am!
What a great thing to be!
If I do say so myself
Happy every day to me!

Dr. Seuss

Yes,  I'm going to try  posting a quote of the day. I don't know if I can do it everyday, but - maybe every other day. (we'll see)
I thought that Dr. Seuss is always a safe one to start with!  Isn't that a cheery quote? I like it.

I will never complain again.

 Yep, I know sometimes I sound like I'm complaining when I hike a little mountain like Saddle  Rock Mtn.  in Wenatchee.  Well, I'm not going to complain like that again. We took a trip with our son, Rocky the Dr. last week to most all of the Southern Utah National and State Parks. It really was an awesome trip, but he took us on a hike that really could have killed us. It was so dangerous climbing up the rock that they told us they have had fatalities every year!  What were we thinking??
Well, we weren't - we just blindly did what our son told us to do and didn't think it would be as hard as it was. I'm still amazed that Jay and I actually pulled it off. I'll show the pics of the Mountain we climbed later here.  First I'll show you a few that we took in Bryce National Park and Zion's:

 Here's where we started to climb up Angel's Landing in Zion's National Park. It really was amazing scenery.

 Maybe this doesn't look like we are as high up as we are, but let me tell you - we are high up. It took us 2 hours to get up here and the last half of the way we were pulling ourselves up - hanging on to a chain. In some spots there were dramatic drop-offs on both sides.  I'm not exaggerating here....

Do you see Jay in the bottom of that Pic?

That's what we had to climb up!

We climbed to the top of that.

I don't know how this got here, but this is called Delicate Arch and it is in Arches National Park near Moab, Utah. That's Jay & I in the middle of the Arch.

Here's Angel's Landing.

Here's Delicate Arch again. That's Rocky in the middle of it there.

I have lots more pictures, but I think I'll stop here. Rock took over 1000 pics and I took more than I have ever taken on a trip before.  It really was something.  I didn't think Utah had that much red rock and unbelievable scenery, but it does.  Really, some of the pictures don't do it justice.  The last place we went to was 'Canyonlands' and the view at the point - I think it is called Dead Horse Point - it was out of this world.  I won't even post my pictures, because they don't look as wonderful as it was. I've seen the Grand Canyon and this looked as great or greater in my opinion.

Fabulouso!