Pop Tabs and Fancy Pop

Normally I'm thinking about what might make a good post and what I could take a picture of and write about. Today I was not intentional and didn't have any real plan behind what I could share. It was a day a lot like any other. 

Woke up and got the littles off to school then did some picking up around the house. Went to get my dad from the dealership so he wouldn't have to wait around while they worked on his car. Actually, that's not a normal everyday occurrence and it was good to see my Dad and to go and grab some donuts with him on the way back to our place. When he texted me and said that we should stop for donuts after I picked him up I realized that my love of sweets is something I inherited from both of my parents and not just my mom.  Then I went with Emily to the base to get her a new ID card since hers is expiring next week. While we were there we ran into an old friend of mine from England who lives here now. She was my PTO secretary when I was crazy enough to volunteer to serve as president one year. That was also not something that happens every day. 


On the way back from the base Emily and I stopped at Fiiz to get some fancy drinks. Lime in the Coconut (Dr. Pepper with coconut and lime, yummy) for both of us! Having the Fiiz app on my phone is probably not the best idea because it makes it way to easy to just order a drink, stop by on my way home, and have them bring it right out to my car. The first and third Wednesdays are early release days for the girls so we have the whole afternoon together and it's become sort of a tradition that we watch that week's episode of Dancing With the Stars together on Wednesday afternoons. Drinking a delicious soda while watching Dancing and doing homework is not a bad way to spend a midweek afternoon. To top it all off, I somehow managed to take a two-hour nap and I seriously love naps.  
 

This evening was our weekly young women activity and we were doing a little service project. One of the young women advisors collects pop can tabs to donate to the local Ronald McDonald house; the money they make from recycling the tabs helps to cover their operating costs. When her granddaughter was born she needed heart surgery and stayed in the hospital for several months and her daughter and son-in-law were able to stay in the Ronald McDonald house instead of having to drive the two hours each way to be near the hospital. She had brought six or seven huge garbage bags filled with empty soda cans that needed to have the tabs pulled off. Normally she does it herself and I cannot even imagine how much time it would take one person to go through that many cans. With the twelve or so girls we had at church tonight we were able to get through all the cans in about half an hour. Actually, I guess we could assume it would take her about six hours since it took twelve people a half hour? Math.


This last picture was a gift that Laura and Abigail left on my phone while I was busy doing an assignment for school this evening.  If you didn't know, Laura is our bonus daughter. She was actually Emily's mission companion from about this time last year until just after the new year when Emily left Temple Square for her outbound mission in Ohio. Laura is from Brazil and is waiting for her educational visa to be processed so she can go to school at BYUI. With Covid, everything seems to be moving more slowly so her wait has been longer than expected. Since she joined our family in August, Laura and Abby have been going to Institute classes at Weber State several times a week and generally having so much fun together. We love Laura and are so happy she can stay with us until she's able to go to Rexburg!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What is Faith?

Image
What would you say if someone asked you what faith is? In Hebrews 11, Paul defined faith as "the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen." The assurance of things hoped for - faith is knowing that because of Jesus Christ, we can hope for a brighter future. I feel as if hope and faith are one and the same. Life can be heartbreakingly difficult sometimes and even though I know that challenges are there to help us learn and grow, I sure wish I didn't have to go through those hard times. When I have felt surrounded by struggles and I couldn't see any way that things would ever get better, the only thing that has kept me moving forward is hope. Not the kind of hope that is sort of wishful like hoping your team wins a World Cup game, but hope that is sure because it is based on Christ. Having faith in Jesus Christ is having hope and knowing that His promises are sure.  The evidence of things not seen - faith in God grows when we see Him working in our...
Read more

Anxiety, Friendship, and Insecurity

This post has been kicking around in my head for a while now. My emotions have been closer to the surface lately - which can be both good and bad.  For a couple of weeks last month it was a bad thing and I found myself crying at pretty much everything and feeling alone and friendless even when I was surrounded by people. You'd think I'd be better at making friends after almost forty years of moving and having to form new connections at each new place. Instead, the older I get, the more difficult the process becomes. Even after I make friends deep down I question if we're really friends. I think these feelings of insecurity are part of what makes me willing to do almost anything for my friends. If I do nice things for you maybe you'll continue to tolerate my presence? I think I do a pretty good job hiding my insanity. I can fake confidence really well - smiling and laughing and making small talk. And then I go home and overanalyze and question every little thing I said...
Read more

Four Decades

Image
Birthdays are markers in our lives. Moving from one decade to another is a milestone that is not marked by an accomplishment or an important decision, but simply your age. That's something you can't control as time keeps moving forward whether we're ready for it or not. I can honestly say that I'm not bothered by turning forty and that I still look forward to my birthdays. But there's no denying that those milestone birthdays (you know the ones, they end in zero) are a big deal. A time that, for me, leads to some looking back to see if I've accomplished anything worthwhile in the previous decade of my life or in any of the decades of my life.  So I found photos of myself at all those other ages that end in zero. Maybe if I take it a decade at a time it will be easier to see what I've learned? Seriously, whose dog is this? Italy, 1981 Okay, this first one is already breaking the rules as it's not from a milestone birthday. I have two pictures...
Read more