beehive fashion show

glad it's over.




i'd love to end it there.
highlights :
-called 'modest is the hottest'
-passed off a large value project for 3 of the girls
-catwalk / stage = awesome
-cristina smith (tennis friend of the yw pres. and former model) taught the models how to work the T, walk the catwalk and the fed the models out the runway... as a visitor. that's huge!!!
-handmade paper flower decor
-music provided by yours truly
-about 12 girls from the ward primary and 1 boy participated along with of our young women
-desserts included strawberry shortcake cups and cookies

just add ice

i've been feeling quite geriatric lately... especially after running. arthritis is in the realm of what i thought i had/have. the whole of my left foot aches the following morning and oftentimes days after. the ache is so painful that i walk with a slight limp. however, after last night's foot in a bag of ice treatment, i'm feeling an improvement.

ice works wonders. i've never iced anything regularly. it's just not something i've ever got into the habit of doing. but after last night, i'm a believer.

this leads me to wonder. what did my ancestors do to reduce swelling and pain without the capability of freezing water? did they have cold rivers to stick their aching feet into? i don't think so. i do think the chinese had ointments that mimicked a cooling sensation, but was that enough? anyway, things that make you go 'hmmm'.

weather

the weather has been very strange. we're supposed to be in the 90's and 100's at this time of year. today the insane winds brought low 70's. i am not complaining. i'm just taking note.

driving to work today i saw the tops of trees either broken or severely bent. the winds were the worst i've ever experienced here in vegas. when i first moved here about 6 years ago, i was shocked at how windy it was. my bishop at the time told me vegas should be known as the second windy city. who' da thunk? not this girl.

so back to the winds of last night. they rattled the windows that aren't supposed to rattle, they broke trees, toppled full trash bins and brought a neighbor's trash lid onto my fake lawn. it sounded like trains were rushing by my front door every few seconds. at one point i thought my dead-bolted front door would swing open.

i wonder what these winds will bring... other than horrible allergies.

i eat WAY too much.

i admit it. i know i do. how i fit it all in, i do not know. but i do know that i eat far more than i need and it's catching up with me. didn't used to, but now it is. i'm trying to implement that one saying, oh how does it go? eat like a king at breakfast, a prince at lunch, and a beggar at dinner. today, the order was switched around. so NOT good. i wanted to work out but my dinner is sitting like a thick loaf of bread in my stomach. i'm so full. kathleen and brian goodman treated the young women presidency to dinner. sheri and chris utley were there as were amy and bob rogers. the kiddies also accompanied us. i really could've done without the linguini alfredo with shrimp, scallops and sun-dried tomatoes. that took me way past pauper all the way to emperor.

how is it monday already?

i ask myself this question every time monday rolls around. it's not fair. how fast the time flies on the weekends! this past weekend was particularly fast and busy. on friday, i went on an unexpected last-minute date to the beauty bar downtown. after eating teriyaki salmon bowls on brown rice from whole foods, we made our way to the freemont street area. not a place many mormons frequent. but tom's on the special guest 'list' so we got in without a hitch. his friend djs at 'the get back', the fenced in outdoor area behind the beauty bar that opens around 11:30pm. i had a good time... not a crowd you see everyday but they all were super nice and friendly.

saturday morning brought me to girls camp's first aid clinic. i picked up juliet and victoria-two of my beehives. we have a small group of girls going to stake camp at kolob canyon. five girls and two ycls. i was asked to sit in on the 'how you transport an injured person' class. fun stuff. i hope that i'll never have to drag someone out of a burning tent in or on their sleeping bag, but i'll know how to do it.

after 2 hours at the clinic, i drove juliet, christina and her sister emily back to juliet's for our young women's photo shoot. hair makeup and 3 different outfits for 8 girls took about 5 hours. i collapsed after i got home. took a 2 hour nap then got up and swam a mile. after which, i prepared some more for the lesson i'd be giving the next day.

mother's day was great. the talks in sacrament meeting were sweet... all focused on moms, wives and daughters. i further prepared for my lesson during the second hour block. the lesson went better than i had expected. participation (comments) from the girls and leaders really makes or breaks a lesson, i think. i had lots of help. some thoughts shared included writing in 2 diaries. one for the day-to-day and one for the spiritual. another story shared by miele reid was how her 8 year old 'pours over' the journal she had kept at a similar age.

i showed off my blog, read the post about preparing for the lesson, ended with the 'dream of lola carmen' and shared what i did as a result of that dream. it was good. i cried as i talked about being baptized for grandma. it was a joy to be able to do that for her. i am glad that i started this blog. and i am glad that i use it as my journal.

am i supposed to be doing something?

i feel good enough to do most everything except eat normally. should i be doing something about that? or should i let it 'run' its course? i feel like i should be doing something other than work, drink gatorade and soda, eat saltines, and sleep. i think i shall attempt yoga. on second thought, maybe stretching would be a better alternative.

what today?

well, my previous post has caused me to reflect and write down how i have seen God's hand in my life today. this may sound like a stretch but i'm going to chalk it up as one way i've seen His hand. i was able to go to work the last half of my shift, function quite normally and remain calm. my body is healing. and i recognize and appreciate that. i didn't take offense that none of my team mates welcomed me back, nor did they show concern. but honestly, i'm ok with that. my bosses were kind and considerate. i really appreciated that they were.

also, my fellow blogger jalae posted a great mormon message entitled 'my new life' on facebook. it helped me realize that we can find things to be thankful for even in our trials.

journals

it's quiet in the house as it oftentimes is. i can hear the wind move through the trees and thru the flood channel behind my house as i see the long knitting needle-like leaves on a tree sway. the ceiling fan whirs as does the fridge, and the clock on the wall ticks the seconds away.

this sunday, i'm supposed to teach the young women lesson 16 on journals. yet another reason i'm glad i started this blog. i want to show them my blog and even read some entries but i'm not really sure which ones to share. i'm thinking that the dream about lola carmen would be a good one. and perhaps, oh i don't know... i'll have to keep thinking about it.

as i read through the lesson one quote has lingered in my mind. it was given by president kimball, the 12th president of the lds church. he said, 'those who keep a personal journal are more likely to keep the Lord in remembrance in their daily lives.' why is that? hold on, i'm pondering as i eat this banana flavored popsicle. (still on a ginger ale, cracker, toast and popisicle diet)

well, perhaps as we recall and jot down the events of our lives, mundane or extraordinary as they may be, we are more prone to recognize the Lord's hand. or we may be more able to peek at how God in His omniscience shows Himself. otherwise, we would rely solely upon our fleeting memories. and i know how easily my memory fades. however, i'm reminded of a conference talk given by president eyring entitled 'o remember, remember'.

his closing remarks were, 'tonight, and tomorrow night, you might pray and ponder, asking the questions: did God send a message that was just for me? did i see His hand in my life or in the lives of my children? i will do that. and then i will find a way to preserve that memory for that day that i, and those that i love, will need to remember how much God loves us and how much we need Him. I testify that He loves us and blesses us, more than most of us have yet recognized. i know that this is true, and it brings me joy to remember Him.'

may's calendar

is crazy. young women's duties and activities dominate but i'm happily engaged in that organization. i really love it. and i'm glad to be a part of it. i'm missing today's mutual activity (cherish boards for mother's day) because of this self-diagnosed stomach flu.

wednesday 5th- ward correlation
thursday 6th-stake girls camp meeting
saturday 8th- camp first aid training ; then photo shoot
sunday 9th mother's day- lesson on journals
tuesday 11th- can't remember
saturday 15th - ward picnic and cake auction (always a blast)
tuesday 18th - make decorations for the following week's fashion show
tuesday 25th -beehives throwing the fashion show

my heaving and the earth's heaving

i feel like i've been getting sick as much as the earth is having disasters... well, maybe not as much. from earthquakes worldwide (haiti, china, baja california) to the volcano eruption in iceland, the flooding in the country's southeast, and the oil spill off the gulf of mexico i can say that i probably haven't been sick that many times this year.

but it sure seems like it. my current illness appears to be the stomach flu. last week was a sinus infection. now that the winds have picked up, subsided and are supposed to pick up again, i'm bracing myself. but hoping that these new winds clear the air of whatever's getting me sick. :) i suppose that i should be more careful of what i eat and when i eat it. nuking a meal to leave it in the microwave for 20 mins prior to nuking it again and eating it probably isn't the wisest thing to do. bruscetta chicken from fresh and easy is the furthest thing from my palette's desires.

my stomach also tosses as i worry of my mom and sis. that situation weighs most on my mind. i will expound in a later post that i have been working on.