#27 I Don't Have to Put Money into My Junk Car

I have this piece of junk car to deliver the rural mail in and two weeks ago it decided to not start. OH NO! I was letting Blue drive it to school during the week because I usually just need it for Saturdays. When he told me, "You are taking me to school", I called the bus driver and informed her that he would be catching the bus for a while while the car was being repaired. Not cool for a Junior! He survived though.

After Wes' Auto told me what it might be (I wasn't sure what the heck he was talking about)  I asked, "About how much will that cost?"  He said, "$350-$400!" I was sick. The car isn't even worth that much. The thing is, I am about to switch jobs and won't even be needing that car much longer. I had no choice, I had to go for it. Then I started praying.....

Friday came and I needed to pick up my car for the Saturday delivery. Wes says, "It's been starting everyday, I don't know what was wrong with it".  REALLY!  "What do I owe you?" "Nothing, just take it home".  My prayers were answered. What a blessing, a small miracle.

#26 Self-Reliance

Being self-reliant isn't so much about just becoming independent as it is about becoming like the Savior in serving and blessing others.  When I am able to manage my own personal life, develop my talents and learn new skills I can then use my time and resources to help others. What a blessing it is to be in a position to serve others and enrich their lives for good.  It is so important to care for ourselves emotionally, physically, mentally and spiritually so that we are in a position to help those in need. I have a friend who has learned to crochet rag rugs and is now teaching an older neighbor of hers.  My cousin, Pam helps her elderly neighbor with computer skills, my neighbor is adopting Haitian children, my brother, who owns a plumping business, helps family with plumbing problems. There are so many, who are living the law of self-reliance and becoming like the Savior through their unselfish service to others. 

Guides to Provident Living here and here

If you would like to donate to the Haitian people go here

Photo from here

#25 Make-Up Wipes

This is the best thing ever. 

It's so easy, quick and handy.

I use to be pretty lazy about taking my makeup off

and my pillow would have makeup smudges.

Not anymore!

I use one cloth per night to clean my whole face.

Very simple, and that is what I like.

Photo from here

#24 Hugs

I will never forget the day that I opened my door, a friend stepped into my home, and without a word embraced me, hugging me, letting me cry. We didn't say anything. It felt so good. I had been having a really hard time and when she came over I don't know if that was her intentions, but I think she just knew I needed one when I opened the door. 

There was another time when I was in my room and  felt so alone, like I could disappear and no one would notice. At that moment, my youngest child, Blue (he was just little) came into my room. He could see I was sad and asked, "Are you sad?" He then wrapped his small, little arms tenderly around me and I could feel his tiny little fingers very gently patting my back. I will never forget the feel of his small, little arms around me.  I then realized someone did notice me, my Father in Heaven.

Photo from Free Hugs

#23 The Strength of Others

The strength of others makes me want to be stronger; physically, mentally and spiritually.  How can I give up when there are women in the world like Stephanie. She is a women of great strength to me. I have come to think of her daily, sympathizing with all that she has to endure. I have prayed for her well being many times. Her life took on a major change of events just over a year ago and on her blog, NieNie, she shares her journey of getting up every morning, recognizing her blessings, being a mother and wife and still finding joy in everyday living.  She is a beautiful women, mother and wife.

Photo from her blog, NieNie

#22 For God's Creation-Ice Crystals

It is absolutely beautiful outside. Clean blue skies, sun shinning bright! While walking around delivering mail (of course) ice crystals were floating in the air. like someone had tossed glitter into the air. Millions of microscopic prisms reflecting the colors of the rainbow. The ground literally looked like diamonds sparkling. It just amazes me, the beauty of God's creations. I feel His love for me when I see such beauty.

Photo from here

#21 Kleenex Tissues

Walking in this cold weather really gets my nose running. If it weren't for the Kleenex tissues in my truck I would be a disgusting mess. You know, like those little kids you see playing outside with snot flowing down their upper lip? I must go through a 1/2 of box a day. Nothing feels better than getting to blow my nose clean after sniffling around the block. So grateful for Kleenex.

 Photo from here

#20 Opportunities to Talk with My Teenager

It can be a rare opportunity to talk with my teenager, to have him open up to me and express his feelings, anxieties, frustrations, insecurities or just what he did that day. Treasured moments!  At those moments I feel that I am listening and understanding and he knows it.  A connection! I can see a sense of "accomplishment" on his face.  These moments increase my love for him and fill me with hope. Oh, and the best part is we get to enjoy a more agreeable, pleasant  person for awhile.

#19 Shoveled Walkways

A couple of people were out shoveling their sidewalks and a snow path between their houses for me while I delivered the mail today. I am so grateful for those who are aware of us Postal people out there trudging through the snow to deliver their mail. It makes it so much easier and nicer when the snow has been cleared away. It is very tiring  to walk all day house to house, but add snow up to the knees in some places, that is exhausting! So a big thank you to all of you out there who think of the lonely person walking the streets with arms and a hip bag loaded with your mail, trying to make it a little easier for us.

Photo from here

#18 Work

"Let us realize that the

privilege to work is a gift,

that the power to work

is a blessing,

that love of work is success"

David O. McKay 
The Blessing of Work

#17 Sunshine in Winter

There is sunshine in my soul today,

More glorious and bright.

Than glows in any earthly sky,

For Jesus is my light.

Oh, there's sunshine, blessed sunshine

When the peaceful happy  moments roll.

When Jesus shows his smiling face,

There is sunshine in the soul.

Hymn "There is Sunshine in My Soul Today"

#16 Girls Night Out

My sister-in-law, Misty was in Logan visiting her daughter yesterday and she called to see if I wanted to come over and play.  I was there by 1 pm.  We ate out, shopped, went to facial and stayed up late (too late).  We had a great time together. We spent the night and left this morning. It is a great time to talk, laugh and be silly. Nothing funner than hanging out with the girls doing girly things. I hope we do it again soon. Thanks Misty, Christy and Sundi.

#15 Joy of Children

The news showed the rescue of this little 7 yr. old boy, Kiki and his sister in Haiti. After almost 8 days they were rescued from the rubble of their home. They were buried under a 3 store building. The boy was frightened and went deeper in, but the rescuers got his mother to coax him out. When they pulled him out he had the biggest smile on his face and he threw his arms out wide, it was beautiful. He had to be weak, but he had the strength and awareness to express his joy in being rescued for all to see. He made everyone smile at that moment.

#14 Generosity

Remember I said my post office vehicle isn't running? We decide we needed to tow it to the mechanic, we could have called  Albert's Tow, but wanted to save money. Troy was able  to back the van out far enough to get it stuck in the snow across the entrance to our property. He then  back the Lexus up to see if he could pull the hind end of the van around with a chain as the van tires spin, it gets stuck! We get the Lexus unstuck just to get it stuck again in front of the van completely blocking the entrance to our place. After an hour of stewing over what we could do and then deciding we needed to call someone for help, I called Jimmy Adamson. I told him we needed his help and he says, "I will be right over." He came with his truck and pulled the Lexus out onto the road, the van out onto the road and then towed the post office car to the mechanic. No sweat. He said he was "Number One", that he was. What would do without the generosity of others? Thanks Jimmy.

#13 Affordable Jewelry

My friend Janice sells a lot of jewelry for a relative that is going to school. Every time she has new jewelry she calls and says, "I have a new tub of jewelry, do you want to come over?" It is so affordable, I can't help myself. All of the necklaces come with matching earrings for $10-$12 and there are some bracelets from $5-$8. She sells mostly necklaces though. I bought some for all my relatives for Christmas and every time I did I always came home with something for myself. It is just too fun to buy new jewelry. A whole bunch of us ladies will hang out for hours scrutinizing every piece of jewelry. We try everything on, running to the mirror to see how it looks. It is so fun to see what every one likes and dislikes. I can't wait for the new spring jewelry to come out.

#12 Someone Calls to Say I Don't Have to Work

I'm the sub at the post office and when someone needs the day off they call me in. I am not scheduled to work till Saturday now, but someone needed me to come in tomorrow, bummer. Even bigger bummer, my postal car (for rural routes) isn't starting. Not good. When I let them know I wouldn't have a car, she called back to let me know that I didn't need to go in tomorrow. Yay!!! Excited to not go to work, but now I have to spend money to get the car running. I guess I can't have everything. 

#11 When a Hard Work Day is Over

I have been dreading this day since Saturday. It came after Sunday and Monday which was a holiday. I knew there would be a lot of mail. Then to add to that there are expected snow storms all week. I knew it was going to be a hard, long and exhausting day. This morning the snow was really coming down, but at least it was fairly warm. Later in the day  it cleared up, the sun came out and everyone was either out on their 4-wheelers with plow blades on the front or with their snow shovels clearing sidewalks and driveways. It was warm to begin with and then when the sun came out the snow really became slushy and messy. I would step out of the truck into slushy gutters and sink into deep muddy water. Snow boots don't keep  feet dry from the water. I was very grateful when I delivered mail to my last stop. My feet were soaked and my legs were achy and tired.

#10 Strawberries

I order food from Bountiful Basket once a month. The Bountiful Basket is a great savings. It's a co-op ran by volunteers to keep costs down.   I get a large box of fruit & vegetables and I never know what is going to be in it. This time I got potatoes, red & yellow onions, mango, oranges, apples, bananas, fresh oregano, basil & theme, Romain lettuce, spaghetti squash, eggplant, tomatoes and a bag of pears (I think that is all) oh ya, strawberries! I almost forgot. I get all of this for $15.  It's kind of fun to see what you get. They also offer other specialties. I love getting the 9-grain bread, 5 loaves for $10. I am always excited when we get strawberries, they are such a treat, specially during winter and I love making crepes when I have them. So, Sunday I was grateful to enjoy strawberries with crepes and share them with a friend (#8 Grateful).

#9 Phone Calls from Friends & Family

I have been without a cell phone for 2 months now. It wasn't so bad till Troy left town with his phone. I can call people, but it will cost me on my land line phone.  I could call people and tell them to call me back, but I don't know anyone's cell phone numbers. I have been through 3 cell phones this past year. The first one the screen went dark, the second one I dropped in the toilet when I delivered the elementary school's mail and the the third one I lost while delivering the rural mail, I had that one only a couple of months. Ugg! It's frustrating. I have been sending a lot of messages through Facebook, but that is getting old. There is no one to talk to. Blue won't talk to me and doesn't like me to talk to him.....I know he was my #2 Grateful, but it can be kind of lonely at times with him. I have been feeling lonely and down today, then I saw on MSN.com that today is "The Most Depressing Day of the Year". I thought that was wired. I watched a movie then took a long hot bath and was getting ready to go take a nap when....Sundi called! It was so good to HEAR her sweet little voice say, "Hi".  She is wanting to find another job and I am afraid I wasn't much help to her, she was taking Christy's new puppy out to go potty and we just chatted about things. Thanks Sundi for thinking of me. I also got a call  from mom last night. She had been trying all week and finally caught me home. Thanks mom. It's always great to hear the voices of family & friends.

#8 Clorox

 

I am not feeling very grateful today, so I struggled for this one. I cut strawberries up for crepes after church today. I knew I better put my apron on but too lazy. After making crepes for Blue and I, I took some to my 86 yr old friend Sally Thomson. Unfortunately she isn't feeling well. She has that 24 hour flu that is going around. We had a good visit though and I made her some rice. I returned home and noticed that I had strawberry stains on the front of my white skirt and white top. I couldn't believe she didn't say anything, I hope she didn't notice but I don't know how she couldn't. I panicked, how will I ever get that out? I first used my favorite spot removing laundry soap, Fels-Naptha, but then it just turned dark purple. What do I do NOW?   Should I use clorox? Clorox scares me. It seems to get everywhere and you don't notice till there are white spots where you don't want them and then I worry about it burning a hole in my cloths because it's so strong. I decided to give it a try.  I dipped the corner of  a damp cloth in Clorox and dabbed at the spot and it just disappeared! Instantly! Oh, I was so excited to save my skirt. Small thing, but a grateful moment.

#7 Ear Plugs

I love ear plugs. I have them by my bed, I have them in my purse and  they are a must when going traveling. It use to be, when I go to bed EVERYONE goes to bed, because I could not sleep if I could hear any noise or just the fact children were up. As the kids became teenagers that changed, I could no longer put them to bed at 8-9 p.m. If I can't go to sleep and I'm really tired, I will  lay there getting angrier and angrier  making it even harder for me to relax and fall asleep. Then I discovered "ear plugs".  They are wonderful. I just pop those little puppies in and WALLA! I am out like a light, sleeping very peacefully. The reason I thought of my ear plugs is because Blue's friend, Weston came over last night to play X Box games. That doesn't happen very often because they are too noisy playing their games, but last night I didn't even notice when they stopped and Weston went home. Yay! I am grateful that I am able to sleep when I need to and the rest of my family can go about what they are doing without me getting upset.

#6 Prayer

I have been listening to the news reporting on the earthquake that hit Haiti on January 12, 2010, and  feeling uncomfortable for sitting in the comfort of my home watching the pain and suffering of the Haitian people and doing nothing. What can I do? I can't go there and I don't have huge amounts of money to donate. it doesn't seem like much, but I have been praying for them. I believe in the power of prayer and know that Heavenly Father hears them. I know that He is aware of their sorrow, pain and suffering and wants to bless them. I know that He works through others to bring about miracles. There is POWER in prayer. We must join together in prayer in behalf of these people who desperately need a miracle.

Photo from here

#5 Uggs

This Christmas Seth & Jessica treated me to a pair of Uggs  (however,they shouldn't have, I feel guilty when my children spend too much money on me). Guilty or not, I LOVE THEM! I have always wanted a pair. I will try them on every winter in Dillards and say, "I want a pair of these", I did it this year. If you haven't put your feet in a pair of Uggs then you should and you would know what I am talking about. You might think that your feet would get too hot, but the wool inside regulates the warmth of my feet perfectly. I wear them all day, even after I have put on my pajamas. They are so warm and snugly on my feet. I tell Troy, "This is like heaven for my feet". Today, while sitting in the library listening to the instructor and getting ready to take the Census2010 test for a job I was thinking how much I love my Uggs and how cozy my feet felt. I know it's a bit much, but it is TRUE. I am very grateful for this wonderful gift. Thank you Seth & Jessica.

#4 Winter Fog

 We have been experiencing a lot of fog this winter. It can be  a scary thing to drive in fog because of low visibility and the roads become very slick at night, but it's only because of this fog that we get to experience this often rare beauty of winter. Ice crystals collect on every little delicate thing, like the twigs of trees,the daintiest blade of grass and each strand of a fence. It is amazingly beautiful. When the sun comes out everything sparkles  like millions of diamonds, but not for long. The warmth of the sun melts it away.  I am grateful for the beauty of winter.

#3 The Shillig/Sarager Family

 

My mother lives 2 hours south of me and I don't get to see her as often as I should. However, I am so grateful for the Shillig family who has had her a member of their VERY large family for about 25 years (since I have married and left home). After I left and Rich was on a mission still, mom found herself all alone up in northern California. She decided to head to southern California. Not sure  where she was going to stay, the bishop of   the church down there hooked her up with the Shillig family.  They had a room for her to rent. At the time they had 4 or 5 children, but as time went on they grew to 11 children and eventually needed the room. By then mom had become a honorary Shillig family member.  She stayed close by, but eventually I asked her if it was time for her to move closer to her own children and grandchildren. At the time I lived in Malad and Rich lived in Payson. She moved out to Utah about 10 years ago and ended up living across the street from Rich. Well things have changed Rich moved and mom had to move also. By now the Shillig children are growing up, getting married, having children of their own. I think most of them who  are married have moved to Utah. Walla! Mom is back into the Shillig clan. She is currently living in the basement of Larkie & Seth (Larkie is the oldest Shillig girl) home with their children Jordan & Atticus. My mother is so happy and really enjoying living there. She will call me and say, "WE are....." She loves their little children and is always telling me the newest cute thing they did. Once I called and she said she was getting a pedicure! The next time I visited I saw her "green" painted toenails. I am so grateful that they love her and share their lives with her. Thank you Seth, Larkie, Jordan, Atticus, Audrey, Rachel (to name a few)....

#2 Blue

Troy is out of town (again) and every time he is I think how grateful I am that I still have Blue (my baby) home to be here with me. I don't know how it happened that we had Blue home for four years after Sundi left home. The Lord must have known that I would need him during this time in my life  It's nice to still have him around  to watch TV or movies with in the evenings, to have a reason to make dinner and breakfast, to tease with hugs and kisses, (he doesn't like me to touch him, but of course I have to try) read scriptures and have FHE with and to occasionally have him make me laugh with his sense on humor, surprising he does have one. It's pretty funny what he comes up with.  It's nice to still have someone to be a mother to. Rather than be alone, I feel a little safer when he is here.  I am glad to have him around even if he sometimes is annoying me! I love you Blue.

#1 A Warm Home

I deliver mail and today I went to work in 4 degree weather, so when I got home and took off my snow boots, mittens, scarf and hoodie to eat a warm bowl of soup with toast I was very grateful to have a warm home to come home too. But I must not forget why my home is warm and that is because of my dear husband who sees to it that the propane tank is filled and the bill is paid. Thank you sweet heart for our warm home that you provide for us.