The Seven of Us

I have to admit:  I'm plaigarizing again.  I love this post, not because it's about adoption, though I do think posts about adoption are intesting. Nope, I love this post because it addresses something I think most of us struggle with: allowing ourselves to be offended.  My friend Lia (well, not really my friend, just my cyberfriend) is not LDS.  She struggles with a lot of stuff.  She's very honest (almost blunt). But I love her closing statement. If she can see the need to "drop all charges", then shouldn't I, a member of the Church who professes to believe in the Savior and follow him, also be able to do that?  Food for thought. Everything that follows is from Lia. Enjoy. Thunderbolt. Posted on May 28, 2011 So, I was watching a commercial for ancestry.com, thinking about how Before I would never have thought twice about said commercial, and After I’m like, man, it would suck to be in a closed adoption and see these commercials, the...

Every system is perfectly designed to get the results it gets. -Paul Batlden, MD Even me.  The results I get are rarely the results I want, but I can take heart in the fact that my Creator knows me, planned this, and, therefore, the results I get are okay. I can settle for that .

Spring is beautiful, but I am miserable. To paraphrase another blogger, I am miserably enduring my worst-ever spring allergy season.  Ten springs ago I had moderately annoying ear pain in the spring. That year I realized that my body had decided to stop getting sinus infections and was going to bless me with allergies instead. Maybe every spring has been miserable since, but I don't think any have been like this. (Lightbulb moment: I think progesterone, pregnancy, and lactation hormones inhibit the inflammatory reponse! They must, because that would explain why I probably had 3 or 4 years that weren't too bad at all.)  This year is bad. I can't sleep.  I can feel the postnasal drip coating my throat like chocolate dip coats an ice cream cone. I cough. I sniffle. I buy more claritin, take one, notice that it helps.  Twelve hours later I take two sudafed pills hoping that my pounding headache will go away. All of this from a person who is gravitating...

1.  Getting my BYU Alumni magazine in the mail and opening it up to find a full-size profile photo of Jimmer that  looks a lot like Caleb. Very fun. 2.  Hearing that the temp.erature outside may actually be warmer than 65* on any given day. 3. Knowing that baseball season is starting Friday. 4. Letters (or email, or facebook messages) from family/friends. 5. Along those lines, a good conversation--via text, of course--with my brother. 6. Extra money. 7.  Nowhere to go all afternoon (class is done). 8. Being excited about anything in life. 9.  Baseball is coming, and Caleb was asked to play up a level. 10. Hearing that the price if gas may go down.  That's good news, because if it goes up I'll be sending Caleb to ballgames with friends... 11.  Thinking about going home to NY sometime. 12.  Making my house better. Can't happen fast enough. 13. A good night's sleep. 14. Strawberries.

I've been gone from New York State for almost nineteen years, but sometimes, at the strangest moments, I miss my home.   Though I was anxious to leave and knew in my mid-teens that I liked the western part of our country, I find that I think of home and wish for it more as I get older.  I miss the lush greenery of the Adirondacks in the summertime, when simply stepping outside is an experience that awakens the senses.  I can smell the pine trees and feel the warm humidity on my skin, and I wish for it even though I know I don't like it.  I miss the peaceful serenity of my childhood home.  The porch wasn't screened in when I was home;  I'd like to go back and sit there, on my Nanna's old wicker furniture, with a good book and a cold drink. I miss the beautiful, plentiful lakes, rivers, and streams, surrounded by evergreens.  There is nothing similar on the high plains of Colorado! And for some reason, as I get old...

In February Jared and the four oldest kids went to Washington to welcome Uncle Matt home from the New York New York North Mission. It had been three years since all ten of Jared's siblings had been together and they had a good time.  Jared arrived in time to be at the Pasco airport with everyone as they waited for Matt's flight. Below:  Waiting.  Everyone in this photo, with the exception of the man in the white shirt and the bald guy in the middle, is an Andersen.  The guy in the plaid shirt is Jared's dad, Doug, and the girl in the white is his sister, Beth, with her daughter.  On Beth's right  is cousin Josie Bates, and another cousin, Kilee Chase (McKenna's age) is on the far right.  The photo below is of cousins Lauren, Hannah and Jake Andersen.  They look ready to greet Matt.   Finally! The smiling missionary.  Brothers Matt and Josh hug while Grandma Sally wipes tears away.  ...

Sometimes I see what others go through on their mortal journey and I'm glad I'm me. Cancer. Death.  Health challenges.  Children spiritually adrift. Job loss. Sometimes I wonder when my turn with [any of the above] is coming. And it's then that I say to myself, "You are a blessed lady.  When [   ]  happens, remember your friend [      ] and be like [he] is." And then I continue on my journey, packing a little more perspective with me.  Sometimes I wonder if Heavenly Father will give me credit for the learning-by-observing method and bypass me when he hands out [        ] and [       ].   And even as I wonder, I think I know the answer to that.  And then I wonder if I will be prepared for sometime to arrive, someday.