*Monday Memos*

*MONDAY MEMOS*

   

 (If pictures are too small, just click to enlarge) 
Weekly recap of my rather crazy, insane, but fun and rewarding life!

dear monday, I would be in Nashville today. But thanks to Covid-19 I am not. I think I will start blaming everything on Corona. That sounds like a real name. So, it's Corona's fault I am not in Nashville right now. I hope I will get there eventually. Today I got out and walked/ran. I got in a mile and a quarter!!! Yay!  I didn't want to just do a mile again and so I decided to increase it a bit. I am trying to be wise and not go overboard. Just slowly so I don't cause problems. So far so good!  I LOVE RUNNING!  I have missed it so much!  It felt SO good today to just run!!! YAY! What a blessing! What a miracle! Thanks and praise to heaven!!  Scored some coins.

I came home and practiced the harp for a good two and half hours. My shoulder was bright red where it rests on it because I practiced so long. I have a lesson tomorrow and so I was cramming. I enjoyed it. I then worked on my blog books. I am getting stressed and not sure I will get them done before the deadline. It's so fun to have the boys here. They went golfing today with Sky and Carson and Sarah.  They stayed six feet apart. So they said. I hope so.

Haylie sent me this. So cute! McKay and Taylor stopped by.

 My "presents" from Carson!
How cute is that?!

dear tuesday, today I got up early and practiced my harp.  I had my online lesson today and it went well. It was short and sweet and I only played Minuet One. She was very happy how fast I was able to pull it back. I worked hard on it. My friend Nancy Moyle dropped over some Keto sweetener called Swerve for McKay and some chocolate chips as well. She is the sweetest and is doing Keto as well. Now to find time to make him some treats. I worked my tail off on the blog books again. I got 2016 done! Yay! The books I ordered came today!  I AM SO EXCITED!  

 I did the backs wrong on two of them. They automated them and I had no idea.

 McKay's Mission Blog

McKay's came as well. He is not as excited as I am! 

Today is Dave's last day of quarantine. He goes back tomorrow.  This was at the local hospital. Amen to that!

He had Kars for Kids haul off the red Honda and the white Nissan. Both were in need of expensive repairs. They are going to come and take the motorhome as well! Yay!  

We had tacos for dinner. I worked on the blog books and then joined the boys and Dave for part of the movie Harry Potter. They watched part one last night (#7 I think?). It was intense. 

 This is my answer to the TP shortage!
Hope I never have to use them!  But hey!  They would work in a pinch!

dear wednesday, it was raining when I woke up. I got dressed and out to run but the wind was brutal and I was freezing and so didn't get much in. I decided to go later today when it died down. Didn't happen. I got working on my blog books again and basically spent all day doing them. I only got our Alaska cruise post done so I can print 2018 but now I have to do the Boston Marathon 2018 as well. Sigh. These are so much stinkin' work! But they will be worth it!  It is just a relief knowing I have them in the case the internet loses my blog. It has happened to friends of mine. They aren't perfect by any means but DONE IS BETTER THAN PERFECT!!!!  I love looking at the ones that came yesterday. I lost have my photos I exported today and I wanted to cry. It took me an additional hour or so to retrieve them. UGH. Dave went back to work today for the first time since he was quarantined. He said it went well and nothing out of the ordinary. He came home with a sweet roll and a welcome back sign. Thankfully, he brought home Maddox take out for dinner. I have needed his help while I try to cram and get these blog books done before my coupon expires! They are all I do!  Thank goodness for being quarantined!  Otherwise I wouldn't stand a chance!  I have a chance I can get them done by Tuesday if I keep at it!

Mr. Cat is enjoying the quarantine!

Actually, he has no clue since nothing has changed for him.

dear thursday, tonight we were supposed to be going to see Celine Deon!  CANCELLED!  Like everything else has been. She has postponed though but hasn't set the date yet. today I went on my walk/run and I RAN a mile and a half! I can't believe it! I was so excited!  It wasn't even that bad. LOL  I think there might be some hope after all!  Yippee!  I felt good after as well. 
This is so eery!  But this is what the streets look like now when I am out running. This road was always crazy busy! (Forest Street)

I practiced the harp today for quite a while. I don't have a lesson next week and I want to stay on top of all my songs. I made dinner for Haylie and Bryce tonight. She isn't feeling well at all. We are worried she might have Covid. She has asthma and so she is high risk. I made my Wild Rice Chicken casserole. It's really yummy. I also made a spinach strawberry salad and some cheesy breadsticks. Taylor made No Bake Cookies and so I sent some of those as well.  

Haylie text me and said, "That is the best food I've ever had in my life. No joke. Can I get the recipe?"  She is so sweet. I do have the recipe in another post somewhere but I will add it here again to make it easier:

Wild Rice & Chicken Casserole

• 1 box Uncle Ben's Long Grain and Chicken and Wild Rice
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup
• 2 cups cooked chicken, cubed or shredded ( I used leftover Rotisserie chicken)
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1/2 cup of fresh sliced carrots, boiled until soft ( or you can add them to the rice as it simmers)
• 1/2 cup cream or milk
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1/2 stalk celery, diced
• 1 can water chestnuts (sliced) *optional
• 1 cup grated cheese (any kind you have)
• 1/3 cup toasted slivered almonds

Directions:

Cook box of rice according to packaged directions. In skillet, melt butter and sautee onion and celery over medium heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Once cooked, spoon rice into 9x13 casserole dish.  To the rice, add cream of mushroom soup, chicken, vegetables, cream, cooked onion and celery, half the cheese and half the almonds.  Season with some salt and pepper. Mix well and spread. Top with other half of cheese and almonds. Cover with foil and warm thoroughly at 300 degrees for at least 30 minutes. Serve with a side salad and biscuits.

THIS!!!! ↓ 

How cool is that!
This changed the world!

I have loved all the things I have been learning about Joseph Smith and the First Vision this year. It has been such a testimony builder! I am in awe of how he stayed so strong through all he had to go through in order to restore the fullness of the Gospel again. Satan pulled out all his forces to prevent it from happening and to try to get it to fail, but Joseph did not do the same and would not give in to him. What an amazing man. He was such a Christlike soul. There were so many things the Lord asked him to do that was so hard for him and so many things he would have preferred to not do, but he did them because he was commanded to. He had to restore ALL things back to the earth and some of those things were not things he understood all the reasons why, but he obeyed. How grateful I am for that because it has made my life what it is today. I am so grateful to have the restored gospel on the earth today. What a blessing to have the knowledge it brings.  If you haven't been following the Come Follow Me YouTube videos of David Butler and Emily Freeman, go check them out. Here is a link of the one I am on.

I am getting closer to getting my books done but I am getting so DONE with working on them. I am grateful I have had so much time to just focus on them but I need to get them done before I go crazy!  Katherine dropped this by tonight. So sweet.

dear friday, today I didn't go walking. I felt like I had too much to get done and I wanted an early start. I worked on the blog books FOREVER today. I had some issues with photos and posts, but I kept at it. I practiced the harp for a long time as well. I made dinner for Dave's parents. We took them a pot roast, baked potatoes, rolls, and a jello salad.  We ate it as well. I had no idea what day it was today. Actually, I haven't really known all week. I made Fat Bombs for McKay today. I feel so bad we eat so much that he can't. I have no idea how he is doing it. He amazes me.

LOVE SPRING!

 What can you spy???

The deer hang out pretty much all day in our backyard. I never get sick of seeing them!

 Instead of going on a deer hunt, how about a bear hunt?
This is so fun!  Everyone is being so great to participate too!

 Including me! My bear is tough to find!
Can you see him?
Okay, here's a hint!

dear saturday, Haylie's Covid test came back negative. Whew. What a relief. Today I ran another mile and a half!  Not a good idea though. When I first started, I couldn't do it. It hurt so bad I was limping. So I stopped and just walked again for a bit. I tried again and pushed through the pain and then it was okay. But I guess I over did it because my ankle hurt all day. I need to be smart and not push it too fast. PATIENCE! Ugh. We were supposed to go to dinner with the Bitner's finally tonight but that was cancelled. Good thing though because it is actually fast Sunday tomorrow. Pres. Nelson actually called for a day of a Worldwide Fast and Prayer to petition the Lord for help with this pandemic.

I worked hard on the blog books. I can't wait to be done!  I took a break and went to Smith's.  The grocery store is now the highlight of my social life!  I actually do see peeps I know each time I go. Kind of fun! LOL  Dave made us steaks this afternoon before we started our fast. So good. 

dear sunday, today was the Worldwide Fast. We all did well over here at our house. It was so much easier for me than last month. I have no idea why I struggled last month but I thought I was going to pass out. Today we all went longer than the 24 hours and everyone did great. We had the sacrament. It was hilarious because Dave tore up a full piece of bread in four pieces. They were huge pieces!  We joked about it a bit and McKay said, "Must be fast Sunday!"  It was so funny the way he said it. We all died laughing. 

 Love when everyone has fun playing board games!

Carson called me and said they were going to have a picnic at the park and were going to stop by. I hope they are being wise. They did stop by and I thought they would stay for a minute but they stayed for the rest of the night. We had hamburgers and they were so good!  I pulled out the home videos and put in a few to watch. It was so fun!  They were so little and grew up so fast. So sad. They all were playing a crossword game on their phones and having a contest to see who got them done first or something. It was a nice restful Sabbath day. It was nice to have them over. I have missed them!  Especially that little sweet Carson! 

He rocks the glasses much better than I do!

We have started a new family game (app) called the New York Crossword Puzzle. We play the Daily Mini and text each other our scores. It has been a fun way to stay connected.

 I teased them for all being on their phones at the same time, but they were playing the crossword puzzle and it's timed. 

I decided to FINALLY try the Chocolate Melting Cake from Carnival Cruise. 

It wasn't anything like theirs!  Waaaaa! 
I need to know what kind and brand of chocolate they use! 

I took some over to Robin and Grant. I wish it had turned out better.

How sweet is this? Carson is watching a movie with Bamboo his hamster. He says he likes the movie they are watching. Sarah sent me this pix!

dear covid memes,