*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, today it was really chilly!  46 degrees! I am NOT ready for fall!  I want summer to last longer. Fall is not my favorite because it means that winter is right around the corner!  I am not a fan of winter. I went on a walk and got in over five miles!  I had a podcast on but then turned it off because I wanted to just think. I need time to think and I love to be able to do that while out in nature and alone.  I also like to pray.  I got some answers to some issues.  

I came home and hurried and got ready and then met Karen Cox at the hospital cafeteria for lunch. They have a really good salad bar.  We visited for a good two and half hours.  I haven't talked to her for so long.  She was my American Mother's partner and we have done a lot in the past, but not lately.  She has had some hard things lately as have I and so we had a lot to catch up on.  She is a life coach now and I told her I was interested in doing that someday and she told me she wants to open up an education center where people could go and get coached in health (mental and physical) as well as a culinary school where they could learn how to cook healthy meals. She wants me to teach that. Or teach something else. She said I have so much to offer. I was flattered, but I will have to give that a lot of thought.  It was so nice to catch up.  She is an amazing person and I have always looked up to her.  I saw my PT peeps! haha  

I hit Walmart after and got some things for Taylor because I feel sorry for him.  Carson was home from school when I got here.  He was reading and then had to take a nap.  They told me that he talked non stop about me to Sarah's friend Crystal. it was "Jodi this and Jodi that" and he told her that I am an angel.  With a devil on my shoulder! HAHAHAHAHA!  He is right!  But how did he figure that out!  Too funny! He had to take a nap and I worked on the calendars and this. We had dinner.  I made Tator Tot casserole and it was funny because we had FHE and Carson taught the lesson on the Tater family. Agi Tater, Com N Tater, Hesi Tater, etc.  I didn't even plan it! hah  

The deer at the top of the hill are so trusting.

dear tuesday, I went on my walk and it was so gorgeous. It was chilly at first but then so nice. I got in three miles. 

I came home and Dave was off today. I practiced the harp for a long time.  I worked on my calendars and the blog for quite a while as well. It was chilly today.  It poured and poured and I loved it!  It makes me happy when it rains.  Carson and I went on a walk after it cleared up but the wind was so bad that we came home and made brownies.  :D Sarah got a new Jasmine costume and Carson put on the wig and had me laughing so hard!

The littles stopped by for a quick visit!  

dear wednesday, I got up early and got ready and then practiced the harp.  I also took Carson to school on my way to my harp lesson.  

It was an overcast day and rained a lot.  I love the rain!  I listened to several podcasts today.  Can't get enough of learning.  My lesson went well. After I played I Know That My Redeemer Lives, she thanked me and said it brought healing to her.  It  is a beautiful arrangement and my goal is to get it perfect.  I pray I can.  I ran some errands, mostly trying to find stuff for Taylor because his friend Travis is heading up there tomorrow and has a truck so we can send stuff with him. I hit Sams, the DI in Layton, Target, and I had to stop at Crumbl!  Mmm...  I LOVE THAT PLACE!

I then headed back to BC to Maddox for lunch with Paigely, my mom, Chantel, Sarah, and Sheila.  It was so fun. They are all so nice.  It was a goodbye to Paigely because she heads on her mission in one week. She is so cute.  I am so proud of that girl. I get told by everyone that we look alike and she is my mini me and we have the same mannerisms and that she could be my daughter.  I'd take her!  

I had to leave a bit early because I had my physical therapy at 2:30.  It went well.  Other than my dang extension is still only a -3 instead of a -4! Ugh!  Will it ever get back?  Rob had me practice kneeling down and squatting because I still can't do that. It's kind of scary because it's painful.  He pushed my knee back for my flexion today and HOLY!  That hurt! I forgot how painful that was.  This whole thing has been one series of pain and trauma!  Haha  I tend to forget how much I have been through to get where I am today. It's been a long haul!  People are always so nice and concerned though. Several people told me at therapy how great it is to see me doing so well. At the Layton DI, I ran into Mike who is Jolene B.'s husband and he came up to me and so gently said, "How are you?  I must say you are a beautiful woman.  Tell me how you really are doing?"  I was taken a bit by surprise because he was SO sincere and SO concerned.  Nice man.  I asked him how much I owe him for those nice words!  LOL Anyway, it poured while I was at PT.  I then went to Walmart, but decided to hit the DI instead and look for some stools for Taylor.  I didn't find those, but I did find some peeps that I knew. I wasn't expecting to go there for a social thing, haha, but that's how it ended up and I didn't buy a thing since I didn't do much looking, just talking.  It was nice to chat with one of them who I haven't talked to in forever.  It's interesting how you don't see someone for so long, but you can pick up right where you left off.   

Today was a good day.  I had some prayers answered.  It rained.  I found some things I had been looking for forever.  My lesson went well. I found lots of stuff for Taylor.  And I got cookies from Crumbl!  What more can you ask for?!  Heavenly Father is good.  That's all there is to it!

I came home and Carson came running out to greet me. He said he missed me so much. Man, I love that kid!  He is the sweetest little thing on the planet. We had dinner that Dave made. Yay!  And then Dave and I took a baby gift to The Broadheads and visited with them for a bit.  It was chilly today!  Brrrr...........  

dear thursday, today I had Homemakers and so I got up early and made my Peach Bread to take. It turned out yummy!

I sliced some up and then headed to Beth's for our first meeting of our year.  It is a potluck/planning meeting and we had a great turnout!  I am the President again this year and I am excited for a very fun time!

If you want great food, go to a Homemaker's potluck. There was so much yummy food!  And we basically got enough to sign up for our entire next year.  Yay!!! This group is loaded with amazing women! 

I came home and made dinner for Dave's parents.  I tried a new recipe and it turned out so good! 

When I was there I saw Bryce mowing their lawn. He is such a great kid.  He was working so we didn't get much time to chat.

 I then headed to Carson's flag football game. He was so cute. It's so fun to watch them play!

 I gathered up all of the stuff to send to Taylor. Travis is coming early in the morning to pick it up.

 I am sending him his cookbook that I made for Relief Society and I decided to put in some notes that he will find at random times. That is IF he ever opens the book!  haha  I can't wait to see how long it takes him.

dear friday, a random shot of Sky actually playing Nintendo. He bought some old one and was playing all these old games.  Kind of funny.

I am writing this about a month later and so I have no idea what really happened today because somehow the last four days were deleted.  This computer does the craziest things and it's so frustrating. So I will just move onto what I do remember.  I do know I ran some errands and went to the temple parking lot to gather my thoughts for my talk tonight. I should have made time to actually attend a session, but life happened. Dave and I were invited to the Forest Hills Elder Quorum's party tonight and they asked Dave to speak on Priesthood power and blessings and how that relates to modern medicine. He asked me a couple of days ago if I would take about 10 minutes before he speaks.  I was happy to because I have been so blessed and given many miracles and learned so much about faith and everything relating to blessings that I enjoyed gathering my thoughts. I will try to add them at the bottom of this. We had a yummy dinner with the best peach pie!  We chatted with a lot of the people. They have a really great ward. Everyone was so nice.  I gave my talk and I didn't even use a single note. What?!  I had it in my head and it just flowed. I felt good about it.

I didn't give that word for word by any means but that is the main message I gave.  Dave finished up after with more thoughts on the priesthood and blessings as well. Several of the men came up and talked to me about running the Boston Marathon and one said, "You have to be really fast to run that!" I told him I worked VERY hard to be able to qualify and it is very difficult to do and I really hope one day I will be able to get back again. Several others told me they enjoyed my testimony.  I hope it was okay since it was a little strange to have speakers at a party, but it worked out. We didn't take too long and so that helped.  Hah 

dear saturday, today I took Carson with me on my walk.  He was so fun to be with and he practiced running fast. He IS fast!  

We scoured the parking lot for coins first and we kept finding pennies. I told him if we visualized finding a quarter, I bet we would. I talk to him about the power of our minds all the time. We not only found one quarter but we found three!  And one on the bleachers of all places!  There is power in visualization.

I did my physical therapy on my squatting and it was so painful!  He thought it was funny and took pictures of me in pain. Hah  I wonder if I will ever be able kneel and squat normal again.  The way it feels I'm not so sure! This is huge progress even though it doesn't appear to be!

 We made a killing on the coins!  Always helps to have four eyes instead of two!

Julie called me and told me about an event at ACE and said there was a ton of free books and activities and so I took Carson. He got to meet the Peach Queen royalty and painted rocks and got lots of books. It was fun.

 We took Robin and Grant to dinner tonight to thank them for letting us stay at their Bear Lake condo. We went to Tokyo Station.  It was so much fun!  We had a long wait before so we walked over to Deseret Book and looked around for a bit. 

 The food was so good!  It is so fun to watch them entertain you while they cook it too! 

 We had a great time!

dear sunday, today I had to teach. My lesson was on honesty. I pulled out my FHE folders and used that. I also had some cute rings to give them.  I decorated the room with webs and spiders. They loved it. So fun!

Today I counted the money I have found that was in my Pennies From Heaven jar that I find running. I am not sure if that is all from one year or if I already put some in, but either way I came up with $21.59. Then I found more and had to add that. I think I might have already put in one jar but not sure. Who knows?  But it was fun to see how much I have found!  FUN!

Bryce and crew came over and we had a yummy dinner. It was fun to have everyone over. We had the best ribs! Mmmmmmm.....

dear random, my cute mom and Winston and Connor. Winston is now almost 8.

 Carson from his Disneyland trip. So cute!

I found a list of my favorite books on a Facebook memory and I thought it would be fun to add here. These have changed some but I'll still add it.

1.     Power of  Positive Parenting by Glenn I. Latham (also his Christlike Parenting)

2.     The Hiding Place by Corrie Ten Boom

3.     While Others Slept by Ellis Shipp MD

4.     Gifts From the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh

5.     Confessions of an Organized Housewife by Deniece Schofield

6.     The Anguish and Adventures of Adversity by Cheryl Carson

7.     I Didn't Plan to Be a Witch by Linda Eyre

8.     The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman

9.     Don't Sweat the Small Stuff  by Richard Carlson

10.    The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
11.   Continuous Atonement by Brad Wilcox
12.   How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie

13.   The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein

14.   The Fire of the Covenant by Gerald Lund 

15.    A Joyful Mother of Children  by Linda Eyre

16.   Fire of the Covenant by Gerald Lund

17.   Work and the Glory by Gerald Lund

18.   Believe in Christ by Stephen Robinson

19.   I Don't Have to Make Everything All Better by Gary and Joy Lundberg

20.   Emma Smith a Mormon Enigma by Linda Newell

My peach pie recipe. 

dear quotes,