Never Say Never . . .

. . . and the national press didn't think Obama had any fans in Utah!

Love

This quote is from a beautiful conference address given by President Harold B. Lee at the April 1973 LDS General Conference.

I seemed to have heard the voice of
President David O. McKay say,
"If you want to love God,
you have to learn to love and serve the people.
That is the way you show your love for God."

Miracles

"There are two ways to live:
you can live as if
nothing is a miracle;
you can live as if
everything is a miracle."
- Albert Einstein -

Proud to be an American

Democrat or Republican - young or old - white or black (or yellow or red or purple, etc.) - optimistic or pessimistic - no matter where you are in your life - you could not help but be PROUD to live in such a remarkable country as the good 'ol USA as you watched the swearing in of President Obama!

To see the transfer of power handled with power and with dignity was to me the headline of the day. From the graciousness of the Bushes and the Obamas to the walk down Pennsylvania Avenue, every American could hold their heads high as we witnessed history in the making.

Twenty-eight years ago on the 19th of January, I was in the delivery room. As I returned to my room after giving birth to our son, Ryan, I watched the hostages newly released from captivity in Iran walk off a plane in Germany. The next day Ronald Reagan was sworn in as president.

A lot has happened in 28 years - personally and historically. But the greatness of the American people continues to shine through tragedy and triumph.

In October I visited the Ford Museum in Detroit. On display was the bus that Rosa Parks was riding when she refused to 'move to the back of the bus'. It is humbling to see that in my lifetime we have gone from separate drinking fountains for whites and blacks to President Obama being sworn in by Chief Justice Roberts.

Let the debates continue, let Americans continue to voice differing opinions, let life be protected from conception, let protesters march and grandmas rock babies, from the beginning to the very end of each and every day may God continue to bless America!

Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all the best this holiday season
as we celebrate the birth of His Son.

Thought for today (and tomorrow) . . .

It has been said that . . .

"A squirrel is actually a mouse
with an excellent PR person."

(I said it was a thought - I didn't say it would be profound :)

My 'Bucket List' - Feed a Giraffe

I have decided to start a 'Bucket List'.

This is my approach to my list. Because I am a blue personality (susceptible to guilt trips), can be random at times and enjoy spontaneity, I will do something that is 'Bucket worthy' and then I will add it to my 'Bucket List' so that I can cross it off.

That way, at the end of my days, I will have crossed off everything on my list! A perfectly guilt-free approach to my 'Bucket List'!


No. 1 - Feed a giraffe. I need to mention how incredibly difficult it is to hold a camera, hold a giraffe cracker, keep the giraffe from eating the cracker before you take the picture while you make sure that the giraffe eats the cracker and not your fingers.

All in all, I think this is a great picture. I might note that when I shared my accomplishment with my brother and sister-in-law, they did not share my enthusiasm and asked if I had washed my hands (and wondered why on earth I went to the zoo instead of the spa - the spa isn't on my list, yet!).

Oh well, every one's 'Bucket List' is different.


*Random fact - I asked the giraffe keeper which one of the giraffes was the 'fat duck' - you know, the duck that is bossy and overbearing and eats all of the bread crumbs. I didn't want to feed that giraffe. He pointed out a giraffe ambling over to me and mentioned that she's pregnant. How can you not feed the pregnant giraffe? So I ended up feeding the pregnant giraffe and two baby giraffes.