Good Thoughts

I've been struggling a bit for the last few days. I have stopped taking some of my abdominal medications and it is pretty amazing to me exactly how much the meds were helping. I had managed to take them for so long that I didn't really remember how much abdominal pain and nausea I tended to live with and now it is back... and wow, I don't like it much. That said I have so much good going on right now so I thought I would count some of my blessings so to speak. :)

1. It's school vacation and I am caught up in all my classes with all of them graded except for one; I got all A's and B's so I can't whine about that. One of the classes was a math class and it is the first time in my life that I have passed an Algebra class! For full disclosure, I had lots of help. I was tutored, used three different texts from outside of class as well as a Teaching Company/ Great Courses class and three smartphone algebra game apps. Not to mention friends and sometimes spending as much as two hours on one question. But I passed- one more math class and my degree will pretty much be mine- all my requirements will be completed. I'm getting there!

2. I am doing pretty well with not biting my nails. I've tried to stop a few times in my life and I am at the crucial point where the nails are long enough they are starting to break. This is where I usually break down and start biting them, but I have been doing well and trying to cut and file them instead.


3. I have a wonderful household of animal companions that keep me company, give me love and affection and even make me laugh. While I probably have too many, like children... I don't know who I would live without if I needed too. So, like family, they stay and I wouldn't have it any other way.

4. I have a fun home and I am warm in this pretty cold and icy weather. I have a few close friends that I adore and who genuinely care for me and while work is a challenge, I have a few co-workers that I really love and can't imagine my life without which is an amazing blessing as well. I have food and water... and even a little ice cream. :D

5. I spend a great deal of my free time with Bug or in service to others which is a gift and helps keep me busy as well.

6. Even though I do have some health complaints, I am doing pretty well. I wish that taking care of myself was easier, but it could be much worse and having a safe place with companions to recover in means the world.

7. I was recently able to visit with some family and that is a gift that I cherish everyday.

8. I live in Maine- it is so beautiful here. I love being rural and being able to have a little space of my own. Being able to not feel super crowded is precious.

9. I love reading and currently have many new books to choose from. I am taking advantage of my vacation to do some fun reading and I have pretty much finished every Nero Wolfe book I got! On to Hamish Macbeth!

10. Who can't smile with silly ferrets around :)

What do you have to be grateful for today?

Highlights from my Summer

Boy, this has been a crazy year... for me at least. But even with the yuckiness and the trials that have caused me much distraction and grief, I have had some brief moments of awe and joy. I thought I would share a few and it comes as no surprise to me that most of these moments contained animals or nature in them. So here they are:

1. I got to spend a bit of time weeding this summer for some extra money. The time out in the sun was wonderful and I got to really see a few fun things. I got to see a monarch butterfly,







The longest worm ever!





Small juvenile foxes running along the road looking for food....











Frogs with amazing voices- loud and clear!












Large spiders just hanging out in midair....











Huge amounts of ants and pupae moving along the ground....












Tiny toads in the grass.










Newts hiding in the grass and the wet












And the smallest slug I have ever seen in my life!













A few things were really memorable and remind me why I live in a rural area. I saw:

a hidden duck nest















huge blossoming plants of daisies... they are my favorite flower!











Seals near the shore where I was working. They would come several morning in a row and just play in the surf and the shallows. It was beautiful and I am sorry that I wasn't able to get a picture except for the disturbance in the water after the seal have reentered the water.












The pasture that I have been trying to grow is doing very well... almost too well as the plants grow so quickly and thick that I do not keep up and I end up with grasses and flowers as tall if not taller than me.











I had some of the priesthood over to cut wood late this summer and it was such a blessing. It was also amazing to see how much wood so many of them would carry at once. It makes me smile. :)













Bug had a great summer. Our blackberry bushes were abundant and he enjoyed filling large containers of berries.
















Bug also experimented with making donuts and I was the happy recipient of his labors. He happily fed me donuts until I didn't feel like I could eat any more. It was wonderful!









How was your summer? Do you have an experience that was wonderful and inspiring that you would like to share? What blessings did you have?

Small Blessings

Tonight, I almost lost a close and loving companion. While I have rarely taken it for granted that my pets are safe outside, they on the other hand sometimes seem to feel that they are invincible. Tonight, Achilles seemed to believe he was so and dusk came and he did not return and night came... and he did not return. My calls and the tapping of a fork on a cat food can brought no response. So I continued to put Bug to sleep and only after he had fallen asleep could I get up to look again. At 10:30, I walked outside to see a pair of eyes glowing from the woods near my door-maybe 100 feet. When I called out towards the eyes, a second set of glowing eyes answered me from under my car and ran towards my open arms. As I picked Achilles up to hold him close to me, I aimed my light at the eyes in the woods,which immediately vanished. I held Achilles close and felt the supreme softness of his fur and his happy purr and thanked my Father. With the trials that I am currently facing, it would have been a difficult blow to lose a friend. Thank you Father for my momentary respite tonight. Thank you so caring enough for me to protect my companion for this moment so that I can feel gratitude and delight and thankfulness for the small miracles that you perform in my life and the lives of others... even the miracles that we have no idea of. Thank you.