A Perfect Day

Today is a perfect day. The weather is beautiful - sunny, 75 degrees, breezy. I opened all of the windows and the fans are going, so it feels nice and airy and fresh inside. I also made some Banana Craisin mini muffins that just popped out of the oven a few minutes ago, so the house smells great, too (now I just need to stop popping them into my mouth!)

I washed our sheets and remade the bed, vacuumed and washed all of the window blinds, dusted the whole house, vacuumed the couches and floors (I even lifted the cushions!), swept and mopped the kitchen/dining room floors, did the dishes, etc. It feels so good to have a CLEAN home. And I wouldn't mind if the weather stayed like this 300 days a year (I need at least 65 days of snow and crispy fall weather with beautiful leaves).

I enjoyed General Conference this past weekend. I look forward to reading the messages again next month in the Ensign. I love President Monson - I feel like he is 'my' prophet. I also felt President Hinckley was 'my' prophet, or perhaps my love for the prophet and for church leadership grows the older I get. I appreciate all of their messages of love for us and their good words to make me want to be better. In the past I would feel guilty and didn't feel like I was measuring up to others, but this time around, I just feel motivated to do better.

I have started indexing again, and I realized that I really missed it! I think I quit because there were no projects that really interested me, or truthfully, were too hard to read/I was too lazy to put a lot of effort into reading the tough handwriting. Luckily, I have been working on some that are more legible.

I have a nephew and 3 cousins on missions, and another 2 cousins with their mission calls, just waiting for their time to leave. I am so proud of their decisions to become missionaries! I have had the opportunity to visit families in our ward with our missionaries, and I enjoy meeting the kids and inviting them to Primary and other church events. But I get easily frustrated when promises are broken, and they don't show up to church. In General Conference, Elder Ballard said we need to not only invite others, but follow up with them too. So my goal is to not get too bothered when it happens, but to still show love and keep visiting and inviting.

The other day, Jon and I were discussing things we would like to do in our lives. We were both feeling a bit down, because they seemed unattainable (or at least wouldn't happen for a long time). So we put together a list of things we HAVE done - we now each have 5 or 6 pages worth of activities we took part of or things we accomplished! After writing it all down, we both felt so blessed, and our attitudes totally turned around. We realized we both have done a lot, and had more opportunities than many others have ever had. Some are more significant than others, but are still important. Here are just a few we listed:

Molly:
- visited many church sites (New York, Kirtland, Manti, SLC, Vermont) and enjoyed the pageants
- been on an airplane
- participated in a Pioneer Trek
- been to Hawaii, Japan, Las Vegas, and Quebec City
- been to pro baseball and basketball games
- took horseback riding lessons
- shot guns, tried archery
- hiked the Y
- learned the play the piano
- participated in our high school play/chorus
- swam in the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico
- had a makeover at Sephora
- driven 4-wheelers and tractors
- had a massage/manicure/pedicure
- have a portrait painted of me
- driven cross-country
- won the "Catapult Contest" with my teammate for Latin class (thanks, Dad!)
- won a chili cook-off at church
- saw Cirque du Soleil
- rode on the back of a motorcycle
- been to many museums and went on historical tours
- explored the Carlsbad Caves in NM
- saw a Broadway play in NYC
- was given a surprise birthday party
- had some dinners growing up where everything we ate was from the garden (I always hated weeding it, but I appreciate it now...)
- played the organ at the Provo Tabernacle

Jon:
- served a mission in Portugal for 2 years
- went on a cruise to Mexico
- went skydiving twice
- visited Niagara Falls
- flew over the Grand Canyon
- explored Washington DC and NYC
- visited Yellowstone National Park
- received his Eagle Scout award
- hiked Mount Timpanogos
- been to NFL, MLB, NBA, NHL games
- went white water rafting
- gone waterskiing, tubing, boating
- visited Kitty Hawk
- had Lasik eye surgery
- been to a rodeo and a demolition derby
- toured the Alamo and the San Antonio Missions
- visited the Biltmore Estate in NC
- been to many aquariums and zoos
- got his Associate and Bachelor degrees
- got married to a beautiful woman (his words!)

And the lists just go on! I am amazed that I have been able to do so much in 26 years, and I feel blessed that I had so many opportunities. Whenever I feel jealous or poor or feel like I have wasted my life, it's nice to look back at my list and remember all of the things I have been able to do and have enjoyed!

I have been trying to grow some plants inside the apartments. I started with basil, but I accidentally overwatered it and it got moldy. So I started over - I now have new basil growing, along with cilantro, strawberries, and miniature sunflowers. The sunflowers grew really fast, but I read online that the strawberries take quite a while. I finally saw two little leaves sticking up from the dirt today, so hopefully I'm doing something right. I can't wait to have my own yard and my own outdoor garden. I did learn that there are dwarf blueberry plants that can grow in pots - that may be my next 'green thumb' project!

Jon is a lot better at documenting our lives - I need to take more pictures and videos. I am grateful he takes the time to take out his phone and snap pictures and record activities, especially when we are visiting family.  I love watching the videos of all of our sweet nephews and nieces. They are the best kids in the world and I love them all SO much. They all just need to stop getting older :)