Apples

 

Kate with her Fuji

As we began our day, heading into Zion National Park over UEA weekend (or sometimes called "Fall Break"), we took the advice of my sister-in-law, Kristi, to stop at the Springdale Fruit Company. A "U-Pick" apple orchard.

 Kate in the orchard

Such a great time. We loved having a bunch of delicious, freshly picked apples for snacking while we spent our time at Zion's.

Pumpkin Patch

Kate's Note

Typical Saturday

Perks of My Plubby

Before (toilet handle)

So I have a Plumber Husband (Plubby).

And this is just one of the many Perks. He came home from work with the biggest grin and a little box. A few minutes later...

After (oil-rubbed bronze to match the rest of the fixtures throughout the house). 

Even my OCD self never cared that the handle was chrome while the rest of the house had oil-rubbed bronze. But now, I can't believe I managed without it all this time.

Ho-Ho-Halloween?

Our aim was to decorate for Halloween. Scott and I stretched the spider-webby stuff around the front porch, mailbox, and bushes and placed black and orange plastic spiders in them. Meanwhile, Kate had a different holiday in mind.

Epiphany...

Drum roll please....  (click for the real thing on all the links)

I have it all figured out. I get why I've been so frustrated. This is HUGE. All this time, I thought life was like a story. Seriously. I thought God was writing a story with my life and that it had all the elements of a story. You know: plot, characters, conflict, climax, resolution, theme, etc. You know all that junk from English class, right?

Like with our infertility, for example (since that has been our running theme for 7.5 of our 11 years together - YAY! go infertility!  Whoo-Whoo-Whoo-Whoo {think Arsenio Hall here - couldn't find the right clip}). I kept getting to a certain point thinking that this would be a climactic way to resolve this conflict and then the plot can evolve and a new theme can begin. I really thought that was how God worked. I'd seen countless examples of people around me. A couple struggles with infertility, they sell their SUV and buy a sports car, Wahoo! - prego! A couple struggles with infertility, the adopt a baby, voila - prego, 10 months apart! A couple struggles with infertility, they go on vacation to Cabo - Ta-Da! prego, they name the child Lucas.

We don't get the cool sound effects; the da-da-na-naaaa! never seems to happen over here. We get the "wa-wa-waw" sound effect. That anti-climactic noise that happens on cartoons.

And then, it hit me like a ton of bricks... I'm not some character in a three act play, novel, short story, or even a poem. I'm just a girl. I'm just alive, whatever that's about.

And then I thought... cool.

It's just life. It's unexpected. It's real. It's a new deal, everyday. Maybe I'm writing my own story? Maybe God is just chillin', waiting to see what I'll write about. Or maybe I'm all wrong and God really is writing my story and He is just taking a REALLY long time to get to the point.

WAIT... that's not it at all. -- Epiphany inside Epiphany -- Maybe I misread the theme altogether. This isn't a life story about infertility - the story of my life is about passion, creativity, fun, peace, laughter, and joy.

I get it now.

You Had Me at "Chocolate"

I just returned from a nice dinner with my mom and sisters, followed with General Women's Conference. I feel so much improved after hearing the messages from the General Relief Society Presidency and President Uchtdorf.

I especially appreciated the talk Sister Allred gave on Charity and the talk President Uchtdorf gave with the 5 things we mustn't forget. Both talks I needed to hear to help me with the challenges I face. I now have some much appreciated perspective!

I had my niece, Samantha, sitting next to me. She was attending her first session of Women's Conference as a newly-turned 18-year-old. I helped her write notes and we giggled a bit. I wrote some silly notes for her and one of them was, "President Uchtdorf, you had me at 'Chocolate'!"

Yes, I was being somewhat silly, but what was shared really did sink in. That story he told using the story of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with the golden ticket that everyone was searching for was perfect. I see that I struggle with that same problem, always searching for the allusive golden ticket and neglecting to enjoy the chocolate bar that I have already received. Super-good stuff!

All of it was great.


Click Here for a short piece of Elder Uchtdorf's talk when he recapped the five things.
Click Here for another little piece from the talk when he talked about how we are not forgotten to our Father in Heaven.

I'm sure this talk with be on Mormon messages soon.

Here is the link to the full conference (about an hour and a half).If you don't have time to watch the whole conference, at least catch Pres. Uchtdorf's talk. Just scroll the time bar to 58:00, that's when his talk begins.

Right now, I'm grateful for the timing of this conference.