Friday, May 29, 2020

Looking Back and Looking Forward

Things That Made Me Happy in May

A fun weekend at the Cape with my mom, sister, and niece. Finally!

Good Witch - I'm really enjoying this season

Mother's Day

My veggies are sprouting and growing. The seeds worked!

Watching The Lord of the Rings movies with Peter and the boys

Saturday night bubble baths (not with Peter and the boys, ha ha)

A good immune system masterclass that I've been taking on Zoom with a functional medicine doctor in Iowa City. I'm learning a lot from it and feeling more empowered about my health than ever.

Warmer temperatures. Finally!

Pool season is back!

Chocolate raspberry truffle ice cream from Uhlman's

Microwave smores


Things I'm Looking Forward to in June

Even warmer temperatures

Good books to read

More Good Witch

Our 18th wedding anniversary

The last day of school (of sorts)

Life becoming more normal again, I hope!


Tuesday, May 19, 2020

January Randoms

I loved this trio of owls on the cover of the Bas Bleu catalog.


It's cute how Bentwood stands up like this to drink. He can stand like this without anything to hold onto either. Talent!

Sam is so cute!

I went to the Boston Temple a few days after New Year's when the Nativity set was still up.  

Then I ate a healthy delicious lunch from my favorite place to eat lunch at after I go to the temple. My dad (the health nut) discovered this place and introduced me to it, and I like it a lot.

Bentwood is a big kitty!

In January fewer people than ever were on government assistance: "Forty million fewer people last year lived in households receiving government assistance than in 2016, and the food-stamp rolls have shrunk by 9.5 million over the past three years. Reduced government dependence is a social good far beyond the lower cost to taxpayers. More important are the benefits in self-sufficiency and the contribution to the community that flow from that."

The middle class was growing...

And now it's all been undone and then some. Thanks China.

If I ever have a midlife crisis, I want it to be a "virtuous" one. This was a fun article to read.

I did some Google research to get the bottom of this ongoing mystery in my life: I'm not in Generation X. For a long time I thought I was, but I miss it just barely and am instead in Generation Y. Which makes me feel a little less old.

Sam and I went to this cute production of "The Wizard of Oz" that was put on by kids.

🙌
This is one of the reasons that I have a problem with the big social justice trend in our society. We mortals can only do so much with that. The rest gets left to God. Every injustice will someday be made up. It's the height of arrogance and ignorance to think that we humans can do it completely. 

There's a house in my neighborhood that puts up this Eiffel Tower every holiday season, and I love it! 

There was a beautiful sunrise glow in the sky when I dropped John off very early one Saturday morning to take the bus to a wrestling meet.

From a book about Mary Bennet (the nerdy sister in Pride & Prejudice) that I read in January. I liked what it said about the solace of books--it's true!

We went to a fun hibachi restaurant for dinner for Peter's birthday weekend. I hope hibachi restaurants will survive the aftermath of COVID-19. 

Bentwood wants a phone but I keep telling him no.

😆

Some happy new year this turned out to be. Thanks again for that China. 😡

I went to my first painting party and it was really fun! I went with my mom, my sisters, my niece, and my brother's girlfriend. Look at our masterpieces!

My painting turned out okay, and not as bad as it was looking like it might turn out over the course of the evening. 😆

The warning bells were sounding about the virus. 
Unfortunately this proved to be right--Chinese communism and the way it operates did end up resulting in a massive medical disaster for the world that we'll be dealing with for who knows how long.

A yummy lunch of poached egg on toast with grape tomatoes on the side.

This is so funny and authentic.
Emma made a mistake on her ABCs. Emma clearly did not enjoy this craft. 😂

A little career humor...

A cute little broken bridge that I spotted at Sam's friend's house.

And that was some of the randomness of January!

Monday, May 18, 2020

Wise Words

An assortment of wise words collected on my phone camera from various places in January...

Inspiring words at a restaurant that I had stopped at for lunch on my way home from the temple.

Empowering...



Spotted in the parking lot at Sam's school. I like to say this to myself each morning.

Trust in Him...


This is one of my favorite prophecies. "Every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess..."


Reading will always be my favorite hobby.


💙💚💙💚

Friday, May 15, 2020

The Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum

On a cold and sunny Thursday in January I went on a fun trip into Boston while the boys were at school to see the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. I went with Meredith and Sharalyn. It was such a beautiful place and I was excited to finally go and see it.

The Museum used to be Isabella's house. She had a completely amazing collection of art and historical artifacts from all around the world.

Can you imagine living in a house with a courtyard like this? 😍

The tile floor is thousands of years old!




I really liked the art collection there. It has several famous pieces that I've admired for a long time. 


For a long time Venice was the place I wanted to see most in the world, and I had a framed copy of this picture in my room in high school, college, and beyond. I still have it, though it's not currently displayed anywhere. It was neat to see the original!

I love this pretty scene.

View of the courtyard from the second floor.

Even the doors are works of historic art.


Some pieces were stolen in 1990 and they've never been recovered. It's still an unsolved mystery.

The religious artifacts she collected were amazing.


This window is so pretty.

These pictures are only a fraction of all that's there. I'd like to go back and see it all again.

We took a not-so-great selfie down by the courtyard. We really should have asked someone to take a picture of us with that fantastic courtyard behind us! 

This turned out to be the last adventure for the three blond amigas for awhile. It was a good one, full of culture, history, and beauty. It was a good way to go out! (Just kidding. I hope!)