Life Lessons.....

Today we went down to Austin to honor the life of my brother-in-law, Mike’s dad. He was a sincere, cheerful, and funny man and it was comforting to hear his children talk about him and the lesson’s he taught them. The favorite that was mentioned was that popcorn was a wonder food!

So, I was thinking about the lessons that my parents ingrained in me and the one that is at the front of my mind was, ‘Listen before you speak.’ I remember when I was younger that I thought this meant to wait your turn before speaking, to find the break in the conversation. But there are more levels to this one lesson.

First there is the lesson of listening. I know people who can be involved in a conversation but instead of listening, their addition to the conversation is more about themselves. This would be how they did something better or went someplace more interesting or that the assumptions made by others in the conversation are wrong…. Well you get it… this is one-upmanship… the I am better than you conversationalist.

Second is to know that what you speak is true to the conversation. I also know of people who will interrupt a conversation about something that is totally different than what is being discussed. I have learned so much by paying attention to the conversation, that conversations can have so much more depth when truly listening and adding to the conversation.

This lesson is not an easy one (and has been an ongoing struggle for me) but the benefits from listening before you speak are so worthwhile and I am glad that it is something my parents felt that I should learn. The people in our lives deserve our attention, they deserve our acknowledgement. Our lives have so much more depth when we interact with each other in ways that bring more depth and meaning to our exchanges. What a perfect gift and it goes well with popcorn.

So, back to how today was spent. It was sad, Ken was a wonderful guy. Whenever I saw him he was smiling, he was joking, and he was loving life. What a great image to have to remember him by, you will be missed.

Ruth A C Sorenson Schubert

We thought of you with love today,

but that is nothing new.

We thought about you yesterday,

and days before that too.

We think of you in silence,

we often speak your name.

Now all we have is memories,

and your picture in a frame.

Your memory is our keepsake,

with which we’ll never part.

God has you in his keeping,

we have you in our hearts.

Each Christmas Eve while growing up had a little extra meaning, it was of course the day before Christmas but it was also my Grandma Ruth’s birthday. She would have been 100 today. I remember the first Christmas after she was gone. We had a single red rose surrounded by the white roses of her grandchildren on the cabinet in the living room and we sang Happy Birthday that night. I am singing it tonight….. Happy Birthday Grandma….. I miss you. - Shelli

Life is changing…

Wow… ‘things change on a dime’ is a saying that is so appropriate for my life right now! This all started in January when I was reviewing my finances and thinking to the future and the possibility of starting a new job. The thought of moving to Jordan has always been on my mind. Not only because my sister and family live there and we, as our families have grown, have been able to depend on each other for support, but also because of the schools and the location to my job. The school district is one I am familiar with from substitute teaching there and from Ellie going to kindergarten there. I loved the fact that school start time was at 8:00a. That means that I can get Ellie up, give her breakfast, and walk her to the bus stop and still get to work by 8:00a myself! This is something I really wanted… time with my little girl that didn’t necessarily include having to ‘rush’ her in the morning. This also meant that the cost of child care was going to go down and I would then be able to put money away for us to go on some much needed vacations!

I started looking at houses in January, trying to determine what I could afford and what I really wanted in our new home. I found one immediately that I liked and felt would be a good fit but my folks wanted me to wait until they came home before I made this big decision. So, after looking at several houses (not going to put a number here) and falling in love with one that was overpriced and never went down… I decided to look in a slightly different direction. I really wanted a house with a yard so that I could have a garden and as the summer moved by, the prices of single family homes in Jordan went up so I ended up looking at townhomes again. Well… I found one that I really liked and felt that, despite the fact that I wouldn’t have the type of ‘garden’ that I wanted, it had the private backyard I was looking for, the living space I wanted, and the ability for me to adapt it. So, a bid was put in and accepted conditionally on the sale of my home. This seemed to take forever! After dropping the price and dealing with the association to get the roof replaced, I finally was told by my realtor that packing wouldn’t be out of line… So, on the 15th I am scheduled to close on both properties!

So, today I am sitting in my living room, the cool air of morning drifting in through the patio door and a cup of coffee in my hand and thinking of the big changes ahead and the terrifying yet exciting changes that lay before us! The move, the change in routine, the looking forward to going to the Renaissance Festival after the move, the coming of fall and all that entails and the excitement and anticipation of our biggest adventure- traveling with my folks to Williamsburg, VA for my nephew Garrett’s and his beautiful fiancé, Jordan’s wedding ceremony! Along with that joyous event we are also going to be planning to see Washington DC. I have known for years that my dad would love to see the Air and Space museum but had reconciled that it probably would never happen…. well, I want to make sure that it does happen.

Life is changing…. oh the adventure!!!!!