Fishing, Metaphorically

 

Have you ever gone fishing?  I've never done any true fishing.  I've gone to a fish farm where six people can catch ninety fish in half an hour.  It's exhilarating, but it's not real fishing.

No, the fishing I'm talking about is the type where you hunt out the perfect spot of land right next to a river, or stream, or lake, and cast your line, and wait.  Occasionally you have to cast your line again to try to get a fish's attention.  Most of it, though, is being quiet, and still, and watching the water flow by.  You hope to get a tug on your line.  You hope to have fresh fish for dinner.  You stand there, and you wait.  Eventually, you sink down and you sit and wait.  You can't make the fish bite; all you can do is be ready when they do.

I've realized, lately, that reading the scriptures is much like fishing for me.  I read the words, and I try to apply the teachings to my own life.  So much of it, though, is white noise, like the sound of rushing waters that lull me to sleep.

I remember in my younger days, going to church had the same effect.  Probably helpful, but ultimately mostly boring.  That changed in later years, and now I'm so excited to be around other adults that I get really excited to go to church.

Hubby said something interesting, though.  He mentioned that church is often boring for a lot of people.  Generally, when it's boring, it's because we're listening only to the people and not to the Spirit.  When the Spirit speaks, when we hear and understand it, it's exciting.  The Spirit can speak the things that we are ready to hear, and he not only speaks to our minds but also to our hearts, to our emotions.  And really, when you think about it, it's our emotions that keep us engaged in life, right?

And so, I've been trying to apply that same principle to reading the scriptures.  All too often it's still white noise; the language is archaic and I don't understand the cultures or geography to which they refer.  Still, if I am patient, I can muddle through the parts I don't understand and be ready for when the Spirit does speak to me.  I may never understand the scriptures in their entirety.  Hopefully, though, I can learn the important things of life that will help me to become better.

Lost Friend

Here's something interesting:

A couple years ago, I happened to click on a link that led me to a blog that immediately captured my interest.  For several months, I followed The Chocolate Chip Waffle religiously.  The author, Theresa Wellborn, had such a way of weaving words together that I was entranced.  Then, as happens, the magic faded somewhat and other things got in the way.  I became too busy with my own life to be able to read about somebody else's.  Occasionally I would go back to visit her again and catch up on her recent exploits.  I went to do that today, and found that her blog had been discontinued.  It was a shock.  I went back to my blog and clicked the link again, only to find that, yes, it really was gone.

Of course I Googled her.  What else could I do?  I found multiple references to her poetry in various contests, but nothing from the woman herself.  I also Googled Chocolate Chip Waffles.  The results only served to make me hungry.  I couldn't even find her on Facebook.

It's sad... I have never seen this woman face to face.  She commented on my blog once, I on hers a couple of times.  It weirded me out a little, actually, because I still don't know how she found my blog...

She's gone.  No explanation.  No goodbyes.  I have no claim on her, yet I'm left with a sense of loss.

Isn't it interesting, how we affect the world around us?

Wise Words

Once upon a time, I went to China.  Through a series of adventures, I ended up living in the home of a family from New Zealand which also doubled as the LDS church in Shanghai.  There was a girl in the family who was a couple of years younger than me, and we got to be pretty good friends.  She talked a lot about things she had done in her past.  Often, such things included sneaking out of her house and going to parties where drinking was involved.  As we sat up late talking one night, she was admiring the life I had lived... clean, obedient, and good.  She said, "The only things I regret from the past are the things I didn't do."

I have lived a good life.  Obviously I don't mean to brag; of course I've made my share of mistakes.  In the major things, though, I've followed the prescribed pattern.  I tried to do well in school, dressed modestly, went to Church, stayed away from drugs and alcohol.  I got married to the best man I've ever known, bought a house, started having children, and generally live a very happy life.  I have always tried to do my very best in the things I have set my mind to.

At the same time, those words have always stuck with me.  Perhaps it was because they were said by a girl who had done some less-than-reputable things.  It was so interesting to me that, given her past, she only regretted the good things she had neglected to do.  It was a testament to the idea of continually moving forward, of being true to oneself, and of learning from the mistakes that will inevitably happen.  I'm not as good at this as I'd like to be, but I love the idea of delving into life with all you have to offer.

With that said, here are a few things I regret from the past:

1. I missed doing the Disney internship because I thought it was silly.  I later had friends say they had done it and loved it!  As it turns out, the Disney internship would have fit in perfectly with my major and prepared me better for the life I want to live.
2. I didn't learn how to make friends until I had lost the opportunity for many many friendships.  I still struggle with this, and had I learned earlier, I would struggle less now.
3. I only traveled to a place I didn't like as opposed to finding other places and cultures I might have enjoyed.
4. I didn't ask to be in gymnastics or dance classes when I was younger.

And here are a few of the things that I don't want to regret in the future:

1. I want to write a book.  Actually, I want to write several.  Even if I never get published, I would love to have stories to pass on to my children and others that I love.
2. I want to feel that I am fluent in a second language.
3. I want to wear hats.
4. I want to get in shape and feel strong and lithe.
5. I want to be successful at my own business.
6. I want to cuddle and be warm and motherly with my children.  I want them to know that I am somebody they can count on in any trouble, be it emotional, intellectual, physical, or otherwise.
7. I want my husband to come home every day knowing that he is loved and welcomed and wanted.
8. I want to make and cut out and bake and decorate cookies with my kids, probably over and over and over.  I'm not entirely sure how I'm going to make this desire fit with number 4.
9. I want to raise and train a foal from the very beginning of life.

"The only things I regret from the past are the things I didn't do."  Wouldn't it be wonderful to never have to say that?

Pretty Pony

 Well, after over a year of having a horse, I finally gave him a bath and took some pictures.  In all his 16-hand glory, here he is, our very own Mr. Cruise!

 

 He's a Kentucky Mountain horse, which means he is big, hardy, has tough feet, and has five gaits rather than the typical four.  I'm still figuring out how that fifth gait works, how to access it, and how to ride it.

 

 We've been doing a lot of Parelli work, which has improved his already fantastic ground manners.  See the soft look in his eye?  It makes me happy.

Technically, he's considered a Blue Roan, but in all honesty he has a different color for every season of the year.  Sometimes he's grey, other times he's reddish, and occasionally he looks almost white or black.  Regardless, he's a pretty good-lookin' horse, I think.

Summer Means Go

Remember yesterday, when I posted about the surfing?  That was a good day.  It was a long day.  I swear, it feels like it's been weeks since that happened.  I could swear that we've had family come stay with us at least 3 different times, that we've worked in the yard for two long afternoons and one long morning, that I've taken a test for my class, that we've taken the kids swimming, that we've taken walks and watched movies and read books between the last post and this one.  Of course, that's not possible, because there's no way I could fit all that into one day.  And of course, because I have decided to post every day and there's no way that I would sluff off in that committment, there's no way that we've done all of that.  None.  :)

Is anybody else really busy this summer?  Just asking.

Does anybody else feel like they're always moving and never really getting much done?  Again, just asking.

Hey, here's something fun!  I've been trying to take time out of each morning to play with the Schprid.  We build with her blocks, or color, or play with stickers, or take pictures.  I always let her decide.  Today, she wanted to do pictures.  I had a lot of fun with it, but I actually get more fun out of editing pictures later.  Here's one of the pictures this morning, and a few of the edits I came up with.  The first is the original.  The others have been tampered with.  Which one do you like best?

Surfing!

Our city now has a beach resort, which is pretty awesome because we're nowhere near the ocean.  That's okay, though, because as long as you can get hundreds of gallons of water shooting with incredible force up a hill, you can pretend like you're at the ocean, which is exactly what we did when my family was here. 

Here are a few of the highlights:

The best pictures were of the boys falling up.  I loved it.

Often, you can't even tell who's who.

Then again, sometimes they got it right and they just look cool.

Like right here.

Schprid and Grandma had a great time watching, taking pictures, and, in Schprid's case, drinking a ton of water.  Which eventually overflowed her diaper onto my lap.  Ah, the life of a mother.  :)

Back to the action...

...or to watching it from above while striking an awesome pose.

Do you see toes poking out at the bottom, there?  I wonder who that was...

FAIL.  Fun pic, though.

This one started to get pretty good at the whole standing up thing about halfway through.  It was fun to watch.

And here's Hubby, planking.  Look it up.  Planking.  I'm so proud!

Schprid Turned 2!

 And boy, oh, boy did we have a fun party!  Both sets of grandparents came, as did a couple of uncles and an aunt.  So many people!  So much fun!  Since it's currently her favorite show, we did a Blue's Clues party.

I don't know if you can read it, but these post-it notes spell out Blues Clues, and they were posted right above Side Table Drawer.















Here she is in her very own Thinking Chair, just after we found her very own Handy Dandy Notebook.  She was pretty stoked.

Our theme was, "What are we going to do with all these people?"  Basically, we looked at things that people might like to do.  Our first thing was singing songs.

Here is Daddy, playing the guitar, and Uncle Cameron, looking completely thrilled to be participating in a 2-year-old's birthday party.  He was a good sport. 

I probably should have cropped this picture, but if you look closely, we found our first clue at the piano.  We were talking about the different sounds that instruments can make, and we found this fun noisemaker.  A clue!  A clue!

Uncle Trevor likes to play with the kick-it ball, which is what we did next.  Schprid had a blast!  And, when we went to put it away in the ball closet, we found...

The second clue on this balloon!

Then it was storytime with Grammy.  The last page contained... you guessed it!  The last clue!  It was posted right there on the picture of a "happy cake."

We had to add that clue to our handy dandy notebook.

Then it was time for the Thinking Chair.  What should we do with all these people with a noisemaker, a balloon, and a cake?  You guessed it!  We should have a party!

Mailtime!!!  Daddy brought the mail, in which our little Schprid discovered that the party was a birthday party for her!  So much fun!

We went outside, where we discovered balloons, hot dogs, and Big Bubbles!!!

Schprid loves bubbles.  Fortunately, so do adults!  It was lots of fun.

I have no pictures of us eating.  Those rarely turn out well anyway.  And let's face it, who wants to be captured in a picture while stuffing their face?  We did get a few pictures of the cake, though.  I was pretty excited that we made a pawprint.

Present time!  She got quite the haul!

You can't tell in this picture, but she got into tearing the paper off the presents.  She knew what it was all about!

This one was tall.

Along with this floaty toy, she got clothes, and puzzles, and dolls, and books, and coloring stuff, and blocks, and an xylophone.  Best of all, she had a great time, which is the most important thing, I think.