This last Tuesday I added one more thing to an already overloaded plate, a composition class from a nearby community college. This has been something I have wanted (and needed) to do for a long time. It will have a few drawbacks. One is that it is always on Tuesday nights and I have board meetings and Toastmaster Club meetings that night twice a month. I have to be realistic about what is the most important thing. One other thing that makes it difficult is that the second week of class, I will to be out of town for a workshop for the Smithsonian exhibit we are hosting next March. It is really going to be interesting to see how I can juggle all of this. I am going to see if the board will allow a switch in days or even have the meetings earlier so I won't be late for class on the night of board meetings. Is there such a thing as a smooth transition in life when one wants to do something special?
Last night, I finished the last of the Twilight series. What can I say, Stephanie Meyer had me hooked from the beginning of the first book and for the next 3500 pages, I kept turning and turning and turning. Last night we had a Relief Society picnic at the city park in Warroad. I had 150 pages left in the lastbook, it was so tempting to stay home and read. I had woke up at 5:30 am, picked up the book, and could hardly put it down all day. Well the the RS picnic took precedence. It was great, the food was tops, you men in our Elders Quorum are great cooks! The hamburgers, hot dogs, salads, the watermelon, and the cheese cake Mike made were so yummy! It was way too cold though, I had to go get the blanket from the car even though I had a sweatshirt on. I was frozen, and by 8:15, I threw the blanket in the backseat of the car, turned on the car and flipped the heat on. Oh, that felt so glorious when it finally warmed up. The time spent with my friends was worth the deep freeze though. Amazingly with only 150 pages left in the book, I was so tired when I got home, I headed straight to bed, turned out the lights and slept from 10 pm to 8:15 am. First thing this am, I went straight for the book and finished in between scrubbing floors and cleaning. By 12, the last satisfying page was read. It may be about vampires and werewolves, but each book are excellent and very enjoyabe. Now, what will Meyer write next? I do need to stop reading until I am done with the class though. I need to prioritize!
Thought for the day:
"Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to thee end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life." 2 Nephi 31:20 Book of Mormon
After mowing the lawn this afternoon, I decided to go visit a neighbor and then pick up the mail. We had an enjoyable hour together before I decided to head home to make some potato salad. I picked up the mail and had the radio on listening to a commentary on MPR so didn't rush into the house. I happened to look up and my hubby was standing in the patio door waving his arms trying to get my attention. I rolled down the window; he shouted there were two large bald eagles feeding on a woodchuck (he had shot it a couple of days earlier) between our shop and garage. I looked over just as one headed skyward and the other continued to feast. All I could think was camera, what a time not to have a camera. The second eagle tried in vain to pick up the woodchuck but it must have been too heavy. He then flew off too. I noticed one of them continued to come back and check out the yard but after two circles, it decided not to return. I headed for the house and picked up the camera and returned to the car where I continued to keep watch but they didn't return. Finally, I gave up and went and drove the dry lawn mower into the shop and headed back inside. It was such a spectacular thing to see in our yard!
Hubby told me tonight that he had seen a black bear walking across our field today and it went into the neighbor's woods about a mile east. I love to walk to the church in the evening; I think I will be a little more cautious walking for this fall.
I feel for the wild animals this year. We had such a cold late spring, the lilacs didn't bloom until almost the 15th of June; and many of us didn't get our crops in. I'm sure there is a lack of food in the woods. I don't know what the blueberries are like this year as I have been buying them all summer. Enough about the bears & eagles.
Why would one want to fight mosquitoes when blueberries from Maine, Michigan, California, and Canada as so plentiful and delicious? I really appreciate the farmers in these states and Canada for diversifying and making it possible for us to purchase blueberries so much these past three summers. They have become a real staple in the Haugen home, we go through at least a pint a day, just nibbling.
As a survey, I would like to know how many of you are purchasing more blueberries than you have in the past? Just go to the comment section and let me know.
Have a great Sabbath day, keep it Holy and think of our Savior often!
Sometimes I get into a baking mood. Last Friday was the beginning, starting out with chocolate chip cookies. Saturday I wanted to make some blueberry muffins to go with out usual Saturday morning omelet. I usually don't make muffins from scratch, I think the package mixes are hard to beat, Saturday was no different but it was different in that I had no muffin package mixes. I pulled out a cookbook and found a recipe using cake mix and started in. With a little doctoring up, they were delicious and made a dozen large muffins. So here goes:
Blueberry Muffins Preheat over to 350 Bake about 20 minutes, watch closely
1 French Vanilla cake mix 2 tbsp flour 1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp nutmeg 3 eggs 1/3 cup oil (I used grape seed oil) 1/3 cup cultured sour cream 1/3 cup milk 1/2 cup walnuts, chopped 1 cups blueberries
Mix dry ingredients together, stirring to remove lumps and blend. Mix the liquids all together and pour into the cake mixture and stir until all it moistened and a little lumpy. Fold in nuts and blueberry. Spray two six cup muffin tins and put about 1/2 cup in each cup. Bake about 20 minutes, checking often after 15 minutes. This was the first time I have made this recipe and can't remember exactly how long I baked them. They were delicious! I think this recipe could be varied for any type of cake mix, a yellow or lemon cake mix would be good, and a variety of ingredients such as, dates, cranberries, raisins, carrots, and nuts could be added.
My Roxann and I headed for a day in "the city", meaning Winnipeg. Our goal was to see Julie & Julia, eat lunch out, go to a bulk food store and a grocery store, and do some shopping.
The traffic was light all the way although we did put up with a few trucks holding us up along the way. First place we headed was to the shops on Waverly. We walked out empty handed at Liz Claiborne and a couple of other stores but we found bargains and things that fit and looked good at Reitmans and some jewelry at another store. Summer things tended to be picked over but the fall items were on all on sale.
We were pretty hungry after that so ate at Mixin's. Roxann had a grilled chicken, vegetables and rice while I had my favorite, Chicken Souvlaki with a Greek salad. Dessert was good too, ice cream for Roxann and Oreo cheese cake for me.
After fiddling with the credit card ticket dispenser at the theater, we finally go the hang of how to use it, got the tickets, popcorn and water and headed for the movie. My friend, Donna had seen it on Saturday and when asked to rate between 1 - 10 she gave Julie & Julia an 11! We gave it a 10, should be an academy award winner for MerylStreep, she was an excellent choice for Julia Child. The back and forth parts of movie between Julie and her husband, Eric and Julia and Paul added the perfect dimension to the movie. It was just long enough with no slow places where a person was like waiting for what would happen next. The movie was a pared down version of the book of course, but justice was done. It is a must see!
After the movie we headed out the east door into the mall and did a little more shopping before heading to Chapters to check out The Art of French Cooking. Can you believe they were out? We decided we could probably purchase it online cheaper any way. We stopped at Starbucks in Chapters and had a snack before heading for the car and the trip home. We decided to forgo going to the grocery store or bulk food store, we felt sated already! Now we are ready for a good relaxing sleep
We had some very good talks on daily personal scripture study at church today. We all know we must eat to live. One of the talks mentioned that studying the scriptures is like a garden. Have you ever seen a clean garden, free of weeds, the rows stretching out with great organization? You know exactly where to find the tomatoes, potatoes, peas, etc., don't you? What about a garden overgrown with weeds? One year I remember having a garden that I just did not have the time to take care of. That was when I realized that I had to prioritize what was the most important thing to be doing. It was not a garden; it was weed infested, chaotic, and a mess! Nothing grew well and well, it was hard to even locate anything but the corn!
Can we do the same with our scripture studying? We know we must study and learn to stay close to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ and to receive the guidance we need from the Holy Spirit. We also know that there are ways to do this, the most important ways are through prayer, scripture study, and fasting. Prayer can be a with us at all times, we can have a secret prayer in our hearts by thinking of the normal daily things we need guidance with, the friend or neighbor who is sick or in need, our families, who are always close to our hearts, our daily work and how we approach it, and the many other things that one can think of. Without prayer, my day would exclude the presence of the Holy Spirit and His guidance. Could I go without that each day? I don't think so!
Ad with prayer, so it is with daily scripture study. Today there are so many ways one can study the scriptures. On your way to work you can listen to them on your i Pod or via a CD or cassette. At night you can do the same as you go to sleep. These ideas are easy ways to study the scriptures. They don't take any more time than turning on a machine and tuning it.
One of the talks pointed out that we need to study our scriptures in a more organized manner, not just read them. We need to find a quiet time when we have more than 5 or 10 minutes a day to spend studying them.
The talk quoted several points for good scripture study from Elder L. Lionel Kendrick's 1993 Ensign conference talk which I quote:
"It is not enough to read the scriptures. Random reading results in reduced retention. We must search for specifics. We must seek for truth and increased understanding of its application in our lives.
"If we are to be effective in our study of the scriptures, we must prepare for it to be a special spiritual experience. The following suggestions may be helpful.
"1. Schedule
"Schedule a time to search the scriptures daily. Scripture study is such an essential part of our spiritual development that we must take time and make it a priority in our daily schedule. Our spirits should never be deprived of the much-needed spiritual nourishment which comes from scripture study. Without this spiritual food our spirits become starved and weakened to temptation.
"President Kimball taught the principle that “no father, no son, no mother, no daughter should get so busy that he or she does not have time to study the scriptures and the words of modern prophets.” (Ensign, May 1976, p. 47.)
"2. Pray
"We should begin and end each study session with prayer. We must invite the Spirit to teach us. Nephi taught that: “the mysteries of God shall be unfolded … by the power of the Holy Ghost.” (1 Ne. 10:19.)
"3. Search
"To search is to seek, to explore, to examine carefully. As we study we should do so with purpose, searching for specifics and an expansion of our vision of eternal truth. We must search for principles, doctrines, answers to questions, and solutions to problems. We should look for doctrinal relationships and for possible hidden meanings of that which has been recorded.
"4. Ponder
"To ponder is to meditate, to think, to feast, and to treasure. It is more than a mental method, it is a spiritual striving to obtain and to understand truth. We should follow the process taught by the Savior to the Nephites as he taught them sacred principles. He then instructed them to “Go ye unto your homes, and ponder upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye may understand, and prepare your minds for the morrow.” (3 Ne. 17:3.)
"We should ponder the meanings of the things we learn from our search of the scriptures. The Apostle Paul instructed the Philippian Saints to “think on these things.” (Philip. 4:8.) To think involves forming mental images in the mind and focusing intently upon that which has been discovered. Nephi counseled to “feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.” (2 Ne. 32:3.) To feast is to consume, to digest, to absorb.
"As we ponder, we should follow the counsel of the Savior when he said, “Treasure up in your minds continually the words of life.” (D&C 84:85). This implies that we should repeat in our minds the principles we have learned and draw upon them in each of our decisions.
"5. Relate
"Nephi has counseled to “liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit and learning.” (1 Ne. 19:23.) We must read as if the Lord were speaking directly to us in a personal manner.
"6. Apply
"President Marion G. Romney counseled: “Learning the gospel from the written word … is not enough. It must also be lived. … One cannot fully learn the gospel without living it.” (Ensign, Sept. 1980, p. 4.) As we learn a principle, we must make a real effort to apply and to live it in our life."
Elder Kendrick ended his talk with this conclusion: "The scriptures are priceless possessions. If we search the scriptures, seeking for the plain and precious principles, the Lord will reveal his will unto us and we will be richly blessed. If we research the revelations and respond correctly to them, we will return home safely to Heavenly Father. To this I so testify in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen." (Ensign, May 1993)
Can I not find some time to study, really study my scriptures as the Lord would have me? Would I not truly benefit from this study time? Think of how we would grow in the gospel if we put our Prophet and Apostles testimonies on scripture study to the test.
Can I challenge you, my readers to find time to "meet me in your favorite chair for scripture study daily"? I know I need to prioritize my scripture study time today, not tomorrow. My scripture study garden needs some real weeding!
