Ramdom Thoughts

Summer Project 2012

2012-09-15T22:02:00.000-06:00

Redecorating — What a Chore! Last year during the summer of 2011, we began the process of finally updating our house which was built in 1986. Getting hubby Tom to loosen the purse strings is sometimes a chore in and of itself. He earns the $$$$, but does that mean it is his money? I don’t think so. He earns it, I spend it. Isn’t that the way of the American Dream? Yep!

Last summer, 2011, we painted and carpeted the basement to give it a fresh 21st century look. Got rid of the bright colors and went completely neutral with a few colorful accents. Love it. Cozy.
Next summer, 2013, will be the BIG job of updating the main floor of the house, in particular the kitchen — new floors, new countertops, fresh paint.

Sooo, this year’s project was redecorating the upstairs. One level a year. Start with the easiest and finish with the most difficult. Twenty + years ago, I thought wallpaper would be pretty in our 20 x 20 bedroom. What was I thinking? Before we could carpet, we had to paint; before we could paint, we had to strip 400 square feet of wallpaper.

Oh, the days of mauve and blue! And, floral! What were we thinking??

Here we go — peeling the top layer. Go, Tom, go!

Are we having fun, yet? What a mess!

Ugh. We learned a valuable lesson — use the green Frog Tape rather than the blue painter’s tape. When removed, the green did not peel the paint.

The old carpet is gone.

New bedroom — all put together + one cute puppy!

Fresh paint, new tile floor, refurbished oak cabinets — new bathroom!

Whew! After about a month of living in disarray, the upstairs is put back together. I still need to make valances for the bathroom windows and add a few decorative knick-knacks to make it look finished. The kids’ rooms — both of whom no longer live with us — are the cleanest they have been in over 20 years. I have cleaned out and donated or tossed so much stuff. Stuff. I now know why people should move every five years or so — to clean out the stuff. The unnecessary stuff.

As I practice blogging in preparation for our next big trip to Vietnam and Cambodia, my Random Thoughts are my replacement for a scrapbook. I write for myself, my children, and my friends. If anyone else reads these Random Thoughts, I hope you are entertained. I have no agenda — except to become comfortable with blogging. I am still having trouble placing pictures in the blog where I want them — side-by-side instead of stacked. Just when I think I have the blog looking like I want it, the pictures seem to move on their own. Hmm . . . . Thoughts to ponder over the next several weeks.

Hiking the Wasatch

2012-08-18T20:31:00.002-06:00

Ah, the beauty and serenity of the mountains! Other than breathing sea air, there is nothing more refreshing than breathing the fresh pine scent of forests, albeit a very rocky forest! The Wasatch Mountains are a range that are considered part of the Rocky Mountains. And, rocky they are. Majestic. They are, literally, in my backyard! We are so fortunate to live in an area of this amazing country where the beauty greets me every morning. "Purple mountains majesty." Absolutely. Every evening as the sun sets, one peak, in particular, turns purple. Watching a full moon rise over the 10,000 ft. peaks is amazing.

Yesterday, my daughter and I took her two sons on a hike in these glorious mountains. We took the Snowbird tram to the top of Hidden Peak, elevation 11,000 feet.

After scoping a few trails, and deciding six year-old Aiden might take a tumble or two, we hiked down to the ski tunnel so Amy and Anthony could "cheat" and take the chair lift back down the mountain. I have fear of heights and I am not fond of chair lifts -- going UP the mountain in the winter with a cushion of snow is scary enough; riding DOWN the mountain with rocks underneath was not something I wanted to do. Thinking of Aiden being unrestrained on the chair was down right scary.

So, Aiden and I hiked down the mountain. He was not, initially, happy about having to walk so far and missing out on the lift ride, but we did okay. After two hours, and a 3,000 ft. descent, we finally met up with Mommy and brother, Anthony. If we had taken the chair lift, we would have missed some amazing sights -- wild flowers, a little creek, and some small wild life. Nothing big on this hike as it was too late in the day and too hot. We've seen large animals when hiking earlier in the morning.

The smallest wildlife!
How fortunate to have a butterfly sit still long enough to have its picture taken.

Here we go . . . down, down, down along the Peruvian Gulch Trail,
headed towards the village at the bottom of the mountain.

So much beautiful scenery to enjoy!
Streams and wildflowers.

The best little hiker kept on truckin' even when he was tired.

"Slow?" Although most of the hike was on a road, the gravel made walking
trecherous and slippery. There was no other way to hike but "SLOW."

Beautiful wildflowers aplenty and one cute little boy!

Two hours after beginning our hike, staying in touch with Aiden's Mommy, and relishing the beautiful scenery, we made it to the bottom of the mountain. Aiden, who does not like wearing socks, said his feet hurt and his little legs were tired. But, he was a trooper, keeping track of our direction with a compass he held tightly in his hand until he lost it in the field of yellow flowers above. I was wearing new Merrill hiking shoes which are very comfortable, but after two hours of hiking on slippery and/or uneven terrain, downhill, my toes were very sore from being shoved into the toes of my shoes. As I write this, more than 24 hours later, my toes are still throbbing. My legs felt pretty good yesterday, today they are stiff. I am glad I decided to hike down; however, I have now been-there-done-that!! :) Next time, I might hike back UP to the tram or that chair lift might not seem so scary. :)

Reading the Bible in a Year

2012-08-16T21:30:00.000-06:00

How many of us have made New Year’s resolutions only to give up, forget what we’ve resolved to change, or decide it is just too much trouble? I have resolved to lose the same 20 pounds for 20 years and that 20 pounds is still hanging around. Or, is it now more like 30 pounds? This year, my one resolution was to read the entire Bible in one year. At this writing, I am a little behind but not far enough that I cannot catch up within a day or two. I have stuck with it for eight months. Go me! God must really want me to know His Word to keep me motivated to trudge through ALL the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament!

The seeds were planted for this quest 40+ years ago, or was it last fall after a trip to the Holy Land? I have been on a spiritual journey since I was ten years old and that journey has taken many twists and turns, much like life itself. Upon moving to Utah, which is predominately Mormon, I knew it was important to figure out what I really believed so that I could guide my children in that direction. We regularly attended a Methodist church, and I became involved with a non-denominational women’s Bible study group. As I quickly learned, “non-denominational” translates to “evangelical.” Although I could never wrap my logical brain around taking the Bible so literally, I learned an incredible amount about the Bible. At the beginning my quest to know the Bible, I could find Genesis and I was vaguely aware there are four Gospels at the beginning of the New Testament. I, embarrassingly, had to look in the index for the other books. Thank goodness I discovered “cheater tabs!”

As my children became teenagers and I became less involved as a volunteer at their schools, I decided to return to college to complete the degree I neglected to finish in my 20s. Because of some of those life-changing twists and turns, my new venture took twice as long as I had originally planned, but I, finally, graduated cum laude from the University of Utah in 2011. Cum Laude! Go me, again! About the time I returned to school, I was introduced, literally and figuratively, to Dr. Marcus Borg, a historical Jesus and Bible scholar who taught at Oregon State University until his retirement a few years ago. Dr. Borg truly enlightened me! He gave me permission to believe about Christianity the way I have always believed and I will NOT go to hell. Studying the Bible with evangelical women for so many years caused me a great deal of anxiety and fear. Once I left that group and opened my mind to the historical perspective of studying the Bible and Christianity, my anxiety level dropped 1,000%. To paraphrase one of the characters in Marcus Borg’s first attempt at writing fiction, rather than living under the “law of Moses,” I was being taught to live under the “law of believing” which, in my opinion, creates a great deal of stress and anxiety to be perfect which none of us is. No wonder Utah ranks #1 in anti-depressant medication prescriptions and #1 in prescription drug abuse. Too much emphasis on trying to be perfect by the religious right.

With this new twist in my spiritual journey, I decided to minor in Religious Studies. Because the University of Utah is a secular school in a very religious state, it has taken many years to pave the way for a minor and, as of Fall 2012, a major, in Religious Studies — all from a historical perspective. My journey is nowhere near being complete, but I know I have finally figured out which direction I want that journey to continue. My logical brain can wrap itself around the historical perspective whereas it cannot always make sense of all the supernatural mumbo-jumbo of a theological perspective. I am told I can believe through faith. Well, what if I don’t have that kind of faith? How do I get that kind of faith? Pray? I have and I don’t think God wants me going in that direction. If He did, He’d do a better job of showing me how to get there.

Although my minor was Religious Studies, it is my passion — to learn as much as I can about the Biblical era of history, to learn about the Bible, to learn about historical Christianity, and to learn about the historical Jesus. My sweet husband treated me to three weeks in the Holy Land as a graduation gift. What an awesome experience we both had!!! Even my husband, who loves history but had no interest in that part of the world or that era, has told me it was the best trip he has ever taken, even better than his three weeks in Africa several years ago. Our Israeli Jewish guide carried a New International Version (NIV) Bible and would read passages to us when we were visiting sites mentioned in the Bible. When we were touring Ein Gedi Nature Preserve, an oasis amidst the Judean Desert near the Dead Sea, David suggested that we read the Book of Samuel. So, I did while soaring across the Atlantic on our way home. As I read, I was in awe that I had visited so many of the localities mentioned in this book about King David. Cool.

And so, we returned home on December 3, just before Christmas. After our amazing trip, I was inspired to read ALL of the Bible, not just parts of it as I have done in the various Bible studies I have attended. I found aschedule to help me stay on track and, so far, I am doing pretty well with keeping this New Year’s resolution. I confess, the OT/Hebrew Bible is, at times, difficult (boring) so I do tend to skim. Reading the OT/Hebrew Bible is a good way to practice speed reading! As I have discovered, I sometimes learn more from reading the scholarly notes than I do reading the scriptures. Because I use the New Oxford Annotated NRSV with Apocrypha, I have already made my own schedule for next year — to read all the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical books and the scholarly essays. After that? If there is time in 2013 or, if not, in 2014, I hope to read the Quran. And then . . . .

Only God knows!

Happy St. Swithin's Day!

2012-07-15T21:10:00.002-06:00

Who, you might ask, was St. Swithin? Being a middle-of-the-road Protestant, I am not well-versed in the saints, although I am intrigued by the thought of having "friends" in higher places who might intercede with my prayers. I study religion from a historical perspective and I do have Irish roots so, when I noticed on today's Bing home page (bing.com) that today is St. Swithin's Day, I wanted to learn more.

Alas, St. Swithin was an Anglo-Saxon bishop of Winchester Cathedral, an Anglican church in England, not a Catholic church in Ireland. According to Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swithun), St. Swithin lived in the 9th Century C.E. Legend states that whatever the weather is on his feast day of July 15, that weather will continue for 40 days. Although an Anglican saint, Catholic Encyclopedia has this to say about St. Swithin: http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/14357c.htm

What was your weather like today? After an extremely hot and dry June, and a hot first two weeks of July, today's weather in northern Utah was cool with a few showers -- perfect weather for the Utah Championship Golf Tournament (http://www.utahchampionship.com/) in which Arnold Palmer's grandson, Sam Saunders, tied for 3rd place. I bet Grandpa is proud! I digress . . . .

Cool and showery for the next 40 days? Only time will tell. So far, summer has been a HOT one! We wouldn't mind some cooler weather with rain.

And, those are my senseless Random Thoughts for St. Swithin’s Day.

It's Hot -- part 2

2012-07-13T16:34:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, I escaped the heat and hiked in the mountains. I didn't get around to downloading the pictures from my iPhone onto the computer so that I could upload them to my blog post. Today, I am giving the pictures a try. If I were using my Mac, this would be a piece of cake. On this Windows computer, we shall see . . . . I had hoped to edit yesterday's post, but I think it is too late or I am missing the tab. Oh well. After uploading yesterday's pictures, I will go over to Word Press and give that blog a try -- all in an attempt to work with the easiest and most user friendly blogging program, and in my attempt to TRY to like this Windows PC.

I continued on, past Lake Mary to Lake Catherine at an elevation of 9,900 ft. Because I had a conversation with a fellow hiker who was passing through Utah from Minnesota to California, I neglected to take a picture of the beautiful, serene lake.

Feeling frustrated -- the pictures seem to have a mind of their own. How do I place the pictures side-by-side?
How do I write on the side of the picture?
Why did the size of the font change?
Once the pictures are uploaded, why can't I move the margin back to the far left?
FRUSTRATED!!!!!
My trusty, nifty Garmin Forerunner GPS pedometer! My hike begins at at elevation of 8,773 ft.!
Here I go . . . . The trailhead.

Up, up, up . . . under the ski lift.

Looking back down the mountain towards the ski area.

Lake Mary -- elevation 9,527 ft!

It's Hot!

2012-07-12T20:24:00.001-06:00

Hot! Hot! Hot! The West is on fire! The East is sweltering with heat and humidity! I escaped the heat this morning to hike the glorious Wasatch Mountains -- so serene and soothing to the soul. We pray for rain -- just like we had last week -- with no lightning, which would threaten us with new fires.

I am not new to blogging, having written two others -- one about my experiences as a middle-aged student (http://nana1954.wordpress.com/) and another about our amazing journey to the Holy Land (http://dayna-holyland2011.blogspot.com/). What is new about this blog is that I have no agenda, other than to become more adept at blogging, deciding which blog site I prefer, and relearning Windows. I am a lover of Mac -- "Once you go Mac, you never go back!" While touring the Holy Land, I left my Mac at home and blogged from my husband's iPad. What a chore that was, to the point of nearly tossing the iPad out the window. He loves his iPad, his sister loves her iPad, his mother loves her iPad. I love my Mac! Sooooo, because I will not take my expensive Mac out of the country -- our next trip is to Vietnam and Cambodia -- we purchased a small (key words: small and light weight), inexpensive PC. The last Windows program I used was Vista -- ugh. Now, I hope to become adept at using Windows 7, and a PC, before we leave on our next adventure early next year.

These will be Random Thoughts -- I have no political, religious, or social agenda other than to write about my personal thoughts. I may comment on newsworthy subjects, but only from my perspective. We shall see where my fingers are led . . . .

My Random Thoughts for today are that I spent about four hours hiking the gorgeous mountains that are in my backyard. I neglected to take my good camera, but was able to take a few pictures with my iPhone -- do you see a trend? If there is an "i" in front of the name, I am a happy camper! Part of the learning curve with this new computer is to download pictures from my camera (got it!) and my phone (will get it!). That was the problem with blogging using an iPad -- we had a "real" keyboard so typing was not a problem, downloading pictures to the iPad was not a problem, but uploading pictures from the iPad to the blog was excrutiatingly frustrating. I am hopeful this computer will be easier.

If anyone is reading this blog and has suggestions, I would appreciate ideas on: making it user/reader friendly, eye-catching, how to change the time I am writing -- it says I am editing at 1:13 a.m. on July 13 -- uh, it's 7:13 p.m., July 12 where I am. I guess that is one of the many things I need to figure out as I become more blogging savvy. As I write more, I will copy my drafts to wordpress.com to see which blogging program I prefer. And, which protects my privacy the best. The last thing I want is to Google my name and find my blog. No thanks.

And, those are my Random Thoughts for a very HOT July 12.