I am Thankful for a...

Month of Thanksgiving posts.  It has made me be very aware every day of the things I am thankful for.  I have found myself pondering all of the amazing gifts I have been given throughout my life.  I have been filled with a love and deeper understanding of the amazing people I have been blessed with both as family and friends.  I have also been blessed with a deeper knowledge and understanding of the special opportunities placed before me.  I am so blessed and I need to be grateful more than just once a month.

I am Thankful for Holiday Movies and Specials

This is the season when we watch some of my favorite movies.  We always watch "Holiday Inn" on Thanksgiving.  I have been reluctant to get too gung ho about the Season yet because Clyde tires of it quickly.  So when he is not home I watch movies like "Christmas in Connecticut" and the Charlie Brown Christmas Special.  I will officially get the movies out that I own on Heidi's birthday.  That is the beginning of the Season in our house and always has been.  With access to Amazon Prime this year, I have had fun watching holiday movies that I wouldn't get to see otherwise.

My most favorite move is a Christmas movie, The Bishop's Wife with Cary Grant, Loretta Young and David Niven.  A lot of people do not like this movie because they say the ending doesn't make sense.  I think it makes perfect sense and for some reason, though I have loved other movies, this one has always been my favorite.

What is your favorite holiday movie or Christmas Special?

I am Thankful for Caspian Luke Bahlmann

Today is Luke Bahlmann's 5th birthday.  Luke is an amazing young man that can figure things out a lot of adults cannot do.  For his sister, Mallory's birthday, we sent her the Fisher Price Princess Singing Castle.  I told her parents that if they never put batteries in it, it would never sing.  Guess who figured out where the batteries went and put some in?  Now it sings nonstop!  He is sweet, mischievous and loving.  I am so grateful the Luke is a part of our family.  Happy Birthday young man.  We love you very much.

I am Thankful for the Seasons of the Year

Granted I am more thankful for some than others.  I was talking to a young man the other day and he wondered how I could love somewhere like Texas that didn't have snow for Christmas.  We haven't had snow for Christmas in Rhode Island for 4 years.  It really doesn't start snowing until January.  I told him that I have been bone chilling cold in Texas just the same as I have been here.  There was another young man from Dallas and he chimed in about 'Blue Northers' and the Canadian Express that only the Plains States know about.  That cold wind comes down from Canada and literally freezes everything in its path causing ice storms and power outages in the central Plains states.  Those storms are treacherous and have caused deaths because they are often unexpected and people are just  not prepared for the bitter temperatures.  Crops are lost and they cost megabucks.  So even in the south - there is winter.  I joked that last winter, Kerrville, Texas got more snow than we did here in New England.  We had 1 snowfall in late October and then freezing rain for the rest of the winter.  Very little snow.  Kerrville had 2 snow storms and more days out of school than our students did!  Our districts plan for it - theirs school districts don't.

I have concluded that my favorite seasons are spring and summer but I am most partial to spring.  I love watching the world come alive again after the long dark winter months.  It is so beautiful here in New England when it just bursts with color.  I think that forsythias grow wild here because they seem to be everywhere.  You know it is spring when the the bright yellow of the forsythia bush is everywhere you look.

People flock to New England for the autumn colors but that is iffy at best.  I have lived here 9 autumns now and seen 2 that were beautiful.  Granted the last two were blown away by hurricanes but even then the colors were not setting like they had 3 years ago.  The first year I was here was the most glorious one I had ever seen and even people that had lived here their whole lives said that autumns was one of the best they had ever seen.

Fortunately during these dark days of winter - we have Thanksgiving and Christmas to look forward too.  Unfortunately that still leaves the hardest days of winter yet to get through.

I am Thankful for Music

I love music.  I love to sing, listen to music - in fact without music, my life would not be what it is.  Music calms me, lifts me and basically makes my life better.  I love classical music, old rock and roll, country - in fact I can listen to any kind of music but Jazz.  For some reason Jazz just irritates me.  Most others I can at least tolerate. 

During the holiday season, I love Christmas music.  I usually have one Christmas Carol that grabs me and seems more powerful than others that season.  For some reason Faith Hill's, "A Baby Changes Everything" is that song this season.  Maybe because each baby that has come into my life has changed it so much but as we come into the Christmas Season, we need to really think how much our lives have been changed by Jesus Christ. 

I love listening to old rock and roll because it takes me back to my youth.  That inevitably reminds me of some pretty fun times with my brother and sister.

Classical music reminds me of my father.  He taught me to love it in the first place.  There are certain pieces in particular that I hear that transport me to places where I first heard the music played, sitting by my father in our living room or concert hall.  I guess that is why music is so important to me - it reminds me of my family.

I am Thankful for Talents

Today Clyde and I sang in a quartet for Sacrament meeting.  I taught my Home Study Seminary students this morning and I also made my ham and bean soup for the military and put on their lunch as usual.  These are three of my talents that I use almost weekly.  I have others and I am grateful for the many talents I have been blessed with. 

I am Thankful for Life

I am grateful for my life and the lives of so many others.  The examples of family and friends have helped me throughout my life.  Life is one of the greatest gifts we have been given.  We need to make the most of it.

We attended a funeral for a brother in our ward yesterday.  Ron had some difficulties in this life but he always had a smile, a hug and a kind word.  What more could you want from a friend?  He did everything he was asked to do, with the seriousness and the responsibility that was due to the calling and office.  I have thought of the hole that his death is going to leave in my life.  Because of health issues, he has not been in Church for a couple of months.  I have missed him.  I wish I had been better about visiting him in the hospital.  Now I won't be able to see that contagious smile again in this life.  But, I know he is happy and all of the hard work that he did to remember and retain things in this life - will now pay off in the next.

I am Thankful for Family

When Pam was in pre-school - her teacher 'Granny' made each of the students a pilgrim costume.  That Thanksgiving, Pam wore her costume to my parents house for Thanksgiving dinner and my mother loved the idea.  The next year, Marianne, Mom and I made costumes for all of the girls that we thought would wear them. It became a love/hate relationship.  Above is a picture with the Bailey girls, Dittmar girls and Cannon girls in my parents backyard in San Antonio.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I was thinking about all of the different places and ways I have celebrated Thanksgiving.  My mother had the table groaning with food and lots and lots of people over besides every family member she could find.  Then the year my father was in Korea, she physically was not able to do it and we were invited to my Aunt Delma and Uncle Paul Dyreng's home in Gunnison. 

The second year that I was at Snow College, Marianne and I didn't have anywhere to go.  I remember that she and I were the only two people left in the dorm that weekend.  I think we had Thanksgiving dinner with someone, but I am not sure whose house we went too.  I do remember that we painted the front window above the front door and wished everyone a Happy Holiday - to welcome all of the girls back.

Clyde and I have had some where it was just the two of us or just our family and some where we were involved with multitudes of people.  Two years ago I did one at the church because there were going to be so many people that had nowhere to go.  We had a wonderful potluck Thanksgiving that was tasty, and really fun. 

This year it looked like it was going to once again just be the two of us.  Then on Sunday our Relief Societ President was visiting with one of the sisters that Clyde home teaches.  It turned out that she and her husband were just going to let Thanksgiving slide this year.  They are now coming here to celebrate with us.  It will be a pleasant day because we will be sharing it with friends.  Our meal is half of what it used to be.  For the first time in my whole life we are not having Exotic Fruit salad, but I am tired of being the only eating it.  I'll make it for a ward party and call it good.  We are also having two kinds of sweet potatoes - the sugary sweet kind and I am roasting a baked potato with some fresh green beans.  It has become my favorite way to eat both vegetables.

Happy Thanksgiving!  Enjoy your day and may each of us be aware of just  how blessed and how much we have to be thankful for.

Today I am Thankful to Have Things to Be Thankful For!

I was driving around yesterday and it struck me how people are still cleaning up from Hurricane Sandy and the Nor'Easter that blew through right after.  Some houses have roofs that are gone and windows blown out of their houses.  I have seen windshields and car  windows blown out too.  Fortunately the weather has been pretty temperate since then and it is giving people a chance to clean up and repair before the heavy winter starts.  I am so grateful that our damage is a few scratches on our car and some scratches on our windshield.  

I am thankful daily for so many blessings that one month of writing them is impossible.  I just wanted to write one day about non-specific things that I was thankful for because I know I am truly blessed.  This is by no means the end to my thankful blogs.  Just a reflection.

Today I am Thankful for Learning

For the last several months I have been taking knitting lessons on Tuesday mornings.  I look forward to these mornings.  I spend several hours at the knit shop working on various projects and visiting with my teacher, who also happens to be a very good friend.  I have made other friends through associations at the shop.  It is a fun few hours every week.  The weeks I don't go, I find I have a hole in my week.  I can't wait for the next to Tuesday to get here.  My knitting is getting better and better and has become an enjoyable pastime.

I am Thankful for Free Days

Today for the first time in weeks I have the day to just what I want to do.  I haven't had one of these for so long I am not quite where to begin.  I know the things I need to do and I have some things I need to do to get ready for Thanksgiving (we are now having company - something we hadn't counted on until yesterday).  Otherwise the day is mine to do just as I want.  Since I won't have another day like this until late next week, I need to use this one wisely.

Today I am Thankful for the Sabbath Day

It has been interesting that for the last 9+ years, Clyde and I have always been out the door for Church by 8:00 a.m.  He has had meetings every Sunday to attend and when he became bishop, we left every other week by 7.  This will be the first week since I moved here that we will be going just before Sacrament Meeting (which starts at 10:00).  It feels odd to have the morning to get things done.  I am kind of at loose ends.  I woke up at 6 - like I always do and almost jumped up because I knew I was running late.  Turns out, I have all the time in the world.  

There was a time, when I had all 4 girls and they were very small, when Sunday was not my favorite day of the week.  It was hard work to get the girls to Church and at the time Clyde had stake callings and was never around.  This was particularly difficult when we lived in North Carolina and I had to handle things alone.  That made for rough Sacrament Meetings but somehow I made it through.  It's funny but it never occurred to me not to attend Church.  I see some of the young mothers and ask them why didn't attend last week or missed for several and quite often it is because their husband wasn't there to help them.  I would solicit the help of one of the Young Women from the ward when I had babies that needed to be taken out.  They helped with the others in the pew or even take the baby if I had weaned her.  It worked out well for me.  

Now I look forward to Sundays.  It is a day of learning, feeling the Spirit and also has become a day of service.  You can't ask for a better combination than that.

I am Thankful for Acts of Service

Today Clyde and I were able to help one of his Home Teaching brothers, by picking up his car from the VA so his wife wouldn't have to fret about it.  Yesterday, I ran the session for a sister, because she was sick.  So many acts of service have been given to Clyde and me that I could never list them all but I am grateful for each and every one of them.  We are so blessed through these acts.  We learn to care for each other and love each other in a more Christlike way as we serve each other unselfishly.  Often we willingly serve people outside of our home more willingly than inside our home.  We should serve our families in the same manner we serve others - in fact we should probably serve them first and then seek out other opportunities afterwards.

I am Thankful for Everyday Chores.

The reason that I am thankful for this is that there are times when just moving is painful and difficult.  So on days that I can get things done - and get a lot done - I am very grateful that my body moves and cooperates with me.  It is a blessing and for that I am truly thankful.

I am Grateful for my Father

Yesterday was Archie Maynard Brugger's birthday.  I completely spaced it.  I hit the ground running and didn't stop until last night.  I have so few days like that - everything else flies out of my head when I get busy.  Happy Belated Birthday, Dad.  I love you.

I am stealing the above picture from my daughter, Carianne and her husband, Carl.  It is my background picture on my computer and makes me smile every time I look at it.  Each of my daughters know they are special to their Popi.  I know he is my very own personal father.  That was a code I used when I needed to talk to him privately while I was growing up.  I still use it when I am distressed.  My father, has always been there for me, and as I look back on my life, I realize I was very demanding.  I am quite ashamed at how selfish I was of my time with him.  I love him dearly and feel so blessed that he is my dad.

Today I am Thankful My Personal Trainer

Early last summer, I hired Karen King to help me get into shape for our mission.  When the place that I had worked out for the last 7 years closed down last Christmas, I had been at loose ends.  I found Karen, a friend and trainer that had worked there, and knew my prayers had been answered.

So far she has helped me lose 15 pounds, stand 1 hour and walk 30 minutes.  This may not be a big deal to most people - but to me it is huge.  When I first started, I could hardly walk 10 minutes without being in agony.  Now I can go 40 minutes sometimes and not realize it.  The day I voted, I stood in line for 1 hour and 10 minutes.  I didn't even realize I was in line that long.  6 months ago, I would have had to get out of line and wait until I could vote with Clyde, so he could save me a spot and I could sit.  Life is good and getting better!

I am Thankful for the Beautiful Place I Live In...

 Yesterday, Clyde and I went and used his new binoculars.  I took pictures on my cheap camera of our bay and coastline.  I don't think anyone in our family but Pam and Chris know what a pretty little island we live on.  The above picture was taken at Brenton's Point looking out to Jamestown across the Narragansett Bay.

 This is the shot just below the sailboat shot.  That seagull was very busy.  He was very fun to watch.

 With Clyde's binoculars, we could see a family of ducks swimming just below where the waves are breaking.  In fact the white dots you see are are a few of them but mostly they were dark ducks - so they are not showing up.  We lost a lot of coastline with the hurricane and Nor'Easter that blew through here the last two weeks.

 This is a pictures of the Newport Bridge.  It is a suspension bridge like San Francisco's.  Ours is supposed to be longer but not as wide. I have become very fond of it.  I look for it when we fly in and when we come back from out of town.  It means we are almost home.

This was taken by Fort Adams in Newport.  I just thought it was pretty picture.  I hope to get better pictures of the coastline, etc in the near future because I have ordered a new and better camera.  I am waiting for its arrival.  I am hoping that a camera will make my walks more fun.  I am always taking pictures in my mind anyway - may as well snap away with the real thing.  This is how Clyde and I spent our day yesterday.  We had a wonderful day, relaxing, sightseeing and I got my exercise in too boot!

Today I am Thankful for Days with my Husband

Today is a holiday, so Clyde and I get to spend the day together.  Saturday we spent the day together, in fact we have pretty much spent the whole weekend together.  Today we are going to do a bit of running around and just have a fun day together.  I guess it is a good thing that we like to be together since we are planning on spending 18 months together in the not so distant future.

Today I am Thankful for Our Veterans

Today is Veteran's Day.  Ordinarily this holiday is celebrated on the day but most activities will be tomorrow because the date fell on a Sunday.  I am so grateful for our long history of veterans.

I grew up an Army BRAT.  My father was an Army Surgeon.  Because of my military upbringing, I have had some amazing experiences and met amazing people.  

Clyde's family have had people in the military since the Civil War.  His Greatgrandfather was what would be a medic in the Civil War.  He didn't receive his MD until after the Civil War.  Clyde still has his medical book.  

Clyde' grandfather served in WWI as an ambulance driver.  Clyde's father served on the air fields in the US during WWII.  Clyde served during the Viet Nam era - in fact that is how we met.

Our legacy goes on in our son-in-law, Brandon Nordell.  He is currently serving in the Air Force.  Our strength and allegiance to the military is alive and well in this family.

Today I am Thankful for Temples

Today Clyde and I spent the morning at the Boston Temple.  It was wonderful.  Clyde was set apart as a Boston Temple Ordinance Worker and then we did a session.  It is exactly what both of us needed.  Afterwards we had a wonderful lunch at Panera and then went to Bass Pro Shop to get Clyde a pair of binoculars.  We got home just a little while ago but have a wonderful day.  Now to finish preparing for the Sabbath.

Today I am Thankful for the Gift of Sight

When I was 9 years old, I got my first pair of glasses.  Apparently I had needed them for a long time but hadn't realized that the world was fuzzy.  I was astonished how beautiful the world was.  My eyelids are drooping really bad and it is time to have them lifted - not for cosmetic reasons but because they are impinging on my sight.  I went in for a vision field test and actually failed more miserably than I was supposed too.  I have tunnel vision and the DR's are not sure why.  We are hoping that when I have my surgery in January, the light will heal much of the problem - otherwise they are going to have to look deep into some other causes.  I personally think it is a combination of not enough light and the floaters that I get so much since my pregnancy with Heidi.  Hopefully that is all that it is.

Sight has been on my mind a lot this week.  Today my father goes in for surgery to have the lens reattached on his good eye.  It has slipped and I can't imagine anything more miserable than seeing partially.  (For contact lens wearer - it would be like yours slipped down and you only saw through half or a third.)  My father has had kind of a rough week.  We are praying that this goes smoothly.  

Today I am Thankful for Mallory Hope

  

 Yesterday was my youngest granddaughter, Mallory Hope Bahlmann's 2nd birthday.  We drop shipped her gift from Amazon and paid the extra bit to have it gift wrapped.  In truth she was as excited about the wrapping as the gift.  Courtesy of her mother, the above picture is Mallory unwrapping the gift.

We sent her the Fisher Price Castle.  It came with Snow White and Cinderella.  Her brother gave her Ariel and Eric.  She is saying 'Cheese' to her mother in this picture but she loved the gift and played with it and the wrapping all day long.  

We have amazing grandchildren.  We are very blessed with strong and distinct personalities.  Our grandchildren are the joy of our lives.

Today I am thankful for a Warm Place to Live!

We are being hit with gale force winds today along with sleet and possibly snow.  I am so thankful for a warm place to live, especially since other areas that were hit with Hurricane Sandy are also being hit with this same storm.  Many do not have power still and no where to go and be warm.  It is heartbreaking.  Our full time missionaries have been sent to help with the cleanup.  They were telling us about the devastation.  One said it looked like houses had been dumped on the Sahara - there was so much sand.  Both of these young men are used to deserts.  One is from Utah and the other from Texas - they know what a desert looks like.  They said it is was not a sight they expected to see on the East Coast.  I could tell it really affected them.  So today I am thankful for shelter, food and a warm place to be.  I hate that I have to go out in this but I will be thankful for that too.

Today I am Thankful for the Opportunity to Vote

In this wonderful country of ours, we are able to cast our vote for people to run the country, state, county and city.  We have the right to vote on whether we will have clean water or schools worthy of our children's attendance.  We are, in fact, faced with all sorts of things to cast our ballot on.  But we have that amazing right.  The media sometimes makes it sound like only a few people count in certain areas but every vote counts.  The reason that those states work so well in elections is that so many people vote for the presidential elections.  We could throw those statistics on their ear if we all cast a ballot - no matter what state we lived in.  Whose to say that Wyoming or Nebraska couldn't be pivotal states if they wanted to be?  We don't  have to cater or believe the media.  We each need to vote according to our heart and be proud we have this God given right.  I have voted - have you?

I am Thankful for my Father

Early this morning, my husband informed me that my father was not doing well.  It reminded me that my father is mortal and that is hard for me to wrap my head around because he has always been kind of superhero in my eyes.  I am grateful to my father for the wonderful Dad he has been to me, my husband and to my siblings.  I am most grateful for the Popi he has been to his grandchildren and great-grandchildren and even young people that are no relation.  He sets that bar high and people are will try to attain it because 'Popi' says it can be done.  I am grateful that he is my father.  

I am Thankful for Stake Conference

Last night was the first session or adult session of Stake Conference. It is always the best meeting of the two.  If I had to pick one of the two to attend - that would be the one.  I led the music, so I got to sit up on the stand.  I love looking at people's faces and reactions - plus it is fun to see who is there.  I was astonished how many people I knew from the temple there.

It was a wonderful meeting focused on temples and missionary work.  It was just what I needed to hear - but isn't that always the way?

I am Thankful for Change

I completely spaced that we were into November.  For the last several years I have done 'Thankful' blogs everyday of the month of November.  I will consider my  blog about Hurricane Sandy my first thankful blog - because we are so grateful we came off so easy from that terrible storm.

I am thankful for change.  It shakes things up and makes me look at life in a new way.  It makes me do things differently and/or it spurs me on to get things done.  Change has always been a good thing in my life.  There were times I have ranted and raved about it at first but somehow, Heavenly Father has always known just the changes that are right for me at the right time.  It was a lesson a long time in the learning.  Now I try to take it graciously and as a new adventure.

The Aftermath

 This blog will be picture heavy.  Once again it is more for me and my memory than anything else.  The white car just behind the tree on the left is ours.  If this tree had fallen the other way - we would be without right now.  This tree was large and I thought quite healthy.  As you see in the lower right hand corner it wiped out a bunch of other not so healthy trees too.

 Here is a view of the other trees it took out.

 

 That same tree from the sidewalk (in a very hard rain - I might add.)

 This was a tree directly across the street from the apartment where we used to live.  It pulled up a huge patch of earth with it.

 This is a willow that we used to see outside of our window our bedroom.  Because of all of the damage to it - it is no more.  I will take pictures of the clean-up.

Here the about the other third of the willow's branches (the willow is on the left behind the building.  It actually looks pretty good from this vantage point but when you got closer - it was ripped up pretty badly.  Those branches were flung all over the complex.  It apparently tore up some of the shingles of the building next door.  They were repairing that damage today.  We were really lucky.  We have friends that are still without power.  One of the family's even have a week old baby to contend with.  Not a good situation.