Travels of Lucky the Bear

Every time we have to leave on a trip, my niece always gives my mom collateral, to make sure that "grandma" comes back. Because if grandma is given a toy to borrow, she will always bring it back. We've taken a bunny cross-country, and this time, we are taking:

Lucky the Bear.

Here's Lucky at Fort Cody with Grandma:

And here is Lucky inside a cannon:

Fort Cody

So, the drive went faster than expected! We must have hit a time-warp bubble or something, because we made it all the way out to the West in less than 24 hrs! That's a record. But we did stop along the way....

Fort Cody Trading Post! It's in North Platte Nebraska, a welcome stop amidst the long drive. It's a tourist trap, but they have a great miniature exhibition of Buffalo Bill's Wild West show. It's free! And you might even see John Wayne or Elvis lurking amongst the merchandise.

Just hop off I/80 at the Highway 83 interchange if you are ever passing through!

Tonight

I walked down the hallway after washing my hair and to make sure everyone in the house was still awake before I started blow drying it. Curiously, the back door was open and a bag of trash sat idly on the porch within my view. I figured that mom or DeAnna had taken it out and got distracted, so I stepped outside.

A warm breeze met my soaking hair and I breathed it in deeply. I love the air our here. I never feel like I'm stuggling to breathe, like in the West. The high, dry altitudes usually contribute to that. Out here the air is fresh and full of moisture. I almost feel as if I am breathing through osmosis.

As my eyes adjusted to the dark I saw that my mom was sitting on the stairs, staring into the glorious night sky. The moon came out for a visit, showing it's crescent face. I sat down beside her in silence as we listened to the frogs singing down in the creek beds, with all of God's majesty and wonder shining above our heads and laying beneath our feet.

I wonder how long it will be before I'm back. I'm leaving to go back out west for the summer, see if I can get a sit down job and put some time into school. I wonder if I'll be back before summer has ended or if it won't be till Christmas.

I was thinking about that as I was sitting there. The moon kept shining, the frogs kept singing and the breeze was a balm to my soul.

I heard something behind us and turned around......

and shrieked.

Yes. I shrieked.

And I scared it.

Just a little 'coon sniffing out his dinner in our trash.

It scared me too.

I don't ever want to forget this night.

Biscuits

Indulge me. This is my favorite biscuit recipe in the whole world. I've probably gained 10 pounds because of this recipe. So, I thought I'd put it on my blog so I can find it without typing it into Google Search again...and so you can have it too...;) These are my favorite in the winter months when a stew is simmering and the snow is falling outside of the house. They are flaky, tender and golden!

Baking Powder Biscuits

(from a 1933 Recipe)

Ingredients:

2 cups sifted flour
2 tsp. baking powder
4 tablespoons butter or shortening
1/2 tsp. salt
about 3/4 cup milk

Sift Flour once, measure, add baking powder and salt, and sift again. Cut in shortening or butter. (this is where I use my hands by rubbing the butter into the flour). Add milk gradually, stirring until soft dough is formed. Turn out on slightly floured board and lightly "knead" for 30 seconds, enough to shape. Roll 1/2 inch thick and cut with 2 inch floured biscuit cutter. Bake on ungreased sheet in a 400 degree oven for 12-15 minutes. Makes 12 biscuits. These are great served with jam or honey.

Courtesy of Brenda Hyde via Old Fashioned Living

Stalking

I've found that there is only one thing wrong with blogger. I love how easy it is to post and all sorts of other things. But there is one thing that makes wordpress superior. And that involves tracking.

On wordpress you can track who has come to your site and where they came from (i.e. google search, or from another wordpress member). This makes it kind of fun to know where your traffic is coming from, and you can see if your friends are looking at your blog.

But google now has a dashboard to track visitors for blogger, wordpress, your website.

It's called Google Analytics.

And now I know who's visiting my blog. Thanks guys! It's easy to use (just put in your URL) and if you already have a google account then it's a one-click sign up!

Here's a great explanation of how to use analytics with blogger!

It's a really great way to keep track of your visitors. But don't get too attached to it because I've heard a rumor that Google is going to install a Stats/tracking button inside blogger pretty soon. So, we'll have to get used to a new technology again :D

How To Train Your Dragon

Okay. So I have to write about the best movie of all time-

HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DRAGON!

It's epic. And I love it. And I'm obsessed. Pretty much.

What else can I say...ummm....

I love how fresh the movie is. The last dragon movie I saw was "Eragon" and it wasn't half bad! Both stories are novel and intriguing. Both deal with people riding on dragons but HHTYD is so much better. The graphics are fantastic. The first time (well, and every time since) I watched it I felt like I was a part of the movie-like I was really there! And I could feel the emotions of each of the characters. That hasn't happened since I watched the first Narnia movie.

The Story is all about a forbidden friendship between a dragon and a boy. Their worlds come colliding together in one fateful moment-where attitudes are changed as lives are in peril. Soaring through clouds and across the water you can almost feel the ocean spray.

There is one thing you should know about me. I hate watching reruns. I hate them! I can't stand watching a movie over and over again...yes, even Pride and Prejudice. I think that it takes away the surprise that you feel when you watched it for the first time.

But HHTYD...oh it only gets better and better every time I watch it!

My mom is going to read this post and she's going to shake her head.

But who cares!

HHTYD ROCKS MY WORLD!

If you haven't seen it, you need to. Trust me on this one. And you need to see it in theatres because it's incredible.

Did I mention that I've watched it in IMAX 3-D? That was an EPIC day.

THE END.

A Return With Honor

After being able to serve my mission for 3 months, I had to come home last month. It's been a hard, and it's been a blessing. Here's what happened:

After being sick with bronchitis in the MTC and having my shin splints flare up again (and die back down) I left the MTC feeling invincible. One of my roommates at the MTC came down with the swine flu, so not only was I on antibiotics, I also was on antivirals! So I was really excited. Nothing could stop me.

My trainer described it best "She got out of the..van..and said 'My knees hurt'". Which was really weird, because although everyone else in my family has knee problems-I never have. So I ignored it for a while. It didn't hurt that bad. We had a walking area, so we walked a little bit that first week. And surprise, surprise, it got worse..but not too bad. So we started getting rides. Then, one night when we didn't have a ride, my knee started to give out. I knew that was bad.

So I called the mission president's wife. She said that she would see us at Zone Conference that week and then we could figure out what to do. ZC came and it was even worse. So I went to a doctor shortly thereafter. I had an MRI done and we waited for the results. The doc said I had torn my meniscus and needed surgery that week... a little odd...so we waited for another opinion.

The second opinion said: "There's nothing wrong. Go to physical Therapy 6 times and you'll be fine". I cried. If nothing was wrong, why was I hurting? It didn't seem right. So, we decided to try another opinion.

About this time I started to realize that this wasn't going to be an easy fix. And I started praying a lot. I wanted to be healed, to finish my mission, and to just not hurt! But very quickly I found that the Lord had another plan in mind for me. He wanted me to go on a mission, but He needed me somewhere else too. That was hard for me to understand at first, until He told me why. Now I understand. But I can't tell you just yet.

So I was prepared when my mission president interviewed me and told me that I would be "put on medical release". I was just glad that I didn't have to ask for it. At this point I was in a wheelchair whenever I was in the Visitor Center, because it got me off of my knees.

My mom picked me up before my release day and we went to another doctor..who told me that the knee cap was out of place and it would take about 2-6 months to heal it. Okay. I can handle that.

I went to physical therapy a couple of times while in St George, but there wasn't much they could do because of the pain levels. It even hurt to be on a bike. So they hooked me up to "The Shocker" (an electrical impulse machine) and iced my legs. And that's about it. The Physical Therapist (Ben, nicest guy!) just kept saying: "We have to let it calm down...just let it calm down."

So, that's what I'm doing now.

I was released over the phone by my stake president and then had my "exit" interview with my mission president. He was so kind and kept saying, "Once you get this cleared up we'd love to have you back!". I know they would. And I know I would love too go back.

Which is why I know I won't.

The Lord has another plan for me, another mission for me to be a part of. I'm ready to follow His plan...He's actually pretty good at what He does! And even if it means that I'm not getting what I want,

I know He will always give me something better.