Emmy's Baptism

Emmy's baptism was originally scheduled for Saturday, April 11 ... and we were planning to drive to Utah to attend. Then come back through Colorado for a few days. Needless to say... all travel has been canceled. Then the date was changed to Saturday, March 28. Micah figured out how to do a Live Stream on a Face Book group. So while only the Christiansen family, their bishop, and one friend were the only ones to attend "in person" ... there were many of us who could attend remotely. In fact it was a great thing for almost all of our family to be able to participate via the internet. Micah's mom recorded a talk about Baptism and I recorded a talk about the Holy Ghost. They showed those two videos on a large TV. The brother that played the piano for the music, is one of Emmy's primary teachers. Alison put photos up right away on that Face Book page. I spent Saturday afternoon and Sunday afternoon, making a photo book to send to Emmy.
Here are some of the photos.

Stay At Home for Two

I mentioned in my previous post that "staying at home" is not as much of a hardship for us, as it is for our kids and grand kids. We are not trying to work a job from home. We are not trying to have our kids do school at home. There is just two of us in a big house, that I can mostly keep clean. Since I have been purging and minimizing stuff around the house for a year, my cleaning is easier and I have great peace of mind in having things organized. We have been watching more TV than normal. (At least normal for me... Ron had to replace his "sports" channels with an alternative.) We have actually been eating very well. Sometimes I have run short on a few items, but nothing very serious. I was already in a mode of keeping some extra items here at home. (I usually have "an-extra-one" of things that I use on a regular basis.) I have also had the habit of freezing extra food in a two-serving container. It is not usual, when I cook, to have more than one meals worth... but the extra goes in the freezer for another time. We also have a closet full of food storage items. I went through and did an inventory on part of that last week. I still have other items stored in my laundry room and in the my kitchen, that I need to sort out. The only items of some shortage had been milk, eggs, bread and paper products. We don't eat very much bread, and I have been making some here at home, for what we are eating. Since I have been trying to keep 5 bathrooms stocked... we have extra paper products and soaps. So, the only two items that made me be a bit nervous about, was eggs and milk. I cut back on our egg consumption and I added water to the milk 😉😜.

Here are a few other "ideas" that make our meals better.

When I make pie crust... I usually make at least a couple of extra and freeze them. So yesterday, it was very simple to make a couple of small cherry pies. Just pull the crusts out to thaw, make the filling ... and ready to eat.

I have some extra bags of frozen rhubarb in the freezer... I made some small jars of rhubarb butter ... that turned out yummy. I also have a rhubarb almond cake recipe to try, and a rhubarb/vanilla jelly to try.

To make strawberries last longer, I sometimes cut them up right away, add a little sugar, cornstarch, and water to make a strawberry sauce. When I put the lids on the jars right away, they will seal as the sauce cools. I always keep those in the refrigerator (They are not canned well enough for shelf life, but can be kept in the refrigerator for quite a while.) Of course they don't taste exactly like fresh... but are very good on ice cream, waffles, yogurt, and oatmeal.

The way that I make onions, peppers, and celery last longer is to finely chop them, put in small plastic containers and freeze them. Then just thaw, quickly, in the microwave and add to other foods ... like soup, taco meat, spaghetti sauce, eggs, etc. Small containers allow for single usage, without thawing too much.

We almost always eat soup for lunch. Usually the Progresso soups. Each can is just enough for two servings. I always add leftovers of meat, noodles, rice, or vegetables. There are so many varieties that I can always add almost any "leftover" that I have on hand. (On the soup, I try to get the "light" and "less sodium" versions.)

Another thing that I make in my crock pot, is sugar free apple sauce. Just apples, a bit of lemon juice, and cinnamon. The grand kids love it. I also, put the lids on the jars while hot, and they will seal as it cools. But again... store in the refrigerator. I usually use 4-5 different kinds of apples in each batch.

So... I am getting pretty good at "cooking for two" and using up leftovers, and storing items in the refrig and freezer. 😊

2020... Like None Other

This year has turned out to be "like none other", and turning our lives upside down. Beginning in Nov/Dec of 2019 there was a new virus in China. Early in January there was beginning to be news of that virus spreading. One of the retailers here in Texas, began their preparations for a pandemic, even though the reality of that didn't hit until March. The main grocery stores here in Texas... HEB ... were better prepared than most for what happened in March, when people were ordered to stay home and social distance from each other. This "stay at home" order has shut down almost the entire economy of the world. Within two weeks, thousands of people lost their jobs, the medical community is functioning without enough medical equipment, schools are closed. While the number of actual deaths has been a small percentage, mass measures have been taken to try to "flatten" the growing curve of confirmed cases of Covid 19. It is yet to be seen what the realty of damage will be to the economy of the United States. This "stay at home" order hasn't been much of a hardship for us. I was able to get groceries during the first two weeks... thanks to HEB curbside orders. I also briefly shopped at Dollar General and WalMart. Plus life is pretty simple for just two of us. The whole shut down has been a different story for the rest of our family. Each situation slightly different from the others. Each with various challenges of it's own. Life in California, Utah, Texas, and Scotland, each have it's own set of concerns and challenges. At-home-school and at-home-work presents many unforeseen struggles. A good description is Mike's situation... the schools are in crisis mode and his job is in crisis mode. While the crisis mode of the church has hit Sam and Audrey especially hard with the callings that they have. Church meetings were suspended early on... later the temples closed ... and many missionaries came home early. But... looking back it appears that the members of the church were being prepared for such a time as this. New programs and policies have been put in place during the past couple of years, to help ease the transition to home-based-church. We were told last fall that April General Conference would be "like none other". Little did we know the full extent of that description. This Wednesday will be the first of April, and we are still in "lock down" for the entire month of April. No one knows exactly what to expect during the next few months. We only know that everything is different, than what we expected. It is a good thing that some of our expenses have been cut, because it is looking like our income will also be cut. Our house is still for sale, but it looks like the peak-spring-real-estate-season is dead. We have a great listing now, with an additional realtor ... with some new photos, but everything is on hold for now.  I can see that people are still "looking", but who knows how long it will take for people to recover to start buying again. The whole world is living in uncertainty for now.

Sonic the Hedgehog Party

For Eli's birthday this year, we had what Audrey calls a "Cousin Party". We had it at our house on Sunday evening, March 1- his birthday is actually on March 2, which was Monday. My only assignment was to make a blue Sonic the Hedgehog cake. It was made out of 23 cupcakes, and then a layer of frosting covering them all. At least Audrey sent me a video, this time. (instead of just a photo.) And I am pretty sure that I lucked out and got the homemade butter cream frosting the correct consistency. It was a bit lumpy- I wish it had turned out smoother- but it was okay ;) Each person takes the cupcake that they want- pull apart cake. Ashley made lasagne. Audrey made salad and bread sticks. Plus, Audrey had a few activities, that included donuts and FunYums and gum. The kids had FUN. Eli thought it was the best party ever. (funny how the kids think that whatever they are doing- is the best thing ever :))
Here are a few random pics. I am having trouble getting good photos lately.

February Birthdays

It's that time of year again for the two February birthdays. You have seen some posts with epic "kid parties"... well "adult parties" are not nearly so fun or complicated ;) And since one of our budget cuts was in the gift category, the adult parties focus on good food and company ;) Since Audrey was on her way to California for a work trip on the Sunday of her birthday, we waited until yesterday evening to celebrate for her and Ron. Two small chocolate cakes, a chocolate lava cake, ice cream, whipped cream, baked potatoes, grilled steak, grilled hotdogs, and fancy salad for dinner. So, yummy food... but the best part was the just sitting around talking and laughing. Most Sunday evenings we are together with the Petes and the Andersons... the kids have fun cousin time and the adults, including Hailey and Jaden have fun conversation time. Topics of all sorts and lots of "problem solving"... everything from potty training to two old people trying to "remember stuff"- lol.
Anyway... it's fun and great to be together.

Happy 66 to Ron and Happy 37 to Audrey.

One Year

It's been a rather tough year here. It was one year ago that Ron suffered a stroke, and while we are very grateful that it was not worse, and that he has made some good progress in that year... this year has had some challenges. Mostly, small frustrations. We have had the house listed for 8 months, without any success. We changed realtors last summer, and now we are getting ready to do a co listing, with another realtor from Kerrville. We are hoping that her experience and her premier group, will have good impact on our listing. Ron and I have differing views on how the listing strategy should be approached. We have been working hard to cut our controllable expenses to a minimum. I applied for some health insurance for me... we have been greatly blessed that I have had no health issues during the past year. I am in that "donut hole", between being covered on a company insurance plan with Ron and starting medicare. When he started medicare a year ago, that left me with nothing until I turn 65. We were also greatly blessed that Ron had just started medicare, about a week before he had the stroke. On another note, I think I have made some progress on selling our Wyndham timeshare. Another unexpected blessing has happened, as I have been "purging stuff" around here. It started out as a necessity, in trying to get to only the important stuff to be packed and moved. It has turned into a passion, called Minimalism. I started following a facebook group called No Sidebar. They have shared some amazing information on cleaning, organizing, and downsizing on "stuff".  But it is actually about more than just getting rid of excess items. Here is a quote from a recent article-

Minimalism is really all about reassessing your priorities so that you can strip away the excess and nonessential stuff—the possessions, beliefs, behavior, habits, relationships, and activities—that don’t bring value to your life, and focus on the essential stuff that does.
— Keeping only what adds happiness, value, purpose, and freedom to our lives and discarding the rest that is non- essential. This includes both physical (for example, clothes and paperwork) and nonphysical stuff (for example, negative relationships, feelings of worry and stress, unproductive habits, and nonessential commitments).
Minimalism at a personal level is best described by the Swedish word lagom. Lagom is defined as “enough, sufficient, adequate, just right.” It is also widely translated as “in moderation,” “in balance,” “perfect-simple,” and “suitable.”
Similarly, fewer possessions do not mean less satisfaction. Having less, but having the right stuff, can deliver more fulfillment. It is not so much about quantity, but more about quality.
It is a tool that helps us gain freedom—freedom from being overwhelmed, from nonessential stuff, from consumer culture, from mental clutter, from emotional blockages and negative relationships, from debt and joyless pursuits. It facilitates tangible freedom and the living of an extraordinary life. This is minimalism.

You might say that I am on a quest, to have less stuff, less house, less work, less driving, less clutter... and more peace, more time, more of the important things. So.. I guess this past "one year" has been a combination of frustrations and blessings ;)

The Parable of the Window

We had an interesting experience this morning after breakfast. Ron and I eat our meals in the dining room. The thing that might be a bit unusual is that we sit next to each other on the same side of the table, so that we can both look out the front window. This morning, I saw something outside that I couldn't tell if it was a rock, or something else like a piece of wood or trash. I asked Ron what he thought it was. It didn't take me very long to figure out that from where he was sitting, even though it was close to where I was sitting, he couldn't see what I was looking at. I told him to sit in "my chair" and look. Even then, I had to very carefully describe "where" I wanted him to look, so that he could see what I was looking at. When we both figured out exactly what I was looking at, he walked outside to where the object was, and took a photo of it on his phone. In the photo, it was simply a stick and a rock, that weren't even attached to each other, but from the dining room perspective, it looked like a totally different object. So many lessons to be learned here, about "looking out the same window" and "looking at the same yard"... but having very different perspectives and opinions! This little "parable" sums up so many things about how life has been for Ron and I during the past year. ;)

(And btw... Ron was late putting corn out there for the deer this morning. At one point they were all standing out there... "looking IN" the window and wondering where he was. I told him, "It won't be long before they are knocking on the window, to get his attention. Or at least sending the squirrel, to knock on the window, on behalf of them."- lol)