Chapter 36: Thank you, Brother Tolutau

When I was still enrolled at Brigham Young University, decidedly a 2-Dimensional Art major, I took a beginning sculpture class.

I had never done any serious exploration with clay and had a less than enthusiastic outlook on how I would do in the class. I went into the class with a mindset that I would fall behind as I had done in so many other classes and that I would have nothing worthwhile to show for it come the semester's end.

It turned out to be the best class that I had taken at that college as well as the community colleges I had previously been enrolled in.

4 years later and I am realizing that I never gave this soft spoken Tongan teacher the proper thank you that he deserved. I'm not sure if he would remember me now, or if he had even the slightest clue as to how down I was feeling on myself when I entered into his class, but his teaching and friendliness helped rekindle something inside me that gave me a new inspiration and direction for my schooling.

He is an accomplished sculptor and well known throughout Tonga due to some of his sculptures that are there now. Even my husband speaks so highly of him and the beautiful creations that many have seen in many places around the world.

Ironically, the first time I met my future husband was at this same teacher's home shortly after Rodney arrived with the new students from Tonga. :]

I'm proud to say that his teaching, encouragement and personal insight on his education (which was strikingly similar to the educational struggles I was experiencing) have been a large factor in my wanting to more aggressively pursue the education that will lead to my personal happiness in 3-Dimensional art.

Thank you, Brother Tolutau for your encouragement and pride in me that was a much needed push in my life. I hope to someday thank you in person for the inspiration of perseverance and kindness alike, and also hope to have that education I am after that will lead to a personal triumph that I am determined to achieve.

Chapter 35: Apartment Garden

Oh glorious sunshine, thank you for finally making an appearance not accompanied by biting wind! I love winter, I do, but if there isn't a sufficient amount of snow to cover up ugly, I'm ready for Spring.

It's HERE!

My own little Miss Sunshine helped me plant a few little vegetables, more for a little fun than anything, and now I feel like turning my balcony/patio into a jungle. I've seen a few plausible ideas on Pinterest, but for now this is what we have.

She was so sweet during this and so concentrated on what she was doing, I loved it! Couldn't get a picture of her watering the planted seeds because I was keeping her from drowning them. Once we finished that and put them in the sunshine I got this face...

...And she says "Mommy, cuddle...nap?"

Sure thing baby girl, and once you fall asleep I'll enjoy my gift to myself (and favorite movie ever) that arrived today :]

Mmmm, David Bowie. <3

Chapter 34: Precious Old Man

I have always wished that I could be placed in a situation in which I could knowingly make someone else's day brighter. I try to smile at people frequently, because that has been known to make my day brighter on occasion. We are not, in a worldly perspective, financially wealthy people but I have always wished that I could give money away to those who might be in greater need of it that I. Today I was blessed enough to be in a situation where I could help someone out.

I was in the checkout line at the grocery store with my baby girl when an elderly man came up behind us in line. He was alone, dressed in a weathered dapper suit and carrying an oxygen tank with him as he "ooh"d and "aah"d over sweet Mollie. He had a pin on the lapel of his suit coat that looked like a seal of some country, which by his accent I am guessing was Ireland? Softly speaking, he commented on my daughter's beautiful brown eyes and on the cookie in her hand. With every word I had an overwhelming feeling come over me that I wanted to do something for the frail gentleman.

He didn't have much more than a basket's worth of groceries and I, for one of the few times in my life, felt that I could make a difference on some scale for this man. I gestured to the cashier subtly that I would be paying for his groceries and she nodded. The man pulled out his wallet, and as I helped put his groceries into his cart then paying for the both of our groceries, I could see it dawn on him what I had done.

I have to be honest in telling that I was legitimately afraid that this sweet looking little man would be offended at the gesture, I don't know why. Instead he patted his chest just over his heart (I have seen many in my family do this same gesture) and whispered thank you through his tears. I told him to have a wonderful day and as I walked away, I heard him say to the cashier "I am 90 years old and I have never had anyone do something like that for me."

I am not posting this looking for recognition or trying to boast, but his genuine gratitude rocked my perspective on so many things. To be nearly a century old and to have never had someone do something of such little effort for him made me realize how many opportunities that I probably have had, but never took advantage of to brighten someone else's day. There are so many simple things that can be done on a daily basis to help people of all ages around us.

I have been awakened to the things that I take for granted, and the time that I waste on trivial things that could be better spent serving others.

What a blessing this day has been to me, to know that I had the courage to try to help someone and to have that help accepted.

I will be actively looking for those opportunities from now on and I encourage anyone else who may feel something lacking in their lives to simply SERVE.

Chapter 33: WHERE IS IT?!

My debit card is missing. Only it's not really missing missing. It's somewhere in my 2 bedroom 1 bathroom apartment.

Rodney was paying a bill online yesterday morning in the living room with the card while I was in the bathroom getting ready for the day.

The internet was being slow so he moved into the bedroom closer to the router.

Mollie was watching Sesame Street.

We didn't leave the house at all until we had already searched for an hour, so it's somewhere here.

29 hours later and it's still missing.

I have checked every corner and vent, under every blanket and bed, inside every shoe and cupboard. I cannot find that stupid thing!!

Because I know that it is in my house, I'm not worried that it's being used or wanting to cancel it, but the mere idea that it is inside my friggin' fraggin' house is making me crazy!

Chapter 32: Babysitting Part 4

Umm...

One of the chickens just laid an egg in the sink.

Chapter 31: Babysitting Part 3

Tonight the parents come home from their trip!

Yesterday was quite the day! The family has a couple of black labs, one of which is a bird hunting veteran, and a chicken coop in their front yard...Need I go on? :] The dogs somehow broke a hole in the fence surrounding the chickens and the 3 youngest kids and I got to play rescue for a solid 45 minutes! The older of the two dogs, the mastermind, managed to get a chicken then he'd bring it away from the coop and the puppy would join in on the fun. She was the pouncer and the older dog was the biter. There was about 5 inches of snow so it was a mess trying to grab the dogs away from the chickens, or trying so shield the chickens from the playful puppy that none of us could seem to catch!

It seemed as though once we saved one chicken, we'd turn around and they had another! We did that 3 times but finally got enough control of the dogs to put them in their kennel. Luckily, 2 of the 3 chickens survived and now they're in a big sink in the laundry room by the garage...

I have no idea what I should be doing with them.

They keeping making little sounds and every time my little girl hears them she goes over to the door and yells "Chicken, hayyy!" which translates into "Chicken, you're okay!" :]

As chance would have it, I had already had some chicken in the crockpot for dinner...So...

Nope. Kidding!

Chapter 30: Babysitting Part 2

Holy moley. Things were crazy last night/today!

Whill the kids and I were watching a movie last night, I kept hearing a noise that I could not place. Until an hour later when I went into a different room and realized a low roaring sound I was hearing was a WOLF!

HA! Got ya.

What I was hearing was actually the wind trying to tear apart the house. When it first started it sounded almost like a muffled sound of a semi going by or maybe even a low flying plane, but once it picked up, there was no mistaking what it really was. It was cold enough outside but with it the wind brought a new meaning to the word. My reaction every time I went into the garage or outside was...well, it looked a lot like this..

When we woke up this morning, we were all half frozen to death (exaggeration) and we realized the power was out and had been for quite a few hours judging by the temperature. So, we all got dressed and after we called the power company to inform them of the power outage (the wind had knocked trees into power lines and made a huge mess) we decided to go out for breakfast! It was well worth the wait and the crowd for the heat alone, but the food was delicious and filling as well. After killing some time at the mall we figured we'd pray all the way back to the house that we'd see the porch light on as we drove up....and we did!

I don't know about everyone else, but there's nothing like a painful winter bite that makes me grateful for the food, shelter and heat that my family enjoys.