save a memory, take a picture

So many memories I don't want to forget, and taking a picture is one way to keep them alive.

I am grateful to Claire for having her ipod handy to snap these pictures of "Girls Night".   We had just finished watching a tween movie and decided to have a hula-hoop contest.  Megan put on some music and we all took turns.

Claire can get the hula-hoop from her waist, to her neck, and back to her waist without dropping it.

For me, they put the hula-hoop around my waist and I turned my wheelchair around in circles.

Megan hula-hooped to "Car Radio"  by 21 Pilots.  It cracked me up to watch her hula-hoop to the entire song and half of the next, while singing, like it was a perfectly normal thing to do.

good morning

Email that I sent to my friend, NeYoda.
It is a nickname given to her (by Dawn) because she is wise, like Yoda.

Good morning NeYoda, 

It looks like spring.  It smells like spring. It feels like spring. Finally!

For me this time of year feels more spiritual... I will sit outside with my eyes closed and there is an energy, that is almost tangible, as everything that was dormant starts to wake up and grow again.   And I don't mean any of that in some weird hippie way.  I just love this time of year.

So Megan.

I looked at Megan a couple of weeks ago and there was something different about her.  Her eyebrows were half gone!  What The Heck!?  Turns Megan had tried to shape her eyebrows with a razor. It didn't look so good. Oh, she also cut her long eyelashes back by half.  Why?  I am still not entirely sure.  The best answer might be, "Because she's Megan."

Sending love,

Janae :)

 

NeYoda and Megan back in 2012.

"First and foremost, you are a child of God."

“First and foremost, you are a child of God.” - Elder F. Enzio Busche

-     

Here is a short 6 minute clip.  The words bring peace and hope and love.

Thank you Heather for sending this to me.  

https://youtu.be/snAjZ8mfoYw

Why Not?

Hello February! 

So far February looks VERY similar to January, but I am okay with that.

Jeff and I and our kids sometimes talk about, “Why Not?”

(I think this idea originated with our friends, John Matthew and Megan.)

This is how it goes:  Everyone takes a turn saying something that they might want to do by phrasing it with a “Why Not.”  The only rule is that NO ONE can tell you why you CAN’T do it or why your idea is impossible or ridiculous etc.

It is fun to think big, or think differently, or to think your ideas out loud and just maybe put them into motion.

Recently my sister’s family was over and here some of the “Why Not’s” we came up with.

(I will say that this game can be more fun to play with kids than adults.)   

“Why Not”…

(Remember the rule.  You CANNOT tell the other people why their idea won’t work.) 

Jump out of an exploding spaceship while shooting a rocket launcher in space.

Own 5 billion dollars.

Eat steak every day.

Own an elephant.

Get a job as a billboard.

Become a pigeon whisperer.

Fly an A10 jet.

Get a flame thrower.

Actually manage New Year's resolutions.

Get a dog.

Find a cure for death.

Become a plant.

Eat all the Twinkies in America.

Stay up past 9:30.

Beat Erik in ping pong.

Analyze each line of the Divine Comedy.

Major in Philosophy.

Visit Western Europe.

Read more.

Get a cat.

Get a dragon.

Get a CAT-DRAGON.

Save up for a trampoline.

Travel to South America.

Get a Bugatti.

Go to the beach.

Go to the Farallon Islands to see a great white shark.  

Eat a whole container of Ben & Jerry’s by myself in one sitting.

Organize a comedy night.

Go to the Festival of Colors at the Hindu temple in Spanish Fork.

Plant more flowers in the green space.  

Drive the coast from Mexico to Canada.

Some of the “Why Not” participants. 

Cousins! 

for the love

Background:

Festival of Trees is a fundraiser for Primary Children’s Hospital.  It is an event where people decorate and donate a Christmas tree, which the Festival sells, and all of the money goes to Primary Children’s Hospital.   People donate beautiful quilts, wreaths, centerpieces and gingerbread houses which are also sold.  The event takes place the Monday-Saturday after Thanksgiving.

This year we donated a tree. We named our tree “For the Love”.   That phrase can be a cheeky expression, BUT this time it represented all the love and effort that went into it.

When I use the word “we”, there is a whole lot of “WE” that went into making the tree happen. Friends and family that contributed their talents or donated in one way or another include:  Jenn J., Laura, Heather, Andrea, Shelby, Liz, Kindra, Deb, Lynette, Whittney, Jenn, Amy, Dawn, Laurie, Teri, Martin, Louise, Jeff, Claire, Megan, Erik, Kristen, Heidi, Linda, Merilyn, LaKay, Terrie, Cindy, Dave & Dawn.

There were quite a few handmade elements.  Felt embroidered ornaments, jute wrapped balls, moss sticks, hand felted wool fairies and blue eggs, the tree skirt, to the dogwood branch star that my Dad made.  We created a display with tree stumps, lanterns, a toboggan and a gift basket themed after the book, "The Mitten," by Jan Brett. 

Oh let me just show you :) 

The flame in the candle looks real, but it isn't. 

I will be honest. That Monday after Thanksgiving when we finally set up the tree… I never wanted to see another tree in my life.  Never.  Well two days later I found myself thinking, “Hmm, if we did a tree next year what would it look like?” 

December 31, 2016

In early December I went to a funeral.   At the end after most people had left a woman approached Jeff and I.  She introduced herself and was already aware that I had als.  This woman told us us about a loved one of hers that was diagnosed just over a year ago.  She said how with her loved one, the disease is progressing quickly and he is already in a wheelchair.  She went on to tell me I looked like I was doing well, and added "I hope that we get as much time as you. (pause)  Why do some people get more time than others?"

I glanced at Jeff, not quite sure how to respond, but if anything, her comment seemed to be rhetoric.

We certainly didn’t have an answer to her question.

Goal for today:  Be Present.

Some photos from 2016…

I see beauty in all of my friends

Megan has a t-shirt that says:


"I see beauty in all of my friends"


Is it weird that I'm about to post pictures of plants and instead of people?

Shelby, a fellow plant lover would say, "Of course not."





'Friends'  (Thank you Dad for taking these photos)