March Randoms

I liked how the two books I was reading happened to have red, white, and black covers that coordinated well together. Very satisfying. 😁

I texted this picture to Sam. He and I like The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings movies. 

I went out to dinner with my best friends from high school. It was great to be with them again. I love how long we've been friends--ever since I was 13 and in 8th grade when I moved to Massachusetts (so almost 30 years now), and since elementary school for the rest of them. 💛

I want to join this Society. Someday if/when I live on the Cape full-time, I will.

This is a portrait of a young Martha Washington using age-regression technology. Very cool, and she was very pretty if that was indeed what she looked like!

In a similar vein of old-fashioned ladylike things, I was going through my things and came across my old VHS set of Pride and Prejudice. This is the one I used to watch over and over again in college and in my early 20s. I have it on DVD now and haven't used it in about two decades(!!), so I took pictures of it and bid it a fond farewell before placing it in a box of things I was getting rid of.  

This is a cool quilt at the town library where I work. On the spines of the books are the names of families and individuals who contributed to the library's massive renovation several years ago, and one of those families is our good friends the Jennings. My mom and I took pictures to send to them at their request (they moved to Utah several years ago).

John's spring band concert. He's in there in the back somewhere with his trombone.

More things I got rid of from the cleanout of my things that I felt the need to document with pictures before doing so.

These would both be completely and solely online now. Ugh, I'm old!

I thought this was cute!

Hopkinton Lumber was very helpful to me last month in getting sample sizes of paint for touch-ups I needed to do around the house in preparation for it going on the market. 

Buenos Aires is a place I'd like to go someday. Or "Bonus Iries," as Miss Hannigan sings incorrectly to Oliver Warbucks in Annie. 😆

Not that I've been going on many of them over the last several years, but I've always really enjoyed planning out vacation trips--the itineraries, the accommodations, the restaurants, even the packing. Like the writer of this opinion piece, I'm a planner through and through. I've found that the investment of time and effort is totally worth it!  

"My high standards leave me disappointed when the decor falls short of chic and the pillows lack fluffiness. I keep my Princess and the Pea attitude to myself, though. It's my Airbnb cross to bear." 😂

This was the debate. I'm the one on the right. 😁

Speaking even more of traveling, this walking trip through England's Lake District would be a dream come true.

This too. Yes, please!

These would both be really fun as well. Let's go take a hike!

Back to Lord of the Rings, I found out that "Samwise" is my 12th cousin once removed! We descend from the same English nobility. Samwise has always been one of my favorite characters in LOTR, and now I know why! 😉

I took this screenshot when I was at the courthouse for many hours on the day that I finally, mercifully got divorced. I'm still in the "divorce nisi" period, which goes from March 27th to June 25th (90 days) for us.

Neither of us is going to change our minds. He wanted it, and he got it. It's all very sad and has provided a mountain of heartbreak and grief and adversity for me over the last few years, but I've gotten through it and have healed from the rejection, abandonment, and betrayal. I do mourn the loss of the man he once was and of what we had and of what could have been, but it's over now, and I'm ready to move on to a better life.

It's the boys I feel sorriest for. They deserved better. 

And on that somber note, that wraps up March! 🤷😄

Wisdom, Humor, and Inspiration in March

I know without a doubt that this is true because I've personally experienced it time and time again.

I thought this was provocative and interesting. At first, I wasn't sure I agreed with all of it, but the more I've thought about it, the more I think this guy is right about sex and marriage and the related motives of men and women. Also, things have gotten so upside down from God's laws and standards in the last several decades and far too many people casually violate the law of chastity whether they realize it or not.

I won't start dating until after I'm fully legally divorced on June 25th, and I'm not in a big rush to do so--I'm pretty happy on my own--although I'd prefer to be married to a good, loyal, loving man over being single, so I'm definitely open to it. Things like this are good to read in preparation for whenever it happens.  

Both of these are really good advice for relationships in general.

Self-awareness is such a good quality to have.

Another dating-related thing I saw. No dating apps for me, thank you very much! At least not anytime soon. 

I prefer to know who I go out with.

Good anti-inflammatory foods to eat:

I totally agree with the findings of this study, but it was a little depressing to read about while preparing to get divorced. 😔

"Our study's focus on women offers important insights in view of the continuing hold of feminist critiques of marriage as an instrument of patriarchal domination. Other things being equal, marriage is still a crucial constituent of a flourishing life for many women." 

Well, shoot. 😆 

"In view of marriage's profound effects on our sample's health and well-being, it is unsettling to consider its rapid displacement from American life."

Satan's plan is alive and well in the destruction of marriage and family and personal well-being. 

Man, the marriage stuff in my reading material hit hard last month, the very month I finally got divorced. 💔

Cute 😄

Eat more zinc

Dairy is yummy 😋

Walking is one of my favorite things.

The Holy Ghost is an amazing gift to have.

I totally agree with Henry Eyring's thinking about science and religion. 

"In his mind...science and religion weren't fundamentally at odds with one another; they just weren't fully reconciled yet. Henry reasoned that God knows all the answers and will ultimately reveal them and show how everything fits together. Rather than being irritated by the...apparent contradictions between science and religious doctrine, Henry was intrigued."

This is how I've long thought about these things too. Henry Eyring and I are kindred spirits, who knew? Except for in math and science and physics and chemistry. We are not kindred spirits in those areas. 😆