September Selfies

 I don't do a lot of selfies posts anymore because I've matured (😆), but I still do them sometimes when I've had a vain month. 😁 And also when the lure of using the alliterative "September selfies" is too great to deny. 

I think I'd just woken up from a nap. I look like I'd just woken up from a nap.

Here's me and my kitchen trash can. 😄

I caught on to the fact that the trash can was in the background and altered my position!

This is pretty nice other than the ray of light slicing across my forehead!

Here I am in my favorite fall owls shirt (and my only fall owls shirt). Ironically, I'm wearing it again today as I write this!

What can I say, I liked the way I looked that evening. The headband was working for me.

I should wrap this up by saying something clever and witty, but I think I expended it all in the intro paragraph. 😆

President Nelson's 100th Birthday!

 I love President Nelson! If anyone could make it to 100 in as good of shape as he's in, it's him! There was a live broadcast on his birthday (September 9th) that my dad and I watched. It was totally worth the watch. In my usual way, I took some pictures of the screen to document it (and pretend like I was there 😄).

Jenny Oaks Baker played the violin. I love her music and albums.

President Nelson gave a pre-recorded address.

Balloons streamed down at the end as everybody sang "Happy Birthday." It was so fun and festive!

I'm so glad President Nelson is still with us. He's such an inspiration and a good example of how to be truly successful in life. I'm not a blind follower of the prophet; I'm an informed one. Following his counsel over the last six years has blessed my life in numerous ways that have changed me and the course of my life forever. He has helped me understand how to have a deeper relationship with Jesus Christ and how my temple covenants give me special power. He's helped me to love the temple and make it a major part of my life when before, I merely went on occasion and didn't really get what it was all about. That's been a game-changer for me. Following his counsel helped me through the hardest, darkest time of my life with faith and a testimony that grew brighter and stronger than ever before. That's how I know that he's the Lord's prophet on the earth today. By their fruits ye shall know them.

To end on a humorous note...

😂

Happy 100th Birthday, President Nelson!

Around la casa en septiembre

 One of my projects in September was to move my things into a smaller-sized storage unit in order to save money. I'd been working on whittling down the things that were in my storage unit for a few months, and it paid off...literally! My parents helped me move everything over to a smaller unit that was fortunately on the same floor as the bigger one, so we didn't have far to go.

This was the bigger unit. I liked it, and it was so useful when I moved out of my big house and into my townhouse, but I didn't like the price anymore, which had risen considerably since I first got it.

Here's my new smaller unit. It's still a bit pricey but not as pricey as the bigger one. I also cancelled the insurance on it to save more money and because I think that type of insurance is mostly a farce.

 Here's my mom, making herself at home sitting in the (wrapped up) glider chair that I used for both of my babies. It's a cozy spot. Kind of.

My unit now mostly stores some furniture, art, and house decorations that I want to hold on to, and my many, many bins of holiday decorations. 😁

I decorated for fall. I took the good pictures of my decorations last year for my reference album, so these ones are pretty boring; they're just of minor changes that I made. I'll just include a couple.

This isn't the most exciting post I've ever done, but I don't always (or ever 😆) lead the most exciting life, so it is what it is. But don't despair...September Selfies are coming up next! 😜

Missing Violet + Hanging Out With Romeo

 I've been missing Violet more lately since her passing over three months ago, I think because the busyness and distractions of summer and a very busy September are done, and my dad has returned home to Utah after being here since mid-July, so my house is quieter and back to normal again. But it's still a new normal for me, without Violet gone and with John now away on his mission. I've been missing my sweet girl a lot lately. While my sister's cat Romeo can't replace Violet, he certainly helps ease the ache and the hole in my life and home that she left behind. 

He's a bookish cat; just my type! 😄

He's also a cuddler, but it has to be on his terms. He doesn't let me manhandle him the way I was able to with Brody and Bentwood.

Sometimes when I'm working at my desk, he'll jump up into my lap. Violet used to lie on the floor right next to my chair. I liked being able to reach down and pet her while I worked, and her presence was comforting and peaceful. Romeo has kind of stepped in for that. I'm thankful for the comfort and company he's been providing me with. I continue to feel that I'm being watched out over in ways big and small, and I feel very blessed because of it. 🤍

Some of My Favorite Nature Pictures of the Summer!

  Subtitle: My Deer Friend Was Back and Didn't Disappoint!

I love this pretty doe in the woods that I've seen a few times now. She doesn't run away from me (as long as I don't get too close) and she has a sweet and gentle demeanor. I saw her again on one of my walks in early September and got some of my favorite nature pictures of the whole summer because of this cooperative, lovely little lady. 😊

😍

I posted about this on Instagram and set it to music. What song did I choose, you might ask? "Do Re Mi" from The Sound of Music, of course, because of its very first line. Perfect!

John's Mission: The First Full Month!

 John's first full month of his mission was last month, September 2024. He flew out to Denver from Salt Lake City (not too long of a flight!) on Tuesday, September 3rd. I think at first it was a little hard--he really enjoyed the MTC and his district there, and he missed all of that. Missions are such an adjustment, one after another, and I greatly admire missionaries for dealing with these adjustments as they happen on a regular basis. I know that would be so hard for me, at least at first, because I don't like change. But John quickly settled into mission life after the first week or two of adjusting and he's been doing really well.

These were all of the incoming missionaries who arrived together. John is in the middle row, third in from the left. (Isn't he handsome! 😊)

With the Floyds, the mission president and his wife. From what I've heard, President Floyd is wonderful. I'm sure that Sister Floyd is as well.

This is one of the first pictures (if not the first) that John posted on Facebook from his mission. His first area is Grand Junction, a city in western Colorado that's pretty far away from Denver and mission headquarters.

Here's the brand new Grand Junction Colorado Temple! It will be dedicated in the spring. Isn't it beautiful? Just don't look too hard through the fence at the construction things that are there right now. 😄

This picture of John and his companion/trainer Elder Davis cracks me up. 

One of the funny things John sends pictures of his food. He loves food.

He and Elder Davis made pork chops for dinner one night.

I don't know if this is the same pork chops or if they cooked them again on a different night. I like this picture because it shows what part of their apartment looks like. 

Good old McDonald's!

He misses Fortnite 😂

This guy was one of John's favorite friends from his MTC district. 

John says that he's almost an exact replica of one of his best friends from when we lived in Iowa (Craig). They aren't companions (maybe at some point they will be) but they're currently going to church in the same building; they're just serving in different wards. 

I like the scenery pics John sends. It's more desert-like in Grand Junction than it is farther east in the state where ski country resides. 

That scowl though 😆

I knew that John was going to love Colorado, at the very least because of its rugged and beautiful topography. It's right up his ally!

A few blasts from the recent past in the MTC...

This was John's district. It's the same group that started out in home MTC together on August 12th, meeting virtually for a week, and then they were all together in person at the actual MTC for two weeks. A few of them were going to the same mission as John and the others were going to missions in various places around the U.S. 

John LOVED being able to see one of his BFFs, Conner, several times at the MTC. Conner was there for about nine weeks to learn Japanese before going to...Japan.

One of the things I like about John serving a mission is that he has to use Facebook on his mission, so I get to "see" him on there a lot more than ever before. I take screenshots of his Stories when I see them.

I'm so proud of John and the wonderful work he's doing. He's learning and growing a lot in the gospel, his testimony, and in important life skills. He's coming to care about people in a loving, caring, and Christlike way. Missions are awesome on so many levels, and I'm so thankful that he's serving one. He is exactly where he's supposed to be.