March 2021

 

March 4th I got my first Covid shot.  It was a smooth drive-through process!  Happy to be doing my part to slow the spread!

Avian got "Most Improved" at the volleyball banquet.  They are already looking forward to next season.  Steve is excited to have volleyball in the family again.  

March 9th was insane at school.  There were a lot of issues with students and parents and lost lunches and...

Steve is still adjusting to his new job, but loving every minute of it.  The president of the company calls him just to check in and see how he is doing and they end up chatting for a bit.  It is a refreshing change. 

Avian taught the Young Women how to start a fire using char cloth.  There were a lot of OOOOOs and AAAAAAs.  Avian loved every minute of it.  

March 12th I met Allison Matthews at the Clark Creek Community Park to play a little pickle ball.   It was fun and I sort of got the hang of it by the third game.  My knees were not ready for the pounding they took, but I will play pickle ball again because it was so much fun.  

March 13th was Project Garden Box day.  Steve and Avian spent the day building the garden boxes I have been wanting for quite some time.  Avian volunteered to help out because my knees were so sore from the pickleball that I could hardly walk.  Still worth it.  

They are going to be gorgeous.  I am already planning what to plant!!

March 14th I got to go to a baby shower for a coworker, Nicole Pirella.  It was fun to spend the morning with the ladies from school.  They always make things amazing.  Back at home we walked to the local 7-11 to get fruit pies for Pi day!  Sometimes math is cool, when it involves pies.  

Pi Day at the local 7-11

March 16th I got to spend the day in 7th grade doing a Digital Citizenship class on self-image and building others up.  I really love being with the kids.  Their insights into life are inspiring.  

The boy went and got their taxes done all by themselves.  They are growing up so fast.  

March 17th I played some Beethoven on my violin for Dad.  I didn't totally mess it up so I will call it a success.  I love having my violin and I love that it makes Mom and Dad so happy that I am playing it again.  

March 19th Charlotte was under a tornado watch.  The thunderstorm and rain were intense.  Thank goodness it was just really windy and no tornados.

March 21st we decided to go for a family walk.  We fed the duck (frozen peas, not bread), saw two loons and watched a heron catch a fish.  We used to go on this walk all the time when the kids were little.  They had forgotten how much they like to be out in nature and enjoying the walking paths in our neighborhood.  

This picture brings back memories of then the three of them were little.  

March 22nd, the mozzarella failed but I succeeded with the homemade yogurt.  It is so creamy!

Avian finally finished with book cover painting for the library.  They have been working on it since Covid shut things down a year ago.  They are getting better with every painting.  This picture was featured on the Lake Norman Charter website.  

March 25th I had my second Covid shot and then went to the church to help with our drive-through Relief Society Birthday party.  It started pouring rain right before the activity was supposed to start, but the women still came and we still ate cake!!   It takes more than a little rain to keep these women down.  

March 26th I was not feeling so hot.  The second Covid shot is the one that really makes you feel yucky.  I had a headache and body aches and I was so tired.  I was also incredibly thankful for Tylenol which kept me going!

Avian had a great time at Keagan's party that night.  The Coffey's had rented the whole theater for a movie party and it was super fun.  There are some perks with all this Covid stuff.  The theaters are so desperate for business that you can rent the whole theater for pennies compared to pre-covid.  We will take the perks where ever they come.  

March 27th we filled the gardens with our special mixture of dirt and they are ready for plants.  We also got the area where the garden had previously been all seeded so the grass can start growing back.  Avian really helped with this.  They wanted to see it through to the end.  It is gorgeous and I love it.  Nick started working on prepping the back corner so he can turn it into his workout area.  We needed to remove the stump from the dead tree.  He enjoyed the hard work.  It was a good workout.  We took a break from all our work to go visit the Arias's and see their chickens.  Nick got to hold on of the chicks and now I think he wants one as a pet.  Back at home, Nick made quiche for dinner.  It was a great day.

March 28th I spoke in church about what Easter means to me.  I didn't think I was nervous until I was at the podium and my legs would not stop shaking.  I eventually got then under control and I must have done a decent job because there were several people who texted me to tell me they really liked my talk.  I posted the talk below if you wanted to read it.  The story I mentioned is the one about the handicapped boy who didn't put anything in the plastic egg  his primary teacher gave him because the tomb was empty.  It is a great story if you haven't read it.  

March 29th Jeremy fixed Zupa Soup with gourmet breadsticks for dinner.  I was also named as a Knight of Honor at school.  What a great way to end the month.  

What Easter Means To Me

 

As a child I always looked forward to a new dress, an Easter basket full of candy and getting to sing in sacrament meeting.  As a youth I loved that the world was getting warm again.  The crocus were starting to burst through the previously frozen soil and the grass was the most amazing color of spring green.  OHHHH and all the baby animals – bunnies and chicks!!!  The promise of something better coming.  As I have spent the last week reflecting on these feelings about Easter from my past I realized what Easter has truly meant to me all along.  Let me explain.  I find quite frequently that life’s lessons can be summed up with music – particularly primary songs sprinkled with a hymn or two. 

1.                      . Whenever I hear the song of a bird

Or look at the blue, blue sky,

Whenever I feel the rain on my face

Or the wind as it rushes by,

Whenever I touch a velvet rose

Or walk by our lilac tree,

I’m glad that I live in this beautiful world

Heav’nly Father created for me.

2. He gave me my eyes that I might see

The color of butterfly wings.

He gave me my ears that I might hear

The magical sound of things.

He gave me my life, my mind, my heart:

I thank him rev’rently

For all his creations, of which I’m a part.

Yes, I know Heav’nly Father loves me.

 

I often go on “Heavenly Father loves me” walks just to appreciate everything He has created for me.  He formed this world so that we could come down here and experience life.  That never ceases to amaze me!

 

When I was in 9^th grade I had a seminary teacher who strengthened my understanding of Easter and what it truly means.  We were studying the New Testament and he had time it so that the lessons about Christ’s last week on earth, from Palm Sunday to Easter Sunday lined up perfectly with the actual calendar.  We reenacted many of the events from that week.  He even brought in a traditional Passover meal for us to sample.  The thing I remember the most clearly was the day he brought in a landscaping beam, some landscaping nails and a hammer.  As we talked about the Savior making his way to Calvary carrying his cross he asked each of us to come and try to lift the landscaping beam.  It was incredibly heavy and took two people to life completely off the ground.  He then pointed out the actual measurements of the cross would have resulted in something approximately 4 times as heavy as what we just lifted and waited for that fact to sink in.   He then invited each of us up to take a turn hammering the HUGE nail into the landscaping beam.  The whole time we were all taking our turns he was telling us about the nails going through the Savior’s hands and feet.  When it was my turn I remember the hammer feeling extra heavy.  My first swing was really weak because I thought the hammer would do most of the work.  My teacher asked me to take a second swing and put some OOOMFFF behind it.  I did and I can still remember the sensation of the reverberation from the wood, through the nail and up my arm and into my heart.  The full weight of what the Savior had done FOR ME hit me full force.

 

I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,
Confused at the grace that so fully he proffers me.
I tremble to know that for me he was crucified,
That for me, a sinner, he suffered, he bled and died.

I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine
To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine,
That he should extend his great love unto such as I,
Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify.

I think of his hands pierced and bleeding to pay the debt!
Such mercy, such love and devotion can I forget?
No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat,
Until at the glorified throne I kneel at his feet.

Oh, it is wonderful that he should care for me
Enough to die for me!
Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

 

In the April 1992 conference Elder Marion D. Hanks told the following story.

 

Read the story from the book

 

This has turned into a fun tradition in our family.  Every year in the kids’ Easter baskets there is always and empty egg that says “He is Risen” to remind them that Christ overcame death so that they can return to live with Him again.

 

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, as always, has the perfect words to sum up Easter means to me.

That first Easter sequence of Atonement and Resurrection constitutes the most consequential moment, the most generous gift, the most excruciating pain, and the most majestic manifestation of pure love ever to be demonstrated in the history of this world. Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, suffered, died, and rose from death in order that He could, like lightning in a summer storm, grasp us as we fall, hold us with His might, and through our obedience to His commandments, lift us to eternal life.

 

.  To sum it all up, Easter reminds me of the person I should and can be – not in a reprimanding way, but in a comforting way.  I have potential.  I am a daughter of God!  I am important to Him! 

 

4. I am a child of  God. His promises are sure; Celestial glory shall be mine If I can but endure.

Lead me, guide me, walk beside me.  Help me find the way.  Teach me all that I must do to live with Him someday.