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The weather forecast says that we have five full days of rain over the time we are in Ireland.  This isn't anything unexpected or abnormal.  It just means that we have to plan our days around any break in the clouds.  So, when I was checking the weather last night (Monday), I noticed that tomorrow (Tuesday) was the only day showing a party sunny icon for Blarney, and since we wanted to visit Blarney castle, I convinced everyone to get up early yet again so that we could make a visit. I've been to Blarney Castle three times now.  The first time was when the kids were young, and I remembered that I hated it.  Not knowing anything, I had pictured the Blarney Stone being some large boulder perched precariously on the edge of the ocean.  I thought people would walk up to the boulder and kiss it, so when I discovered it was something completely different, I think I was disappointed.  Too, I remember everyone in the family being incredibly tired (read whiny ) that day, and John wa

Today in the car, our family was talking about how much we like to eat.  We did this in contrast, of course, to those people who don't.  It's a struggle for us, because we also don't like how much we weigh (and sometimes look), but we like how all those skinny, non-eating people look. We finally came to the conclusion that eating delicious food makes us happy, and looking at all those skinny people, we realized that the majority of them (not all of them, but the majority) don't seem very happy.  Of course, we don't ever want to move into the obesity realm, but if we can keep exercising and being aware of what we do eat, we'd like to keep enjoying the simple pleasure of food. My birthday kind of came and went without much fanfare, because we were traveling on the actual day.  And when I mean traveling, we were driving four hours from our home to Newark airport, then taking a five hour flight to Shannon, Ireland, eating breakfast in an Irish hotel and taking

One of the main reasons I go to Germany every couple of years is to restock my supply of Birkenstocks.  I started buying them when I lived there, and I basically can't live without them now.  It just about kills me when a pair runs its course and needs to be thrown away.  I think in my lifetime, I've thrown away only three pairs.  One that never was quite right (the straps were plastic and would cut into my skin after a long day), one pair that I wore gardening one too many times (the brown dirt stains wouldn't come out of the white leather), and the pair that I was wearing when I broke my ankle (they were an unfortunate casualty of broken ankle PTSD because those purple and blue paisleys go down as one of my favorite pairs of all time).  I only threw out the garden ones a couple of days before I left for Germany, because I knew I would be getting a new pair. The only store where I have ever bought my Birkenstocks is Hoffmann's in Speicher.  (Well okay, there was this

I was really happy when the only flight to Frankfurt-Hahn airport from Kerry Airport left on a Friday and returned on a Monday, because that meant we could visit our old ward in Bitburg!  As much as the first three years of my life there with a living hell (I won't even deign to type the name of the person who tortured me so), I still believe that Bitburg ward was the best ward I have ever lived in, and it was all because of the people. There's something really wonderful about a military ward; same with the military schools.  Everyone understands that you don't have much time together, so no one wastes time getting to know each other.  You just dive in and form friendships as quickly as you can, because either you will be leaving within a couple of years, or your friends will be leaving even sooner.  Maybe that's the reason our dearest friends have come from that ward. We walked in and it felt like nothing had changed.  In fact, the only things that have changed are

I know what many people say about Valentine’s Day-it’s a made-up, superficial holiday. Or “I’m in the kind of relationship where every day is special,” or something of the like. Well allow me to take a stance. I like Valentine’s Day. It may help that I have a super wonderful sweetheart, who I love more than anyone! ;) And yes, Ethan is an amazing husband every day, but he still finds ways to be extra sweet on Valentine’s Day. And I think, why not? If a relationship truly was the same amount of special each day, you would never know just how special it is, right? See 2 Nephi 2 ;) This year our Valentine’s Day was going to be a little different. John and Larisa had asked me to house sit for them, and I was more than happy to help! I hadn’t realized until a few weeks later that I would be at their house on V-day, while Ethan was alone in Ann Arbor. No matter, we frequently celebrate holidays on different dates when our schedules don’t work out. A few days before I left, Ethan tol

So I've come to another end of another dive trip.  I rarely post about them anymore, because I keep all the details in my log book.  However, I can't help but share just a thought. I grew up with the James Herriott series, All Creatures Great and Small.  He wrote four books with titles reflecting the words of the song: All things bright and beautiful, All creatures great and small. All things wise and wonderful, The Lord God made them all. As a good Episcopalian school girl, we students frequently sang that song also during morning vespers.  I've always loved it. Being underwater, I can't help but have that song come to mind.  There is a world of wonder underneath the Caribbean blue water that few see, but that is so beautiful.  This week, we have been fortunate to see everything that was on Glo's bucket list...and more. Off the wreck of the Kittiwake, we saw two spotted Eagle rays, but they weren't "flying" off in the distance.  They were

I remember when Johannah told us that she wanted to serve a mission.  It was a couple of months after her freshman year had begun.  When she uttered those life-changing words, "I want to serve a mission," my heart sank.  Mark hadn't been home from his mission for very long, and the pain of having a child gone was still pretty fresh.  Let's just say that I wasn't at all encouraging. However, time passed, and when she actually submitted her papers, I was so excited for her.  I was excited for me too.  While I can't pinpoint any specific blessing that came to us when the boys were serving their missions, there is just a special kind of purpose that enters my life.  I can't really do anything without thinking about my missionary, and in some special way, my life is changed.  I write daily letters which, for an introvert, is cathartic.  I study my scriptures a little bit better because I want to be able to offer encouragement.  I'm constantly in a "s

The closer and closer we got to the day Johannah was leaving on her mission, the more Johannah reminded us that it felt like she was dying. That's right, dying. She had a bunch of "last time" requests:  she wanted to go roller-skating "one last time", she wanted to watch Supergirl "one last time"; she wanted to eat chicken divan "one last time".  In the end, she said it felt like these were deathbed requests, and in the end, she had a point.  Maybe it's healthy to admit that serving a mission will be the death of selfishness (which is a good thing)...and fun (which is kind of sad). Seeing as John and I don't really get to do anything with Johannah ever (seeing as she's always in Utah working and studying), we were more than happy to fulfill many of these requests.  After all, they usually include us and the family, and I can't think of a happier way to spend last days. Thankfully, there were some other people who wante