Switzerland

Monday Tom and I drove to Little Rock and hopped a plane to Atlanta.  There we met Rebecca and continued on to Stuttgart, Germany.  Dan had been in Germany for business and invited us to come over and tour before heading back home.  It was a long plane trip.  We arrived about 9am.

Dan met us with a car and we loaded up and headed to Switzerland.  I was glad he was driving so I could sleep.  The countryside was lovely.

We drove to the Institute Building in Bern and met Sue and Steve there.

 They fed us dinner and we went on to Uetendorf where we stayed on the 3rd floor of an old house.  It was delightful.  We have great bread and cheese and worst. What could be better?

 We were blessed with lovely views and good weather.  It was overcast, but not snowing or raining.
The GPS took us on narrow roads to the Cailler Chocolate factory.

 Bur we saw lovely scenery.

Wednesday we drove to the chocolate factory.  Great Chocolate.

Then we drove to the cheese factory.  We passed the walled city of Gruyere on the way.

Then we went to Bern and Sue and Steve gave us a tour of the old town. Here are roofs near the river.

 After, they came to our house and we made roclette for dinner. Here was scenery on our way home.

Thursday we went to the temple in the morning. Then we went to Spietz to see the old fort, the church and the lake.

Spitz scenery

Lake  Thun

Spitz castle and the keep where our friends the Springs have an apartment.

Tom at Lake Thun

 We wandered around Interlocken for a little while.  I wanted to go up the valley to Wegenbanne.  But the GPS and us did not agree.  It kept sending us into these tiny hillside towns with narrow, twisting roads.  We crossed single lane covered bridges and scrolled down twisted, stone sided mountain lanes with no place to pass oncoming traffic.

While it was historic and lovely, it did not seem to be getting us to the valley floor, smoother road I recalled.  And the driving was a little hair-raising.  So we just drove back to Uetendorf on the north side of the lake.
 Sue and Steve came over for dinner again and we had worst, red cabbage, and ressti.

Every drive we saw gorgeous mountains and green fields.

Friday we left for Italy.  We stopped in Lucerne and enjoyed swans and the old wooden bridge.  We hiked a bit looking for the lion statue... but were conscious of the meter ticking on the car parking and headed back.
Here are pictures from Lucerne.

 We had a long drive to Italy and didn't want to arrive late in the afternoon.

We drove through mountains.  Lots of tunnels!  One was 17km long. When we got out on the other side, we were in Italy and there was LOTS of snow!!

Panic Attack!

Monday we decided to start getting ready for the trip.  Tom got our passports out of the safe and I hear,"I'm Doomed!" or "AKKK" or some such comment. He checked his passport and it expired the day we leave for Europe-- Feb 24th.  PANIC!  It's a holiday- President's Day, so there's no one we can call.

We head online.  There are services that say passport in 24 hours.  We see there is a processing place in Hot Springs-- about 4 hours away.  We call the automated line.  First appointment is on Feb 25th.

We had a visiting teaching, home teaching appointment set up, so we went to that.  I kept thinking about the passport and wondering what to do.  When we got home, I called some of the Passport in a day places.  For about $450 you could get your passport in a few days... but no guarantees. I'm thinking, if they can do it, we should be able to do it on our own for just the $170 for an expedited renewal.

Tom gets the local phone number for the Federal Passport processing place in Little Rock and calls them first thing Tuesday morning.  They directed him back to the automated line for an appointment but said, just keep clicking the prompts and eventually you can plead your case to a human.  It took about 45 minutes, but he did get some humans... and an appointment for 1pm that day.

So off he dashes to Hot Springs.  (We had downloaded and filled out all the paperwork the day before. And gotten passport photos.)  He gets back home about dinner time with no passport, but a promise it would be overnight expressed on Thursday.  Everyone really was very nice. He even stopped at the commissary on the way home.

In the mean time, I got my hair cut-- which I desperately needed to do.  I had also bid on a job writing sales copy for a relationship coach.  I had a call with the client and that went well.  I also needed to finish a chapter for my Insurance agent on using Infinite Banking for charities and I finally had a chance to talk with them and get a better understanding of how it can work. And finally I had a critique group going over headlines at 6:30. I was pleased that my headline rated well.

I did get a chance to try out for the relationship coach and write a 4 page sales letter.  I showed it to a single friend of mine and she said, "I want to buy that!" So I guess it works.

Wednesday Tom and I went to a lunch put on by the Salvation Army. They are trying to raise funds for a transitional family living center.  It's a place for homeless families to live while they counsel them and teach principles so they can get back on their feet.  They'd invited all the pastors from around the area. I have a soft spot for the Salvation Army.  I think they do a lot of good.  I liked it that they screened applicants for aid instead of just giving it to them.  This is something I can support.  I volunteered to help with publicity.

I've been working on getting counselors for my stake calling.  I also spent time talking to relief society presidents and visiting with the former Stake RS President from our last stake.  She was very helpful.  I don't think I will see counselors before we leave on our trip.  I think I'm gaining an opportunity to learn patience.   When we return, I'll be speaking three different places in the next week.

Thursday morning I realized I had a conflict.  I'd agreed to take a neighbor to our Relief Society evening meeting and I was supposed to teach institute about the same time.  Tom was sweet enough to take my institute class. I think they are in the process of calling someone to teach it.  I've loved how these young single adults have joined together.  They went out with the missionaries for salsa and chips.  They went hiking together.  After institute they'll go and cheer on one of the YSA who is on a bowling team.  I love how they are enjoying one another.

Friday we went and did house inspections.  We were both pleased that  most all the tenants seemed to be neat and clean.  Many expressed appreciation for the house they were renting.  They loved it. And we only uncovered a few minor problems that needed fixing.

Friday afternoon, Tom's passport arrived!  Yahoo! There was much rejoicing.

I felt like I had many uncertainties in my life and I was blessed to have some resolutions by Saturday.  I learned that my two counselors had been approved by the Stake Presidency. Now they need to be called and agree to serve.  I was stressed that I had not heard back about my Kid Finance course, and I got a positive response on the material I'd sent.  I also sent in and got favorable feedback on the Relationship coach copy I submitted.  It looks like that could turn into a long term job.

The weather has been nice and warm this week.  Saturday morning Tom got some mulch and we put it in the front flower garden.  I also pruned some of the trees. Later I had a chance to visit with my new RS secretary and talk about plans.  Tom went to West Plains for a youth activity Saturday night.

I will go there Sunday for a meeting. after church.  And then Monday we head for the airport and fly out to Europe with Rebecca.  We will meet up with Dan there and visit Germany, Switzerland and Italy.  I'm looking forward to it.

The Melt

Sunday Feb 2 we got snow and freezing weather.  Through the next 10 days the temperature never got above freezing.  We got a few more light snowfalls, but it was amazing to see the area blanketed with snow for so long.  The last three days-- while it's still well below freezing at night-- it's warmed up to 40... then 50 degrees during the day.  I'm afraid the plants will start to think it's spring.

Before the snow melted Tom went and stood on the pond. You'll have to look at his facebook picture to see that one.  But here are some of the footprints in the snow we saw.

Rain came and melted probably 80% of the snow in just a day. We're left with snow in the shady areas and places where it piled up.

I returned home from Branson on Saturday.  No problem driving and the snow was off the road.  Sunday I drove to Ava for church.  I want to get out and see the other relief societies and meet other sisters... and also I need to find out who the Lord has planned for me as counselors.  I think I found one in Ava.  This week I've tried to connect with all my Relief Society presidents and learn more about them, their wards, and how the stake RS can be of help to them.

My computer has stopped recognizing the internet... and the wireless printer. Very frustrating. Monday I took it to be fixed.  I'd been using the laptop and sitting in front of the fireplace to work.  Nice and cozy.  So I wasn't desperate for the desktop computer.  The repair guy hardened the security and fixed some stuff. Now it will go online with wireless.  But the wireless printer still is squirrel-y.  I uninstalled and reinstalled it and it worked yesterday... but not today.

I had on my list to create a book from my very first blog. That's the one I wrote in 2009-- the year before we went on our mission.  I tried blog2book.com.  It  allows for like ZERO changes.  But it's FAST.  So I just went ahead and had it printed.  I'll see how I like it.  My next goal is to do the blog from when we got back from our mission until now.  AKK.  Time keeps passing.  But not so far that I've forgotten how long it took to do the Mission book.  It makes me dread starting another.

I did the typical copywriting stuff this week. Working on books, marketing, etc.

Friday Tom and I went to lunch for Valentine's day.  It was very enjoyable.  Then in the evening we snuggled with popcorn... well, with each other AND the popcorn... and watched Flicka2.  It was reasonably cute as long as one could suspend disbelief about how horses really act.  And that a black Arab mare was really a mustang.

We are finally starting to think more about our trip to Europe.  I'm choosing shoes and clothing.  It's hard to know what we might face temperature-wise.  There's such a difference between 45 degrees on a sunny day and 45 degrees on a cloudy, windy day.  I want to pack light, but be prepared.

Tom has been doing taxes.  He finished them all up, I think, and delivered them to the tax preparer.  Then I got some stock stuff.  Boy does that look confusing.

Guess we've had a mostly uneventful week.

Retreat

This is a different week.  I have wanted for years to go away someplace secluded and just focus on writing for a week.  We have a service that lets us get a timeshare for $199 if it's less than two weeks out.   So I got a studio apartment at Wilderness Lodge near Branson.  It's part of Big Creek which is associated with Bass Pro Shops.

The decor is rustic and comfortable.

View from my window.

Out my window is a little patio and the birds come to visit.  After a few days I decided to encourage them a bit more with cookie crumbs.  They were happy to oblige.

My goal was to see if I could really focus on writing, or if I would find distractions here, too.  It has actually worked surprisingly well.  I brought some leftovers and frozen soup so meals have been easy.  I get up when I wake up.  Alas, it's been really early-- 5:30 or so.  And do my scripture study and then get to work.

I have finished revising all of the chapters I have for the "Living Benefits" Whole Life Insurance book. I also learned that she wants me to to the basic intro to the product book that I had pitched initially.  That was good news.  I wrote my usual blog and article for my executive coach, although he wants to take a montth break from my writing them-- so he can get caught up.

I picked up a job writing a course on finance for 12-14 year olds.  It's been really fun.  The first chapter or class in the course is "What is Money?  I found I could talk about commodity based currency and fiat money on a 4th grade reading level.  I had a good time thinking of white board drawings, charts, graphs and other visual aids to keep it interesting.  I skyped with the client and think we will work well together.

I applied for two other jobs.  I learned about Google hangout and revisited a 4 hour class on option trading ETF's and set up my Think or Swim charts with the correct graphs to predict changes.  I've read the Handbook and pondered what I need to be doing as Relief Society president.  One thing I decided was that I'd better write my blog on Friday or Saturday since Sundays might be kind of busy.

I thought I'd have time for reading and brought lots of books... but I've only opened one of them.
I know  I needed fresh air, so I made sure I went for a walk every day.  It snowed Monday night, Tuesday, and Wednesday morning.  So I walked in the snow the first day.  Then it got pretty cold-- below 20 and down in the single digits at night.  So I walked in the cold.

 I accidentally learned how to walk to Big Cedar lodge...

 and so found the gift store and the ice cream social on Friday.  They have a van that will take you anywhere, and they'll stop and ask if I want a ride as I walk.  But I need to be moving.

I learned my boots keep my feet warm, but eat some of my socks-- pulling them all down to the toe.  My gloves are not warm enough for long term outside use. All this is an evaluation of what I might need to take to Europe with me.  I want to stay warm as we sight see.

I've worked until I'm too tired to do more, then go to bed.  That's been pretty late-- usually about 11 pm.
With all that time, you'd think I could have written a book!  I didn't get as much done as I dreamed I'd accomplish, but I do know I stayed pretty focused.  The TV never came on.

Tomorrow I'll go back home.   It will be good to be home.  I miss my Sweetie.

New Calling

At this moment we have snow on the ground again and some beautiful snowfalls earlier.

This has been a good week. The weather was a bit warmer.  Tom finished working on the 12th street house.  The paint and bathroom look great.

Tuesday and Wednesday we went to the St. Louis Temple.  It feels good to be back in that temple district.  We visited with the temple president and enjoyed the new, new video in the endowments.  We did two on Tuesday and one on Wednesday.  I also picked up my suitcase that I'd sent to a repair place in St. Louis to be fixed.  We got back on Wednesday just barely in time for Tom to get to his meetings.

We had problem tenants in the Midway duplex.  FINALLY, we got them all moved out.  Tom and I went out on Thursday to check things out.  The upstairs unit actually was pretty clean.  It will need paint, but will not take a lot to get ready.  The downstairs tenant had an anger problem as evidenced by the three holes in the wall and the four bags full of empty beer cans.  The couple had maybe split, which might explain the variety of women's clothing left in the closet and the general junk around the house.  Fortunately, we had planned a dump run and loaded up stuff and carted it off.  The house looked much better after that.

We had been looking at a house for several months. It had gone on the Auction.com site-- up for auction at least 3 times.  The price never got above $30,000.  And then it came back again. Recently it was listed in MLS, and again it's going to come up for auction. I don't know how they can do both.  Anyhow, I put in an offer with the listing agent.  We'll see what happens.  I don't have a lot of confidence it will be accepted, but whatever.

Saturday Tom and I drove to Branson to visit with Miranda and Dan and family.  They'd gone to do a Timeshare thing.  We met up with them after the presentation.  Apparently it had not been too bad.  Maybe because they had three little kids acting like... well... kids.  We did a little shopping, hung out in their hotel room.  Watched while they swam and went out to dinner.  It was very low key and relaxing.

Tom and I had also stopped at the timeshare I reserved for this next week.  It turned out to be the same one where Miranda and Dan were having a presentation.  So I got to see what my studio apartment will look like.  I plan to check in on Monday for a week of focus on writing.  I hope the snow will be finished enough I can drive there tomorrow.

Repair people jumped right in and had the ceiling of the church fixed by this Sunday.  That was nice.  They were forecasting snow, but we went ahead and started church. When I arrived at 9am, it was all clear.  When Miranda and Dan arrived at 10 flakes were just starting to fall.  But they were fast and furious.  They let church out after Sacrament and we slowly drove home.  However, there was time enough to call me and set me apart as the new Stake Relief Society President.  Should be interesting!

Another Week

Ah, who knows what happened this week?

Tom was a diligent worker.  He went to the  12th St house every day and renovated the bathroom, painted all the walls, patched holes and created dust and beauty.  Friday I went to look at the bathroom.  It looks lovely with its new tile and paint, beadboard and vanity.  The walls are attractive.  The kitchen... um... still dated.   It will have to wait for another time.

We went carpet shopping and decided on carpet for the downstairs and the steps.  Costs more than we expected, but... if it lasts another 13 years, we should be beyond the kid-falling-down-stairs and need for soft carpet stage.

I feel like I'm doing the same-old, same-old.  Worked on my newsletters, worked on the blogs and articles.  Studied more about options. Collected chicken eggs. Although I did spend more time downstairs.  It's warmer there than in my office.  And I kept the fire going while Tom was away working.

Wednesday I got a knock at the door.  Entergy.  They were going to put a guy-wire off a pole at the corner of one of our rentals.  Even though it was not going to be on our property, and even though there were already wires going down that property line, they wanted us to sign an easement release. And they wanted to pay us $300.-- for the guy-wire that would end up on the neighbor's property.  Um. okay.

Thursday I had my institute class in our home.  We had one single mom come for the first time. I think she was a little apprehensive.  She'd been less active and had a pretty challenging life for a while.  But soon she felt comfortable enough to share and participate and was a great addition to the lesson.

Somehow Zillow started sending me new house listings for Mountain Home.  That's dangerous.  I found some interesting ones and on Friday, I went looking.  Saw a bunch of really abused houses and a pretty nice mobile.  But the fun thing was that the realtor asked if he might come to our church sometime.  Um.. YEAH!  I'd been reading Elder Ballard's talk on missionary work that if you ask for the blessing, it will come.  And you don't have to be stressed or contrive a missionary experience.  It was a testimony to me that it can happen naturally, simply, and easily.

Saturday Tom left to go and hang blinds at the 12th St. House.  A short time later, about 9am, I get a call from the sister who went to clean the church.  "There's water everywhere. It's pouring in.  The pipes froze in the ceiling and burst!"  I got that they were trying to get the water turned off, but no success at that moment.  It had flooded the halls, broken the entire ceilings in two bathrooms, had lights dangling by their wires... and filled with water.  Sounded ugly.

I called Tom and said, "Your day has just been rescheduled." He took the shop vacuum over (Thank you Andy for convincing him to buy that.) and called other people to bring their shop vacs.  The plumbers couldn't come until 7pm to fix the problem.  No flood remediation companies were available.  But we have great ward members.  Ray, our favorite general contractor just happened by.  Tom gave him a blank check and sent him to Home Depot to buy parts.  They fixed the broken pipes, hauled off soggy insulation, cleaned up and vacuumed the carpets. By the time I got there  at 1pm with a dehumidifier and fan, most all the work was done. Carpets were damp.  Fans on. but all the visible damage was cleaned up (as long as you didn't go into the bathrooms at that end of the building, or look up at the huge holes in the hall ceiling.)

That evening, Tom and I went to West Plains for the first West Plains Stake Super Saturday.  They had a missionary class for 12-18, then had a fun activity.  Then pizza, then a dance.  It looked like fun was had by all.  Tom and I stayed until the dance. I had a chance to visit with the Stake President.  Nice man. Then we went out to dinner and came home.

Saturday, I called to specifically invite Kent to come to church this Sunday and said if I knew he was coming, I'd meet him at the door.  So he came. And I think he enjoyed the service.  One of the other ward members has worked in real estate with him and so they had a chance to visit, too.  And he does bees.  I always thought that would be a good thing to learn.  Maybe a new project.

We did have great speakers in Sacrament.  And the choir sang, Oh what Songs of the Heart."  It's a beautiful arrangement. 

Tonight I got a call from the new Seminary and Institute Supervisor for the Springfield Missouri South Stake.  I did a data transfer.  I guess I will soon be locked out of WISE and be officially... or unofficially done with seminary and institute. I was really released with the division of the stake, but kept on some.  Some teachers still look to me.  Now I can redirect... except for those with the new stake.  I don't think there's been a supervisor called there. But it feels like an end to an era.

Busy Week

Here are some pictures from last week.

 

I saw this great quote in the church bulletin today.

Brigham Young said, “I want to tell you, each and every one of you, that you are well acquainted with God our Heavenly Father. For there is not a soul of you but what has lived in his house and dwelt with him year after year; and yet you are seeking to become acquainted with him, when the fact is, you have merely forgotten what you did know. There is no a person here today but what is a son or daughter of that being.”

What a joyful thought—we already know our Heavenly Father.  We just have to remember him.   Just like we don’t need to choose good or evil. We already have chosen good. We chose Christ in the pre-earth life.  We just need to remember to follow Him.

This was a week to catch up and accomplish.  Tom spent a good part of the week at the 12th street house. We've had a good tenant in there for several years.  She moved.  We'd said we would remodel the bathroom the next time it was vacant.  Thus-- the busy time. There was fake tile on the walls and peel and stick tile on the floor.  The old wallpaper on the walls was original but in places it had an extra border or paint over it.  The fake tile left cruddy adhesive behind.  Tom will cover it with bead board, paint the upper half of the wall and put in a new vanity.  He'll tile the floor.   The shower surround is okay and the tub passable.

The house also needed painting throughout and some holes patched.  Good thing he's so handy! Our Midway duplex should also be empty in the next few days. Hopefully there will be less to do there.  The tenants were pretty clean... just noisy and fighting and disinclined to pay rent.

I got a lot done on the Infinite Banking book.  To date I am caught up!  Wow!.  I also got started on the newsletter for the HVAC.  And I've been trying to take more classes on options and the Think or Swim platform.

Last Sunday I was giving a new Visiting Teaching route with 10 sisters and three different companions. Wow! One had only an address and email, another had an address in Springdale.  Hmm.  That's about a 3 hour drive!  Not quite in our ward.  I called. phones disconnected.  I emailed. One bounced back.  The other, we had a nice correspondence. I got a correct address and phone and connected her with the relief society president in her new ward.  The other, I stalked on Facebook and found she lived in Russellville. I saw two mutual friends and contacted them for information.  Hopefully we can get an address and records moved so she can be visited there.

Then I went visiting teaching with another sister to visit one of her people.  On the way home we stopped at one of mine who asked for her name to be removed from the records of the church and actually signed a note to that effect.  I was sorry, but I have to allow her the agency to choose for herself.  However in one week I've gone from 10 sisters, down to 7.

I decided to hold institute in our house. It was cozier and less formal and the young single adults seemed to appreciate it.  Tom held BYD on Sunday and the youth figured out the differences in the downstairs-- no center post, new beam, and new TV.  Hopefully the next time they come there will be new carpet.

Saturday Tom and I went looking for carpet.  We also went to the volunteer fair being held at the Library. Lots of places in town at which to volunteer.  I said I'd help with the Fair and with publicity for the Food Bank and the Alzheimer's group.  I might also volunteer someplace else.

Tom also bought a 3 wheel bicycle and we picked that up.  Friends had found it for him at a garage sale.  We went out for a late lunch, then came home and worked outside a little.  We cleaned up leaves in the front garden, raked out the mulch and trimmed bushes.  It looks better.

Today I taught Relief Society-- lesson #2 about Jesus Christ. I think it went okay.