In no particular order, here are some of the things I learned (or was reminded of) this year:
1. Grandchildren, aka Sweethearts, are a great, big, humongous blessing. Whether they live in the next room or across the country, invest time in getting to know them. Spend time with them one-on-one, play together, do errands together, just talk with them. Technology makes it easy to stay connected long distance - let them teach you how to use FaceTime, Skype, email, instant messenger and texting; you can teach them your phone number and show them how call or how to send real mail. Their lives will be richer as will yours!
Ben (8), Hannah (1), Christopher (12), Nick (10), Ellie (2) and Lexie (7)
Hannah lives in the same city we do; all the rest live on the East Coast.
2. Pay attention to the details. Trying to do things on "autopilot" seldom works for long.Whether it's making a new recipe or putting a Lego set together, reading the directions and paying attention to what you're doing always pays off. Make the effort to get it right.
This "sand castle" was my favorite at the World's Best Sand Sculpting Competition in December at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick. Each contestant was given a pile of 10 tons of sand and 3 days to create their sculpture. This builder was the only one to use ALL of his sand as he meticulously worked to get the angles just right. Although he didn't place, his was my favorite and reminds me to pay attention to the details.
3. Life is an adventure - embrace it! Richard and I took off on a drive on a forest road (read: rutted dirt road) in southeast Arizona. We decided to do the drive backwards not realizing that not all the roads were marked on our map nor were the roads themselves well marked. It didn't take too long before we were quite lost and I'm pretty sure we were inches from the Mexico border. Instead of worrying about being lost, we enjoyed the spectacular scenery and saw a part of Arizona we had never seen before. After an hour or so we were able to get back on track and reach our destination.
Part of this drive was where they filmed the prairie scenes in the musical/movie Oklahoma! It was different from any other area of Arizona I've seen - and breath-takingly beautiful!
4. The years go by faster and faster - remember to take time to enjoy the moments! It's easy to get caught up in the things we "have to" do until pretty soon we are just moving from event to event without really enjoying anything. This year I spent some time each day doing an activity our oldest daughter and her husband have done with their kids - three good things. The idea is to think of three good things that happened that day - usually it is something seemingly trivial, like getting the closest parking spot at Costco - to help you remember the great moments, even in a "bad day."
Watching a beautiful sunset is sometimes one of my three things. Arizona is, after all, the self-proclaimed sunset capital of the world!
5. Don't save the candles just for birthdays - use them just because. It is the perfect ending to a "bad day" and we all have those from time to time. They make any occasion a celebration, even if the celebration is "I made through the day and I'm happy to be home!"
Candlelight makes even an ordinary dessert look fabulously festive!
I am thankful for the lessons I've learned because they remind me of the many ways God has blessed me and that life is good.
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