I'm Moving to Italy

I just finished (for the second time) "Under the Tuscan Sun" by Frances Mayes. Saying "I love this book" is an understatement. I loved it even more the second time through and will probably read it again in a few years. If you've only seen the movie please read the book, they only used the book as a loose outline for the movie and if you love home remodeling, history, beautiful writing, all things Italian, cooking and reading about cooking, quirky people or gardening this true story will find a place in your heart~it did mine.

Death Is Not Dying

***This was supposed to go in the next post (A New Side), so read that first and then this***

more about "Death Is Not Dying", posted with vodpod

A New Side

I've had some pondering moments about blogging lately and I often wonder what am I doing here on this blog. I started blogging while I was traveling with Mr. R (hence the name of the blog) to keep my kids and other friends and family updated on where we were and show some of the sights of our travels, but since then our circumstances have changed and we no longer travel...so now what, what is so interesting about my life that anyone wants to read about it everyday or even once a month? I mean who wants to see the scads of pictures of my adorable grandkids?

I read a lot of other blogs and love to hear the voices of other women who are trying to raise families, but I notice most of the blogs I see are written by women who are younger than me, and still have kids at home. Where are all the women in my circumstance~an almost empty nester? Closing in way too quickly on 50 and wondering what comes next?

My pondering has led me to think I need to change my blog perspective and be more real about who I am. Not that I am hiding who I am or feel that I am presenting a "fake" me, but I don't put my whole self out there very often. I guess I figure most people who read my blog know me well enough~but maybe not, and anyway it's a blog, if you are reading it and don't like it click the X and move on! Or leave a comment and let me know what you think.

I'm not going to turn this into my personal journal and pour out all my inner feelings but I will be more open about my spiritual and religious beliefs, because that's who I am, I am a Mormon, I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints~I am a beloved daughter of my Heavenly Father~that is at my core and I feel the need to express my love for Him and my Savior here and more fully elsewhere in my life. Hopefully I'm not going to get preachy and spout doctrine, just share my testimony more often, share those things that are uplifting and cause me to ponder~

Like this BYU devotional from Elder F. Enzio Busche, just the things I needed to hear today: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snAjZ8mfoYw

Or this talk I listened to yesterday from a woman who is now gone, but she left such an inspiring message. It is about 55 mins. long, so listen when you can have a quiet hour~
(I couldn't get it loaded on to this post, but it is the previous post).
Enjoy and ponder....

Just For Today

I will live through the next twelve hours and try not to tackle all of life's problems at once.

I will learn something useful.

I will learn something that requires effort, thought, and concentration.

I will be agreeable.

I will look my best, be courteous, and considerate.

I will not find fault with friend, relative, or colleague.

I will not try to change anyone but myself.

I will have a program. I might not follow it exactly, but I will have it. It will save me from two enemies~hurry and indecision.

I will believe in myself.

I will give my best to the world, and feel confident that the world will give its best to me.

This has been on my frig for years now, I think I found it on a bookmark. I may not follow it to the letter, but it has come in handy since I have a tendency to get overwhelmed and try to solve all of life's problems (even those that are not my own).

Now that the temp has lowered to a more reasonable place (103, 106, 107 is ridiculous) I can think more clearly and get something done other that sit in front of the fan and sweat!

"What dreadful hot weather we have! It keeps me in a continual state of inelegance."

~~Jane Austen

We came up with some great ideas to cool off during our little heat wave. We are such wimpy's around here, we're use to it cooling off at night and last week it was unbearably hot for those of us with no A/C so we:

*took LOTS of cold showers

*Swimming, lots of swimming

*get your top sheet wet and lay over you with a fan going~~oh so wonderful

*Otter Pops!!

*Spray bottle and a fan

*Lots of driving in the Subaru with A/C

*Visit people with A/C

So we survived~lived to tell about it. It will go down in the books as the summer of '09 "remember when it was so dang hot...."

What do you do to keep cool?