Something Wonderful

Steve Jobs    1955-2011

The Three Apples
that changed the World:
The one Eve ate,
The one that fell on Newton's head,
and the one Steve Job's built.
I find it interesting that "The Three Apples" all produced unparalled knowledge.

These are a few of  my favorite Steve Jobs' quotes.
 Read more on my August 25 post, "A True Outlier".   

"When I was 17, I read a quote that went something like: "If you live each day as if it was your last, someday you'll most certainly be right."  It made an impression on me, and since then, for the past 33 years, I have looked in the mirror every morning and asked myself:  "If today were the last day of my life, would I want to do what I am about to do today?"  And whenever the answer has been "no" for too many days in a row, I know I need to change something . "

"Death is the destination we all share, no one has ever escaped it.  And that is as it should be because death is likely the single best invention of life. It is life's change agent.  It clears out the old to make way for the new.  Right now the new is you. 

Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life."

 "Remembering that I'll be dead soon is the most important tool I've ever encountered to help me make the big choices in life.  Because almost everything - all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure - these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important."

"Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn't matter to me.  Going to bed at night and saying we've done something wonderful, that is what matters."


He truly created "Something Wonderful".
 Thank you, Steve Jobs, I'll always be a fan.
God Bless.

Entertaining Angels

Last weekend we were fortunate to host several house guests.  We welcomed Santiago (James), Caroline and Henry who filled our home once again with the pitter-patter of little feet.  We loved snuggling on the couch in the morning, reading stories, golf cart rides,  hunting for foxes and golf balls, pumpkin picking and scootering through the neighborhood.

We also enjoyed the company of David's friend, Don Corvese, visiting from Rhode Island. Eight years ago, Don welcomed missionaries into his home and  embraced the gospel because of the hope it gave him that families can be together forever.  Don now dedicates his time to missionary work in his area and is every missionary's best friend. This is the first time Don has visited Utah;  he loved our mountains and conference.

 We are grateful for the opportunity David had to serve in Rhode Island and Connecticut and for the wonderful people who opened their doors and hearts and listened to his message - Jesus Christ lives and has restored His gospel upon the earth.

I love this scripture:
"Be not forgetful to entertain strangers; for thereby some have entertained angels unawares."
                                                                                                                                     Hebrews 13:2
                                           

Soup for the Season

Fall officially arrived last week, but because of the summer weather, I haven't celebrated the beginning of a favorite season.  Our garden keeps producing tomatoes and basil so I decided to try The Barefoot Contessa's Roasted-Tomato Basil Soup. So healthy and delicious!  We think this recipe is a "keeper".

Roasted-Tomato Basil Soup
Serves 6-8
This is it:  the perfect tomato soup.  It is delicious all year 'round because roasting the tomatoes gives them a rich "summer" tomato flavor.

3 pounds ripe plum tomatoes, cut in half lengthwise

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons good olive oil

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper

2 cups chopped yellow onions (2 onions)

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

28 ounces canned plum tomatoes with their juice

4 cups fresh basil leaves, packed

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1 quart chicken stock

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Toss together the tomatoes, 1/4 cup olive oil, salt, and pepper.  spread the tomatoes in one layer on a baking sheet and roast for 45 minutes.

In an 8-quart stockpot on medium heat, saute the onions and garlic with 2 tablespoons olive oil, butter and red pepper flakes for 10 minutes, until the onions start to brown.  Add the canned tomatoes, basil, thyme, and chicken stock.  Add the oven-roasted tomatoes, including the liquid on the baking sheet.  Bring to a boil and simmer uncovered for 40 minutes.  Pass through a food mill fitted with the coarsest blade.  (I used a blender with good results).  Taste the seasonings.  Serve hot or cold.

Changed for the Better

Wicked has been out "forever". However,  I just recently saw it for the first time, with my daughters, in New York City.  I read the book years ago and liked it but I LOVED the Broadway Musical. In particular the song, "For Good" struck a note with me:

I'm limited.
Just look at me - I'm limited,
And just look at you -
You can do all I couldn't do,
So now it's up to you
For both of us
Now it's up to you.

 I've heard it said,

That people come into our lives for a reason,

Bringing something we must learn,

And we are led to those who help us most to grow,

If we let them,

And we help them in return.

Well, I don't know if I believe that's true

But I know I'm who I am today 

Because I knew you.

Like a comet pulled from orbit, as it passes a sun.

Like a stream that meets a boulder, halfway through the wood.

Who can say if I've been changed for the better?

Because I knew you,

I've been changed for good. 

So much of me 

is made of what I learned from you

You'll be with me 

Like a handprint on my heart

And now whatever way our stories end

I know you have re-written mine

By being my friend...

Who can say if I've been

Changed for the better?

I do believe I have been

Changed for the better

Because I knew you

I've been changed for good.
                                                         For Good - Wicked

 My Best Friends - Thanks for Changing Me

My children have enriched and blessed my life and I am so grateful for the opportunity to be their mother. I didn't realize I would love them so very much; they are in my every thought and prayer. Because of their goodness, I try harder to become a better person.

 Children have helped me see the world differently - they teach patience, virtue, love, faith, sacrifice, gratitude - every good thing. 

 Certainly, they are my most prized possessions - my jewels and my crown. 

 Each day, I continue to learn from them and as they go out into the world, I hope they will always remember they have a mother who is so proud and loves them so very much. 

"I have been changed for the better, I've been changed for good." 

Friends Through Calm and Storm

Last Chance Canyon

Padre Bay - Gunsight Canyon

Yoga on the Rocks

Our annual Couples Lake Powell Party was a little different this year.  In the past we have always had sunny weather, clear skies at night and a gorgeous view of the Milky Way.  This year we had some lightening, thunder and quite a bit of rain.  It was actually magnificently beautiful to watch the storms move across the sky.  We still enjoyed fabulous food, exploring, surfing, water-skiing, paddle-boarding, coziness, games and most of all each other's company.  I'm especially grateful for friends who share good times and times of struggle, clear skies and stormy weather.  

Remembering

We were in Jackson, Wyoming on September 11. In the Jackson Hole Daily there was an interesting essay:  "Forever Trying to Recapture that Blue September Sky (Ted Anthony).  

"Before the towers crumbled in New York City, before the doomed people jumped, and the smoke billowed and the planes hit, the collective American memory summoned one fleeting fragment of beauty:  a clear blue sky.  No coincidence that the power of such an image endures.  blue sky is a canvas of possibility, and optimistic notions of better tomorrows - futures that deliver endless promise."

In a letter to the Washington Post, President Thomas Monson explains how we can recapture blue skies, hope, optimism and peace.

"If there is a spiritual lesson to be learned from our experience of that fateful day, it may be that we owe to God the same faithfulness that He gives to us.  We should strive for steadiness, and for a commitment to God that does not ebb and flow with the years or the crises of our lives.  It should not require tragedy for us to remember Him, and we should not be compelled to humility before giving Him our faith and trust.  We too should be with Him in every season.

There was a remarkable surge of faith following the tragedy.  People across the United States rediscovered the need for God and turned to Him for solace and understanding.  Comfortable times were shattered.  We felt the great unsteadiness of life and reached for the great steadiness of our Father in Heaven.  And, as ever, we found it.  Americans of all faiths came together in a remarkable way.  

It seems that much of that renewal of faith has waned in the years that have followed.  Healing has come with time, but so has indifference.  We forget how vulnerable and sorrowful we felt.  Our sorrow moved us to remember the deep purposes of our lives.  the darkness of our despair brought us a moment of enlightenment.  but we are forgetful.  When the depth of grief has passed, its lessons often pass from our minds and hearts as well.  

The way to be with God in every season is to strive to be near Him every week and each day.  We truly 'need Him every hour,' not just in hours of devastation.  We must speak to him, listen to Him, and serve Him.  If we wish to serve Him, we should serve our fellow men.  We will mourn the lives we lose, but we should also fix the lives that can be mended and heal the hearts that may yet be healed.  

It is constancy that God would have from us.  Tragedies are not merely opportunities to give Him a fleeting thought or for momentary insight to His plan for our happiness.  Destruction allows us to rebuild our lives in the way He teaches us, and to become something different than we were.  We can make Him the center of our thoughts and His Son, Jesus Christ, the pattern for our behavior.  We may not only find faith in God in our sorrow.  We may also become faithful to Him in times of calm." - and blue skies.  

Queen of the Mountain

FINISH LINE!!!

LOTOJA (Logan to Jackson)

206 Miles

3 States

1 Day

10 Hours 35 Minutes

I am so proud of Camille, as is her husband, 

Dr. David Brinton - Sports Medicine M.D., trainer extraordinaire and

 King of the Mountain himself!

9 hours 47 minutes

We were so happy to be the "Support Crew", even though we missed Camille in Preston. (So Sorry!)

Luckily we made it to Montpelier with only seconds to spare before she came flying into the "Feeding  Station".  Then we were off to make it to Afton, Alpine and finally the finish line in the shadow of the beautiful Teton Range.  The entire race was a dauntingly hard, uphill climb, 

over mountain after mountain.

 Well done, Dave and Camille.

"I doubt if there is any American with any of his country's history in his blood who is not excited at the crossing of a range.  We have been a pass-surmounting people, fascinated by that newness on the other side, that land vaguely realizing westward.  We have misted our eyes with far-looking and stretched our minds on the high points of the continent.  Like the bear who went over the mountain, we have got these crossings in our itchy bones, and perhaps always will have.  The other side of the mountain is plenty to see, even if we have seen it before."

Wallace Stegner, West