My "Great Day" Birthday

Well, I can't end a perfect day without dropping a line or two.  I turned 68 years old today and feel about 50.  Feel incredibly blessed by many people and many things.  Wally made my birthday so special today in so many ways.  First with a nice breakfast and then with the most beautiful card I have ever received.  It was very simple and gracious and elegant and the words expressed perfect!!  Then we went to the gym and walked on the treadmill.  Have been doing this for about a month now pretty regularly.  Today I tried to do a sort of interval walking.  I walked for ten minutes at a speed of 3.7 and then slowed to 3.0 for five and then repeated it (an hour long, actually 65 min.).  Helen and I took a birthday treat to a RS sister and then she gave me a treat and a really nice plant.  Wally took me to PF Changs and we shared a lettuce wrap and each had a yummy dessert.  I saved most of mine for later. The Moreno Family (our sweet next door neighbors) brought over a dozen white roses from the whole family. Wally fixed a nice supper (I wanted BLTs ) and we also had cream of mushroom soup, peeled orange, and for dessert Wally put a candle in the rest of my cake and sang Happy Birthday to me.  I skyped with Elizabeth and Bridget and got to see her all smiley and she talked with me in her little language.  Wally gave me my birthday books from him "Increase in Learning, Act in Doctrine" by Elder Bednar and "Opening the Heavens" edited by our friend Jack Welch.  We spent most of the evening just sitting on the couch together reading and my journaling (very, very nice).  Elizabeth made me really nice birthday card and emailed it to me with a photo of Bridget taken just a few days ago.  Carlie, Heather, and Mindy gave me a back facial and facial with Carlie at Marinellos on Wed. evening (really nice and relaxing).   Lots of birthday facebook wishes, texts, and calls made for an awesome birthday.  Oh yes and I started out the day at 130 pounds.  I reached my intermediate weight goal by my birthday!!

A Little of This and a Little of That

Everything I Need to Know I Learned In Relief Society

That is a strange title but it is true.  I started attending Relief Society as a non-member (due to circumstances of an ex-family member I couldn't join the church right away).  For three years I faithfully attended Relief Society and whatever meetings I could get to (excluding Sacrament Meetings).  It was in the late 1970's and they still had the mid-week meetings.  We had lessons called Cultural Refinement about other countries.  We learned a couple of words, favorites dishes served, about the literature, poetry, art, history about that country.  I loved the lessons and learned to appreciate other cultures.  I also learned a valuable lesson being taught at the time "God don't make junk" and if he didn't make junk and he made me then I had worth.  I also learned that to be creative you didn't have to come up with your whole new idea but instead you could take someone else's ideas, tweak them and make them yours in crafts etc.  That there were many ways to paint the same figurines and they were all different and interesting and lovely.  I learned that not all gifts and talents can be hung on walls.  We are all given talents and that I was given a talent for smiling at people.  I learned that it is okay to ask questions and usually the question I ask is one that at least ten other people wanted to.  I have never stopped asking questions since.  I learned there is no shame in not being able to do something and needing to ask someone who could to show me how.  I learned I don't need to be able to do the latest crafts that I still had value.  That is what I learned most of all; that I DID have value.  People who know me now would be amazed to learn that when I was in college I would walk with my head down and never meet anyone's eyes.  I learned in Relief Society that it is important to have eye contact with people.  I learned that I was dependable.  I learned that people liked me.  These are not the lessons you think of when you think of Relief Society but they are some of the ones I learned.  I also learned a story but I want to share it correctly so I will save it for another time.  Thank you for all your kind and supportive responses  to my first post..

Brand New

Hi everyone.  It is a new year and a new year deserves new experiences, so here we are.  I have so many talented members of my family and extended family that blog that I am very timid about this venture.  I have enjoyed getting to know them all better through their blogs and have been envious they have a wonderful place to share thoughts and experiences.  So here I am.  Many thanks to Andrew for helping me so much with the set up.  He knows my favorite colors, styles and he even helped me come up with the name for this blog.  "Forever A Student" applies to all of us but I also take it very personally and am proud of the title.

I have always been curious since my late 20's.  I want to know how, when, why, where!! As a result I have been able to have many interesting experiences in my life.  Always be flexible and grab opportunities when they arise if you can.  So thanks my awesome sister-in-law I am a university student at UVU working on my associate's degree at age 67.  At one class a semester I will be roughly 80 years of age when I graduate; but oh, the wonderful things I am learning and the great people I am meeting.

I have been blessed to be able to associate with many fine academics in the last several years, some of whom have passed on to the next university of life.  At 90 years and over they never stop learning and enjoying what life has to offer even when health and life circumstances are not the ideal.  They have set an example for me to follow and and I am grateful to them.

I think my quest for learning began when I first became involved with the LDS church.  It was such a great environment for education starting with the old Relief Society Cultural Refinement Lessons.  I started to learn about cultures in other countries and about art, music, poetry, and literature of the top people in each country.  Anyway I guess that is enough for my first post.