Mom of a Missionary. Perparing for my Missionary to come home.

There are 31 days left until my son comes home from his mission in Tampico Mexico.  I am now in the process of getting things ready for his return.  While I do this I try hard not to email him about all the things we want to do with him when he comes home.  He is trying hard to stay focused on working hard in the mission field still and I don't want to be the one to get his mind turned towards home.  It is hard though.

My first job was to clean his room up and make it ready for him.  I have used his room for the last two years as extra storage space.  I've had the vacuum cleaner in there, the extra towels and blankets.  Whenever someone is looking for something my reply has been check Jacobs room.

 His bed is all made up with a special quilt that my mom made for him.  I love that it has a Mexican feel to it.

 I have to still clean his desk up a bit, but we got some Lego character boxes and have gone
and put a bunch of his Lego figures in it.  This was a Christmas/ Birthday gift.

There are Christmas and Birthday gifts waiting for him to open when he returns.

Shipping things to Mexico can be a bit hard so we decided to just save everything up for his return.

We have his Mission letter and photo framed.  I also framed some photos he 

has emailed from his mission and put them around his room.

The very big project I have been working on is putting together a 

memory journal for him with all his weekly emails and photos.

He had some incedent happen and had to throw all his journals away. 

I wanted him to come back and have some memories available with space to 

add his reflections.

 I can't tell you how many photos there are that I have printed out over the last few days.
But I can tell you there are a lot of them.  My husband was pretty amazed.  There were points during this project when I was very happy for an email with no photos.

The Memory Journal starts with his farewell speech.  Which 

I found sitting next to my couch the other day.  I was glad it was 

so easily found because I think searching for it would have been frustrating as

who remembers exactly where they put something two years ago.

So far the book has 228 pages.  We have a few more weeks of emails left.

 Through out his mission in his emails my son has used different names in the beginning of his emails.  As I have been putting together his journal I have written all the names down and I'm going to put them on his bedroom door with a big welcome home sign.  These are just the beginning photos of that project.

This cat photo is something that he sends in his emails when he has reached certain

milestones in his mission.  So now it is his welcome home sign on his bedroom door.

There are many websites that tell you things to do to prepare for your missionary to return home.

In the next few weeks I'll be reading them and I will be more prepared to have my son come home than I was to have him leave.  Some of our next projects are getting the airport welcome home signs made.  I'm thankful I do have a friend who will be meeting us at the airport to be our photographer.

I can't believe we are down to the last month!!

G.G.

What did you do to welcome your missionary home??

Or if you are a returned missionary what was the thing that your parents did for you that you liked the best?  

Please help me figure this out.

My Cat and Cancer. Mourning the Loss of My Cat.

Don't be afraid to cry.  It will free your mind of sorrowful thoughts.  - Hopi.
This is our little cat memorial.  Her favorite chair (which I call "The Spirit Chair") is covered with her favorite blanket and sitting on the blanket is her box with her ashes in it. I haven't found the favorite photo for her memorial plaque yet.   There is a little feather by the box, I found it by my car a few days after she passed.  Perhaps a sign that she is still there just on the other side now.

They are not dead who live in the hearts they leave behind.  -Tuscarora

I think someday I may get another cat, until that point all my daughters stuffed cats now sit on her cat tree.  We always called it "Cat Command".  I have moved it down to my office.  My daughters stuffed cat colletion is pretty big, when I'm feeling a bit sad I have many different cat choices to choose from to hug.

There is no death, only a change of worlds.  - Duwamish
I'm having a hard time with this change of world things.  Desprerately wanting to have my cat back here and not there.  Greif is one of those things where one day you feel I'm doing ok and the next you are crying and aching.  It can at some moments be all consuming. 

I bought this little black pin with paw prints on it and I wear it.  It is just a way to show that I am mourning the loss of my pet.  I don't think our society allows us the time to be sad and to work through loss like people did in ages past.  As I have talked with friends many have expressed their own sorrows and loss and how they haven't felt they had been given the time to really heal from it.
So as the months progress I have given myself permission to cry, and to feel and work through the loss of my sweet friend.  She was my constant companion at home and I think of her often.  I still talk to her despite the fact I can not see her.  Her cat hair is still everywhere, and no matter how much I clean I am still finding little cat hairs everywhere and when I do I think of her.  I try to stay with happy thoughts, more than I really miss you thoughts.

Here are three books that I have read to help me cope with the loss of my pet.  I think they have each helped give me hope that my cat will be waiting for me on the other side.  They have helped me understand the grieving process and helped me deal with the hard choices we had to make at the end of my cats life.  The last few months have been hard.  The words in these books have brought comfort.  There have been moments when I have felt wrapped in a comfort that I know can only come from my Loving Heavenly Father.

I will love my sweet little fur baby forever.
Thanks for all the love and support you have all given me these past few months.
G.G.

Empty Nesters. February 26 2019, The Very Empty Nest.

When we took our daughter to college this fall and both our children were now moved out of the house I remember talking on the phone with my mom saying that I would be OK because I had my fur baby still with me.  My mother then replied  "your cat is very old, do you think she will be around much longer?"   I just wanted to say Shhhh... Don't say that.   Those words they haunt me a little now.  My sweet little cat passed away and now my nest truly feels very empty.   It was like her little spirit was what made the house so very special and now I find myself constantly looking for her and thinking about her.  My husband and I have had a few nice winter day dates.  We have gone to the Great Salt Lake and wandered about.  We have also gone on a few walks at the Lindon Marina at Utah Lake.

I really like this photo of Canadian Geese flying at the great salt lake.  I have enjoyed finding new things to photograph other than flowers.

This winter I went with a friend to one of the free concerts at the  South Town Mall.  I got

to see my favorite Utah vocal group for free.  The Gentri.  They have

some very beautiful music.

We went to The Luminaria at Thanksgiving Point this past Christmas. 

 It was beautiful.

We also checked out the Museum of Natural History. 

We enjoyed seeing all the dinosaur exhibits, it made me think of my son and his love

of dinosaurs.

The Butterfly biosphere opened in January 

and I have been having fun going and photographing butterflies. 

Our daughter is back at school she is enjoying her second semester and working hard.

I think she is taking a lot of math classes.  She likes math, midterms are happening right now and she is very busy studying and working on projects.

Our son has 5 weeks left to his mission.  He is doing well and we are all getting excited for his return.

I hope you are all enjoying winter and have a healthy and happy new year.

G.G.

My Cozy Winter. Things I'm doing to enjoy winter.

This past fall I bought the Bella Grace magazine "the cozy issue" and I decided to embrace this idea of enjoying the season you are in.  I love this magazine, there are no advertisements, it's has beautiful photographs and relaxing stories.  It is a guilty pleasure to sit down and read and relax.  I used to be one of those people who hated winter.  Now I've actually gone out and made a snow angel twice this season.  When was the last time you went out after a snow storm and enjoyed the snow ?

After taking the Christmas decorations down, I kept anything snow related out.

So instead of trying to rush into spring, I have been enjoying anything winter related.

I also went through our photos and printed out photos of 

the kids when they were young playing out in the snow.  

We had such fun sledding, making snowmen and snow monsters. It's nice

to look at the photos and remember our winters past.

I've looked for books that celebrate winter and poems about winter.

I have tried hard to embrace this cold season and find joy instead of misery.

I have looked for ways to enjoy winter with all my senses, I have 

been burning candles that smell like pine, or cinnamon.  I have been using peppermint scented lotion.

I have been eating soups and stews and enjoying comfort food. 

I bought cozy wool socks and flannel pajamas and I have spent a few evenings with the 

lights out, candles burning watching out the back window of my house as we have 

yet another snow storm.  ( Or as my husband says a snow apocalypse.  He is not enjoying the snow as much as me.)

Another thing we have been doing is going for walks on our days off together.

I have to say that I have really enjoyed this winter.  I look forward to doing a few more

winter related activities before spring. 

What are your favorite winter activities?

G.G.