Playing Catch-up

Wow, I've done really badly at blogging this last week. I've missed Friday, Monday, and Tuesday.

Really, I was just being selfish.

Grig was home for a three-day weekend, and I really wanted to spend time with him. That led to distractions and to me not remembering to blog until really late at night.

Ah well. We had a good time.
Friday we had Arkhon's first veterinary appointment. He did really well. I used to work for our vet, and she's an At Your Home veterinarian, so she came over to our apartment. He got a couple treats while she gave him shots, and he didn't even notice when we was poked. She said he looks great. She gave us some training tips (which we really appreciated) on how to help Arkhon and Kevin be kinder to each other.

They love each other a little too much.

The news on Dakota's end wasn't so good. We've suspected that she has had breast cancer for a little while. The vet confirmed it. Dakota's still happy and has a good appetite, so we'll keep her around for a while yet. I think she'll let us know when she's ready to go. She is fourteen, after all. That is partly why we got Arkhon though. We wanted her to help us train him while she is still around.

I'll have to talk about my feelings on this tomorrow maybe.

She got a shot too. They both did really well.

Saturday, was the General Women's Meeting for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was a really good meeting, and I especially enjoyed Elder Uchtdorf's talk. If you didn't get to watch it, there is a link here to the meeting. I recommend the entire thing. It was very uplifting. Grig ended up watching Kevin and my friend's kids so we could go. I think he got a little overwhelmed with three kids and a puppy. He was happy when we got back.

He did a great job. We were pretty grateful that we were able to attend.

Sunday we had church, and then ended up baby-sitting again for my friend. We had a good time.

Monday, we went fishing with my grandpa. We invited him to go with us, and we told him to pick the place.

He picked a great place! At first, we had a little trouble getting tangled up in a big wire that hung over the river, but the water was boiling with fish. My grandpa couldn't put his pole in without pulling one out. Grig was also pretty successful, with some pretty good sized fish on his line. I kept getting nibbles, but nothing would latch on. Finally, at the very end, I caught a fish too!

We ended up catching our limit! That hasn't happened to us in a long time. We caught some beautiful trout. I'm excited to eat them.

Kevin stayed with my grandma since it was a little wet and cold, but he was sure excited to see the fish when we got back. He loves fish.

Things have taken a turn for fall this week.

The last 3-4 weeks have been really warm. We took down our air-conditioning because it was getting cooler right after I came back from Idaho. Then, the days went back up to 80-90. We kind of regretted taking the air-conditioning down.

However, it's been raining the last four days or so. Our bedroom was pretty cold last night, and we ended up enjoying cuddling under the covers.

Arkhon slept 7 hours last night without an accident in his kennel. He might have been able to go longer, but I was worried about pushing it to far, so Grig took him out when he woke up.

He's doing pretty well with the kennel. Occasionally he gets bored with it. I guess we need to get him a Kong or something.

He and Dakota like each other quite a bit, though if he gets too energetic, she'll tell him (rather forcefully) to calm down. His training is going well, and the accidents are getting fewer and further between. Which is great!

He's going to be a great dog for a great kid. We've talked about how this will be Kevin's dog. Hopefully he'll live until Kevin is 14 or 15. We're looking forward to the next few years, but we're also trying to appreciate the moments now.

The moments now are pretty great too.

Why I Like Fishing

It happens, that I struggle with being surrounded by civilization occasionally. I begin to feel a bit claustrophobic, and there is a part of me that just wants to get away from people in general.

It's not because I don't like people. In fact, I really love them.

There is just this part of me that occasionally wants the walls and rigor of society to just go away for a while. When that used to happen while I was in college, I would go drive out to a park along the river. Sometimes I like company, but just one or two people. Anymore than that, and it isn't nearly as relaxing.

One of my favorite things to do is to go fishing. People have told me that they don't understand the appeal. For them, they find it boring.

One person told me, "You go out and sit there for hours. Sometimes you don't even catch a fish!"

Usually this statement is followed by a declaration of the fact that they don't like the taste of fish anyway, which I can respect.

However, for me, the fishing isn't really about catching fish.

Don't get me wrong, I do love that part too. The adrenaline rush when you finally get one on your hook can make up for hours of sitting still. However, it might be the sitting part that I enjoy the most.

For me, sitting on the banks of the river with very few people around (aside from maybe my husband or grandpa) is very therapeutic. I love listening to the sound of the river and thinking. A quiet conversation is

also appreciated. Mostly, I love getting away from everything and just feeling nature around me. Without the many distractions of society, I can often contemplate my goals and desires in peace.

I probably sound like a hippie.

Fish are one of the few animals that I have killed regularly in my life. It can occasionally make me feel bad, but we always eat what we catch, and I learned from the best how to cook rainbow trout so it tastes pretty good. My husband, who didn't think he liked fish before we were married, LOVES trout. Especially how we cook it.

Fishing is a family tradition as well. As long as I can remember, my mom's dad would take us fishing. When I went to college in Utah, I lived with my grandparents for a while, and my grandpa and I would often go fishing. It was a way that I really bonded with him, and that has also made it something precious to me.

Grig likes fishing best when we catch fish. He loves to explore nature, so it is harder for him to sit in one spot for a long time. If he gets bored, he'll go climb rocks for a while, and then come back. That's fine with me too. We all connect with nature in our own way.

Kevin has been fishing with us a few times. So far, he's still more interested in throwing rocks in the water, but I think he'll like to fish when he's older too.

It's a tradition that I'm keen on continuing.

After the Trial...

On Saturday, we were driving to Sam's Club to go shopping. It was an unusually warm day outside, and so, for the first time all winter, we decided to roll our windows down.

A harmless thing to do, right?

Wrong! Or at least, that's what our car decided. As Grig tried to roll the window back up, it simply groaned and died. We tried to get it back on the track by pushing the button back and forth and we were rewarded by the sound of cracking glass.

Great.

I was pretty hopeful at first. I told Grig, "It will be okay. All we have to do is pray, and it is going to work again." He was kind of skeptical, but willing to try. He wasn't skeptical because he didn't believe God could fix the window, he was skeptical because the Lord may have a reason for breaking the window, and if so, no amount of praying was going to fix it.

We went shopping and when we came out, we said a prayer and tried the window again. If anything, the sounds got worse...and then it stopped working completely. It didn't dampen my faith however. I felt like it was going to be okay, even if we had to take it in. He agreed.

It's hard when you believe something is going to happen and it doesn't, though. I took the car in on Monday and was told it was probably going to be about a $300 fix to get it back on track.  As I left, that was when the frustration hit.

We'd just barely finished fixing up our car. We were starting to be able to save money again! Why did this have to happen now?

However, there was nothing to be done, so we agreed and left the car there over night. That night it snowed, and we were grateful that they had it inside of their shop where moisture couldn't blow through the window.

Sometimes bad things happen, and you begin to ask the Lord "Why?"  However, I am learning more and more that as we continue in faith the blessings begin to pour in.

The same day we turned the car in, Grig's co-worker approached him. Grig was busy sweeping because they were at a slow point, and his co-worker kind of just stood there and watched him for a minute. Then he said, "Hey, man. How would you like to weld?"

Grig loves welding. He is officially a fitter (of parts for the welders), but every time one of the welders will let him, he has been welding. At first Grig thought that his co-worker was asking if he wanted to weld right then, and then he realized that the man was talking full-time. His co-worker informed him that a full-time position had just opened and he should go apply. So, he did.

If he gets this position, we will receive a raise, and Grig will be able to do something he enjoys a lot more! So, we are currently praying that he gets the job. That would be a huge blessing.

Then, my parents just informed me that our phone plan is changing. With the change, our phone bill is suddenly going to become more inexpensive! That's pretty exciting.

On top of that, when I went to pick up the car yesterday, I informed my grandfather (who was driving me) that I had finally received my new state driver's license. He told me, "Okay, then I'm going to take you to Wal-mart and get you a fishing license. I'll pay for it."

I've been dying to go fishing. Lately, I've been editing my grandpa's life history for him, and he told me this was his way of paying me back for all of my work. Then, he asked if we wanted to go fishing at 4:00. I really wanted to, but I wanted to talk to Grig about it first.

We picked up the car and it turned out that the motor that rolls up the window was actually broken. The man at the repair shop told me that it fell into six pieces as he pulled it out. He also told me he had never seen one in that bad of shape. So, I don't know why our car had to experience this right now, but I'm grateful we had money to pay for it. It ended up being a bit less than $300 when all was said and done, and our window works again. That was another blessing.

We did go fishing last night, and we caught three beautiful (though smallish) rainbow trout. We had a lot of fun! Grig didn't fish (he doesn't have his driver's license yet, but he will soon), so he and Kevin explored the area while Grandpa and I fished. They found a couple of fossils and a dead bird. They had a good time.

These pictures are actually from a different fishing trip, but I forgot to bring my camera last night, so I decided to use these pictures instead. We only caught three fish last nigh and they were all about the size of the little one between Grig and I. Also, Kevin is much older now.

I am pretty grateful for how many blessings we have in our lives. I feel like our trials are insignificant in comparison, and I feel bad for my frustration the other day. I am learning to trust in the Lord, regardless of what life might throw at us. He hasn't steered me wrong, and He never will.