Merry Christmas 2021

It's hard to believe 2021 is already coming to an end. After 2020, which felt like the longest year ever, 2021 has flown by. It's been full of so many great moments and memories. Just a few of the highlights include: two college grads (Savannah in April, Sam in December), our first grandbaby - Walker is the cutest little guy ever (ever!!), Soren graduating from high school in May then leaving to serve in the Utah Salt Lake City mission at the end of the summer, Sterling returning home from the Texas San Antonio mission last week.  

There's plenty to look forward to in 2022. But for now, I'm happy to just pause and be grateful for the baby born in Bethlehem over 2,000 years ago, the Savior of the world. 

Merry Christmas!

'Tis But a Scratch

Sadie signed up to play in the Homecoming powderpuff football match. During practice a couple of weeks ago, while running to tackle a defendant who had intercepted the ball, Sadie slipped on wet grass and caught herself with her left hand as she went down hard. She laughed it off at first, but then realized her left wrist looked a bit wonky. I got a surprisingly calm phone call that went something like, "I think I broke my wrist. You should probably come pick me up now."

Four hours in the Emergency Room verified that Sadie's wrist was broken. The end of her radius was tipped back and, despite more than one attempt to bring it back into alignment, she was put in a bulky cast and told that surgery might be needed. We were sent home with instructions to see an orthopedic surgeon within a few days. 

Sadie didn't miss a beat; she was at school the next day. One of her biggest hurdles was not being able to type so some of her teachers gave her extra time to complete assignments, but overall she wasn't going to let this slow her down. Four days later, we took her to the orthopedic surgeon. He said she would need surgery to either 1. manipulate the bone into place and hope it heals properly, but often it will tip back again or 2. put in a plate to hold the bone in place and solve the problem. At his recommendation, we opted for number 2. He was able to schedule surgery the next day.

Sadie's biggest fears are doctors and needles. She really isn't scared of much else. To keep her mind off the surgery, she attended her first two classes the next day. I picked her up from school and we went straight to the hospital. Despite her fears, Sadie was so brave as they inserted the IV. For her, that was the hardest part. Then before we knew it, she was waking up from surgery and prepping to go home. 

The orthopedic surgeon assured me that everything went well. He even stayed longer to stitch her up himself to make sure it was done well. :) A little over 6 hours after we arrived, Sadie was given the green light and we headed home. She even insisted she was well enough to attend a couple hours of a college softball game that some friends were playing in that evening. 

Most people would settle in and take a couple of days to rest, but this was Homecoming Week and Sadie had been looking forward to Decade Day for a few weeks. So the next morning she got all dressed up and headed to school. She made it through like a champ and definitely rocked the awesome '80's, complete with big hair, acid washed jeans, and Jeff's high school letterman's jacket from 1987.    

Sadie, the day after surgery

Since then, Sadie's hardly complained. We're hoping she graduates to a removable splint next week. And then it's on to a full recovery shortly after. I'm telling you, this girl is tough!

stowell.fami.ly

From 2008 to 2010, I had a blog called "Our Little Corner of the World," found at stowell.fami.ly. The posts contained loads of cute things the kids said and did, family outings, a few videos I liked - some funny, some inspiring - and a random assortment of other stuff. It was fun to go back and reminisce. 

As time went on, some of the settings on that blog became outdated or something because I could no longer access it. I was so sad! I didn't want to lose those memories. I checked back periodically, but I still got an error message every time I tried. I brought it up to my brother, Steve, who helped me get the blog started all those years ago, and he came to the rescue. He was able to change a few things to grant me access. Whatever he did changed the look of the blog to be very basic and I noticed a few posts were curiously missing, but I was grateful for the 70+ posts that I had access to once again. 

Because I don't want to risk losing everything again, I've copied and moved each post to this blog. I kept the dates the same so they appear from May 11, 2008 to Friday June 4, 2010. It's been a fun project full of smiles and memories. :)

BYU Grads

We have our first two college graduates in the family! 

Sam and Savannah graduated from BYU today - Sam in Biology with a minor in Ballroom Dance and Savannah with a bachelors in Nursing. Sam has a few things to finish up during Spring term, but he was still part of the official end of term graduation ceremony. 

They both made it through some crazy hard classes, unpredictable circumstances, and the upheaval of Covid. But they've also had so many amazing experiences and made some great friends along the way. 

Congratulations, Sam and Savannah! We're so proud of you and can't wait to see what your bright futures hold!

You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown

If you have an open Thursday or Saturday evening this week, you might consider tuning in to our high school's production of You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown. Jeff and I saw the dress rehearsal on Monday and it is just the funnest show! We loved the music, dialogue, and especially that cute Linus Van Pelt played by our Soren. ;) (Sadie was an understudy for Sally Brown and she is on the stage crew.) The small six-person cast is comprised of all Seniors and they are Soren's best friends. It's been a great experience for them.

Here's a fun preview...

And here's all the info if you plan to watch. (Tickets may not be available within 30 minutes of each night's opening so buy them early!) Also, the 7:30pm start time is Central time zone. 

An Easter Celebration

Sterling is serving in the Texas San Antonio Mission. Last night the mission shared a musical Easter Celebration over Facebook Live and YouTube. It's a collection of musical numbers performed by missionaries and members throughout the greater San Antonio area. It's really beautiful and uplifting. Sterling recorded and mixed all the audio. He also sings in two of the numbers (at 38:55 and 45:35). I would have loved this even if Sterling wasn't involved, but seeing his cute face makes me love it even more.

(It won't let me watch it as an embedded video, but it will give you the option to watch from YouTube if you click on play below.)

Bat Number Three

A few nights ago, Jeff and I went to bed a little later than usual and were just drifting off to sleep when our phone started ringing. We knew from the ring that it was one of the kids using the intercom feature. Jeff answered to hear a frantic Sadie informing him that there was a bat in her room!

We rushed downstairs as quickly as we could. Sure enough, there was a rather large bat flying back and forth as it tried to find a way out. Sadie had been reading in bed when she first spotted it so she climbed all the way in and threw the covers over her head. She was safe, but peeked out now and then only to scream when the bat flew over her head. Jeff had a large container, hoping the bat would stop long enough for him to capture it. I ventured in just long enough to see the excitement and take a picture when the bat finally landed. In the retelling, this all sounds pretty tame, but the whole thing was terrifying! Sadie wasn't the only one screaming.  

It took a little while, but finally the bat rested upside down for a bit from Sadie's curtains. Jeff placed the container over him and somehow - after a traumatic near miss - managed to get him under the container on the floor. I slid a stiff piece of foam board under the container and Jeff was able to carry the contraption outside to free the bat. Whew! Needless to say, it took a little while to fall asleep after that.

That's bat #3. We had in-house bat adventures back in 2012 and 2015. I'm hoping this is The End!

Hygge

HYGGE n. - a quality of coziness that makes a person feel content and comfortable.

I first heard of hygge (pronounced hoo-ga) maybe two or three years ago. I immediately fell in love with the idea of fuzzy sweaters, wool socks, lighting candles and snuggling up together with blankets and hot cocoa during the drab winter months. I read "The Little Book of Hygge," by Meik Wiking and made cozy little alterations to our most lived-in spaces whenever I was inspired to do so. 

I haven't thought specifically about hygge in the past year or so, but I happened to listen to a podcast this morning that mentioned some of the benefits of hygge. As I listened, I realized that we have embraced hygge and, as a result, we love to be home. 

I look back over the past year of shutdowns and cancelations and how frustrating it's been for so many. I hear of kids who choose to spend most of the day alone in their bedrooms and I feel sad for them. I feel sad for their mothers. I'm grateful that, when school was all online, my kids both stayed in the living room all day. They often snuggled up in a blanket while completing assignments. I made cookies and brought them regular snacks throughout the day. We ate lunch together. Often there was a puzzle or a paint-by-number in progress on a little table against the living room wall. We watched every season of Phineas and Ferb. (How had we never seen that before Covid?) Even now that the kids are back in school, once they get home they hang out in the living room to do their homework. They run lines and practice songs for their musical together. There is always music playing in the background. We always eat dinner together. We play games regularly as a family. We watch Hallmark movies and have daily scripture study together. We aren't perfect and we sometimes get on each others nerves, but we're quick to forgive and move on.

No wonder I never want to leave. My home feels like hygge to me. 

Making Peace With February

I don't know what it is about February, but it's my least favorite month. With rare exception, February always and ironically feels like the longest month ever. Plus, I hate to be cold and February is typically the coldest month of the year in my little corner of the world. When I get chilled, I don't want to do anything or go anywhere which makes the days feel even longer. 

Knowing my feelings for February, I decided to challenge myself to three things: 

1) Write a blog post every day (After my long hiatus from regular blogging, that's quite a feat!) 

2) Create one piece of envelope art every day

3) Read at least one chapter from a book each day 

Today is February 28 and guess what? Once I publish this blog post, I will have reached my goals! I can honestly say that having those three goals really helped; surprisingly, it didn't feel like a burden. Now that February is over, I'm hoping to post to my blog at least once a week. As for the envelope art, I enjoyed the creative process, but these past few days I've really struggled to come up with people to address envelopes to. So I won't keep that up, but I took pictures of every envelope I designed so it will be easy for me to recreate specific designs when I want to send something fun. And I hope to continue reading at least one chapter a day. In February, I finished reading "Mere Christianity," by C. S. Lewis and "Atomic Habits," by James Clear. I'm now reading "A Grief Observed," by C. S. Lewis which I should finish tomorrow. I just picked up some new books from the library so I have a few choices about what to read next. I love reading and I'm glad to get back into it. It's been a while since I've taken the time.

It's been a good month. Sure, we had our ridiculous cold spell where I just wanted to snuggle up on the couch all day, but I was grateful for the motivation to get up off the couch and do something. I'm just grateful I can finally say that February isn't all that bad. 

One of my favorite envelopes. My friend gave me the dancing stamps so I had to come up with an envelope to send to Sam, our ballroom dancer. He loved it! :)

Service Station

When life gets overwhelming and personal problems seem too much to bear, it's curiously healing to set aside our own difficulties and find ways to lighten the burdens of others. That's what I love about the quote below. Service has a way of putting things into perspective and highlighting the things that are most important. 

 

Be A Light

I remember we were just a few weeks into the pandemic when I first heard this song by Thomas Rhett last April. We were all feeling a little cooped up, frustrated, and tired. There was also plenty of finger pointing about decisions being made on a national level, not to mention the political tension as candidates and their parties couldn't say anything nice about each other. 

Country music always seems to tell it like it is and the lyrics to this song pretty clearly state what we all needed to hear then, and need just as much now. 

Here are just a few of the lyrics (first verse and chorus), but the whole song is worth listening to.

In a time full of war, be peace.

In a time full of doubt, just believe.

Yeah, there ain't that much difference between you and me.

In a time full of war, be peace.

In a world full of hate, be a light.

When you do somebody wrong, make it right.

Don't hide in the dark. You were born to shine.

In a world full of hate, be a light.

10,000 Things That Make Me Hungry

The goal was to update my recipe book. I wanted my grown kids to have access to their favorite recipes, but I also wanted to go through and remove recipes I never use, add in a few new ones, and update the recipes we know and love around here so that the instructions include all my shortcuts and modifications. It felt so overwhelming because, honestly, that job is never done. As soon as I finished printing an updated copy, there would be new recipes and further changes I wish were in there.

That's when I remembered my hungry blog! I started it in 2013, added a bunch of mostly main dish recipes in 2014, added six more in 2016 and one in 2017 and then forgot about it. But as I contemplated my recipe dilemma, I realized my blog is the answer. I can update and add to it anytime I want and no one has to print anything out or worry about it becoming outdated. 

And so in January I got to work. I made sure the recipes already on the blog were current. Then I put in almost all the rest of our tried-and-true recipes. I'll update it as I think of additions, and make changes as I find better easier ways to do things. ;) I've already been able to give out links to specific recipes upon request. It's so easy! 

So click here to enjoy my no-frills recipe blog. Please let me know if you find something you love!

Tip: in the desktop version, there is a search bar to hopefully help you find what you're looking for.

Remembering Spring

Last spring I started walking everyday. We are blessed to live just down the street from a recently paved bike trail that has some beautiful views along the way. We also live just a short drive from a lake with trails for walking and hiking. I've been getting my exercise indoors for the past few months, but I'm looking forward to the day when I can head outside again. 

Here are a few photos from my walks last spring and summer. So much beauty to look forward to!

 

I love how the sun is lighting up this wild patch of thistle. The flower of Scotland may not be pretty to anyone else, but to me it feels like home.

This little guy was so small and cute.

Running for President

My kids were looking through my high school yearbooks last fall. When they got to my Senior yearbook, class of '88, there was a list of memorable events for the calendar year of 1987. I had to laugh when I saw these two entries:

Funny how, 34 years later, these two have once again been making Presidential headlines. Who would have thought?

The Addams Family - You're Invited!

If you'd been a fly on the wall at our house these past couple of  months, you would have heard a lot of funny music and plenty of laughter as Sadie and Soren prepped for their high school production of The Addams Family. It's a special quarantine edition which accommodates social distancing so they are actually allowed to have a production this year. The script even has a couple of one-liners about quarantine. :)

The show will be streamed online on March 5th & 6th at 7:00 pm Central time. Yes, you still need to purchase tickets. Our poor performing arts program was drained last year when Mary Poppins came to a screeching halt after they'd already built the set and purchased costumes, etc. We're hopeful that The Addams Family will be a smashing success to replenish the budget and allow them to put on more shows. (You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown is ready to start rehearsals as soon as The Addams Family is through!)

You can find all the information about tickets on the flyer above. If you're not familiar with Charleston High School, they have a long history of amazing stage productions. There must be something in the water here because the talent pool in our small town is unreal. Jeff and I were lucky enough to be part of a very small audience tonight to view the dress rehearsal and we were blown away! Sadie is amazing in her role as Mrs. Beineke. Soren did great as one of the ancestors and on Saturday we got to see him perform as the understudy for Lucas Beineke. 

I hope you'll join us, wherever you are, for this fun show! You won't regret it. :)

I Stand At The Door

This painting by Del Parson is a great visualization of Revelation 3:20 - "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me."

Most look at this as a reminder that we need to open the door and let the Savior in. He always honors our agency so He's not going to barge in; it is always our choice. 

So why not open the door? Well, maybe those on the inside desperately want to let the Savior in, but they feel like they need to clean their house first. Everything is such a mess and they are embarrassed and don't want the Savior to see the chaos. And when your messy house really represents your messy, sinful life, it's common to feel like you need to clean up the mess before allowing the Savior in. 

But what if you could zoom out from the painting above and see that Christ brought a whole slew of cleaning supplies with Him? What if the reason He's there is to help you clean your house? 

Isn't that just the most comforting and hopeful thought? I love that perspective. I wish I'd come up with it myself, but I heard it from Savannah's husband, Hayden. He and Savannah have a podcast called "I Stand At The Door," and it's about overcoming pornography and inviting the Savior in to help you. I know that the thoughts they share are giving hope to many people. And many of the things they discuss can be helpful in overcoming other sins and addictions. But my favorite so far is their picture of the Savior standing outside the door with every needed cleaning supply just ready to put them to good use, if only He is allowed inside.

God's Love

I love this quote and I know it's true. God loves each of us. Always. Just like a child might feel like their mom or dad doesn't love them anymore when they do something naughty, sometimes our choices keep us from feeling God's love. But His love is not conditional. He is always waiting with His arms outstretched when we are ready to turn around. 

Envelope Art - Elder Stowell Edition

Since I made a goal to decorate one envelope each day in February, one of the hardest parts is deciding who to address it to each day. Sterling, a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has become my default. Here are most of the envelopes I've addressed to him so far this month. I like some better than others. As I said the other day, done is better than perfect. Without that mentality I'd be paralyzed and never able to start, let alone finish, each envelope. 

For this group, I can't decide if I like the first or the second one best. On the first one, I love the lettering, the orientation, and the color scheme. The second one was fun to make as it illustrates the journey from our home to his, with a Texas stamp to complete the look. The other envelopes are relatively simple; they are more about the stamp and how it fits with the design. A couple of these ideas were inspired by designs I saw on Pinterest or The Postman's Knock, but most of them I came up with on my own.

I mailed one of these to Sterling today. The rest I've set aside and will mail one at a time over the next several weeks. 

I sure hope Sterling likes mail!! :)

A Worthy Cause

Do you want to make a world of difference with a small donation? I have just the charity for you. Educate the Kids is a charity out of Scotland that has built an orphanage and schools and changed the lives of thousands of children in a small village in Kenya, Africa. The charity was started by Maureen over 20 years ago. Maureen is the mother of my friend, Yvonne, from Scotland. Yvonne helps run the charity as well. These ladies are as good as they come. I have known them for almost 30 years and I can fully vouch for their integrity and goodness. 

Because Educate the Kids is run by volunteers, they don't withhold any money from donations for administrative fees. Every penny of your donation will go to help the kids. You can donate directly through their website or you can contribute specifically toward food parcels* through Just Giving. The food parcel program was set up when the village lost their main source of income - tourism - during the Covid pandemic. Educate the Kids has literally saved this little community by providing them food and hope. 

The school is finally open once again after the pandemic closed it for several months.

A little goes a long way! Please consider a donation. And tell your friends! 

*The food parcel program says it's for Christmas, but as of today (February 18, 2021), they are still collecting donations and providing the parcels to families in the village. 

These handsome boys live in the orphanage.

Envelope Art Preview

For the past few years, I've enjoyed making fun envelope designs incorporating fancy lettering and various stamps. Because February is traditionally my least favorite month (how can 28 days feel sooo long??), I challenged myself to decorate one envelope each day this month. I had fun with today's design so I wanted to share. It's not completely finished because I don't know who I'm going to send it to, so I'll have to add the name and address later. 

Like many of my projects, there are things I'd do differently if I had to do it over again, but done is better than perfect so here you go! I'll share a few more of my creations before the month is through.

Light Pillars

We've experienced a unique phenomenon twice in the past few days. Saturday night, Sadie and Soren were out running an errand and they noticed lights shooting straight up into the sky. Sadie thought it was a little weird, but figured that some street lights were aimed in the wrong direction or something like that. The next day I saw an article talking about light pillars that had been spotted in central Illinois. I showed the kids and Sadie realized that's what she had seen on Saturday. 

Then last night, Sadie was looking out the window and she saw them again! They were so cool (the photo below doesn't do them justice at all) and we soon found that they we could see them in every direction - north, south, east and west. Some were white or pinkish, others had a tint of green. All we know is we've never seen them before, but we'd love to see them again! (The article linked above gives more information about light pillars and has several more photos.)

Snow Day

So much for the delicate little snowflakes that fell on Saturday. Today it was a full on snowstorm. We woke up to a wind chill of at least -15º and a few inches of snow on the ground. 

If the public schools weren't already closed for President's day, they would have been closed due to terrible road conditions. Jeff left for work at his usual time, but only because he didn't see the text telling him that the university was closed as well. 

We're still under a winter storm warning until 6:00 a.m. tomorrow so I wasn't surprised when we were notified at 2:30 this afternoon that tomorrow will be a "remote learning day" for the kids. That means that their teachers will let them know by 9:00 tomorrow morning what their assignments are for the day and what is required of them to be marked present. It's not as fun as a "snow day," but at least it doesn't have to be made up at the end of the school year.

The crazy thing is that Sterling is having similar weather in San Antonio, Texas! They were grounded because of the snow today as well, but they also had to deal with rolling power outages. Just a week ago he was enjoying a "chilly 75 degrees." 

Here are a few pics as seen from inside my house. What I couldn't pick up on camera is the constant falling snow and the wind gusts blowing it all over the place. 

We live on a State Route heading out of town. The snow plows usually keep our road pretty clear. Not today!

Good thing there's no school tomorrow. I'm not sure the kids could get out of the garage!

Snowflakes

Yesterday it snowed off and on. It was such a light snow that you could hardly tell it was snowing at all, and the air was so cold and dry that the flakes fell individually instead of clumping together. It was so cold, like single digit cold, that when the beautiful little individual flakes landed on my deck they didn't melt. I was lucky enough to get a few pictures while they lasted. The largest of these snowflakes wasn't more than 5mm wide. I've seen beautiful snowflakes like these only 2 or 3 other times over the years and it just cheers me right up and makes the miserable cold weather not quite so miserable after all.

 

BYU Bound

Soren got the news last night... He's been accepted to BYU!! That was his first choice and we couldn't be happier for him. We're super excited to have another Cougar in the family. 

This picture is from fall 2019 when we attended a BYU football game in Toledo, OH.
It's no secret that we love our BYU!!

Who is in Your Back Room?

Some good food for thought...

Better Than Valentine's Day

Twenty-six years ago today, Jeff asked me to marry him. Saying yes was one of the best decisions I've ever made. We've now been married longer than we were single and I love the life we've shared. February 11 will always be my Valentine's Day. Here's hoping for at least 26 more. 

Photo taken November 2020 at Spencer and Grace's wedding

The Next Generation

You may have noticed from our Christmas card that Savannah is sporting a little baby bump. Yes, it's true! Jeff and I are going to be grandparents in May. While I don't feel old enough to be a grandma, my age says otherwise and I'm very excited to welcome this little guy into our family. Here's a sneak peak to get us through until he makes his debut in just three months. It's been way too long since I've snuggled a newborn. I can't wait!

Ultrasound has come a long way! Isn't he cute? :)