My Grandma Joy

August 26, 2017 • 2017, arizona, August, family, family history, grandma joy, travel, Utah

Here are some thoughts about my Grandma.

On August 12, My paternal grandmother, Joy Bateman Wixom Samson, died. She was 95 and had lived a full life of family, work, travel and love. She was an important and positive influence in my life, and while I am sad I won't see her again in this life, it's hard to be TOO sad when a tired 95-year old woman who has done all the things and is suffering from pain and sickness dies. I am honestly more happy for her than I am sad for myself. Truly. Her life is a great example of what I believe life is all about--learning, experiencing, helping others, trying, making mistakes, having messy problems, doing fun things, loving people, never giving up, etc. I don't romanticize her as a perfect person, but instead I love her for her example of a real woman in action. She showed me that it's possible to keep on going in the face of hard things, and to laugh and sing along the way. That is invaluable to me. I am grateful you are my Grandma.

July 29, 2017 • 2017, catch-up posts, choosing optimism, girls camp, July, rain, weather

This week at my church Young Women Camp we had perfect weather for an East Coast campout--mostly overcast skies with slightly cooler temperatures punctuated by a few hours of sunshine here and there on most of the days. It was really nice to have a break from the usually relentless heat. We still had the relentless humidity, but a temperature just a few degrees lower can make such a difference. Evenings got cool enough to welcome a campfire, and the nights and mornings felt deliciously chilly.

July 22, 2017 • 2017, church activities, I'm a Mormon, July, pioneer trek, what I believe, why i believe, youth

In the second week of July, Eric and I set out with 11 outstanding young people and trekked through the wilds of Pennsylvania for 3 days. We did it for love. We also did it for faith. For that 3 days, we were Ma and Pa Nuss.

There are only10 in this photo because one of our young women came the next
day because of her work schedule. We finished with all 11.

July 2, 2017 • 2017, birthdays, Evan, June, missions

My youngest child turned 21 years old on Friday. That feels like a big deal, so I wanted to write about it for a minute.

Here he is 3 years ago when he graduated high school:

June 16, 2017 • 2017, backyard, change of seasons, garden, June, my red door days, spring, summer, thinking out loud

My energy is low right now. I have several fairly important tasks to complete before tomorrow morning, but after the tasks I completed this morning, I came home and slept. It's been my pattern for the past several days: a long afternoon nap, yet still plenty tired for a normal bedtime, up early for all the things, then crash again for the afternoon. I'm a little concerned, so I'm taking my iron supplements and trying to just sleep when I need it. I'm sure it will pass.

May 13, 2017 • 2017, april, eternity, family, happiness, happynuss, sara's wedding, Temple times, Utah

On April 22, 2017, my only daughter got married! After a fun few days of preparations in Utah, we got up on Saturday morning, got dressed and headed for the temple--Huzzah!

It’s funny, I suppose because of the kind of parent I am, I never had specific dreams or visions for my Sara’s wedding day. I knew from the time she was born that she would be independent and would choose her own way. I also knew a long time ago that she is a minimalist when it comes to decisions and plans. She is practical, well-mannered and compassionate, so I knew she would consciously choose not to make the preparations so complex that they were a pain. She has a strong sense of beauty as well. All of that came together.

May 7, 2017 • 2017, 52 Stories, knitting

The question I chose for this installment of 52 Stories is:

What is something you taught yourself to do without help from anyone else?

April 26, 2017 • 2017, april, family, Sara, sara's wedding, travel, Utah, wedding

On April 19, we started heading to Utah for Sara's wedding!! I flew out on Wednesday, along with Sam and Madison from Mississippi and my sister Randi from Tennessee. Eric followed on Thursday, and my family from Arizona and Colorado started arriving on Thursday and Friday. Sara had gotten to Utah earlier that week, and Andy arrived on Thursday.

April 1, 2017 • 2017, home, march, my red door days, ordinary days, Sara, wedding

Yep. It's time to tell all the people about the wedding. But wait! I haven't even really told anyone about the wedding on this blog. My blogging in general has been so sporadic lately and I was using writing time for 52 Stories. Blog fail.

March 19, 2017 • 2017, auntie adventures, exploring dc, friends, home, homecoming, march, reentry, travel, twins

It's always a challenge to come back from a long trip, especially one that involves lots of time spent with family.

Luckily, I had some help with the re-entry.

March 9, 2017 • 2017, arizona, auntie adventures, family, love, travel

This past week was so very fun. As I prepare to go back home, my heart is full. I love being a daughter, a granddaughter, a mother-in-law, and an auntie. Each role gives me an opportunity to show love in unique ways, and considering those different roles makes me feel whole. We can never be everything to anyone, but in small moments, we can be really important to other people. I am happiest when I am embracing moments to be myself and be appreciated by people who love me. I'm un-self conscious, not worrying about how to post things on social media, or whether I should. I'm present, calm and feel that elusive sense of flow.

February 28, 2017 • 2017, arizona, California, family, February, stitches expos, travel, Utah, work

Just checking in from cloudy Arizona. With apologies, because I'm very tired, and can only think in small sentences.

No paragraphs today.

Here's the view from my window.

February 13, 2017 • 2004, 2017, 52 Stories, arizona, grandma joy, grandpa bob, thanksgiving, travel

I found these loose photos of a trip we took over Thanksgiving break, 2004. We flew into Phoenix and spent a day at my brother's place. It was warm enough to swim. Then we headed north to ride the Verde Canyon Railroad, visit Tuzigoot National Monument, and stay a couple of days in Flagstaff. It was not warm enough to swim up north, and Eric remembers how he would have preferred to stay in the warm south, since that is why one goes to Arizona in the wintertime. We spent time with my grandparents, then went south again, all the way to Tucson, and had Thanksgiving with my little sis before heading home. It turned out to be the last time I would see my darling Grandpa Bob before he died the following spring

February 5, 2017 • 2017, February, goals, new year, sunday, TED talks, thinking out loud

The new year is fully underway, with January gone and February already nearly a week old! It's that time when the freshness of the year wears off, when excitement for goals wanes, and endurance must take over--do you feel that?

January 30, 2017 • 2017, 52 Stories, birthdays, family, family history

I found some photos of a family gathering at our first house. From the ages of the children and my haircut, I am fairly certain this is Eric's birthday in 1990, so his 28th.

The official #52Stories question I found on FamilySearch had to do with what sacrifices your parents made to make holidays magical. Riffing off of that, these photos are special to me because they remind me of all the times my parents and siblings made the effort to gather together for birthdays and holidays.

January 18, 2017 • 1986, 52 Stories, catch-up posts, family history, imperfection, my wedding, photos, wedding

One of the primary reasons I embarked on this project of writing 52 Stories from my life is to make some progress on the mess of unorganized photos that haunt several corners of my home. Their neglected state often causes me real stress and feelings of inferiority, and I want to get rid of those feelings by working a little at a time to scan, identify, and preserve, then tell the story here.

January 15, 2017 • 2017, audible, audiobook, book reviews, books, catch-up posts, reading

This is a quick and dirty catch up of some books I've gotten through in recent months. These were all audiobooks.

January 10, 2017 • 52 Stories, childhood, family history, my story, places i've lived

The home I remember most was our rowhouse on Blakeney Road, in Catonsville, MD, with the zipcode 21228. It was a brick rowhouse, built in the 40's or 50's. I remember the house number as 260, but a search of Google maps is making me wonder if the street has been renumbered, or if I'm remembering wrong. Now I want to go over there and see. We lived there from about 1972-1980. When we started out, there were three kids in the family, and by the time we moved, there were 7. My dad built us a bedroom in the basement when the space really got scarce.

January 2, 2017 • 2016, catch-up posts, Christmas, daily photos, family, my red door days

Christmas morning at our house,
as interpreted by Prisma.

The holidays are just about over. Tomorrow I'll be taking down the decorations and cozying up the house for winter. I'm also going to start on sending some cards and letters. I always make a good try at that in the first weeks of the new year. Later in the week, I have a something special coming--I'm attending a knitting retreat as a regular old student, not as teacher, staff, or photographer. I'm really hoping it will be lovely. Sometimes I like it better when I'm working and not just relaxing, so it will be interesting to see if I can turn my mind to engage in a different way--to receive and experience rather than facilitate so others have a good experience. Wish me luck.

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