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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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