Monday, May 30, 2011

Memorial Day

I love Memorial Day because I love thinking about my ancestors and my loved ones who have passed on.  All of my grandparents have died, and I think of them often and miss them all the time.  I am grateful for their love and their examples of strength, happiness, and loyalty.  Grandma and Grandpa Meacham and Grandma and Grandpa Banks are forever engrained in my memory, in my heart, and in my life.
           I love you and miss you greatly.

I am grateful for such a great heritage, and I am grateful for the struggles and trials that my ancestors went through that have brought me to the place I am today.  They worked hard and stayed true to the gospel of Jesus Christ, which has in turn lead me to be blessed with gospel in my own life.  I have many stories that I can read of my family and their faith and perseverance which is something that pushes me in my owns times of difficulty. 
          I love you.  Thank you for your sacrifices.

I also am so very grateful for the soldiers who have fought, who do now fight, and who will fight in the future.  I'm grateful that they fight for my freedoms and rights and for those of people around the world.  I am grateful for all those men and women who have been so willing to risk their lives so that I can live in a more peaceful world.
           Thank you, thank you, thank you for your courage and service.

I am also so grateful for the plan of salvation that gives me the opportunity to KNOW that all those who died do still live.  I can see my family again, and all those who die will have the opportunity to see their loved ones again.  This is a great and wonderful gift to have this knowledge, and it brings me great peace and happiness.
          For more information, please visit www.lds.org.

Saturday, May 28, 2011

Steps to Moving Across Town

So, I kind of forgot that I have a blog the last few months. 

We moved across town, and moving is such a pain.  First, you have to go on the hunt for cardboard boxes, and that isn't always easy.  Driving from store to store to see which ones have boxes.  I figured out that it is best to call in advance so that you can avoid driving around aimlessly for hours.

Second, you have to pack all the boxes with all of your "stuff".  Now looking around your house, you might think you don't have that much stuff.  Think again.  Every nook and cranny has to be emptied, so after about a day or two of filling boxes, you will run out of boxes and will need to go pick up some more.  This may happen several times.

Tip:  Throw stuff away as you pack.  If it's trash, throw it.  If you haven't used something in five years, consider whether or not you have an emotional attachment to it.  If not (and sometimes even if you do) either trash it or donate it.  This will cut back on your amount of stuff and the number of boxes you have to find.

Third, somehow you have to get all that stuff you packed up to your new apartment.  You can do like some people and rent a great big truck so that you only have to make 1 or 2 trips.  However, my hubby and I like to be cheap so we had our family come down to help us.  They brought a truck, and we took all the seats out of a van so that we could fill in all our stuff.  It will probably take many trips to empty your house, but eventually, you will be moved.

Tip:  Make sure you have some guys with big muscles to help lift the heavy stuff.

Fourth.  Now you have to clean your old apartment, top to bottom, inside and out, anything you can see.  It all needs to shine and glow so that you can get your deposit back.  Usually, landlords will give you a checkout list and that helps tremendously.

Tip:  Get some friends to help you clean.  It will cut the time to you have to be there in third or fourths.  Friends are great....

     I don't even want to keep going on this list.  It's been a lot of work already, and you still have to unpack.  Just say a prayer for strength and hope you have some awesome family like mine who help every step of the way.  Moving is rough but not quite so intimidating when you have a lot of people who are willing to help.

All that's left to say now is "Welcome Home, Plumb Family, Welcome Home!"