Fasting for Familiesby Angie
27 Sep 2008
1:09 pm1
At my Spirit Dance class this morning, two of the women were talking about fasting – specifically, that they are both participating in a 40-day “Fast for Families.” They are both Born-Again Christians, and their ministers have organized this fast to support Proposition 8 (the CA Marriage Amendmant). So, they began earlier this week with whatever type of fasting they felt they could contribute: Trudy is fasting from food and will only drink liquids from now until November 4th. Jessica said that she and several other people she knows are fasting from an action, like watching TV or drinking alcohol or a bad habit, until Election Day. I love it! When I was home with Jim we discussed the idea and we plan to join in.
The Pant Problemby Angie
21 Sep 2008
3:09 pm0
During dinner Friday night (in Truckee), I managed to get pizza sauce on my jeans (yes, I’m a klutz). Well, Jim and I had both planned to just wear the same pants both Friday and Saturday, so I didn’t have an extra pair – but there was a washing machine in the condo, so I changed into my PJs and threw my pants in the washer. At the last minute, Jim decided to toss his pants in, too. An hour later, I moved the wash along, then the dryer finished just before we went to bed. I decided to check that they were dry before going to sleep. I opened the dryer… and they were cold and wet. Nervously, I started the cycle over, turning the options to “high” and “more dry.” I also tossed in a clean, dry towel.
I woke up during the night and checked again. Still wet. I hung up the towel, tossed in two dry ones, and started it once more, without much hope. Next morning – sure enough – cold and damp. We were in trouble. Jim thought we should wear damp jeans on the five-hour train ride home. 
That was not appealing to me, but the idea of going in our pajama bottoms wasn’t much better. Luckily, Jon was there and had an idea: we could borrow his pants! You see, Jon met us in Truckee as a break in his 12-hour drive home from Utah, bringing the last of his belongings from there to his new apartment in Emeryville. That being the case, he happened to have four or five pairs of pants with him. Amazingly, Jim and I both found a pair that basically fit, so we spent the rest of the day wearing Jon’s pants.
The California Zephyrby Angie
20 Sep 2008
9:09 pm0
We rode on a train! A couple of months ago, when we were discussing the Hoffmans’ visit out here to see Kehlet Mansion, Roger brought up the idea that we could travel up to Tahoe by train, so we checked out the Amtrak website and looked at the routes and cost and such and decided it was a great idea! 
So this weekend we rode the California Zephyr from Martinez to Truckee. Martinez is a little further than the Emeryville Station, but it was a lot smaller and quieter, and the parking was free! We rode in the coach section, where there are pairs of seats that look a lot like those on an airplane (only much roomier and without seatbelts), but you can move around from there to the lounge car, the snack bar and tables downstairs, or the dining car.
The lounge car has more windows, and seats that swivel to face outside or tables where you can sit and play card games and such. We played “Mille Bourne” for hours and also a card game I made up called “All Hands on Deck” – trying to perfect the rules and the point system. The hot food in the snack bar wasn’t great – all microwaved stuff – but they had candy, juice, soda, and other convenience items for sale too. 
To eat in the dining car, you have to make a reservation well in advance. We had lunch there on the way home and I thought the food was very tasty.
It was about a five-hour trip each way, and delays and things made us arrive much later than scheduled on both trips, but when it comes to relaxing travel and beautiful landscapes, it can’t be beat! I highly recommend it, and hope we’ll do it again sometime!
Kehlet Mansion at Lake Tahoeby Angie
20 Sep 2008
8:09 pm2
I saw Lake Tahoe for the first time today! Roger, Kathy, Jim, and I spent five hours today on a train and arrived in Truckee, where we met up with Jon and rented a car. It took us another half an hour or so to drive to Lake Tahoe – specifically, Kehlet Mansion at Meeks Bay. We wanted to check out the facilities, location, etc. of the house because Roger and Kathy are considering reserving it for the 2009 Hoffman Family Reunion. It is a beautiful, old building with two floors, lots of rooms, a spacious living/dining room, but (unfortunately) a fairly small kitchen. The house is charming, and has beautiful quilts on the beds and an amazing view from just about every window in the house. The best thing about it, though, was the location – the deck at the point has a gorgeous view of Lake Tahoe, and it is very close to a public beach. It was so fun to explore the house, climb the rocks, and enjoy the scenery! We may or may not actually end up staying there next year, but I’m very glad we got to see it!
The End… which is just the beginning.by Angie
15 Sep 2008
1:09 pm1
I have tried with all my might to come up with an appropriate conclusion to the intended three-part saga of my Prince’s new calling, but my creative juices have been diverted of late and have left my writing skills high and dry. I’ve decided that I shall finish the story in modern-day prose, with an anecdote that happened yesterday:
We were introduced to a wonderful woman named Andrea (pronounced “ahn-DRAY-uh”) a few weeks ago by the Elders who were teaching her the gospel. She came to our home for a lesson and dessert, and I liked her immediately. She is from Bolivia (I think), and has a darling accent. She works at a hospital, so her schedule is pretty hectic and prevents her from attending church every week. Yesterday, she didn’t get home until late into the afternoon, so she missed the meetings, but she called the Elders and asked them if they would come over – and to please bring the Hoffmans, if they could come! So the four of us went to see her and had a great talk about the Godhead and the importance of having a living prophet in our day to help us better understand the nature of God. Jim, of course, had his scriptures out and brought up several points that were specifically based on verses from the Old and New Testament. He is such a wonderful teacher – I love listening to him!
Well, apparently, Andrea felt the same way. She suddenly sat straight up on the couch and said (referring to Jim and myself), “You know what – he is like FIRE! She is so sweet and quiet and teaches nice, but he is like PAUL: he is so strong, and has a testimony like fire!”
And she is right. This is a wonderful calling for my amazing husband, and it’s only just begun!
Spirit Danceby Angie
13 Sep 2008
4:09 pm0
This morning I attended a new class that Kjelene just started called “Spirit Dance.” It was fantastic! Apparently she has been doing a Spirit Dance Ensemble for youth for a year now, but she recently had some adult women who asked if she would begin a class for them. All the music is Christian, uplifting, and inspiring, and we pray at the beginning and end of class. The dancing is basically beginning jazz, but because of the prayers and the music, there was a special spirit there. We’re learning choreography to an arrangement of “Amazing Grace” right now. Kjelene is such a sensitive choreographer. I don’t know if we’ll ever actually perform, but that doesn’t matter so much to me – I just love doing it!
Sorting Photosby Angie
12 Sep 2008
11:09 am2
Since we learned that one of the adoption application requirements is to make a photo collage, I have procrastinated, whined, and avoided to the fullest extremity. I finally decided two days ago that it was time to jump in and start. “Starting” happens to include actually finding pictures of us to use in the scrapbook, so yesterday I began to collect, consolidate, and sort every single picture we have on the four hard drives in this house. I spent eight hours solid staring at a computer screen… clicking, dragging, typing, comparing, renaming, deleting, etc. etc. etc. I ended up with a headache that has persisted through the night, but have brought our photo usage space down from 14 gig to about 10! I’ve also found lots of great pictures to use, as well as several videos that I had forgotten we ever made (lots of those are on facebook now). I’ve included some of my favorite photos here for your enjoyment (click on each pic to see the full version). Sorry they’re pretty random, and that I haven’t successfully figured out how to do captions!