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!
Try-Me-Night: Last-Minute Lasagnaby Angie
6 Sep 2008
8:09 pm1
This recipe was great! I kind of thought it wouldn’t really turn out like lasagna, but it actually worked great and was really easy! I used home-made tomato sauce with meat instead of bottled spaghetti sauce, and it was delicious. You can also switch up the flavors with the type of ravioli you buy, which I might try in the future. Ours wasn’t quite as healthy because I dispensed with the spinach, since Jim doesn’t like it. In any case, this is definitely a keeper: tasty, super easy, and very nice presentation.
She speaks!by Angie
3 Sep 2008
11:09 pm0
Sorry we haven’t been very up-to-date on our blog recently! I know it’s not much of an excuse, but I went to another doctor appointment with Dr. Murphy on the 27th of August, and I’ve kind of been down in the dumps since then. We had one of those… talks. The kind where he says things like, “You’re looking great – but you’ve also got serious problems. Maybe. You know, you just never know. Anything could happen, and we don’t know what to do with you.” It was pretty gloomy. I guess that’s not really fair – it makes him sound incompetent or insensitive. He is neither: he’s a wonderful doctor. We’re just in a tough spot right now.
I called Jim at work before leaving the hospital to tell him about it, and to ask him if he would meet me at home for lunch so we could talk for a little while. We both arrived home about noon and he surprised me by telling me that he had taken the rest of the day off just to be with me and cheer me up! I sure have a wonderful husband, don’t I?
Anyway, I haven’t felt much like blogging and nothing very interesting seems to be happening, so I’ve been neglecting poor angieandjim.com – but no more! We have a little jaunt up to Tahoe planned in a couple of weeks, and Jon will be back in town soon, so I’m sure we’ll have lots to talk about!
Try-Me-Night: Split Pea Soupby Angie
25 Aug 2008
9:08 pm0
Since Jim received the calling of Ward Mission Leader, we’ve been feeding the missionaries almost every week. We asked them if there was anything special they’d like us to make – something they miss from home, or haven’t had in a long time. Elder Howard asked us to make his mom’s split pea soup. He gave us his home phone number and I called Kathy Howard in College Station, Texas, to get her recipe. It was great to talk to her, and she was very pleased to hear about her son and help us make something special for him.
Sadly, we found out less than a week later that Elder Howard was going to be transferred to Antioch! Still, we managed to have the Elders over for his dinner the evening before transfers, and it turned out great! He said it was wonderful, and just like his mom’s! It was super easy, too, so for anyone who likes this soup, it’s definitly a recipe you should try.
Stake Conference Choirby Angie
24 Aug 2008
10:08 pm0
Stake Conference is in a couple of weeks, and the special musical numbers are being provided by a volunteer choir of women in the stake. Tonight I went to the first rehearsal and it was so wonderful! There were lots of sisters there that I remember from the Christmas choir last year and other familiar faces I’ve come to know since then.
We are performing two numbers: an SSA arrangement of “This is the Christ,” which is a beautiful piece based on a poem written by Elder James E. Faust. I’ve sung it before, and I love it, so it is a treat to be singing it again. The other is the lyrics of “Joseph Smith’s First Prayer” arranged to the melody of an old Scottish(?) folk song called “Homeward Bound.” If you’ve heard MoTab’s CD “Love is Spoke Here” or BYU Singers’ “The Road Home,” then you’ll know the tune I mean. William Joseph has an orchestrated arrangement of it that I love, too. It is just gorgeous with the words describing the First Vision. The only drawback is that we only really sing two verses! I wish it were longer!
It’s wonderful to be singing again. Our ward choir has taken a month-long haitus, and I’m defnitley in withdrawl.