Sunday, March 13, 2016

A Spring is Springing Adventure

Sunday, March 13, 2016

Here it is Sunday again and we are nearly halfway through March.   It seems as though we just get started with a week, I blink a few times and it is over......which is good and bad.   That means it will soon be time for us to go back to Arizona is the good news and it will soon be time for us to go back to Arizona is the bad news.    I'm not making much progress on getting us packed up and I find it is amazing how much stuff I have collected in the last 16 months!   I really need to start getting myself organized!

Last Monday was a very interesting day as Elder Ashton was setting off on Monday afternoon for North Carolina to do car inspections at the Zone Conferences.   He was very FOCUSED on what he needed to do to get everything together for the inspections and even seemed a little stressed which is not like him.   Just after he left the office at 2:30 an email came in from Salt Lake Fleet Services saying that he had neglected to sign the bill of sale for the car he sold last Saturday and they could not mail the title to the buyer without his signature.   They attached the document he needed to sign and I called him thinking he could swing back by the office and sign it.   He felt that would put him behind by about an hour and asked me to send the email to him on his personal email and he would get it at the hotel that night and send it back.   He asked me to call the buyer and tell her the title would be delayed.   Aurgggghh! - NOT what I wanted to do and she wasn't too happy about the delay.   Oh well! When I got home from the office, Elder Ashton called to say he never got the email and gave me several instructions for trying to get the document to him the next morning.  At that point in time, I put on my Scarlet O'Hara hat and said, "I'll think about it tomorrow!"


We did get news from the President that he is coming up with a plan to bring a military couple into the office to replace us so I'm hoping that will happen soon so we have some time to train them!
  
Tuesday I was finally able to get the document to Elder Ashton via email and he got it taken care of.  In addition to that, Salt Lake had taken pity on me and the email I sent Monday and had already forwarded the title so the buyer did not have to way.   Yea!!!!   I was glad that turned out OK.

But, alas, it was not meant for me to have a quiet day.   I heard from 3 different sets of missionaries that day that they got a past due notice on the door or in their mailbox!  I spent almost the entire day researching my records, Salt Lakes records and whether or not we ever got the utility bills.   I found in all 3 instances we didn't get the bill - the mail here is SOOOOOOOO terrible.   We never know if things are going to get delivered - Wednesday we had no mail delivery for the 5th time since January 1st.   When I call to remind them that we got no delivery they act like it is no big deal - but it could end up costing us hundreds of dollars in late fees and nervous missionaries.   I had to assure one set of missionaries that they didn't need to start packing their bags as they were not going to get evicted - I was working with the apartment management to get it resolved.


Wednesday brought another couple of unpaid bills that needed research but I was so glad to see some signs of spring that I didn't even feel upset about all the research.  


I noticed these white, light green, and light purple flowers growing in front of the church and they immediately brought a smile to my face!



Notice the detail of the tiny dots toward the center of the white flower.


Wednesday Elder Ashton was still in North Carolina and I had my own transportation so when I saw the menagerie in front of my favorite house aound here, I had to stop and take some pictures.   I had noticed earlier in the week that they were doing some additional remodeling on the house and were putting up black shutters and black wrought iron railing on the porch.   I reallty love where this house sits and what it looks like, especially when I can snap some pictures of it.


AS soon as I started to walk toward the fence to take a picture, the dark llama lifted its head and started coming toward me.


Next the white llama looked up toward me.   Note that the horse didn't pay one little bit of attention to me.....just kept munching the grass.


I like this view of the house, trees and river.


Another pastoral view with the animals in the picture this time.

Thursday was a beautiful day and I was so pleased to see blue sky - instead of gray.   I even saw something that resembled a flower made out of clouds in the sky :)


When we finished at the office for the day, we went with the Sister Missionaries to visit a part member family.   The guy is in the navy and has been away from the church for quite awhile but feels drawn back.  However, his wife is Japanese and has an entirely different belief system.   She stayed in the back of the house while we talked with him and he was very nice but has some challenges to overcome.   They have two darling little kids, Kylee who is 4 and Hiro who is six.   The little boy immediately explained that his name was NOT spelled HERO but was HIRO.   Very cute!
Saturday as we were on our way to the grocery store, I noticed several of these trees in bloom.  I believe they are called tulip trees and they are really pretty so I had to stop and take some pictures:)




I really liked the various pink/orchid colors.


I think the flowers don't last too long on these trees - I just noticed them blooming this week and the ground was covered with petals/flowers that had dropped.


I think this is my favorite shot.....so delicate and pretty.

Saturday night we had the chili cook-off at our ward.   I've been feeling under the weather so didn't want to eat much, bur Elder Ashton "sampled" several different kinds of chili and corn bread.   They also hold an auction of baked goods and we have a chef who provides fancy french desserts.   Last year most of his desserts went for over $150 - not so much this year.

The elders still finishing up some chili while speaking with a ward member


This is one of those fancy desserts with white chocolate, dark chocolate and mile chocolate syrup.   I think this one wet for $75.   It sure was fun to watch some of the little kids get into the bidding process.   The bishop's son almost got carried away with holding his paddle up and the bishop had to keep putting his son's hand back down!   This fundraiser is used to fund scout camp, girls camp and cub day camp..,,I was told that they raised almost $6000 last year.

I've got my fingers crossed that spring is here to stay.....as I wish you a happy spring from flowering, fragrant Virginia.

6.4

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