Go Dog Go!

Mom says it is getting too hot to walk the dogs anymore. Hot dogs?

Did anyone notice she left with a little dog and brought back a much bigger one?!

She only started walking Argo recently. Each dog gets .3 mile They behave very well for her.


Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks!

Random Weirdness

Can anyone tell what this is? It took me a minute and I knew the context.
I was semi amazed when I opened the door to see this oddity.
I opened the door to a "Perfect wall" of orange towel in my front loading washing machine-- There is a full load of towels behind this thing. Defying gravity.

What excitement there is in my life.

excerpts in-- What I Think About Sometimes

Happiness

Our preoccupation with happiness has come at the cost of sadness, an important feeling that we've tried to banish from our emotional repertoire.
It is lamentable that young people who are naturally weepy after breakups are often urged to medicate themselves instead of working through their sadness.
Both the happiness and anti-happiness forces actually agree on something important—that we Americans tend to grab superficial quick fixes such as extravagant purchases and fatty foods to subdue any negative feelings that overcome us. Such measures seem to hinge on a belief that constant happiness is somehow our birthright. Indeed, a body of research shows instant indulgences do calm us down—for a few moments. But they leave us poorer, physically unhealthy, and generally more miserable in the long run—and lacking in the real skills to get us out of our rut.

Our adaptability works in two directions. Because we are so adaptable, we quickly get used to many of the accomplishments we strive for in life, such as landing the big job or getting married. Soon after we reach a milestone, we start to feel that something is missing. We begin coveting another worldly possession or eyeing a social advancement. But such an approach keeps us tethered to the "hedonic treadmill," where happiness is always just out of reach, one toy or one notch away. It's possible to get off the treadmill entirely, by focusing on activities that are dynamic, surprising, and attention-absorbing, and thus less likely to bore us than, say, acquiring shiny stuff.

Happiness is not about smiling all of the time. It's not about eliminating bad moods.

What is happiness? The most useful definition—and it's one agreed upon by neuroscientists, psychiatrists, behavioral economists, positive psychologists, and Buddhist monks—is more like satisfied or content than "happy" in its strict bursting-with-glee sense. It has depth and deliberation to it. It encompasses living a meaningful life, utilizing your gifts and your time, living with thought and purpose.
It's maximized when you also feel part of a community. And when you confront annoyances and crises with grace. It involves a willingness to learn and stretch and grow, which sometimes involves discomfort. It requires acting on life, not merely taking it in.

( Psychology Today)

The adventures of DAN

We’ve been teaching Sylvia; she´s way nice and cooks good food (all the food here is way good) and her baptism was on Saturday. It was so funny. First off, the water didn´t work so we used a hose and it was cold. Really cold. It freaked Sylvia out and she didn´t bend her legs at all, just kind of slowly tipped back and made a weird noise. Haha. She didn´t get all the way under because she was basically just leaning backwards like she was falling backwards locked solid and her elbow was sticking straight up, so we had to do it again and this time I didn´t take any chances. I used my knee to break her locked knee and dunked her under pretty solid and it was simple and perfect.
We´re also teaching this man named Mario and he´s a police man. It´s really weird teaching him; I’ve never had a cop actually listen to me before! Hahahaha. And he takes my advice and we commit him to do things. It´s odd, a man who would normally frown upon me invites me into his home! But I know it´s not because of me; it´s our message. He is solid. He´s had some crazy things happen recently and we´ve always shown up right after to talk. It´s rad.

Next week we´ve got 3 baptisms with some radical people.
Valesca, who is 28 and is a reading machine (she reads everything we tell her and is solid), is doing good. She has some doubts, but through my muddled Spanish I was able to tell her being baptized twice isn´t condemnation, especially if one is valid.

Also we´re teaching Paloma, she´s the daughter of a woman in the ward who´s not baptized because she´s got some handicap, but she knows right from wrong, and her mom and the bishop say it´s golden and they want us to do it, so that’s fun. She´s sweet and innocent, but impresses me every day we teach her.
And finally Zoila, who is a 16 year old who has some strange doubts, but is awesome and honest with us.

In other news, we´re teaching a witch of light who believes the Book of Mormon to be true and Joseph Smith is a prophet, but is worried about being baptized because she doesn´t want to lose her powers.
We also went to a deaf, less-active member´s house and she asked for a blessing; she has severe depression and was really struggling, so we gave her one. And it was powerful. I anointed her and then we gave the blessing, and while Elder Nelson was giving it, she just started bawling. It was crazy. The spirit was way strong, and keep in mind she´s deaf. But after that she said she felt much better, like a huge weight had been lifted, and we wrote the blessing down for her and left.
Now straying from that spiritual note, I got sprayed with pepper spray, which was wild.
Also, we were contacting this street and we talked to an old woman who couldn´t open the gate so she went in and came out wielding this huge butcher knife. It was thrilling.
Also, a bunch of people think we´re feds or spies, which is exciting. Talking to someone who is just suspicious you´re trying to infiltrate their home is an exciting time.

Crazy Toast

RACHEL AND RUSTY

Tuff

All the baptisms went very smoothy, so that was good. i baptized valesca and paloma so that was rad, and the font was working so the water was warm (did i mention that last time? we had to use the hose and it was freezing). but yeah it was awesome. not much time this week, we've got a district activity. and we have changes this week! crazzzy! hopefully i stick around with elder nelson in casablanca, it´s been really solid and we´ve got some investigators who are so close we just need a little more time with them and they can be baptized. it´s crazy to see people learn and grow and gain a testimony. it´s a wild experience for sure. we had once(food) at the Obiesbos yesterday(see picture above) and it was hilarious. He´s a really funny guy. really nice, too. Their family has been warm and very helpful to us.

Valentine

"When it comes right down to it,

it's just you and me Babe."

New apartment

I just returned from a visit to my family in New York City!
The Kelly's new place is great.
This is a photo of their new building on Martha Avenue. It is on a quiet street in the Bronx, but when you walk around, which I did, you could easily believe you were in Ireland. The people speak with a heavy irish brough, and there are Irish pubs all around. There are also Irish gift shops, butcher shops full of Irish specialties, and bakeries (my favorite) through out the neighborhood.

This is walking up to their door. I love the fact that it is yellow!

The neighborhood shops are only about one block away. Particularly the small hardware store that Ian wore a path to on saturday as we all worked getting their things unpacked and put together. He is a patient determined man, perhaps more on this story later.

Their buildings lobby probably hasn't changed much since 1953.

Here is the elevator and the bank of mailboxes. Yes, there is an elevator.

They live on the third floor.

Apartment 3M. possibly stands for three years of marriage and/or the sticky stuff we used to hang stuff on walls and windows.

The entry hall is so big they will use it as a dinning room.

The Living room/office is on your immediate right and has a huge window (109 inches).

We know 'cause of curtain rods and hemming etc.

Here are a couple of views from said window.

Hurray! the kitchen has new appliances and an exterminator that come regularly. I think that may be their favorite thing and one of the main reasons they left their old place. (I only saw one or two bugs there.)

Alli works hard to make a cute and comfortable home for them. She is a good Homemaker as well as tons of other things (which is included in that title I guess). Her chocolate chip cookies are the BEST and I really need her Tortellini soup recipe among others. Ian, of course, could make a fortune selling his Lemon bars! They are awesome.

I bought them a Palm tree as a house warming gift. hmmm .

Allison was good enough to get up early and drive me to Laguardia airport. She is a good daughter.

We had so much fun in Topeka!

Thank you very much!

Broken wing

David broke his clavicle in a spectacular desert motorcycle crash on Saturday. He said he just had to beat Michael. That's Michael Naylor to those of you in Colorado.

About 4 or so hours in the emergency room proved what we already knew. It was indeed broken. But he got pretty good pain medicine out of that ordeal anyway.

Right now the brake and sling are a kind of Badge of Honor. That novelty will wear off in a day or so I am sure.

Grandma is very sympathetic.

Rachel empathsizes to the point that she needs to curl up with a blanket too.

I Can' Help Myself

A letter from Dan. Dear fam. And dad.

All is well. Work is good, although I got sick on Friday.
It was a bummer. Saturday waking up was horrible. Bad sore throat, sore cabeza, and sore body, runny nose. But what can you do? We went to work.
Sunday was better, but still rough, and today is fine. I´m getting well, don´t sweat mom. I´m taking care of myself. Lucky for me, the lord´s taking care of me too. And the bishop said i´ll be blessed with a beautiful wife cause i´m working through my fever. Hahaha. So that´s golden, right? 3 guesses who it is (dad) hahah, naw jk.

next week we´ve got 3 baptisms with some rad people. Valesca, who is 28 and is a reading machine (she reads everything we tell her and is solid), is doing good. She had some doubts, but through my muddled, drugged up Spanish, I was able to tell her being baptized twice isn´t condemnation, especially if one is valid.

Also we´re teaching Paloma, she´s the daughter of a woman in the ward who´s not baptized cause she´s got some handicap, but she knows right from wrong, and her mom and the bishop say it´s golden, and they want us to do it, so that’s fun. She´s sweet and innocent, but impresses me every day we teach her.

And finally Zoila, who is a 16 year old who has some strange doubts ,but is awesome and honest with us.

In other news, we´re teaching a witch of light who believes the BOM to be true and joseph smith is a prophet, but is worried about being baptized cause she doesn´t want to lose her powers.

We also went to a deaf, less active member´s house on Sunday and she asked for a blessing, she has severe depression and was really struggling, so we gave her one. And it was powerful. Elder nelson is a stallion. Anyway, I anointed her and then we gave the blessing, and while e´nelson was giving it, she just started bawling. It was crazy. The spirit was way strong, and keep in mind she´s deaf. But after that she said she felf much better like a huge weight had been lifted, and we wrote the blessing down for her and left.
Now straying from that spiritual note, I got sprayed with pepper spray, that was wild. Also, we´re wondering if havasupai is destroyed? Any news on that?

Well fam. I love you all. Thanks for the advice about the people dad.
They´re pretty bomb, so i´m glad to be here in Casablanca for sure. Chileans are legit. Also we met a woman who lived in Bronxville for 4 years, and she speaks a little English, so she wanted to talk to us (most people are catholic and not interested at all, like she was) but only about English. Anyway we´ll see where it goes, she had a nice son, and I fell in love with her latin accent. But not with her, don´t worry.

Alright, keep it street family.

PS. Dave you sound dope. write me, fool. No Members Only for you, gotta find your own. try thrift stores.

And also this cruiser is for sale. Want it david?
PPS. I want one of these vans, so i´m gonna bring one home in my pocket.

A blue day.