Last month was a LOT of travel: 1^st was a week in Utah for Jessie’s wedding, then almost 2 weeks in Europe (Italy & Switzerland – shout out to Guili, our foreign exchange student from a few years ago, who we got to see & spend some time with in both countries), & then (after 2 days at home), back to Utah for the 4th of July festivities Travel is not easy for me & involves a lot of anxieties, so it is good to be back to where I can be more independent & communicate & do more through Wi-Fi.

I’m a fairly healthy eater, but after all that travel, we didn’t really have fruits & veggies, & I wanted some variety, but that meant there was a lot more fresh food than I could eat, so I got an early birthday gift: a Vacuum Sealer by ZWILLING.  Oh my gosh, I love it (the best part is that I CAN DO IT)!  It keeps food fresh so much longer & helps decrease my anxiety to hurry & eat it before it goes bad.  I make fun of my mother-in-law cuz she freezes EVERYTHING, but now I’m going to be the mother-in-law/grandma who uses her vacuum sealer for everything!  

That said, my trip to Europe was beautiful & I loved being with family. I loved being with all 3 married children & their spouses, & with my grandbaby  – what a wonderful stage of life!  I love seeing them all so happy! I wish I could put a pause on life!  Or put them in a vacuum sealer!  HaHa  Totally kidding!

One thing I’ve learned is that life is unpredictable! When I was my kids age, I had my life mapped out, & according to that plan, I’d either be teaching right now, or I would be serving a senior couples mission. But neither are possible now…which I could be sad about (& I was at first), but I have seen the hand of the Lord in my life, & He has made my life better than I could’ve imagined.

(I paused writing this post to read Donald L. Hallstrom’s article “Has the Day of Miracles Ceased?” in the Nov. 2017 Ensign or Liahona: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/ensign/2017/11/sunday-morning-session/has-the-day-of-miracles-ceased?lang=eng. It applies so well to what I just said!)

Back to our trip.

I was carried A LOT in all our travels (but the most in Italy), so my left ear got something like a rug burn, & my shoulders got sore (my muscles are pretty weak now). But by some miracle – seriously, it was a miracle  – I ran across this medication called “Heal & Soothe” that I could try for free. It is basically a bunch of supplements, & seemed harmless to try, so I decided to get it.  It said it was for arthritis, so I initially thought I’d see if my mom wanted to try it (since she has arthritis), but I noticed one of the ingredients is turmeric, which I use for my shoulder on a daily basis – my shoulder gets sore from over-use, & turmeric decreases any inflammation that causes pain.

When the medicine bottle came, the picture shows a sore shoulder, exactly where my shoulder gets sore! So, when my shoulder started to hurt after the wedding, I tried it & it helped! I swear that w/o it, my shoulders would be killing me right now! But it was manageable the whole time. Good thing too, cuz after almost 2 weeks in Italy & Switzerland, we went to Utah again!

Little miracles like this happen all the time. It’s a miracle that my husband stayed healthy & strong the whole time.  It’s a miracle he took care of me the whole time (I’m not easy)!  It’s a miracle that I can even go there!

I’m so grateful for small miracles, for my wonderful family, & for the ability to still see beautiful places in the world.