nielsons*love*family: March 2011

Thursday, March 31, 2011

lemon-y

I had a request...

...for lemon-y cupcakes.

Lemon, you're either a
LOVER or a HATER.

(lover here)

I recieved two thumbs up from the
lemon fans.

Both cupcakes and frosting had
real lemon juice and lemon rind in
them.

Slightly sweet, slightly pucker worthy.

IF you're a fan, these were the
lemon-y ones for you!

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

farewell

For the record, I knowingly broke ALL RULES of funeral
etiquette by photographing the entire thing. After
googling it and finding out that MOST people are
shocked and horrified to think of taking pictures
at a funeral, I pretty much said, "Well, they can
kiss my hiney! I'm taking pictures!"

The day passed in a rapid blur and I'm thinking of
setting up my own business now.

Funeral Photography. (I am kidding)

I DID refrain from taking any pictures during
anything that transpired between the actual prayers
(opening and closing) of the service and to be
honest, I am SO GLAD I have these pictures, as sad
as they may seem to be, it's amazing how numb
your mind becomes as you travel through these
days. You forget your own name half of the time.
(I wish I were joking). Somehow grief and death
includes this "brain fog" that sort of propels
your THROUGH and blocks out everything else.

It's nice to know that even on a day as sad
as that day that life goes on.

People still love each other.

They still smile and laugh and hold on.

Funeral food is the same EVERYWHERE, in
every ward across the country.

Ham, funeral potatoes, jellos, veggies
and a roll. I laughed when we went back
to the ward to eat.

The rain still falls, the weather still is.

In honor of my father and his "Plaid Shirt"
collection (lovingly honored in his 80th
birthday pictures too) ALL the grandkids
donned one of HIS plaid shirts to wear to
the "graveside service". It was the sweetest
thing to see, something unique to Grandpa Ladanye.

A way to pay tribute.

May his plaid shirts, and his memories, keep us
warm forever.

Until we meet again.

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

body & soul

I have not been on the receiving end of "condolences"
for a very long time.

Yet, I have once again been overwhelmed in my life.

By the goodness, the love, the kindness and caring
of people.

Flowers and food fill my counter tops and refrigerator.

Messages of love and support fill my voicemail,
my inbox, and my text message box.

I feel the arms of others lifting my up.

Both body and soul.

I often have laughed at the Mormon ability to feed
others in times of need. Without fail, and quicker
than a old fashioned Texas style gun dual of days
gone past, a home can be filled to capacity with
enough food to last from here, to well, eternity.

My counter tops over-floweth.

And yet as I move about in a death induced coma
of fog and heartbreak, I am grateful beyond words,
beyond the capacity to even express these words
coherently.

At the love, and food, that has been bestowed upon
me (and my family) during this time.

That love propels me ever onward. For life
must, and does, go on. Even though it feels
like it has most certainly stopped for me,
it has not.

These two constants, both the love and the food,
nourish and feed both my body and my spirit--
my very being, the heart of my soul.

A bowl of warm tomato soup and a tall Dt. Coke
feed my body, nourish me to give me the strength
to move forward into the future.

Physically.

A loving test message on my phone heals my heart,
gives me faith and hope that mankind, humanity, is
more good than bad. That love indeed does make
the world go 'round. It, too, gives me strength.

Spiritually.

I am so thankful that my life has been so blessed
through this season of sadness.

I am so glad that there are so many good people out
there that love me, both body and soul.

Thank you for sustaining me, nourishing me and
helping me to heal.

Both body & soul.

I am a blessed woman.