My heart goes pitter-pat!

So last weekend President Obama and his beautiful wife, Michelle, vacationed in my neck of the woods. No that wasn't the part that made my heart go pitter-pat. They went to 12 Bones and had yummy BBQ, hiked on the Blue Ridge Parkway, he golfed, they played tennis, had dinner at The Corner Kitchen in Biltmore Village, stayed in the Grove Park Inn, and met with Billy Graham. It was pretty neat having him here. The town was all a buzz. Although I never saw him, there was evidence of him everywhere. No, that did make the heart go pitter-pat either. There were HUGE CNN satellite trucks, reporters hopping in and out of tour busses, fighter jets flying back and forth ALL weekend (ok, that did make my heart go a little pitter-pat), plus a LARGE surveillance jet way up high (smile your on camera), and sirens blaring back and forth in downtown (for his motorcade).

I had told my coworkers that I wish I could have taken Friday off, just to see Air Force One fly in. You know me and planes! I've see Air Force One once in California, when Pres. Bush flew in. I saw the underbelly fly over my house. So being a good girl, I didn't call in ( I was very tempted though), but my friend did have the day off. She was able to go to the airport after he had landed, got pics of the plane, and the best part, pics of the flight crew. Super cool... here are the pics!




This is what made my heart go pitter-pat. Oh, plus these pics from another friend, Tipton, who has a friend that works at the airport. He got these AMAZING pics of Marine One. I would give anything to see that big bird.


Anyway, when I saw the pic of the flight crew ...THAT made my heart go pitter-pat. Besides the obvious that they are some good lookin' all American Air Force guys, but I think they are the luckiest people ever. How amazing would it be to fly THE President of the United States of America all over the world, in one of the safest and kick ...uhh... butt plane ever! When I look at the pic of them I just think of all the possibilities and opportunities they've had. I would, if possible, do that job for free!

The Little China That Could!

Ahhh!! Today I am a happy girl. I FINALLY opened the box of china that belonged to my great-grandma, Lucy Pereria Wallace. She is my Portuguese side of my family. She was born and raised in Hawaii, and her family worked in the sugar cain fields. Here is one of many pictures of her that I love. I didn't realize how much I looked like her till I saw this picture of her when she was a young woman. What do you think??

Wish I had her dress!

Any-whoo, back to the blog. Here are her dishes. They are Fukagawa (wow, be careful saying that one quickly) China, from the Arita province of Japan. I read that they actually get the clay from that town. Here are the pics, click on them to get a closer look. I think they explain themselves.

Should we be paying attention?

Ok, so there has been earthquakes, a bunch of them. A bunch of them in places that normally never have them. Ok, that got my attention and I found it fascinating. Now this volcano eruption in Iceland, wait isn't that a contradiction?? Fire and ice? They do make for some amazing photo's.


Pretty amazing right? Uhhhh ....untill I saw this....

Go ahead, click on the pic above. Look at it closer, I dare ya. That's right it's a lightning storm coming from a volcano cloud. From a volcano that has not erupted in "THOUSANDS OF YEARS". Got that right off the NatGeo web site. Uhhh, should we be paying attention people?? Doesn't this pic look a little biblical to you?? It does to me, snap goes my eyelids right open. How's that song go ..."Suddenly I see"!

I'm not saying we are going down tomorrow, but maybe this is what it means in the Bible when it says "Prepare ye, Prepare ye!".
The Lord said "If ye are prepared ye shall not fear". "Prepare ye, prepare ye for that which is to come, for the Lord is nigh". This made me think of the talk given by Dahlin H. Oaks of the twelve apostles. Here is my favorite excerpt from that...

"We can accelerate our own preparation and try to influence the preparation of those around us. A parable that contains an important and challenging teaching on this subject is the parable of the ten virgins. Of this parable, the Lord said, “And at that day, when I shall come in my glory, shall the parable be fulfilled which I spake concerning the ten virgins” (D&C 45:56).

Given in the 25th chapter of Matthew, this parable contrasts the circumstances of the five foolish and the five wise virgins. All ten were invited to the wedding feast, but only half of them were prepared with oil in their lamps when the bridegroom came. The five who were prepared went into the marriage feast, and the door was shut. The five who had delayed their preparations came late. The door had been closed, and the Lord denied them entrance, saying, “I know you not” (Matt. 25:12). “Watch therefore,” the Savior concluded, “for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh” (Matt. 25:13).

The arithmetic of this parable is chilling. The ten virgins obviously represent members of Christ’s Church, for all were invited to the wedding feast and all knew what was required to be admitted when the bridegroom came. But only half were ready when he came.

Modern revelation contains this teaching, spoken by the Lord to the early leaders of the Church:

“And after your testimony cometh wrath and indignation upon the people.

“For after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes. …

“And … the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds.

“And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men’s hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people.

“And angels shall fly through the midst of heaven, crying with a loud voice, sounding the trump of God, saying: Prepare ye, prepare ye, O inhabitants of the earth; for the judgment of our God is come. Behold, and lo, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him” (D&C 88:88–92)."~~~

I will still stop to smell the roses, and enjoy my beautiful spring day. This won't put me under a rock thinking the world is going to end, and we shall all parish. Instead I am happy and joyful that I know that my oil lamp is full, and I am prepared!

The good, the beautiful, the what??

Little late on posting for this week. I unloaded four boxes on Tuesday, I know I said one or two a day, but I just couldn't help my self. So here are the treasures from earlier this week!

The first BIG box. What could it be??

Ahhh ...statuary!

This statue is from Italy!


Next is this heavy bubble wrapped item. What could it be??

This is St.Francis, Patron Saint of animals. Here is a little exerpt from Wikipedia on St.Francis ~ "It is said that, one day, while Francis was traveling with some companions, they happened upon a place in the road where birds filled the trees on either side. Francis told his companions to "wait for me while I go to preach to my sisters the birds". The birds surrounded him, drawn by the power of his voice, and not one of them flew away. Francis spoke to them:
My sister birds, you owe much to God, and you must always and in everyplace give praise to Him; for He has given you freedom to wing through the sky and He has clothed you... you neither sow nor reap, and God feeds you and gives you rivers and fountains for your thirst, and mountains and valleys for shelter, and tall trees for your nests. And although you neither know how to spin or weave, God dresses you and your children, for the Creator loves you greatly and He blesses you abundantly. Therefore... always seek to praise God."My family always had one or six somewhere in their yard and garden. I am SO glad that I finally have my own!


Funny little story ...the blue dot on St.Francis. When my uncle had passed away, two years ago, I flew back home to California for his funeral. While there I wanted to help my parents with his house. Fold clothes, pack up the kitchen, etc. While there my mom said "take these blue dots and place them on the items you would like to have". So as I am unpacking, I am starting to find some items with blue dots still on them. Again, kind of bitter sweet, but I am going to keep them to see how many I will collect by the time I'm done.


This is a lazy susan dish from Japan. I just love the color, and the size. The one I already have is pretty small, this will be great for parties.


I don't know the proper term for this item, but my uncle would have it on his dinning room table FULL of flowers. You can see the black "pot" where you can put in a florist sponge, and arrange a hardy flower arrangement. The brass body is very heavy, yet has delicate flowers on the side.


Next is this HUGE old hand painted tray. You can see the "large" fork below it to put it to scale. It really needs a good cleaning, but I think it would be lovely as a wall hanging.


This next box I call "the box of oddities". It had some mis-matched items that were from his kitchen. Some of the items were newer. Uncle Bill and I love shopping at the same places, particularly Pottery Barn, Bombay Co., and World Market (our favorite). The bowl and plate set were from World Market, the rest of the items were probably from the 60s-70s. All of these items will still be used none the less!




Now, I have saved the last two boxes (that I unpacked that day) for last. The first one is the box-o-lamps, now they are a little dusty, I just got too excited and snapped some pics. So please mind the dust!

This first one just needs a lamp shade. It will be perfect for Brint's library. I love the lamp toper (sitting in front of the lamp), very Roman-esc!

I love this next one. It's flower is shaped like a Lilly of the Valley, just with deep colors.


This is my second favorite. I love the lilly pad base, I love the deep carmel tube flowers, how warm it looks on, and how great it looks on my new chippendale desk.



Now onto the last box. The box-o-books. There was something for everyone.




We loved every book, but we did have our favorites. Brint's was the Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson books.

I loved the World cookbook from the 50s. It had amazing (mostly do-able) recipes from places like Austria, Germany, Bulgaria, France, UK, etc. My plan is to make some of the items from Austria, like strudel, turnovers, and items from France, like croissants. Since my Uncle Bill and Walter made them in their swiss bakery, I thought it would be fun to make them and serve them on the Blue Danube plates, I now have, that they use to serve to us.


Well that's it for last week, I will be working on a couple more boxes tomorrow. So stay tuned!!