A New Blog and Mercy River

I am tired of having to log out of one gmail account and into another just so I can get into this blog. Now it is telling me I need to change my primary email account, but it won't let me. SO, I am starting a new blog. It is simple mariannedittmar.blogspot.com. Please, check it out and read about Mercy River.

My Diamond-lost and found

I went to the temple today. During the session I looked at my wedding rings and thought how much I like them.
This evening Frank and I went to Costco. After shopping, Frank stopped to get gas.
As I was waiting in the car, I noticed my diamond was gone. I was sick. I got out of the car to show Frank. He said I scared him because I looked so sick.
On the drive home, Frank said he would buy me a new big diamond, if I wanted. He said it was surprising the ring had lasted 32 years.
When we got home, I put my hand in my pocket and the diamond was there. I am so thankful. I may still get a new diamond ring, but I do love this one.

A funny related story happened in December. Frank and I went into Jared's to look for a Christmas present for the girls. Some of you may know that I wear Omi's diamond ring on my right hand. One of the sales girls looked at my ring and Omi's ring. She told me that the prongs on Omi's ring were worn thin and the diamond was about to fall out, but my ring was just fine-nothing to worry about. I looked at Omi's ring closely and concluded that there is still plenty of gold holding the diamond. After my diamond fell out it was clear to me that two of the prongs were completely worn out. I am pretty sure the sales girl just concluded that Omi's ring was older and therefore more worn out. She told me it would be $300 to fix it. If it costs $300 to fix my ring that is more than we paid for the ring originally.

So, what do you think? Should I fix it or get a new one? I am so thankful to have my diamond back, though.

A Sacred Easter Sacrament Meeting

Today was Easter and Frank and I went to church at the MTC. There was a special sacrament meeting held for all of the missionaries. President Boyd K Packer was the visitor. Just imagine being in a sacrament meeting and taking the sacrament in the presence of an apostle on Easter Sunday.
The meeting was to start at 9am. Everyone was in their seat by 8:30. There were over 2000 missionaries there. There was complete reverence for 15 minutes and then we sang a prelude hymn. The hymn was "I Know That My Redeemer Lives." The Holy Spirit was present as we sang. After a few more minutes the meeting began.
We sang "Called to Serve" for the opening hymn. President Packer is responsible for that hymn becoming the missionary anthem of the church.

For the sacrament hymn we sang "I stand all amazed", while 20 Elders prepared the sacrament. After the sacrament prayer, 45 Elders passed the 75 sacrament trays. It was so solemn and beautiful. I have never had an easier time reflecting on my Savior and His great atoning sacrifice than I did during those few minutes. Again, the Holy Spirit was present in great abundance. Again, there was perfect reverence.

President Packer's son, Elder Allen Packer spoke first. He is a member of the first quorum of the Seventy. Among other things he said that we do not think of the crucifixion as an end, but a milestone on the way to the resurrection. Death is not an end, but a graduation.
What we celebrate on Easter is the opportunity given to all, through the atonement of the Savior, to return to our Heavenly Father.
Study carefully the Atonement and the doctrines of Christ.

Next we sang a rest hymn "He is Risen."

President Boyd K Packer then spoke. He is the senior apostle and president of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles. He is also next in line to be the prophet. He mentioned that he had polio as a child and it has returned. That is why he can't walk, but otherwise he is in good health.
He said to look to the Almighty for your strength and power. It is always there. It is there when you are alone.
He quoted the scripture in Alma 42 that says "Now repentance could not come unto man save there be a punishment." So what are we to do? We will make mistakes that we cannot fix ourselves. Since we cannot fix everything ourselves we had better find a good relationship with Jesus Christ. That is why He came-to pay the price.
If you can understand who He is, what He did, and why He did it, you will be filled with great love and with that love will come a great desire to obedient to His commandments.

It was so wonderful to sit in that meeting with an Apostle and 2000 missionaries who have a similar calling-to teach and testify of Christ.

I know that Jesus Christ is my Savior. I know that because He atoned for my sins, I have the opportunity to return to live with Heavenly Father and live in peace and joy forever.

Pride and Prejudice

I have been reading my favorite book again. It has been my favorite since I was about 14. When the Colin Firth movie came out, I was literally obsessed with it. Then, I was a little annoyed because now everyone seemed to be in love with Jane Austen and seemed to be a Jane Austen expert even though they had never read the book.
I have read Pride and Prejudice more than any other book except the Book of Mormon. I have not read it for a few years, though, because I wanted to be able to forget some of it, so there were at least a few surprises and fresh delights as I read it.
Annemarie just reread the book and we watched the movie last week, so I decided I would read it again.
Now, I want to tell you my new discovery. I have wondered which version of Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth, Kiera Nightly) was more correct in portraying Longbourn. In one version it is a tidy, well-kept place. It the other it is run down, dirty, and a little messy. I just discovered the answer and it is an answer I like.
When Lady Catherine comes to visit Elizabeth at Longbourn to secure her promise not to marry Mr Darcy she sits with the ladies for a few minutes in the sitting room and then she asks Elizabeth to take a turn with her in the park. Elizabeth agrees and "As they passed through the hall, Lady Catherine opened the doors into the dining-parlour and drawing-room, and prounoucing them, after a short survey, to be decent looking rooms, walked on."
If they had been run down and untidy Lady Catherine would never have found them to be decent looking.
I have a long list of reasons why the Colin Firth version is more true to Jane Austen. This is perhaps a minor one, but I have thought about it a lot so I was glad to find an answer.

Happy Birthday Beckie

Happy Birthday to my wonderful sister. I am so thankful to have grown up with Beckie. She was always my best friend. Sorry, I don't have any pictures to post, but I am in SLC and there are none on this computer. I love you Beckie.

Pinsperiments

Julianna and I started a new blog called Pinsperiments. We wanted a place to post about things we have tried because of Pinterest. Find it at pinsperiments.blogspot.com. We would love to have everyone participate and post things they have done, too.

EasyWater

This is my product endorsement blog.
When Frank went back to work, I decided that I would never lug a bag of salt down the stairs and wrestle it into the water softener again. So I went a few months without soft water and on Black Friday I bought an EasyWater system. It arrived a couple of days later and Frank installed it. It is totally a do it yourself job.
The whole concept of EasyWater seems impossible. Basically, it puts some sort of electrical charge in your water that prevents stuff from depositing on pipes and other surfaces. You don't have to do anything. It seems too good to be true. It even claims to reverse the damage done by hard water.
Since I had been without soft water for a couple of months there were some hard water deposits on my shower door and on the granite by my kitchen sink faucet. I noticed yesterday that the shower door is absolutely clean and there is no white deposit by my faucet. It has been six or seven weeks since Frank installed it.
I can only conclude that EasyWater really works and that it is worth every penny. (It was more expensive than a water softener.)
So, if you are thinking of buying a water softener you might want to consider EasyWater.

Covered Books

A couple of months ago I heard about a plan for reading the Book of Mormon. Get a paperback Book of Mormon and read it twice. The first time, look for every reference to Christ and mark it in red. The second time, mark all of the doctrines and teachings of Christ in blue.
I loved the idea and wondered what I could do to motivate my family and me to do this. I decided to cover the books with fabric. I google "how to cover a book" and came up with a site to turn a paperback into a hardbound book. Some of you might remember I pinned it on pinterest.
I ended up doing about 12 books for family and friends. I covered books in brown suede cloth for the boys.
I gave them as New Years gifts to family, friends and the people I visit teach.

Remember the Savior

Frank and I went to the Devotional at the MTC tonight. Elder L Whitney Clayton of the Presidency of the Seventy spoke.
There were a couple of things that he said that I know you all would like to hear.
He talked about how often we hear people complain about how early the Christmas season seems to start. We hear things like "It is still Halloween" or "Can't they wait until after Thanksgiving?" He said that one of the apostles heard someone talking like that and he said "Is it ever to early to begin to celebrate the birth of the Savior?"
Later Elder Clayton said "Have always in your heart some feeling for the meaning of Christmas."
It should be Christmas all year long.

White Christmas

Why is it that when I watch the movie "White Christmas" the song that gets stuck in my head is the one about "Mr. Jones?"

Don't you wish you had a dress like the red ones at the end and a place to wear it? (And an 18 inch waist to go with it?)

When Beckie and I were little, our Barbies were "Sisters" and we tried to dress them and make them dance like Betty and Judy. Barbie had almost the same hairdo as Judy and Judy had almost the same figure as Barbie.

My Nightmare Before Christmas

I was just finishing my Christmas decorating. I was getting the last box out of the back corner, by the outside wall in a basement closet. The box was damp on the bottom.
First I should tell you about the box. I know it is silly, but the box was sentimental to me. Our first Christmas when we were married, Frank gave me a Bosch. The Bosch died long ago, but I was still using the box to store decorations. I used the box to store decorations that were not valuable, but were sentimental to me. Like the elf I got at a party in Gemany when I was 8. And the ornaments the kids made in school. And the refrigerator magnets with their school pictures. I also stored the Advent Kranz that Clyde made for me in that box.
Well, when I opened the box it was FILLED with mold. Black mold, brown mold, and fluffy cotton-like mold. It was terrifying.
I had to go through the box to look for anything that was salvageable. Not much was. Anything made of glass or ceramic was untouched. The Advent Kranz was washable. Frank's little boy doll that his great grandmother made him was in a ziploc bag so it was ok. Almost all of the rest of it had to go.
When I was finished I felt creepy, so I had to take a shower.
SO---lesson learned. I am buying plastic bins to store everything from now on.

Water Aerobics

Monday, Wednesdays, Fridays, when I am Salt Lake, I go to water aerobics.
There is a pool here in our apartment building.
I am at least 15 years younger than anyone else who comes to the class. (Most of the people in our building are old.) One lady who attends the class is 98 years old. There are usually 3 old men and 4 old women in the pool, besides myself.
Norma teaches the class. She is probably 70 or 75. One time she told me proudly that she swims 20 laps every day. (The pool is about the length of a motel pool, but it is square. It takes me about 3-4 strokes to swim the length of the pool.) Norma pays close attention to how I am doing the exercises and corrects me all the time. I think it is because I am the only one in the class capable of actually doing the exercises right.
Connie is about the same age as Norma and is Norma's best friend. She often does something completely different than the rest of us are doing. Norma told me not to do what Connie is doing because it is "too hard."
There is an old Japanese man who comes. He doesn't speak much English, but every time he gets into the pool he says "Herro, everybody." He doesn't know how to do most of the exercises so he mostly just walks around the pool, watching everyone, trying to figure out what to do.
Norma is funny because she always says exactly the same thing about each exercise. For example she tell us every day, as we are doing what she calls the "super kegel" that Dr Oz says this is the most important exercise you can do.
But after all that explanation I must say that is actually a really good workout. I can really tell that it does me a lot of good.
It is wonderful to have a pool so convenient. I love it here.

New Furniture

We got a new couch and recliner for our Salt Lake apartment today. And the amazing thing is, they delivered it on time. They said they would come between 7:45 and 9:45. They came right at 7:45. Amazing.
Yesterday I waited all morning for Direct TV to come install TV for us. They never came. So we decided not to go with Direct TV. I don't need more poor customer service. I have wasted too much time on poor customer service.

Perfect Popcorn

A few weeks ago we got a new microwave oven at Walmart. I also bought a Presto PowerPop microwave popcorn popper. (It is sold next to the microwaves.) It makes the best popcorn I have ever eaten. Here is the recipe my family likes best.

1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup Orville Redenbacher popcorn

Pop according to the directions for the popper.

When we first got the popper we tried air popped popcorn, but it wasn't good.
I tried popping corn in butter. Good, but no better than olive oil.
I tried popping in theater butter oil. Also good, but olive oil is better.
The olive oil only has 120 calories per Tbsp, and the recipe serves about 3 people, so it is actually quite healthy.
I tried Jiffy Pop corn, but it isn't nearly as good as Orville Redenbacher.

If your family likes popcorn consider getting this popper. But I warn you, it will ruin microwave popcorn bags forever.

The New Bed Ordeal: A Long, Boring Story That Has To Be Told

I am telling this story because it is the only recourse I have to get a little justice from NEW

July 7: Purchased a new bed at SamsClub. The same bed at RCWilley would have cost 2 to 3 times as much. I called the national delivery service that Sams uses (NEW) to schedule delivery. I was told I would get a call in 1-2 days telling me when the bed would be delivered.

July 11: No phone call-so I called them. Was told they would call back.

July 12: No phone call-called them. Was told they were behind "because of the Holiday" (I guess they meant July 4) Was told they would call back.

July 13: No phone call-called them and delivery was scheduled for Monday July 18 between 8-12. Called NEW to find out who I could complain to and was told I could only talk to one of the reps who answers the phone, so I complained to him.

July 18: Waited all morning. At noon I called NEW, they called local delivery service, who called me and said they couldn't come til that evening. I wouldn't be there that evening so they scheduled Wednesday at 9am.

July 20: At 9:40 local delivery guy called and said he didn't think he could deliver the mattress because it was a king size. DUH! I told him we have a service elevator so he said he would try. When he got here he took the mattress off the truck and it was covered with BLACK dirt. I pointed that out to him and he said "Was that there before I took it off the truck?" implying that I damaged it. I refused delivery and called Sams. They called NEW who called me for the first time. I was told that it takes 1-2 days, but they would try to get it done sooner and they would call back right away.

July 21: No phone call-called them and was told it normally takes 1-2 days, but they would take it personally to the manager and get it taken care of and they would call right back.

July 25: Still no phone call. Called Sams, spoke with a manager who called NEW. He called back and said NEW would call back to reschedule the delivery. He also said the damaged mattress had not been returned to them.

July 26: Still no phone call. Called and insisted on speaking with a manager who patiently told me it takes 1-2 days to schedule things and they couldn't do that until they received a call from Sams. LIES, LIES, LIES. Cancelled the delivery.
Called Sams. They were very apologetic and gave me a $25 gift card to cover cost of renting a UHAUL to get the mattress.

July 27: Picked up the mattress. Sams people were very nice. (The damaged mattress did get returned yesterday-a week late) It was a hassle getting it into the elevator, but Dallin helped Frank. Dallin and Sara put the bed together while we were returning the truck. Thank you.

Slept on bed last night. It is so comfortable. Frank loved it, too.

Brugger Family Reunion

Yesterday was a wonderful July 4th celebration. It was like a Brugger Family reunion. I doubt there have ever been so many toddlers and babies in this house in it's over 50 year history.
Popi was able to come. He makes everyone feel so loved. It is good for our souls to see him and hug him. He said he hadn't planned on attending because it meant another long drive, but he woke up yesterday morning and felt impressed that it was important for him to attend. We are all thankful he did.
Popi said it was the largest gathering of his descendants ever.
We all agreed that July 4th should become an annual Brugger Family reunion. Everyone should plan to be here in Utah on that day-if possible. At least while Popi is still able to attend.
So mark your calendars for one year from yesterday.

Attendees:
Popi and Doreen
1. Beckie and Clyde
2. Heidi
3. Marcus
3. Anneke
3. Luke
3. Mallory
2. Pam and Chris
3. Dutch
3. Dane
1. Marianne and Frank
2. Annemarie
2. Julianna and Jared
3. Thomas
2. Sara and Dallin
2. Christina

2. Katherine and Mitchell
3. Joseph
3. Annabelle
2. Samantha
3. Athena

Non-Bruggers
Dallin's mom, Carol
Jared's brother, Brian and sister, Kellie

Big Changes

Tomorrow Frank starts his new job. After over 3 years of retirement he is going back to work. He will be working in the missionary department of the church and he is really excited about it.
I am excited for him, but it will be a big change. I have enjoyed having him around the last few years, but now he will be really busy. He will be working in SLC, so it will be a long commute. He plans to spend 1 or 2 nights a week in SLC and I will probably go with him a couple of days a week. There is lots for me to do in SLC. Eventually we may get an apartment there.
He will also spend some time working at the MTC so those days he won't need to commute.
We will have to see what this change brings, but I know the Lord is blessing us.

Las Vegas

It was fun to spend a few days in Las Vegas. Most of the strip is kind of creepy, but these are two of my favorite things.








The roses are real and have really long stems. I think they are over 6 ft. They were in the lobby of the Bellagio.












The wedding dress is crazy. It is made of leather, satin and chiffon.












The best part of Las Vegas was the chance to see Heidi and Andy. They are great people and I am proud of them.

 
Katherine and Jason came to visit yesterday. I hadn't seen Jason for many, many years. He looks so much like his dad did at that age. He is a fine young man. It was fun to see him.

Thomas's Blessing Outfit

 
I crocheted and sewed this outfit for Thomas to be blessed in on Sunday.