O is for October

October is Breast Cancer awareness month and usually I have reflected on my 15 years of being cancer free - but this year it is different because that big ugly monster reared its head this past March so I started my cancer free life all over again!  So here is a big high five for 6 months of being cancer free!

But O is for October and that means that I am so "O"ver the hill for my grandkids!  I love being a NANA and it is a job I was born to do!

Good Bye and Hello

Something is "afoot" with the Gailey family... major changes are happening this year! The biggest and by far the most exciting is that we have sold our home in Auburn, Washington and are in the process of building a new home in Elk Ridge, Utah - and yet we still live in Bangkok Thailand -just until December 31st.

The process has been bitter sweet.  We created many wonderful memories in our home in Auburn and had some delightful neighbors and friends in the area.  

This home was a sale/repossession that we purchased in 2002 and renovated the inside and out.  There is a lot of sweat equity in this home and we are proud of how it turned out. Now a new young family will be able to call it home and create families memories that will last a lifetime for them.

Our new home is being built in a small community known as Elk Ridge.  The town is located about 75 miles south of Salt Lake City.  It was our desire to live closer to our children and to not live in a large city.  I am a country girl at heart so this is perfect for me. The last seven years we have lived in two major cities, Hong Kong and Bangkok and both Ron and I are tired of city life.  

This home will be the last one we purchase and the one in which we hope to create many memories for our grandchildren.  It will sit on a 1/2 acre and the backyard has a pasture and mountain view.  It is beautiful place and we can't wait to move in!

Asia has taught us many things, one of the most important is the fact that family and friends truly matter and relationship make our lives sweeter.  While we have enjoyed our ASIAN experience we are excited for a new chapter to begin in our lives.   Bring on the change!

 Good-bye Auburn, Washington and Hello Elk Ridge, Utah

Expecting...

I am expecting in 3 Months! Wait a minute it is not what you are thinking...My son John B. Gailey will be returning home after serving a two year mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on October 18, 2016.  This is one excited momma.

John has had many interesting experiences during the last 21months and has grown into an amazing 21-year young man.  He has seen the lives of people change as they turn to the Lord and learn more about who Jesus Christ is and what He has done for us.  Sure, he has had his share of problems, struggles and bad days because missions are just hard.

John is currently assisting the President of the New York, Utica Mission and is very tied to paperwork, administrative duties, teaching missionaries, leading meetings, providing service to members and non-members alike, talking to strangers about Jesus Christ and studying the scriptures for over an hour each day.  Young men and women who give up 18 months to 2 years to serve a mission in this way should earn our respect and admiration no matter what religion we are.

LDS missions are hard.  No phone calling, text messaging or tweeting family or friends. They have about 30 minutes once a week to email parents and a few others - that is all.  They call home twice a year, once on December 25 and once on Mothers day.  The mission president assigns a companion to be with them 24/7.  The companion is not someone of their choosing.  They are up by at least 6:00am everyday and in bed by 10pm.  No television, no radio, no headphones and no computers. They live on a budget and cook their own food.  They study the scriptures each day,  teach others Christ-like principles and provide service; anything from chopping wood to cleaning out a fridge. They get laughed at, spit on, mocked, and sometimes bullied for what they do.  But they also meet kind, loving and generous people who will give them a drink of water, take them to lunch or those that will listen to their message with an open heart.  Missions are hard, but the rewards and lessons learned create strong young people who learn to put others first and to stand strong in the face of adversity.

Here is something that John shared with me a few months ago...

"To be blunt about being an Assistant, I'm settling in okay to the new position.  I'm getting a hang of the area and how things work around the mission, but I still feel like a fish out of water.  I feel like I don't quite fit the bill for who should be here.  And I, at least intellectually, understand that the Lord calls who he needs, but I still feel like I fall far short of where I should be.  But I suppose I'm my own worst critic.  It's great to work with President and with the Zone Leaders from a different perspective, I've learned so much in my short time here.  But there are times when I feel very inadequate, so just be sure to pray for me (if nothing else to simply have patience with myself).  A little phrase from an excellent BYU Devotional titled "The Four Steps on the Stairway to Heaven" explains a bit of what's going on in my mind, and it goes a little something like this:

"Losing hurts worse, than winning feels good".  

And in the case of missionary work since I've been in Utica:  Rejection, dropped appointments, and forgetfulness sometimes hurt worse , than success feels good.  It's a phrase that has popped into my head time and time again.  And maybe I feel this way because I need to understand the weight of the calling.  I don't really know.  It's a definite point of prayer for me to focus on.  I'm managing."

Missions are HARD but yet John has grown and will continue to grow over the next three months. I can't wait for my happy reunion with him - he is the BABY and we ALL love him.

I am EXPECTING John and a very big HUG in three months!

Blessing and a Curse

June brought about blessings and a curse!

The blessing of little ones is always a breath of fresh air, a newness of life and a reminder that life is a gift and is precious.  



Carly Mae had her blessing day on June 12th and it was great to have the family together! I am sure my dad, Papa Louie, would have called Carly, precious and adorable just as he did her mom, Audrey when she was born.

It seemed to be the month for baby blessings and since I was in Utah I was also able to attend another blessing of a dear friend's new baby girl. It also was the baptism of her daughter, since they live in India they waited until the summer and I was grateful to see them both.

June has always been a favorite month for me as it usually begins the SUMMER months and that means sunshine and family fun.  While in Utah the sun was out and with Audrey and her family living in Spanish Fork and David and his family now living Orem it was a lot of much needed family time for both Ron and I.


Blessings abounded in June but something else happens in June for those of us that live overseas as an expat and that is the June moving CURSE month!


While having lived over seas I have had seven Junes where dear friends have had to move back to the USA or are stationed to other post for the government. 

June is cursed because it is the month of goodbyes.  Not only did I have to say good by to my family in the USA upon leaving to go back to Thailand but in June I also had to say to good by to people I have come to love, respect and value as friends. 

June is a Blessing and a Curse

May Days

I have been trying to get back to blogging and being in school is taking more time then I realized and so my blogging days have been few and far between.  Somedays will come and go but there are no days quite like my... MAY DAYS!

I left my home in Thailand the end of April to begin my crazy and filled MAY DAYS...

First stop was to Seattle and then on to Utah.  Arriving in Utah on May 1st I was to spend the next two weeks helping Audrey get ready for the birth of grandchild number four - and the 1st granddaughter.  Carly Mae was scheduled to be born on May 9th - so I had some precious time with Austin and Jack before the princess arrived.

Second stop Madison Wisconsin for the graduation of my son David from the the MBA program and to help him move to Orem Utah - to start a new job.  I left Audrey and family a few days after Carly's arrive and landed in Milwaukee and then drove to Madison.  Graduation on Saturday and packing and moving on Sunday and Monday.  Tuesday night David and I set out for Orem Utah - and the LONG drive!

Third week I landed back at Audrey's for some time with all four grandsons and snuggles with Carly. Oh and bought a piece of property to build a house on in Elk Ridge Utah!

Fourth week I was off to Dallas Texas to see Laura and Scott and help them unpack from moving apartments, grateful that Scotts parents flew in the week before to help them pack to move!  Had a BIG Texan style burger with some fried pickles and a large trip to Ikea with Laura.  Then mid week flight to visit my BFF in San Antonio for a day and then back to Dallas for the final May weekend!

My MAY DAYS were crazy busy and it makes me tired just thinking of all the miles I traveled in that month...roughly 15500 but family is WORTH every mile!  

Heidi Goes to the Alps

Being able to travel while living abroad has been a great blessing in my life.  I fulfilled one my dreams this past week, visiting "Heidiland" in Switzerland.  To be honest I never really liked my name and so this was a chance for me to connect with my namesake in a beautiful setting.  I find that I am more appreciative of the name that was given to me by my father who loved the childrens story "Heidi" by Johanna Spyri.  

Johanna used to spend her childhood summers in the Marienfeld area of Graubunden in the Swiss Alps.  She then used this setting for her classic novel, Heidi.  The book was first published in 1880 and is still a read children and adults all over the world.  

I have learned to love my name and to embrace what it stands for.  There are many things that can be learned from this novel and from the little girl "Heidi"  Here are some of my favorite quotes and I would like to think that I see myself in the words that were written well over 120 years ago. 


 “I'll always say my prayers...and if God doesn't answer them at once I shall know it's because He's planning something better for me.” 

“God certainly knows of some happiness for us which He is going to bring out of the trouble, only we must have patience and not run away. And then all at once something happens and we see clearly ourselves that God has had some good thought in His mind all along; but because we cannot see things beforehand, and only know how dreadfully miserable we are, we think it is always going to be so.” 

“God is good to all of us. He knows what we need better than we do. And just because he thinks it is better not to give you what you want right now doesn't mean he isn't answering you. You shall have what you ask for but not until the right time comes.” 

“God arranges everything for us, so that we need have no more fear or trouble and may be quite sure that all things will come right in the end.”

“It was so lovely, Heidi stood with tears pouring down her cheeks, and thanked God for letting her come home to it again. She could find no words to express her feelings, but lingered until the light began to fade and then ran on.” 

And the final quote, which each time I read it it reaffirms how I truly feel.

“If I spend every moment, for the rest of my days, thanking God for all his goodness to us, that would still not be enough.”

I am grateful for my name, I am grateful for what it stands for, I am grateful for my wonderful life and all the blessings that the Lord has seen fit to bestow upon me.

Mantra Time

I have had a few days to do nothing but be quiet, heal and think.  Surgery will do that to a person.  Hospital stays of over a week can do that for a person.  So after my many hours of contemplating the many facets of my life, I am excited to say that I have finally decided on my mantra for this year.  I know it is late but in all honesty I have been a little preoccupied! Ron, of course, tells me that I should keep my mantra from last year...  

"Strive to view my self-worth as the Lord does rather than through the eyes of the world."

Which will actually be a lifetime mantra as I still have work to do on actually feeling like I can live this way each day.  It is with great personal pleasure that I introduce my 2016 mantra...

Walk by faith

Be grateful

Love much

Be happy

What exactly is a mantra and why do I have a new one each year.  A mantra, according to the great Webster, is...

noun man·tra \ˈmän-trə also ˈman- or ˈmən-\

       : a sound, word, or phrase that is repeated by someone who is praying or meditating


: a word or phrase that is repeated often or that expresses someone's basic beliefs

In an earlier post I expressed why I blog, it is a form of meditation for me.  I use mantras to help me focus on a certain behavior, attitude or skill that I would like to develop over the coming year.  Not that I fully develop them but I feel like I am progressing into becoming a better person as I live by my mantra.  Having it posted on my wall, my blog, calendar and fridge helps me to repeat it often so that I am aware of what I am trying to change.  So this year I will...

Walk by Faith

         I will try not to let doubts cloud my mind.  I will be faithful instead of fearful.  I will trust the Lord and follow the promptings that I receive.

Be Grateful

         I will focus more of my efforts in showing gratitude in my prayers then in asking for blessings.  I will try to thank others for the things that they do that might go unnoticed and unappreciated.

Love Much

         I don’t think that one can love enough.  Show it, express it and be grateful that you have people to love and who love you.  I am going to try to be nice and kind to all that cross my path, in this world that is a tall order.  It seems that so many people are bent on hurting, fighting, harming and putting down others, the world would be a better place if we all would Love Much.

Be Happy

         Such a simple phrase and yet it is hard to do at times.  I look around and see the unfairness of things. But I need to be content with life and the beauty it holds every morning.