Lesson To Be Learned

There was a certain Professor of Religion named Dr.Christensen, a studious man who taught at a small college in the western United States . Dr. Christensen taught the required survey course in Christianity at this particular Institution. Every student was required to take this course his freshman year, regardless of his or her major.

Although Dr. Christensen tried hard to communicate the essence of the gospel in his class, he found that most of his students looked upon the course as nothing but required drudgery. Despite his best efforts, most students refused to take Christianity seriously.

This year, Dr. Christensen had a special student named Steve. Steve was only a freshman, but was studying with the intent of going onto seminary for the ministry. Steve was popular, he was well liked, and he was an imposing physical specimen. He was now the starting center on the school football team, and was the best student in the professor's class.

One day, Dr. Christensen asked Steve to stay after class so he could talk with him. 'How many push-ups can you do?' Steve said, 'I do about 200 every night.'

'200? That's pretty good, Steve,' Dr. Christensen said. 'Do you think you could do 300?'

Steve replied, 'I don't know.... I've never done 300 at a time.'

'DO you think you could?' again asked Dr. Christensen.

'Well, I can try,' said Steve.

'Can you do 300 in sets of 10? I have a class project in mind and I need you to do about 300 push-ups in sets of ten for this to work. Can you do it? I need you to tell me you can do it,' said the professor.

Steve said, 'Well.... I think I can...yeah, I can do it.'

Dr. Christensen said, 'Good! I need you to do this on Friday. Let me explain what I have in mind.'

Friday came and Steve got to class early and sat in the front of the room.

When class started, the professor pulled out a big box of donuts. No, these weren't the normal kinds of donuts, they were the BIG, extra fancy kind, with cream centers and frosting swirls.

Everyone was pretty excited it was Friday, the last class of the year, and they were going to get an early start on the weekend with a party in Dr. Christensen's class.

Dr. Christensen went to the first girl in the first row and asked, 'Cynthia, do you want to have one of these donuts?' Cynthia said, 'Yes.'

Dr. Christensen then turned to Steve and asked, 'Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Cynthia can have a donut?' 'Sure.' Steve jumped down from his desk to do a quick ten. Then Steve again sat in his desk. Dr. Christensen put a donut on Cynthia's desk.

Dr. Christensen then went to Joe, the next p erson, and asked, 'Joe, do you want a donut?'

Joe said, 'Yes.' Dr. Christensen asked, 'Steve would you do ten push-ups so Joe can have a donut?'

Steve did ten push-ups! Joe got a donut. And so it went, down the first aisle, Steve did ten push-ups for every person before they got their donut.

Walking down the second aisle, Dr. Christensen came to Scott. Scott was on the basketball team, and in as good condition as Steve. He was very popular and never lacking for female companionship. When the professor asked, 'Scott do you want a donut?' Scott's reply was, 'Well, can I do my own push-ups?' Dr. Christensen said, 'No, Steve has to do them.' Then Scott said, 'Well, I don't want one then.'

Dr. Christensen shrugged and then turned to Steve and asked, 'Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Scott can have a donut he doesn't want?' With perfect obedience Stevestarted to do ten push-ups. Scott said, 'H EY! I said I didn't want one!'

Dr. Christensen said, 'Look! This is my classroom, my class, my desks, and these are my donuts. Just leave it on the desk if you don't want it.' And he put a donut on Scott's desk.

Now by this time, Steve had begun to slow down a little. He just stayed on the floor between sets because it took too much effort to be getting up and down. You could start to see a little perspiration coming out around his brow.

Dr. Christensen started down the third row. Now the students were beginning to get a little angry. Dr. Christensen asked Jenny, 'Jenny, do you want a donut?' Sternly, Jenny said, 'No.' Then Dr. Christensen asked Steve, 'Steve, would you do ten more push-ups so Jenny can have a donut that she doesn't want?'

Steve did ten....Jenny got a donut.

By now, a growing sense of uneasiness filled the room. The students were beginning to say 'No' and there were all these uneaten donuts on the desks.

Steve also had to really put forth a lot of extra effort to get these push-ups done for each donut. There began to be a small pool of sweat on the floor beneath his face, his arms and brow were beginning to get red because of the physical effort involved.

Dr. Christensen asked Robert, who was the most vocal unbeliever in the class, to watch Steve do each push up to make sure he did the full ten push-ups in a set because he couldn't bear to watch all of Steve's work for all of those uneaten donuts. He sent Robert over to where Steve was so Robert could count the set and watch Steve closely.

Dr. Christensen started down the fourth row. During his class, however, some students from other classes had wandered in and sat down on the steps along the radiators that ran down the sides of the room. When the professor realized this, he did a quick count and saw that now there were 34 students in the room. He started to worry if Steve would be able to make it.

Dr. Christensen went on to the next person and the next and the next. Near the end of that row, Steve was really having a rough time. He was taking a lot more time to complete each set. Steve asked Dr. Christensen, 'Do I have to make my nose touch on each one?'

Dr. Christensen thought for a moment, 'Well, they're your push-ups. You are in charge now. You can do them any way that you want.' And Dr. Christensen went on.

A few moments later, Jason, a recent transfer student, came to the room and was about to come in when all the students yelled in one voice, 'NO! Don't come in! Stay out!'

Jason didn't know what was going on. Steve picked up his head and said, 'No, let him come.'

Professor Christensen said, 'You realize that if Jason comes in you will have to do ten push-ups for him?' Steve said, 'Yes, let him come in. Give him a donut.'

Dr. Christensen said, 'Okay, Steve, I'll let you get Jason's out of the way right now.. Jason, do you want a donut?' Jason, new to the room, hardly knew what was going on. 'Yes,' he said, 'give me a donut.'
'Steve, will you do ten push-ups so that Jason can have a donut?' Steve did ten push-ups very slowly and with great effort. Jason, bewildered, was handed a donut and sat down.

Dr. Christensen finished the fourth row, and then started on those visitors seated by the heaters. Steve's arms were now shaking with each push-up in a struggle to lift himself against the force of gravity. By this time sweat was profusely dropping off of his face, there was no sound except his heavy
breathing; there was not a dry eye in the room.

The very last two students in the room were two young women, both cheerleaders, and very popular. Dr. Christensen went to Linda, the second to last, and asked, 'Linda, do you want a donut?' Linda said, very sadly, 'No, thank you.' Professor Christensen quietly asked, 'Steve, would you do ten push-ups so that Linda can have a donut she doesn't want?' Grunting from the effort, Steve did ten very slow push-ups for Linda.

Then Dr. Christensen turned to the last girl, Susan. 'Susan, do you want a donut?' Susan, with tears flowing down her face, began to cry. 'Dr. Christensen, why can't I help him?'

Dr. Christensen, with tears of his own, said, 'No, Steve has to do it alone. I have given him this task, and he is in charge of seeing that everyone has an opportunity for a donut whether they want it or not. When I decided to have a party this last day of class, I looked at my grade book. Steve here is the only student with a perfect grade. Everyone else has failed a test, skipped class, or offered me inferior work.

'Steve told me that in football practice, when a player messes up he must do push-ups. I told Steve that none of you could come to my party unless he paid the price by doing your pushups. He and I made a deal for your sakes.'

'Steve, would you do ten push-ups so Susan can have a donut?' As Steve very
slowly finished his last push-up, with the understanding that he had accomplished all that was required of him, having done 350 push-ups, his arms buckled beneath him and he fell to the floor.

Dr. Christensen turned to the room and said. 'And so it was, that our Savior, Jesus Christ, on the cross, plead to the Father, 'Into Thy hands I commend My spirit.' With the understanding that He had done everything that was required of Him, He yielded up His life. And like some of those in this room, many of us leave the gift on the desk, uneaten.'

Two students helped Steve up off the floor and to a seat, physically exhausted, but wearing a thin smile.

'Well done, good and faithful servant,' said the professor, adding 'Not all sermons are preached in words.'

Turning to his class, the professor said,
'My wish is that you might understand and fully comprehend all the riches of grace and mercy that have been given to you through the sacrifice of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. He spared not only His Begotten Son, but gave Him up for us all, for the whole Church, now and forever. Whether or not we choose to accept His gift to us, the price has been paid. Wouldn't you be foolish and ungrateful to leave it lying on the desk?'

Push on the Rock

There is an old story of a weak, sickly man. The man was very weak and sick, but he could not afford to go to town and see a doctor. The man lived in the deep back woods, in an old log cabin and his condition seemed to be getting worse. Out in front of the cabin was a massive rock. One night he dreamed that God told him to go outside and push on the huge rock all day long, day after day. The man got up early the next morning, and with great excitement he pushed on the rock until lunch, then he rested a while and pushed on the rock until his evening meal. The man loved pushing against the rock, it gave his life meaning and hope. The dream had been so real, so something great was about to happen. Day after day he pushed. Days rolled into weeks and the weeks rolled into months. After 8 months of pushing the rock, the weak sickly man was getting tired of pushing the rock. In his tiredness he started to doubt the dream. So one day he measured from his porch to the rock and after a day of pushing he measured again. After 2 weeks of pushing and measuring, he realized that he had not moved the rock at all. The rock was in exactly the same place as when he started months ago. The man was so disapointed, he though the dream had been so special, and now, after 9 months he saw his work had accomplished nothing. He was tired and cried and cried on his porch. He had invested many hundreds of hours into nothing. Nothing, it was all for nothing! As he sat on the porch he fell asleep. In his sleep he had another dream. Jesus can and sat down beside him on the porch and said, "Son, why are you crying?" The man replied, "Lord, You know how sick and weak I am, and in a dumb dream you gave me false hope by telling me to push on this rock. I have pushed with all I have for over 9 months and that dumb rock is right where it was when I started." Jesus was kind and said to him, "I never told you to move the rock, I told you to push against the rock." The man replied, "Yes, Sir, that was the dream." Jesus told the man to step in front of a mirror and look at himself. As an act of obedience the man stepped in front of a mirror and looked at himself. The man was amazed, he had been so sickly and weak, and what he saw in the mirror was a stong muscular man. The man realized that he had not been coughing all night. The man started thinking of how well he had felt for the last several months and the strength he now had built up by pushing on the rock. The man realized that the plan of God was not for the rock, but for him.

At times, when we hear a word from God, we tend to use our own intellect to decipher what he wants, when actually what God wants is just simple obedience and faith in Him... By all means, exercise the faith that moves mountains, but know that it is still God who moves the mountains. You just P.U.S.H.!

P.U.S.H. = Pray Until Something Happens!

The Second American Revolution

I've always been the type of person that has a hard enough time fighting for my own life that I haven't ever really paid attention to politics. Then when I became voting age I had a lesson in church encouraging us to vote and stand up for what we believe in because we CAN make a difference. So I've voted a few times but I usually go off of what my parents or John says I should do because I trust them and they understand what is going on a lot better than I do. With the major politics going on last year I got a little more into it. We helped with prop 8 of course and I got in a few discussions trying to stand up for the candidate that was the least worst choice. But I still didn't do as much as I could have or should have. So many of us are like myself where we are so wrapped up into our own lives that we forget to fight for what is really important. Especially the things that allow us to have the life that we have.

I've seen a couple videos on youtube and have heard a couple things that have really gotten me thinking. This first video is really just a radio clip from Glenn Beck. It's about 4 1/2 minutes but it's really good. (I don't know how to post the whole video in here but just click on the link)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTDmGt1Pafw

To quote the main purpose of this video, "You Americans are so gullible that we will feed you small doses of Socialism until you wake up and realize you are already living Communism." At the end of the clip it quotes a women who believes that if she supports Obama, that she will not have to worry about earning her own money for gas and food anymore, but that he will take care of her.

This country was founded on Freedom. What makes our country so successful is our Free Enterprise system. We each have the freedom and the ability to make something of ourselves. To be in charge of our own life. We have the right to be in charge of our own income and to decide where it goes. We have the freedom of religion, the freedom of speech, etc. But unfortunately we have gotten so lazy that we've forgotten how to fight for ourselves. To fight for what is right. Too many people have the attitude of "What can my country do for me," instead of, "What can I do for my country." We are so blessed to be living at this time in this great country that we should want to do whatever we can to keep it great.

The United States of America is a Democracy, meaning that We the People make the laws and choose who will represent US. Our Senators and Congressmen are there to represent US and OUR beliefs, wishes, wants, desires, etc, to the President who is there to serve OUR country.

OUR Country is in a lot of debt and Our Elected Leaders are trying to "stimulate" the economy by getting us into more debt. Because of this debt they are going to raise our taxes and with these higher taxes there will be more and more people who are dependent on welfare. When I was discussing this a few weeks ago with a few people they pointed out that they are TRYING to get more people to be dependent on the government because then they have control over us. Is this what WE want? Do we want to take the bits of socialism that they are handing us? This brings me to my second video. This one is a little bit longer but well worth it. This guy may seem like a bit much but I think he chose his costume and back drop well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeYscnFpEyA&feature=channel_page

What are you going to do to fight for YOUR country?

Barbie's Anniversary

Note: This is not my accomplishment, but it is my dear mothers.

A couple years ago my mom started a project. She belongs to a quilt guild that was having a summer contest. Everyone had to make a quilt and they would all get to judge them at the end of the summer. The theme was: "The Little Things." She immeadiately thought of a barbie shoe. 6 months latter this is what she had taken that first thought to. She has displayed it in a few different quilt shows. The latest was last weekend in Manteca, CA. The Manteca quilt guild happens to be good friends with the famous quilting TV star, Alex Anderson who has been present and participating in a few Quilt Shows around here. Last fall I attended one in Livermore where my mom got to meet her and show her some pictures of her fabulous Quilt. Alex Anderson was impressed and was excited to see it in person at the Manteca Show. Monday night we discovered this on Alex Anderson's TV Show Blog:

http://www.thequiltshow.com/os/blog.php/blog_id/1758

Check it out and let me know what you think of my mom's hard work. Those are actually real Barbie dols attached to the 3D quilt. She not only made all the different compartments herself, but she made each Barbie's clothes too. She is quite thorough when she dresses Barbie so all of them (except one) has underwear and a bra on that she also made herself. There are a few other interesting little facts about the quilt, some of them are listed at the end of the slide show but there are a few more detailed things that I'll have her explain in a comment because she put so much work into this and the things she used to make it look this awesome are quite entertaining. My mom is planning on showing it in one or two more quilt shows and then selling it on Ebay. I had no idea it was Barbie's Anniversary but maybe that will make it sell for more.

I enjoyed reading the comments people made to the blog. Not many were about the quilt itself but about Barbie in general and were interesting to me. Especially when they talk about the old dolls and their names because my mom had most of those ones. Ricky, Allen, Tutti, etc. She actually kept them in a box in the top of her closet with all the clothes she made for them when she was growing up because she didn't want us to break them. But me and my sister would always sneak in there and get them out of the box and play with them. We were always so careful with them because they were antiques. I guess to a 10 year old 35 years sounds old.

Enjoy!

Entertainment Center Redone

WARNING: You are about to read about my obsessive baby proofing habbit. The one I am not proud of but I haven't figured out how to handle the trouble that these little kids get into. I am always thinking up new ways to limit their freedom of exploration. This time it was their access to the Entertainment Center which has been driving me crazy for months and I finally had enough and did something about it.

But First a small story: I went to try and find an old picture of our entertainment center and this is the first one I found. I took this picture because the scene was so pathetic that I thought we'd have fun looking back on it in a few years. It was only a month ago though (or whenever superbowl sunday was) so I'm still a little embarrassed by it and therefore will have to explain the white trashness that is present. We don't have cable and never have had any sort of TV service since we've been married but for some reason John decided he wanted to watch the superbowl. So we borrowed his brother Kenney's bunny ears and hooked them up. Then to make things worse, he decided that chips and dip was a good enough dinner and that we should let the kids eat it in the living room. I don't think I was feeling good that day so I just let it be. The saddest part of this scene is the part you can't see... Vivian's not wearing pants or a diaper. I think it had to do with a rash or something but totally white trash.

Anyways... This has been our entertainment center for most of our marraige. On the bottom is two cupboards on either die of a drawer that has a little shelf above it and to the side of the TV is a little cubby that used to have a couple shelves in it and before we got Michael, we had the stereo and VCR there.

We got it from Walmart when we moved to Stockton 4 months after we got married. At first we stored stuff in the bottom then when we got Michael a few months later we emptied them and let him climb in and out of the cupboards. At one point we decided we wanted to put stuff in it again so we just added childproof locks to the doors and the drawer. (As mentioned above: I baby proof anything I can [to the extreme] to avoid unecesary messes or struggles.) That lasted for quite awhile.

But a few months ago, He got through those so we took everything out including the drawer itself because he's a lot bigger now and we don't want him or Vivian getting hurt. Once again, they had access to the cupboards (I was quite surprised that he still fit inside them). Vivian learned soon enough how to climb in by herself. This made me a little uneasy fearing that Michael would try and shut her in there or that there would be smashed fingers and lots of crying. But I was able to handle it.

Michael has also always climbed in the cubby on the side of the TV. Now he's even tall enough to where if he stands on that shelf he can reach over the top and play with whatever is up there, expecially pushing videos and DVDs into the VCR. But I was able to handle it... mostly

One thing Michael loves to do now is to sit there while he's watching a movie and alternate banging the doors shut. This was kind of a problem because it would wake Vivian up from her naps, and that brings on a cranky and sick child. But I was able to handle it... somewhat.

Also by climbing in the cubby he could reach through the holes in the back and play with the cords. Often times it would mess up the system which meant no TV for the rest of the day. I tried to handle it. (but it's really annoying when he gets ahold of the sensor bar for the Wii and wraps it thru the cupboard handle like 50 times.)

Michael has always been allowed to turn on/off the TV. It gives him a small amount of responsibility and I didn't mind it. He used to turn it on and off durring play time when he was younger but I didn't mind, because it was never when we were watching anything. At the begining of the year when we started watching Malacai, he learned pretty quick where that power button was and by him doing it (being not much older than her) gave Vivian enough strength to do it too (she had tried several times but her fingers were just too small and petite). So then began the whole game of turning it on and off. But these two little ones thought it was the funniest thing to do it while we were watching a movie. It was rarely both of them at the same time. It was usually when 2 kids were intent on the screen, the other one would turn it off and then the 2 that were watching it would scream and yell and cry because they couldn't watch their movie. This one I could NOT handle.

So I did this....

We turned the entertanment center around and nailed cardboard to the back so that it would be smooth and they wouldn't try to sit in the shelves or play with the handles anymore. Then I made a fitted cover out of a huge piece of fabric I had laying around. There is like 10 inches tucked under the bottom of it. And then of course we put the TV, DVD/VCD, and the Wii on top of it all. We also switched TV's and the power button is on the top now. I can reach it perfectly without tip toes just by reaching all the way up. John did not want to do this but he does prefer TV's that are higher up so now that it's done, he doesn't mind at all. I love it because...

No more cupboards banging or smashing fingers. No more climbing. No more cords and No more access to the power button! They can still get to the VCR player if they pull up something to stand on, but it's pretty much left alone now. The only thing I didn't accomplish at the same time was blocking the fireplace off. Which now that they don't have access to the entertainment center has been their new focus of trouble. However I found out how to block that off too finally. (I just put 6 strips of packing tape accross the glass doors and tucked the edges of the tape into the crack so they can't just grab them and pull it off.)

Since I was taking pictures of our new TV Stand I thought I would take the opportunity to snap a few pictures of our Living room decorations. Here is our Mantel with John's Lighthouses, a wooden model of the Oakland Temple that my mom designed for all the YW to make when I was a laurel, and one of the corsages from our wedding on the far left. The blocks behind the temple say "families are forever" and I just made those a couple months ago at our wards Super Saturday. Then the pictures of Jesus and the Temple are always nice to look at.

Here is one of the arrangments of Random frames I have up. Yes I know one of them is Empty. I figured I would at least get it up there and then I could put something in it later. (It's been 9 or more months and it's still not done, oh well)
Here is the other arrangement I have except this one isn't semetrical and there is one that was already knocked off.
Here is the oldest thing I own. I should get more kistory on it but this is the only thing I wanted after my grandma passed away in February. I remember it being on my Great Grandma's coffee table when I was a little girl. We loved putting marbles or whatever in the scale to watch it tip. Plus I now have a personal interest in scales but I'll save that for another post. (And yes, I know I should put candle sticks in the candle holders.)
Here is the big family picture of us that is on my main blog.

I need to take more pictures of the actual rooms before we move but I'm waiting for a time when it's clean, lol. Anyways, I hope you've endured my detailed description of my TV troubles.

Want Something?

Here's another fun blog game. I've seen this a couple times and so I figure I better pass it on instead of just collecting gifts. I'm excited to see what the second one will be. The first one was a fun necklace. It should be fun.

The first THREE people to respond to this post will get something made by me. My choice. For you. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:

1. I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2. What I create will be just for you.
3. It will be done this year.
4. You have no clue what it's going to be. I don't even know what it's going to be.
5. I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch? Oh, the catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first three people who do the same on your blog. The first three people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did, will win a homemade gift! It may not be great, but it will be fun!

Oh, and be sure to leave your address so I can send you the gift and then you can post a picture of what you win when you get it.

I made a dress!!!!!

My mother is this master seamstress. She grew up making her own clothes and she made all of our clothes when we were younger too. I mean you name it, she can make it especially if there is fabric involved. She made all of our barbie clothes too and she is an expert quilter. She made all of our prom dresses and our wedding dresses for us. She was so good that you could describe what you wanted and she would go get a few different patterns and mold them together until she had your dream dress. I had to learn this the hard way because the first formal dress I had her make I didn't do that, I just chose a pattern that was modest, picked out fabric and it turned out to be a disaster on me. From then on, I had to really think about my body shape and what would look good and what wouldn't and that made all the difference.
~~~
Growing up with this amazing women I grew a deep love for crafts and needlework. Unfortunately the talent isn't genetic. I've made things here and there that turned out pretty good, but usually she is right there with me every step of the way.
~~~
Before I got married she also made me a temple dress. It was the same pattern as one of my Grandma's dresses that we would always dress up in and use for costumes at halloween. She adjusted the pattern to be temple appropriate by raising the neckline a little but still made it look cute on me. She also designed it so that I would be able to wear it for the first few months of pregnancy for whenever that should occur. I loved it and it was a pretty comfortable too... for the first few months.
~~~
About 6 months into the marraige I went to Orlando, FL with my sister's and we decided to check out the Temple. It was on that trip that I realized I no longer fit into this beautiful temple dress. The dress itself was alright but the sleeves had no give and I couldn't get it off by myself. I figured, OK, easy fix, just take off the sleeves and replace them with stretchy fabric. Well... I love my mom but sometimes she doesn't make time for every little project so it sat there for months and months and months. In the mean time I got pregnant, had a baby, nursed her and the few times we did go to the temple, I wore one of my Grandma's old temple dresses. However that one wasn't designed for my body.
~~~
One day we finally decided to tackle the sleeves on the other dress. She had me remove them and then try on the dress again. Well... I got it on.... but... ummm... it didn't look cute anymore. To say the least, I continued to wear my Grandma's dress. But then the sleeves on that one started to get tighter and tighter. (Why do all my dresses keep shrinking?)
~~~
In January, there was a ward temple trip and John and I were pretty excited to go with people we knew because we usually just go by ourselves and squeeze it in where we can. About a week before the trip I decided it would be super cool if I had a new temple dress to wear since I would be going with people I knew. My mom was on this huge deadline though so I knew if it was going to happen, I would have to do it myself.
~~~
I went to JoAnns picked out a pattern that I would not have to adjust (remember my first formal where I did that, It didn't turn out that pretty) except for the sleeve and skirt length. And then I went and got some white, double knit fabric that would be nice and stretchy. (I don't forsee myself gaining any more wait except if I were to be pregnant again but I still wanted to make it comfy and flexible.)
~~~
The lady that cut the fabric for me saw my stressed expression. When I told her this would be my first experience making a dress by myself, she said not to stress about it. The important thing is to have fun and if I make a mistake, I can unpick and re-do it. So that made me feel better... Until I got home and realized the hard part wasn't in the sewing it together. It was in the fitting it and cutting it out part. I stared at it for a couple days and wanted to run to my mommy so badly. But I really did want to believe in myself and tackle this project so that in the future I could make my own dresses and dresses for Vivian too.
~~~
I cut out the pattern and tried to fit it to me. I had John help me and he told me it was too small so I adjusted the pattern as needed to make sure it went around me and then I started sewing it together. The bust was designed so you just gather the stitches together so that was easy enough. I had some trouble figuring out the sleeves and my mom wasn't answering her phone so I just made it work. (Later she told me I was supposed to do the same thing as the bust, gather a few stiches on the top.) I got it put together and the neck line was a little too big. John suggested doing the same thing, gathering a few stiches in front. It totally worked.
~~~
So here is my new temple dress.

(Yes, it's a little bagish looking, but that isn't the dresses fault.) I was so comfortable in the Temple the next day. I could lift up my arms and everything. There was only one thing wrong with it... I forgot pockets!!! I will be adding those in before our next visit to the temple. The biggest thing though is I am now more confident in my ability to do things for myself. I think I could make a few dresses for Vivian now.
~~~
As for formal dresses for myself... I think I might need my mom's help because it is really hard to fit it to myself (John didn't really know how to help. It really wasn't too small and the whole dress turned out a bit big since I adjusted it for that. However I wouldn't call it a disaster like my first formal dress.) So I still need my mom's special ability to picture what I want and blend patterns together to make it work. But I think I should loose a few pounds before going through all that trouble.

Finish Strong

This video is amazing. I have no more words for it. Just watch it. You'll see.

http://www.maniacworld.com/are-you-going-to-finish-strong.html

Relief Society

We had a Stake Enrichment last night where they invited the Sacramento Temple President and his wife to speak to us. I guess the theme for the night was "Women are, that they might have joy." So they talked about 3 words that brought great joy to their lives and that they tried to ponder on and apply everyday. 1) The Creation. 2) The Fall. 3) The Atonement.

Even though, I thought she was going to say something entirely different, I was able to apply it to my life imeadiately. Each new day is a Creation. I can Create things with the kids, I can Create fun and happy times. I can Create smiles and laughter. But there is going to be a Fall. The kids are going to Fall. They are going to whine. They are going to disobey. I am going to get mad, lose my pateince and yell. That is life. But I have to realize that there is the Atonement. That I can give that anger to the Lord and let him deal with it and I can go back to the Creation stage.

In the original Creation, after they created something, they would always say, "And it was Good." I need to look at my life and say, "And it was good" more often. I need to realize the good in everything and everyone. They also talked about our Trials and how we can find joy in them and that each trial is just an opportunity to know the Savior better.

They were both great talks that had more to them, but that is what I got out of it that I need to apply to my own life. But the best part of the night was the closing song. I've sung this hymn before but it had never hit me like it did last night. It seems like a prayer I need to say everyday.

Hymn #131
More Holliness Give Me

More holliness give me,
More strivings with-in,
More patience in suff'ring,
More sorrow for sin,
More faith in my savior
More sense of his care,
More joy in his service,
More purpose in prayer.

More gratitude give me,
More trust in the Lord,
More pride in his glory,
More hope in his word,
More tears for his sorrows,
More pain at his grief,
More meekness in trial,
More praise for relief.

More purity give me,
More strength to o'er-come,
More freedom from earth stains,
More longing for home,
More fit for the kingdom,
More used would I be,
More blessed and holy-
More, Savior, like thee.

The 1500's

I've gotten this e-mail before but thought you all might enjoy. I have done no research to back it up so take what you can and leave what you can't.

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* LIFE IN THE 1500'S *
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The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the1500s:

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Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

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Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water."

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Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no woodunderneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying. "It's raining cats and dogs."

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There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

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The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, "Dirt poor."

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The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance way. Hence the saying a 'thresh hold.'

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In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."

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Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat.

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Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

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Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the 'uppercrust.'

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Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple ofdays and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of "holding a wake."

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England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, "saved by the bell" or was considered a ... "dead ringer."

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And that's the truth. Now, whoever said History was boring!!!

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Chicken and Broccoli Alfredo

Ok, this picture was taken the first time I made this a few months ago. I've made it several times since then and I love it. It's so simple yet I still feel like I'm cooking something fancy. My mother in law gave me this recipe book called, 'Campbell's 1-2-3 Dinner.' Here is their recipe and then I'll tell you the changes I made.

1/2 package uncooked linguine (8 ounces)

1 cup fresh or frozen brocoli flowerets

2 tablesppns butter or margarine

1 pound skinless, bonless chicken breasts, cubed

1 can 103/4 ounces) Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup

1/2 cup milk

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1. Prepare linguine according to package directions. Add broccoli for last 4 minutes of cook time. Drain.

2. In medium skillet over medium-high heat, heat butter, Add chicken and cook until browned, stirring often.

3. Add soup, milk, cheese, pepper and linguine misture and cook through, stirring occassionally. Serve with additional Parmesan cheese.

Makes 4 servings.

I'm not a huge fan of linguine or any other type of long noodle, only in spaghetti and even then I don't enjoy it all over my chin. So I changed the pasta to rotini (or corkscrew) because I like it better and it's easier for the kids to stab themselves. Even though we are pretty much considered a family of 4 (3 adults plus 2 kids) I usually double the recipe witch means 16 ounces of pasta. I also put in way more than a cup of broccoli and less than half a pound of chicken. (We are trying to cut down meats and add more vegies.) I kind of forgot about the milk and the butter when I made it again so I guess those aren't completely neccesary ingredients, but I also use one of the family size cans of Mushroom soup so that probably accounted for the lost milk. Since I doubled most everything else I also double the cheese and pepper sometime adding even more cheese.

I'm usually not a fan of pepper but it really added to the flavor of this meal. I tried too put the pepper in as one of the first things to the sauce so that it had time to simmer throughout rather than being real strong in certain spots. All in all it's my favorite mean to make right now so I hope you all try it and enjoy it as much as I do.

New Hobby

One of my friends from the ward is super awesome at Scrapbooking and Cardmaking and has ALL the fancy do-dads to go with it. Since this is an area I feel I am lacking in she let me come over to her house (several months ago) to make some wedding cards. Watching her work was amazing and it opened something inside of me where I was like, "Wow, I think I could actually do this and be good at it." Not as good as her of course but decent enough for my own standards.

The reason I didn't like Scrapbooking before is because I have to do something different for each page or else it's boring and I don't have that many creative juices all at once. But Cardmaking is a whole different story. Because you can come up with one idea and copy it several times because they are going to different people. Assembly lines and patterns are something I AM good at.

So after that, I went and raided my moms house for fancy paper, buttons, ribbon, lace and whatever else I could talk her out of that could go on a card. But I had too many things going on at the time and restrictfully never allowed myself to get out the mess. Then my parents decided to move (downsize) and wanted to know if I would babysit her stamp collection. So I got ALL of her stamps, stamp pads, embossing stuff, and whatever else goes allong with that craft. But still... I didn't allow myself to get out the mess because there was way too much going on.

However since I am the Relief Society Secretary I thought it would be nice to send a handmade birthday card out to each sister this next year. I finally allowed myself to get out just enough to make a few cards to start off the year and this is what I came up with.

The bear on the front is raised up a little and the star and the square are little gems that I glued on. I colored in the bear with colors that matched the paper I was using so that it wouldn't be too busy. The only thing I think I could have done differently is embossed the "Happy Birthday" stamp but I wasn't really prepared to get out that big of a mess right then.

The inside says, "Sending you warmest wishes on your special day."

This was the back that said, "When you care enough... you make it yourself!"

I had fun doing it and am looking forward to doing it at least once every week or so this next year. And I'm sure as time goes on I'll get better and more creative. I might take pictures of them all but I probably won't post them all on here because what if they are for you?