Philippians 3:13-14

I am not the kind of person that can word things eloquently on the spot. I usually have to ponder on a topic and write things out and proof read about a million times before it makes sense. I practice this process every time I am asked to give a talk in church. It may sound silly being read over the pulpit but it's not as bad as it would be if I were to go up there with a note card. One thing good about writing out my entire talk is that I get to share it on this knowledge blog for everyone. I hope you enjoy the talk I gave today in Sacrament meeting.

Good Morning Brothers and Sisters. Today my talk is on Philippians, Chapter 3 verses 13 and 14.

“13 - Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before,

14 - I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. “

What a beautiful scripture to reflect on with the pending New Year. A scripture about no regrets and making goals.

We have all had a busy year in our own special way. We each have had to deal with different trials and tribulations. We have also received different blessings and hopefully we have tried to improve ourselves and become closer to Christ. But if you are anything like me you know you could have worked harder at improving yourself than you did. Now we could focus on this last year for a minute and remember everything that went wrong and all the mistakes we have made but please don’t waste your time on regret.

Sometimes it is easy to get caught up in the problem free philosophy of Timon and Pumba. Hakuna Matata: it means no worries. Just go with the flow, do whatever you want. We are outcasts, the world has turned it’s back on us so we’ll do the same, right? Well today I am going to play the role of the singing monkey and ask you, who are you? Can you answer me? Do you know who you are?

When our Father asks us why we have forgotten him we might be like Simba and say, “No, how could I forget you?” And just like Mufasa our Father might reply, “You have forgotten who you are and so have forgotten me. Look inside yourself, You are more than what you have become. You must take your place in the circle of life.” Then after hitting Simba on the head, Rafiki told him, “Yes the past can hurt, but the way I see it, You can either run from it or learn from it.”

In last years Relief Society Broadcast Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf talked about the little blue flowers called forget me nots and how beautiful they were if you just stopped to notice them. Here is a quote from that talk:

”God wants to help us to eventually turn all of our weaknesses into strengths, but He knows that this is a long-term goal. He wants us to become perfect, and if we stay on the path of discipleship, one day we will. It’s OK that you’re not quite there yet. Keep working on it, but stop punishing yourself.

Dear sisters, many of you are endlessly compassionate and patient with the weaknesses of others. Please remember also to be compassionate and patient with yourself.

In the meantime, be thankful for all the small successes in your home, your family relationships, your education and livelihood, your Church participation and personal improvement. Like the forget-me-nots, these successes may seem tiny to you and they may go unnoticed by others, but God notices them and they are not small to Him. If you consider success to be only the most perfect rose or dazzling orchid, you may miss some of life’s sweetest experiences.”

Jesus died for our sins so that we can return to live with our Father in Heaven someday. They understand we are not perfect and they have laid out a plan to accommodate that. Failure and mistakes are OK. It is perfectly normal to mess up as long as you keep trying and make sure you are on the right path. Like Paul said “ press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God.”

When we make a physical goal we usually need to look ahead pretty far first, decide where we want to end up and then make smaller goals to help us get there. We create a map to follow one step at a time much like Dora the Explorer. All maps have blank spots between landmarks. These blank spots are obstacles you have to overcome before reaching your next destination. On Dora they must follow the path and help their friends along the way. They must guard against Swiper the Fox to protect their mission and purpose.

Heavenly Father is a lot like Map from Dora. He knows exactly where we need to go and how to get there he provides encouraging words and instructions along the way. He warns us when Satan is around and helps us conquer our quests. He always has patience when we ask him, "where do we go next."

We always need to be continually moving forward. There is no stand still. Life moves fast and if we are standing still then we are falling behind. Always have a goal and learn something new every day that will help you become closer to our Heavenly Father and our Savior.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks said, “We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen our families.”

Aristotle said, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is not an act, but a habit.” All the little things add up to make big things happen. High performance comes from healthy routines. When someone asked Stephen King how he writes he answered, “One word at a time.”

We need to start small. Read our Scriptures, Pray fervently to our father and ask for his help and guidance. Once we know where he wants us to be we need to do everything in our power to get there. He has a special calling for each of us that no one else can do. He is there to help us accomplish our mission.

Sometimes we may feel that what he is asking is too hard but at the end of the day the only person who can stop us is ourselves. Marianne Williamson said, "We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world."

In another talk by Elder Uchtdorf titled Of Regrets and Resolutions from this last conference, he talks about the regrets of those nearing the end of their earthly visit and what we can change in our life to avoid saying the same things.

“When we are young, it seems that we will live forever. We think there is a limitless supply of sunrises waiting just beyond the horizon, and the future looks to us like an unbroken road stretching endlessly before us.

However, the older we get, the more we tend to look back and marvel at how short that road really is. We wonder how the years could have passed so quickly. And we begin to think about the choices we made and the things we have done. In the process, we remember many sweet moments that give warmth to our souls and joy to our hearts. But we also remember the regrets—the things we wish we could go back and change.

Our Heavenly Father sees our real potential. He knows things about us that we do not know ourselves. He prompts us during our lifetime to fulfill the measure of our creation, to live a good life, and to return to His presence.

Why, then, do we devote so much of our time and energy to things that are so fleeting, so inconsequential, and so superficial? Do we refuse to see the folly in the pursuit of the trivial and transient?

Would it not be wiser for us to “lay up for [ourselves] treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal”

How do we do this? By following the example of the Savior, by incorporating His teachings in our daily lives, by truly loving God and our fellowman.

We certainly cannot do this with a dragging-our-feet, staring-at-our-watch, complaining-as-we-go approach to discipleship.

When it comes to living the gospel, we should not be like the boy who dipped his toe in the water and then claimed he went swimming. As sons and daughters of our Heavenly Father, we are capable of so much more. For that, good intentions are not enough. We must do. Even more important, we must become what Heavenly Father wants us to be.

Declaring our testimony of the gospel is good, but being a living example of the restored gospel is better. Wishing to be more faithful to our covenants is good; actually being faithful to sacred covenants—including living a virtuous life, paying our tithes and offerings, keeping the Word of Wisdom, and serving those in need—is much better. Announcing that we will dedicate more time for family prayer, scripture study, and wholesome family activities is good; but actually doing all these things steadily will bring heavenly blessings to our lives.

Discipleship is the pursuit of holiness and happiness. It is the path to our best and happiest self.

Let us resolve to follow the Savior and work with diligence to become the person we were designed to become. Let us listen to and obey the promptings of the Holy Spirit. As we do so, Heavenly Father will reveal to us things we never knew about ourselves. He will illuminate the path ahead and open our eyes to see our unknown and perhaps unimagined talents.

The more we devote ourselves to the pursuit of holiness and happiness, the less likely we will be on a path to regrets. The more we rely on the Savior’s grace, the more we will feel that we are on the track our Father in Heaven has intended for us."

We all know life is hard and we are all busy. But time is going to pass whether we plan for it or not. Change is good. But it’s not always easy. We need to Remember who we are and take our place in the Circle of Life. I admonish all of us to forsake the Hakuna Matata attitude and to live our lives on purpose. Go to your Father in Heaven and ask which pathway you should take. Make sure you have time to help your friends along the way and beware of the dangers of Satan that distract us from our quest.

You are a child of God with Godly potential. Embrace your future and seek guidance from our Heavenly Father who will lead you closer to Christ, who is the prize. Don't beat yourself up when you make a mistake, just get up and try again. Believe in yourself and you will go far. Let's make 2013 be our best year yet!

I humbly say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Homemaking

So yesterday I found this blog.

http://passionateandcreativehomemaking.blogspot.com

Just by reading her bio I think we might be kindred spirits. Yesterday she had an interesting post about homemaking styles. She asked her readers to answer a few questions about how it looks in our house. I'm feeling like this is a good area to annalyze about myself so I will take her challenge. But if you want to go and read her post first, mine will probably make more sense. Here is the link to her thoughts on the subject.

http://passionateandcreativehomemaking.blogspot.com/2012/01/what-kind-of-homemaker-are-you-link-up.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+blogspot%2FprHKLK+%28*%29

Here is the questions she asked:

So...what does homemaking look like in your house? Share it with us!
- Who cooks?
- Who cleans?
- How does your average day look?
- What chore do you hate doing the most?
- What do you struggle with the most?
- What do you exceed at?

So I wanted to define homemaking real quick and what it means to me. First I simply switch it around to say Making Home. In order to make your home the best it can be you need to be well balanced and have good time management. Two things I struggle with on a daily basis.

#1) I would have to say homemaking looks chaotic in my house unless you are a guest that I don't feel comfortable around. If I don't know you too well I will usually pick up the house before you get there. But if you are a good friend or family member it totally depends on the day and week.

#2) I usually cook unless I decide to slack off and put my husband in charge. Last year we were in a marraige enrichment class that our church provides and one of the exercises had us write down an area that was important to you but that your spouse was slacking off in. I learned that it is very important for my husband to come home and have dinner ready. He is hungry and the kids are hungry and he does not like to come home to a chaotic house being expected to cook while kids are whinning.

This is something I am still working on. I'm not a fantastic cook and I'm extremely lazy. The meal will usually depend on which pots are clean and how much time I have. Since he got a new job that is farther away my success rate has improved because he will call me as he's leaving work which means I have a good 45 minutes to make dinner. But there are those days that I just can't handle it, either my brain is fried and I can't even follow a simple rice-a-roni box recipe (usually because of stress for something else I'm working on) or I'm really sick or tired and just don't want to be bothered. But these days have been far apart lately. So usually Saturdays and Sundays are the only days he might cook a meal.

#3) Cleaning... well growing up I was the youngest, I always got the easy chores. I was never really taught how to deep clean things and if I was, I wasn't forced to do it very often (if ever). I am blessed to have a husband that doesn't mind doing housework and helping me out. He grew up with a great work ethic and knows what has to be done (and he loves me a lot). I usually have him to everything I don't want to do. This is a big stumbling block in my progression towards a better homemaker. I don't feel capable and I have no motivation and he is always there to pick up the slack. I am slowly improving by trying to step up my actions so he doesn't feel like everything falls on him. We used to have an agreement that I would do the dishwasher dishes and he would do all the big pots and everything else that needed hand washed. But last year at some point I grew up a little bit more and decided I could handle all the dishes. And last week I scrubbed my own shower something I have never done before (maybe once as a teenager).

#4) My average day is lazy. I have a couple productive days or I might be productive for a couple hours but then I take a break and never really finish. There isn't too much structure in my day either. I have a first grader so there is a specific time he has to be ready for his ride and there is a specific time I need to load up the other 3 and go pick him up. So there is definitely potential for a schedule but it is hard for me to keep. We definitely don't have a major problem with bed time though. We make sure the kids are in bed sometime between 7 and 8 every night so that we can have our alone time. I usually have the TV on for the kids most of the day and I spend a lot of time at the computer or if I have a deadline I am in my craft room. I do host preschool 1-2 times a week but we just do puzzles or other learning games for a couple hours. I recently started getting up while my husband is in the shower (6 am-ish) and I do a short work out routine and then I get in the shower. This makes the morning and the day go so much better. We just need to work on going to bed earlier so that I don't crash for a nap by 9 or 10 am because then the rest of the day is hard.

#5) I would have to say my least favorite chore is dishes because I don't really like getting my hands wet (I know, really lame). But I would much rather wait until the sink is over flowing onto the counter before I dig in because that means that I can spend an hour and get them all done, start the dishwasher and be done for another 2 days than to rinse and load after every meal. This preference drives my mom crazy and every time she comes over she feels like she has to do my dishes for me. I've been trying to do them before she comes but it really just depends on the day. The only bad thing about my habit is if the end of that 2nd day of dishes ends up being really busy it might be 3 or 4 days before I get to it and that causes a major back up in the system. Then it becomes this huge ordeal and it's definitely hard to find the motivation and that is typically when I have to get real creative with dinner because all the pots are dirty. Unfortunately this happens more often than it should but I'm working on it.

Also laundry takes FOREVER and it's hard to get it completed in one day. I already expressed my disdain for deep cleaning. Vacuuming is the one chore I really don't mind. However in order to vacuum that means you have to have a clean floor. 2.5 years ago I was seeing a counselor. I had major anger issues and was sturggling with being a parent. She had me bring the kids to one of the sessions and when it came time to clean up she told me I couldn't do it for them. They had to do it by themselves. She offered them a sucker for when they had finished and they all worked together and got it done quickly. Now I can't offer them candy every time but I have found that when I offer them something it gets done quicker. Later that week it was grapes that did the trick. A couple months ago I offered them 1 goldfish for every 5 toys they picked up. But more often then not I just don't want to bug them about cleaning. They are getting better at it but I usually have to give them specific instructions the whole time which means it's hard for me to be productive doing something else. And if I really am just sitting or standing there slave driving them it doesn't leave good feelings for anyone.

#6) I struggle with knowing when it's ok to have personal time and when I should spend time with my kids. I like spending time on the computer and I love creating things in my craft room but even if those things are going to benefit the kids in the future I need to do them in moderation. I ignore them way too much and they aren't going to be young forever and I wish I had a good method for managing time so that I could have a schedule where 2-4 hours every day were mine but the rest of the day was spent doing things with the kids. Which means I need to be ok with doing things that I don't want to do. Like having an imagination so that I can play dolls with my daughter or being willing to crash and race cars for a half hour straight and other things like that. It's so hard for me to just sit on the floor and play with them when there are a million other things I could be doing. I know they are not as important but it's still hard for me to make the right decisions with my time.

#7) This will be the hardest one for me to answer because I don't feel like I succeed at anything. I do enjoy helping my kids learn. My oldest loves to ask questions and they drive me crazy but lately more often than not I will take the time to answer them (if they are a logical question that has an answer on his level). I worry that my daughter won't learn to ask questions for herself because he always does it for her and she still learns the answer but hopefully she won't fall behind in school like I did because I was too shy to ask questions. I do know how to plan a good party, not so hot on the carry out though. It is usually a crazy stressful day and I am usually preparing the food until an hour into the 2 hour party. But I have been trying to manage time better and set priorities on things. The last one I did ended up being a huge success and I didn't have to cut too much out of my plan because I ended up staying up all night. Looking back it was totally worth it but I will try harder to prepare more ahead of time for the next one.

Let's see what else do I exceed at? I am a great listener. I love talking to adults and I don't mind listening to their problems and being there for people. It's kind of a bummer when I feel like I have no one to turn to but I still enjoy being the listening ear. But that doesn't have much to do with Homemaking. I mentioned I like to do crafts. I'm not incredibly talented or artistic but I guess I could say that I exceed in copying other peoples work. I prefer to make things that are useful. Since I joined pinterest I have a ton of ideas added to my "I will do this some day." list. A lot of them are ideas for gifts or to make another activity for the kids. But I have been resisting the temptation to work on anything lately because I know I need to help the kids with school and keep up the basics of homemaking before I add anything else. However it almost seems pointless because I end up on the computer most of the day anyways. ARGH! I definitely exceed at waisting time.

Ok Angell that is what kind of a homemaker I am. I will look forward to finding encouragement from your blog as I work on all my shortcomings.

Goals for twenty twelve

Ok, I've always thought that New Years Resolutions were a little silly. I mean who needs to wait until the begining of the year to change or make a goal? Well I'm also a lover of new beginings and so being... I am one of those people who prefers to wait for a new day, a new week, a new month, etc. to start something new. So of course I will take advantage of the New Year to make some serious goals for myself.

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Growing up I had this vision of myself. I will be awesome and well rounded someday. Unfortunately I have no work ethic, no self discipline, no self esteem, no decision making skills and no strong personal convictions. (When I say 'no' that means not very much, but I'm sure I have some) So as the years have gone on I have gotten older, expereinced more, learned more, matured some and I have a bunch of kids. But there are rarely times when I feel like I am closer to the vision of the woman I want to be. There are those moments when I accomplish something I didn't think I could do and I look around me and say "I did a good job and I like where I am." But then the next day or week ends up to be a horrible step backwards and I can blame no one but myself. It's like I'm afraid of moving forward but I'm in love with moving forward at the same time. So confusing.

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Back to what this post is supposed to be about... my goals for this year.

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Scriptures - This has been a huge hurdle for me my whole life, I have never been able to stick with reading every day or get in a state of really studying the scriptures. But so far we have been reading scriptures with the kids every night (except 1 because John wasn't here and it totally slipped my mind) we finally made it through chapter 1 of Nephi last night. We have also read scriptures as a couple every night after the kids are in bed but before we turn on the TV. We have read the first 9 chapters of Matthew and we usually talk about a couple different points and try not to hurry through it. I know it's only been 4 nights of the new year but we are both pretty determined to keep this one up.

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Personal Prayer - This is another one that usually escapes my mind. We are really good at meal prayers and family prayer, but I hardly ever remember to have a personal conversation with my Heavenly Father and I don't like myself for it. He has given me so much and I need to put him as a priority in my life too.

Exercising/eating better - This is one that is pretty mandatory for me. I feel horribly unhealthy. I have only exercised 1 out of the 4 days but 3 out of the 4 days I have not eaten past 8:00 pm. John says he will join me after he's devoured all the junk food in the house. I do want to loose weight and look good but more importantly I want to feel good.

School - I want to have a more formal preschool with Vivian and be better with helping Michael with his homework. I have a hard time giving up 'me' time for this but it is waaaay important and if I put this as a priority, John will be happy too. This will probably require a schedule and that is something I am not good at keeping. So far this year... I have failed with this goal but today is a new day and as soon as I get my butt off the computer I will clean up the school room and make it happen.

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Teaching my kids - I would also like to do more hands on activities with them. I am a total perfectionist and control freak. I hate cleaning up messes so it's really hard for me to allow them to cook or craft but I know how important those things are for their development and I really want to get over myself and provide them with more opportunities to perform. I've already told them that we will do cooking lessons over the summer. Vivian got a Hello Kitty sewing machine for Christmas (it's a piece of crap) but I have promised her sewing lessons regardless. I have found so many ideas online for science experiments and activities to keep them busy so that is another goal of mine.

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Family Home Evening/ Temple - So just like my non existent prayer and scripture reading habits we are also very patchy with FHE and going to the Temple. Our goal is to attend the temple once a month and of course to have FHE every Monday night.

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OK, so those are all the really important goals I have for myself but I also have some other ones. These are the ones that I'm slightly more excited about but need to keep my priorities in check.

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Crafting - So around Thanksgiving I figured out what I want to be when I grow up, and since I'm already an adult, I can pretty much do it now. I want to be a craft blogger and own an Etsy shop.

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At various points over the last 8 years (since I was 18) I have inherited, been given or been placed in charge of storing different craft materials from my mom, my MIL and other various sources. Then last year I went a little crazy with going to the dollar store, JoAnns or Michaels and spent WAAAAAY too much money on intended future projects. I am also fairly green and I don't like to throw things away or recycle them if I can reuse or re-purpose them myself. All this has resulted in a huge mess of craft stuff. John was getting pretty frustrated with all of it and does not want me to turn into my mother. (Not that my mother is a bad person but she has craft stuff all over her house and usually takes on too many projects at once resulting in stress and chaos.)

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When we moved into this house, he insisted that the den was an office and I insisted it was a craft room. For a long time it was both, he did not think I needed a whole room for my crafts and he's probably right. But I was the youngest kid in my family and am therefore labeled as "a spoiled brat" and that is because I can usually talk and whine and complain enough until I get what I want. So we were finally able to compromise and come up with a better arrangement of furniture and I think it was late October when we moved the computer out of the craft room. I did a bunch of organizing but it wasn't complete until right before Christmas. My FIL had just given us a huge desk, it took us a good week to figure out how to arrange the room so that it would fit but we finally managed. Then of course I used it to get a few last minute Christmas projects finished. But after Christmas was over I cleaned everything up (not just by moving it over but by finding or making a home fore everything withing the room.) So I am starting out this year with an organized craft room and a huge working area to use.

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Since my goal is to own an Etsy shop I need to make things in bulk (which I'm great at, the first one is the hard part). I want to start out by finishing projects that are already in the works. I have over 20 of them (probably over 30). Then I have a list of projects that I already have the materials for. Then I have 18 boards on Pinterest with (so far) 548 pins in them of things I would like to make in the future. I would also like to have Christmas in July and really make all the stuff that I wanted to this last year but didn't have time for. One of which is a compilation of several different advent ideas.

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Cooking - I'm not very adventurous when it comes to food. I have a few recipies I use again and again but mostly it's Rice a Roni or something of the sort that is the base of my dinners. I would like to branch out and try new recipies to add to our regular menu.

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Food Storage - This was a huge focus for us a couple years ago and fortunately we had people living with us that helped out with food purchases and I was able to fill my cupboards quite nicely and keep them that way. However they have been gone for over a year and my cupboards are starting to look quite sad. Obviously I have not put a priority on this in my budget but I need to. Also I have a huge back yard and even though I am not a fan of gardening... I love canning and preserving food so I should probably gear myself up for the work this summer and fill the multitude of mason jars that I possess.

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So lots of good worthy goals just like every year where I get so overwhelmed and end up doing nothing. However I'm trying not to get overwhelmed by taking things slow. Obviously the top section takes priority over the bottom section but even that feels like a lot. I think the important thing is to hold myself accountable but not beat myself up when I miss something. I heard about a good self esteem habit is to write down everything that you have done that day... instead of making lists of all the things that need done tomorrow. I've tried it a couple times and it did make me feel good.

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What are some of your new goals? What are some of your methods for doing the things I'm working on?

I need your oppinion!

Ever since we bought this house one of my huge pet peeves has been the walls. They are just sooooo dirty. There is crayon, dirt, footprints, fingerprints, food, smashed bugs, etc. It's just gross. But any time we try to wipe it off we end up rubbing the texture off as well. Needless to say the builders did not used primer or any type of high quality anything on the walls.

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So now with 3 boys and 1 girl and Michael and Vivian getting too old to share a room we decided we needed to put all the boys in one room and Vivian in her own room. But we are a little concerned about her being ok by herself. So we decided we would have to really make it a girl room with an actual place for all her girl toys. (There has never been a real area for girl things)

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One day I brought up this to them and asked Vivian how she felt about having her own room and how Michael felt about sharing a room with Theodore and eventually Lawrence. Vivian got all excited about a pink room with Rapunzel toys. I don't know about the Rapunzel toys but I can do Pink. Then at the last church swap I found a 5 foot tall castle that will stick on the wall. Pretty cool. Then Michael decided he wanted a Space room. He wanted the whole room painted black and I said, "NO!!! But we can paint the ceiling dark blue and the walls light blue for the sky."

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This whole conversation happened at least 4 months ago and it is all I have really been able to think about. John and I started something different with our money so that I actually have control over how some of it is spent. Plus I have still been doing the vending for my dad so I started saving and putting money aside until I finally had enough for paint. So now the project begins.

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Since the walls were so horrible and cheaply done we needed to do this right. So Conference weekend, John and I primed the walls. Then on Wednesday I put some tape up to prepare for painting the ceiling. I decided to just jump into it and get the corners done. (I don't think I have enough muscle power for the roller, so that is waiting for John to do) So here are the pictures of the room so far. I am including the top 3 inches of the wall into the space part because I didn't want to have to paint in the corners twice with each color. I figured it is a lot easier to only have one color in that region.

Oh yeah and John wanted the closet frame and the window frame painted with the dark blue as well. It is actually turning out a lot darker than I expected but oh well I'm sure not taking it back and starting over.

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I thought I would also share with you my vision for the room and then the problems I am still trying to work out. So you know the basic colors of the room... dark on the ceiling and lighter sky blue for the rest of the room. My vision is to have planets and stars painted on the ceiling. Maybe a shuttle, a couple rockets, some comets, a tiny astronaut somewhere. Michael insists that Earth, Mars and Saturn are up there. I am still debating on if I am just going to have all this random up there or create some type of order. Like if I pretend the ceiling fan is the sun I could put all the planets in their correct orbit order around it but that sounds like a lot of measuring but it would help him learn it right I guess. (I don't even know or remember the correct order) And I thought about using the 3 inches of wall space to just do a border of stars evenly spaced around the whole room but if the rest of the ceiling is random I'm not sure how this will look.

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What is your oppinion: Should I put the planets in order? Should I do an even border of stars (stars would be about 1.5" wide and probably 2 inches in between each one) around the room?

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Then on the wall I wanted to paint a couple airplanes and other air vehicles as well as a few random clouds and such here and there and out of the back of one of the airplanes I want to pretend like it wrote words in the sky and it will say "Oh the places you'll go" in cloud letters. Also above where the crib will go is a huge area to decorate so I thought about a fleet of hot air balloons. The ones closer to the crib would be about 10-12 inches tall and closer to the ceiling they would be 1-2 inches tall. I also have one of those color your own posters, (the kind with the black velvet) of a carnival scene that I was planning on framing in there but I'm not sure if it will really fit in anymore.

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I was also considering painting a border of clouds right against the space line. That way I could leave the tape there, paint the light blue underneath it and then after I move the tape I could use white paint to create a solid border of clouds. I guess this would end up being an atmosphere border between earth and space. It seems like a smart idea but it sounds like it would look a little cheesy but not too bad.

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What is your oppinion: Should I still put the carnival poster up since I've already colored it? Should I use the tape line to create a border of clouds?

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So this is my vision but I do have a small issue to consider... I am not an artist. In my head it looks so cool and good. But in reality I don't have the ability to make it happen. I have heard of using an overhead projector to project the image on the wall and then you can trace it the size you want and then paint it in but I have a feeling that I will not be very good at that. I am an expert colorer. I can stay in the lines and win a coloring contest no problem. But when it comes to using paint and a paint brush it is a different story. So I have a few different ways I could carry this out.

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Method #1: Stick on Decals. I don't like this idea because we will have bunk beds in the room and they will be able to reach and probably pull off and ruin it. Plus they are expensive.

~~~

Method #2: I could print pictures from home and color them. (This would tie in with what I am doing for Vivian's room) or I could use someones color printer and print them in color. Then I would cut the images out and decoupage them to the wall. I'm not sure if this method will look good with the texture of the wall and someone pointed out it may be hard to remove for future uses of the room.

~~~

Method #3: I have a few stencils already, basic planets and stars. And I can make stencils out of laminate. If it's a stencil I am using I can just tape it to the wall and paint the different sections the right colors. Which may require at least 2 stencils per picture, one of the big shape cut out to get the basic color of the item on the wall and then one with the details cut out so I could add the appropriate accents in the appropriate colors. This method may be the best option for me but it will take a lot of time (preparation of stencils, taping and painting and drying and painting again). The pictures will turn out to be basic images like in a kids book (which may not be a bad thing)

~~~

What is your oppinion: Which method should I use?

~~~

Now onto a different kind of problem. One area I want to set up is a dress up station. My kids have a lot of dress up stuff and I need it to be more organized. I will have an area in Vivian's room for the more girly stuff but I have a bunch that is more boyish that I would like to put in the boys room. The only wall space I will have available is right under the window and inside the closet. I will need a small shelf to put all the accessories on, long hooks for hats and hooks for clothes. For example, I have a fireman coat and a heavy plastic fireman hat, a construction hat, an ironman mask, a cowboy hat and fancy top hats. I have a doctors smock with a stethescope, construction tools, sunglasses, magnifying glasses. All the hats require a hook that would stick out at least 3 inches and preferably point upwards. They have those hooks one for a jacket and one for a hat. Those would probably be ideal but cheap ones look kinda cheesy. I did buy 8 knobs that stick out about an inch and a half but they are designed for knobs on a dresser or cupboard not hooks that go straight on the wall like I thought. These knobs would work for hanging all the other clothes items if I can figure out how to get them on the wall. I do have quite a bit of scrap wood as a resource but not sure of what to build it into.

~~~

What is your oppinion: What could I use or build (with limited funds) to hang my hats and organize the dress up stuff?

~~~

I really want feedback on this. I might not be able to incorporate everyones ideas but I still need more ideas than I can come up with by myself. Like I said, I've been thinking about this almost nonstop for the last few months and now that I am ready to do it, I need to decide the best way to carry out my vision. Thanks so much for your time and help.

Quilts

The last weekend of January was the Modesto Quilt Show. My mom gets a booth there so she can sell all her creations. Well the week before that, I was feeling pretty crafty so I went all crazy and made 7 quilt tops and a bunch (at least 20) of tiny quilts out of all the scraps. Well I had made soo much that actually finishing any of it became a challenge. Before the quilt show I was able to finish 1 quilt (my first binding experience) and about 5 Baby Tag toys (out of the tiny quilts) I don't have any pictures of the Tag Toys but I did finish 3 more of the quilts before the Manteca Quilt show that was the first weekend of March.

~~~

Here is quilt number one, Lime green with purple polka dots and blue accents. With a blue and white striped fabric as the back. I used dark purple floss to tie it.

Here is quilt #2 made out of the leftovers from Vivian's quilt I made last year. I used a pink floral satin for the back and dark pink yarn for the ties.

Here is quilt #3 Orange and yellow with green and pink accents with a dark orange fleece for the back. I used green yarn to tie this one.

Here is a baby doll quilt I also made out of the leftovers from Vivian's quilt. (This I made shortly after finishing hers but never got a picture of it until now.)

Here is the quilt I had finished in January. My mom actually quilted this one on her big machine using a meandering pattern. The back is a landscape of a town and my first binding experience was far less than perfect but it's still sturdy and finished.

I had a lot of fun and one of these days I will finish the rest of them. None of them sold at the quilt shows so if you are interested in any of them... Just let me know. The first 3 are $25 and the green one my mom sold to someone later for $40.

Debt

My parents have been going to this finance class on Wednesday nights at a Presbyterian church in Manteca. They wanted us to join them for it but it's $100 and however many nights of a commitment and we just decided not to. However this week it was bring a friend night so we decided, why not, it's just one night and it will be fun to have a double date with my parents.

~~~

The class is by Dave Ramsey. He has a radio show, a couple books and a program (manual, Cd's, DVDs, website resources) for how to get out of debt. This particular lesson was about the myths that are spread around in society today and he was straitening them out with the truths.

~~~

Some of the myth's were about car financing. He said on his radio show that the answer to half of the people that call in is to sell their car. Why pay so many hundred a month when you could just have an older car for a couple years while you save up for a nicer one? The money your spending on your car payment could go towards paying down your debt and once you are debt free there are a million things to do with that money, guilt free.

~~~

He also talked a lot about how the credit card companies are REALLY good at what they are doing. He said it is kinda fascinating in an evil way. But they know just how to make you beg for money. They will send you and your grandma and your dog (really, he had proof of an offer that went to this guys dog that had been dead for 4 years) an offer that says, "You may be approved for up to $100,000!" So you go to the bank or go online and apply (beg) to be approved.

~~~

He said that in our great grandparents generation, it was a sin to buy with credit. It was frowned upon. Sears, JCPenny and Ford would not allow credit options in the early 1900's. He said those company's started offering credit after their original founders had passed away because they had been so against it.

~~~

Another myth was about the lottery. He said the truth is it is just a tax on the poor and the people who can't do math. If someone spends $50 a month on lottery tickets, they expect to win something. But if they were to put that $50 a month in a mutual savings account then including interest and all that you will be a millionaire within your lifetime. (I can't remember exactly how many years he said for it to get there but it is true)

~~~

Another myth was that 30 year mortgages are good. Typically we sign up for them thinking, "Oh I will pay it off sooner than that. I'll make extra payments and it will be fine." But life happens and that extra payment is the first to go. But if you sign up for a 15 year mortgage it only adds a few hundred to your payments but it will save you over $100,000 in interest.

~~~

There was about 10-15 myths but I can't remember all of them. I do remember the last one but I will save that for the end. He also talked about how he took a finance class in college from a professor who was broke just like everyone else. He said, "That's like taking shop from a guy with no fingers." Obviously they don't practice what they preach right? Or they don't even know what to preach because they don't live it.

~~~

He said if you want to be a finance major, study Proverbs. He said he reads a Proverb every night and one night he came across Proverbs 6:1-7. I just looked it up and it must be a little different in his scriptures versus our King James version. But from his opinion it is talking about if you are in debt your stupid and you need to deliver yourself from the hunter like a gazelle from the cheetah or a bird from the falcon.

~~~

He said when he came across that he was confused, what does a gazelle and a bird have to do with debt. But the very next night he was flipping through the TV and stopped on the discovery channel. (Not sure how much is true or if he was just dramatizing his story) but he proceeded to show a clip of a cheetah approaching a mom and a baby gazelle in a flat plain. The gazelle started running long before the cheetah was close (they have a cheetah sensor) and they were pretty fast. I mean the cheetah is supposed to be the fastest animal around and this gazelle was faster. The cheetah decided to go after the little one thinking he could get him. But that little guy ran and ran and eventually the cheetah gave up.

~~~

He was relating the cheetah to the debtors and the gazelle to the few of us willing to run away. He said the little one was a college student because more college kids quit school because of debt rather than academic failure.

~~~

He said some of us pray at night saying, "Jesus I am so in debt, I don't know what I'm gonna do, Please help me Jesus, Help me." Then the next day you go out to the mailbox and get a credit card offer and say, "Thank you Jesus." When we really should say... "CHEETAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!" and run away as fast as we can.

~~~

But like he said, the credit card company's really know what they are doing. Then he told another story about how cow's are tied at the rodeo and how the cowboy lets it run and then ropes it's neck and it falls on it's back and the cowboy jumps on it and ties it's feet. He said, The girls can't do this because cow's are just too big, so they do the same thing with a goat.

~~~

His children wanted to do it too. So he bought them a goat. They named it Practice because they were using it to practice. So they would open the gate and let Practice run and they would follow behind on the horse, rope it, flip it and tie it. They did it about 15 times a day for the whole summer. Practice got to a point where he would come to the clearing where they usually flipped him and he would just lay down and wait. He had done it so many times that he didn't want to fight it anymore.

~~~

We do the same thing with debt. We just give in thinking it's the only way. "You'll always have a car payment" some people say. Or "Everyone else does it, that's just the way it is." But there is another way. If you just run as fast as the gazelle and get away from the cheetah, or run past that clearing where you always get stuck then you might be able to make it.

~~~

The last myth he stated was that Debt is a Tool to get ahead. The truth is that you are a slave to the master(card) and until you get free you will always be tied up and limited in your abilities. You have to figure out what everyone else is doing, and do the exact opposite. If everyone is financing cars, then you pay cash. If everyone is getting a 30 year mortgage, you get one for 15. If everyone is making minimum payments on their credit card, you pay more.

~~~

For Dave Ramsey's program the first baby step is to get $1000 in the bank for emergencies then cut up your credit cards. The second baby step is to pay off your debt in what he referred to as the debt snowball. It is the same format the church recommends. Where you line up all your debts from smallest to largest then you pay off the smallest (he recommends with a garage sale) and then once that is paid off you put what you were paying to that one and add it to your payment for the next smallest one. Once that is paid off you take what you were paying for the first 2 and add it to the 3rd debt. And so on down the list.

~~~

He said it takes the average person 2 years to get out of debt using this method but it does depend on the size of your debt. And he recommends you put a "Gazelle effort" into it which means cutting other things out and putting everything you have (aside from the mandatory bills) into paying off that debt as quickly as possible. If you cut out the fast food trips or going to the movies or buying new clothes or another pair of shoes or another video game. Whatever your weakness may be, give it up for awhile and you apply that money to whatever debt you are tackling at the time then you will be debt free in less than the average person and when you have freed up all of that money that was going towards paying off debt then you will be able to eat out every day and see a movie whenever you want and buy as many clothes and video games because you will have the extra cash to do it.

~~~

Speaking of cash, he made a good point about it. They did a study on peoples brains when they spend money. If they use cash, it registers as pain in their head and they usually thought twice about what they were buying. If you use a debit card it registered as less pain but you are still associating it with cash sitting in a bank. But when you use credit, the pain was substantially less. Interesting huh?

~~~

He said using cash hurts because you know you will never see it again. It hurts to say goodbye to a Benjamin ($100 bill). But don't we always say, "No pain, no gain." If using cash is going to make you think twice about what you are buying then I think we should always use cash. Which also means you have to have it in hand and if you have cash in your hand then your bills are already paid right???? (at least that's how it should be)

~~~

So if everyone is charging things then you should pay cash and if everyone is in debt then you should get out of debt. Most people just work one job and go play after work. If you take a year or so and get an extra part time job to pay off your debt that means working harder than normal for a little while then when your debt is paid off you will have more money and more time to play harder than most people. So if you work like no one does now, then later you will be able to work like no one else. (meaning less hours to pay your bills.)

~~~

Also if you take your extra cash flow and invest it wisely then you can have your money working for you instead of you working for your money. Also, we know you can't dig your way out of a hole. You have to climb.

~~~

If you live like no one else does now, then later you will be able to live like no one else.

~~~

Get out of Debt!!!

~~~

Obviously I am just like the broke finance professor and I need to listen to what I am preaching and follow it as well. But I thought this would be useful information to share even before I have lived it. I hope some of you will join us in cutting credit cards and participating (with a gazelle effort) in the debt snowball payoff.

Stress

When a lecturer was explaining stress management to an audience, he raised a glass of water and asked, "How heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g.

The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter.

It depends on how long you try to hold it.

If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem.

If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm.

If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.

In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

He continued,

"And that's the way it is with stress management.

If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, As the burden become increasingly heavy, We won't be able to carry on."

"As with the glass of water, You have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden."

"So before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow."

"Whatever burdens you're carrying now,

Let them down for a moment if you can."

~~~

Here are some great ways of dealing with the burdens of life:

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Accept that some days you're the pigeon, and some day's you're the statue.

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Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them.

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Always wear stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it.

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Drive carefully. It's not only the cars that can be "Recalled" by their maker.

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If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague.

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If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, It was probably worth it.

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It may be that your sole purpose in life is to be kind to others.

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Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time because then you won't have a leg to stand on.

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Nobody cares it you can't dance well, just get up and dance.

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When everything's coming your way, You're in the worng lane.

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Birthday's are good for you. The more you have the longer you live.

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You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person.

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Some mistakes are too fun to only make once.

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We could learn a lot from crayons... Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box.

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A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour.

~~~

Parenting

Yesterday we went to our Business Regional Seminar. The millionaire couple that spoke to us this time was amazing - Bob and Shelly Kummer. I learned a lot more about the business and where I need to change myself but I know no one who reads this is going to care about that stuff. However he did share a story with us that I think you might enjoy.

He has a 15 year old daughter and a 13 year old son that they adopted (I think at birth). Anyways, the daughter has been doing things lately that weren't really like her to do. They have obviously tried to raise her right and didn't think she should be behaving like this so at the suggestion of other millionaires in the business Bob took his daughter to a ranch in northern California. It is called JH Ranch in Etna, CA. They have Student Programs, Parent/ Child Programs and Couples Programs. He said it was like $2,000 for the week but that it was AWESOME. They were obviously there for the Parent/Child Program where the counselors there really helped them talk things out and get at the heart of the problem. But he shared with us one of their teachings...

Picture yourself on a beach in Southern California with your children. When they are ages 0 to 5 you have to keep a very Close eye on them. They have to stay in the shallow water to be protected from the currents and other dangers of the ocean. Then from ages 5 to 13 they get to take these little sailboats out and they get to explore a little farther. You become the Cop. You have to enforce the rules pretty tight so that they don't wander too far in such a small boat or tip it over. From ages 14 to 18 you become the Coach. They no longer need such strict rules but they do need someone to guide them through the waters. They need your support and advice so that when they turn 18 they know how to sail that ship. After that... you become the Consultant, only there when needed.

I thought that was fairly profound. The problem with him and his daughter was that he was still trying to be a Cop. He didn't realize that she was becoming a women and that she needed more freedom to make her own choices but she still needs to be taught and mentored about life and to prepare for what is to come.

I think in this world today we need more coaches for our Youth. They need to have strong mentors and examples around them to teach them the ways of the world. School isn't going to do it. Video games, TV, Computer, My Space, texting, Ipods. Those are what are Youth are paying attention to because no one cares. None of those things can teach them how to be successful in life. If parents (or someone) were to actually take some time each day to share with their children what they have learned in life... To share our mistakes and our successes and our feelings and testimonies... This world would be so much better. And don't do it in a preachy manner or lecture them, they won't listen. What you have to do before they will listen to you is to listen to them.

People don't care how much you know... Until they know how much you care!!!

They need someone they can trust to share their hopes and fears with. After you have earned that trust and truly listened to what they are asking for then you can mentor them.

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.