#58

I finished the Book of Mormon. It's not like it's the first time I've read it or anything. But honestly, I've only read it a handful of times. I tend to do my scripture study by subject. It works better for my attention span. Plus I love really studying the ins and outs of a given topic. Or if I'm struggling with something, I frequently find answers by studying the subject at hand.

But it's good for me to break away from that format on occasion and really study the Book of Mormon. I love the way I feel every time I get through the whole thing. I really, really love it. And every time I get through it, I take Moroni's challenge and pray if the things I read are true (even though I don't question it). Every time I am reassured of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon.

#84

I volunteer in Parker's classroom every Friday. In all honesty, I thought I would HATE it. I don't like teaching Primary and the very little patience I have for small kids gets used up on my own. But I volunteered because it's my sons class. I wanted to know what his teachers are like and who his friends are and what he's learning. And it turns out I love it for those reasons. I love watching Parker interact with his friends and teachers. I love seeing what his teachers are teaching and being able to reinforce that at home...in the same fashion he learns in school. I love being reassured at how bright Parker is. I love having a good relationship with Parker's teacher. Though I truly could not handle a preschool class for more than the hour and a half a week that I volunteer, I really love it.

Most of the time I work with a small group of kids and work on letters or numbers or shapes and colors. It depends on the kids and on the day.


This day, the letter of the week was 'M' and we all got mustache's.

#80

Though my plan was to send Christmas cards to everyone on my list, budget did not allow. We sent them out to immediate family only. But at least it's a start. Spencer and I always have good intentions to send them and always fail to do so. It's about time we do.

I made these and was really happy with how they turned out.

***need to add pictures***

#71...in progress...

*December, 2008
We went to the local tree lighting ceremony at Christmas time. It included a wassail taste test by all the local businesses and a tour of town hall and local performance groups. The whole family had a good time.

#72

I convinced the crazies that Santa would not be leaving any presents if he saw how many toys they already had. We needed to make room on their toy shelf. So together with the kids, we went through toys and made a few sacrifices. (Only to fill the empty spots on the toy shelf as soon as Christmas hit.)

***need to add pictures***

#50

I wore a costume to the ward Halloween party. I realize it hardly seems daring to wear a costume to a Halloween party. But I am still new around here and had no idea if the other adults would dress up or if I'd look like a fool. But I just really love costumes and I didn't want to pass up the opportunity. So I showed up in my old trusty Lucille Ball costume. And surprisingly, some people didn't know who I was...which was quite disappointing. Nevertheless, I LOVE that costume.

#47

Actually, thrift storing is my new favorite hobby. Jeff and I used to get thrills from this back in the day and just like this old stuff is new again, so is my love for thrift stores. I could spend all my money there.

I turned these candlesticks:
Into these:


And even better, I turned this jacket:
Into this vest:

Though thrift store revival is my first love, it's a great place for toys, too. Reid's new large box of Duplos was purchased there for $3. After a little bleach-water clense, there were as good as new for a small fraction of the price.

#43

In this ever changing world, there remains one constant...

Skating Rinks!

I think about how much I have changed in the past fifteen years. And how much the world has changed in the past fifteen years. It hardly seems possible that anything could remain the same. It's as if time stands still on the inside of a skating rink. Like it's some kind of black hole.

I know this why? Because I spent Friday night roller skating. I got to enjoy a little girls night out on Friday. (That's right...this was not for the kids.) I think it rekindled my desire to be a roller derby girl. I always loved the skating rink back in the day...but I didn't know if I liked it because I truly love roller skating, or if it was all social. Suspicion confirmed. I really love roller skating. It was such a fun workout. I had no idea how much I would enjoy it. I thought we'd skate for half an hour, have a good laugh and get going. But two hours later and they're closing the doors, I finally got off the rink. I've got to get myself some skates.

I'm pretty sure Ashlee, Emily and I were the only grown-ups there just to skate besides the one elderly man that you know is there every night because of his smooth moves on the skate floor despite his old age. Most people in our age bracket were parents of kids at birthday parties. And there were probably a handful of hoodlums past high school age who just can't grow-up...who were there to hit on the younger crowd. Though I suppose that might include us, too...or at least Emily. You can ask her about that if you get the chance. As much fun as I had, I could not be more grateful I never have to repeat junior high.

Not only was the night way past fun, but I crossed one more thing off my 101 list.

And you didn't think I'd go to the skating rink and come back without pictures...

I'm the only one who braved the old-school quad skates...as if you couldn't tell by my HUGE feet. Not only that, but I'm the only one who thought it was a good idea to wear cropped pants skating. It was pushing 80 degrees on Friday. But I didn't consider the fashion repercussions when adding socks and skates. Whoops.

I don't ever really realize that I'm so much bigger than my friends until I see a picture. I'm like amazon woman.

Ashlee got blisters early on and had to sit out a while. But she was a trooper and put her skates on for the last 15 minutes to finish up with us. Thanks for being our photographer.

Ashlee got a bit of a shot of the guy Emily (accidentally?) frisked.
I can't even tell you what's going on here. Emily is posing for the camera and I'm about to shake some one's hand? You just go through life thinking your relatively normal then you see a batch of pictures of yourself...I was horrified when I realized what I looked like skating. But it's proof that I did it.

There were more pictures but they either turned out too dark or too blurry or wildly inappropriate. So I'll leave it at that.

#42

At one time, I had huge plans to start a childrens party supply business. It's still in the back of my mind, but I don't have the money or the guts to really get it started. But I did mention it to my friend Terin at one point and when her sons first birthday came around, she hired me to make a few things. She did a Dallas Cowboys theme. I made a t-shirt, an autograph book, and a birthday banner. I LOVED the banner. And had a good time making it. Though it's not an all out business, it is a start and I got paid to do it.

Besides that...I opened an Etsy shop. That really is a little business. Though it hasn't picked up at all like I hoped it would...the reason I'm chicken to start. But I'm really proud of myself for following through with it. That was the real reason behind this goal anyway. I love crafty things like this. It's not so much the craft that I enjoy as it is designing. I always tell myself I could do it and NEVER follow through. I finally followed through and I'm happy with my handbags...whether or not they sell.

***need to add pictures***

#35...in progress...

*December 31, 2008
Spencer and I threw our first ever New Years Eve party. Really, it could not have been more fun. The Green's and Wilsterman's came over. We planned a fantastic fondue dinner and sat up the rest of the night playing games. We celebrated the new year with sparking grape juice in my favorite red wine flutes. Nothing spectacular, but it turned out perfect.

I am SO MAD I didn't take pictures.

#29...in progress...

Parker can write his name, first and last. And his middle name if I spell it to him. Though I didn't teach him on my own. It was a combined effort between me and Ms. Wood (his pre-school teacher).

***need to add picture***

#23

The crazies all got new costumes for Christmas. The older two got superhero accessories...gloves, boots, masks and belts. They've used them for all kinds of things...not just superheros. A perfect addition to the costume box.

Gray got a puppy hat. He is adorable. He just waves his floppy ears around and barks....boof, boof. HE's so freakin' cute.

***need to add pictures***

#18

I made a Christmas dress. Spencer talked me into window shopping at Neimen Marcus. BIG MISTAKE. I wanted way too many things that I couldn't afford. But I did pay attention to styles. Short sleeved shift dresses were displayed in all kinds of colors with all kinds of accessories. And I don't think I could ever decide to pay $400 for a shift. I made it in one night with plaid I had in my fabric box. I even added a cute ruffle down the front...I thought that up myself. It has it's flaws...due to me insisting on finishing it up in one night, but I've already worn it more than once.

I really like the way the dress fits...I think I'll have to make another. But I'm not crazy about the fabric. I like it well enough to wear, but if I had tried it on in the store, I wouldn't have bought it.

***I need to take a picture.***

#6

Every wardrobe needs a classic white button down. This was a $3 steal from GAP a few years back and it's been my favorite one I've ever owned...in a size 6. And after a whole year of sacrifice and self discipline, I can again be reunited with it.

# 45

I re-learned to play a song on my guitar. I use the term "play" very loosely. I've never been very good at guitar. By the time I decided girls who play guitar ROCK, I was an older teen. Not that that is too old to pick up a new instrument, but I just didn't have the knack for it that some people do. If I had wanted to be really good, I would have had to start much, much earlier in life. Besides that, I have unusually long nail beds. Even when my fingernails are clipped to the very shortest length possible, they still get in the way of my playing. I suppose, even still, if I had devoted hours a day to practicing I may have learned to easily contort my fingers into the most unnatural positions in a way that made beautiful music. Not the case. I'm always just a bit sad about that. I really do wish I was a natural guitar player.

But I can still sort of contort my fingers into three slightly ill-sounding chords. And luckily, I have three songs in my repertoire that include nothing but those three chords. So I picked up my guitar yesterday for the first time in nearly two years and plucked out a little something. I can at least take comfort in the fact that I was better at one point in my life than I am now.

I wrote this song in college (when I was taking guitar lessons and at the top of my game). I was taking an astronomy class during summer semester. Though it was not my favorite subject, I don't think I ever took a class more fun than this. For our final project, we had to do any kind of project on anything related to what we learned that semester. The professor told us to be creative. Incorporate something we enjoyed. So I wrote a song about astronomy. He said in all the years he'd been teaching, that was the first time someone wrote a song. He flickered the lights for me and made a big announcement as though I was performing in a big venue. Needless to say, I got %100 on that project.

It's all about the forefathers of astronomy. I had to get pretty creative with some of my rhyming words, but the facts all came straight from my text. It's a little cheesy and embarrassing and poorly executed, yet somehow I'm really proud of my little song.

# 91

I get a little tired of getting on the scale every day and watching my weight fluctuate a half a pound here and 2 pounds there. For better or worse. When I started my Healthy Competition 5 weeks ago, I thought this would be a good time to stay off the scale. Rather than watching myself loose a half a pound at the time, I thought I'd like to get on the scale after a month and see 5 pounds gone...so much more rewarding than the little bits here and there.

So I got on the scale when my month was up and to my surprise and excitement, I had lost 11 pounds. I was certainly not expecting anything close to that. And since then, I've been back on the scale daily. Some days I weigh a little more, others a little less. Over all, I think I've lost another pound since then. But getting on the scale daily is driving me bonkers (yet I'm addicted). I think I'm going to try and stay off the scale more often. A whole month was killing me, but maybe two weeks. I love seeing big results much more than small.

# 28

We built the awesomest fort EVER! It was legendary. Ok, maybe that's an exaggeration, but it was a pretty great fort. And to my surprise, Gray was the one who loved it best. He was in it from the moment we began building it until the last blanket came down. Even then, he cried some serious tears when we knocked that thing down after a few hours. I just couldn't imagine an 11 month old caring that much. All the crazies had a good time. We even had a little snack / picnic in there. I should do this more often. It took very little effort on my part.

# 9

I found my retainer AND wore it every night for a month. I have a permanent retainer on my top teeth, but never wear my removable one on the bottom. My teeth have moved BIG TIME! I'm pretty proud of myself for this one. I almost quit several times. The first night, my teeth hurt so bad I couldn't sleep. They hurt all day for an entire week. It gave me headaches and kept me up at night. Spencer tried to talk me into dropping this goal.

I was so surprised at how quickly my teeth moved. By the end of the month, my retainer was actually fitting. My teeth look so much straighter. Ahhh....this is why I wore braces for three years. (Although it reminded me why I HATED it.)

I wish I could say I kept up this habit. I have not worn it once since the month was up. It is such an annoyance.

# 67

I'm not very adventurous with what I pleasure my palate. I always want to be the kind of person that can try all kinds of new ethnic foods. I'm jealous of people who enjoy it, but I really don't. And Sushi. I wish I liked it. People who go out for sushi are always cool. And sushi looks beautiful and fun to eat. But I don't like it. That was the purpose for this goal.

Spencer made Carbonade... a Belgian dish he picked up on his mission. It doesn't look very adventurous. But if you had smelled the smells starting in my kitchen and filling up my home, you'd know it was adventurous. Especially for me. It was very tender and better than I expected...but a little strong for my liking. I'd probably eat it again, but don't think I'd order it if I were out.

# 16

I visited a farmer's market. I loved it. I went every Saturday for a few weeks after that. Unfortunately it's just not as convenient as shopping at the store when I'm already there. The produce was definitely better and for most of it, the prices were better too. I need to try to work it in my Saturday routine every summer. I think I especially loved it this year because we moved in the middle of the summer and didn't get to plant a garden.