Happy Thanksgiving!

Real Life

Thank you to those of you who commented on my last post. You are all so wonderful! I had thought about apologizing for letting my stress overflow onto my blog...but I won't. A lot of blogs I read are about lots of wonderful things. So wonderful that I get the impression that life is just perfect in other homes and parts of the world. Logically I know this is not true, but I still get that feeling sometimes.

My life is really not perfect. It is really not terrible either! I am very grateful for the life and circumstances I have been given. But it isn't perfect. I have bad days, and I make mistakes, and crummy things happen sometimes. They come and then they go. Some of them I try really hard to forget. Some I try to remember so that I can learn from them and try to do a little better next time. So, occasionally I am going to blog about my imperfect life and the things I learn.

I learned, or was reminded, of a few good things on that stressful day last week.

Sunshine is very wonderful and I had been missing it.

I very easily forget cleaning tips that I've learned and used in the past,
and should make them a habit, not just a good idea now and then.

I really don't have to do everything.

Oh yeah, I want to improve myself...I don't always want to be just like
this. It is ok to make changes here and there.

I need to vent. Simply talking or writing about what is troubling me
does wonders for the way I am feeling. As soon as I published that last
post I felt much better about things and I was able to get over feeling so
overwhelmed.

Prayer is ALWAYS a good idea. I can't think of anything that helps
more.

I want this to be a blog about the real me. I can't be anyone else. And I'm pretty happy about that.

Oh, one more quick thing. I'm almost done with my Advent Envelopes. The envelopes themselves are all done and I'm about halfway finished with the little cards to go inside. I can't wait!

Getting to Know You part 9

Q: What are you doing to get ready for Thanksgiving?

My A: Going crazy trying to clean my house! And trying to stay focused on the things I am thankful for and the really wonderful blessings I have been given and not be distracted by other things that really don't matter.

Please leave a comment with your own answer to this question.

Ok, I'm going to add another question or two today. Where do you start when you have a huge, overwhelming task to accomplish? I am facing such a task today. Actually it's a whole bunch of smaller tasks that are all piled up into one gigantic mountain of a task. In my mind it is just about impossible. It seems so overwhelming to me that I don't know where to start, and so I'm just NOT starting. That doesn't help anything!!! Does this happen to anyone else? If so, what do you do? I know, and I tell myself, that if I will just start I'll feel better and I'll accomplish something (as opposed to nothing!), and life will be looking up. Maybe not perfect, but certainly better than it was before. How do you take that first step?

Ribbon Tag Toy for Babies

Christmas is coming quicker than I had realized. I kept going along thinking, "It's only November, I've got plenty of time..." Why do I do this to myself??? Thanksgiving is next week!!!

So over the weekend I started and finished one Christmas gift! It is for one of my very littlest nieces and I hope she likes it.

My Mom gave one of these to my youngest when he was pretty little and he loved it. Then I saw this idea, and decided to try something like it. My babies all loved the crinkly noises that plastic makes. I just used an empty wipes package and stuffed it inside the square. It measures approximately 6x6 inches.

Today I'm Thankful For...

very helpful and kind people,
a daughter who says, "Ooooh, Yay!" when I say, "You need to practice the piano."
sunshine,
a husband who loves me, no matter what,
prayer and the peace it brings,
wonderful parents,
pumpkin pie,
and a nice warm house,
just to name a few.

Getting to Know You part 8

Q: What kind of jewelry, if any, are you wearing right now?

A: One ring on each ring finger. My wedding ring and a CTR ring. That's all I usually wear.

Please leave a comment with your own answer to this question!

1 Year, 12 Quilts

I joined a virtual quilting bee!!!

I am SOOOO excited!!!

I've seen lots of people around blogland that were participating in virtual quilting bees and I really wanted to but never could find out about one in time to join in. But then Alissa and Kristen started the Block Party Quilt Along and started a Flickr group to go with it where lots of new quilting bees could be organized.

I jumped right in!!! And now I'm part of the 1 Year, 12 Quilts virtual quilting bee with 11 other amazing ladies!

What is a virtual quilting bee? I had never heard of one until about a year ago when I got busy with blogs. Here is my basic definition. Usually 12 ladies (I have come across a couple of quilting men) make up a quilting bee. Each one is assigned a specific month. When one person's month comes they send enough fabric to make a quilt block to each of the other bee members and they also usually request a certain kind of quilt block. A log cabin block, for example. The members then make that block with the fabric they were sent and then send the completed block back to the person of the month. Then the next month someone else gets to take a turn, and so on. By the end each person will have 12 quilt blocks to make into a whole quilt. Of course, there are all kinds of variations on quilting bees, but that is basically how it all works.

1 Year, 12 Quilts will start in January. My month will be March. I've got a few ideas about what kind of block I want to request, but I don't know about fabric yet. I'm already having fun thinking about it and wondering what kinds of blocks others will choose. I can't wait to start!

Getting to Know You part 7

Q: What did you eat for supper last night?

A: French toast and applesauce.

Please leave a comment with your own answer to this question!

Influences

The Wordfull Wednesday topic for today has given me a lot to think about. This is the assignment from Chocolate on My Cranium: Besides the Savior, Heavenly Father, and your family, list ten of the most important and influential people in your life. Write the reasons why they are and have been so important to you. Some of these will be people you have known, but some might be people you have only heard of or read about." (Mary Ellen Edmunds, Peculiar in a Good Way, pg.23)

This is what I've come up with.

George Bean - I don't remember not knowing George. We grew up together and were in the same school and church classes. George was born with spina bifida. He taught me so much about what a person is able to do regardless of their physical abilities or disabilities. We played together as kids, inside and outside. When we got into Jr. High and high school we danced together, wheelchair and all. We went on a few dates and he was a perfect gentleman, he even opened all my doors. He was a wheelchair racer. He went to college and lived on his own. He married a wonderful girl in the Temple. He had faith. And such a strong spirit. George passed away at age 25 and I have no doubt that he is still working hard and accomplishing great things.

Dwila Perriton - Dwila was my visiting teacher about 8 years ago. She taught me what it really means to be a visiting teacher. She loved me. She helped me whenever she could. She even taught me how to piece quilt blocks. I've been hooked on quilting ever since.

Cecily Dixon - Cecily is my neighbor and my dear friend. She has been a mom for five years longer than I have. It is so nice having someone with just that much more experience right down the street. I can't even begin to tell all that I have learned from Cecily.

Marjorie Pay Hinckley - Sister Hinckley amazes me! Her faith, cheerfulness, wisdom, hard work, and love are just a few of her characteristics that I would like to emulate. I was only able to listen to her speak once in her life, but I loved every minute of it. What a sweet example she is to me.

Fred Rogers - I grew up watching and loving Mr. Rogers Neighborhood. As I got older and learned more about Fred Rogers I loved him even more. Here is one of my favorite quotes from Mr. Rogers that is very fitting for today's topic, "If you could only sense how important you are to the lives of those you meet; how important you can be to the people you may never even dream of. There is something of yourself that you leave at every meeting with another person."

Mrs. Christiansen - I was a daydreamer when I was a kid. And so I took a long time to get things done, especially school work. I had to spend a lot of recesses inside finishing my work. Mrs. Christiansen was my 4th grade teacher. She suggested that I set a timer at home while doing my homework and try to beat it. It worked!!! I still struggle with getting my work done quickly. When it seems to get especially bad, I use the timer trick, and it still works.

Robert McCloskey - My very favorite book as a kid was Make Way For Ducklings. I've loved books and reading since then. And I've always wanted to go to Boston.

Lance Farmer - Bishop Farmer was my bishop when I was in high school. He encouraged and expected me to do good things. He also set a wonderful example of doing what the Lord asks of us, even if it is hard.

Cathy Clark - I gained a lot of confidence in high school. My choir teacher, Mrs. Clark, had a lot to do with that. She was a wonderful choir director but she did so much more. She loved and encouraged her students. She got to know us and gave so much of herself to us.

David A. Bednar - One of my favorite speakers is Elder David A. Bednar. I first got to listen to Elder Bednar when I was attending Ricks College and he was the new President there. I loved listening to him speak then. He wanted the students to really get to know the scriptures and strongly encouraged us to bring them to every devotional. At the beginning of each devotional he would ask to see our scriptures. It was quite inspiring to watch as thousands of students lifted their scriptures into the air. In one particular talk in 1998, he was talking about the future of Ricks College and he compared it to Nephi's experience in being commanded by the Lord to build a ship. President Bednar said, "In essence, then, Nephi was commanded and instructed to build something he had never built before in order to go someplace he had never been before. May I suggest that Nephi's experience in building that ship is a model for us at Ricks College as we prepare for and move into the next century. We, too, must build something we have never built before in order to go someplace we have never been before." I was so impressed when I heard him say this that I wrote that last line on a blank page in the back of my scriptures. This quote immediately came to mind 2 and a half years later when I heard the announcement that Ricks College would become a 4 year university called BYU-Idaho. It also comes to my mind whenever I am faced with new challenges that threaten to overwhelm me. Almost every time I hear Elder Bednar speak I come away feeling so enlightened! I learn so much from him. His last talk in the October General Conference was another one of those. So wonderful!!!

Fun Clipart

I've been finding some fun old pictures lately like the one I posted on Halloween. Here are a few of the sites I've found. Sometimes you have to explore a little to find the vintage pictures, but it's worth the effort.

Karen's Whimsey

Vintage Holiday Crafts

Public Domain Clipart

The Vintage Moth