My Resolution

I wrote the following piece for my community writing group's January meeting. The theme was New Beginnings. 

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My family and I were on vacation in Oregon. It was the summer of 2003 and we were visiting my in-laws before they retired to a new home in a new state. I had five little kids at the time, the youngest was about a month old, if that, and we had all been enjoying our carefree stay at the family farm for the last time. None of this really matters or has anything to do with the rest of this story, but it's ingrained in my mind because I picture where I was every time I think of the phone call. 

One ordinary day on the farm, my dad called. When I look back on that conversation, the first words I think of are my dad saying, "I have cancer." He had been diagnosed with colon cancer and he wanted me to hear it from him. I immediately started bawling which is no surprise because I'm a total daddy's girl. But before you start feeling sorry for me or my dad, let me reassure you - my dad didn't die from colon cancer. In fact, he lived another 13 1/2 years before he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and passed away ten days later. But that is also not the point of this story. I just felt like you might be wondering, so I wanted to share how that all played out. 

So back to the phone call. I don't remember exactly what was said or all the reassurances that were given. But at some point after my dad broke the news about his cancer, he said, "This is the best thing that's ever happened to me! Everyone should have the opportunity to look at their life through this lens." At the time, I disagreed with him, mostly because it felt like the worst thing that had ever happened to me. I couldn't bear the thought of losing my dad. But as I've thought of those words from time to time over the past 20 years, my perspective has shifted. And as I considered them once again last November, I decided on a New Year's resolution: To live like I'm dying.

I'm not dying, by the way, at least not as far as I know. But I'm trying to live my life as if my days were numbered. A little over three weeks into this new year, here is how it's going so far:

• I have a lot of stuff. I'm one of those people that holds onto things just in case I might need it again someday, even though I haven't needed it in, I don't know, three years? Five years? I mean, you never know! Don't get me wrong. I'm not a hoarder. And I'm not even that sentimental, but there are some things that were really useful in their day and it's hard for me to part with them. I've found it's a lot easier to get rid of things if I know of someone who can actually use them right now. Or if I remind myself that I can always buy it again if I ever need it. Or I think of the burden I'd be passing onto my kids if they're the ones who have to go through all of my stuff when I'm gone. There are some things I think they'll be glad I saved, but that's definitely the exception, not the rule. I'm realizing that now is the time to let go. And the more I get rid of, the easier it gets.
• I'm trying to be nicer and more patient with others, especially my family. Nobody's perfect and we all have bad days. So I'm trying to be more forgiving and reassuring; to quickly move on from frustrations and annoyances. Regardless of how much time I have left, life is too short to hold a grudge.
• On that same note, I'm trying to practice kindness. Whether that means taking cookies to my neighbor, paying for the person behind me in line, or simply giving people the benefit of the doubt, I want to be that person. I want to leave people better than I found them. 
• I've become more deliberate about managing my time. Sometimes I ask myself, "If not now, when?" If my days were numbered then there might not be a better time in the future so I need to make good use of today. I'm getting things done, but I'm also prioritizing so that I don't spend time on things that don't really matter. I'm finally going to finish that quilt I started two years ago... :)
• I'm more open to new opportunities and spur-of-the-moment experiences. I want to have fun! I want to live life while I still can! I have a reputation for being a tightwad, but there's a big difference between spending money on stuff I don't need and enjoying unique experiences with my family, like driving for four hours to see one of my daughter's favorite musicals. We've already booked our flight to Utah in March so we can hear my son's music group perform live. I can't wait!  

These are just a few of the ways I'm learning to live like I'm dying. I'm sure the fact that I'm not actually dying limits my experience to some extent, but even so, I appreciate the new perspective it's given me and the positive changes I've made so far as a result of my resolution. I'm looking forward to more progress, insights, and meaningful experiences throughout the year and beyond. After all, to quote my dad, "everyone should have the opportunity to look at their life through this lens."  

Making Peace With February

I don't know what it is about February, but it's my least favorite month. With rare exception, February always and ironically feels like the longest month ever. Plus, I hate to be cold and February is typically the coldest month of the year in my little corner of the world. When I get chilled, I don't want to do anything or go anywhere which makes the days feel even longer. 

Knowing my feelings for February, I decided to challenge myself to three things: 

1) Write a blog post every day (After my long hiatus from regular blogging, that's quite a feat!) 

2) Create one piece of envelope art every day

3) Read at least one chapter from a book each day 

Today is February 28 and guess what? Once I publish this blog post, I will have reached my goals! I can honestly say that having those three goals really helped; surprisingly, it didn't feel like a burden. Now that February is over, I'm hoping to post to my blog somewhat regularly. As for the envelope art, I enjoyed the creative process, but these past few days I've really struggled to come up with people to address envelopes to. So I won't keep that up, but I took pictures of every envelope I designed so it will be easy for me to recreate specific designs when I want to send something fun. And I hope to continue reading at least one chapter a day. In February, I finished reading "Mere Christianity," by C. S. Lewis and "Atomic Habits," by James Clear. I'm now reading "A Grief Observed," by C. S. Lewis which I should finish tomorrow. I just picked up some new books from the library so I have a few choices about what to read next. I love reading and I'm glad to get back into it. It's been a while since I've taken the time.

It's been a good month. Sure, we had our ridiculous cold spell where I just wanted to snuggle up on the couch all day, but I was grateful for the motivation to get up off the couch and do something. I'm just grateful I can finally say that February isn't all that bad. 

One of my favorite envelopes. My friend gave me the dancing stamps so I had to come up with an envelope to send to Sam, our ballroom dancer. He loved it! :)

Envelope Art - Elder Stowell Edition

Since I made a goal to decorate one envelope each day in February, one of the hardest parts is deciding who to address it to each day. Sterling, a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, has become my default. Here are most of the envelopes I've addressed to him so far this month. I like some better than others. As I said the other day, done is better than perfect. Without that mentality I'd be paralyzed and never able to start, let alone finish, each envelope. 

For this group, I can't decide if I like the first or the second one best. On the first one, I love the lettering, the orientation, and the color scheme. The second one was fun to make as it illustrates the journey from our home to his, with a Texas stamp to complete the look. The other envelopes are relatively simple; they are more about the stamp and how it fits with the design. A couple of these ideas were inspired by designs I saw on Pinterest or The Postman's Knock, but most of them I came up with on my own.

I mailed one of these to Sterling today. The rest I've set aside and will mail one at a time over the next several weeks. 

I sure hope Sterling likes mail!! :)

Envelope Art Preview

For the past few years, I've enjoyed making fun envelope designs incorporating fancy lettering and various stamps. Because February is traditionally my least favorite month (how can 28 days feel sooo long??), I challenged myself to decorate one envelope each day this month. I had fun with today's design so I wanted to share. It's not completely finished because I don't know who I'm going to send it to, so I'll have to add the name and address later. 

Like many of my projects, there are things I'd do differently if I had to do it over again, but done is better than perfect so here you go! I'll share a few more of my creations before the month is through.

Family History Fun

Are you a FamilySearch fan? Have you ever tried any of the activities and games available? Here are three of my favorites:

1. Picture My Heritage:

In this one, you can put your face in an old photograph. There are options for men, women, or groups. We prefer the groups and Sadie especially has had fun with this one. Sometimes she'll replace her face for everyone in the photo like this (yes, those are all Sadie's face):

Or sometimes she'll just replace one face like this (this one is my personal favorite - Sadie put her face in for the child grasping the ostrich's neck. So funny!):

Anyway, click here to go to the website. Then select whether you want males, females, or groups. From there you just select the photo you want to put your face in and it will guide you through the process. Fun stuff!

2. Geneopardy

This game isn't through FamilySearch, but it will ask you to sign into your FamilySearch account because it uses your family history to ask you questions. So you get to know more about your history and what might have been going on in the lives of your ancestors. 

Make it a contest. Play with your siblings or kids and see who can get the most right. You can also choose how many generations you want the game to draw from. I've realized how little I know about the 5th generation and beyond.

3. Ancestor Challenge

If you click here, you'll go to a page full of various activities. Scroll down and click on Ancestor Challenge. This activity shows you ten photographs of ancestors, one at a time. For each photo, it will give you four names from your family history and you have to select the name of the person in the photo. Keep playing until you get 10 out of 10.

(Feel free to try out the other games and activites!)

Bonus: Relative Finder

I'm including this last one just for fun. It's not really a game, but when you sign in with your FamilySearch account, it will show you how you are related to all sorts of prominent people. Whether it's sports figures, presidents of the US, famous authors, or any number of other well-knowns, it's fun to see your connections. 

Have fun. :) And if you make any cool discoveries, I'd love to hear about it!

Saving the Cake

Spencer and Grace were married in November. The cake was ordered a couple months in advance and it was our job to pick it up the morning of the wedding and deliver it to the home where the family celebration was to be held. Spencer told me he was excited to see the cake. He had given the bakery creative license and couldn't wait to see what they came up with. 

You can imagine my surprise when I looked in the box and found a plain white cake base. I told the baker about my conversation with Spencer and how he was expecting them to decorate the cake. She understandably looked horrified. It turns out it was just a big misunderstanding. Spencer thought he'd given them creative license, paid a deposit, and would pay the rest later. The bakery notes said he ordered a plain white base and had paid in-full up front. At this point, it didn't really matter who was right. I had a plain white cake base and limited time to drop it off and get to the ceremony. 

Several ideas popped into my mind during the drive and by the time we arrived, I had a plan. Grace loves poinsettias so we had those for some of the table decorations. They had curly gold things in them so we were able to use those as well as the flowers. I had some pretty gold ribbon with me, again for the tables, that we incorporated as well. Fortunately, the family whose home we were using knew that the sap of the poinsettias contains harmful chemicals so they advised us to wrap the poinsettia stems in plastic wrap so they wouldn't leak on the cake. Good save! 

Here's the finished cake. Not bad for a 10 minute decoration job, if I do say so myself. While Spencer eventually told Grace what happened, she had no idea during the celebration itself. Fortunately, this is the worst thing that happened all day and it wasn't even that bad. Whew!

 

Sunflowers

Last summer, one of the farmers up the road planted sunflowers all along the street edge of his field. There must have been a quarter mile of sunflowers. It was such a happy sight every time we headed north.

As we drove along the main road the other day, we were excited to see that the sunflowers are back. No blooms yet, but it won't be long! :)

Pixelated Ponys

What can you make with a shoebox full of pony beads, some wooden skewers and floral foam blocks? Pixelated pony bead art! Soren and Sadie made good use of their supplies this afternoon as they put them together to make these fun pictures. Sadie sketched out her design on graph paper first. Soren relied more on trial and error. I think they both did a great job and had a lot of fun in the process. 

Soren's mushroom and Sadie's emoji

Be Mine, Valentine

While the drawing for this clever Valentine is my own, the cute idea is not. I love turtles so when I saw this idea on the internet, I knew it would be the perfect valentine for my kids.

Happy Valentine's Day! XO

The Lego Files

I know it doesn't look like much, but welcome to the Lego files. (Maybe I'll replace this with a better photo someday or maybe I won't. You get the idea.)

We have a LOT of Legos. Many of them are various colored bricks in buckets that the kids can use to build whatever their imaginations come up with. It was the sets that had me baffled. What do you do with the sets? The boys wanted to display them, fully assembled, on shelves, but we ran out of shelf space long ago. So we disassembled many of them and put them in big ziplock bags and stored them in tubs, but the tubs took up so much space and then it was "out of sight, out of mind" so they were basically forgotten.

One day, after the kids got some free pizza "kits" as a prize from our local library, I was looking at the small pizza boxes they came in and had an aha moment.

I ordered a bunch of 10" craft "pizza" boxes and a 9-cube storage shelf and put the kids to work. Each lego set was broken down and put in boxes. The biggest sets fill up two boxes each while some boxes contain 2 or 3 of the smaller sets. We labeled each box and indicated who it belongs to and stacked them up on the shelves. Now it's easy for the kids to find specific sets, plus they get the fun of rebuilding them whenever they want. The "Lego Room" stays cleaner and mom stays happier. It's a win/win. :)

Friends on Display

About half of our Christmas card wall.

I love our Christmas card display. In the weeks after Thanksgiving, it makes me so happy to check the mail and clip all the incoming Christmas cards to a wire that stretches the width of our dining room. While I don't really keep track from year to year, it feels like we got more cards than ever in 2016. Rather than overlapping and trying to fit them all in a row, this year after a row was full we just clipped additional cards in new rows beneath the first so they are all visible at once.

I know it's February, but I'm not ready to take the cards down quite yet. These are family and friends - most of them far away - and I like having them close to remind me how blessed we are!

A Soft Bed for Jesus

For the past three weeks we've drawn names every Sunday. During the week we do nice things for our person. For each act of service, we get to put a straw in our popsicle-stick manger. We're trying to make a soft bed for the baby Jesus before Christmas.

Some of us are doing really well (some not so much, like...um...whoever has my name). Some of us are excited to find opportunities to secretly do something without getting caught while others ask "Who has my name?" when they have a job to do, hoping their someone will volunteer. :) As you can see, it's far from perfect. But overall, it's a positive alternative to the gimme attitude that all-too-often prevails at this time of year.

And our little makeshift manger is filling right up!

Great Ideas

Sadie and Soren are pretty good little friends. They love playing games together. Sadie is a willing lego partner and even gets in on Nerf wars. They were sitting together the other day, apparently scheming and laughing their little heads off. Then Sadie disappeared for a minute or two. I should have known they were up to something...

Apparently this was Soren's idea and Sadie decided it was a good one. She's been asking when she can start shaving. Do you think it's time?? 

Give me strength. ;)

Sick Day

Sterling was feeling kind of crummy the other day. Something's been going around and while there's no fever or major symptoms, it just makes you want to curl up and stay home. So when the school nurse called, I didn't hesitate to bring Sterling home for the afternoon.

I thought maybe he'd snuggle in and watch a movie or read a book. Maybe he'd take a nap.

Nope. Not Sterling.

Something happens to this kid when the demands of school ease up for a bit. His creativity kicks in and he starts exploring new ideas. I could hear him upstairs playing with Legos and at one point I thought I even heard him playing the violin. I was impressed. Give Sterling a little down time and he'll entertain himself for hours.

The video below shows the result of his "sick day." Not bad for a couple hours of free time.



I should really keep him home from school more often... ;)

Before and After: My Dining Room Table

We have two dining room tables. When Sam and Savannah were at home, we used both tables, end to end, which comfortably fit all eight of us. Once Savannah left, we were able to go down to one table with the center leaf extended to make a square.

We weren't sure what to do with the table we weren't using anymore. The top of it was in pretty rough shape because our dining room is Grand Central Station around here. (Because we don't have an eat-in kitchen, our dining room table is used for every meal as well as homework, games, etc.) I had seen some fun stenciling ideas on the internet and my wheels started turning.  I figured I had nothing to lose so I decided to sand down the top and try out an idea.

This shows the contrast between the original table and what was underneath.

All sanded and ready to go!

December 24th was unseasonably warm so I was able to do all the sanding then. Unfortunately, the weather turned pretty cold after that so the newly sanded table sat in the garage for the next several weeks. (I'm a big wimp when it comes to the cold!) Last week, Jeff hauled the table in the house and set it up in the basement so I could finish my project.

I used some old vinyl colors I never use and cut out huge stencils. Then I went to work with navy and white stain. I only have a couple of pictures of the process. In the first one, you can see why I had a hard time knowing if the blue was dark enough. The poor lighting and the contrast between the funky stencil colors and the navy stain was very misleading. I believe I added one more coat of blue stain after this picture was taken. Once the stencil was removed, the color really popped!

Almost done. All I had left at this point was to finish the white stripes on the right side and fill in a few more letters (University) with white.

And, as of about 9:00 this morning, here's the all-but-finished project. The only thing left to do is to finish it off with a few coats of polyurethane. Jeff is planning to do that this weekend.

A close up. I love how it turned out! 

Overall, the project was harder than I expected and I learned a lot along the way, but I love our one-of-a-kind table. Can you tell we love our BYU? :)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Isn't this the cutest? I found the idea here. I don't have a color printer so I did the next best thing - I put a piece of tracing paper over my computer screen and traced Yoda's outline and then colored it in. Yes, for real. Ha ha!! Desperate times (i.e., procrastination) call for desperate measures. My kids loved their Valentines, but Sterling informed me that Yoda's lightsaber glow stick is supposed to be green. Who knew? :)

I hope you had a great day!
XO

{Below, enjoy a little Valentine's Day fun from Studio C.}

The 14-Day Challenge

Are you up for a challenge? How about one that will bring sunshine and smiles to those around you? I'm pretty confident it will fill you with sunshine and smiles, too. It's a win/win!

A Missionary's Pocket

Look what Sam sent me for Christmas --

Isn't that just the greatest gift for a Missionary Mum? My heart melted as soon as I saw it. And as if that missionary badge wasn't enough, that pocket was stuffed full of all the typical things you'd find in a missionary's pocket...

Yep, a Missionary Handbook and a collection of pass-along cards. Isn't that the sweetest gift? I love it so much! And I sure love that cute missionary who sent it to me. :)

A Favorite Quote: Creation

Imagesource

"God left the world unfinished for man to work his skill upon. He left the electricity in the cloud, the oil in the earth. He left the rivers unbridged and the forests uncut, and the cities unbuilt. God gives to man the challenge of raw materials, not the ease and comfort of finished things. He leaves the pictures unpainted and the music unsung and the problems unsolved, that man might know the joys and glories of creation." --Thomas S. Monson

My sister-in-law sent me that quote a few weeks ago and I can't stop thinking about it. It goes right along with my renewed determination to create a clean*, happy, safe home for my family and to have my family take a large part in doing so. I love watching the transformation of a room from cluttered to clean and then keeping it that way. I have a completely different attitude about keeping our house clean and tidy. It's a pleasure, not a chore. I am doing less work and getting better results. I am much less stressed and I don't feel so overwhelmed. My only regret is that I didn't catch this vision years ago!

Of course, this also applies to other things as well, from our daily meals to other projects I have in the works. I'm realizing (remembering) how much I enjoy making things and what a blessing it is to create things for the benefit of my family. I'm also teaching them how to create things that benefit others. :)

*In keeping our house clean I have found help from several sources, but one that has given me a lot of motivation recently is flylady.net. I love her philosophy and her wisdom. While I don't follow everything she says, I have implemented many things over the past six weeks or so and it has made a big difference. The book Sink Reflections, which I found at the library, explains her system. The information is also on her website, but I found the book quite helpful in laying out her program and how it all works together.

My Best Idea Ever: The Boredom Jar

I knew we were in trouble last Friday, our first full day of Christmas break, when one of my kids announced for the third time, "I'm bored!"

I told him the "B" word wasn't allowed and that I was going to fill a jar with jobs that needed to be done so that whenever anyone announced they were bored, they'd have to choose a job from the jar and do it. No exceptions.

The next day, this idea took off and morphed into my best idea ever! Here's what we ended up with:

I started writing any household jobs I could think of on slips of paper. To keep it interesting, I also included a few fun things. I put all the slips in a Christmas tin I found in my craft supplies.

Then I told my kids the rules:
1. If you tell me you're bored, you have to draw a slip from the tin and do what it says. There will be no compensation.
2. If you want to willingly draw a slip of paper from the tin, you HAVE to do what it says, but then you will be rewarded with either $1 or 10 minutes on the electronic device of your choice (tablet, wii, computer, etc.), whichever you choose.

The slips were completely covering the bottom of the tin
when we started! They quickly went through them all. :)

I had no idea how this little experiment would take off and force me to get pretty creative to come up with enough jobs for these kids! They went crazy and drew one slip after another. They were so excited to earn time or money and my house has never been cleaner!!! :) They hardly complained even though some of the jobs were less desirable than others.

Today was day 3 and the kids were as motivated as ever. My house looks great and my kids are happy. :)

Sadie - cleaning the neglected parts of the table and chairs

 Here are some of the jobs they've done around the house:

• Wash walls in the laundry room
• Sweep the stairs
• Wipe down all kitchen cabinets and drawers
• Wipe down all kitchen appliances
• Wash the stairway walls
• Clean shelves in the refrigerator
• Wash both sides of entry doors
• Vacuum upstairs (or down)
• Clean outside of toaster and empty crumb tray
• Clean knobs on oven and wipe down display
• Clean out the backpack cupboard
• Clean inside car windows
• Etc.

Here are a few of the fun things I included (yes, they still get paid for these):

• Eat a piece of candy out of mom's office
• Sing to your favorite BYU Vocal Point song
• Drink a tall glass of water
• Color a picture
• Read 20 minutes of Christmas stories
• Play "Just Dance" on the wii (2 songs)
• Write Sam
• Etc.

Like I said, I'm having to get creative to come up with enough jobs, but it's forcing me to see all those little one-time jobs that never get done. And my kids are learning that most jobs around the house can be completed in 15 minutes or less. They're not begging for more computer time because they're earning it!

I'm calling this a win/win and hoping it retains its appeal! By the way, I haven't heard the "B" word in three days. Yes!

*I think it's important to note that I broke down larger jobs into manageable chunks and put each part of the job on its own slip of paper. For example, cleaning the inside of the refrigerator became 4 different jobs: Remove contents, clean out and replace contents in the 1) Meat and Veggie drawers 2) Door compartments 3) Top two shelves and 4) Bottom two shelves.