Freedom

I have always been grateful to live in America. But I really didnt understand the cost of that freedom until June of 2000. I was with my family in Europe, having a fun vacation. I knew our next stop was the d-day beaches, but I didn't really understand the significance of that. The next few days were amazing. We saw the beaches that the American soldiers approached Europe on. We saw the mines-now inactive that we're there to stop anyone from attempting to come that way. We saw the huge bunkers with guns where the German soldiers shot at our soldiers from. We saw the craters in the ground- now covered with grass, where bombs were dropped. And we saw the old men, all with some part of their old uniform, with tears streaming down their faces as they remembered the first time they were at this beach and their friends who died that day. Then we saw the cemetery, with rows and rows and rows of white crosses and stars. We saw the names of all the soldiers who died there so that we could be free. I saw the look on my brother's face and understood why he was in the Army. Because our country still needs to fight for freedom, an we need brave men and women to do that fighting. Thank you to all who have served and still serve!

Appreciation

I really enjoy doing things for people. I like making cookies for people (especially my hubby). I like sewing for people. I like doing things that make people smile. Because I enjoy doing things for people, I do it a lot. I've noticed though that while I do a lot for people, much of it is unappreciated. Some of that is completely reasonable. I shouldn't expect my kids and husband to say thank you for everything I do for them. I shouldn't expect my boss to say thanks for every pair of pants I hem. HOWEVER- if I go out of my way to drive someone somewhere, I think that expecting a "Thank you" is completely reasonable. If I go help someone who locked their keys out of their car, I like to be told "Thank You". And if I spend hours making a quilt for someone...can you guess what I'd expect? If I take 2 hours out of my day to go visit someone I don't want 20 minutes of that visit to be spent telling me I don't visit enough. If I care enough to buy or make you a Christmas present it would be nice to know that you care enough to visit me or at least call me a time or two before the next Christmas... Just to clarify: I don't expect anyone to gush about how wonderful I am, (I know I have many faults). I don't expect long elaborate thank you notes with beautiful pictures of the gifts I give in your home. Just tell me thank you and mean it. Show me that you appreciate me. Ask me how I'm doing when I drive for 40 minutes to come visit you. Or I'll assume I'm not appreciated or needed in your life and will stop bothering you by doing things for you. BTW, this is not aimed at any specific person. I just needed to air my general frustration and remind people not to take others for granted.

Urgent Care

One of my pet peeves is misuse of the Emergency Room. Especially by people who aren't paying the bill themselves, so they aren't concerned by the cost. To help appease my frustration I will give examples of when an Emergency Room visit is appropriate: If you think your life is in danger, Part of your body may be permanently damaged, You have a new onset of SEVERE pain, Severe breathing problems Chest Pain Major bleeding Sudden unexplained loss of consciousness Referred to ER by Primary Care Physician If none of those is the case, try Urgent Care. Urgent Care clinics are appropriate for: Minor burns or injuries Broken bones needing x-rays Sprains and strains Earaches Minor allergic reactions Fever Flu-like symptoms Rash or other skin irritations Mild asthma attacks Animal or insect bites Minor broken bones Minor cuts and lacerations Many of the above are also able to be treated by a Primary Care Physician. Our PCP is excellent and can treat anything listed in the Urgent Care List. The doctor has even stayed late to pull a crayon out of my son's nose so we wouldn't have to go to Urgent Care. The co-pays for the Emergency room is typically significantly more than Urgent Care and Urgent Care is only a little more than a normal Dr Visit. Even if you aren't paying for it, please keep in mind that your choices of care affect premiums and taxes of those who are paying. Thanks for reading my rant.

Marriage advice

One of my friends got married today! She looked so beautiful and happy. I'm really excited that she gets to start the wonderful adventure called marriage. While driving to the reception I thought of all the advice people gave me before I got married and what advice I would want to share. My first advice is: if you're arguing about something and it is near or after your bedtime, agree to disagree until morning, and go to bed together. Talk about it in the morning, if it hasn't resolved itself during the night. 2nd- its ok to disagree. Just because you're a couple doesn't mean you will agree on everything. And that's good. It adds variety, and gives you things to talk about. 3rd- have a safe word. This is a word you can say that let's your spouse know you're getting frustrated and something needs to change. You can use it at social functions for help getting out of an awkward situation, if you're arguing and getting upset, or if you're just feeling overwhelmed, anytime really. 4th- don't hint. Hints just don't work, especially for the majority of guys. I realized that hints didn't work, and I was frustrated because I like surprises, but I want more of them at certain times. So now i'll have this conversation with Karl: karl, i have a hint for you- aren't those beautiful flowers? I would love some flowers like that sometime soon. Did you get the hint? Sounds stupid, but I get flowers and it doesn't require Karl being a mind reader. 5th- communicate. Talk about everything. Don't assume! 6th- learn your love languages and your spouse and act accordingly. 7th- and most important- make your marriage yours. Ignore all the advice people give you that doesn't work for you. Forget about past relationships and old ideas. Do things the way that is best for you as a couple. 8th- love each other and pray together. Good luck- anyone else have advice?

My Awesome Husband

I have an awesome husband! A number of things have happened lately to help solidify this in my head, it's already solid in my heart. Some things I love about Karl-in no particular order: His hugs His love of learning His constant need to improve himself His kisses His smile The many inside jokes we share How he loves to hold me as we go to sleep His determination to provide well for our family His testimony of the gospel and his love for Christ His mustache The way he proposed His love for our boys His faith in me and my abilities His awe of me The way he walks up behind me and hugs me while I'm doing dishes His warm legs he lets me put my cold feet against while we sleep The way he says "oooh, ahhhh" when I show him a finished project How he tries to record or rent movies he thinks I'll like The fact that he goes to see movies he's not interested in because he knows I want to. The beautiful ring he gave me almost 9 years ago He brings me flowers That he knows how to encourage me to be the best me He loves me Because I just love him

UFOs

Dave's Bernina is having a challenge to finish UFOs. Those are those Unfinished Objects laying around your sewing area, in totes and under other projects, waiting to be completed. For every UFO you finish you post a picture on their fb page and get entered into a drawing. This is what I have so far: This darling monkey was torn last year and needed stitched up:

This fleece jacket was started many years ago. I bought and cut out jackets for Karl, Kaleb and I (since that is all the members our family had at the time). The other 2 got finished pretty quickly, but this one has been hanging around since then.

After I made my brother Mike and his wife Niki a quilt I had a lot of leftover polka dot fabric. I cut it into squares and started sewing them into another quilt. When I got the pieces back out I changed the plan for one quilt into 2 and made these 2 quilts:(They are for sale if anyone is interested)

A few years ago I started this wreath quilt, and finished it last month.

Last Christmas I got energetic and started 3 more wreath quilt wall hangings,even though the first wasn't done. (These are for sale too)

Christmas Quilts

For the last 6 years I've made Christmas quilts for my siblings. Our family rotates names, so I made one per family and have now done all 6. This year I had my brother Von and his wife Emily. As with each sibling I've tried to make them a quilt that would be something they would enjoy, not just because it was a quilt made for them, but because it was in the color, or style, or pattern that they enjoyed, or some other meaning behind it.

Emily has a definite plan in mind for how she decorates her home. She told me once that her plan for their bedroom was to decorate in colors that would match any quilt they received. This plan includes white walls and black metal accessories. She also has Red candles to add a little color.
So I made their quilt Black, red and white.

One day Emily and I were discussing quilts and she asked why all quilts were one large pattern made from a bunch of smaller patterns. I told her that that type of pattern is just easier to make. She and Von also like Celtic stuff. So when I saw this pattern I knew it was just right for them.
Here is the final result:




They were absolutely thrilled with the quilt. They called me after they opened it and told me for at least 10 minutes how much they loved it. One of Emily's comments was that she loved that I remembered that she liked one pattern vs a bunch of little ones.

There are few things better than giving a gift you know will be loved and cherished for years to come.

Experiment

About 2 weeks ago I had parent teacher conference with Kaleb's teacher. She mentioned that he was having a hard time staying focused in class and got distracted from his work easily. That was the day after a study came out suggesting that tv shows like Spongebob can affect attention span. I decided to do my own experiment. Kaleb had been watching a lot of cartoons, not Spongebob (because I hate that show), things like Transformers, Iron Man and Voltron Force.
I talked to kaleb and told him that the shows he was watching were moving too fast and that it was making his brain have a hard time focusing. So we made a new rule that he could only watch 1 fast show each day.
I thought he would have a hard time, but he has been very good at following the rule, and most days he chose to watch PBS shows instead, or played outside, which he wasn't interested in before.
Yesterday I asked Kaleb's teacher if she had seen a difference. She said she was amazed at how much better kaleb was staying on task, and he was learning much better. She also said he had a better attitude than he had before.
So, our experiment was a success. Kaleb does better in school when he doesn't watch cartoons.

Fb post

This post is going around on fb and i really don't like it.

Don't like gay marriages? Don't get one.. Don't like cigarettes? Don't smoke them.. Don't like abortions? Don't get one.. Don't like sex? Don't have it.. Don't like drugs? Don't do them.. Don't like porn? Don't watch it.. Don't like alcohol? Don't drink it.. Don't like guns? Don't buy one.. Don't like your rights taken away??? Don't take away someone elses!! Repost if you agree.

The problem I have with this is that when others do these things they are taking away my rights and/or safety. For example:
If someone smokes around me, I get the 2nd hand smoke, which is worse than me actually smoking.
If someone gets an abortion, they are killing a child. I would be upset about the murder of any child, regardless of that child's age.
If someone does drugs or drinks alcohol, they are impairing their judgement, which could put others in danger.
Because people watch porn, it is available very readily and even though I try not to pay attention, I still see some.

I don't think it is right for the rights of the majority to be taken away because of the minority. The majority are just too scared they will offend someone so they don't speak up for their rights and it annoys me.

Bragging

I think it's time to brag about my kids a little.
Eddie is learning sign language. His favorite words are please, more and candy. He is also learning to speak, he can say Mom, Da, Mo (More), Go, and he can almost say done.
Von is learning his colors. He has down blue, yellow, green, white, black and brown. He still has some struggles with red and orange.
Kaleb memorized his first scripture. He can quote, "I will go and do the things the Lord has commanded". Every time he says it he gets a little more clear.

I'm so happy I'm their mom.

31%

I added up our debt reduction so far for the year and we are at 31%. Wow. It's amazing what you can do when you put your mind to it.

Debt Reduction- We did it!

At the beginning of this year Karl and I decided to reduce our debt, and we set a goal for how much we would pay. It seemed like a pretty high goal, and I didn't really think we could do it, but we did. As of today we are at 117% of our goal amount.
We have set another goal for next year, that will stretch us more than this one did. It is 1 1/2 times our goal from last year. Can we do it? I think so. Will it stretch us? Definitely.

31 Years

Today is my 31st birthday. 2 years ago I wrote a list of things I had accomplished up to that point in my life. I updated it today. The new things, and updated things have a *.
These are some of the things I have done:
-Graduated with Honors from Provo High School
-Graduated from Ricks College with an Associates degree in Fashion Design and Production, with an emphasis in construction.
-Graduated from Utah Valley University with a Bachelor of Science in Behavioral Science with an emphasis in Social Work with Honors.*
-Shared the gospel with many people, including 15 who chose to be baptized.
-Taught in the nursery for more than 4 years
-Been the Secretary in my Ward Relief Society* for 20 months
-Visited or participated in the dedication of at least 23 temples
-Done endowments for 63 women*
-Visited at least 29 states
-Visited or lived in 10 countries
-Maintained 31 years of being sober and drug free*
-Become a member of Golden Key International Honor Society
-Graduated from UVSC with an Associate of Arts in Behavioral Science with an emphasis in Social Work, and Honors.
-Supported my husband through an Associates and a Bachelors degree.
-Supported my husband through a Masters Degree.
-Become a home-owner
-Read my scriptures every day for 14 years*
-Lived to be the kind of person who helps others feel like they are worth knowing.
-Been Sealed in the temple to the man of my dreams, and stayed happy with him for more than 7 years*
-Given birth to 3 wonderful sons and done my best to be a great mother to them.*
There are other things I've done this year that have been worth mentioning, but it's hard to quanitfy them. Some of these are:
-Raising a boy with Autism,
-Raising a boy who had a hard time learning to talk
-Supporting my parents while they're on their mission,
-Supporting my husband through all he wants to do
-Have a clean house most of the time.
-Reducing our family debt.
-Being a good friend whenever possible,
-Teaching my oldest son to eat protein,
-Learning how to fix things myself.
-Learning to coupon.
-Read many books.
-Interned at DCFS.
-Strengthened my testimony.
These are a few of the things I've done, but the list is in no way complete, and I hope to add to it for the next 72+ years on earth.

Day 22

I'm grateful for shoes. Especially Dansko shoes. They make my feet happy.

Day 21

I'm grateful for answers to prayers.

Day 20

I'm grateful to have family nearby to celebrate special days with.

Day 19

I'm grateful for Valium and Nitrous. The dentist visits were much more pleasant because of them.

Day 18

I'm grateful for the Priesthood.

Day 17

I'm grateful for hot showers.

Day 16

I'm grateful for my friends who let me be a part of their lives.