Taa Daah!

I now have the cleanest chicken coop in the county! I also (for completely unrelated reasons) have a very shiny clean, fresh smelling Wonder-Dog. Also, for reasons that are TOTALLY related to having to clean out the chicken coop by myself, with my weak, totally out of shape muscles--I finally sewed myself the nice heat pack filled with wheat that you heat up in the microwave (and my house totally smells like overtoasted wheat). Yay me! The back and shoulder muscles should stop protesting eventually.

BREAKING NEWS!

My youngest sister, Rachael, just received her Mission Call (finally!)....(drumroll...) She will be serving in the Salt Lake, Temple Square Mission (English Speaking)! She will enter the Missionary Training Center on August 1st!

She will be SO AWESOME! I am super excited for her!

Day 27: Original Photo of the city you live in

Yep, once again a nice idea...which has been struck down by the computer gremlins! I have some really cute pictures of my town, which, sadly are in my computer--the one that is sitting over there on my desk, flashing the same darn boot up screen it has shown for the last 36 hours. The computer guy is pending.

So, sorry--maybe later!

1

Day 26: Your Dream Wedding

Whoo-eee!

This is asking for a WHOLE LOT more information than anybody really has time for! For those of you who don't know, decorating weddings is one of my main hobbies, so I have LOTS of opinions!

The single most important part of any wedding is marrying the right person, in the right place, at the right time, for the right reasons. The best place in the world to get married is the temple--I got married in the Temple in Washington, DC.

My opinions on wedding receptions have changed a lot (mainly as I have helped with/attended dozens of them!)

I really think the reception is a party the Bride & Groom (and maybe their parents) host to thank all of the people who have loved, taught, supported (and not killed) them as they grew up!

Which means that it should have a LOT less emphasis on "being the most beautiful day of my life" and a LOT MORE emphasis on being fun, entertaining, and a true reflection of what is important the the main participants.

If people spend less time/money doing what Martha Stewart says is "proper" and more time/money following their hearts, a better time will be had by all!

There are a few ideas that I LOVE and want to share:

• It is perfectly fine NOT to have "attendants". Saves a lot of stress and money, too.
• Or, you can just give them a color swatch, and let them find a dress they can wear again!
• Instead of having everyone watch the bride and her father dance, one couple opened the daddy/daughter dance up to all of the fathers and daughters. It made it so sweet and meaningful--for everyone, not just a few people. You can do this with other dances, too.
• BigGirl always wanted to be a flowergirl, but none of her aquaintances needed one (Temple Weddings), so she plans to have wreaths, tutus and tiny bouquets for ANY little girls who want them at her wedding!
• There are some really cute ideas for footwear, boutonnieres, cakes and everything else you can think of online. Just remember that making it fit your personal style is WAY more important than what Martha says!

PS--the average cost of a wedding in this country is $27,000! That is RIDICULOUS! No one should spend that much money on a party--let go of some of the perfection and spend the money on a house, a car or starting your new life together without any debt!

Day 25: Put your iPod on shuffle, first 10 songs

Ironic!

I got an ipod for Christmas, because I begged my sweet hubby to give me the really nice Nano he found IN A SWAMP he was working on 2 years ago (we honestly tried to find the owner, no luck), and since he is a technophobe and never used it, I wanted it.

HOWEVER

I have loaded it with awesome cheap(-ie free)stuff  (Conference Talks, Scriptures, University Lectures,etc) but the only music it has is what the previous owner loaded. And that is (for the most part) pretty heinous. It only has the few Brad Paisley songs that I don't like, LOTS of Toby Keith and oodles of Eminem. Hurk.  I am too cheap to pay for music just now, so I just use it like a portable talk container, not a music player.

So, if you want a more accurate sample of MUSIC, the first 10 (randomly shuffled) songs from my PLAYLIST are:

1. Misguided Angel by Cowboy Junkies
2. What am I Doing Here by The Moody Blues
3. Our House by Madness
4. Indiana Wants Me by R. Dean Taylor
5. Drive by The Cars
6. Jar of Hearts by Christian Perri
7. Down by the Water by The Decembrists
8. I Feel Love by Donna Summer
9. Lovin' in My Baby's Eyes by Taj Mahal
10. Life Will Go On by Chris Isaak

*AND--If you have music taste that is as weird and random as mine, you are welcome to listen to my playlist--just to your right, over there! (It's the green box).  Enjoy!  Or not, as you wish!

Also, Thanks Dedra, for helping me not hate Blogger quite as much!  (Look, no frothing or spit on the monitor--things ARE improving!)

Day 24: Something you’ve learned

I have learned lots of things: I REALLY hate the new Blogger. How to can food, especially jalapenos. Calligraphy. How to plan weddings. Really well. That I can do hard things. That people matter the most. That I would rather spend my money on experiences for my children than on "stuff" for them.

Blogger has "improved", and I really HATE it. I liked how it was, I could get around in it, and now I can't, and even more #$%&*(! is the fact that it now screws up all of my spacing, and won't leave room between paragraphs. So the stupid spacing on the last couple of posts--not my fault!

A Grand Day Out

I didn't have time to post today, because we had a field trip. To the costume museum. At Kent State University, which has one of the top 3 fashion design programs in the country. AHHHH. So good! BigGirl and I went together, with the 4-H Food, Clothing & Sewing Board members (she is on the FCS board). SmallDaughter went and had an awesome playdate with her friend Hannah, for which I am amazed and grateful to Hannah's mommy! We saw displays of Resist Dye technique from around the world, Civil War Fashions, Swimsuits of the 1800's, and a really cool designer who is one of the instructors in the Fashion School. She had some amazing wedding dresses, which (of course) I loved. The displays are completely changed every year, so none of them were the ones I saw on my last visit. LargeBoy has left for his Utah trip, so he is somewhere in the middle of the flat states tonight. I also talked to my beloved brother for his birthday! No matter how old you get, N, remember--I am always that much older than you are!

Day 23: Favorite Movie

Haven't I done this already? Twice? So, instead, I will just post pictures of the kittens!

Tired mama feeds her babies. The black ones tend to blend into mom, so it looks like she has 6 or 7 legs, and the orange ones blend into each other!

They really don't have freaky demon eyes--it's just my camera.

Day 22: What’s in your purse?

OK, I'm Back!

Whew! Some great partying was had, some resting and recuperating, and now I am finding my way back to my groove!

SO, the official topic is "What's in your purse?"

For a long time, I didn't even carry a purse, because of my tendency to have a huge bag of EVERYTHING. Now I have a not hugely big purse, that has a lot of nice pockets, and holds the weird stuff I need to have with me quite well.



So--starting at the top, going left to right:
A Pass-along card (you can find out more, here)
Our Handicapped Parking Tag (which I ONLY use when I have SmallDaughter and the WonderDog with me--and I get IRATE about people who abuse handicapped spots!)
Stamps

Feminine Supplies, Allergy Pills, Bandaids
Breathmints
Pill Bottle (with everything I might need--SmallDaughters Prescriptions, Aleve, Melatonin, Tylenol, etc.)
Lysterine Breath Strips--both for me, and for the ultimate punishment for SmallDaughter, "hotmouth" which is reserved for biting or for taking off her seatbelt in a moving car!
"Lip-Junk"--Clinique Lipstick (I have been spoiled and can no longer use cheap lipstick!), and a "Mounds" flavored lip balm that was a Christmas gift from LargeBoy. (I use the "chappie" more than the "lippy")
SmallDaughter's medication log for doctor visits

SmallDaughter's Tape Supply--the cheapest tape Walmart carries, which is the very best kind for taping down sleeves, gloves and cuffs, and cloth medical tape, for apply directly over the wounds, to slow down the picking (and hopefully allow them to heal).
JoAnn Fabric, Pet Supplies Plus & Sam's Club Coupons.
My FlyLady Wallet LOVE! (So thin, so well organized!)
GPS--which I HAVE to have, since my green minivan only has working dashboard gauges occasionally--so the GPS works as my speedometer.
Checkbook (yes, I still use it--not often, but enough!)

Supply of rewards and treats for WonderDog, as well as "emergency poop cleaning supplies" for both of them! (truly, the WonderDog has only had 2 accidents in 5 years, and both were my fault for not letting him "go" before we left the house!)
Pens & Pencils--for list making, calendaring and entertaining LargeBoy who is perfectly happy with a pencil, paper and being left alone!
Lotion (always in a yummy "food scent"--I really dislike most flowery scents, but I LOVE the food ones. Current favorite is Bath & Body Works "Lemon Vanilla" which smells like a lemon cake!) YUM!

There should also be a package of kleenex in there, but poor BigGirl's sinus junk has used them all up!

Also, there is almost always 1 or 2 books--and this purse can even hold a hardback nicely!
I would also like to express my gratitude to this post for making me clean out my purse!

Please stand by...

We are having too much fun at our house to waste any precious minutes blogging. In fact, I barely have any for sleeping! I should be back in a few days...until then, look around and enjoy the precious faces of the people you love!

Day 21: Favorite Picture of yourself ALL TIME Why?

I don't have access to it right now.

So instead, I will quickly review "Veggie Tales Live" which I attended with SmallDaughter. We watch a LOT of Veggie Tales at our house. We have since BigGirl was very small. I really like that they stay amazingly true to the biblical accounts of the stories they tell, that they are funny and clever, and (most of all) that I can listen to the music over, and over, and over without puking.

SmallDaughter has been entranced for a while now with the "Live" Veggie Tales on Netflix--she invariable chooses it, when given a choice. So I had decided that if they ever brought a live show to town, I would take her.

Several years ago, I attended a "Sesame Street Live", and while there are some similarities, there were some remarkable differences. It was MUCH less commercial. Yes, there was stuff there to buy, but the emphasis was totally different (at SSL, they stopped the show to sell giant Elmo balloons $20 each). At VTL, they gave a short, (and still peppy) presentation for sponsoring a child through World Vision.

SmallDaughter was so excited when Bob walked out I thought her head might explode. She waved at the characters repeatedly, and kept trying to whistle (with fingers, like at a stadium!) at them. She loved it so much...we will definitely do it again, the next time they are in town.

FYI for married ladies

There are a couple of new posts up over at "Modest Hottie" (aka, Good Girls Do--and Do it WELL!) Just Sayin'.

Day 20: Nicknames

There has NEVER been a nickname for me that stuck. I think part of it is having a 5 letter name, that does not rhyme with ANYTHING (The "Name Game" DOES NOT WORK with my name.) So, not much in the nickname department.

Day 19: Something you miss

My Mom.

Also, my
grandmas.

At times I really miss my Subaru Impreza wagon (but not as much as I miss my mom!).

Day 18: Favorite Place to Eat

Sadly, my very favorite restaurant of all time, "The Italian Oven" went out of business years ago. And, not just my local franchise, either--the whole chain disappeared when I wasn't looking
(ie.--lived in the West). My second favorite is the BEST Mexican restaurant I have ever been too--(including my Spanish Speaking mission in Southern California!) which is located about 10 miles away, in a dinky little town (still bigger than MY town, but pretty dinky, nonetheless!). They have spoiled me for all other Mexican food (except homemade tortillas, which are a class by themselves).

Other than those--my favorite thing to eat is anything containing the magic ingredient "I-didn't-have-to-cook-it"!

But I have 3 pieces of food advice to make your life better:

If you have a chance to go to a Peruvian Restaurant--DO! And if, on their menu, they have "Papas la huancaina"--GET THEM! (Since Peru is where all potatoes--"papas" come from, they have A LOT of potato options. PlH has cooked, sliced potatoes, which are served cold, with a FABULOUS sauce.)

If you have a chance to go to an El Salvadoranean Restaurant, order the "Cheese Pupusas" or "Pupusas de Queso", WITH the Curtido ("which is a lightly fermented cabbage slaw with red chilies and vinegar"--technically correct, but not even CLOSE to doing it justice!)--JUST DO IT!

And, whenever life gives you a chance to travel with "foodies"--DO! In fact, traveling with "foodies" is so great, they are worth seeking out, cultivating, and making up excuses for road trips!

Day 17: Something you’re looking forward to

Actually, this weekend! I have some of my favorite people coming to share Easter with us! And, for even more awesome, next week we have some other favorite people coming! YAY! I am also doing a neat wedding in May, and my little sister is expecting her mission call ANY DAY NOW!, So life is pretty darn exciting!

Day 16: Dream house

Hmmm...

That is a tricky one. The house I live in is pretty much ideal for this stage of my life. It is comfy old Victorian, built to be a family house. It is, as my dear Auntie said "like a pretty girl in an ugly dress". The ugly has improved somewhat over the course of my tenure, but, having SmallDaughter does limit me (as does being really lazy about house stuff!). She has written on (and painted on, and deodoranted on, and ...) EVERY SINGLE SURFACE in the house.





These are a couple of random pictures I found, I am not even sure exactly when they were taken. I think it tells you something about my life that, as dramatic as these are--they are such a part of my "normal" life that I had totally forgotten this incident. Which, by the way, was INK.

So it is very hard to get excited about spending lots of money to redo something, when it is just going to get markered up, so the interior stays mostly the same. Except the kitchen. WOT WOOT!


BEFORE

This picture, which was taken for something TOTALLY different, shows off the kitchen counters pretty well. The "blue" post shows off the @#$%^&* floor tiles. Thankfully, both are gone now!

I was feeling pretty proud of myself for having BOTH "before" and "after" pictures--FINALLY!, BUT, it seems that the computer has eaten all of the "after" pix, and I don't have time to hunt them down. So, I will try to post some soon. Sorry.

Anyway, if I had unlimited money and time, I would LOVE to build an underground house. This one inspired me, and it inspired my mom, and she actually went to see it--so imagine her disappointment upon finding that it had been purchased by a developer, bulldozed, and a community of McMansions built on the spot. I have actually talked to Paul Isaacson (who is a very nice guy) and he gave me some suggestions. I love the idea of an inner and outer greenhouse dome, so you can have light, grass and a garden year round--and still live in the north! I also love this one.

I really love the idea of living with the land, not against it, and using creativity to make a home that lives.

But until then, I really do love the one I am in (I just wish I could repaint it--I am getting rather tired of giving directions to "the big white one that really needs painted"--and having everyone find it easily!).

Day 15: Bible verse

My children and my seminary students always mock me(kindly!) when I say "this is my favorite scripture". They tell me I ALWAYS say that, and that they are ALL my favorite! This is true. I have a very hard time picking just one favorite of anything, and scriptures are harder than most others! However, I do think one of my favorites is in Isaiah 49:14-16

But Zion said, The Lord hath aforsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.

Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me.



It is more meaningful when you realize that every person who has ever lived will be resurrected with a perfect body--even my great scar collection will be gone. The only resurrected being with any scars is the Savior, who has us literally engraved into the palms of his hands.

Day 14: A picture of you last year – how have you changed?

This is not my favorite post. First of all, it is hard to find a picture of myself, since I am usually the one behind the camera. Second, it is pretty boring. My hair gets shorter, my hair gets longer, my chins get more pronounced, but I don't change all that much. So it isn't very dramatic. The one picture I found from last year was from the day my friend in cosmetology school spent many hours trying to get my recalcitrant hair to curl. We wanted proof that it did happen, but in the picture, the curl is already falling out.

Bonus Movie Post

Gosh, I forgot a lot of movies on Day 7!

I really enjoyed these quirky little lesser known films:

Big Trouble PG-13
Connie & Carla PG-13
My Life in Ruins PG-13
Lone Star State of Mind PG-13
Pieces of April PG-13
The Rocker PG-13

(I see a ratings theme going on here...)

Day 13: Goals

My Goals are not necessarily the same as my bucket list. There are things I would like to do, and things I plan to do.

Some of my goals include:
Conquering my !@#$%^&*! clutter and getting my home in order.
Raising my children to be competent, creative, kind adults.
Enduring well to the end of my mortal life.
Becoming a woman of wisdom and grace.