A girl, a sewing machine, and an hour to spare.

So what is a girl to do with an hour on her hands, a sewing machine, and an old shirt that her husband is getting rid of??  Well, I will tell you.  You make a cute pencil skirt out of it!  That's what!


I found this really awesome tutorial and thought to myslef, "Self- you need to stop being afraid of your sewing machine.  You need to stop being afraid of messing up and failing.  You need to just get down and dirty and start a fun project and see where it takes you!"  So here it goes:

Harrison's shirt that was in the donation bag

I chose this shirt mainly for the pockets.  The pockets were the coolest part of the shirt.

And viola.  This is the finished product.  A very awesome pencil skirt!  I really am in  love with it.   

I learned a couple of lessons though.  The biggest was seam allowance.  One of the lessons of a beggining sewer I suppose.  I used one of my favorite pencil skirts as the pattern and I didn't even THINK about making it a little bigger to "allow for seams"... so when it was all said and done... the skirt was too small.  It doesn't fit around my large and in charge buttox.  Oh well- I know for next time.  I am going to send the skirt in the mail to my skinny sister though :)

Well folks- find an old mens shirt and give it a new life! 

Harrison time

As part of the student loans we will get in the fall there is a stipend for a new computer. The computer Jaala uses is as old as our marriage and is finally beginning to show its age. Jaala has decided she wants a laptop, but now the question is which computer will fit her computer usage style better.

or

Jaala is close to choosing a Macbook air for its cool factor, quickness, and portability. I know this is a first world problem but does anyone have any advice for switching over to macs or not switching? or any other pertinent information.

embarrassing

Thankful Thursday- Special Edition

This week's Thankful Thursday will be dedicated to one thing and one thing only.  Two days ago (July 5, 2011) my entire family became a forever family.  What does this mean you ask?  Well, earlier this year my parent's were able to adopt 3 beautiful children and added them to our family.  Plans were made and they were sealed to my parents for time and all eternity in the LDS Jordan River Temple in Utah.  They were sealed to my parents in the very room that my parents were sealed to each other in exactly 28 years ago.  What an amazing anniversary present, huh!

What a great day for our entire family!  Our eternal family went from 9 to 12.  The above picture shows 11 out of 12 family members.  Our brother, Charlie was not able to attend the sealing... since he is in the United States Air Force and was not allowed any leave time from his station in Washington State.  We missed him greatly.  However, it is pretty amazing that we were able to have 9 out of 10 children present.  The best part of the day is... we were able to get permission for our ENTIRE family to be present in the temple together.  All 11 of us were able to be in the actual sealing room.  Now that was an amazing thing.  To see our entire family (minus Charlie... wah) dressed completely in white was such a powerful and amazing thing. 

I am thankful for my membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.  I am thankful for the knowledge I have of the Plan of Salvation and the knowledge and belief that my family will be a family FOREVER... not just until "death do we part".  This knowledge gives me peace and comfort.  I am thankful for my entire family and the opportunity to be in the temple with all of them.  It really was an amazing thing to be a part of. 

What are you thankful for this week?  Tell me in a comment!

Love ya all!