Spiritual Thought Sunday

I had the opportunity to teach the lesson in Young Womens today.  I am so excited about the new "Come, Follow Me" curriculum that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has put out for our teenagers (to learn more about what I am talking about click HERE or HERE).  It has been a joy to learn about this new curriculum and to prepare lessons so far this year.

This month we are focusing on The Godhead.  We are teaching and learning about God the Father, Jesus Christ, and The Holy Ghost.

My lesson was on Jesus Christ.  I felt impressed to explore with my girls the importance of Jesus Christ's atonement and what it means to us.  Even more specifically, how He has felt our every sadness, heartache, and burden, and through his atoning sacrifice, we can find peace, comfort, and even understanding in our trials.

For those of you who are teachers of any kind, you know that by preparing a lesson you will most likely learn way more than you can ever convey or teach to your group.  It was no different in this case.  

The girls in my class are all between 16 and 18 years old.  Which to me is the HARDEST ages as we grow up.  My girls are all facing hard times.  At home, at school, with their families, and with their friends.  They are all struggling with finding out who they really are and what they really believe and what their place is in their families and this big world.  Even at 28 years old, I still struggle with a lot of these things.

I want to testify to each of you who are reading this today that Christ lives.  He loves each and every one of us.  There is nothing that we feel that He has not felt.  As He suffered in the Garden and bled from every pore, He felt every single heartache, physical ache, trial, burden, and sadness that we will ever feel.  At those times when we feel that there is not a single person who understands what we are going through, I testify that Jesus Christ does.  He knows EXACTLY how we feel.  We can pray to Him for comfort and understanding.  He will reach out to us in our times of need.  He loves us.  He is waiting for us to reach out to him.  Through Him we can find happiness and solace.


This picture brings tears to my eyes every time I see it.  It is Christ holding someone. He is weeping with them.  He is comforting them.  This picture can represent each of us.  

Here are a few of the scriptures and quotes I used in my lesson as well.

I hope that your days are filled with joy and gratitude.  I also hope that each of you will take advantage of the precious gift of the Atonement that has been given to each of us.  It is a wonderful thing.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

Well most of you are probably thinking about the Christmas song with this line in it right now, right? Well- that is not the time of year that I am talking about. I actually mean VALENTINES DAY! It is seriously my favorite!

I love it more than Halloween and definitely more than Christmas!

Last night kicked off the Valentines Day crafting and decorating extravaganza. The last 24 hours have been so much fun!

I love everything about this holiday. The colors, the idea, the LOVE! Here are some photos of the bits and bobs I was able to use to make my lovely wares. There are also a couple of pictures of some of the finished products!

Fabric Flower Tutorial

Hey there!  I posted this picture on Instagram and Facebook and I had a lot of people ask how I made this cute flower.  So- here is a tutorial.  I had a ton of fun making them.  It is pretty easy but the steps can take some time.  It took me about an hour per flower (I haven't made very many, so I may get faster as I make them more).

Materials Needed:
-  Synthetic material (taffeta, chiffon, or something like that.  It needs to be synthetic so that it will melt.  Natural fibers will not melt, they will just catch on fire)
-  Felt
-  Fabric scissors
-  Thread
-  Sewing Machine (you can also sew it by hand if you don't have a machine)
-  Cutting mat
-  Acrylic ruler
-  Rotary cutter
-  Lighter (a candle burns too hot and will leave smoke marks on fabric.  Just stay away from the candles if at all possible)
-  Hot glue gun
-  Hot glue sticks

Step 1: Cut strips of fabric to desired width (I am showing a 3" width here).  For a "palm" sized flower, it will take about 48" of fabric.

Step 2: Sew strips together "long" ways to make one very long strip.

Step 3: Adjust your machine's stitch length so that it is on the longest stitch possible, or a basting stitch.

Step 4: TIME TO SEW! Fold your strip in half "long" ways and sew your basting stitch on the folded side of the fabric.  **Note: you can sew the raw side together instead, but it will make the cutting part quite difficult.

Step 5: TIME TO SCALLOP! Cut raw side of strip (or opposite side of seam) into scallops to make petals.  Do this the entire length of the strip.

**Note: don't worry about the scallops being even.  It is better if they are not even because it will give the flower character and it will melt "prettier" if they are not even.

Step 6: TIME TO BURN!  Take your lighter and wave it over the very edges of the scallops.  The edges will melt and curl into fabulous petal shapes.  Not only does this create the petal shapes, but it melts the edges so that there will be no frays and loose threads to worry about.  Melt all the scallops down your strip of fabric.

Step 7: TIME TO RUFFLE!  Take ONE thread at ONE end of your strip and tug until it comes free.  The fabric will start to gather.  Slide the ruffled fabric down the length of the strip until the entire strip has been ruffled.  This can take some practice.  **Be sure to tug gently so that the thread does not break mid-length.

Step 8: TIME TO GLUE!  Take small sections of ruffle and glue them around each other to form your flower.  You will glue the ruffle around in sort of a spiral shape.

**Note: I found that gluing about a petal to a petal and a half at a time was just the right amount.  It wasn't so much that the glue was dried before I finished placing it together, but it gave me enough to work with so that I could see progress.

** Your flower should look something like this on the bottom when it is finished.

Step 9: Cut a circle out of your felt that will cover the ruffled part of the back of your flower.

Step 10: Spiral hot glue on the felt and stick it to the bottom side of the flower.

TADA!  Your flower is done!  Isn't it pretty!?  It is now ready to have a pin, clip, or headband added to it.  These can also be glued onto picture frames, made into garlands, or sewn onto clothes or a bedspread.

Have fun!  Don't forget to play and experiment with your project.  Try different fabrics, patterns, sizes, and petal shapes.


This is a picture of the difference between a 3" fabric strip and a 4" fabric strip.  The flower on the left is a strip that is 3x48 inches.  You can see that the flower has many more petals and it is a more flat shape.  The flower on the right is a 4x48 strip.  There are not as many petals and they are larger, making the flower a little puffier.

Let me know if you have any questions.  Leave me a comment below and I will be happy to answer questions or comments on ways to improve my tutorial!  

HAPPY FLOWER MAKING!

Welcome 2013

I am very excited for 2013.  I have a good feeling about it.  As most of you who are reading this know that every year I choose a word that I will carry with me throughout the entire next year. (For earlier examples, click HERE and HERE)  A word that I will encompass all areas of my life.  A positive word.  This is what I do instead of making New Years resolutions.  I find that I never keep them.  They always go to mush in about three weeks.  One single word that I can work on all year is much more manageable and a much better expectation.  I have chosen my word for 2013.

I am excited about the word. I prayed about it.  I thought about it, and I feel that it is the best word for me this year!  

I can do so much with this word.  There are all kinds of things that can BECOME this year.  I can become smarter, become more forgiving, become wiser, become kinder, become calmer, become better, become more talented.  the list can go on and on and on.  

One of the things that helped me come up with this word is those awesome Special K commercials.  You know, the ones where the women step on the scales in Time Square and they are all freaked out because all of Time Square will see their "awful weight"... only to be surprised to see things pop up on the scale like JOY and CONFIDENCE.  The tagline they have chosen is "What will you gain when you loose".  I know they mean this as in losing weight, but those commercials got me thinking.  I love them.  I love the message.  It is not about getting skinny or getting to a society ideal pants size.  They have made it seem so individual.  So.. positive.  So, bravo to the marketing department for coming up with that!  I am totally into it.  ANYWAY- It got me thinking this fall/winter.  What will you gain?  What will I gain?  What will you become?  What will I become?  

I am excited for the things that I know will become different right away.  I am excited to see what my new career will become.  This is in the forefront of my mind, as it seems to be the most important thing to me as of right now.  Can you imagine the possibilities with this word?  So much is in store! 

May 2013 be much better and kinder than 2012.  I think it will... I know it will... I can feel it in my bones!

Now- I couldn't find the specific Special K commercial that I was speaking of, but this one still has the same tagline and the right idea!

So my dear friends, what will you become this year?

My 2012 JOURNEY

Well friends, I have failed at the blog this year.  I promise to do better next year for sure.  I am anxious to use this blog as an outlet and a journal again.  I miss those days.  This year has been a whirlwind of learning, heartache, joy, pain, new happenings, uncertainty, answered prayers... in short- a Journey!  I would like to tell you about my journey, if you'll listen.

This year has had some major new experiences.  They were wonderful.  They were scary.  They were testimony building.

Early in the Spring you probably remember my emotional breakdown.  It was large.  I don't know if I have ever truly worked those things out, but I am trying.  I have put more faith in our Heavenly Father and less thought to those things that I can't do anything about.  I also made a decision to actually DO something about the things that bug me that I CAN do something about.  It has been liberating and a journey in itself.

July brought a major journey into my life.  I was at my sister's side while she placed her beautiful baby for adoption.  This journey was filled with heartache, sadness, joy, and tender feelings.  I was able to feel the love of Heavenly Father more than I have in a single experience that week.  I also learned what true unconditional love was.  I had it for my sister.  My sister had it for her daughter.  The new adoptive parents had it instantly for that sweet baby girl and my sister both.  I am so thankful for this experience in my life and I shall never forget it.  Not the feelings and emotions, nor the relationships that were made and strengthened.

My work life has changed drastically in the last month or so.  I have been so unhappy at my job for so long.  Harrison and I talked, and fasted, and prayed about what to do.  We made the decision this late fall that I would quit my job and find something different.  I did it.  It was scary.  It is still scary.  I gave my boss a 3 week notice and left.  I didn't have anything lined up.  I left.  It felt invigorating.  It also felt right.  My last day was a Friday and that next Monday I woke up feeling better and more alive and happier than I had in 3 years.  I have no doubt that I made the right decision.  It has been a little over a month, and I still do not have a new job.  I have had a few interviews, but no offers... YET.  I am actually waiting on pins and needles to hear back from a job that I REALLY REALLY REALLY want.  I should hear back on Monday if I got the job.  I hope I have good news for you in a couple of days.

I had a few journeys in forgiveness.  My testimony has been strengthened in the area of forgiveness.  Our Heavenly Father forgives all who ask and are repentant.  I have NO RIGHT nor is there room for me to withhold forgiveness from others here on this Earth.  This journey has been an interesting one.  I have learned that just because you forgive somebody, does not mean you have to forget the wrongs or keep those people in your life, but to forgive those of their wrongs is so liberating.  I have felt a few weights lifted from my soul and it feels wonderful.

I have also had journeys in sharing my true feelings and being the better for it.  There are those in my life whom I have hid feelings from for a long time.  In most of these cases I have been able to find the courage to share what I feel and my views.  It hasn't always been easy or positive at first, but it has always, in every case, been worth it.  I have been able to find respect for others and gain respect as well.  It has been quite wonderful.

I am thankful for this past year and for the lessons I have learned.  I am thankful for my journey.  I am thankful for my testimony of Jesus Christ and His restored gospel on this Earth.  I am thankful for the family and friends I have.  I am thankful for the wonderful husband that I have.  He is such a strength to me.  He has helped me through many of these journeys and I love him so much for that.

Thanks for listening to my long dissertation.  I hope I didn't bore you!  I am excited to talk about my new word and mantra for 2013.  I have been thinking about it a lot and it seems that it will be a great year!!

August- A Blur!

So this year has been the worst year for blogging.  Like really bad.  I don't know what happened this year!  So annoying.  Well- I am going to try and recap the last four weeks or so with a few pictures.

My sister, Laura, moved in with us at the beginning of August.  We are thrilled to have her here.  Our parents and sister Charnae brought her down.  We had a grand 5 days with everybody.

We went to a cemetery to visit the headstones of some dear family friends.

When we get together, we get to be the silly sisters.  We had fun eating all of the fake food at RC Willy while we looked at furniture.

Off to lunch.  We wanted to get into one vehicle so all the visitors squished into the back of Harrison's car.

Dad decided to rent a car to practice his "spirited driving" and so there would be room for everyone.

 We got to visit the Hoover Dam bypass bridge and we actually walked across it this time.  So majestic.

Wile we were all together, we made cupcakes and celebrated Kinley's one month birthday.  We sent her mommy and daddy these pics.

We ate a lot of food.  A lot of food!  One of the best meals was CRAB at Outback!  Charnae and I could probably eat our weight in crab if we could!

The day that everybody went home the air conditioning went out.  It died and went to heaven... during a heatwave.  Doesn't it always happen like that?  Well- it was getting to be about 112 degrees outside and the temperature inside kept going up and up.  At one point it was 99 degrees INSIDE THE HOUSE!

So we packed an overnight bag and we stayed in a hotel for a few nights until we could get a new air conditioning unit installed.  It was nice to have breakfast made every morning and the beds made by somebody else for a few days.  AND- we could turn the air down to like 68 degrees!!!

I went to the Dr to try and figure out some stuff.  I was being tested for a few different blood disorders and possible Lupus.  Good news- all tests came back normal.  Bad news- we still don't have answers.  No worries though- I am feeling fine and my symptoms are nothing to be alarmed about.  I love this dr's office.  How did they know I love the Dallas Cowboys so much!?

Laura and I took a trip with the Young Women in our ward to Brigham City, Utah to go to the LDS temple open house.  It was a fun road trip and a great experience.

We also took a mini temple square trip and we got to see KINLEY!!!  It was such a fun visit!  Toby and Nicole met us at Temple Square and we spent about an hour with each other.  It was so good to see that beautiful baby girl!  She is still really long and she had lots of funny faces to show us!

 Our Utah trip was really fun.

We had a fun missionary dinner.  The Las Vegas mission is short missionaries right now, so they are using Elders that have been called to missions but have not reported yet to fill in the gaps.  It just so happens that the missionary assigned to our ward needed a helper missionary.  We had them over for dinner and realized that we knew Elder Gardner.  I used to babysit him and Laura used to have preschool with him!  It was great to catch up.  Elder Gardner is going to be a great missionary when he reports to Guam in November.

Last week we started to put together Harrison's new office!  Yes- that's right.  Harrison has a new office.  His official office!  We signed a lease out at the Kayenta Therapy Group in Summerlin.

The first picture of Harrison in his official therapy chair in his official office in his official job!

It has been a fast month.  I always say that I will do better at updating this thing... and I hope that is true.  I really need to make it part of my routine again.

Love yall!