Jaelin

Tonight we say goodbye to Jaelin.  A beautiful young woman I had the privilege of getting to know this past year.  She died in a car accident last week.  She was 16.

Jaelin wanted to be an author, and was writing a book.  I enjoyed talking to her about books.  She was crazy sarcastic, which meant we got along just fine.  She was a drama geek, as she liked to say and also sang and danced. . . a triple threat.  ;)  She had the cutest chihuahua, Tiger, that I wanted to steal.  A dog person, my favorite kind of person.  ;)

She had a hard time moving away from her family to live down here.  She loved her mom, and was fiercely protective of her and that is why she came, and I think, why she stayed when she had the chance to move back.  She told me all about how she loved being an aunt and missed those kiddos up north.  She started out having a hard time fitting in, but just recently things changed for her and I could tell that she was truly happy.  She was playing tennis and got her driver's license.  She was good.

She left us too soon.

I needed to write this, or look at these pics again and get some crying out.  I hope she knew how much I loved her.

We did an activity where I took the girls out for a photo shoot and had them write things on notepads about each other that they admired.  I turned that activity into photos like this one for Jaelin. . .

They are using it tonight, blown up, for her viewing.  I wish it didn't have to be used like that, but I hope it shows her family how much we loved her.

Jaelin was working on a blanket for my Jovey, as one of her projects.  I don't know how far along she got, but I was genuinely touched when she told me about it.

I'm hoping by typing this now I can get all my crying out for the day.

I wish I could say that I was really strong and didn't let my girls see me cry this week, but I am nowhere near that strong.  I hope that my girls will see that it is ok to be sad and hopefully through this learn a little about our purpose here.

I am grateful that I got to know Jaelin and I am grateful for the knowledge that she is ok now.  She's better than ok and so I don't need to cry.  Now I just need to remind myself of it when I give her mom a hug.

released

I'm being released from my YW calling today.  Sad.  Happy.  Who knows.  I'll miss hanging out with these girls, that's for sure.

like a little seed

So the lesson I'm doing this month in YW is on Faith.  I kept it simple this time and just made a pic (above, obviously, I don't know why I felt I needed to add this note) which I'll have printed at Costco cause I heart Costco and cause I have to heart Costco cause hubby works there.  ;)  Feel free to use the pic, and/or Costco, though I get no kickback if you do.

You may be wondering why I didn't go with the classic seed theme for a Faith lesson. . . well I'm not good with plants.  Black thumb, fingers, fingernails. . . you name it.  Though if I was going to do a seed handout I think I'd go this route. . .

But maybe a Faith lesson shouldn't have a sense of humor.  ;)  We shall see.

OK, I thought about it and decided I would like a little humor so I made them.  I downloaded it from spoonful.com which you can get to from clicking on the pic above. . . but I wanted to fit more than one on a page, so I shrunk it a tad and added a quote to the back panel because it had nothing there originally.

Wishing you a very peaceful Sunday.  Thanks for checking on me, I'm still here.  ;)

February lessons

We've got all new lessons for the youth this year in church and so I thought maybe I'd start adding my handouts to the blog again.  I got lazy about it before.  This is the handout I made for the February lessons of pre-mortal life or the one about choices.  I'm kinda combining those two lessons myself, but I think it would work for either on it's own as well.

So while planning my lesson I kept thinking about those stupid folded paper games where you choose from the outside and then move it back and forth and then choose something from the inside and . . . until you open it up and read your, I don't know, future.  I think they were called 'cootie catchers', but I really don't remember.  They were cheesy and yet oh so fun when I was a kid.  I kept thinking that it would be perfect as something new and different to handout. . . and it had to do with choices.

So I made my own.  I wanted it to remind the girls of who they are and where they came from.  The big choice they made to be here in this life.  And how to make choices that will lead them back.  I used scriptures for the inside and some quotes I liked for the final reveal.

I was so tired of making bookmarks and magnets.  After folding all of these I may be happy to go back to them however. ;)

Here it is if you would like to use it or make one for yourself.  I included a link to download it or just drag and drop the picture.  It is a jpg.  Oh and the instructions for folding it are on there as well.

Download the file HERE.

While my phone restores

So I broke my new phone, or it was defective and broke itself.  I don't know how either way.  The nice people of Apple took it back.  The screen was bouncy.  The new one arrived today and is currently in the process of cloning my last phone so I won't be able to tell the difference. . . well sans bouncy of course.  In the meantime, since it's taking forever I'm sitting at the computer so I thought I'd type. . . .

We are loving this time of year with the suspense of waiting for the mail and hoping it comes with a card or a package.  Seriously so fun.  This is why I love ordering things online too.  Getting mail is the coolest.

It is so freezing here right now.  Well freezing for us.  I had big plans for last weekend of going to the nativity and blar blar blar, but Dave convinced me to ditch them for a simpler night in, and reschedule plans for this week.  Yeah well, the night in was nice, but now we are gonna be cold at the nativity.  Nice one Davey.  ;)

My favorite part of every day is listening to Miley say her prayers.  She always says the cutest or most interesting things.  It's a nice little insight into what's she's thinking about or what's important to her.  I wish my memory was better so I could document specifics, but alas as soon as she says something worth remembering it is followed by another and then replaced with the next night's list of 'thankful fors'.  Take my word for it, adorable.  Thought of one; once she said she was grateful for unicorns.  Well, who isn't?  OK, so I'm mostly writing this for myself, to remember something in kid's life that I think is special, but if you find yourself visiting us some night, take a turn eavesdropping on her nightly routine.

It seems like I can't keep kid in clothes or shoes right now.  I just bought a bunch this summer and now all her sandals are too small and her shirts can't pass the 'raise your hands above your head' test.  Couldn't find a single pair of shoes in her size at Target the other day, except the purple rain boots, so she got rain boots for all our rainy weather. ;)  Ordered some online instead.  Yay, another package.

I think the Disney store is the greatest.  I ordered a talking Woody and Jessie for Miley for Christmas this year. . . so her Buzz will have someone to play with.  However hesitant I was to buy them after watching the last movie (it might be too sad when Mie grows out of them) their cuteness won out and we will deal with the emotional baggage when the time comes.  Anyway, the Woody wasn't working when I got him and so I emailed them.  I didn't want to open it and change the batteries just to find that it's defective and they won't allow me to return it.  They emailed me back and said they had shipped another one to replace it and told me to donate the first one to a charity.  How cool are they?

I decided not to get a camera for Christmas this year.  It may be a sign that the Mayans were right to stop calendaring this year.  ;)  I use my phone too often to realistically use a point and shoot, so no more shopping around for one.  Or so I'm thinking right now.  I was tempted to try out the new Nikon itty bitty thing, and it comes in red.  They so know how to tempt me.

Miley came to our YW activity the other night.  It was a dinner for the youth and elder generation of our ward.  Dave was invited to 'help', but I think he mostly just ate the spaghetti and chatted.  This is how Miley ended up in the middle of the party, and the middle is where she was indeed.  This kid loves an audience and people to talk to.  Oh my word.  She doesn't have shyness.  She may have even sang Katy Perry's 'Firework' at some point.  After the meal and clean up she organized a series of games with the youth, including Red Light Green Light, Duck Duck Goose, Ring around the Rosies, and Motor Boat.  The girls tried to teach her Pterodactyl, but I'm not sure they were totally successful with that game.  I'm thinking she may get a calling from Bishop to be a YW advisor, because she was that good at bossing them around.

We haven't heard anything from the adoption agency yet.  Waiting by the phone, a little bit.  When we know something I will be sure to update the blog.  Instagram will probably get it first though, so if you're not a instagrammer you might want to start.  It's my favorite app.

Miley has become more aware of the need for money.  The other day when saying goodbye to her Dad as he dropped her off for school, she said, "Love you Dad, go make lots of money for me at work."  She has a purse and wants money to put in it.  I've started to put her to work.  She has her usual chores, but then if she wants the cold hard cash she's got some other chores that will pay.  For instance, I will gladly give her money to clean all my baseboards or pick up the dog poo in the backyard.  So far, both chores have been done without complaint.  Dave's all ready to give a lesson on budgeting and saving now.

So I checked my Goodreads stats the other day to see how many books I had read this year.  Sadly, my number was 30, in comparison to last year's which was 71.  Man it's been a busy year, with little time to read.  One of the books I read this year had a main character who loved to read and read every book in her tiny village.  She was travelling to a big city and heard they had a library.  She was trying to figure out how long it would take her to read every book there and then every book written. . . I am totally falling behind in that quest myself.  The books I most enjoyed this year were:  Mr. Penumbra's 24 hour Bookstore, Paris in Love, Midnight in Austenland (which is a sequel), Palace of Stone (another sequel),  and The Invaders (Brotherband series #2).  You can find my book list HERE, read and unread alike.

I am feeling almost at a loss for what needs to be done right now.  I got neighbor treats out, except for that few who continue to elude me when I drop by, which is really annoying.  I'm going to cross them off my list for next year.  ;)  Be warned, if you want a treat from me, be home more often then not.  ;)  Christmas gifts have shipped, so fam be on the look out for some happy mail.  Cards, check.  Miley's Christmas is in my closet, as well as Dave's.  Dave is in charge of Christmas food other than the treats.  I've made plenty of those and am now wondering how we'll eat them all.  Dave put up Christmas lights, in the backyard.  Yeah, how selfish are we that we don't even decorate for anyone but ourselves.  ;)  It's fun to see them each night, we couldn't do that if they were out front.  Oh well, maybe one day we'll decorate for the neighbors.

the favorite dating lesson

I actually liked preparing this lesson.  (Lesson 31, manual 1)  I know teenagers don't love hearing it, but I thought it was full of practical and logical advice for having good relationships in your youth and preparing for important ones later on.

Anyway, here is the handout I made for it. . . this little tag attaches to a ring pop, you know those candy rings?   ;)

Using the above mormonad as a prop.  Also goes along with my sweet handout.  Found this file below, of an application to date my daughter.  I tweaked it a bit, thought it was funny and might give it to the girls parents.  ;)

Made this as a little poster to explain relationships and appropriate timing for them. . . . ie not when you're a teenager.  ;)

crap on toast

Camping makes me sick, actually sick, yep it does.  I don't know which part of the camping experience, but sick happened and I left early.  You'd think I'd be happy about it since I think camping is evil, but I totally wasn't.  :(  I missed the end, and I'm a little worried that means I'll want to go back next year.  Can't think about that yet.

The highlights of girls camp before the puking were these. . .

Our sleeping quarters.  OK, highlight, not so much.  A little freaky actually.  Packing crates with bunks bolted to the wall.  Comfy.

These girls are awesome.  Love them.

Making fools of ourselves and our ward and cheetahs, rocks, trees, well anything else that can be embarrassed, our skit accomplished that kind of humiliation.  ;)  yeah baby.

I'm serious about my crafting during down time. . . or ready to pass out cause it was freaking hot!!  Do not go camping in August, even if it is an hour and half away from the desert and 9000 feet in the big blue sky.  Still hot.  Ugh.

Glad to report no bug bites, and no sunburn.  I forgot sunscreen, Dave was sure we wouldn't need it in the mountains.  He was so wrong, but our fearless camp director came through on that one for me.

I learned that I am NOT the most feared YW leader.  Seriously??!!  I try so hard too.  Fine, I guess I'm not as intimidating as I hoped, but I can do better now that I know that.  Oh and I say CRAP a lot.  It turned into a punishable offense.  Silly girls camp, like they could cure me of that.

I didn't bring my camera, so these are pics I had to swipe mostly.  I tried to make a different face in each photo, we'll see how successful that was, well except for the two on here where I smiled, doh lame.

Oh and we didn't have any type of signal so I was totally cut off from everything and my fingers actually ached to hold my phone again.  No Instagram, no texting my hubby or kid.  Sad times.

Coke = good and is the only way to survive teenagers and camping simultaneously.

I realized how much I dislike cliffs, the high ones, and driving on narrow little dirt roads around them.  Shudder.  I may have closed my eyes, and had the girls in my car give me directions, really detailed directions.  They may be traumatized for life.  ;)  I probably won't be asked to be chauffeur again either.  ha.

Now that Dave bought a tent, you may see me in these mountains all the time. . . yeah I can't even muster fake enthusiasm for that sentence.

*revision. . . (I found out what made me sick and it wasn't camping, it was a new allergy pill I started right before I left for camp.  Don't tell anyone else though, I'm going with camping made me ill and I can't do it anymore.)

Lesson handout . . .

This week's lesson is on scripture study (#27 manual 1). . . so I made bookmarks.  I used a quote I love:  "The man who does not read good books has no advantage over the man who can't read them."  -Groucho Marx

On the back I put some of the pointers from the lesson on how to make your scripture study more successful.

And because one handout is just not enough for me lately (or because the first did not involve food of any kind), I made simple bottle labels with this quote:  "The scriptures are reservoirs of spiritual water. Just as water was and is today essential to physical life, just so, is the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ essential to the spiritual life of God's children. Great reservoirs of spiritual water, called scriptures, have been provided in this day and have been safeguarded that all might partake and be spiritually fed, and that they thirst not." -President Harold B. Lee

Forgiveness

So I was thinking maybe I would post some of the handouts I make for the lessons I do in church.  Since I'm big on recycling.  ;)  If you want to use anything, feel free. . .

This lesson was on forgiveness (manual 1, lesson 23).  I used a poem called Forgiveness Flour.  I'll post it after the pics.  Anyway, for the handout the idea was to make flour bags filled with stuffing, but I couldn't see (if it was for me) a reason for holding onto a bag full of stuffing.  I decided to make a bag and fill it with a bunch of forgiveness quotes and words of wisdom. . . and maybe a few pieces of candy that went along with the sweet quotes.

Here are the bags. . . yeah, some of them are white and some are off-white, there goes my continuity.

These are the bag labels that I printed out on fabric. . . using this process.  Then I used fabric fuse sheets (called Heat 'n Bond) to iron them on the bags.  I didn't want to sew that many, so the fuse sheets are an easy solution.  If I were to do it again I wouldn't have been so chintzy with the fuse paper and gone all the way to the edges of the squares.  Oh well.  The bags I got from Oriental Trading Company.

The second image is the page of quotes I printed and cut into pieces to fill the bag.  The poem is among them.  I added a mini hershey's to go with the s'mores piece, and a bit o' honey with the bee one.  I know those are more cutesy, but who doesn't love a little sweetness with their wisdom.

The poem and inspiration for the whole deal. . .

When I went to the door, at the whisper of knocking,

I saw Simeon Gantner's daughter, Kathleen, standing

There, in her shawl and her shame, sent to ask

"Forgiveness Flour" for her bread. "Forgiveness Flour,"

We call it in our corner. If one has erred, one

Is sent to ask for flour of his neighbors. If they loan it

To him, that means he can stay, but if they refuse, he had

Best take himself off. I looked at Kathleen . . .

What a jewel of a daughter, though not much like her

Father, more's the pity. "I'll give you flour," I

Said, and went to measure it. Measuring was the rub.

If I gave too much, neighbors would think I made sin

Easy, but if I gave too little, they would label me

"Close." While I stood measuring, Joel, my husband

Came in from the mill, a great bag of flour on his

Shoulder, and seeing her there, shrinking in the

Doorway, he tossed the bag at her feet. "Here, take

All of it." And so she had flour for many loaves,

While I stood measuring.

[by Marguerite Stewart]

Thought for the day