Some of my favorite recent quotes include these that I prepared for a church lesson. The one without the attribute is also from Dieter F. Uchtdorf. Dare I wonder if the 2nd quote down means computer is part of idling away my time? I’d rather like to think of it as sharing a talent instead!!!

So my smarty-pants friend is, among many things, very good with words. He compiled this testament of a book as a Christmas gift for friends and family and asked me to do the cover. I can’t wait to see the final product!

Another favorite quote sign that I have hanging in my home (a Goodwill find!): “Write it on your heart that the ones you love are life’s most precious gifts.”

ALL THE FLOWERS OF TOMORROW ARE IN THE SEEDS OF TODAY.

I bought this because it is one of my favorite gardening/life analogy quotes. I also love the one that says, “You can’t tell the quality of the soil until you plant the seed.” So profound. I think of my kids and friends with that one, as well as sharing the gospel. Hope you like it as much as I do!

The big news for me is this past Sunday I got released from serving the women in our ward.  Whew.  I am so excited - my schedule just got MUCH more clear!  I feel like I finally have time to clean up the house and finish moving in.  We never really settled since I received that calling about 8 weeks after moving in.  So, what have I done with the past 3 days?  The kids started swim team and even though nobody has had even a lesson, they are doing fantastic and adjusting and, most importantly, enjoying themselves.  Here’s to a glimpse of summer! 

When Gabe said he wanted to make a Duracell battery, I thought…well, okay, if that’s what you really want. I should have known better than to second guess this creative kid. It is adorable and a very cool looking car! He came in 2nd and 3rd in most races - and I think Gabe had a really fun night. Great job to all the boys involved: Don, Cole & Gabe! They all had fun making the Duracell car. I think we’ve started a new tradition because next year they want to do a Coke can, then a bag of Lay’s chips, then a Kleenex box. I sense a recurring theme here…

I get to do a quick and fun book cover for Brenda Craner Benedict. She did the cute dandelion illustration on the cover (as well as writing the book!). My job can be so much fun sometimes. Plus, I get to meet great people.

I was making one but I wanted a backup. I had two backups. Gabe and I decorated THREE cakes and he liked them all so much he wanted to take them all, which was kind of embarrassing (I am a recovering overachiever), but I let him and it was fine. If you click on any of the pics, it will take you to our flickr account so you can see all of the photos. The ganache seeped into the hurry-up chocolate cake and it was divine. The sponge cake was also very good. I don’t think I can pick, myself! Which one is your favorite?

Book club at my home was approaching. All the other book club ladies have such nice homes and nice furniture to go with them. I was aching for a coffee table and perhaps an end table or two so that people wouldn’t have to put plates on their laps. It is a tight week for us this week so I also wanted to make nice things to eat without going to the store. Which meant no fresh fruit. Hmmm. I made a blackberry coffee cake streusel and a bundt cinnamon coffee cake as well as a hash brown bake. No going to the store also meant no paper plates (at least not sturdy enough ones to use)…no problem, I don’t mind doing dishes, and using real plates is always nicer than paper.

I was trying to clean stains off the couches, stains off the carpet and feeling bad for myself that I didn’t have all new-matching-beautiful-perfect furniture. I could quickly see everywhere the dog has been…but would I give up the dog? Definitely not. She is worth the stains and hair. Then, I quickly got a grip and realized none of those things are important.

The house looked so nice from midnight to about 10 minutes AFTER book club was over. I was very thankful for Cole - one of the BEST KIDS EVER - who was more than willing to stay up and help me clean. He even manually picked out leftover red M&Ms from the Christmas bags I stocked up on after the holiday when they went on sale (he did the same thing with candy DOTS! What a kid!). The red looked so cute in my valentine heart dishes and nobody knew how frugal I really was.

I had been at Kohl’s earlier that day and had a clearance banquet tablecloth in my hand for $19.99. Mind you, I have two white banquet tablecloths that I can’t seem to locate since our move. I searched. Don searched. No such luck. I put the purchase back on the shelf at Kohl’s and walked out empty handed. Even though I felt like I desperately needed that tablecloth. So, I went home and took a cream colored fabric shower curtain and washed it and laid it out on half the table. Then, I took another cream colored tablecloth I had (smaller than banquet) and put it over the other half. Then, I took a small square tablecloth my mother made for me and put it over the seam. I can honestly say that I doubt anybody even noticed and it looked so good! I really AM learning how to make do and it felt pretty good! Give it about 3 days and I’ll find my white banquet tablecloths somewhere…isn’t that how it always goes?!

When all was said and done, I was so happy with how everything looked and tasted and the company was the best of all. I learned a couple of things: 1) if you refrain from the impulse to buy something just because you think you need it, DON’T DO IT!!. You’ll feel better in the long run. You and your home can shine with what you already are or have. 2) Women who don’t care about those things, anyway, are the best friends to have. If anybody would have cared in the least, I really wouldn’t want to have them as a friend, anyway!!!

I’ve been busy knitting hearts for Valentine’s Day. A friend of mine is teaching crochet and I’m teaching knitting in an upcoming workshop for church.

I made the potholder pattern from Lion Brand Yarn just fine but I’m trying to alter it for a dishcloth.

JoAnn’s pattern for a heart here is a little easier but they’re all basically the same. It’s not difficult, I got it on the first try!

I am so, so, so very excited to get one of these printed up on a canvas for our new home. It will be a 24 x 36 inch size (2′ x 3′) hanging portrait/vertically. I need to fix some of the typography but I think it will be pretty.

I am tired. It’s 1:36. I am not holding out much hope for the rest of the day. I got to the gym and ran for an hour and then Costco…and my visiting teachers were waiting for me when I got home. No biggie, right? Right. This means that I did not have time to come in and vacuum up dog hair that collects daily in our entryway because of the white, smooth tile. Plus, she has taken to the floral couch (one we brought from Omaha) as her bed and lays in the formal room off the entryway while we’re gone. Today she went the extra mile and ate a bag of Orowheat Potato Bread in the formal room and left evidence. Dumb dog. She should at least know to eat the evidence, too. So, I kindly invited the sweet sisters in and mentioned they may want to sit on the other couch as it doesn’t have dog hair on it. One sister - pregnant with her 6th kid - was unfazed. She knows the territory. The other sister reminded me of myself when I was young and only had 2 kids (well, she’s much prettier, but you get my drift). She kept trying to brush her baby’s hands after he crawled on the carpet. Really it wasn’t that bad, but…I could do nothing about it. Well, I could have gotten up and vacuumed with my Dyson Animal but that would have been rude. Poor thing, I could tell she was really stressed about it. It was all I could do to offer her to let her children wash their hands on their way out. She accepted. I was humiliated but then reminded myself - just wait until she has 4 kids (may she be blessed with 3 more boys and a dog). And now I cannot bring myself to touch the vacuum. On principle.

Gabe & Benjamin getting drinks.

Beanie eats a doughnut for his main dish! Our standards have gotten so low this past year…we hope to reintroduce vegetables now that we’re a bit more settled!

A gaggle of girls catching toads and the jealous boys looking on!

Our new ward is huge. Really big. We have 3 or 4 Sunday School teachers who trade off teaching every week. Seriously. They make up callings so everyone can have one. I realize this won’t last long because there is a new church being built not very far away and everything will be rearranged and we’ll probably lose half the ward but, still…it’s a nice respite. Not that I don’t enjoy serving. It’s just very nice to not have to magnify four different callings for awhile!

So far we have met only really nice people. Nadine’s best friend is my new Mariyn Godby. She’s wonderful (but I still miss you Marilyn!). There’s a piano playing beautiful woman who reminds me so much of my cousin Leslee Bartlett (and she just got called to Stake YW Pres - lets hope she isn’t there quite as long as Leslee was as Stake Primary Pres!). Let’s see…today we saw a glimpse of a Jared Boldt serving in Primary with his computer. It’s funny how you see people you miss in people you meet. I don’t have a new Sheila Lauducci or Benay Derr yet but I’m looking…not that either of those women could EVER be replaced! I just need a cheap substitute.

While we are enjoying our new ward (you can see pictures of the ward party here), we certainly do miss the Gretna Branch. Our hearts were there when it was formed and will always be there - even when it becomes a stake.

If you look really closely you can see the owner has a FAITH sign hanging near the kitchen sink. So appropriate. I need more faith and if I’d had more while we were going through our trials this past year I wouldn’t feel so overwhelmed by this blessing. As a family, we had a big talk in the car about how all good blessings come from the Lord and how He paves a way when it looks like there is none. This house and contract acceptance are a huge blessing from the Lord and we have been on our knees in thanks many times this day. We accidentally met the owner and she was so kind - she told us that she chose our offer over the other because our realtor had told her about our family and where Don worked and that we had family in the neighborhood so that sealed the deal. Thank you Lord, thank you Corlas Pearsall (Coldwell Banker Buyers Agent only) and thank you to the Zellmer family (current owners).