What's Going On

Candle Decorating Tutorial

2011-11-02T12:50:00.001-05:00

Last August I was a guest writer on Latter-day Homeschooling and did a candle decorating tutorial. Now that Christmas is just 53 days away, I thought I’d finally share the tutorial here for those of you who are in dire need of ideas for Christmas gifts. Or birthday gifts. Or whatever gifts.

A person can never have too many candles. Pillar, taper, tea light, votive, melts, jar, gel. Some are scented, some are not. (Still waiting anxiously for the mulled cider candles to become available again.) They can be plain or elaborately beautiful. Best of all, you can use them whenever you want. And for us candle lovers they make great gifts – especially since Christmas will be here in the blink of an eye.

These candles take 5-10 minutes to make, if that.

You will need:

· a white or ivory pillar candle about 5-6 inches tall, scented or unscented

· white tissue paper

· a sheet of wax paper two or three inches (maybe even more) wider than the circumference of the candle

· stamp(s) of your choosing

· heat embossing tool or hair dryer

· inkpads in color(s) of your choice

· scissors

· markers to color in the stamp design (optional)

· ribbon or other decorative finishing (optional)

1. Head to the store and choose your candle(s). (Unless, of course, you already have candles on hand.) The designs you choose will show up best on a white candle, but if you feel adventurous, pick a colored one. I haven’t, so I don’t know how that would turn out.

2. Choose the stamp or stamps you want to use for designing the candle and ink them in the desired colors.

Stamp the tissue paper as many times as you want in your design, re-inking or changing colors as you need, being mindful of the circumference of the candle. I was able to fit four big stamped images around a candle. Color in the designs if you want.

Cut out each image as close to the edge as you can get. If it’s multiple images in a line, just cut out around the group, again as close to the edge of the designs as you can get.

Position the tissue paper wherever you want on the candle…

… wrap in the wax paper that’s just two inches or so wider than the circumference of the candle, so you have something to hold on to…

Turn on the heat embossing tool or hairdryer and wave it slowly back and forth across the image. I tested out the hair dryer for the Snoopy and Christmas Fire Hydrant candle and it works just as well as the heat embossing tool; it just takes a little longer. Whichever you use, keep it no closer than three inches from the candle, otherwise the candle will start to melt. As it is, the wax will start to melt a little as the tissue paper adheres to the candle. And that’s okay. When the tissue paper has completely melted onto the candle, remove the wax paper…

… and you’re DONE! Repeat as desired for each candle.

“Show Me a Haste…”

2011-04-23T16:29:00.002-05:00

“…and I’ll show you a singer.” [Quoted in Singing the Glory Down: Amateur Gospel Music in South Central Kentucky, 1900-1990]
It’s my assignment to share a genealogy moment with my family in our weekly Family Home Evening meetings. But I’ve been rather neglectful the past few weeks, despite the fact that I enjoy learning these stories. When I was at the library this morning, I was looking at my family tree on NewFamilySearch, trying to decide on who to research, who I could learn about, etc., when my grandpa’s grandfather popped out at me: Huston Thomas Haste. Beyond his birth and death dates, I knew nothing about him; no stories, no pictures. So what did I do?
I Googled him.
Expecting to be disappointed, but hoping for at least a mention of his name in a genealogy forum, I was astonished to discover that the first result was a book – available from Google Books and Amazon – entitled Singing the Glory Down: Amateur Gospel Music in South Central Kentucky, 1900-1990 by William Lynwood Montell. (Click on the book cover to follow it to Amazon.)
Turns out that in 1900, Huston Haste and three of his brothers – James Frank “Jim Frank”, John Thomas and Andrew J. “Drude” – formed the Haste Brothers Quartet in their small community of Sardis in Pulaski, Kentucky, and were “the only quartet singers in south central Kentucky for more than a decade.” Looks like they led the way for other singing trios, quartets and ensembles in early 20th century in their region. According to the book, Jim Frank sang lead, John sang baritone, Huston sang bass and Drude, tenor. The brothers were all known as “awfully religious” men, and Huston and his family specifically were called “great Nazarenes.” In the 1920s, Huston began singing with his three daughters, Ebbie, Anna and Samantha; they were billed as the Huston Haste Trio.
There’s even a picture included of the four Haste brothers taken in 1929, found here through Google Reader. It's on page 53. Unfortunately, the caption doesn’t list who was who.
The whole Haste family, it appears, was very gifted in singing. All of the accolades received point to one conclusion: “Any one of the Hastes can sing if they want to, and most of them do. … One person observed, ‘All of the Hastes were singers. Show me a Haste and I’ll show you a singer.”
I might be interested in getting my own copy of this book to read more about my ancestors and the other gospel singing families of South Central Kentucky.

Entrelac Scrap Sweater

2011-04-03T22:42:00.001-05:00

With all the scrap blankets that have been made since before Christmas, we have finally whittled down my yarn stash to two big tubs of yarn instead of three. But those yarns still call out to be used.

Back in January – I think – I was at Kroger with mom and picked up the Winter 2010/2011 issue of KnitSimple magazine, having found too many beautiful patterns to just put it back on the shelf. In that magazine was a pattern for an Entrelac-style blanket. (Entrelac coming from the French, meaning “interlaced”.) Unfortunately, I didn’t get beyond the first two rows of the blanket and forgot about it for a month until I had a conversation with mom about how I was getting more enjoyment out of knitting sweaters. But I really wanted to do something with all that scrap yarn. Can’t let mom have all the fun with it. LOL.

Just a few weeks ago, mom came home from shopping and handed me the Spring 2011 issue of Interweave Knits. Voila! An entrelac sweater!!! Of course, being the procrastinator I am, I didn’t seriously start work on it until this weekend, alternating rows of black and scrap yarn blocks.

Not much completed right now, but I look forward to the progress I make on it. It’s a size large.

Knitting Lessons, Chess, Dinner & Good Fun

2011-03-31T22:58:00.001-05:00

Since New Year’s Day, we’ve had a couple of friends, Chelcy C. and Thomas McF., come over once a month or so for a movie day and dinner. Chelcy couldn’t make it last month, so we wanted to make certain to have a day in March so she could come over. This time there was something extra – she wanted to learn how to knit. I had loads of knitting needles and two big tubs of yarn waiting to be used. What better purpose to put it to?

They came over last Saturday. After about ten minutes of chatting, Chelcy and I headed out to the barn, found several skeins/balls of yarn to work with, came back inside and chose a pair of needles to get her started with. After showing her a couple different ways to cast on, we found that it was easiest for her to cast on with the long-tail method.

While we were thus engaged, Thomas found our Pirates of the Carribean chess set and played several games with Buddy and Patrick.

In between turns in chess, Buddy would serenade us on the piano.

After some cast-on confusion, Chelcy was finally ready to begin learning her first stitch – the knit stitch. I was knitting right along side her for a visual reference. And as the time went by… the first row was completed!!

Here we celebrate the completion of the first row!!

After the lesson was over, Chelcy headed over to the piano with Buddy and started playing, eventually playing “As Sisters In Zion” while Buddy played “We’ll Bring the World His Truth,” two songs contained in the EFY medley.

I helped mom get the last of dinner ready – chicken noodle soup with homemade noodles – while they played and Patrick played chess with Thomas. When dinner was finally ready, we filled our bowls, cut up slices of Crusty Cuban bread and headed for the living room to watch “RED”, a movie that mom had picked up from Redbox that day just in case they hadn’t seen it. They hadn’t. We, on the other hand, have watched it over and over and love it more every time we see it. Bruce Willis + Morgan Freeman + John Malkovich + Hellen Mirren + Mary-Louise Parker + Karl Urban + CIA = AWESOME and HILARIOUS!!!!

We plan on doing this again. Next month!

Matthew and Luke - Christ's Genealogy

2011-01-18T12:31:00.000-06:00

When I first began my study of the New Testament this month, I wrote down in my study journal my question as to why Matthew and Luke have slightly different genealogical lists for Christ's ancestry. Lo and behold, I found my answer on the 5th when I was also using the study manual The Life and Teachings of Jesus and the Apostles, which can be read online or downloaded in PDF format at institute.lds.org, or a hard copy purchased from ldscatalog.com.

Matthew's account lists the legal successors to David's throne; not necessarily father-to-son, but legal heir (which could mean grandson, great-grandson, nephew, brother, etc.). Luke's record is the father-to-son genealogical list linking Joseph and Mary to King David.

Now that that has been cleared up for me, I can help others know!

I love the gospel and everything I'm learning this year.

Another Etsy sale

2010-10-09T15:53:00.000-05:00

Just found out yesterday that someone bought a pair of the autumn stripe fingerless gloves I have in my Etsy store, KnitWit's Knits & Crochet. That is so exciting for me. I haven't had a sale since December. :( Looks like I need to be knitting more autumn-colored items for people to buy. Not that I'm complaining; I love autumn. I've got other projects in the works, including some Christmas gifts, but I'll for sure get more autumn stuff done!

The Joy of Autumn

2010-09-04T21:01:00.001-05:00

After a seemingly-unending summer heat, at long last I can smell it, almost taste it. The air is just beginning to feel and smell crisp in the evenings. How does it smell crisp? There’s a slight bite in the air and the inside of my nose tingles as I breathe deeply. We will see the trees turn red, gold, sometimes even purple or other colors before finally turning brown. They’ll be such a beautiful, majestic sight. Soon we’ll hear the crisp crinkle of fallen leaves on the ground. The cicadas and frogs still call to one another.

My heart yearns for this time of year. I didn’t fully realize that until tonight when it tugged me outside to sit for a few minutes in one of our camp chairs under a tree, writing and breathing. I had brought my scriptures out, but ended up not even cracking the cover. I don’t think I would have been able to concentrate on the words, anyway. I’d just be listening and breathing, taking in the approach of autumn, the best time of year. The time of fallen leaves and pumpkins, of corn mazes and bonfires, of a beautiful night sky. God must have created autumn as a special blessing for his children. Especially this child, for which I will be ever grateful.

I wish it could feel like this for ever and a day.

Good Ground – Jacob 5

2010-07-10T22:56:00.001-05:00

No matter how often I read the Book of Mormon, I always find something that I don’t recall seeing before. In my reading of Jacob 5 tonight – the allegory of the olive tree – for the first time I really saw verses 43-44. It’s near the end and the lord of the vineyard and his servant are going through the vineyard for the last time, harvesting what fruit was good, burning what had corrupted. But by these verses, all the trees of the vineyard had become corrupted, even the branch broken off and grafted in a good spot of ground:

43 And behold this last, whose branch hath withered away, I did plant in a ^agood spot of ground; yea, even that which was choice unto me above all other parts of the land of my vineyard.

44 And thou beheldest that I also cut down that which ^acumbered this spot of ground, that I might plant this tree in the stead thereof.

We know that the “choice land” is here in the Americas. In the Book of Mormon, the Jaredites – who had come out from the tower of Babel – quickly fell into wickedness and didn’t much change until they were utterly destroyed, despite all the opportunities they had been given to repent. They were “cut down” and the colony of Lehi put in place. By that time, the Nephites and Lamanites were beginning to fill the land, having been brought from Jerusalem to the promised land. Yet the Nephites eventually met the same end as the Jaredites, becoming so wicked that they were past feeling and chance of repentance. Then the Spirit of God wrought upon Gentiles to come to this land and build up this country and people.

We live in the promised land. God Bless America!

Hyrum, Joseph and the Book of Mormon

2010-06-24T22:14:00.001-05:00

After years of desiring – but never yet owning due to such a high price – and after discovering that Deseret Book no longer carried it, I found at last the statue of Hyrum and Joseph Smith, two better men the world may never know save Jesus only, is now mine.

Here it now holds a place of honor on my dresser (which has actually been cleaned off and rearranged to display this statue that means so much to me). I found it on eBay of all places. You can view it (and even purchase it) here.

Here is a video clip of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles bearing testimony of the Book of Mormon and these two magnificent testators. It gives me such a thrill every time I watch/hear it. I also own the DVDs of this conference, so I can watch it over and over.

These brothers gave their lives for this work. I know it’s true. I know the Book of Mormon is true. That cannot be taken away from me. Ever.

1 Nephi 1-4 – Tender Mercies of God

2010-06-15T22:11:00.001-05:00

We are immediately introduced to the family of Lehi, specifically to the youngest son Nephi, who, despite the “many afflictions in the course of [his] days,” knows that he was “highly favored of the Lord.” He had a “great knowledge” of the goodness and mysteries of God. We learn that his parents were diligent teachers. His father Lehi taught him in “the learning of the Jews and the language of the Egyptians.”

In the same year that the Book of Mormon begins – approximately 600 B.C. – prophets such as Jeremiah are coming throughout Jerusalem prophesying and crying repentance. Even Lehi was grieved for the wickedness and spiritual blindness of the people that he prayed to the Lord “with all his heart, in behalf of his people.” He sees and hears things to make him “quake and tremble exceedingly.” Lehi sees a vision of the heavens, of the Savior and His Apostles, of a book he is bidden to read from. He is led to praise God for what he reads, though he sorrows for what will happen if the people continue in wickedness.

But he must do his part to warn the people and is called to prophesy of the coming of the Messiah and to preach repentance to the people, or else Jerusalem will be destroyed. Well, they don’t want to hear it. They know they’re righteous. How dare Lehi come and tell them this? Yet, despite the threats on his life, we see the “tender mercies of the Lord… over all those whom he hath chosen, because of their faith, to make them mighty even unto the power of deliverance.” Lehi is commanded in a dream to take his family and provisions and leave Jerusalem, leaving behind all the comforts they had known.

Yet, the Lord knows they will need His word in order to teach their children and raise them in righteousness. Though, why he waits until Lehi’s family have travelled so far away from Jerusalem before calling Nephi and his three older brothers, Laman, Lemuel and Sam, back to retrieve the brass plates from Laban is not clearly stated. I believe that it’s a test of faith for all involved. Are they willing to go back to get the plates from this wealthy, wicked man? Laman and Lemuel complain about it being a “hard thing”, but Nephi expresses his willingness and faith to do as the Lord commands. The first two times, the brothers rely on themselves and their wealth to attempt to get the plates from Laban, both times ending in nearly a loss of life. The third time, Nephi goes in alone, having no plan but relying solely on the Spirit to guide him. Laban is delivered into his hands and killed, and Nephi retrieves the plates of brass, bringing along Laban’s servant Zoram.

Our Father in Heaven truly watches over those that obey his word.

Reading Challenge: The Book of Mormon in 90 Days

2010-06-05T23:31:00.001-05:00

I received an invitation on Facebook today to take the challenge Summer 2010 - reading the Book of Mormon in 90 days. The event began on June first. Though I didn’'t get the invitation until today, I’m not going to let that stop me. It’s just 6 pages or 2 1/2 chapters a day. As fast a reader as I am, I’ll catch up fast. As I write this, I’ve just finished reading the title page – which gives a very brief summary of what is contained in the Book of Mormon, the introduction – a longer summary/testimony of what is coming - and the testimony of the three witnesses. Yet to come are the testimony of the eight witnesses and the testimony of Joseph Smith, the translator of the Book of Mormon and prophet chosen by God to restore His Church in the latter days.

Anyone interested in taking the challenge but do not have a copy of the Book of Mormon can find the paperback ($2.50) or hardback ($3.00) missionary copy at LDSCatalog.com, available in a multitude of languages, along with all other scriptures available to us. Or you could even read along online at scriptures.lds.org. There’s even a reading chart bookmark available at lds.about.com to keep track of your progress.

No matter how many times a person reads the Book of Mormon in his or her lifetime, something new is always discovered. For example, just a few years ago when I was reading the Book of Mormon – I don’t recall if it was for a specific challenge or if I was just reading it on my own – I was drawn to Mosiah 4:9, a verse I had read countless times before, yet this time it caught my eye with its power and has been one favorite – if not the favorite – verse from the Book of Mormon.

“Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend.”

God is our creator. He is All-Knowing, All-Powerful, All-Loving. He has infinite understanding of the destiny of His children. Mankind has a finite understanding, more limited in what we know. So we must trust in our Father in Heaven, continually strive to live worthy to have His Holy Spirit with us as our companion throughout life, pray to Him with all the energy of heart, take upon us the name of Christ, His Son and our Savior and Redeemer through baptism by immersion through proper priesthood authority and endure to the end, having faith continually and seeking for help in all our doings.

As I read the Book of Mormon this summer, I’ll do my best to blog about what my eyes are opened to, the things I understand as I read. Mind, this is only my understanding. I don’t profess to be a scholar of the Book of Mormon, nor to know everything there is to know or understand about this book. You are only reading the testimony and continued learning of one who has read this book multiple times, will never tire of it, and knows for herself that The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ is true, that it was translated by the gift and power of God, and that the fullness of the Gospel has been restored to the earth once more, never to be taken away again to leave the world in confusion.

The Body is the temple of God

2010-06-02T22:34:00.000-05:00

Today I was reading in our June Ensign Elder Bednar's talk "Things As They Really Are", taken from his May '09 CES fireside talk and I came across the following that really jumped out at me:

"Because a physical body is so central to the Father's plan of happiness and our spiritual development, we should not be surprised that Lucifer seeks to frustrate our progression by tempting us to use our bodies improperly. One of the ultimate ironies of eternity is that the adversary, who is miserable precisely because he has no physical body, invites and entices us to share in his misery through the improper use of our bodies. The very tool he does not have and cannot use is thus the primary targest of his attempts to lure us to physical and spiritual destruction."

I remember this fireside and how wonderful it was. Yet it was today that this particular quote just struck me so strongly. How many of us don't truly understand how special our bodies are, how blessed we are to have them? Satan does not have, nor will he ever have, a physical body of his own, and thus no eternal progression. So he wants us to be as miserable as he is by convincing us to treat our bodies with disrespect. How often do we harm these precious gifts to us?

From Pres. Packer (president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles), quoted in a sidebar of the article:

"Our spirit and our body are combined in such a way that our body becomes an instrument of our mind and the foundation of our character."

Mosiah 4:30 says, "But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, andcontinue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish. And now, O man, remember, and perish not."

Back Home and Highlighted

2010-05-30T22:51:00.001-05:00

So after three trips to the hospital within a week, it's been determined that the man I've been caring for is really better off in a nursing home where they can give him the care he needs most. I've been back home with my family since Thursday afternoon. We're all so happy that I'm home. I'm just glad I was able to help take care of the man for as long as I could. A month and a half; it was just long enough to realize that he's better off in a nursing home. He's at the point now where there isn't much left we can do for him anyway.

I came home to find that both of my brothers had gotten blond highlights. Having heard about it on Facebook, I was still surprised to see just what had been done. One of them suggested that I should get mine done too. Well, I had been blonde once, so I didn't really see that harm in it. :-D It might even be fun.

Here’s the results! Pretty cool!

Naps

2010-05-17T18:19:00.001-05:00

I’m learning to catch a nap when I can while Don is asleep during the day. He wakes me up every few hours in the night for the bathroom, and sometimes more frequently than that. There are days when I need a nap far more than other days.

I haven’t blogged about that, have I?

Back in April, an elderly lady I know from church called and asked if I was looking for work. I did need a job, so I said yes. She asked if I would like to come and live with her to help her take care of her husband. She wanted to bring him home from the nursing home and wanted someone she could trust to help her take care of him. She knew I’d had experience helping my mom take care of my dad the last year of his life while he was battling a brain tumor. She’d be willing to pay me the same that she was paying the nursing home to care for her husband.

While my immediate reaction was fear – it had been something I hadn’t done in five years and it would mean living away from home for the first time in my life – it was something I had experience in, and a woman I knew and cared for needed help and she trusted me implicitly. So while she gave me time to think, fast and pray about it, I still knew my answer would be yes.

In seeking confirmation from the Lord about this, that despite being frightened, I wanted to do it anyway, I learned to listen for a still, small answer. For some reason, I seem to expect attention-grabbing answers to prayers. But after sitting for a while and forcing my mind to quiet, it took me a minute to recognize what I was feeling.

Peace.

It was the right thing to do. I moved in the night of April 9th after our church’s talent show. Elaine and I brought her husband home the next day. It’s been a month and a week since I’ve been here. There have been good days, bad days, confusing days. Sleep is interrupted for him to “get rid of some water” or if he needs a blanket. Some nights he wakes me up more often than others. But I have a priesthood blessing and a whole lot of prayers supporting me in this. I know with God’s help, I can do my best to help Elaine.

I have Sundays off to go to church and spend the rest of the day with my family. That special day goes by far too quickly. Check out how we spent our Sunday afternoon at my mom’s blog.

Today I realized I needed more rest than usual during the day – two naps. I hadn’t gotten much sleep Sunday night, despite being back home in my own bed with my wonderful family, so perhaps an hour or so after returning to Elaine’s, I laid down for a nap on the couch. I got enough rest to last me until after lunch when I realized I needed another nap. I had a brief dilemma in deciding if I wanted to nap then or not. Mom had just gotten on Facebook and I wanted to chat with her. But I was tired, and I’m sure that had I mentioned that in our chat, she would have told me to take a nap while I had the chance. There are plenty other opportunities to talk with her and my family – phone calls, e-mail, Facebook, the weekly Sunday day off. I need to take care of me just as much as – if not more than – I help Elaine take care of Don.

All the same, I must remember to rely on the arm of the Lord during this.

Scriptures

2010-05-14T07:53:00.000-05:00

Yesterday evening, I was studying the lesson for this coming Sunday's Relief Society lesson in the Gospel Principles manual. It's about the scriptures, identifies what the different books of scripture are, and the blessings that come. About halfway through the lesson, the chapter asks "What are some stories from the scriptures that have inspired you?"

As I thought about it, preparing to have an asnwer ready on Sunday, I was surprised - and then not so - when the story of Ruth the Moabitess, daughter-in-law of Naomi the Israelite, came first to my mind. Even after her husband's death and Naomi's encouragement for her and her sister-in-law Orpah to return to their families, Ruth stayed. She was willing to leave her home, family and everything familiar in order to stay with Naomi and care for her. "And Ruth said, Intreat me not to leave thee, or to return from following after thee: for whither thou goest, I will go: and where thou lodgest, I will lodge: thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God: Where thou diest, will I die, and there will I be buried: the Lord do so to me, and more also, if ought but death part thee and me." (Ruth 1:16-17) Ruth was indeed blessed for her sacrifice. She married Boaz, the man in whose fields she gleaned, and became the great-grandmother of King David and the many times great-grandmother of the Savior himself.

Then, of course there's Joseph in Egypt, who remained loyal to God and virtuous in the face of temptation to break the law of chastity. "There is none greater in this house than I; neither hath he kept back any thing from me but thee, because thou art his wife: how then can i do this great wickedness, and sin against God? ... And she caught him by his garment, saying, Lie with me: and he left his garment in her hand, and fled, and got him out." (Gen. 39:9,12; emphasis added)

There's Eve, mother of all living. She and Adam were willing to be cut off from the presence of God in order to set the Plan of Salvation in motion; to have offspring. "And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concering all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgressiopn my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God. And Eve, his wife, ehard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient. And adam and Eve blessed the name of God, and they made all things known unto their sons and their daughters." (Moses 5:10-12)
How blessed we are to have the word of God.

Missing Institute, still love the Spirit

2010-05-10T11:28:00.001-05:00

I haven’t written a post for my Institute class blog since I started my job last month in Oppelo helping a woman from church take care of her husband. I’m still not used to not having to write a weekly post. And now Institute’s over for the school year, period.

But that doesn’t really mean I can’t still write some kind of spiritual entry on any of my other blogs.

Just a week or two ago, I was reading in the Psalms and found a verse I absolutely fell in love with and want to actually put on a candle.

“For thou wilt light my candle: the Lord my God will enlighten my darkness.” – Psalm 18:28

Such a beautiful and comforting verse. It brought to mind an actual candle and the oil lamp I received as part of the Relief Society’s Christmas activity just a few years ago when my mom was RS president. It’s green on the bottom and yellow-gold on the top with a hidden scroll design on the lamp beneath the glaze. I’ll post a picture as soon as I can find it.

He truly will light our candles.

Faith

2010-03-22T15:12:00.001-05:00

Our April issue of the church magazines arrived today. In the Ensign, the magazine for adults, there is a four-paragraph article right after the First Presidency message entitled “My Faith Experiment” and was geared toward the youth. The writer talked about his Sunday School class of not-so-reverent 13-year-olds that had a teacher to tried her best to teach by the Spirit. At the end of one lesson, she challenged the class to read the Book of Mormon every day.

One day he’s reading in Alma 32 and “was impressed by the idea of a faith experiment.” Having just learned in school about conducting scientific experiments, he knelt down and told Heavenly Father that he was beginning the faith experiment and asked that he would come to know whether the Book of Mormon was true.

For some reason, mention of this faith experiment reminded me of what I’m reading in the Bible. I’m in the book of Leviticus. For most of the book thus far, God has been giving instruction on the different sacrifices for such-and-such a situation. They’ve already been given very specific instruction on how to build the tabernacle back in the last few chapters of Exodus. These newly-freed children of Israel needed very specific instruction. They had been in Egypt for 400 years and had very likely grown lax in their worship of God, had likely even begun to worship as the Egyptians did.

But why were they given these instructions, this law? My understanding is to show obedience to and faith in God.

The more I read about these different sacrifices, the more I understand mention of them throughout the rest of the scriptures.

How faithful are we in our worship of the Savior and Heavenly Father?

Goodbye Pre-Algebra!

2010-03-18T15:19:00.001-05:00

♪♫ After six hours of school, I’ve had enough for the day. I hit the radio dial and turn it up all the way. I gotta dance (dance, dance, dance now the beat’s really hot) right on the spot ♪♫

After what has felt like forever (but has really only been since the school year began), Patrick and I have just completed the final test in our pre-algebra Math-U-See book.

We are so excited and relieved to finally finish. And tomorrow (or perhaps next week) we get to begin Algebra 1.

♪♫ Celebrate good times, come on! ♪♫

Windows Live Writer

2010-03-18T01:50:00.001-05:00

Wahoo!!

Thanks to Dana for helping us figure out how to download Windows Live Writer onto our computers. I just posted an entry for the Institute blog tonight using it and here’s another one. Ooh all the fun we can have!

2010-03-07T23:02:00.000-06:00

As I was sitting here at the computer and backing up files, I paused a moment and realized that I could hear the frogs and some birds outside at just after ten o'clock at night.

*Sigh*

A sense of peace struck me. Such beautiful sounds. Another sign that spring is on the way. And that God loves us enough to give us such creations to listen to when we take the time to pause.

"...yeah, and all things denote there is a God; yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do witness that there is a Supreme Creator." Alma 30:44

Humpty Dumpty's Not an Egg after all...

2010-02-20T21:05:00.000-06:00

So after I finish checking my e-mail and sign out, there on the yahoo page is a photo of Humpty Dumpty the egg falling off his wall with the title "Humpty Dumpty's missing word" subtitled "What major detail does the nursery rhyme leave out and why?" It leaves me curious because what could be missing from the nursery rhyme?

Well, come to find out... nowhere in the rhyme does it say that Humpty Dumpty is an egg. Oh yeah... I think, it doesn't. Yet all the nursery rhyme books have him drawn as an egg. Turns out the illustrator of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland was the first to draw him as an egg. He's even an egg in the movie Mother Goose's Rock & Rhyme.

The article tells more about the rhyme, including what the term "humpty dumpty" stood for, so it's definitely something to check out.

Family History album begun!!!

2010-02-15T15:56:00.000-06:00

I've finally started working on a family history album that has been nagging at me for a few months now after we received a CD full of just over 400 photos of my mom's ancestors back to my fourth-great-grandfather Michael Nease.

Today I finally made - meaning started and completed, which hardly ever happens in one day for me - a page of my maternal great-great grandparents, Emmett Grant Jewett and Margaret Archer. We think the main photo is taken on or near their wedding day.

I just cannot wait till I can get started on more pages! Pictures just waiting to be scrapbooked and this has been itching at me since these photos arrived back in September or so.

Civil War diaries

2010-02-06T11:22:00.000-06:00

So I came home from the library yesterday with 13 books, 10 of them about the Civil War, one of which was Captain James Wren's Civil War Diary: from New Bern to Fredericksburg. As I'm starting to read it, I've been wondering if my 3rd-great grandfather Barzilla Jewett kept a diary during his service in the Civil War. All I know about his service is that he was mustered in as a Private, served in Co. K of the 18th Regiment of the Ohio Infantry and had risen to the rank of Corporal when he was mustered out.

The only picture we have of him is when he is much older, sometime before his death in September 1924. There he is on the far right of the photo standing next to my great-grandmother Grace Jewett (third daughter of the family). Also in the photo - which a digital copy is in our possession thanks to my great-aunt Ruth who got it, and just over 400 other ancestry photos from her aunt Mary Ellen Jewett, baby sister of Grace - are, from left to right, Emmett Grant Jewett, his wife Maggie Archer Jewett, the two dogs Fox and Paddy, Mary Ellen (the youngest), Sylvia Gertrude (second-oldest), and Letha Mildred (oldest).

I wish we had more info about him. I love Civil War and family history stuff. I want to make a family history album with all these photos, or as many as I can, but we'll see what happens.

Romans 8:35-39

2010-01-29T11:30:00.001-06:00

I think I have finally found my favorite scripture. While studying the Old Testament yesterday and using the Institute manual with it, the end of the study chapter I was in provided a reference to Romans 8:35-39. I fell in love with it immediately, highlighted it and put a shiny blue star sticker next to the verses to make it really pop out when I flip through my scriptures.

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

"As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.

"Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us.

"For I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come,

"Nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." (King James version of the Bible)

The love of Christ is always there for us, whether we want to partake of it or not. And in the end, it is Christ that will be victorious. Who will be on His side? I hope I will be.

Thoughts on the Fall

2010-01-25T22:07:00.002-06:00

From what I've heard, most of the Christian world believes that the Fall of Adam and Eve was a bad thing. (If I'm understanding that wrong, I apologize.) Several years ago when my family and I were still living in Maryland, we went on a tour of an art museum with a group of homeschoolers. Specifically, we were touring the religious art section. At one point in the tour, our guide paused in front of a... well, I guess I'll call it a 3-D painting - it wasn't fully 3-D, but it wasn't a painting either. Half carving?

Anyway, the tour guide talked about it for a little and, I can't remember how she said it, but she said something like it was the worst moment in the history of Christianity. I do remember being totally confused at that. Up to that point, I hadn't known that the rest of the Christian world believed differently about the Fall from the way The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes. The Fall was necessary to God's plan of salvation. Adam & Eve were innocent, immortal beings in the Garden of Eden, incapable of procreating their species, of knowing the difference between happiness and misery because they didn't have either one to help them learn. Satan thought he was thwarting God's plan by convincing Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, "for he knew not the mind of God, wherefore he sought to destroy the world." (Moses 4:6) Someone suggested in Sunday School that Satan didn't have faith that Jesus could do what he had promised to do in the pre-mortal existence. Satan, speaking through the serpent, told Eve that God knew that once she and Adam ate the fruit, they would be "as gods, knowing good and evil." It was that knowledge, to know good from evil and being able to choose between the two in order to progress, that was so desirable.

After they were banished from the Garden of Eden, they learned more fully about the plan of salvation and the opportunity they and all mankind had to be redeemed. "And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God. And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient. And Adam and Eve blessed the name of God, and they made all things known unto their sons and their daughters." (Moses 5:10-12)

I'm thinking I love the Book of Mormon

2010-01-18T22:51:00.001-06:00

How many copies of the Book of Mormon can a person own?

Earlier this afternoon I was taking notes for an idea I'd found for a mini scrapbook album, and one of the pages for my album would be about the Book of Mormon. As I typed up notes, it got me thinking, "Just how many copies of the Book of Mormon do I have?" I started counting and realized...

I have 10 copies of the Book of Mormon!!

There's one from the scripture set I got when I was baptized (the open book on the far right). When I pulled that book out of its scripture case, it was like opening a treasure. I hadn't touched it in a long time after putting the case inside of that plastic bag for protection since they were starting to fall apart. (Well used, wouldn't you say, from all those highlights?) There's the 1830 replica, the Doubleday edition, the one that's part of the quadruple combination, a pocket-sized copy, two English hardcover missionary copies - one of which has my testimony in it ready to give to someone - a copy in Spanish, one in French, and the black triple from my newest set of scriptures.

Wow. Would you think I love the Book of Mormon? As often as I read it how could I not?

Now if I could just do the same for the Bible. All of it. Since we're studying Old Testament this year in Sunday School, I'm determined to read it all the way through like I have the New Testament and the Book of Mormon. Then I'll tackle Doctrine & Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price, because as often as I've started studying them, I've never completed. :(

Here's hoping 2010 will be the year I read the Old Testament all the way through! Just a little over halfway through Genesis right now, just a few pages beyond where I'm supposed to be. Yay!

What IS All This Anyway?

2010-01-16T22:01:00.000-06:00

“Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;”

Doctrine & Covenants 109:88

This morning I was searching for a knitting magazine in the backpack where I keep most of my pattern books and magazines and I realized that there were several missing books and magazines. This led to a thorough search through all four of my storage bins plus a bookshelf in my room. Before the search I had to remove everything on top of the bins onto my bed - the closest thing to them, since they were in between my bed and the wall - in order for me to even look inside the crates.

As I'm searching - and finding the soon to be thick stack of missing books and magazines - I see everything spread out all over my bed while I'm standing/sitting on the floor in the space between the bed and the wall. I look at it all and wonder... what is all this stuff, anyway?

Once I found all the magazines and books I was looking for, I started organizing. There was still room in two of the bins for more things to go in. In went some books that wouldn't fit on either bookshelf. My trash can had to be emptied three times for how much paper and garbage I was throwing out. (How did I have that much anyway? Oh yeah... I printed it out and don't need it anymore because a copy is saved on my flash drive. )

I could've sworn I'd put all the yarn I wasn't using in a WIP (work-in-progress) back in their bins in the shed, but I found several more balls and skeins and two socks from incomplete pairs that had to get put away. Knitting needles I wasn't using went back into their holder. More trash got tossed. Clean clothes were put away. A couple of books I haven't read and will probably never read are about to go up on eBay.

Phew! Everything's back in place in that space between the bed and wall and it looks... well, if not entirely organized, then at least a little more presentable.

What to tackle next? ... ...

Dream to Reality

2010-01-15T16:50:00.000-06:00

This was so crazy.

I bought a new mp3 player online this week – I think it was Monday or Tuesday – and didn’t expect it to come for a while yet. Then last night, I had a dream that it had arrived in a box like things are usually delivered from Amazon. Well, this morning in the mail, the mp3 player arrived! Not in a box like in the dream, but in a grey insulated envelope.

Dreaming of something happening has happened several times before.

I think one of the most recent dreams like that was two years ago when we had a lot of packages coming in. I had dreamed that mom and I were both outside and checking the mail. However, mom was coming from the house and I was coming down the road, as if from the mailbox for next door. The view shifted to me opening the mailbox and I could see inside. It had a white box and a manila insulated envelope inside, with a bunch of sale flyers mixed in with them. That delivery didn’t come, though, for maybe… I want to say a month, but it may have been less time than that. Either way, when it did arrive, it was slightly different to my dream, but similar enough to be shockingly accurate.

New Stocking

2009-12-12T20:51:00.000-06:00

So since we still can't find the white embroidered stocking that I've been using the past few years, I thought, maybe I could make one from the leg of a pair of black denim pants that I can't wear again until they're made into a skirt.

Well, I checked in all of mom's fabric crates for the pants and accompanying skirt but couldn't find them, though I knew they were somewhere. Finally, after checking nearly every container - counting the ones in Granny's shed - I'm on the way back from the shed when I realize Oh... yeah... I remember seeing them in a bag in the ATTIC. D'oh!

After digging around under some of the other clothing bags in the attic, I find what I'm looking for. I trace one of the other stockings already hanging up, leaving space around it for a seam of course - I do remember that much from a sewing class in middle school . I even pinned it before cutting it out! LOL

Mom helped me find her embroidery cards and choose patterns to embroider onto one of the pieces. I ended up changing my mind from my original idea to something more tropical - hibiscuses and brightly colored stars!!

Once I finished with the embroidering, Mom offered to do the actual sewing together the pieces and attaching the ribbon. Here is the finished product!

Below is a close up of the designs. : )

13 days till Christmas and counting!~!

Christmas Banner

2009-12-05T21:31:00.000-06:00

Yesterday at homeschool group at the library, we saw our friend Dana cutting out and gluing scrapbook paper onto a chipboard "Christmas" banner. She told us she'd gotten it at Hobby Lobby just that morning, and that it was on sale for half-price. We had already planned to go to Hobby Lobby after homeschool group anyway, and now we had another item to look for. Katie had been helping Dana do the banner at the library and wanted to do one for herself. She found it - there were only two left at this point - and she and mom picked out some paper to glue onto it.

As soon as we got home, she started tracing, cutting and gluing. Before long, it was done. It now holds a place above our piano in the dining room.

Wockenfuss Family circa 1891

2009-11-09T17:44:00.000-06:00

A couple months ago, a woman out in Arizona contacted me because she had seen a change I'd made to an ancestor on FamilySearch.org. She asked if we were related through this ancestor - Friedrich William Wockenfuss - and it turns out we are; me through his second youngest son Louis Martin, she through his oldest son Gustav, who is actually from his first wife who died while still in Germany along with five other children. Friedrich then married Augusta F. Ristau and had seven children. At some point, Gustav went west from Baltimore to Colorado, where my Arizona relative Corinne is originally from.

We've been communicating and she said and her brother had some old pictures from when my great-grandfather Louis and a couple other brothers came out to visit Gustav's family. I can't wait till we can get copies of those pictures.

However, just a few days ago, the woman e-mailed me and said she'd been looking through some old photos and found a family photo of the Wockenfuss' around 1891.

I was SO overjoyed to get this photo, and to know who is who in the photo, as provided by the notation at the bottom of the photo, copied from the back.

Back row: Helen Augusta, his oldest by second wife Augusta; Gustav E. (Corinne's great-grandfather), from Friedrich's first wife Wilhelmina Witkowski; and Johannas Philemon

Center row: Carl Henry, Mrs. Augusta (Ristau) Wockenfuss, William Frederick, Mr. Friedrich Wockenfuss, and Paul Frederick

The small boys in front: Louis Martin (my great-grandfather) and Edward John Conrad Wockenfuss

Thank you Corinne!!! I love finding family.

Can we clone President Uchtdorf?

2009-11-02T00:05:00.000-06:00

Every time I hear that man speak, it's no wonder he was called as an apostle. I wish I'd typed up more notes of what he said during tonight's CES fireside, but hopefully I'll soon be able to print out the text of his talk and have it for myself.

I've honestly never heard the full story of Hans Christian Anderson's "Ugly Duckling", but President Uchtdorf gave a great version of it. And, of course, applied it to us, how there are too many who "go about life thinking they are of little worth, when in reality they are elegant and eternal creatures of infinite value with a potential beyond imagination." He reminded us that "[we] are sons and daughters of the greatest most glorious being in the universe. He wants the best for you."

Um, wow!!

He shared some questions that young adults had asked him. One of the questions was something like, is it okay to question our beliefs?

"We are a question-asking people," President Uchdorf said. "We know that inquiry leads to truth. That’s how the Church got its start. ... I’m not sure how one can discover truth without asking questions.”

"Inquiry is the birthplace of testimony. Asking questions isn’t a sign of weakness; it’s a precursor of growth." I love that.

"Searching for answers to your questions can bring you closer to Father, strengthening your testimony rather than shaking it."

This man is a wonderful example. His very words set you on fire. I can't wait to see if I can print this talk out.

O Great Pumpkin

2009-10-28T22:45:00.000-05:00

I guess Katie's been really anxious to get our pumpkin carved. She's been asking if we can carve it and finally mom suggested that she could do it. Katie was a little worried about that, so I decided I'd go help her out.

Shredded pumpkin guts or pumpkin spaghetti??

Using a sharpie to trace the design onto the pumpkin. We'd found a Dig those Decades - Retro pumpkin carving pattern book recently from Hobby Lobby with patterns we LOVED: Skelvis, a Marilyn Monroe-style witch, a peace sign using bones, Stayin' Undead (that one's funny!) and more, including the design we chose: Chilling Lava.

Here's Katie carving out one of the lava lamps piece by ece.

My turn!!!

And......

Chilling Lava!!!

Happy Halloween everybody!

Nervous Teacher, lots of compliments

2009-10-26T00:31:00.000-05:00

I noticed today that the more nervous I am about a lesson I'm giving, the more compliments I get about the lesson afterward.

Today, for example, was the lesson from Elder Perry's talk "Bring Souls Unto Me", speaking of the greater effort that members can put out to find people for the missionaries to teach, instead of waiting for the missionaries to find them. We're the ones with these people every day. We can do the finding so the missionaries can be freed up to teach.

I was nervous because I hadn't fully finished writing out my notes and I wasn't sure how I was going to make those notes, a talk and two articles from October's Ensign take the whole class. Maybe I prayed harder than I realized I did for help today. I do remember asking for the Spirit to be the one doing the teaching for all of us.

I am eager to find out which lessons from this month's General Conference will be used for future lessons.... :-D

First Etsy sale!

2009-10-15T00:34:00.000-05:00

I'm only mildly surprised that I'm just now posting that I had my first sale on Etsy.com on Saturday!!!! Someone in Boston bought the light- and dark-brown striped blanket - the blanket with the zigzag pattern on one side and the horizontal stripes on the other. That was so exciting! I squealed when I received notification of its purchase - and I'm usually not a squealer. The package was finally mailed off on Tuesday, since Monday was Columbus day. Whoever gets that blanket up there will certainly need it!! Now it get to buy more yarn to finish up the green and white blanket just like it. *grin* Or maybe I should just save that money for a car. Or a mission... So many choices. Hopefully I'll make the right one.

In the meantime, though, I'm working on more fingerless gloves to put up on my Etsy shop. I should probably put some on eBay too....

2009-10-03T23:29:00.000-05:00

Have you ever had an experience when it seemed like there was at least one General Conference talk that seemed to be written especially for you? The entire Saturday morning session of General Conference felt like that to me. I was stunned. Each speaker said what they had to say in such a way that answered prayers I'd had recently. When we get our November Ensign, I'm going to be doing a lot of highlighting and underlining, I think. Also makes me look forward to when it's time to use this Ensign for the 4th Sunday lessons. Which talks will be assigned for me to teach?

Let's see what tomorrow brings...

Lovin' Genealogy!!!

2009-09-07T20:06:00.000-05:00

My ancestors are bound to be happy with what’s been happening lately on the genealogy front. Earlier this week, I found someone on myheritage.com who is perhaps a sixth or seventh cousin to me. We’re related through the Roush line on my mom’s side. I contacted them wondering how we were related and got a reply to let me know that it was through the Roush line, and she would like any Jewett information I would have so she could add it to her family tree. So I’m slowly typing up what info I have into an e-mail to send to her soon.
Just this morning something else awesome happened. I received an e-mail through Family Search from a woman who is related to Friedrich William Wockenfuss and wondered if she and I were somehow related. As it turns out, Friedrich is great-great grandfather to both of us. She is related to him through his oldest son Gustav, from his first wife Wilhelmina Witkowsi who died in Germany along with their other five children. Friedrich then married Augusta F. Ristau, who bore him six sons and a daughter. I am related to Friedrich through his second youngest son Louis Martin Wockenfuss, my granddad’s father. So if I’m figuring this correctly, the woman that contacted me is my third cousin. This is so amazing, getting to know who I’m related to out there!

Amazing Institute

2009-09-04T21:59:00.000-05:00

Our second week of Institute and the evening went by way too fast. But it was very much fruit for thought. It hadn't occurred to me until then that there are four groups mentioned in Lehi's vision. The first group commenced in the path to the tree of life, but were blinded by the mists of darkness and lost their way. The second group took hold of the rod of iron, made it to the tree and partook of the fruit. But thanks to the mocking and pointing fingers of the people in the great and spacious building, they became ashamed and "wandered off into forbidden paths and were lost". The third group also clung to the rod of iron, pressing forward, likely neither looking to the right or left, but firmly setting their gaze on the tree, and came to partake of the fruit "sweet above all that is sweet". The fourth group wasn't even trying to make it toward the tree, but to the great and spacious building. They likely wanted nothing to do with the fruit of the tree, wanting only the supposed enjoyment that the people in the building seemed to have.

Where are we among those groups? Good food for thought.

After Lehi shared his vision, Nephi wanted to be able to understand it. So he actually did something about it. 1 Nephi 11:1 - "For it came to pass after I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart, I was caught away in the Sprit of the Lord, yea, into an exceedingly high mountain, which I never had before seen, and upon which I never had before set my foot."

Compare that to Laman and Lemuel in chapter 15 verses 8-9 "And I said unto them: Hve ye inquired of the Lord? And they said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us." They just wallow in confusion, grieving Nephi for their hard hearts and the inevitable destruction of the people. He gave us a pattern to follow when we want to understand something in the scriptures.

I can't wait for next week.

A Good Sabbath

2009-08-23T22:39:00.003-05:00

I'm told I gave a good lesson in Relief Society today. It was from Elder Dallin H. Oaks' April 2009 General Conference talk entitled "Unselfish Service." At first, I wondered how in the world I was going to create a lesson out of this talk, as I have since I was first asked to substitute back in February (was it really that long ago?). I'm used to an actual lesson planned out and in a manual right in front of me.

But this time went so much better. I actually took a highlighter and marked everything that stood out to me in the talk, then typed it up on the laptop. I worked on it for a week and a half or so up until Saturday night when I was trying to look over my notes one final time. Questions started to come to my mind that I could ask the class, which I then typed up in the proper place and in a different color so they could stand out more. This past month, the teachers have passed out envelopes containing something quoted from the lesson or a scripture reference - in order to get participation, I'm sure - so I decided I'd give that a try as well. It ended up working well because after some of the quotes were read, some of the sisters had a comment to share. I even wrote on the board, hoping that the sisters could list certain types of "unselfish service". Which they did and we ended up with nine things listed on the board, three of which were spoken of in Elder Oaks' talk.

I thank the Lord for that preparation, for giving me those questions and ideas for the class. I think that's the most that the sisters have particpated during one of my lessons. *Note to self: keep in mind for next month!*

New computer!

2009-08-22T14:04:00.004-05:00

We bought a new computer today! Now we have access to the internet again and don't have to rely on the library computers as often. Patrick and I set it up and we're just so excited to have it. Like a brand new toy.... except the computer is not a toy, haha.

And we have our Christmas tree up. Yes, you can chuckle. I know it hasn't been that long since we took it down. I first started moving the computer stand back to its familiar place in the dining room from where we'd had it in the living room after we bought the new stand. After it was moved and the computer set back up, we decided to just go ahead and put the tree up in the living room. So now it's up, with the lights on and an angel to top it. Everything else will go on closer to Christmas, of course.

Looking forward to Institute next week!!

And my birthday is in 6 days! 24!!

2009-04-12T23:45:00.002-05:00

I woke up this morning nearly forgetting that it was Easter Sunday. I'd forgotten to set my normal Sunday morning alarm, too; but at least I got up well before it was time to panic-rush in getting ready for church. I got three pairs of cute earrings along with the family usual of butterfinger chocolate eggs (for those of us who can have dairy), Starbursts, Starburst jelly beans, speckled jelly beans and bubble gum eggs.

Unfortunately, mom wasn't feeling too well, so she, Katie and I ended up staying home. Buddy and Patrick were able to catch a ride with the Maddins, since they had room for two more. So I finished up a pair of fingerless gloves and got started on another pair. I'm looking for other things to make and sell - doll clothes, maybe. I should knit some more dishclothes, too.

Finally learning Etsy

2009-04-07T15:37:00.002-05:00

Well I think I'm finally figuring out Etsy.com, a website like eBay that's only for handmade items. Amy Thueson shared the site with mom and I signed up. But I hadn't been able to figure out why I couldn't post pictures. I had thought that the files were the correct size and file extension (.jpg), but nothing. Today I finally took a closer look at the pictures I wanted to put up and sure enough they were too big after all. So after some cropping, I was able to post three items I want to sell: two pairs of socks and a pair of fingerless gloves. Here's hoping something will sell!

2009-03-27T21:10:00.004-05:00

Well, the Christmas tree is down now, and that corner by the living room window looks unbelievably empty... at least until September when it goes back up. *chuckle* So the tree is now in the barn, and some more of the Christmas stuff has been taken down and boxed up.

Once again I realized just how fast I can read. I've read one book of the Twilight saga a day since they were purchased, finishing book three, Eclipse, this afternoon. The fourth book wasn't in WalMart earlier this week, so I'm borrowing someone else's copy next week. So I'll probably start and finish it on Monday or something. :-)

I'm trying to sell stuff on Etsy.com, a website mom was told about that was like eBay, but strictly for homemade crafts. So I could sell my projects there. But there always seems to be a problem. I get the first three steps completed to post something, but then the fourth step - posting a picture - always goes wrong. Instead of uploading, Internet Explorer tells me that it can't find the page. Really weird and I'm wondering if acts up because my picture files are too big. *shrug* It's annoying. But it doesn't mean I'm going to stop working on stuff to sell.

We actually own Twilight

2009-03-26T11:49:00.003-05:00

So I finally broke down and read Twilight after watching the movie. The one series of books I never expected to see in our house and we now own the first three books of the Twilight saga and the dvd and soundtrack. We love the soundtrack. I was surprised to realize that Robert Pattinson (Edward) plays piano and guitar and even wrote two songs for the movie - but only one made it onto the soundtrack we own.

Mom had first read the series just to find out what all the hooplah was about. I had tried to read Twilight, but didn't get farther than about halfway through the first chapter. When the movie came out, I wasn't the least bit interested in seeing it. When it came out on dvd, I was surprised to find out that mom had put it on our netflix queue. I was hesitant to watch it when it arrived Tuesday - actually, I was over at Granny's doing something else when it arrived and it was over the first time when I returned home. I was hesitant to watch it, but I sat down the the family and watched it anyway. And enjoyed it.

We had to go into town the next morning to return a movie to the library and go shopping. At that point I had decided that I would at least look for the first book - Katie was already reading it herself and it didn't creep her out - but no other copies were available. So we left and headed to WalMart. Among the groceries and whatnot that we needed, we went to the book section at the front where we picked up the first three books of the saga so I could read them, since I'm such a fast reader. I also managed to find the Love Dare journal from the movie Fireproof, done by the same people who made Facing the Giants. Katie got the newest Magic Tree House book too. Then we found some really cute shirts for Katie before we headed off to the electronics section, where we picked up the soundtrack to August Rush, another amazing movie with a great soundtrack, the movie Twilight and the sountrack. It's an enjoyable movie - funny in places, adorable in places.

Day at the Library (and don't shop when hungry)

2009-03-13T20:47:00.003-05:00

Our homeschooling group had a day at the library for games or just hanging out. I went on the internet and then looked for books, bringing home a large stack - though I suppose "large" is relative in my case; several books were big, thick books, one of which was an ACT prep book - a necessary item for me to get ready for college.

We stopped by Kroger on the way home and - it being close to dinnertime - we were hungry and probably ended up buying stuff we normally wouldn't. I got a KitKat bar and a bag of Lay's Sour Cream and Onion potato chips, one of my favorites... unfortunately. I don't know how much I've eaten, not to mention all the dairy I've had this month. No wonder I have a cold.

I was looking through an old page-a-day calender of mine with knitting patterns and found lots of projects I'm really interested in. I started a fingerless mitten pattern that looks great so far! There's a similar pattern farther down the calender of driving gloves, again fingerless but longer so that your hands are kept warm while gripping a cold steering wheel, but leaves the fingers available to press buttons when necessary. I wonder how well these patterns would go on eBay.

A Year of Change

2009-03-12T21:43:00.003-05:00

At the beginning of the year, I could feel that 2009 would be a year of change for me. And so it is. I have finally started to seriously look into college and what I want to do. I wanted something with creative writing, since that's where I excel and - I'm told - I don't waste a word when I write. (Though sometimes it does take me forever to find those words. haha) Mom - who is also looking into going back to college herself - was offering suggestions as to where I could look. I'm looking at colleges in Utah, Colorado and Arizona (we have family in CO and AZ), but I seem to be looking most at Weber State University in Ogden, Utah.

I also need to get my driver's license, so I'm studying the driving manual I got the first time I got my permit (though I think I wasn't emotionally ready to practice enough to earn my license). We're also looking to a second car that I can drive, that way mom doesn't have to be chauffer all the time. I can take a turn. *grin*

A year of change... With the Lord's help and guidance, I believe I can do it.

2009-02-27T16:39:00.002-06:00

I had completely forgotten that I had submitted a poem to Blue Mountain Arts' poetry contest last year. This morning when the mail came, I discovered a large envelope from them. It turns out that my poem was one of many chosen to advance to the market review - testing my work with a market audience for its potential as a greeting card. The review could take up to 24 months, but they'll try to move that along as quickly as possible. Which means that there is a possibility that my poem could be published as a greeting card! And I'd get paid for it.

Blue Mountain sent a publication agreement for me to sign. We are so excited, but we were surprised to see that they want my social security number. I don't know if that's standard or not, but mom and I are concerned and I'll be e-mailing them to ask why they need it.

But that is amazing to think that something I wrote could be on a greeting card!

An interesting yet awesome dream

2009-02-26T18:53:00.004-06:00

I woke up this morning from the most interesting yet awesome dream I've had that I can remember.

In my dream, I was at a table with President Obama and his family - I'm assuming it was in the White House - and we were reading the Book of Mormon. After we had read a little bit, President Obama stood up with a smile on his face and said "Well, I'd love to know more." And remarkably, I was not nervous in the slightest during this dream, but excited.

How awesome is that?

That was quite a dream. Maybe I'll serve a mission in D.C., meet the President and teach his family. Maybe it was just a dream. Maybe it was symbolic of something else. Who knows? But in any event, I'm going to remember this dream for a long time.

Writing and Soldering

2009-02-25T23:33:00.003-06:00

Well, I'm hoping the challenge that Dana set us in writing class will help me get back into the act of writing again. I haven't done much work on my novel since before Christmas - actually, since October; November was NaNoWriMo and after that Christmas was coming, so work on my novel got pushed out of my mind for a while. Never go that long without writing. It takes forever to get back in the groove. 5,000 words in two weeks and I don't even have 700. Patrick and Michael are in the thousands word count - which just proves that they're awesome. (Speaking of which, Dana; how much have you written? :-D ) So I need to push it!

We got to learn how to solder in our ham radio class today! That was fun. Scary at first, but fun. So we now have most of our capacitors soldered onto our circuit boards. Everyone who didn't get to come today missed out on all the fun. But in a way that was a good thing, because there were only two soldering stations and three radio kits to be built, plus one that hadn't been fully inventoried yet. Can't wait to keep building! I should have soldering in a story somewhere.

Hats and Bags

2009-01-06T22:01:00.004-06:00

When my aunt Sharon and Kris (who we call Aunt Kris) came to visit for Christmas this year, Aunt Kris was wearing this really great hat that Aunt Sharon had knit for her. It was done in off-white and had bobbles and cable knitting and was just a great hat! Mom and granny both wanted one, so Aunt Sharon let me copy the pattern so I could start working on one for mom; she's working on one for granny. Mom wanted a hat in an aran fleck. I believe it was Christmas Eve when I started on the hat and I finally finished it just last week.

Here's me modeling the hat. I'm working on one in red for me. The pattern comes (thankfully) in two sizes, one for women's (up to 22") and one for men's (up to 25"). I had to use the larger size for both hats, since both mom and I have larger heads.

And last night around 11 p.m., I found myself being really crazy and heading over to the shed where most of my yarn was stored for some cotton yarn to continue working on a cute mesh bag I'd started crocheting earlier that evening. Mom calls it a shopping bag, but I guess it can be used for any number of things; shopping bag, beach bag, what-have-you.

Christmas and Blessings

2008-12-19T21:17:00.002-06:00

We were surprised the other night when a man from church showed up and asked if mom would like to come with him to pick up the van. It seems he had worked on it that day and it was ready to return home. I believe this was... Wednesday? Thursday? Something like that. So my brother was able to attend seminary today (the last day before the holiday break).

Hard to believe there are six days left until Christmas. Eep! That reminds me that I need to finish Mom's present.

Freezing Rain and Broken Wheel Bearings...

2008-12-15T21:58:00.003-06:00

... and it's only Monday!

Actually the trouble started yesterday on the way home from church. Mom was hearing the van making a strange noise while we were still up on the mountain road. I didn't hear it until we were off the mountain and nearing the golf course. THEN I heard - and felt - the scraping.

Mom pulled into the nearest driveway, she and I got out to check the two front tires - because that's where it felt like the scraping was coming from. But we couldn't figure it out. Just a minute later the man who lived there pulled into his driveway. Mom explained our situation to him and he checked the tires himself. Mom thought it might have been the brakes or the wheel bearing on the right side; we've had problems with the wheel bearing once before. The guy checked and thought it might be the brakes. But he checked only the right side - since that's the side that mom said it felt like where the problem lay. But later, after Granny picked us up and took us home, that evening one of the men from church came to pick up his son who'd been staying the afternoon with us and asked for the key to the van so he could check it out himself.

He called us less than an hour later to say that he'd discovered that it was actually both wheel bearings on the driver's front wheel. Both he and the man who's driveway we parked in said that it was good that we stopped the van where we did. I don't know the full story, really, but I don't doubt they're right.

But with the freezing rain that has come today *big pout* there was no way anybody was getting anywhere. Thankfully the men were able to move our van over to the golf course (which has been shut down for several months) so our van's not stuck on the man's property. Who knows when this icy slush will clear up? We've got places to go and things to do, so we'll just have to ask others to help us get to wherever we need to go.

I'm going to be praying for help tonight.

Memoirs and autobiographies

2008-12-11T17:23:00.006-06:00

Either I hadn't known, or had not registered, the difference between a memoir and an autobiography. I guess I had always thought they were similar pieces of work with different names. But today I read "The Story of Your Life" by Joe Kita in the newest Reader's Digest (January 2009). I haven't completed the article yet, but it offers 5 tips for starting your memoir. I need to type them up; they can apply to any piece of writing, not just memoirs. The first tip was the one that told me the difference.

"1. Write memoir, not autobiography. An autobiography is the story of an entire life, but a memoir is just one story from that life. You can only ever write one autobiography, but you can write countless memoirs. It's a much less intimidating project if you view it that way." (emphasis and bold added)

How true. And after reading what I have of this article, I wondered about writing a memoir about our struggles and battle with my dad's cancer.

Vocations and writing and such

2008-12-10T23:55:00.004-06:00

It's my turn to teach the young women of my church on Sunday and the lesson is about choosing a vocation. How fitting, considering that I don't have one myself. But they do say that the teacher learns as much as the student, if not more.

I love to write, and I love to read. I can certainly use those to an advantage and make some kind of income off of it. I'm even taking a novel writing class, but my own novel isn't coming along as well as I'd like it to. I've changed the time period it was originally in - which reminds me that I need to finish reading my friend's novel, since it was partly the inspiration of my novel - and of what I have written so far, I only truly love what is now chapter 5.

I'm tossing around different ideas for a particular character - Reed Bentley - who is essential to a part of the plot, as well as a friend of my main character Selene. He is a member of the Sovereign Guard (the military in my novel), but how long has he been a member? Right now I have him just signing up for training. Or would it be better if Reed had been a Trooper (the nickname for the Sovereign Guard) for a few years and is in the same platoon with Selene's younger brother Primus?

Oh, so many things to rethink for this novel. But I won't despair! I know I can do it.

Two Successes in Two Weeks

2008-12-07T22:49:00.003-06:00

I've acheived two successes within the past two weeks. I actually wrote 50k words for NaNoWriMo last month.

And just today I completed my reading of the New Testament; my goal was to finish it by Christmas. I started my reading on May 25, so it took me six months and twelve days to complete the New Testament. My goal for next year is to read the entire Standard Works (the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine & Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price constitute the standard works of scripture for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) in one year.

4.33 chapters/day or 6.76 pages/day

I went by chapters this past year. I think I'll try pages next year. I pray that as I do this, that the Lord will bless me with a greater understanding of the gospel and His Word, along with a willingness and opportunities to share my knowledge and beliefs of the Church.

I ate too much!

2008-11-28T21:25:00.004-06:00

Aah, but it was good food yesterday. I was surprised, though, that only half of the usual number of family showed up yesterday. But it was still a good time.

I made wassail for the first time in my life yesterday and it was yummy. The recipe came out of our "Fix It and Forget It" crockpot cookbook. My cousin Amanda kept going back for more as the evening wore on. Guess I need to make some more for Christmas. The recipe called for a can of apricots, but I guess it got eaten the day before, because when I looked, I couldn't find it. So instead I used a jar of home-canned peaches. Yum!

The recipe called for pineapple juice, orange juice, apricots and apple cider. It also called for whole cloves and cinnamon sticks, which we bought, but unfortunately, it said to put the cloves and cinnamon in a cheesecloth bag. We couldn't find any cheesecloth until today! Oh well, there's going to be more at Christmas. With this recipe, as delicious as it smelled I think there ought to be Wassail potpurri or a candle.

A poet in the making?

2008-11-23T21:29:00.002-06:00

Well, our talks went well today. I took far less time speaking than I thought I would. I had several comments on my poem that I quoted in my talk. Kerry even suggested that I send it in to the Ensign - one of our church magazines. That might be really cool! As it is, I've got one poem entered into a poetry contest that is also being published in a poetry anthology currently entitled "Immortal Verses". They send me e-mails offering to let me buy the book for myself. Doesn't it make more sense to let the poets have their own copy for free? Or something like that? The asking price is, regrettably, far more expensive than I can afford.

Well, Thanksgiving is almost here, and less than a month after that... CHRISTMAS!!!!! Is anyone else as excited as I am?

Hot Water Tank Replacement

2008-11-22T09:59:00.002-06:00

Well, we had us a little emergency Thursday night when our hot water tank started leaking. We let our landlord know, but as it was 9:30 at night, it was a little late to come look at it that night, so after trying to instruct me how to find the switch to shut off the water heater (which I didn't find) he said he'd come in the morning.
Mom woke up around one o'clock in the morning smelling burning wire. She got up to check on the water heater to discover that the leak was coming from the electrical panel on the side. (I knew it had been coming from a panel, but I didn't know at the time that it was the electrical panel. Now I know better.) So she woke me up and we cleared out as much of the stuff from the laundry room as we could so that she could have room to look closer and find a way to turn off the tank. She found a knob and thought that might be it. She said I could go back to bed and - after telling her that she could wake me if she needed me - I went to bed. Though it did take me a while to fall asleep, mind you. (Well, would you fall asleep right away if you knew there was a problem with your tank?)
But the next day, yesterday, we cleared out the rest of the stuff from the laundry room and mopped up the water from the floor. Alfred came in, disconnected the water tank and drained it through a hose, then brought in a new tank. It's shorter and wider, but, according to him, the new tank is more energy smart.
Whew! Crisis averted.
However, it seems that we have very little water pressure coming from the kitchen sink. The bathroom works just fine. Mom said it was possible that Alfred didn't turn the water back on fully (or something like that).

Abundant Blessings

2008-11-20T23:04:00.002-06:00

Well, my family have been asked to speak in church on Sunday on the topic of "We have been abundantly blessed." We were asked the Sunday before last, so we had plenty of time to prepare. Doesn't mean we remembered - or chose - to do so.

Well, I tried anyway... One day last week I decided that I'd just start listing some of the things I had been blessed with, thinking perhaps I could incorporate something into my talk, and before I knew it, my list was rhyming. I had created a poem. It's finally to the point where I'm pleased with it.

Until we’re faced with trials
Do we ever truly see
The blessings that are given
From God to you and me?

A shelter and a home,
A family full of love
The gospel’s guiding light
From the Holy One above

Food to satisfy our hunger
And the clothes upon our backs
God’s word through living prophets
To get us back on track.

Nature’s bounteous beauty
Greets us day by day
The songs of birds, the bounding deer,
Are part of life’s bouquet.

"Comments" and NaNoWriMo

2008-11-19T23:49:00.006-06:00

Hey, is there a way to reply to comments on my blog? Whether there is or not, I'm trying to tell Dana that yes, it's me!!!

This is my third year of participating in NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month) and I have made it farther than my first two years. Unfortunately, things are beginning to lag behind. I need 1,233 words left in the next eight minutes if I am to finally catch up to where I'm supposed to be in my word count. Whether I do or not tonight, I am determined to hit 50,000 words by November 30 (which is the goal of NaNoWriMo to begin with: to write a 50k word novel in 30 days)!! Wish me luck.

Check out the website. http://www.nanowrimo.org/

My Intro to Blogspot.com

2008-11-19T21:45:00.000-06:00

I received an e-mail from Dana reminding us that there was no writing class next week and I saw the link to her blog at blogspot.com. Now, I've seen several posts in different forums that I visit that have links to their blogs here, so I thought I'd check out Dana's blog to see if I knew anyone else there. Holy cow! There's Sister Martindale, the Cockrums (Dana's family), the Thuesons, the Warenski's, the Crocketts and the Conway 1st Ward Relief Society.

Morrilton's Relief Society just recently started an e-mail newsletter. Maybe I should suggest having a blog as well as a newsletter. That way those ladies who check blogs more often than they do e-mail (lol!) would see news either way.

And maybe I'll actually remember to update this one.