Home Sweet Home

At the request of my dear Aunt Gay I took a couple pictures of my casa so you can all see where I live. (since family visitors seem to be in short supply these days... I'd have a party and entice you all over with food, but alas I have neither the food nor the space for such a thing.) Enjoy!

Who Woulda Thought?

There is one thing in life that I have always said I do not have the ability to do, ok actually there are several, but one of the big ones is be artsy-craftsy. I just have never possessed that knack for looking at plain stuff and making it into cute stuff like my mom and the majority of women I know. But, dun da da dum, I did it! Truth be told I'm technically working on it, but it's coming along!! My mom is teaching me and Rodney is teaching me and I even tried some stuff on my own! (gasp!) Personally, I'm just so stinkin' proud of me that I just have to tell everybody, hence the blog! So here's what I've got so far...


Rodney took me on a date to "Color Me Mine" and this is what I made. Came up with the idea and the colors and everything all by myself!


Ok so my mom actually made the box part and covered it with cute paper and stuff (cause she's still WAY ahead of me in this game) but I did have the idea to stamp the letters on the side so I'm claiming partial credit.


Aren't these soo cool! I did that! Rodney taught me how to etch glass and I made these two plates. You can't really see so well in the pictures (if you leave the flash on it makes a glare but without it it's really hard to see. Apparently I'll have to take up photography next and figure all that out) but one is a lady with her dog reaching out to grab a star with the moon in the background (i did that one first) and the other is two jaguars and a flower. Next I'll learn how to use his etching drill, but I'm not quite brave enough for that one yet...


So we got these shadow boxes for our wedding and I have been trying to think of something to put in them every sense. Like seriously asking everyone what they thought and no one could give me any perfect ideas. Until Macall, Miranda, Mollie and Me went to Michaels the other day and they helped me find the perfect solution. Macall being the most help and Mollie and Miranda being the entertainment to keep spirits high. It can be frustrating trying to get ideas! You can't read them so great in the pictures but one jar says "hope is a waking dream" and the other says "dare to dream"
This is our table, I converted it into a craft table... I totally understand my mom's need for an entire room for her stuff now! Well, at least beginning to... Any who I also ground wheat to make my own healthy flour to make my own healthy bread. (we're trying this whole "be healthy" thing) I'm also doing some wood projects with my mom and some of her friends and they are super cute but my mom ran off to Cali and I have no idea where they are right now so I couldn't get a picture. I'll have to add one later.


We got this in the mail the other day, and thought it was pretty awesome! (and just a little bit funny!) This is one of Rodney's mission comps. The paper clip do-dad is the exact same as ours as is the ribbon (which means some other suckers had to tie hundreds of those things too!). Basically the biggest difference from ours is that the paper behind is green instead of brown. At least we know somebody liked our idea!

Moving On, Hopefully

April 27th 2008 was when this whole nightmarish episode started and here it is June first and I am temptingly close but not quite all better. Goodness! So in my last post I was going back to work and life was all better again... or so I thought! Then we went into the ENT to see if I needed my tonsils out (ok, ok, Rodney and the doctor both knew I had to get them out, but I was clinging to some kind of hope that they'd taken care of themselves.) and, after having a camera shoved up my nose, found out that not only did I need my tonsils out but pretty much everything else in my head had to go too. (Rodney would like me to clarify that they did in fact leave my brain. Phew!) Well I went in for surgery the 23rd and spent the last week in bed feeling.... well, like someone played with knives in my face. But I'm almost better now and life is looking up! I'm able to talk some now and eat more mushy foods and should be able to go back to work, permanently this time, on Thursday.

I must say, I do have the best family and friends around. I don't think there was a single day after my surgery that I didn't have a friend come by to see how I was doing and make sure I didn't need anything. (although no one seemed to have the magic "cure all" pill I so desperately wanted) Katie and Lissy Lyn even came and stayed with me all day while Rodney was a work during the week. Signing so I didn't have to write everything out, which was a major blessing! And Rodney has been my knight in shining armor/Hercules hero through it all. He stayed with me night and day over memorial weekend and then rushed home from work every day since to be with me. Always making sure I had plenty of water, hugs, and applesauce to keep me going. : ) What more could a girl possibly ask for?

As for my birthday, sorry Gay, I didn't get around to taking any pictures of my cute apartment. Mostly because at this point it looks more like a rehabilitation center than a cute apartment. But as soon as I'm able I'll get it all cleaned up and post pictures for everyone to see! But my birthday was the best it could be all things considered! My mother in law came to visit me and my mom made me Alfredo spaghetti for dinner so I actually got to eat. Everyone has just been so wonderful to me. I can't help but be reminded of all the wonderful people God has blessed me with. I know that all trials are for our good, and lately I've been doing a lot of thinking as to what good this has done me and maybe that's it. To help me realize how much I have and how many people who love me I've been blessed with. (If only I'd been able to truly appreciate them all without so much pain involved. But I've never been one for learning the easy way) Anyway, I just want to let everyone know how much I love and appreciate all they are for me in my life. Regardless of if I get to see you daily, weekly, or only every year or so I'm grateful that I get to have you in my life!

Yesterday was Miranda's baptism, and luckily I was able to go! First of all, I can't believe she's 8 already! Only one more baptism in our family, wow! What are you going to do mom? All your kids are growing up! Miranda looked so happy and I was reminded of my own baptism, as I always am at others'. We lived in Chicago then and I remember inviting the world to come. I didn't realize back then that most of my friends weren't LDS and didn't have a clue what a baptism was, or at least why it was taking place when I was so old. I was just so excited about it that I thought everyone should be there! Looking back on that experience now, I realize that I should be more like that now. Celebrating the gospel with everyone we meet, not just those we think will understand already. Well, that's pretty much all I have to say for today. Hopefully my next post will be full of health and outdoor summertime adventures!