Ornament Exchange

I went to an ornament exchange this week. It was so fun to see what everyone made and brought...I wanted to share what everyone did, unfortunately I am not a very good photographer so I apologize for the picture quality, it really doesn't give the works of art they credit they are due. Here is what everyone brought.

This last one is mine, it is a melted snowman. If you look carefully you can see the scarf, the branches for arms, the coal pieces for the eyes and mouth and there is even a little orange carrot nose.

On This Thanksgiving

Last night I was at my sister's house and before I left I offered to take some kids home. They have been begging me for months to have a sleepover and I decided now was a good time with no school and all.

Even though we didn't get home until pretty late I agreed to play a game with them. I think we had fun. This morning they slept-in late which was good because I was able to get up and get some things done.

After they were all gone and I had breakfast cleaned up and was getting myself ready for the day I went into the bathroom they used. Now I will note that I usually don't have to do much cleaning in this bathroom because I don't use it very often, but when I looked into the sink I saw toothpaste all over the sink.

I turned on the water and started to wipe down the sink and gave a thanks for the blessing of having had kids in my house. What a blessing to have nieces and nephews who like to come to my house sometimes.

Before and After

Here they are as promised although most people have seen me in the past few months. I did have one of those in my sweats pictures but, they are a little too embarrassing, not that these aren't...actually it about makes me cry to see what I let myself get to, but here it is anyway.

So Many Errors

Wow, just re-read my float post and there were a lot of errors.

For those of you who care (probably just me) I made an attempt to correct them and may have improved the telling of the story in a line or two...yes this is a lame attempt to have people read my blog again and to get more comments. :) Yes I used the word lame despite my efforts to get people to be careful with word usage in all areas of speech...

Tube Terrors: A Tale of Floating the Boise River

As I mentioned in my last post, one of my favorite activities is to float the Boise River. It is the right speed to relax and keep moving at the same time. It also has about 3 rapids that make for a little excitement providing you miss the big rocks that really can bruise the bum...not really hard to miss if you know what you are steering clear of.

So when I went to visit my sister this summer I really wanted to do this. We were a little uncertain about the logistics of it because normally we have two cars so one driver can park at the finish then drive with the other driver to the start. The problem was we only had one car this time. We thought about inviting others to join us but we didn't want to invite someone just for their car. Fortunately we discovered a shuttle that was relatively cheap that would take us from the finish to the start.

So, we drove to the finish, got on our suits and sunscreen, grabbed our tubes and waited for the bus. The float down the river is approximately 6 miles, I imagine the drive is a bit longer since you have to take the streets.

This river is also great because they provide air filling stations at the put-in area, which is great when you are carrying tubes on a bus. It would be crazy to have a bus full of people and inflated tubes and rafts. When we got there however, we discovered that our tubes were missing their valve caps.

At first we weren't concerned because tubes have valves that prevent the air from escaping unless you push on them in just the right way to release it, but when we started to fill the tires we discovered it was more difficult than it should be. Even when we were able to get some air in them the air wouldn't stay in! That is when we discovered the the stems were empty, there were no valves in them!

So there we were standing in only our bathing suits with two deflated tires and no way to return to our car. We were seriously debating if it would be faster/easier to swim down the river or walk back to our car (on the main roads in only our bathing suits I will remind you).

As we considered our options, like looking for a small rock to fill the hole. Then I thought there must be some caps people had dropped just lying around so we kind of walked around looking for whatever we could find that might solve our problem.

We saw that some people had abandoned some tubes that clearly had been through the ringer and were full of holes. There was clearly some attempt to patch them but, clearly the tires did not come through with success despite some serious duck tape usage. It seemed apparent that no one would be returning for them so we took the cap from the one that had one...they too were missing their stems or we may have taken them as well.

So while my sister blew up one tire that would have a cap I continued to look around. Desperate I ripped some of the used duck tape from off of the abandoned tubes thinking maybe I could tape mine. Then we discovered the cap was broken and had to use the duck tap for reinforcement on the cap...but I went and got some more old, used, abandoned tape on a tube for my tire.

In the end we had two tubes which we filled to capacity hoping that between the two of them we would be able to have enough air in at least one of them to get us both to the end of the journey...we did this knowing that the time might come very quickly and that we would be sharing one tube.

It was apparent that the duck tape alone did not work as well as the duck tape combined with the broken cap. As I sat on it in the water little bubbles came out of it and when I pulled it out of the water a small hissing noise could be heard. Knowing that our only other option would be to walk the roads in our suits we headed out on the water and prayed for the best.

It was a fun float, we talked as we tried to steer clear of the edges and avoid cliff and tree divers. We joked about how quickly we would be sharing a tube and when we would have to swim the rest.

Amazingly enough both tubes made it to the end and though a bit smaller than than when we began not too small that we had to take such drastic measures to swim or walk.

All in all the whole story may sound funny and be poorly told, but we laughed and amused ourselves by our McGalver-like abilities to make due with only used duck tape.

Floating the river once again came through as one of my favorite activities!

I Kissed the Chain

So since my 100th post I have been meaning to get some before and after pictures, but I am still working on getting some after pictures. Anyway in the mean time I had to tell about some of my summer activities. So I did a lot of fun activities this summer. Some were completely new to me and some were repeats of old favorites. One of my favorite activities is to float on a tube down the Boise River which I got to do. I have no pictures but it was very adventuresome. I will try to tell the story on it soon.

Other activities included hiking, kayaking, snorkeling, and rock climbing. I am featuring the rock climbing here obviously because it was such a huge thing for me and maybe too because I have pictures. ;)

So first I have a picture of what I was going to climb. I was probably one of the last ones to go and those ahead of me at least had some experience and made it look a little easier than it was. So here I am getting started. I think at this point I was saying (probably out loud, but only to myself) I can't do this, it is too hard. Then I answered back with I have to do this, I can do this, I am going to do this! So I kept going. When I got past this part everyone started to tell me I only had the hard part left. People, for the record, words of encouragement usually don't include "you only have the hard part left." But I was determined by now. I made it to the top and as tradition has it for rock climbers, when you reach the top you are supposed to kiss the chain...and I did! So cool that I was able to do this!

100 I Did It!

So as many of you know I have successfully been loosing weight and though a lot of it has finally shown in the last 8-10 months I really have been actively working on it for a little over two years. It has been a long slow road but 100% worth it!

So how much have I lost? You guessed it 100lbs! What a great way to celebrate my 100th post.

Let me start off by saying I am very happy and excited about where I am but in all honesty very sad about the fact that I ever had to do it. No seriously, I was looking at an old skirt I used to wear a few years ago and almost cried, and they were not tears of joy, they were sadness for who I was before. If there is anything I would encourage anyone to do it would be to learn who you are, what your body is and make it that.

I have written pages of thoughts about what I have been through in case anyone wants to really know, but I am going to try to summarize with just a few points some of the things that made me successful. But as I tend to be long winded I am sure it will be long anyway.

-When I first started I prayed for the desire to change, overcoming something as big as this starts by making the choice to do it and if you are having trouble with that then first pray for the desire to do it so when you make the choice it is easier.

-That leads me to say that it isn’t about how I look physically so much as knowing my body is a temple and if I understand spiritually how it makes a difference I can make better choices to take care of my body. This also means I can pray for help which also holds me to a different level of accountability.

The choices, the work, the effort required...

-I exercise a lot because it really makes a difference and because I am at a point in my life where I can. That is all I will say about exercise.

-Be aware of nutritional values of food. I don’t think I knew how bad some of the stuff I ate was for me before I started educating myself on it. I learned for example that one brownie is about as bad for you as two and a half cookies so when I am going treat myself to something I go for the cookie because it isn’t as bad so I can enjoy it more.

-I have accomplished it all through small obtainable goals...one step at a time is what got me here. Now really I did start with a 100 lb goal in mind, but it took me about a year longer than I originally planned. I am totally ok with this though because I have lost steadily over the past couple of years so I know the change is for good. I still love food and splurge sometimes (what girl doesn’t go crazy once a month?) but, generally speaking, my habits are changed and even when I do go crazy I stop before I have hit total out of control mode. Plus now that I have hit 100 I am going to keep going just a little further. :)

-One of the main things I tell people who ask how I did it is that I haven’t given up any food I love, I just control when and how much I eat. I have lots of little things I do to make this happen. For example I make the yummy lasagna that I love and then put it in small portions in the freezer then take it to work for lunch. I still get my lasagna but now it is total portion control.

-I often speak of my problem as an addiction. Whatever it is called it is a matter of bridling my passions. There are certain things in life that aren't in and of themselves wrong, they just have to be kept within certain bounds so control and bridling passions is a good description of what I have learned to do.

-I have also set many small goals along the way and looked for accountability with someone I trusted. For example I decided at one point I could only have ice cream on dates. That made it easy for me because I didn’t have it in my house but I didn’t deprive myself on special occasions. Then I committed to reporting to my sister anytime I had it so she would know if it was within the guidelines I had set for myself.

-It isn't always easy and I still struggle sometimes. One weekend I was having a particularly hard time and wondering if I really could continue to exercise so hard and not eat whatever whenever. At about that time I pulled into the temple parking lot and realized what I was thinking. Right then and there I repented of the temptation and recommitted to stick to it.


I know that sometimes the spirit is willing but the flesh is week but I love how I feel now and I never want to feel the way I did before again! I will never go there again! Really the journey has been one of body, mind and spirit. The whole picture is needed to be realized to make it a success.

99...

So this is my 99th post and I wanted to do something big for 100. I am sure most of my readers (all three of you) already know what I am probably going to post, but I was curious what ideas anyone had for me to do. (I think one of my readers out there did a similar post on her 99th...Thanks for the idea ;) Who knows maybe someone will inspire me to do something I hadn't thought of before.

“Oh the Places You'll Go”

I got to go to girls’ camp last week and a lot of people have asked me how it was. So here I share with you, though it may be boring because I am sharing the lessons learned more than the activities we did. In the end the whole experience is another good news moment from me.

I was very apprehensive because my last girls camp experience was shall we say less than good? Fortunately the stake camp director and all the people involved in planning did a wonderful job. The theme was Dr. Seuss “Oh the Places You'l Go” and it was so well organized. After my first meeting I realized it was going to be a very different experience from the last and it proved to be right.

Good news points about girls’ camp.

-learning the basics: I learned from the last time I served with the Young Women that when you work with them you learn the basics meaning you are reminded of who you are, that you have a purpose and are not alone. Most importantly I was reminded at camp to believe in these things.

-Because of my job I spend most of my time with this age group and it can be very scary seeing the world they live in. I worry for them and for those that are taught what is right fighting against what they are only ignorant to. I have learned that the Young Women in the church do know who they are and most of them are not afraid to stand up against it. It gives me hope.

-The weather was so good to us. It rained a couple of nights but by the time I got up and moving there was little sign of rain (with the exception of the big storm on Saturday morning which served as a blessing to our ward because the girls got up and packed in record time and we missed the mud and wet that most people got). But as I was saying the days were not too hot, in fact it was near perfect in my opinion.

-I got to take a break from my intense workouts at the gym. Don’t worry; I did canoe around the lake a few times. Walked a lot and went on the 5+ mile hike which I really rather enjoyed. And despite eating a lot of white bread at meals and my fair share of GORP, (good old raisins and peanuts with a few other yummies in there) I still managed to pass on a lot of generic snack cakes they tried to feed us for desserts.

-It was a great distraction to me. I have been going through a little bit of a hard time recently, as some of my readers know, and camp was a blessing because I was able to let go of my worries and be reminded of who I am and that the Lord has a plan for me. I got to laugh again and be happy.

Dr. Seuss got it right in his book that we would have choices to make and that sometimes we would have hang ups and lurches and unpleasant bumps that put us in a slump, sometimes we will be in a lonely place that will scare you but you will go on, you will hike on and you will succeed, yes indeed!

In My Defense: Bad News/Good News

Per explanation of my two days of crashing mentioned on my last post, I wanted to share a bad news moment...truth is I have not been feeling very well, really I have had somewhat of a dry and sore throat. I do not like being sick but the good news is...

yes there is good news, I am hardly ever sick and I think it is not going to last long. I am feeling better all ready. Sore throat? What sore throat? OK, maybe it isn't that gone, but I am feeling a better and it does make me appreciate the good health I usually maintain.

What Do You Do In the Summer Time?

I really don't have anything to blog, I am just tired of opening my blog and seeing the same old post, plus I am so close to my 100th post that I need to get some things up so I can do something really big for 100...Right?

So I am officially on summer vacation and I have so much to do and so little to do that I am overwhelmed and underwhelmed all at the same time. I know it doesn't make sense to me either.

Monday morning I hit the ground running, getting up early, scripture study, going off to tutor and getting home and planning on going to the gym all before 10am...then I crashed. Yes I fell asleep in my bed before I even finished getting ready for the gym. Fortunately a friend called so it wasn't a very long nap and I eventually made it to the gym and even spent many hours with my parents trying to buy a new TV...that is a whole different story in an of itself. (End story, they got a new one, I did not).

Tuesday I thought I would give it another go. I got up early, went to the gym for extra time, went to the dentist, started running some errands to get ready for girls camp then again I came home and crashed...two days of summer, two naps. By now I am feeling a little worthless so I wrote down some things I need to get done and I did my scripture study and went to practice the camp skit with the girls...overall not a horrible day but I have yet to really do anything.

That brings me to my to do list. I have been working on a to do list for several weeks, the biggest problem is that most of it is outdoor stuff and quite frankly the heat and the cicadas are keeping me from it. I mowed my lawn last week and was swarmed twice by them. I felt like I was in middle of the plagues of Egypt and I was fearful for frogs and lice. I thought about blogging about the cicadas but quite frankly I have heard enough about them from everyone on FB, the news, random strangers at the store (yes a woman stopped to show me pictures she got on her phone of cicadas at her friends house). On the other hand I like to see that people are so friendly to strangers.

Man, this post is more like a journal write, sorry it is boring but I wanted to put something.

Good news for the day: Today I have gone to tutor, to the gym, done my study, sprayed for bugs, showered and blogged and no nap! Go me!

Now off to make a plan for the rest of the week because girls camp is coming so to do list, here I come!

A Surprise From the Ground

If you look at my backyard you can see that I already need to mow my lawn...don't know when I am going to do that, but that is beside the point. Notice the little tufts that are growing taller than the rest. I thought this was rather odd and asked a friend to investigate to tell me what was up with the tall grass. I did not expect the investigation to include tasting the grass but it did. Here you can see a close up of the taller grass. I even tasted it...a little familiar tasting but a bit odd. This picture is not clear at all but this is what was at the root of the problem. Yes we actually picked the onions and chopped them up and put them in our salad. Crazy I say!

Good News: Survival

Many of you know that St. Louis is crazy in the weather department yet I will confess I really enjoy watching a good rain storm. They can also be very scary and cause a lot of damage which becomes more worrisome when you own a house with old trees. One night early fall I was awaken by a very loud storm and was a little frightened. I immediately found myself praying that if a tree went down that it would not damage my house, my shed or my play area then went back to sleep.

I remember sometime in the night hearing a very loud crack but I didn't worry about it and again went back to sleep. The next morning I discovered a large tree had fallen in my yard and it took with it the main part of one of my pear trees. Unfortunately I did not think to pray for my pear tree.

I got a lot of help cleaning up the tree (and I also got some poison ivy) but I was a little unsure of the fate of my pear tree. We had a cold winter but now it is spring and while this picture is hard to see, because of the branches of the tree behind it, you can see that my tree survived! See how it is fuller on the right than the left, would you believe the left was the bigger half. Never mind that it is lopsided, it lives and that is a happy thing. I love spring! I really love this picture because you see new life in front of the sever damage of the missing limb and it reminds me of hope in adversity.

Getting Away

As I think most of you know I was able to get away for Spring break. I was fortunate enough to be able to go stay with good friends from my college days unfortunately the weather was a little colder than I would have liked. You can kind of tell from our "go to the beach on the warmest day" picture here that it was indeed chilly. Still I did enjoy the different scenery and cold though it was the beach was cool to see. We went to Old Town San Diego where we saw this beautiful Tiger Lilly arrangement. There were several shops and eating places as well as some historical things. We got our fill of food and browsing and as far as historical sites we only went to the Mormon Battalion site which was perhaps geared to a little younger crowed but I still really enjoyed it and got a needed message out of it. These were also in Old Town.

We also had fun at a farmers' market and street festival where we ate yummy food and saw lots of fun shops. I splurged and bought this necklace.

I think one of my favorite parts about the whole trip, aside from just hanging out with my friend and going to the temple (which I didn't get a picture of), was the bike rides along the highway and beach. No I don't have any pictures of it but it was just cool to think about going out and exercising with such beautiful views.

Ugly Sweater Day

I just want to give a bit of advice to high school teachers on "ugly sweater day"...make sure whatever you wear that it isn't a sweater, it will save you the trouble of hearing from someone each hour "did you mean to wear an ugly sweater today?".

Good News: I Finished My Class!

For those of you who didn't know I took an online class in Library Sciences. I am hoping to certify in school libraries so that I can have more options for a job next year. I finished the work in about a week and a half.

Unfortunately I don't think I learned what I really should have learned from the class because the true test is passing the Praxis to get certification and after only taking 5 practice questions I still realize I have a lot yet to learn. I have to register for the test by the 10th so I am going to study all week then see how I feel about it.

Wish me luck.

Because I Know You Have Nothing Better to Do!

It is that time again to order checks because I only have a few left in my checkbook...and because I know you have nothing better to do I have linked my favorite site so you can browse and vote on the ones you like. Tell me what you think.

click here

I am thinking I like Serene (page 1), Cherry Blossom (3), Climbing Ivy (3), and Ivy Vintage (6).

JOY TO THE WORLD

So today I was at the gym doing my weights and I was listening to my totally random music selection when Joy to the World came on. Now I haven't bothered to figure out how to make a favorites list so I have everything from Latin, to Pop, to Jazz, to Classical, to Religious to Christmas on my mp3 player. Normally when it isn't Christmas time I just skip when I get to a Christmas song but when I went to hit skip today I stopped myself because this is just a good statement.

"Joy to the world, the Lord is Come"! How wonderful is that?!

I remember once several years ago in the middle of the summer (or maybe not the summer but many months away from December) the member of the Bishopric that was conducting the meeting got up to close and told us that he had changed the closing hymn. He said he knew it wasn't Christmas but after looking at everyone in the congregation he decided it was a good message to sing at the close of our meeting. We then sang Joy to the World.

A few weeks ago I was driving home and I was down and discouraged and feeling very sad. I decided I needed to remember my testimony of my Savior and be happy. I may have had to force myself a little but I sang out loud "Joy to the world the Lord is come, let earth receive her King." I sang as many versus as I could remember. Here are a few great lines to consider.

-While fields and floods, rocks, hills, and plains repeat the sounding joy
-Let earth receive her King
-Let every heart prepare him room
-And Saints and angels sing

-Rejoice! Rejoice when Jesus reigns

-No more shall sorrow grow, nor thorns infest the ground, He'll come and make the blessings flow

Good News: Good Music

I love good music! I love words that inspire, I love melodies that uplift! I love medleys that bring memories of sacred and meaningful hymns of experiences past. I love the spirit that music can bring!

The other day at the gym I was listening to my random music selection that has anything from Latin to Pop to Religious to Classical, and the first movement of Beethoven's 9th Symphony came on. Most people are familiar with the last movement which is "The Song of Brotherhood" or "Ode to Joy" as most would recognize it as, but I love the first movement because it is so neat and I love the little fragments of the "Ode to Joy" that are snuck in there. I enjoy the hint of what is to come!

I decided at the end of today that I needed a pick me up so as I was working on my cards for this month's card club, which I have procrastinated until now, I put it on and am currently enjoying the third movement anticipating what was hinted to an hour ago when I was listening to the first..."Ode to Joy"! I love it!

Good News: We Also Have Inspired Local Leaders!

I usually put this kind of stuff in my journal but I feel that others out there may need it.

We had a great ward conference last Sunday and I have enjoyed studying the lessons taught by our Stake leaders. Also I was able to reread a wonderful talk given by our Relief Society President. One scripture that stood out from her talk was Mosiah 4:9

"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."

I hope it helps you as much as it helps me.

Good News: We Have Prophets and Apostles Today!

I believe most of my readers are LDS (Mormons) like myself but just in case I have some unknown non-LDS readers out there, I will start by saying we believe that like in the organization of the Church when Christ was on the Earth we have prophets and apostles that give direction from Him for our day. If you want to know more go to mormon.org/restoration and scroll down to How God Talks to Us Today.

Why is this good news? Well since they have direction for our day I like to take advantage of the teachings to help me know better who I am and what I should do. Two of my current favorite talks from two of the Lord's apostles are "The Transforming Power of Faith and Character" by Elder Richard G. Scott and "Continue in Patience" by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf.

Good News: I Finished My Kitchen

One of the blessings of owning a home is learning to work. I believe it is a blessing to work. With this home improvement project I learned I could do things I didn't believe I could. For example the thought of tiling and cutting tiles was overwhelming and I never thought I would be able to do it. Step by step and with a little push I have once again been taught that I can do about anything. Let me show you what I mean...
(above) This is when I moved in, boring white and I wish I could find the picture but a freshly removed blue and yellow plaid wallpaper from under the cupboards. Notice the lovely turquoise counter tops. Bellow might be a better shot of this. Here I have painted the kitchen a happy yellow. I really did like it and felt it lifted my spirits. So it took some time but I was finally able to get the counters redone. I love them and you can see that I changed the faucet and knobs to make things blend better. I also choose to repaint the walls to match the counters and floor better and the yellow was a bit much even though it was cheerful.The floor was my next project. I have really disliked it from day one but again it took some time to be able to get it done. Here you can see that there were multiple layers to rip up. It was a long process, I put a few hours in each day for several days but eventually found a tool that made the work move a lot faster.
Here we are mid tile. This is the part I actually helped with, I did some of the laying here.

Here is the finished product. A billion thanks to Shane and Robert who did most of it. Shane did all the cutting and Robert most of the laying. There were many other helpers when it came to prep work and follow up work too. Thanks everyone, you know who you are!

The goal when Shane and Robert were here was to also do the back splash. Unfortunately they ran out of time and since I had the materials and we had borrowed the tile cutter I was forced to take this part on alone. It frightened me but it had to be done so I dug in and did it. I think it turned out rather well. Here is the final product.

Good News and New Goals

Tis the season for setting goals and I don't usually do this publicly but I am going to this time and I will explain a little bit why as I talk about "good news."

This past year in Relief Society we often started the meeting with sharing good news moments. During this time anyone who had something exciting or new to share could share it. For example someone might tell about a graduation, a birth, a visit to an old friend, summer starting....anything. I never shared anything. Not that nothing anything good never happens, just never shared it.

One particular Sunday the good news was postponed to just before the lesson, after the teacher was up and ready to teach. If I were to share good news on this particular Sunday it would have been that my roommates fiance had come over one evening and did some home improvement projects for me that I was particularly nervous to get done. I was very excited that he completed the tasks that would have taken me many hours and much stress. But alas, I did not share my good news.

The teacher then went into a lesson on gratitude and noted that as we shared our good news we were expressing gratitude for the good things that were happening in our lives. I felt guilty for not having expressed my excitement that these tasks were taken care of and no longer a worry for me.

With this thought in mind I will share some goals I have, one being that I want to post more on my blog about some of the good things that have happened to me. I have always hesitated in the past for fear of sounding boastful or showy.

I share some of my goals (New Years Resolutions) so that you can all celebrate with me in my accomplishments that I hope are shared not as bragging but with a element of gratitude.

Laura's Life's goals starting 2011

1-be a better person...follow through on promptings for change and improvement to be the person my Father in Heaven wants me to be

2-work on my calling

3-continue to work on my weight

4-make better use of my discretionary time

OK, so really the first goal covers the rest so maybe it should be a main goal with 3 sub goals, but I will leave it at that.

Posts to come...recognition of what successes I have already had on these goals and general accomplishments in life that are to be considered "Good News".