Well, it has been a while....I am not going to try to catch up though, that would be too overwhelming. I will just go from here.

Tonight I am all alone - so strange. Kids are away at friend's houses and Tom is working.

I think I will read for a while. I am reading one of the Red Wall series by Brian Jacques - The Tagarung. I am also reading the Book of Mormon and trying to finish by the end of August. I do 10 pages a day and it is wonderful. I should just keep it up. Life is so happy when you are reading the scriptures every day. Relationships are sweeter, problems seem smaller. It is amazing.

Here is a little nest that some birds built in the clemantis vine on the lamppost out front. It is so little and sweet. It fell out of the vine so I brought it inside.

Summer pants

I spent the weekend sewing 3 pairs of summer pants (badly needed!!!!) because I am bigger than I was last summer :-(. They are based on the jeans I copied see here a few months back. One is denim, and one is made of a lovely soft, slightly stretchy Egyptian cotton I got before Walmart sold out all of it's fabric recently. I added a tummy control panel in both of them. They are my best pants yet! The third pair are pull on casual plaid pants with a ribknit elasticised waistband and front pockets. Next time I will slightly lower the front waistband on this pattern and the pattern will be perfect.


This morning I worked on drafting a t-shirt pattern to fit me. None of the t-shirts I have been trying to make have been turning out well, so I figured it was time to solve the fitting issues I am having and make a basic pattern to use as a reference. So far I have made 3 muslins. I am getting closer, but I am not quite perfectly happy yet.

I also made a shirt. I thought it would be cute with the yellow pants, but I am not sure. I need opinions. I will post pictures so you can tell me (honestly) what you think. The shirt has a peplum, and it may be too poufy for the fabric I have chosen.

Paperwork day

The buttons are on Ginny's practice coat. It is looking pretty good! I wish it were not made out of cheapo fabric! Ya gots to be very careful when you iron it, cause it melts! I am making the sash, and finishing the hems, and then it is ready to send out to Ginny to try it on........

I was at PA Fabric Outlet yesterday to get some interfacing and such and darn it! They had some adorable fabric on the $1.99 table that I couldn't pass up! WHY????????

My current favorite quote...

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. Three is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won’t feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It’s not just in some of us; it’s in everyone – and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Nelson Mandela – 1994 Inaugural Speech

Lazy day

So, I am getting a slow start today, I did fertilize the garden and do the dishes though. And I looked through possible scholarships to apply to.

We are officially going to Seattle this summer for our vacation!!!! Hooray! It should be lots of fun.

Blah

So this was a blah week. Just feelin' blue for no reason. I really missed Tom whenever he went to work.

We watched Mama Mia this weekend, and it was ok, but the scene where Donna (Meryl Steep) is helping Sophie get ready for the wedding is excellent. If you want to know EXACTLY how a mom of teenagers and young adults feels, just watch that scene. It hits the nail right on the head! The other notable scene is the guys dancing on the pier in flippers. And the island is gorgeous. Otherwise the movie is "meh".

Yard sale aquisitions from Saturday morning.....a blacklight (too late for the techno sleepover the girls had on friday, but they can use it next time). I also got a rolling cart that will be perfect to use to set my palette and assorted stuff when I am painting. And I got a book about making teddy bears.

The practice coat is almost done.....just needs hemming, buttons and buttonholes. I have a feeling it is HUGE. Grrrr.

I believe in UFO's..........Un Finished Objects that is. And yesterday and today I have been finishing my unfinished sewing projects. I still have some to go. Ginny you will be happy to know that one of the projects I worked on today was your coat. Yep. I cut out the orange lining for the practice coat and got the outer part sewn together and pressed. Soon it will be done! Things I finished. I cut off and hemmed a tunic-length shirt I got on clearance at Walmart for $3 a while back. I took a skirt that I had that was too puffy around the waist and put a yoke on it and some trim. I added a ruffle to the bottom of a black and white polkadot skirt for Samm. I finished a blouse. I finished an orange pencil skirt. I fixed your polka dot skirt so now it has a zipper and a bias waist facing. I finished a pair of pants. Pretty good, huh. And then of course I took pictures of them and tried to upload them to my computer and of course that didn't work, so I had to find drivers for the camera on the internet and download those and yada yada yada.......so FINALLY, I am done, and Here are the pics

GREAT QUOTES on life from the Young Women's manual.

“I believe that no worthy young Latter-day Saint man or woman should spare any reasonable effort to come to a house of the Lord to begin life together. The marriage vows taken in these hallowed places and the sacred covenants entered into for time and all eternity are proof against many of the temptations of life that tend to break homes and destroy happiness.

“The blessings and promises that come from beginning life together, for time and eternity, in a temple of the Lord, cannot be obtained in any other way and worthy young Latter-day Saint men and women who so begin life together find that their eternal partnership under the everlasting covenant becomes the foundation upon which are built peace, happiness, virtue, love, and all of the other eternal verities of life, here and hereafter” (Heber J. Grant, “Presidents of the Church Speak on Temple Marriage,” New Era, June 1971, p. 8).

“Now, the seeds of a happy married life are sown in youth. Happiness does not begin at the altar; it begins during the period of youth and courtship. These seeds of happiness are sown by your ability to master your driving passions. Chastity should be the dominant virtue among young people. In the Church there is but a single standard. It applies to the boys as well as to the girls. If you follow that standard—indeed, if you will listen to the promptings of your own true heart—you will learn that self-mastery during youth and compliance with the single standard of morality is the source of virile manhood, the crown of beautiful womanhood, the foundation of a happy home, and a contributing factor to the strength and perpetuity of the race.

“Laxity in youth is as a personal note that must be paid in age. Twenty, thirty, forty years hence, you must pay it. Mastery and chastity are also seeds sown which will pay large dividends in years hence, and those years pass quickly—oh, so quickly” (David O. McKay, “The Choice of an Eternal Companion,” Improvement Era, Apr. 1965, p. 285).

Tom and I went yardsaling this morning after we dropped Julie and Samm off at the Cunningham's for their bike hike. I got a couple of purty necklaces, and some interesting plastic mesh material that should be good for collage, and other art projects. I also got two plaster pillars which will be neat for incorporating into still life arrangements. Let's see, and a full length mirror for self portraits, and a little tiny child's leather glove, because I thought it was so lovely. It was fun. Then we hopped in the pool. BRRRRRRR! Now we are heading off to Walmart to run some errands.

I finally posted all of my pics to the Painting I link. My final is up there now. And by the way I got an A!!!!! I was kind of not expecting that! 4.0 GPA oh yeah!

So it is my last day of work at the Patriot-News. It has been fun. I am working with great people here. I had a job interview on Wednesday for a full-time position at the Pennsylvania State Association of Emergency Services, but they said I was overqualified, so we will see how that goes. They had me take a huge test and the last section was a BEAR. Bunches of little symbols in some kind of sequence which were very hard for me to make sense of for some reason. I am really curious about how I did on that!

I love that my garden is planted. It is so fun to water it everyday and anticipate the little plants peeking through sometime soon. It was a great week to put in a new garden. Rain and cooler temperatures kept everything moist and sunshine is probably helping the little seeds along now.

Monday - first day of new diet - went pretty well....I didn't eat any junk, I ate normal meals, and I feel less puffy already. Today is day 2....... the goal is to eat no junk AND remember to drink 8 glasses of water.

I am going to stay on this until i lose 15 pounds. Stay tuned for more exciting news....

So this weekend was great!

Friday I worked and then right after work I went to the Stake Center to set up the centerpieces for the Stake Relief Society luncheon. Same ones I made for the ward Luau thingy, but I had to make 5 more.

It was Sammy's birthday, so I headed home. Saraiah, Catherine, Desiree, Julie and Carlos were at our house. They had done a scavenger hunt for Samm and brought her presents and stuff, so I went out and got pizza ( hawaiian, cheese and veggie) and cake and icecream, and brought them home for everyone. They watched "Reighn of Fire" and then everyone went home around 8:30.

Saturday morning Tom and I went yardsaling, and while we were out we saw a property along the water for sale. It looked interesting, so we called the realtor and went through it. We are thinking about buying it and fixing it up to be a rental property. We are just thinking though, we will see.

Then I came home and started working on the garden. I got almost everything weeded, tilled, and planted. The last bit, I was planting in the rain. I planted tomatoes, peppers, green beans, cucumbers, 3 kinds of melons, lettuce, kale, assorted greens and herbs, zucchini, yellow squash, sunflowers, and that is about it. I am so excited to have that done. I feel so happy now that my class is over and I am able to work on our home!

This is my last week at Patriot-News, but I have a job interview on Wednesday. I hope it goes well. It would be really nice to have a permanent job.

I am done with my painting class!!!!! Hooray! I took a day off of work yesterday to finish one and a half paintings, and I am glad I did! Here they are with the Gauguin paintings that inspired them....




Class was so much fun last night! Everyone always does such cool things for their finals. I reeeeaaaalllly loved this one where the girl did collages of her kids sleeping. They were really bright and primitive and AWESOME!

So, for our 25th anniversary we went to Star Trek, and had Pesto. It was fun! sorry I am not keeping up with you Ginny on my posting, I will get better after tomorrow!

Inspiration...

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small doesn't serve the world. There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone - and as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberat4d from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others. - Nelson Mandela - 1994 Inaugural Speech

Well, it is Saturday, and I am trying to do a million things today. Top of the list is to do two paintings for my final project in my Painting I class. The house is a wreck, and I am neglecting the feeding and care of my husband and children, and the garden is just a bunch of weeds, so I will be glad when this class is over. I am beginning to feel like I learned something though.....

This is an image of the painting I did on our final painting day of class. I love our teacher, because alot of the time we get to do clothed figures! Hooray for clothing!

I had a painting that I really liked, but then *dunh duhn daaaaaa" (cue evil music) The teacher made it around to my easel and took a look and told me it was getting too muddy. So she told me to use stand oil and a pallette knife and some brighter colors. This was in the last half hour of class! So I had to completely change the way my brain was working, and by the time class was over I was frustrated and greiving over the painting I had lost. Then today, I went to get my painting out of the car and took a look at it and, HEY! I actually like it. I am such a bipolar artist! Maybe I will make that the title of my painting blog.

Always in a hurry when I am at the computer! I plan to figure out this blog thing, though and add a section for running and sewing and art, and whatever else is going on in my life......soon.

It is late and I should go to sleep.......

But here are some pics I promised to post for Ginny....

Ginny, I started a blog finally!