A year in review

First- Happy New Year to my brother and sister-in-law in Australia since it is already 2010 for them

Second- Happy birthday to Sharon. I can't believe which birthday it is for her because in my mind she will always be part of "the little girls", even though she is not that much younger than I am. Still, realizing what number this is for her took me by surprise. In my mind she is closer to 25 than the actual number she is today.

Third- I am going to go over my list from last year and see what I accomplished, or not.

Here is the list from Dec. 31, 2008 and today's comments in red.

Things to do in 2009

• Send Donovan and Trevor overseas for a year long "desert vacation" Hey, they get great looking clothes and lots of accessories and Trevor gets to drive a cool vehicle. Sounds fun, huh? done and over YAY! and they came home early
• Complete 8 more classes for my masters degree. Done. 16 months to graduation. Oct-May of next year will be internship so the class load will be reduced. But I do have a major decision to make regarding my internship. More later.
• Greet my new granddaughter Done and she is beautiful and smart and cute and I am totally in love
• Finish my granddaughter's quilts and booties before she gets here done
• Shop for my grandkidsEverywhere I go
• Spoil my grandkids Working on this one
• Have a Grandma day at least once a month didn't go as planned. Jordan and I did this for a while in the summer, but school seems to be getting in my way. I will have to move this one to the new list
• Find my desk in my office and not lose it again A work in progress. I do have a floor and desk and I rearranged all of the business stuff when I closed UB. I still have filing cabinets and the kids' desk to work on, but it is better than it was.
• Read David G. Woolley's new book and if I'm lucky it'll be autographed Will move this one to a new list. David has things going on and the book didn't come out yet. But when it does I will be first in line to get it
• Build my Urban Botanic business even more Well, not quite what I had in mind, but I was doing well until the company closed, thus turning this into a hobby instead of a business for me. And that is ok. In fact it turned out to be a blessing for me as it took some of the pressure and stress I was feeling off of me. However, I am still looking for a way to replace the income it generated for me.
• Join ward choir (this is the scariest one of all, but I promised Kathryn). I joined, I sang, things happened and I had to quit. I am still going to go when I can.
• Read the Book of Mormon through again Done plus the New Testament as well
• Study the Sunday School lesson before going to church even when I am not teaching I did great those 3 months I taught the 15/16 year olds
• Learn to be more healthy (it would be nice if I could get rid of most of these meds- especially the one that makes me itch) Down to 2 daily meds and 1 weekly injection and the rest are now 'as needed' which is not very often or seasonal allergy meds. I have also learned more about foods, additives, healthy ways of eating, new recipies, substitutions and how to listen to my body and I feel so much better (most of the time)
• Decorate excessively for Christmas even though I say I won't I actually didn't do this. My decorations were sparse this year because I had no energy after the surgery
• Try and go to New Mexico for Christmas Done and so happy we did. We had a blast while we were there and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. The only downer was the long drive there and home. Too bad we don't have a transporter device.
• Attend weddings for my nephew and niece Showed up at nephew's reception- turned around and headed home to greet Jordan because she was in such a hurry to get here and see her daddy before he shipped out. Missed niece's wedding because we went on vacation to San Diego instead.
• Build this for my "laundry room" Done and wondering why I didn't do it sooner
• Find curtains for the basement, even if I have to make them Found them, now I just need to hang them
• Finish the fairy garden with Brandi (shop for most of it at Linden Nursery. I love this place. Remind me to tell you why) Another work in progress. It looked good at the beginning of summer, but I saw some things we need to change and do different.
• Go the Matthew's high school graduation Honor student
• Send Matthew to college Done
• Learn to change the oil in my car- all the boys are leaving and I don't want to start paying for it Totally forgot this one was on the list.
• Family Party Did we have one?
• Visit with Dustin and Cindy Done- it was good to see them
• Take pictures with my family of origin Still on the list. We were never all together in one place
• Welcome Donovan and Trevor home- I'll have to go to California for this, but maybe I can squeeze a trip to Disneyland or San Diego in at the same time Welcomed them home, but in Salt Lake. I am so glad to have them home. Now if Trevor could just find a job...

There are things I want to put on that list, but I am afraid that if I do the Lord will take me seriously and give the opportunity to do/learn, so instead I'll put them on my maybe list

• learn to be happy (well, this one has been mentioned in the last 3 blessings I have recieved so it is probably already on the other list)
• learn to be less critical and more accepting of others
• be more positive
• Learn to rely on the Lord more- really scary because that means letting go of trying to control everything myself and last time I said this it was not fun and took me a long time
• Learn to tear down the wall that is around my heart because the problem with walls is that they don't let others in and it gets lonely

Those things better stay on the new list because I still need a lot of work on them. You know how sometimes your plan and the Lord's plan doesn't match up? That seems to be my life lately. I want it to be like a wish machine- I draw up the plan, tell the Lord and He makes it happen. Ya, doesn't work like that so I better leave these things on my list until I can make my plan match His.

Things not on the list that I accomplished

• Lost 20 lbs
• Had a story published
• Family vacation to San Diego
• Started a jewelry business (hobby?)
• Got 100% in one of my classes
• Learned about soccer and found I enjoy it

"The grand and the simple. They are equally wonderful. We women have a lot to learn about simplifying our lives. We have to decide what is important and then move along at a pace that is comfortable for us. We have to develop the maturity to stop trying to prove something. We have to learn to be content with what we are.” ~Marjorie Pay Hinckley~

And there it is- my year in review.

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Indeed.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas Friends!!!

May you have a joyous and beautiful day.

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The Christmas Spirit

I am away but want to wish you all a Merry Christmas.

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I know I'm goin' home

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More decorations

The day after Thanksgiving, Christmas explodes all over my house, inside and out. Every year I say that I am not getting everything out, then we start sorting through the boxes and everytime I say "not this year" the kids say, "but mawum" and so the boxes go back in the attic empty and the house is full.

This year I was in St. George the day after Thanksgiving, so I didn't get any decorating done. The boys did put up lights while I was gone.
We have one of those light boxes that sychronizes your lights to music. It looks really cool. For a while. Then it starts to get on your nerves. Luckily there is a switch on the box that allows you to turn the lights to steady with no music because sometimes it feels like a strobe light out there. I didn't take pictures this year, but the boys did use the box with the lights.

Then I had homework and the next weekend I had surgery. The boys helped me put the trees up the night before surgery and the day after surgery I drug myself to the front room and propped my foot up. The boys brought me in boxes and I looke in them then sent them back out to the attic. I had no energy. I did get out a few things. Brandi took the box of front entry snowmen and put them on all the shelves where they go, but the porch tree didn't get put up, the kitchen sugar plum lane- nixed. The village- construction halted till next year. Trains-stuck in the depot. Angels, not singing in any choirs this year Nativities- only 5 or 6 and definately not the life sized on that goes on the lawn.

But I did get a few things out.

We all had a Santa to hang on the tree growing up
This one was mine. I didn't hang him on the tree because Mom brought him to me in March and he has been sitting on my shelf since then. I am not sure if I am going to leave him there or put him away this year.

Brandi and I made these gingerbread men.

I took mine to work to sit on the desk and hold pens.

I put this on the table behind the couch

My wreath above the fireplace.

I only put two nativities up there this year.

Usually the wreath goes somewhere else because there are 12-13 more nativities that go here and a star that hangs above them.

This nativity was a surprise to me. I forgot I bought it on clearance in January.

I love how Mary nestles under Joseph's arm as he protects them from the bad things in the world.

I made this one my first married Christmas.

I think it is my most beloved nativity-but not for that reason.

I had painted all the figures and glazed all but one of them in preparation to be fired.

I had forgotten to paint one of the shepherd boy's feet.

So I picked up the paint and took care of that. Then I glazed him and took them in to be fired.

When I go them home and inspected them, I realized that I had used the wrong paint on the shepherd boy's feet.

I named him Matthew and he is my favorite. Every year I look for him.

And he became more special to me 6 years later when I named my 4th child Matthew.

Some day this set will go to him.

This is another of my favorites.

An adobe inn, Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus.

I always stick some of the lights in the windows to light the inn.

There are a couple more nativities. One is set on a table with a wreath and a big gold bow. The cats keep bumping the table and knocking the peices off and breaking them. I have banished the cats, but they keep sneaking back in.

I also have a small hard rubber set I bought for Donovan when he was a baby. I made sure to get it out for Hunter and Jordan to have something to play with so I don't have to say "don't touch" for all of my ornaments.

I did get out 5 of the angels and set them around. But then I was tired and went back to bed. And you know what? While I have missed having some of the decorations to see and remember, I have also enjoyed this scaled down version. And I won't have so much to clean up and put away when we get home.

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Indeed.

Christmas tree tour

Today, let's tour the Christmas tree.

For years our tree was a mish-mash of ornaments. Those I bought, those that my parents sent to us, hand made noodle ornaments from the kids. And I loved it, but I always longed for a picture perfect tree. You know, the ones that get themselves on covers of magazines.

In 1998 I broke down and bought an artificial tree, because the live blue spruces at the lot were too expensive and I am allergic to fir trees. The kids got a small fir tree for downstairs, but a few years later I bought them an artificial tree as well. The downstairs tree had all the kids' ornaments and the mish-mash beloved ornaments on it. But my artificial blue spruce? It was lovely with it's hand painted balls, crocheted (by me) bells and snowflakes, white lights and velvet bows on every branch, topped by Miriam, the angel. And everyone that came to the house loved it. It was picture perfect.

But I was always drawn to the beloved ornaments downstairs on the kids' tree. I get them an ornament every year and get me a new one as well so that when they move out and take theirs, I will still have some. And I love decorating with the kids.

But this year I was tired of my picture perfect tree. I wanted to do an old fashioned Christmas from my childhood, so I spent the year looking for and buying ornaments off of E-bay and other places. I started the hunt for one particular ornament. I wanted a light blue ornament with a church scene on it. I hung that ornament on the tree every year from the time I was six and took it to school, until it broke in 1996. I cried when it broke. I have looked for one since then. I didn't find one, but I did find a couple that came close. Plus a whole bunch of others from my childhood memories. And my mom sent me some that she was no longer using.

I was going to do a live tree this year because I miss a real tree, but I am headed to my parent's house and didn't want to have to take the tree down after work tomorrow and there is no way I would leave one in the house while I am gone, so we used the artificial one again. But it is starting to look tired and worn out. I need to start a savings envelope for a new one because I will not have anything but a blue spruce for my tree- and even the artificial ones are not cheap.

So, now let's take a tour of what is new and what is old and how it turned out. The kids' tree got put upstairs with mine this year because all of Trevor's stuff is in the way downstairs. I think I like it this way.

(I hope the pictures stay where I put them, lately they have been moving around on me.)

Reindeer on a bell that I made

and everyone loves, so he got

moved from the downstairs tree

the nostalgia tree.

Miriam got to adorn my tree again

two turtle doves, also from the picture perfect tree

Remember these?

Cat ornament Marla gave me in 3rd grade


Teddy bear I made

Candy cane swirled ornament





This ornament is almost right. It needs to be smaller and lighter blue

Cat with yarn, from the down stairs tree

We all have a reindeer like this. We got them at Artic Circle a long, long time ago. You can tell this one is mine because its name is Dancer.

Requisite candy cane

My mom painted these ornaments

Memory ball










side note- two of them actually:

1. I remember now why we stopped using these icicles- they are all over the floor, the furniture, the cats, the.... and they are impossible to vacumm, like Easter grass only shinier. (I also stopped using that)

2. I forgot that if you put them on an artificial tree, you also have to take them off. Unlike a real tree that you can just haul out of the house.

Of course we had to have bubble lights

Both trees

lighted

Any guesses who got this ornament this year?

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Correction

I was just reminded that I forgot to give credit to the makers of the Christmas quiz I posted on my blog a couple of weeks ago. I need to correct that right now. The game came from here. And there are more games over, head over and have fun.

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Bears. Really.

Brandi went with me to the store the other day. She was listening to her iPod and I was listening to a CD. She asked to play a song off of her iPod for me. So she plugged it into the stereo and started the song.

I just looked at her and said, "Really??? I mean you're kidding, right? "

But it has been stuck in my head ever since. And now in the spirit of sharing I will let it be stuck in your head as well.

And in case you miss it at the beginning of the song, there is an entire CD of this available. Really.

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Indeed.

Issues and stuff

Is it just me or are other people having issues with blogger?

I have more than one account with google. I have more than one blog. In fact I have a couple of blogs that have no identifying information at all. On them I can say things that I can't say here. Twice today I have made a comment on someone's blog and even though I was signed in to this account, the comment was posted from my other account. What's up with that?

In other news, stitches are out, foot is sore but I am almost walking as if I actually know how and the dr. says next week I can start walking on the treadmill and running the next week. Notice how that is just in time for resolutions? Except I don't make resolutions.

The week before Christmas the administration and support staff take turns providing lunch. Today was my office's turn. We did salads, rolls, desserts and drink. I didn't know you could get that full eating salad. But it was yummy. Except I broke the no sugar rule.

No class for 3 weeks!

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Indeed.

But to where

Before I get to today's post, some news. Brandi had a soccer game Saturday. The team lost, 4-2, but those 2 goals were both made by Miss B herself. Go Brandi!

Now, to the post.

If I were to say Mother Teresa what would you think of? Probably humanitarian work, service, selflessness or a lot of other synonyms to those words. She has always been one of my heros. A simple woman, not born to greatness who spent her life giving to others, alleviating suffering when and where she could. Her life is one that would be worth emulating.

But it isn't the life I was meant to live. And I am ok with that because I was born to be a mother. And I love being a mother. But I have often felt that I am not giving back enough.

A few years back I was introduced to Choice Humanitarian via this blog post . I thought it sounded like a cool thing to do. And as time passed I began to feel that this was something I would really like to do. I only have 2 problems:

1.money to get there

2. what to do with the kids while I am gone, or see the first problem if I take them with me, but multiply it by the number of kids.

So I decided that that is something that would have to be put on hold for a little while. Yet in my heart I keep feeling a pull towards it. And I felt as if I am not doing enough.

Then in one of my classes we had to do a culture plunge and I chose to do my experience with the homeless population. (read about it here.)

Again I felt as if I have too much and give too little.

A few weeks ago I read an amazing book. Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin. Aside from the scriptures, this is the most life changing book I have ever read. I borrowed it from the library but will be purchasing it for my home library. It is a book that I feel should be a must read for every single person in the country. The sub title is, One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time

I am not going to go into the book right now because I want to do a blog post in the next couple of days, but my thought process was changed. The way I look at the world is different. And I know that I judge too often and am selfish. I need to learn to love more.

Today. Today the administration rented the local movie theater for collaboration meeting (aka faculty meeting). We watched a movie that portrayed the moral dimensions that are a focus for our school district.* The move we saw is Blindside The story of Michael Oher, an homeless and traumatized boy who became an All American football player and first round NFL draft pick with the help of a caring woman and her family. (and speaking of this movie, if you have seen it, what does Lawerence Taylor have to do with the movie? He is mentioned at the beginning and the end, but there is no tie in and I don't get it)

And I know, KNOW deep down inside that there is something I need to do, but I am not sure what it is. Where it is. Or how to do it. I just know that I am not doing it. There is something pulling me towards a change and every experience in my life is turning me there. Like a needle on a compass. A swallow returning to Capistrano. Monarch butterflies flying home. A lost dog making an incredible journey. A sailor seeking the north star. Pulling, pulling, pulling.

This is more than the fleeting feeling one gets at this time of year, the feeling that is assuaged by giving a donation of food, dropping a quarter in a Salvation Army pot, or playing secret Santa. It feels big and has left me feeling unsettled and restless and with no where to go.

And I know I need to go and do. But to where, and when, and how?

I don't know. Yet.

*Mission:
•Everyone Excels in Thinking, Learning, & Caring
Vision:
•Focus on Four Essential Questions-
1. What do we expect students to learn?
2. How will we know what students have learned?
3. How will we respond to students who aren't learning?
4. How will we respond to students who already know?
•We believe that through effective collaboration, all students will be given opportunities to learn best at their level. This happens as we differentiate for all learners.
•We invision a team approach as we work together with parents as equal partners.
•We build student character and link our communication with home by using the Achievement Synchrony program.

Values:
•We follow as the core of our value system the Moral Dimensions of Education.
1. Enculturating the Young into a Social and Political Democracy
2. Equal Access to Knowledge for All Students
3. Nurturing Pedagogy
4. Stewardship of the School in an Educative Community

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Christmas in the Grove

Tonight is the 16th annual Christmas in the Grove choir performance put on by my stake. It started small with only the choir and their families in attendance in the chapel of the stake center. It quickly grew and now we hold it in the American Fork tabernacle and people come from all over the county and then some. We usually end up turning people away because there is just no room.

Brandi is singing again this year in the children's choir. I remember when Donovan was barely old enough for the children's choir. Ethan is singing in the youth choir and Jacob is playing percussion. I will be taking part in the audience portion of the program.

If you have had a chance to read my story that is included in the book, Stolen Christmas and Other Stories of the Season (available at Amazon.com), you would recognize the choir director as the same Katherine that is in charge of the choir for Christmas in the Grove.

3 years ago when I first wrote The Choir it was a very different story than it is today. But the one thing that remained the same in every single draft and reworking and then rewriting of the story from that first simple blog post to the submission to the contest to the final draft published in the book, is Katherine. Every single time I sat down to write, it was her face, her countenance, her persanage that made the story. Without her, there is no choir, no story, no Christmas in the Grove.

This program tonight is the event that sets Christmas in motion for me. There is the getting out of the tree and decorations. Lighting the house (a bit ridiculously this year, though), listening to all the songs, shopping, wrapping, baking. But until Christmas in the Grove, they are just motions. After attending the program tonight and feeling of Katherine's love for the Savior and partaking of the Spirit brought in by the choir, then-then it can be Christmas.

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Hallalujah Monks

I finally got pictures so we can do the Christmas tree tour, but I haven't loaded them onto the laptop yet. And I actually put on real shoes today. And went to class. (yes, on a Sat.) And then shopping. Then cleaned the kitchen (can we say, "Am I the only one around here that knows how to use a broom and mop for cryin' out loud?") Now my foot hurts and I still have 2 loads of laundry to wash and dry and a couple loads of towels to fold and put away. So, the picture thing is not happening today.

I give you this instead.

Now that's a workout. But amazing.

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Did you see?

I have been so bored the last couple of days. This is what I did while I could do nothing but lay around with my foot propped up:

*watched movies

*read "The Gathering Storm"

*rearranged my farm(s) on facebook

*got a zoo on facebook

*played Bejeweled

*played various other computer games

*watched t.v. (there is nothing on t.v. in the daytime worth watching)

*caught up on blog reading.

And it is the last that I am glad I did. I usually have so much homework and housework that I have no extra time. I make time to read a couple of blogs regularly, others I read sporadically and still others I read when I get a minute and think about it.

Design Mom, unfortunately, has fallen into the last category. But yesterday I was able to hop over there and try and do some catching up. And I was surprised and happy when I did because she had a little spotlight on my brother in law, (see entry about modernSHAPE). Go Jacob!

In other news, the doctor took the post op bandaging off yesterday. He told me there was a bone spur attached to the screw that he had to clip off and that is the reason I am having so much pain still. But I only get to wear the beautiful, fashionable blue shoe for a couple more days, then it is back to my boring old plain shoes.

And I get to go back to work. All those days I wished I had nothing to do? No longer because I have HATED not being able to do all the things I wish I didn't have to do.

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Lucky, lucky me

I was getting ready for the day today and lamenting the fact that every single thing takes twice as long as it should. I don't understand that, it is just my foot that is bandaged, but for some reason, it makes getting dressed, moving from room to room, whatever, hard to do.

But then I remembered something. I really am a lucky gal because of a special birthday today. 24 years ago Kristina was born. She and Donovan have been friends for I can't remember how many of those years, it just seems as if she has always been a part of our lives. And 4 years ago I was the lucky mom that got to have her as a daughter in law. No one could ask for a better daughter in law. Thank you for joining our crazy family and bringing such joy into our lives.

I love you and Happy Birthday Sweetie!!

More joy that Kristina has brought into our lives:

Jordan waiting for Santa


Hunter and Brandi as Santa came in

Jordan was mesmerized by Santa

She just watched and watched him

Jordan and Santa

Hunter wasn't so sure at first

Not so bad after all

Brandi and Santa

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Indeed.