One Down....

Here is one of the Pay It Forward projects I delivered to it's new owner. It is now safely at Heather's house. I am pretty sure she likes it. I used Halloween colors for Halloween Heather. But not so much that she can't display it whenever the mood strikes. And if she wants to make it a bit more Halloweeny ((hehehe...weeny...tehehehe)) she can change the paper to Halloween paper. So, I have one project finished and delivered and 2 others finished but not delivered and one more started. But...my house is a mess and my dogs need bathed and the child needs picked up and a letter to write and nothing is getting done.....except spray painting....

Winners!!

Everybody loves a winner. I love my winners. I have 5 winners....I've never been much for rules. Ladies....Heather, Renae, Salena, Susan and Jackie....be watching for a package from me. Oh, Susan...I think I need your mailing address....and whether you want an S or...oh...an S (never mind). I'm so excited!!

Pay It Forward

One of my favorite songs in church is "Because I Have Been Given Much". It is that attitude I strive for everyday. Because I have been given much, I too must give. I have been blessed with a wonderful family, sisters for BFFs, fabulous friends, a country I love and you....my Blogmates. So today I am doing a Pay It Forward blog. My sister has done this a couple of times and I loved the idea of giving things to my friends and them making things for their friends and so on.



HOW IT WORKS:

1 - Be one of the first 3 people to comment on this post, which then entitles you to a hand made gift from me.

2 - Winners must post this challenge on their own Blog, meaning that you will Pay It Forward, creating a hand made gift, anything for the first 3 Bloggers to comment on your post about this giveaway.

3 - The gift that you send your friends can be of any price range and you have 365 days to make/ship your item. This means you should be willing to maintain your Blog until you have received your gift, and you have shipped your gifts. ((And remember, it's the spirit and the thought that count.))

4 - When you receive your gift, please feel free to Blog about it, sharing the appropriate linky.love! If you are not one of the top 3 to comment on this post, you can still play along. Go ahead and start your own Pay It Forward chain, and encourage your Blogging friends to do the same.

Before.....

What do I do when the house is a mess and the laudry is piling up and the dogs need fed and the child needs runned (I do know that is not a word...but it is slang at our house for "needs to be taken places" and I'm sticking with it) around and the yard needs mowing....I spray paint. Yep. I used to toll paint....everything. Now I spray paint. It's so much faster and I am really all about immediate gratification. So I dropped Jo off at "Behind the Wheel Training" and headed to Good Will. It is an interseting place and it doesn't smell half as bad as the Salvation Army. I found a
few things that could use my attention.
I have been very drawn to owls lately. For some odd reason....they remind me of my Mom.


I got some really ugly, and I do mean UGLY picture frames. I wish I was better at taking before pics....but I'm not. This one was the worst.It was a faded fleshy salmon color with faded green and blue at the top.This was the pic behind the glass. ick!!

It really needed some help. So I took it home and took it apart. I'd like to tell you that I cleaned it with a toothbrush....but aside from cleaning the glass....I just started spraying. I LOVE the way the black looks. I put some scrapbook paper on top of the sad old flowers and put the (clean) glass on top. I screwed it all back together and put an initial middle of the circle. It is for my friend (TBA). I do hope she likes it. The best part is she can change the paper to whatever she likes. I am making this little beautyinto something similar....but since I am still searching for the perfect size letter, I can't tell you who it is for. I found a few more frames and an unpainted tray. Here are their before and almost finished states. I am very excited to get these finished. As for the house that is falling down around me.....house???? What house....all I see are projects!!!


And I really show you what they all look like when they are finished!!!

He Killed It

A while back I started noticing some dry looking patches in our yard. It was odd because we'd just had A LOT of rain. I noticed them getting drier and bigger for a few days. huh....I asked Jim what he thought the issue was. Jim has always been very particular about our yard...wherever we've lived. In fact he'd has sort of a reputation for being "THE" yard guy. In Rigby he would spend hours working in the yard. While the rest of us didn't share his passion for yard work we were able to...support him...in his obsession to have the greenest, most fabulous lawn in the hood.

In Rigby, many a neighbor watched as Jim hand watered the dry patches and cared for the 80 some odd trees on our almost acre sized lot. They watched as we placed huge slabs of stone in our landscape. They even laughed as we raked, swept and vacuumed the tiny rocks from the grass that the careless drivers had flipped onto our green oasis. So as our "dry" patches here began to grow....I was worried. I was afraid of what new yard project we were going to have to participate in to fix this mess. As Jim and my Dad (so not a yard guy) were discussing the possible causes of such a large scale patch problem, it dawned on my Dear Hubby. He had used what he thought was WD40 (or actually some other real weed killer that I can not name at this moment) just the week before. He ran to the garage to inspect the offending chemical only to find a jug of Round-Up in it's place. Horrified, he gasped....wondering if he had caused this lawn graffiti. Apparently when he thought he'd be just killing weeds....he was killing EVERYTHING!!! So sad for lawn guy!! Now that we had the culprit we needed a solution. We were going to have an open house for Kevin in a week and the lawn looked like a mine field. Oh, what would Rob say?? What would Bob say?? (Well, like any true friends....they would laugh....duh!!) We tried to paint the spots. We'd seen that done on DIY....why not. Not so much. Next course of action.....sod.

Oh, how Jo and I despise sod. In Rigby we dug a lot of sod out of our yard in various landscape projects. But now we get to dig out dead grass and put in a patch of....not dead....grass. Fun??? Not in the slightest. Hard, back breaking work.....yes.

So much for the newly painted nails. Oh well....My DH's sanity is worth more than pretty nails...right??

We raked and shoveled for 2 hours and managed to get 6 of the 10 rolls placed. It was the least amount of fun I'd had all day....which really isn't a fair statement because up until that point I'd had one of the MOST fun days I've had in months. So I guess this kind of balanced it out.

We still have a lot of work to do...but I think it will look better...at least. It certainly can't look much worse. Poor Jim. He really didn't mean to kill it.

I GOT A LETTER!!!

This has just been the BEST day. First, I didn't die during exercise class. Then, my brother got his test results back and he will be fine. And then, the rain watered my flowers and lawn. AND THEN I GOT AN E-MAIL FROM KEVIN!!! WOOHOO!! Mondays rock!! tehehehe Just kidding, I stick with my original assessment from this morning...Mondays stink....but today was fabulous. He is doing well and loves it there. ((big sigh of relief)) I have copied (most of) the letter for you all to see.


HELLO from the MTC things are amazing here!!! i really love serving the Lord. even though i haven't gotten out in the field yet. Getting up at 6:30 has been hard but i am getting used to it. My companions name is Elder Barthel. and also there are 2 others in my room, Elder McRay and Elder Cooper they are both way cool!!!! i am amazed at how many tattoos i have seen here though... Don't believe all the things about the food here, it really isn't that good. Oh and also there are 8 people in my district which is about average. I was asked to be the Senior Companion which is kinda weird for me but i don't really have to do much just kinda keep the code haha... but i have missed getting on the computer everyday... Other than that the MTC is great! I miss all of you at home though!!! I can't wait to get out in the field :)

I LOVE YOU GUYS AND MISS YOU SO MUCH I AM HAVING FUN

ELDER READER

So cool!! I miss that kid like crazy. I am so happy to hear that he is doing well. My heart is bursting tonight. I feel so blessed with everything that has happened today. Thanks for all the prayers on Travis' behalf. And all the prayers that have been sent up for me...I am feeling the love. Thanks guys.

A Long Wait

So here we are at the airport at 5:20 in the morning. We waved through the glass and then he was gone. So now I watch the mailbox with the same anticipation that Kevin felt as he waited for his call. I don't really expect there to be a letter for a while yet....but I get excited anyway. My Aunt Chris lives in Orem. She has a friend who works as a nurse at the MTC. Kevin escorted one of the missionaries in his district to the nurses office and introduced himself to my Aunt's friend. She then told my Aunt....who told me....that he is doing fine and is a very nice young man. tehehehe So did you follow that? Translation....I got word that Kevin is good and I can relax a teensy little bit. I loved that little bit of news more that I can say. It was like someone put some Turtle Balm right on my heart. Oh how I miss him. But I am so happy at the same time. Weird.

The Reality

So this morning we took Kevin to the airport. In theory, I was going to be fine. We had said our "see ya laters" last night after a couple of board games. I know without a doubt that he is doing what he should be doing. But reality hit this morning. Like a ton of bricks to my gut. In our unusual haste to get out the door this morning....I forgot my camera....of course. So I had Jo take a couple of pics with my phone. Not the idea going away pics....but it would do....right? Wrong. As soon as he walked through security and over to the side I could no longer go....it hit me. Those were the last pictures I would get of he and I together FOR 2 YEARS! Idiot!! He looked so grown up, so adult as I waved at him from behind the glass. He mouthed "I love you" and turned to find a seat to wait. I wanted to bang on the glass....WAIT....I'm not finished yet. I need more time.....then reality set in. I am out of time. I did what damage I could and now he is in the Lord's hands....for real. Kevin gave a talk in church on Sunday. He did pretty good. On the way home he pointed out that he was kind of bummer because he had forgotten to say one of the most important things he wanted to mention. I told him to pretend we were back at church and tell us. He said that when he had his first interview to be a missionary back in March, the Stake President asked him why he wanted to go on a mission. At the time he really felt his answer was ok....basically a seminary answer right out of the book. As the months have gone by he has reflected on that question a lot. He wanted to share his new answer with everyone at church. He told us that the reason he chose to serve a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is to give back some of what he has been given. He has realized how lucky he is to know that Jesus Christ is his Savior and that through the Attonement everyone will have the chance to live with our Father in Heaven. He wants to help others build an eternal family like the one he has. He feels so lucky to be able to tell people about the good news in the gosple of Jesus Christ. He went on to say that he would feel very ungrateful if he let this opportunity to serve the Lord slip away. Giving up 2 years of his life, time with his family and time in school, seems like a small price to pay for all that he has been given. wow. I do wish he had shared that in church....but I am so grateful that he shared that with his Dad and sister and I. He is such a great guy. My heart breaks at the thought of dealing without him for 2 years. I will treasure our late night (9 p.m.) talks and our Uno games. I will miss his ability to make me laugh at myself when I am being ridiculous and his sweet and genuine smile. But how can I feel too sorry for myself when he is being so selfless. I will tell you that I have cried....a lot....today. But I do expect it to get easier and I look forward to the New and Improved Kevin that the Lord sends back to me. He was so excited to get his name badge, identifying him as a diciple of Jesus Christ, that I think he would have walked to Provo if it had been required. So, the reality is, I am missing him more than I ever thought possible. But would I change a thing....no.

It's a Jungle In There!!

Well, let me just first say....that I am officially crazy. No, no....it's true. Whichever mad woman came up with the insane idea to paint zebra stripes on her daughter's bedroom walls needs a padded room. Did you know that people with OCD (even mild forms) should not....I repeat....should not paint zebra stripes?

Did you know it causes them to obsess over every minute detail and text their family and friends a million times asking their opinion?
I am happy to say that I like the way it turned out very much. I also think it looks better in person. Poor Jo! She has to wait for her birthday to get her fabulous new bedding.
Until then she took the twin bed from the guest room and put it in her room....just for now. Sorry, Steph!! You'll be sleeping on the floor. tehehehe

You can tell that every picture is just a little different. There is just something about standing in a room starring at stripes all day that makes a woman a little nutty. Pretty soon I was adding a thicker stripe here and a swirl of black there. I tell ya, I just don't know how Michael Angelo did it. Years....I so couldn't do it....craziness....
So there is the temporary bed....under all the too-big-for-it bedding. If she is happy.....I am happy. You should come see it. It is amazing....ish

While The Cat's Away...

Yes, while the cat's away the mice will.....paint. That's right, you guessed it. Jim is in Chicago...again. But oh, the fun we have!! Jo has been wanting her room painted ever since we moved in (2 years...wow...time flies). But we have never been able to compromise on a color palette....until now. In the last semester of her freshman year (yikes) she took a design class. One of her assignments was to design her "dream" bedroom. To my surprise, she didn't pick anything with skulls or weirdness. As a theme she went with a cute (very bright) purple and zebra stripe bedding set. She did a really good job and even asked for the bedding as a birthday gift. huh...So I started mulling it over in my tired, little brain. Sure...we could do that....zebra stripes....yeah...So as soon as Jim left on Wednesday we started to move out the furniture.

We had to stash some in the bathroom too. Man this kid has a lot of junk!! And then we had to paint all the walls a bright shade of white. It was 3 coats worth of "Are we done yet?" and "I hate painting"...well duh, guys....I don't love it either....well, maybe I do!! tehehehe
I don't love the taping, though...ick.
Kev had to use a hammer to get this curtain rod down. Some idiot used 4 inch nails to secure it to the wall!! Now, that's what I call kid proof!!
Ah, white paint. Next post...the stripes...

Odds And Ends

So here are just a few of the summer time activities that I have been enjoying that I haven't had time (or I was just to lazy) to blog about.Not only did my Dad feed the geese....he was the goose whisperer. tehehe It was really cute. These baby geese were very happy to be fed and treated so kindly.
These are the baby cormorants. These white birds have such cute babies!! But MAN are they loud!! I didn't even notice that there were babies in those nests until......SQUAWK!!!
We went to the temple in Bismarck with Kevin. Cool. Yep.

Tea for Ten...the unofficial party for my birthday. I invited my little girlfriends and their Moms. We had fabulous lemonade and yummy cookies and lemon cupcakes with delectable pink frosting. We had a beautiful sun shiny day to hang out. There was some sidewalk chalking and giggling and a little time for visiting.
Of course my best little (non-related) girlfriend was there. Miss Kamiryn even wore her tea party finest. She really is fabulous. I'm sure we were friends before we were born.
My favorite related little girlfriends were here in June and July. Man I miss these girls....and their Moms. On a family note....say a prayer for my brother. I just got a message from my sister. Travis is in Seattle today waiting for a risky surgery. They started it once today and something went wrong and they had to stop. So now we get to wait for the docs to figure what went wrong and they will try again tomorrow. STRESS!!!
Brook and Lacey and Jo are the 3 amigos!! Such funny girls!
This is the Palmer family. Ms. Jackie and I have been friends for years. She decided that since I seem to spend all my time with my sisters when I visit Idaho....she would come to MN. We had a fabulous visit for an entire week!! I love her (and her family) so much. I so appreciate her driving all that way to come visit little ole me.

A Girl Named Lacey

A little back story on Lacey. When she was born, her Mama was working and not because she liked her boss...zippy. So guess who was living only a mile away?? You guessed it...Aunt Larry (of course I had yet to earn that moniker). I got to babysit my sweet baby Lacey. She became my little buddy. Jo was in kindergarten so in the morning Lace and I did all sorts of fun things. I was VP of the PTA at Kevin's school (across the street from our house) and Lacey was our unofficial mascot.
She went with me every where. A lot of people thought I must have had another kid. Close...but better. This one went home most nights. I treasure the time Lacey and I got to spend together. But just like all good things...it came to an end. Miss Kim decided to move her little family to Victor, ID. It felt like a million miles away. I missed both of them so much.
I have a pretty close relationship with Lacey. She is ten now and I definitely have spent the most time with her over my other nieces and nephews. I miss her...and I am so happy that she is old enough to come with Grandpa when he makes his way this direction.
She had never been this close to geese before and wasn't too sure she wanted to be that close at all. We walked around the lake and showed her the turtles and the baby geese and ducks.
We had fun feeding them and visiting. She is very sweet. It is fun having her around. She always wants to help out. And if there is anyone wanting to play a board or card game all they have to do is find her. She is always up for it. So, I guess what I am trying to say is....everyone needs a Lacey. I don't know how you all manage without her. I know I can't.

Flowers

I am sending some flowers to my sisters. Why? Is there any special reason? No. I just felt like they might need a reminder of how fabulous they are. They are each facing personal struggles this week. Michelle is back at work....and her new baby is at Miss Connie's. As far as daycare/pre-school providers go Miss Connie is the bomb.com. But I have a feeling Michelle would rather be home with her precious kidletts than any place on earth.Kim is dealing with another lifestyle change. One that is giving her much grief. I just want her to know that I love her and I pray for her every day.
Both of my sisters are very special women. They are strong and independent. They are as unique as these flowers and just as beautiful. I am lucky to have sisters for my best friends. I thought that every set of sisters shared the same intense bond that we have. Unfortunately that isn't the case. I now know that our friendship is as unique as each one of us.

Our Mom did something right. Somehow she gave us the glue that has cemented us together for eternity. I am truly blessed.