Me (for Today Anyway)

I was sitting in yoga the other day...during the part where you are supposed to close out all of the thoughts that come into your mind. Naturally, the harder I tried the more they came. And I was just trying to figure myself out.

I know who I am, where I came from and why I'm here (if you don't check out www.lds.org). But I'm still trying to figure myself out. I guess it is good that I can't completely define myself. It means I'm evolving and complex in some ways.

But, I just really felt this anxious need to be more conscious of who I am in order to be more deliberate about what I choose to do or not do. So these are some of the conclusions I've come to.

1) I'm a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I like to serve other people. I like to attend the temple regularly. I enjoy the comfort that I get when I make righteous choices.

2) I am a member of a family. I am a wife, a mother, a grandmother. This is where my greatest joy and my greatest heartache comes from. Being with my family for eternity is the most important desire of my life. I feel like I am just now beginning to understand family processes and relationships. I've definitely been a late bloomer in this area and I'm doing what I can to catch up.

3) I'm a teacher. But more than that, I'm a learner. I love being done with graduate school and knowing that now I am the one that gets to choose what I want to learn. I am learning Portuguese. I wanted to learn to decorate wedding cakes...no longer interested after Wilton 101. I am learning yoga. I have great family members and friends that teach me life lessons every day.

4) Some of my good qualities: I am a loyal friend. I am a hard worker. I am organized. I like to help.

5) A few of the weaknesses I'm working on: I am way too forceful. I don't like to examine my weaknesses and mistakes or admit that I am wrong. I am rash. I am impatient.

6) I like food...talking about it, eating it, making it, dreaming about it, watching it get prepared, etc. I especially like to travel and try local foods from restaurants and markets. I'm especially fond of cheese.

7) My favorite hobby is making gifts. I love giving away heartfelt homemade presents. I've done some quilted, some sewn, some crocheted, some cooked, some crafted. I love to learn to make simple projects and share them with others.

Goals: Serve a mission, travel around visiting my grandchildren, be active

great book

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0762109041/ref=dp_olp_used?ie=UTF8&qid=1255757988&sr=8-4&condition=used

I just got a copy of Reader's Digest: Homemade: 702 Ways to Save Money and the Earth: How to Make Hundreds of Everyday Products (whew...long title).

So cool. Here are some of the categories: pantry staples, preserves, snacks, take-out, dry mixes, sauces (dressings, marinades, much more) beauty products, health remedies, cleaning products, home, gardens and pets.


I posted some recipes for homemade cleaning supplies on my group blog (Happy, Healthy, Frugal, Healthy) and you can see those on the link from this blog.

Here's one from the sauce category:
Butterscotch Sauce

1 1/2 sticks butter
1 1/2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
1 cup heavy cream
1 t. vanilla extract

Melt the butter over low heat. Add sugar and cream and stir until sugar dissolves. Simmer for 8 to 10 minutes over low heat, stirring constantly. Remove from heat and stir over vanilla. Serve warm or cold. Can be refrigerated for one week.

My Second LIfe

I dreamed last night that I had the opportunity to live a second earthly life, a chance to learn and grow in ways that I didn't the first time, a chance to correct some errors, a chance to make the seemingly mundane tasks I do more meaningful.

When I woke up I realized that because of the Atonement and the ability we have to progress, I have that opportunity. I think the dream was just a manifestation of some goals I've set for myself recently. Although I don't literally have the opportunity to return to the earth and begin a second life, I already have a new outlook on the life I'm living.

Here are a few of the things I wished I'd remembered more often the first time around:

1) Homemaking can be an art form instead of a task, if you do it in the right frame of mind.

2) The bonds between a mother and child are sacred.

3) Pride bring more heartache than almost anything and it makes you a prisoner. Swallowing your pride brings freedom, not all of the awful things you might imagine.

4) Heavenly Father is active in my life.

5) Simple expressions of love or gratitude matter.

6) "Stuff" is a burden.


p.s. Atticus Finch is my hero.

p.p.s. Here are 3 things worth almost anybody's time. Take a look:

http://www.flylady.net/pages/welcome_main.asp

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/apronevangelism.htm (read the article called Apron Evangelism)

http://princessacademies.com/

my favorite websites

http://foodgawker.com/ ---a feast for the eyes

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/ ---great recipes, also a homeschooling section

http://sewmamasew.com/blog2/ --sewing ideas

http://slickdeals.net/ --daily deals

http://www.sscs.cc/-- south sutter charter school

www.chowhound.com -- lots of good advice

www.lds.org --- the best

http://www.globalgourmet.com/food/cookbook/2009/artisan-bread/boule.html --easy bread

http://www.nal.usda.gov/afsic/pubs/csa/csa.shtml --community supported agriculture

http://www.etsy.com/ --love it!

Kalai's Travel Diary

Kalai’s Travel Diary
July 21st- I left my lifelong home in Orem, Utah and spent the night in a Rawlins, Wyoming hotel room. Along the way I saw bison and passed through Fort Bridger, Wyoming (a trading post along the Mormon pioneer trail). I was a good girl.

July 22nd- We left Wyoming and cruised through Nebraska, Iowa, and Missouri. My daddy just kept driving and driving and his only break was a power nap in a Missouri gas station parking lot. We went through Council Bluffs, Iowa and I learned that I’d been sorta following the Oregon Trail. My great, great, great… grandpa, William Wood, marched from Council Bluffs to San Diego with the Mormon Battalion. It made me glad I was in a car instead, but there was a small bit of drama during a brief stop when my parents tried to stick me back in my carseat before I was ready. Once they saw the error of their ways, things went well. I was a good girl.

July 23rd- Today was another big day. I crossed the Mississippi River. I saw the Gateway arch in St. Louis. It was a little blurry through the back of my eyelids. I also went to Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee before I got to see my grandparents in Elkmont, Alabama. I was such a good girl.

July 24th- My one month birthday and I’m already seasoned traveler!

You Don't Know Me...

If you look at these pictures and think, "Natalie must have sewn these projects," then you don't know me. But I did.

p.s. Don't look closely. Afterall, I did make them.

Nothing like the impending birth of a grandbabe to get a woman sewing. This is some the LDS fabric I used to make the bibs, burp cloths and blankets. I used a striped fabric on the back of the flannel blankets. I put some cozy chenille on the back of the bibs. The burp cloths are made from a diaper and really isn't crooked (I folded it poorly). I made the the bambino 6 burp cloths and bibs and 2 blankets in different fabrics.

Two more projects: a shopping bag and a skirt.

This is the fabric I used to make John some birthday pajamas. He refused to model them. I got this print because he likes to watch movies...I didn't buy it to punish him like he claims. Let's hope the bambino is more grateful then its grandpa.

Sacramento in Spring

For behold, this is my work and my glory

— to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

Photo swiped from Caryn (who swiped it from her Dad)