So much Sewing...

I have been sewing so much the last week...it's so great!!! This last Saturday I went down to Mary Wine's home to get her help in getting my faire outfit started...it has to be done in February and I was feeling totally stuck! So...I finally got ahold of Mary and Chuck and I went down. Mary helped me to figure out, once again, what to do with my overskirt and got me going on it. We cut out a waistband for it (much more involved than you would realize) and then put Chuck to work on cartridge pleating the skirt. While he was doing that for me I worked on my new bum roll for the skirt. It felt so good to be getting things done for my skirts instead of being in my head thinking about what I needed to be done and being unsure of what to do. I have sewn since I was about 11 years old and have made faire dresses before but I was stuck in my head and couldn't get anywhere. Well...being at Mary's I totally got hope in my heart again and am finally moving forward. I can't go to Mary's house again until next Saturday but will have both of my skirts done by then so that we can work on my corset and bodice. So much more to do with those as we have to make mock ups and get the fit right. I've put on a few more pounds since my last outfit so things are a bit more but it will be such a pleasure to have a dress that isn't 50 pounds of material to wear on my body. My new outfit is a lighter material, brocade instead of cadillac velvet, and is going to fit me so much better for the weight and all.

I am so blessed to have Mary in my life and her sweet willingness to help me. We have known Mary for about 23 years now and she is such a good woman. I love her so much and I so much appreciate her willngness to teach me and help me to get my outfit done. She tells me what to do and then I go and sit at my sewing machine at her table and do it. It is so beautiful to me...I love it that I can go and just sit and work on it rather than take a bunch of notes, go home, and forget how and what I'm supposed to do! :) I told Mary that she has given me hope and that's a great thing! I will post pictures after I get the outfit done, it's going to be so BEAUTIFUL!!!

On another note, I have had to make a dress this week for a pioneer skit that I was asked to participate in at the Stake Women's Conference on Saturday. So...I have been working on getting the dress cut out and sewn up (putting aside my faire outfit). It's a sack of a dress that I will be putting on the long apron to make it look like the pioneer dress that it is. Christina is so funny because she told me that if I wear it in public she'll shoot me. I told her I would shoot myself if I wore it in public except for Halloween or the skit and all. It is totally not anything that I would be caught dead in thinking it was good for everyday wear. No way...I know better than that. It will be perfect for what I need it for though and that's what matters. I wanted to make a fancier dress but didn't have the time to do it, especially since I would have to modify the pattern to fit me...I went with the easier pattern instead. I will have to post the end results of that dress too. I think it will be fine though. I am taking a change of clothes for the womens conference though...I don't think I want to keep wearing that dress all morning and especially if I go run some errands while I am in town... lol.

Well...gotta go and get some more sewing done...I'm on a deadline after all. :)

Such a Pleasure

Today Ray and Christina atttended the funeral of Rays Grandmother. She is such a good woman and I truly enjoyed her every time I was around her (which wasn't much). Anyway, while they attended the funeral we got to have the grandhcildren over to our house. They got here around 9 am and I loved it. I love my grandchildren and loved having them over. It was decided that they didn't need to be at the funeral of their great-grandmother whom they really didn't know. They would be much more comfortable at grandma and grandpa's house where they could watch television and play and just be comfortable. Uncle Michael and Uncle Daniel were here to watch them also so there was plenty of people around to enjoy their sweet company.

I LOVED having them over and when I had to go to work for a few hours the uncles took over, or I should say, Uncle Michael took over. Uncle Michael did such a great job watching these sweet children and made sure they had their lunch and were doing well. Camden did take a nap on Uncle Daniel so he helped some too...but mostly Michael says it was him. :)

I must say that I was nervous to go to work and leave them with the uncles but their uncles are wonderful guys and took such good care of them. I was so happy to come home and know that I got to enjoy my sweet grandchildren some more. My heart was so happy. I had so much fun just spending time with Ariana, Camden, and Alex. We watched some shows together, ate dinner together, played some, gave them baths, and watched a movie "Sleeping Beauty" together. It was so fun. Then Christina and Ray came around 7:30 to pick them up and we got to visit with them for a while and hear how the day went. It was an emotional day for Christina and Ray but thankfully no big problems happened at the funeral services or afterwards at dinner.

It was just such a pleasure to have the grandchildren over and not have them around all of the sadness of the family as they buried a loved one. I am so glad that we could do this for them.

I must say that I am grateful for my two wonderful sons and their willingness to watch their nephews and niece. They did a great job and the kids enjoyed them and I am so grateful for them. I am so blessed to have such wonderful children and such a great son-in-law. It will be fun to include even more great family members as time goes on.

Daniel is working hard on losing the weight he needs to lose to be able to go on his mission to serve our Lord. It gets so discouraging for him though as he works hard at it and is trying not to feel like a failure of a person because he has to get through this. My heart goes out to my sweet son as he tells me how he feels like he isn't good enough because of his weight and all. He so wants to get his mission papers in and has to wait a little longer. I just don't know what to do to help him except to keep encouraging him and giving him every opportunity to be successful in what he is trying to do. I love him so much!

So...We Have a New President of the United States

Well, we now have a new President. People are so excited about this...as we all are when the one we voted for are are voted in. It will be interesting to see how this all plays out. When there is a new president so much is expected of them. We will wait and see how quickly things get going and how things will change, for better or worse. I know that alot is being said because of his ethnicity but I feel that shouldn't have anything to do with anything. I hope and pray that our new president will be a good one, not because of the color of his skin but because of his values and leadership that he has to offer.

I am thankful for a loving Heavenly Father that loves me and watches over me. I know that our new president will be guided by Him as all presidents are...it's up to the leaders of our country to listen to what He would have them do. Unfortunately this doesn't happen alot...but we can just keep praying that their hearts will be touched.

Disturbia is so Disturbing!

So we have free HBO this weekend and I saw that they were showing "Disturbia" so I thought, okay, I'll Tivo it and watch it later. Daniel said it was suspensful and all but I can watch it with him and it will all be okay...so I thought. I DO NOT like suspenseful movies or scary ones either. I can hardly sit still with suspense and won't watch scary ones hardly ever. So...I thought it would be good to watch Disturbia with Daniel, so we turned it on, and I had to know before the movie basically what happens so that I wouldn't freak out. It didn't matter...I played on my computer the whole time and couldn't hardly stay in the room, even with knowing all that was going to happen. Crazy, huh? I got through it, barely, and won't watch it again. If I do see it again it's okay because I already know what happens now...but I wouldn't say it was the most enjoyable experience I have had!

Pretty fun news though...Christina has a new calling as the 2nd counselor in the Primary in her ward. She'll do a great job with that even though she kept saying that she didn't want to have a calling in Primary. Obviously the Lord had other plans for her and this will be a great growing experience for her! You'll be great Christina! I never have understood why people congratulate those that receive callings...we are all serving in the church and it's not like we petition for it or anything. I know that Christina will do a great job in this calling though.

I am so happy that I have tomorrow off from work. It will be good to get some things done and have an extra day off to spend with my family. Pretty cool!

Thinking...thinking...thinking...and then some sad news

Do you ever find yourself thinking...thinking...thinking...and can't quite seem to get the motivation to get what you are thinking about done? I'm in the phase right now and it's driving me crazy. So, rather than go crazy I guess I'd better get busy, right?

It's quite difficult to have work smack dab in the middle of the day, it messes the whole day up. I liked working in the mornings better as then I had the rest of the day off to do what I needed to get done. Now I have my day cut up and get to schedule around it. Oh well...I am so very grateful for the job that I have, I happily work around it. In this economy I am so grateful to have the job that I have and especially to be working where I work. The Lord has blessed me so much. So...onto positive thinking and being happy and grateful for what I have, right?

Last night I finally pulled out a box of clothing from my closet and started the decluttering process. I wake up thinking about what I need to declutter in my house and it feels like it will never happen but after last night I realized that I can only do it a little bit at a time and it will get done, eventually. It's a start and quite amazing to me to realize that I already have half of a black trash bag full of clothes. I am quite proud of myself for that. It's a start and I can go from there, right? :) I just figure that when I die someday my family will have to deal with all of my stuff like my mom left for us...but hopefully I will have tons of it sorted and gone so it won't be a big deal, but I plan on living to a very ripe old age, so... :)

Sad news...Christina just called to tell me that Ray's grandma died last night. She was dealing with alzheimers/dementia and not remembering people well at all and couldn't take care of herself much anymore so it was a blessing, but sad news indeed. She was the sweetest woman and I really enjoyed her when I saw her. She died peacefully in her sleep. What a wonderful way to pass on. My prayers are with the family...she is so happy now.

Getting my time organized?

I am so excited that I finally figured out how to get a feed to track visitors, if there are any...lol I found it on another blog and wanted one to make sure what is going on here...if anything... lol

Anyway...I had a very nice time at the "birthday" breakfast yesterday. It is a new experience to actually go to work things like this and it was nice. I think my boss enjoyed it, it was good to celebrate his birthday in this way. I have never gone out socially with my fellow co-workers so this is a new experience for me. New experiences are a good thing, right? :)

I am still working on getting my dress going and am going to see about getting that help this weekend...running out of time. I only make a new dress every 10 years or so so it's important for me to get it done. It's totally time for a new outfit and I am excited about it, even though you can't tell because it isn't done yet.

On Sunday I was asked to be a part of a reading on the 31st and need to make a pioneer dress for it...so...yesterday I called the girls and we went to the fabric store for me to find a pattern and material to make a new dress for this reading I am going to be in. I found a pattern and the perfect material (the material had a seam in the middle so I have to work around that) so I have one more project to throw in to what I am trying to accomplish. It's all good though...it should be easy to get done.

I also have to get a spare room cleaned up and organized so there you go...plenty of things to keep me busy. Well, gotta get going on getting things done! Whew...off to some organizing or sewing before I go to work!

A Fun Day

So...this morning I am going to breakfast with the people I work with...yep...the school police officers and secretary. It was our boss' (Paul Miller) birthday yesterday so we are going to breakfast with him this morning. It should be fun. The best part is going to breakfast with co-workers and a boss that I enjoy. What a nice thing to enjoy where you are working and have it be a pleasant atmosphere. I do feel so blessed.

I get to work on my faire dress today too...it needs to be made and done by February...running out of time on that one. So...time to get busy and work on the new outfit. Renn Faire is getting here so quickly and I have had the material for almost a year now so I guess I need to get myself together and just get it done. I keep thinking that I need to get some advice to get going on it and keep putting it off. That isn't good for me though as I'll be stressed and working double hard to get it done by the deadline. Oh well...I will do what I can and it will be beautiful when it is finished.

Off to get ready for the day! Have a beautiful one and Happy Birthday to my boss a day late!

So Much to Do...So Little Time

I must say that I love Sunday's. I love the peaceful feeling that I have on a Sunday afternoon after I have been to church and am at home just relaxing with my family. It's so nice to know that this is one day that I don't have to do anything but enjoy the Spirit of the meetings I attended and relax at home with family. It's such a wonderful day of the week.

I have so much to do with organizing my home and so little time. I wake up thinking about what I need to accomplish for the day and then the time seems to get away from me...partly from being on my computer and not getting the other things done, lol, but still...so much, so much. Oh well...I just figure that when it comes down to it that things will wait, the important things will get done, and life is good and does go on. But...I still have so much to accomplish, one step at a time, right?

It's such an exciting time right now for people I know. Sandi C. has her first little baby, a boy, and he is so adorable. Then Emily T. got her mission call to Berlin, Germany and her twin sister is due with her first baby any time now. Jodi S. just had a baby girl on Friday...her third child and second girl. I am so excited for her. Such exciting times for so many of my friends and their children. It's just amazing to me to watch and see these awesome young women having children and acheiving such good when I watched them grow up. It really shows you how life just keeps moving forward...it's so awesome!

Another Day...

Well, we are home from Utah and we had a great time. The drive home was another matter...we had high winds alot of the way home. We stopped on Friday night in Mesquite and poor Daniel was stuck on the couch bed (he put the mattress on the floor and it was still uncomfortable). Then on Saturday we get on the road again and once again, high winds! Not too much fun dealing with those winds. The wind finally died down and we hit traffic, yep, we thought we would have it easy as we were coming home a day early, Saturday, but no...everyone else thought the same thing. So...we got caught up in traffic and it took us about 7 hours to get home from Mesquite instead of the normal 5. Oh well...we got through and we are home.

Of course, after we got home I had the wonderful job of putting away our Christmas decorations. I walked in the door and wanted to leave again...lol. It's a pain to come home and be faced with all the Christmas put away...but necessary and no, I didn't have time before we left to take care of it as we left the day after Christmas. Oh well...Christmas is put away so I can relax and take care of the many other things that I have to take care of. It was quite a job but it's done for another year.

So...back to work. I had the last 3 weeks off due to a week off from the snow storms in our area so it feels pretty good knowing that we are back to normal with work and all now. Poor Chuck has to miss several days of work due to the snow storm that dumped on us and is back to work on clear from snow roads. I'm sure it was nice for him to get up and leave early and get to work again.

Off to get some things done before I get to leave for work.