Christmas In The Park

Lance doing what he loves most.

Scott's Homecoming!

My camera does not like to focus in this airport, some pics are blurry but that's the way it is this time. We're so happy to have Scott home! He did an amazing job on his talk Sunday and it's just so great to have everyone together. At Christmas we'll all be together for the first time in several years.

Everyone that came to welcome him home. Adam and Christine couldn't make it. The few on the right are some of Scott's friends and Ben is in the middle.

Hugging the nieces and nephews - Halle

Tyson

Quentin

Devin showing Scott how big his muscles had gotten.

Dad and Mom.

The homemade signs.

The kids all lined up waiting for his airplane to come in.

Gopher

Clutter = Chaos

Funny I came across this blog post today. Just a few weeks ago as I was putting out Christmas decorations I became really frustrated with all the stuff we have around. Stuff we haven't used in 6 months or more. Stuff that just sits and collects dust. It clutters the house and makes me feel suffocated and trapped. I told Lance we need to take a huge load to the DI and sell a few things on Craigslist. Just that thought alone made me feel better.Thanks to a fellow blogger for posting this on her blog, otherwise I never would have found it: A Case For Simplification

Sunday Will Come

I'm preparing for a talk that I've been asked to give this Sunday and I came across this passage by Elder Wirthlin. It brought peace to my heart and I had to share it. He's talking about the Friday when Christ was crucified and then the resurrection the following Sunday:

"Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays.

But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.

No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, in this life or the next, Sunday will come."

- Joseph B. Wirthlin

While Looking At Houses Last Week

Quentin: Mama......potty!

Trish: We don't have a bathroom here, you're going to have to hold it.

Quentin: No Mama, it's too heavy!

Thankful

Today I'm thankful for the little things. I'm thankful that we have jobs (however scattered and unpredictable Lance's is), that we are able to have food to eat, a place to call home, and clothes to wear. We are warm during the winter. We are clothed and sheltered from the elements. We are filled with food that provides nutrients and energy. Lance is almost done with school and his apprenticeship. I don't know how we go from day to day without noticing and acknowledging the little things: I got to take a nap yesterday, I only drove 10 minutes to the stake center to watch the First Presidency Christmas Devotional, when I got home I took a hot shower, and I slept in a warm and comfy bed next to my husband. I don't know why I'm abundantly blessed because I'm sure I don't deserve it. I don't know why I get to come home each night and I get to go to work each morning. Whatever the reason I am truly blessed which is very humbling.

I'm also very thankful for this time of year because it's when Lance and I started dating 6 years ago. It's very sentimental and tender, I love thinking about it.

First Wreath

This is the first and only wreath I've ever made. Mom gave me all the pieces for Christmas last year and we got together the day after Thanksgiving for a little girls day. Mom had to help me with the ribbon - I was terrible at it. I love the way it turned out, from the funky snowmen ornaments to the bright glittery flowers, it makes me smile every time I look at it!

I Visited This Guy Early

Cuties

Cute little Haylee and Sydnee

Hanging Up The Troubles To Dry

Our dryer died yesterday. I can't go on much longer without a dryer. Since we've never purchased anything new and still don't have the money for it because of school, anybody know of a cheap dryer for sale?

Christmas Giveaway

I'm hosting another giveaway just in time for Christmas. Head on over to my jewelry blog to enter!

Where Are You Going?

"Let us not find ourselves as indecisive as is Alice in Lewis Carroll’s classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. You will remember that she comes to a crossroads with two paths before her, each stretching onward but in opposite directions. She is confronted by the Cheshire cat, of whom Alice asks, 'Which path shall I follow?'

The cat answers, 'That depends where you want to go. If you do not know where you want to go, it doesn’t matter which path you take.'

Unlike Alice, we all know where we want to go, and it does matter which way we go, for by choosing our path, we choose our destination.

Decisions are constantly before us. To make them wisely, courage is needed—the courage to say no, the courage to say yes. Decisions do determine destiny. "

- President Thomas S. Monson October 2010

A Few Things You Didn't Know About Me (or maybe you did)

• I'm 5'1". I highly stress that last one 1".
• I only like normal vegetables. You know the green beans, corn, potatoes, carrots, peas. All other vegetables are abnormal and I don't care for them although I'm starting to like broccoli in some foods.
• When I was younger I wanted to own a beauty salon with my friend Stephanie, we were going to call it Steph and Beck's. I dreamed of being fabulous at doing hair and makeup. I can't do my own hair or makeup to save my life, I've never had good skin for the flawless look or a day I could call a "good" hair day.
• I hate, hate math.
• In high school I hated biology but in college I loved it and wanted to major in it.
• I loved growing up in a big family of 5 brothers and 1 sister. We didn't always get along, like most siblings, but I love them and they're all my best friends.
• I have a scar on my left eye that's been there as long as I can remember but I don't know how it got there.
• In high school my dream car was a pink jeep.
• I've been to Nassau, Bahamas.
• Being in an athletic family, particularly basketball playing brothers, I've never really played sports. In 8th grade I was on the volleyball and track team and didn't really have a position, that's how good I was. I don't like competition.
• My middle name is J. Just the initial J, it doesn't stand for anything and I never knew that was odd until I got married.
• My eyebrows have always been uneven. When I started plucking at a wee age of.......?????.....13....... maybe...........my mom told me I'd regret it when they became too thin. She was right.
• I grew up on a farm in Jerome, ID. We had a huge garden and orchard which became our playground. We had all kinds of animals: horses, cows, chickens, roosters, pigs, turkeys, rabbits, and a goat name GeGe who'd follow us on the school bus.
• I got my ears pierced when I was 20.
• I never thought I'd be 25 with no children.
• I was in 4th grade when my two favorite dogs died. I thought they were married (literally), a golden cocker spaniel named Katie and a pitch black cocker spaniel named Spook. I cried really hard and my dad came into my room and talked to me about the resurrection which became a sweet comfort for me.
• I don't care for leather seats in cars.
• I've always hated eggs.
• My favorite color changes as I'm in different stages of life. Right now I love a bright, funky yellowish green....not sure the exact name, maybe chartreuse?
• My feet get claustrophobic. Not in shoes or socks or slippers but in bed when the sheets and comforters are pulled up too tight. I will have a tizzy fit. Seriously. Even thinking about it makes me cringe.
• I have about 5 different comfort foods that I LOVE. Lately I've been a soup person, potato soup to be exact.
• My favorite cartoon growing up was Bugs Bunny. They don't make cartoons like that any more.

What don't I know about you?

Winter Storms

I don't like snow. I don't like the cold wind. I don't like going to church with good, clean roads and then find myself 3 hours later trudging through inches and inches of snow. Seriously, how did it snow that much in such a short amount of time? I was wearing high heels but the snow was too deep, it seeped right through my thick black tights. Ugh, wet cold feet inside wet cold high heels. The wind was blowing the snow right into my face so I'm sure I looked charming even though I really did just get my hair cut and dyed dark only to find my efforts of looking decent weren't good enough for the elements. We're supposed to have another snow storm for the next few days with a blast of arctic air and temps below zero............In my mind I'm going to Carolina.

Season 3

Jim: Question. What kind of bear is best?

Dwight: That's a ridiculous question.

Jim: False. Black bear.

Dwight: That's debatable. There are basically two schools of thought--

Jim: Fact. Bears eat beets. Bears. Beets. Battlestar Galactica.

Dwight: Bears do not... What is going on?! What are you doing?!

My New Favorite

Check out the beautiful and uber sparkly earrings I just made.
I LOVE THEM!!
Check it out HERE or at the link to the right.

Gearing Up!

Have you heard about the Christmas craft show? It's called the

Homespun Holiday Craft Show

on

Main Street in Kimberly (where the old thrift store used to be)

on

November 27th from 9am - 6pm.

Featuring 60 different vendors from across the Magic Valley, Boise, and Sun Valley, all in one location. Come check out all the hand made goods; Santa Claus is coming to visit, refreshments will be served, and drawings will be held for gift baskets! I'll be there waiting for you with gift ideas for your loved ones! (View a few pictures at the BEADS IN BLOOM link to the right).

Fall Foliage From The Front Yard

New Addition to the Family (Not the Kind I'd Like to Announce)

Can you tell what it is? He's in Lance's pocket.

This is him when we first met him, just a little guy.

He's a squirrel. Technically she's a squirrel but for some reason most animals in our minds are "he's" or a "little guy" so its hard to associate him as a her. Lance was thrilled to meet him when my sister in law introduced him. Her dad rescues.........takes care of........something like that.................................lots of different animals. This baby squirrel was abandoned and dying so Heather's dad took him in and fed him a bottle. Heather showed it to Lance who fell in love. I put my foot down, I mean we already have a hamster and a rabbit, how many more animals do we need? Heather's sister took the little guy in for two weeks while Lance and I argued about keeping him. Really argued. Lance eventually got him. (I really hate fighting, nothing is worth fighting).
We named him Lord Rutledge. He eats nuts and lots of fruit. Any kind of fruit is his favorite, in this picture he's eating an apple. The red thing around Lance's neck is a pouch his mom made him from fleece so the two can "bond."

A New Hobby

For the past few months I've been working on redoing some furniture. In my jewelry room where I design everything, I use an old dresser for bead/supply storage. In an effort to update the house and make some new surroundings since we can't move at the moment, I decided to redo both of them. I forgot to take before pictures of the dresser but here are the knobs which I replaced. It was a pale pink with lots of dents, scratches, and just really worn.
I painted it this bright turquoise-y blue. I couldn't decide if I wanted to antique it or white wash it so I started with the moulding. I haven't white washed before so I really didn't know what I was doing. I knew the plain dresser needed some pizazz of sorts so I applied new moulding and hardware. (By the way does everybody know how expensive knobs and pulls are?! Of course you do because I'm sure I'm the only one that doesn't own a house. I bought a bulk package of these satin nickel beauties which weren't my first choice, 10 for $20. The ones I wanted her $4 a piece and I couldn't bring myself to pay that much for 8 knobs). I decided to white wash the moulding first to see how I liked it and I fell in love. I didn't think the rest of the dresser needed white washed so I left it as is. Which was a win-win because I didn't have to sand the whole thing. Now seeing it altogether I wish I would have done another coat of white washing, but oh well. I'm still absolutely in love!

BEFORE of the cabinet.
Ugly pale yellow with lots of potential.

On the inside are these thick cardboard-like, plywood-like, wallpaper-like thing-ies. Luckily they weren't attached so they were the first things to go.

More of the wallpaper thingy that was on top of the cabinet. This also went.

AFTER........TA DA!!

Here's the inside shot. I painted it white and I'm going to decoupage the back wall with awesome scrapbook paper but I haven't had time to get that far yet. What I love is the space in this puppy. I also love that there are little slits to slide wood separators into each shelf for more organization. Love it!
I painted the cabinet this lime dark green, I love everything about it. After a few coats on the outside I took it outside and sanded down all the edges and made lots of natural looking worn areas. I brought it back inside (since we don't have a garage) and applied a glaze. I've never glazed anything before but I wanted to antique it to bring out the aging and character of the cabinet. I mixed in one part chocolate brown paint to 4 parts glaze and got to work. If you've never glazed before, you just paint on the glaze/paint mix and wipe off with a rag (I'd also recommend using latex gloves). The dark glaze gets into those itty bitty areas and really brings out the character of the furniture.
I didn't think I'd be able to replace the knobs on this cabinet because there were at least 5 different coats of various paint colors on there. The knobs and hinges were painted over and I couldn't remove them without splinting the wood. It was pure luck that I was able to get the knobs off, the old hinges still remain. I can't budge them.

I have a few more projects to finish for my new "studio" which I'm anxious about. My goal is to be finished by Christmas but I don't think that's going to happen with everything going on the next few months. I have LOVED every moment of working on this furniture. I think I may become a DI and yard sale regular to see what else I can turn into something more my style. I have really love, love, LOVED it!!!

I Can Wait For Winter

I can't believe it's November already, I'm totally bypassing the fall decorations for the house this year. Halloween took too much out of me and I haven't even finished cleaning up the party yet. I don't really have any expectations for the upcoming holidays. I'm not ready for cold weather. We have no money for christmas so shopping is out of the question. I am in no mood to bake a bunch of goodies. I truly just want to be with family and friends, to sit and think about all we've been blessed with. I'm anxious to listen to the first presidency Christmas devotional. I want to cuddle up with my Number One sipping hot chocolate, reminiscing of past times and preparing for even better past times. I want to bask in the spirit of thanksgiving and remembrance of our Savior. Oh and who can forget, Scottie Boy is coming home from his mission on December 9th!