For the record, I don't do this professionally. I feel like I always have this guilt, that I'm not posting enough. I have so many ideas, and if I can't do them well, I just don't do them. I have spent this past winter starting a new job and spending as much time with my son as I can. I am now slowing down at work and will post more often, but please don't be upset if I go missing from time to time. I do this for fun, not for money. I only post ideas or things I'm passionate about. I don't want to be one of those bloggers who posts anything just to get their post in for the day. If I don't think it's worth sharing, I won't share it. At the same time, I love posting things and hearing from all the people that have stopped by. I have received emails from people all over the US and even other countries, I think it's so cool! I will try and think of worthwhile things to post, so we can be in touch more often.
Please be patient with me.
xoxo
Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Friday, February 14, 2014
A Letter to My Future Daughter-in-Law
To whomever he chooses,
I am writing this on Valentines Day 2014. Right now, my three year old boy is in the other room watching Oscar's Oasis, or "The Lizard Show" as he calls it. It's his favorite right now. Today, especially today, I've been thinking a lot about love and what it means and what it means to Rocky. It made me think of you. I think about you a lot, even though I don't know you and I have no idea what you will really be like. I think a lot about what I want you to be like, and I'm confident that you are everything I've dreamt of for him and more.
For the past three years and nine months of our Rocky's life, I have been his advocate. I've been there for him when he's not being nice or someone isn't being nice to him. I have and I always will be on his side. I will always fight for him, I will fight for him when he doesn't even want me to. But I won't always be there. One day, hopefully a loooong loooong time from now, after you guys have had children and maybe even some grandchildren, I will pass on. He won't have me there for him in the same way he always had. As I'm sure you can imagine, this is scary for me to think about. I don't ever want to leave him. I do have some comfort though, because he won't be alone, he will have you. He will have you to tell him he's being silly, or mean, or that he's right. Just like you will have been doing for a long time before I'm gone (hopefully, assuming I get to live as long as I want to). People often joke about how scary and hard it is for a father to pass the reigns onto their son in law after a daughter is married. I don't have a daughter (yet, hopefully one day). But the idea of passing on the reigns to you is scary too. Rocky is my everything, he is my heart.
I want you to know that I have done the best I could with him. I know he's not perfect and I'm sure there will be times in your life together that you are cursing me, wishing I'd taught him better, wishing I'd done things differently. It's difficult to raise a child, knowing you're doing things wrong, knowing that you're going to wish you'd chose different things for him. All that I can promise you, is that for as long as he was mine before he gets to be yours, I did my best. Everything I chose for him, I chose because I thought it'd be the best thing for him. Please be patient with him, he's a good guy. He won't always choose things I would want him to, but that's part of life. I'm sure that if you have chosen to marry him, you know that he is worth some fight. That there will be ups and downs, but that he is a good man. I promise to you to try my best to raise him to honor women, to love hard work, to have a sense of humor. I have so many hopes and dreams for him and therefore for you.
I also want you to know that this letter is only meant for you. I hope I don't ever have to give this to anyone else. I hope you guys have the most happy blissful, perfect life together. I love you already, because he loves you. He chose you, that means you have to be pretty amazing. <3
Please love him,
Your future Mother-in-law
I am writing this on Valentines Day 2014. Right now, my three year old boy is in the other room watching Oscar's Oasis, or "The Lizard Show" as he calls it. It's his favorite right now. Today, especially today, I've been thinking a lot about love and what it means and what it means to Rocky. It made me think of you. I think about you a lot, even though I don't know you and I have no idea what you will really be like. I think a lot about what I want you to be like, and I'm confident that you are everything I've dreamt of for him and more.
For the past three years and nine months of our Rocky's life, I have been his advocate. I've been there for him when he's not being nice or someone isn't being nice to him. I have and I always will be on his side. I will always fight for him, I will fight for him when he doesn't even want me to. But I won't always be there. One day, hopefully a loooong loooong time from now, after you guys have had children and maybe even some grandchildren, I will pass on. He won't have me there for him in the same way he always had. As I'm sure you can imagine, this is scary for me to think about. I don't ever want to leave him. I do have some comfort though, because he won't be alone, he will have you. He will have you to tell him he's being silly, or mean, or that he's right. Just like you will have been doing for a long time before I'm gone (hopefully, assuming I get to live as long as I want to). People often joke about how scary and hard it is for a father to pass the reigns onto their son in law after a daughter is married. I don't have a daughter (yet, hopefully one day). But the idea of passing on the reigns to you is scary too. Rocky is my everything, he is my heart.
I want you to know that I have done the best I could with him. I know he's not perfect and I'm sure there will be times in your life together that you are cursing me, wishing I'd taught him better, wishing I'd done things differently. It's difficult to raise a child, knowing you're doing things wrong, knowing that you're going to wish you'd chose different things for him. All that I can promise you, is that for as long as he was mine before he gets to be yours, I did my best. Everything I chose for him, I chose because I thought it'd be the best thing for him. Please be patient with him, he's a good guy. He won't always choose things I would want him to, but that's part of life. I'm sure that if you have chosen to marry him, you know that he is worth some fight. That there will be ups and downs, but that he is a good man. I promise to you to try my best to raise him to honor women, to love hard work, to have a sense of humor. I have so many hopes and dreams for him and therefore for you.
I also want you to know that this letter is only meant for you. I hope I don't ever have to give this to anyone else. I hope you guys have the most happy blissful, perfect life together. I love you already, because he loves you. He chose you, that means you have to be pretty amazing. <3
Please love him,
Your future Mother-in-law
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
Missionary Sharing Time Ideas
For about a year now, I have been doing sporadic sharing time posts. I would love to do them weekly, but to be honest, by the time I have a minute to sit down and think up an idea, it's already Wednesday! Let alone get everything put together. Lately I've been thinking, it's kind of a shame, because a lot of the activities ideas I post up each week could be used for a different week of the same month with a little tweaking. I am going to try something new- posting one blog post a month, on the topic of that months theme with a few ways to make it work for each week. That way, I will have time to post on other, non church related topics. :) I keep wanting to share recipes and crafts, and I get so overwhelmed with sharing time, I never get around to those. I am hoping this system helps me to post them more regularly, and also to manage my time to allow other posts on here.
The month of October is the first month I am going to try this. (See I'm already late! haha) This month's theme is missionary work. The idea is to do one of these activities on your week to do sharing time. If a similar idea was done the week before, or you're not crazy about an idea, you have several other choices! Most of all just to get everyone brainstorming and maybe you'll come up with something even better. :)
I posted this last year, but I love the idea of giving them missionary tags. That is the link to my previous post about where to find printable missionary tags or ones that would work. I like the idea of making them about business card size so they could put them in their wallets/purses/pockets. This way it's not an advertisement that they're members. To me this month is about how we don't need to broadcast it per say, just live our lives the way were supposed to. That in and of itself is missionary work.
Activities:
A.) Acting out scenarios they could be missionaries: I think it would be really fun to let the teachers play the part of the nonmember or less active. This will avoid the primary children being funny by being really difficult or mean and will also allow the children not in class with a certain teacher to become familiar with them. It may be a good idea to ask teachers if you they would mind participating before sharing time starts, just so you don't put them on the spot. But if your teachers are anything like mine, they won't mind at all.
There are several ways to go about doing this.
I think the easiest way for me to tell you what I'm thinking is to just give you an example, haha.
I like this idea because it gives them an opportunity to practice answers to questions they will most likely come across throughout their lives. This is a great opportunity to practice our answers. They say the more you practice the better prepared you are if the situation arises.
Situations you could give them could be:
1. Your coach wants you to play in the big game Sunday. What can you do?
2. Your friends invite you to go to the movies with them. Everyone is going with a date, but you're not 16 yet. What can you do?
3. (Continued from number 2) You decide to go to the movies with everyone, but without a date. While one of your friends is buying a snack, you notice another friend is trying to steal some snacks while the attendant is busy helping your first friend. What can you do?
4. You go the store with a parent. While you're there, you see someone from church that hasn't been there in a while. Your parent doesn't see them, what can you do?
5. A friend invites you to come play/hang out at their house on the night you have Cub Scouts/Activity Days. What can you do?
Try and think up a few more that would allow them to have a missionary opportunity in everyday life. I based these on my own life, and things that actually happened to me.
B.) Make a card for a less active child in primary. We've done this before and then delivered the cards. It's nice for the less active primary children to know we were thinking of them. You never know, maybe they'll ask their parents to take them next week. Sometimes it's simple things that make a difference! If you don't have very many inactive children, you could have them write their testimonies in a BOM and challenge them to give it to someone they think could benefit from it. It doesn't even have to be someone new, it could be someone investigating the church. It doesn't have to be that week necessarily, ask them to be mindful and watch for an opportunity. It will come if they pray for it, maybe not that day, that week or even month, but it will come.
C.) Talk about the story of Ammon and King Lamoni. Ammon was obedient, he was a good example of someone who lives the gospel and was able to have missionary experiences because of it. I found these awesome Ammon coloring activities. This lady has a ton of other really great looking activities you should check out when you have time also. You can print out enough for each child to take home the characters so they can tell the story to their families.
D.) Ask the missionaries to come in and share a couple experiences or stories that involve primary aged children. Empower the kids to help them know that they can make a difference, even at a young age.
Ways to make each activity fit each weeks specific theme:
A.) This activity fits really well already with weeks 1-3. To make it more specific for week 4, tell them that when they share the gospel, they feel the spirit. Personally, this is one of the best ways my testimony grows. Whenever I am able to share the gospel, or explain something to someone gospel related, I feel so sure, so confident that what I'm saying is true, because of the spirit. Heavenly Father wants you to have a testimony of the gospel. When you spread the gospel, your testimony grows. It's one of those things that when you share, you end up with more afterwards then you had before. :)
B.) This activity fits weeks 1-3 the best. To fit week four, tell them that by sharing their testimonies or going out of their way to reach out to someone, they'll feel the spirit and their testimonies will grow, even though it can be scary.
C.) Ammon's story is so perfect for this whole month. You don't have to tweak this too much. Just reinforce the theme for that week. For week one and two, Ammon stood out because he lived the gospel. For week three, Ammon wasn't afraid to share the gospel, he wanted to. He was brave. For week four, Ammon probably had such a strong testimony because of his willingness to share the gospel.
D.) Ask the missionaries to share stories or experiences to fit the weeks theme. Try and keep them involving young children though, to keep it relevant to the age group.
Other ideas:
This is a link to a Friend article from the current issue. It has some good stories from primary aged children of when they shared the gospel. You can use these to make your scenarios above, or you can just read them to the kids.
Also from this month's Friend, "Dare to Stand Alone." Haha, I heard this story from President Monson at General Conference and I thought it was so good, definitely worth sharing.
Challenge each child to invite someone to the Halloween church party. It's a great opportunity that you don't get very often! I'm going to try and get 5 friends total at the church activity (we don't have a very big primary, haha).
The month of October is the first month I am going to try this. (See I'm already late! haha) This month's theme is missionary work. The idea is to do one of these activities on your week to do sharing time. If a similar idea was done the week before, or you're not crazy about an idea, you have several other choices! Most of all just to get everyone brainstorming and maybe you'll come up with something even better. :)
I posted this last year, but I love the idea of giving them missionary tags. That is the link to my previous post about where to find printable missionary tags or ones that would work. I like the idea of making them about business card size so they could put them in their wallets/purses/pockets. This way it's not an advertisement that they're members. To me this month is about how we don't need to broadcast it per say, just live our lives the way were supposed to. That in and of itself is missionary work.
Activities:
A.) Acting out scenarios they could be missionaries: I think it would be really fun to let the teachers play the part of the nonmember or less active. This will avoid the primary children being funny by being really difficult or mean and will also allow the children not in class with a certain teacher to become familiar with them. It may be a good idea to ask teachers if you they would mind participating before sharing time starts, just so you don't put them on the spot. But if your teachers are anything like mine, they won't mind at all.
There are several ways to go about doing this.
I think the easiest way for me to tell you what I'm thinking is to just give you an example, haha.
Have reverent child come up and piece of paper out of bag, numbered 1-however many scenarios you have, with a coordinating teachers name on it (this way the teacher knows ahead of time what part they will play, it may help them). Lets say the child pulls out a piece of paper that reads, " 1 - Sister Smith" You will have that child stay up there and Sister Smith come up. You play the narrator, and read them the scenario, "Your coach wants you to play in the big game Sunday. What can you do?" Sister Smith then can say a few lines, like "Please, we really need you in the game!" You can either A) Allow the child answer the teacher (this may work best for smaller primaries) B) Have the entire primary a chance to answer (this may work better if you have a larger primary). Of course what you want them to say would be something along the lines of, "No, I don't play games on Sunday. It's a special day for my family." At this point have the teacher, Sister Smith, say something like "Oh really, what do you guys do on Sunday?"
I like this idea because it gives them an opportunity to practice answers to questions they will most likely come across throughout their lives. This is a great opportunity to practice our answers. They say the more you practice the better prepared you are if the situation arises.
Situations you could give them could be:
1. Your coach wants you to play in the big game Sunday. What can you do?
2. Your friends invite you to go to the movies with them. Everyone is going with a date, but you're not 16 yet. What can you do?
3. (Continued from number 2) You decide to go to the movies with everyone, but without a date. While one of your friends is buying a snack, you notice another friend is trying to steal some snacks while the attendant is busy helping your first friend. What can you do?
4. You go the store with a parent. While you're there, you see someone from church that hasn't been there in a while. Your parent doesn't see them, what can you do?
5. A friend invites you to come play/hang out at their house on the night you have Cub Scouts/Activity Days. What can you do?
Try and think up a few more that would allow them to have a missionary opportunity in everyday life. I based these on my own life, and things that actually happened to me.
B.) Make a card for a less active child in primary. We've done this before and then delivered the cards. It's nice for the less active primary children to know we were thinking of them. You never know, maybe they'll ask their parents to take them next week. Sometimes it's simple things that make a difference! If you don't have very many inactive children, you could have them write their testimonies in a BOM and challenge them to give it to someone they think could benefit from it. It doesn't even have to be someone new, it could be someone investigating the church. It doesn't have to be that week necessarily, ask them to be mindful and watch for an opportunity. It will come if they pray for it, maybe not that day, that week or even month, but it will come.
C.) Talk about the story of Ammon and King Lamoni. Ammon was obedient, he was a good example of someone who lives the gospel and was able to have missionary experiences because of it. I found these awesome Ammon coloring activities. This lady has a ton of other really great looking activities you should check out when you have time also. You can print out enough for each child to take home the characters so they can tell the story to their families.
D.) Ask the missionaries to come in and share a couple experiences or stories that involve primary aged children. Empower the kids to help them know that they can make a difference, even at a young age.
Ways to make each activity fit each weeks specific theme:
A.) This activity fits really well already with weeks 1-3. To make it more specific for week 4, tell them that when they share the gospel, they feel the spirit. Personally, this is one of the best ways my testimony grows. Whenever I am able to share the gospel, or explain something to someone gospel related, I feel so sure, so confident that what I'm saying is true, because of the spirit. Heavenly Father wants you to have a testimony of the gospel. When you spread the gospel, your testimony grows. It's one of those things that when you share, you end up with more afterwards then you had before. :)
B.) This activity fits weeks 1-3 the best. To fit week four, tell them that by sharing their testimonies or going out of their way to reach out to someone, they'll feel the spirit and their testimonies will grow, even though it can be scary.
C.) Ammon's story is so perfect for this whole month. You don't have to tweak this too much. Just reinforce the theme for that week. For week one and two, Ammon stood out because he lived the gospel. For week three, Ammon wasn't afraid to share the gospel, he wanted to. He was brave. For week four, Ammon probably had such a strong testimony because of his willingness to share the gospel.
D.) Ask the missionaries to share stories or experiences to fit the weeks theme. Try and keep them involving young children though, to keep it relevant to the age group.
Other ideas:
This is a link to a Friend article from the current issue. It has some good stories from primary aged children of when they shared the gospel. You can use these to make your scenarios above, or you can just read them to the kids.
Also from this month's Friend, "Dare to Stand Alone." Haha, I heard this story from President Monson at General Conference and I thought it was so good, definitely worth sharing.
Challenge each child to invite someone to the Halloween church party. It's a great opportunity that you don't get very often! I'm going to try and get 5 friends total at the church activity (we don't have a very big primary, haha).
Monday, September 30, 2013
Case of the Mondays: Halloween Edition
I can't believe September is over (almost). I think it is officially bon fire & hoodie weather, which means, it's also Halloween time too.
I posted before about what my little guy is going to be but I think we're narrowing in on The Hulk. I found some cute things on Pinterest today that got me thinking both, "Duh!" and "Ooooh Halloween!"
1. These swords made of paint sticks! This was a "Duh!" moment. Why didn't I think of that?!?
2. How adorable are these pumpkin cookies? Seriously, they'd be so easy to do too. Another "Duh!" moment over here. :) By the way, I have an amazing sugar cookie recipe I posted around Valentines Day this year. Super yummy!
4. Rosie the Riveter costume. The thing I love most about this is that it's all pieces you probably already have, or wouldn't mind having to wear again! ;) How many times do you spend so much effort and energy for a costume you wear once? This is effortless, cute, and you can wear it again!
5. These donuts are adorable. You can have each child keep the vampire teeth inside! Bonus party favor!
I posted before about what my little guy is going to be but I think we're narrowing in on The Hulk. I found some cute things on Pinterest today that got me thinking both, "Duh!" and "Ooooh Halloween!"
1. These swords made of paint sticks! This was a "Duh!" moment. Why didn't I think of that?!?
2. How adorable are these pumpkin cookies? Seriously, they'd be so easy to do too. Another "Duh!" moment over here. :) By the way, I have an amazing sugar cookie recipe I posted around Valentines Day this year. Super yummy!
3. Okay, this may take the cake. How cool is this punch?? I am now really wanting to throw a Halloween party just to make this punch.
4. Rosie the Riveter costume. The thing I love most about this is that it's all pieces you probably already have, or wouldn't mind having to wear again! ;) How many times do you spend so much effort and energy for a costume you wear once? This is effortless, cute, and you can wear it again!
5. These donuts are adorable. You can have each child keep the vampire teeth inside! Bonus party favor!
Thanks for stopping by!
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Assateague Island
Hi!
As you may have read I went to Assateague Island a couple nights ago, it was so neat! For anyone who doesn't know what it is, I'll explain a bit. It's an island on the eastern shore of Maryland that's actually a state park. There are no hotels, stores, etc. It has nice large beaches and wild ponies everywhere. You aren't allowed to touch the ponies or feed them, but they are so used to people and tame. Once you go over "Rainbow Bridge" onto the island, there were immediately ponies to greet you. About six of them! Crossing the road and eating grass on the side. They can be on the beaches, in the bushes, anywhere! We also saw a small buck deer but I wasn't fast enough to get a picture. Anyways, enjoy my pics! If you ever come to Maryland, this is a must see place.
As you may have read I went to Assateague Island a couple nights ago, it was so neat! For anyone who doesn't know what it is, I'll explain a bit. It's an island on the eastern shore of Maryland that's actually a state park. There are no hotels, stores, etc. It has nice large beaches and wild ponies everywhere. You aren't allowed to touch the ponies or feed them, but they are so used to people and tame. Once you go over "Rainbow Bridge" onto the island, there were immediately ponies to greet you. About six of them! Crossing the road and eating grass on the side. They can be on the beaches, in the bushes, anywhere! We also saw a small buck deer but I wasn't fast enough to get a picture. Anyways, enjoy my pics! If you ever come to Maryland, this is a must see place.
{This is what we see when we first get over Rainbow Bridge}
{This guy just kept coming for me, I thought he wanted some love,
but I followed the rules and did not touch :) This was the closest I got}
{The sun was beautiful during our 1/2 mile walk through the woods. This photo has not been edited except to say the name of the blog.}
{On the beach with my "baby"}
{Sun went down over the bay}
{Apparently this was a prop in "Jaws" and no, I couldn't help myself, haha}
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Modest is Hottest: Comfy and Casual
Yesterday I went to Assateague Island with family for the first time in years. So neat! Look for another post all on that tomorrow. It was so cool and breezy, it was the perfect weather for a Maxi Skirt and sweater. I can't say how comfy this outfit was, I could've slept in it, no lie! I love this shirt I have on, it's so great for layering and making any shirt fit my modesty standards. I have two more colors, pink and blue. I will be putting some more colors on my Christmas list for sure. ;)
These aren't fancy professional pictures by any means, but I thought it was still good inspiration for modest clothing that can be fashionable.
These aren't fancy professional pictures by any means, but I thought it was still good inspiration for modest clothing that can be fashionable.
{Little Man and I looking at a kite on the beach}
{Wild ponies!}
{Posing in front of a giant shark. Not technically in Assateague Park, but closeby!}
Skirt- Gift
Shirt - I can't remember exactly where I got this,
but you can get a similar one here. - $15.00
Sweater - Gift (I believe it was from Old Navy)
Flip Flops - Target - $2.00
Thursday, September 19, 2013
10 Random Things About Me!
I've been thinking that I haven't really shared too much about myself on this blog yet. I've had this about a year and haven't even introduced myself yet. Yikes!! I figured I'd do 10 random things about me. Hopefully this will help you to get better insight into who I am.
1. I am married and have one child, a sweet little boy. My husband and I own a business together that I am able to bring my son with me daily as I work. This makes things crazy and hectic, but special. I'm not your typical working mom, but I love being able to be with my little guy every day.
2. I want to have maybe 4-5 kids. My husband wants 2 tops. We'll see who wins. ;) I'll give you a hint...I don't lose. haha
3. I didn't graduate college, but will be going back, hopefully, this January.
4. I love to sew, scrapbook, bake, photograph, and do anything artsy.
5. I was always better at math and science related subjects than English subjects.
6. I love yoga. I'm practically obsessed. Again, I wouldn't say that I'm very good, but one day I will be. :)
7. I could watch Pride and Prejudice over and over and over and over again. In a row. I wouldn't mind one bit.
8. I can't seem to give up soda. I can go a couple weeks, tops. I just love it. :(
9. I would love to own a boutique one day with only modest clothes in it. I honestly believe that modesty is under-rated.
10. My favorite animal is probably an iguana, I love those little guys. Lizards are my favorite. :)
2. I want to have maybe 4-5 kids. My husband wants 2 tops. We'll see who wins. ;) I'll give you a hint...I don't lose. haha
3. I didn't graduate college, but will be going back, hopefully, this January.
4. I love to sew, scrapbook, bake, photograph, and do anything artsy.
5. I was always better at math and science related subjects than English subjects.
6. I love yoga. I'm practically obsessed. Again, I wouldn't say that I'm very good, but one day I will be. :)
7. I could watch Pride and Prejudice over and over and over and over again. In a row. I wouldn't mind one bit.
8. I can't seem to give up soda. I can go a couple weeks, tops. I just love it. :(
9. I would love to own a boutique one day with only modest clothes in it. I honestly believe that modesty is under-rated.
10. My favorite animal is probably an iguana, I love those little guys. Lizards are my favorite. :)
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