New Cousin

She sweetly put _____ (chickpea warm spicy sauce) on my plate to eat with the angiam (purple-colored spongey pancake) when I asked "Please" but wouldn't look at me in the eyes.  We gave her a picture laminated from Emma-Dean's wedding last summer, including more cousins...I hear her favorite color is red and she wants a baby quilt that is just for her.  Ethiopian, beautiful, loves chocolate Reese's peanut butter cups, just turned 7 December 22nd.  Working hard to learn English and surrounded with lots of loving sisters!

Here We Are, Again

Hugs. I can only add one photo at a posting (I guess I reached the multi-photo upload limit???)

New blog needed, perhaps?

No more pictures? Have I reached a limit???? Having technical difficulty...

Giving Away Flowers

Retired t-shirts turned into flower brooches (A brooch /ˈbroʊtʃ/, also known in ancient times as a fibula) to give to the orthodontist receptionists on Valentine's Day.

Ta-Dah! Chevron, while it lasts

I didn't want to falsely represent my painting skills. Shelf liner, picked up at TJ Maxx, in white & graphite...I know, I know, trendy, but way fun.

No Public Warning

Rarely does my family see the changes coming. I suppose they could calculate how busy I am, what deadlines and projects I am dealing with, when I work outside our home, when I am home waiting for payday with paint in our basement just waiting for me. If I put my paint clothes on early enough in the day and they see, they might suspect something to be different when they come home.

I've been thinking of neutrals a lot lately. Or maybe it is my maturing color palette (or my color-sensory boredom with winter cloudy blahs?) that craves change.

So it is different. The trick is to get enough done during the day to turn it back into a functioning feeding station by dinner time!

Thoughts on Sister Missionary Wardrobe

I have a niece leaving on a misson next week. I was a sister missionary in Belgium & France 26 years ago...and I wish someone had told me this before I left:


A couple of things I wanted to mention about the clothes you take: they are not precious. They are not what you would "normally" even wear in your life. They become a uniform, a representation of serious, conservative, even business wear--like to the office. Ultra modest, so buttoned up even more than you may normally wear at home. You are not trying to attract the opposite sex. No date clothes. Pretty is okay, and being feminine is important, but not calling un-do attention to your features...if that makes sense?

Not cutesy. Not too young, or even teenagey or co-ed college girl. Older looking is good, because you are trying to talk to families, not just convert teenage boys or young men.

Sister missionaries get tired of their wardrobe. It is inevitable. Like the way pregnant women are almost ready to burn that one pair of pants that fits all the way to the end because you get so sick of wearing it. Mission clothes should be like that. Do not take your most favorite in the world top and hope that you will still love it. Most likely, you will wear it out, ruin it, lose it. Better to keep it home, and think "uniform. Representing whole Church to whole world."

We aren't commanded to live law of consecration now, but think of your clothes as a way to serve others, if needed. Companions, or a sister member who has less than you...I wish I had given away more--in fact, it would have been better if I had come home with only the skirt and shirt on my back.

It can't be a pride issue. Yes, you want to look nice, but think of your life up until now and you are giving a tithing of that life to the Lord. If He needs all your clothes you take, give Him that, too. Your time won't be yours, and don't hold on to your clothes too tightly, either. Give, listen to promptings, share, and don't cling to worldly things. I think that is what the scripture means about not taking purse or script or a 2nd coat. Just what is needed. It will be hard to know "what is needed" until you are there in the field, see the conditions, feel the weather. It is good to have options and good to unload as needed in the field.

One of my favorite heroes in the MTC was a sister who made a bet with an elder who was making fun of sister missionaries and all the clothes they brought--she decided that she could wear one jumper-skirt and just change shirts and accessories for two weeks. She was awesome, and looked great, and it was a good experiment. She really only needed one and a back-up for washing when needed. You don't need to ever worry that members or investigators will ever make fun of you for wearing the same outfit. In a row. Every Sunday. It is ok. It is actually a good example. It is a completely non-worldly way to look at things. If you can embrace the mentality.

Whew. Sermon over. Even saying all that, I love, LOVE, LOVE, color and fashion and fun things to wear. Probably why it was so fun to look and alter these long sleeve shirts into short sleeves and make them more modest. Hope some of it makes the cut to take with you--and if not, no hard feelings. Share with your family or friends. Practice giving away cute things. Especially if they don't fit. If slightly too big--the average sister missionary gains 15 pounds. You can fight the average, though. Do the exercise program!!! Or pray for stomach virus? Bahhahhaahaa. Hope not!

Hugs, Jennilyn

This eternity scarf is too heavy-weight for your mission. Maybe your mom will like it? Or Emma loves red!

I wanted you to see how easy they are to make, how flexible. Good way to add color.

Ruffly Blooming Necklace from a T-shirt

Cut circles from a retired t-shirt (no-fray knit fabric makes this easy) and fold in half, and then quarters. Sew to a half-moon shape of same fabric, point up, folds at bottom. Start sewing at bottom and layer the folded circles, working way up. I like adding several slightly different circles, just to tweak it. Add ribbon to tie around neck. I have one in dark gray, light blue, golden yellow, and this new one in red I wore to Church Sunday.

I am submitting this as one of my auction items for this activity:

February 26th, 7:00pm....Get ready for service, sisters!! We ALL have gifts to share!

The “Gifts from our Hearts” Relief Society Service Auction is just the place to do it! Get your auction paddles ready! Genuine Auctioneer! Food, Friends and Fun!

Here’s how it works:

Think of something you can do that you would be willing to share with another sister in the ward. (Ideas are listed below)
Write your “gift” down and submit it on a “Service Auction Card” found in the Relief Society notebooks or send via email to Sani Braun at raulsanibraun@gmail.com by Feb 24
Come to the Auction on Feb 26. Earn points that night to be used to bid on each others’ services!! (no money needed)
Bid and win special “Gifts from our Hearts”!

Service gift ideas to get your mind going:
Crochet lessons or item, computer help, babysitting, cookies/food/pie (can bring that night or offer for FHE etc), lunch date, ride to temple, FHE lesson kit, bring dinner, accounting help, homemade jewelry, hem pants or skirts, sew on scout patches, homemade ice cream, family history help, custom birthday cake, dinner cleanup, photograph family/kids, homemade rolls, car detail, “field trip” to a nearby attraction/museum, cooking lesson, kayaking, ironing, etc, etc! Use your imagination--anything goes!
**Please specify length of time or number-- example: 2 hours genealogy help or hem 3 pairs pants

Bundles of Love

Crocheting madly to finish receiving blanket on time for a shower that I was too sick to go to--new meds make me dizzy. And two burp cloths. Cut out more, but only got these done.

For Roxie: Cool things she has made!

4th grade knight!

Eating egg toast: "It was really hard to peel the bread away from around the egg; the yolk is fragile."

Drool Pile

I wanted to carry some of this home, but my walking buddy said, "No." So I took a picture. We were miles from home, so it was probably a good idea to leave it in the alley we discovered...Do you see those church pew end pieces? And the table legs! Oooohhhh!

Garden Views

From our Saturday walk. Thinking about warmer weather and what to do to our home. John told me a story about a home on his mission who had a purposeful wild life preserve so they didn't have to mow the back yard.

Alley Discoveries

Drooling continues. He makes me laugh, and still surprises me often.

Max Scar

Big Patina for John

I rescued this long board from the side of the road. John helped me pull out the rusty nails and remove a rusted hinge. The quote is one of my mom's favorite from The Family: A Proclamation to the World. I wouldn't let John look at it as I worked, until the end, and I hung it by wire above the fire place. After looking at it for a couple of days, I covered the one with a dark circle and repainted the #1.

Work in progress. Haven't gotten this out of my creative system yet, still playing around, experimenting.

Who am I SuperBowl cheering for???

It would be ok if the Ravens win. Even though historically, I have great ties to SF (my dad is from northern CA, my grandparents met at Berkely. I grew up in San Jose...

My dad didn't watch sports. We watched "Star Trek" together instead!
My husband doesn't watch sports. His family is from Baltimore. We could show up in opposite jerseys, if we cared more. (So could daughter and son-by-marriage.)

We care about sports stuff our children do. Stewart was a great wrestler to watch in high school. And 3 of them have run cross country for awhile. Roxie is an archer. Sam did come home happily from a winning Young Men stake basketball game!

May it be a good, safe game. I won't be watching, despite the local flavor. We noticed the newspapers were wrapped in a purple ad plastic Saturday morning. We posed in front of this fun blow-up near a whole street full of fan club purple decorations.

Patina Practice

Remember my Rodney White sign-attempt at copying?

RODNEY WHITE:"Brooklyn-based artist Rodney White is fascinated with the dialogue that each person has with their self and others on a subconscious and conscious level. Motivated by the artist’s personal path of positivity, these giclée prints use visual cues from vintage advertising and Americana to convey a bygone era of optimism."

Thrifted canvas squares, painted for my little friends. I gave them markers to help patina/age them. Hazel promptly turned hers over and colored on the back, which was super cool-creative of her. I should have put the date on them, but bagged them up for early Valentine's present for their parents.

If I only had my camera...

We have been supporting the dental school, across the river ($6 toll now!). You have to plan for the entire morning of "class." You get checked by the student, and then approved checked by their teacher. It is early in the semester, so my appointment took so long that I have to go back for the actual cleaning (I think I was her first ever patient). They give a $50.00 discount on your bill, insurance pays for rest, so it is a good deal if you don't mind the wait. Patient patients needed!

The next day, when I took Roxie, the teacher told the student hygenist that it was okay to use mom to help keep her mouth dry for the sealants to stick. So she tossed me blue gloves, and I got to hold Roxie's tongue out of the way and push on her cheek to keep the dry-angle over her salivary gland (super wet mouth, like I have) so the hygenist could apply the pink goop inbetween the groovy indentations on Roxie's molars and set them with the lamp and they turn white. It was a moment that would have been PERFECT for a photo-op!

Sam has 2 cavities (he inherited my softer teeth); Roxie none. Max has some decay that they want to fix, not an official cavity, but good practice-teaching for them. Suzu goes in a couple of weeks and her wisdom teeth have started to erupt, so we shall see what they say.

I learned how important SALIVA is! It is better for your teeth to wait 30 minutes after you eat to brush. Saliva is good for your teeth, protects them.