Gift to Nephew

Well, it was harder than I thought to copy. Fun.

Suzanna's Galaxy Dress

Galaxy Dress DIY: Glow in the dark stars and all! Start with dark navy or black dress, bleach, then use white soft fabric paint for dot stars and glitter spray paint for sparkle. She wore this to the stake youth dance "Galaxy Ball."

Making Marriage Work

John forgot his phone, I forgot our camera, so no visual evidence of our trip last night. We were asked to go to the temple as part of our local congregation's conference, with no set meeting time, just to go whenever we could. John took Max to two doctor appointments so he was home early. I slept on the way down and was irritable/cold when getting out of the car and not-united feeling. I had yelled at John when I thought he was going to hit an oblivious phone-talking pedestrian and he raised his voice back at me so I was ready to just march into this building ahead of him, without holding his hand, feisty.

Not a good way to enter the Lord's house.

Maybe this has happened to you. You know you are supposed to be reverent, humble, full of loving thoughts, and you can't get past the hurt, irritation, stupid-fight moment.

He teased me all the way in that we needed to kiss and make up or something specific would happen. And I didn't repent fast enough, and we were asked to sit up front, so I had to quickly ask for help changing my stubborn heart. So I could be in the right frame of mind, the right open heart, the right listening ears.

We make covenants in the temple. Promises with God. Every time we go is a chance to remember those promises and do a self-evaluation of how well we are living them.

We serve our ancestors, those who never heard of the Gospel, and allow them, by proxy, to make those covenants with God.

We were married in the Salt Lake Temple. Best decision of our lives. Going often helps strengthen our marriage.

"...and they lived happily ever after..." because they worked together, walked, talked, dated, listened, served, set goals, laughed, danced, repented and forgave and kissed often...

Looking for the Perfect (Mark) Quote

Three Candidates:

This is the mark of a really admirable man: Steadfastness in the face of trouble.
-Ludwig van Beethoven

It is the mark of great people to treat trifles as trifles and important matters as important.
-Doris Lessing

Being aware of your fear is smart. Overcoming it is the mark of a successful person.
-Seth Godin

Miss Dee (angel) to the Rescue

Background: Wet, mashed, composting leaves on the street in front of our home. 4 feet wide and 30 feet long. Not fun to jump across to go get the mail. I have little patience for the eyesore of recycling or yard waste. I may have nominated it once or twice for the honeydew list. I am sure it is pride that irrates me, makes me worry about being the house with the trashed, neglected yard. I hate to be thought of as lazy or not taking care of our home. This pile of leaves was supposed to be swept up by the city street cleaner machine, but I guess we got it out too late in the fall...? I put on my boots this free afternoon and started shoveling...

Miss Dee (angel) drove by and did a U-turn, pulled up to the curb where I was working. She got out, friendly, "I'll hold the bag, two hands make light work!" She was wearing white pants. "They'll wash fine!" I asked her if she worked in the middle school cafeteria, if she lived near by. "I just want to do the Christian thing, no way was I going to drive by with you out here working on your own...." Her husband passed three years ago, her two boys are in the military, one army, one navy, "That's Dante..." She let me give her a big hug after we got the last bag tied. I told her she was an answer to prayers. "God bless you, Miss Jenny!"

I feel humbled, cared for, listened to in my complainy terse prayers of "we need you." We are blessed, when we ask for His help.

Glow In Dark Bouncy Ball Earrings

It would be fun to have a Jen club. Meet Jen W. She goes to Church with us. I was her boss one summer. She is a good worker. Creative, funny, wise. Today we had an earring-making day. She showed me some nifty tricks. Shared a rinestone to put on my zombie necklace. We made matching earrings, went thrift store shopping and dollar store searching for more tiny junk finds. My favorite are the astronaut ones--I'll show you after I get the jump rings to finish them off.

One injury/one bandaid day. Shared potsticker chopstick lunch. Lots of laughs & hugs & advice about our personal burdens.

What is Your Soul Worth?

$10.00 @ Target. LOVE it, but was dismayed to see on my receipt the cashier had somehow completely not scanned it, only charged me for the other things in my bag. Freebie? No. Keep me honest, please! The service desk lady was grateful I stopped to pay more money on my way out of the store.

If it had been $100.00 or even $1.00 that got forgotten and not charged--it isn't worth the trade-off to me.

Now my soul-rug is a good reminder of who I want to be.