A few more projects...

Here are some of my most recent creations:

A scripture case that fits everything I need!

And headbands galore!

I'm not sure what I'll make next, but I'm going to take a break for a few days because I'm heading to San Francisco tomorrow! Hooray for vacations!

Oh what do you do in the summertime?

Summer break is here, and I am finally getting the chance to work on some fun projects I've been wanting to do for awhile. I've lost count of how many times I've been to Michael's and JoAnn's in the last week, but I have some fun creations to show for the effort. I didn't really use patterns for once; I just experimented (which meant that it's a good thing my roommate owns a seam ripper). But, I'm happy with the results.

Here are some of my latest sewing projects!

Pillows for my bed. They make a great accent to the bold red (which you can't see).

An apron I made for my friend Katie who got married last weekend. I had a hard time parting with it though. Cute fabric that I found in the REMNANT bin! What a find!

A pin-cushion for my sewing. Little, but a fun use of scrap fabric.

Now I'm feeling so inspired. What else should I make?

Daddy's Girl

I am a self-proclaimed Daddy's girl.

As a child, I loved to watch out the front window, waiting for Dad to come home from work. I would meet him at the door, carry his briefcase to his room, and then insist on sitting on his lap after I finished my dinner while everyone talked about things that went way over my head. I didn't care; I was snuggling with my Daddy.

Still, every time I come home to visit, Dad has a huge hug waiting for me. There is safety and comfort in the embrace of a man who has sacrificed so much to make me happy. I can't hug him today, but, Dad, consider yourself hugged Annie-get-your-gun style hugged today!

On top of all the other talents I can attribute to my father, the best is that I give him credit (at least half credit) for creating the best family ever! We are a quirky hodgepodge of different personality types and interests, but it's clear to me that Heavenly Father knew what he was doing when he put us all together. One person's strengths compensates for another person's weakness, and everybody is successful because of the close ties we've created. I'm SOOO grateful for a family that can have so much fun and also support each other through the difficult times. It makes life a glorious, joyous experience.

I'm a Winner!

Important fact: I never win anything. I was always the kid in elementary school that went home with the consolation tootsie roll prize after rousing games of BINGO where other children got walkmen or free sodas or passes for free homework assignments.

This week, however, the fates turned in my favor. Here's how: I regularly read a blog called "Real Mom Kitchen" that is written by a woman who posts one new recipe each day. The cool thing about this blog is that her recipes are for food that people might actually want to eat and (better yet) for food you can find the ingredients for, rather than crazy gourmet stuff that most of us don't have the time to make, even if we could muster the inclination. Anyway, the blog is cool, so I read it. A few weeks ago, they had a giveaway for a "summer family fun pack". All you had to do to enter was comment on the post, so I did, not thinking anything of it, but figuring that I may as well try.

Lo and behold, the next week, I got an email from the blogger saying that I'd won! Wahoo! Here's what I got in the mail a week later:
Free movie passes and candy, Bees' baseball game tickets and t-shirts, Hogle Zoo tickets and stuffed elephants (so cute!), and a digital camera! Did I say WAHOO?!

I'm thoroughly enjoying my prizes and looking forward to having some free fun with friends this summer. In fact, I've already been enjoying the camera. Here are a few pictures I've taken of my summer adventures thus far (keep in mind, I've only had the camera for a week, so I don't have anything TOO exciting to document...yet).

Me at Red Butte Gardens enjoying a "small" rest.

View from Neff's canyon

View of Graham and me in Neff's canyon

A Daring Adventure

Helen Keller said, "Life is either a daring adventure or nothing." Now, I don't think life is always supposed to be exhilarating and exciting; sometimes life is made up of simple, mundane days, but I think her point is that even the "regular" days come together to form the adventurous path that becomes a lifetime. Life is an adventure, and we need to treat it as such by looking for the lessons, the challenges, and pushing ourselves outside of our familiar world. Being adventurous and trying new things is part of the fun and is necessary to our growth.

This weekend, I definitely had an adventure! I went down to Arches National Park for a whirlwind tour of the red sandstone rock formations. I have lived in this state for almost 8 years now, and I had not yet been to ANY of the national parks. I thought it was long past time to remedy that.

We left Friday at 4:10 p.m. and got back at 8:30 p.m. on Saturday. In those 28 hours, we hiked more than we slept, and drove more than we hiked. While I would have liked more sleep, I was in awe at the beauty of the landscape and felt like a five-year-old on a jungle gym as I scrambled over the boulders and up the crevices of slot canyons. I think I am overall more of a fan of the green, tree-filled forests, but this red rock desert was beautiful and definitely worth the trip to see such a unique place.

Delicate Arch at 1 a.m.

The underside of the arch. I love the stars in the background and I love my sister's awesome camera for being able to capture this!

The "Fiery Furnace". In person, the rocks look brilliantly orange when the sun hits them.

Me climbing.

Yes, I did fit through that space. Crawling was my friend.

Really cool sandstone texture.

Don't you want to go have your own adventure now?

The Rising Generation

This week I was reminded of the power and strength of the rising generation. This topic has been rolling around in my head a lot lately, ever since April's General Conference, when I was struck by how much concern the leaders of the church showed for the youth. So many of the talks focused on how we can strengthen the youth of the church and prepare for the future.

The talks made me consider what I can do to contribute. I don't have my own kids (especially teenagers--yikes), but I do regularly see about 200 who come in and out of my classroom. Sometimes, as I stand in the hallway between class periods watching kids scream and run around, I worry about these kids. I know they face so many pressures, deal with so many problems, and are trying so hard to find their way through life. I wonder who they have to rely on, what belief systems they hold, and where they get the strength to make good decisions. As the school year winds down, I find myself reluctant to let them go. I imagine where they will be in ten years, and I hope they will be alright. I know most of them will turn out just fine, but I hope they don't suffer too much heartache along the way. Mostly, I try remember that each is a child of God who could use a little love. That's been my goal lately...to show a little more compassion and to nag a little bit less.

The second thing that has made me recently realize the strength of the rising generation is my association with a handful of teenage girls through a program called Generation S (the S stands for service). Several times a month, I go out with these girls to volunteer in the community. This week, we went to This is the Place State Park and laid stone walkways (really hard work, by the way). As I worked and talked with my cute girls, I was amazed by them. Sure they're hyper, loud, and sometimes quite silly. But they are also strong. They know who they are and have righteous desires. On the way home, they were talking about how they want to go on a humanitarian excursion for their senior trip. I was humbled that these girls would choose to spend their time and money helping others, rather than going on a cruise or somewhere else exotic. I had to admit, I hadn't thought of that at their age.

While I sometimes think I am the mentor, I am finding that I have much to learn from this rising generation.

Project French Bread

Each year that I've lived in my current ward, the Elder's quorum has put together a girls' appreciation night that has blown my socks off and made me feel so loved. This year's event took place on Saturday, and it definitely lived up to all previous years' efforts.

This year's feast was deemed "Project French Bread" and (contrary to what the name sounds like--they wanted to be misleading) was a Hawaiian Luau themed dinner complete with Kaleo's Coconut Tours, hula dancing, and a REAL roast pig. Yes, the boys spent all Friday night and Saturday slow roasting a whole pig at the house of one of the bishop's counselors. I'm not going to lie...seeing the pig was kind of gross, but it tasted good. (I was going to post a pig picture, but I just decided it's not very appealing. Just imagine.)


I'm so grateful to have men in my life that are willing to go to such lengths to make the women around them feel extra special for a day. I don't require grand overtures or fancy things, but it was nice to feel loved through their sacrifice for us. It's really the little things that make the difference for me, things like when a guy opens my door, offers his hand to step down off of a big rock when hiking, helps with the dishes after dinner, or simply asks how my day was and genuinely wants to know the answer. The small acts of service mean so much to me. So, cheers to all the blessed gentlemen that surround me. I appreciate you.