The Clean Up

When I was little my room must have been very messy, I don't remember it being messy, but my mother sure does. She sent me to live to downstairs in the basement because of it. She must have been really tired of seeing the mess everyday as she passed it to get to her room. I do remember my father helping me clean my room one time by putting everything that was on the floor into a big garbage sack and throwing it all away. That taught me something...I didn't keep a messy room after that. Now that I have my own daughter I see what sorts of messiness she can create. I walk past her room several times a day and in so doing have seen it progress from bad to worse, I should say regress. Yesterday, I was done looking at it, it was time to clean up and clean out. We went through every bag, backpack, purse, every drawer, every box and were able to fill two trash bags and two give away bags. We rearranged the room to give it a new look. She did most of the work herself and she did so without complaint. These are the before and after pictures of a job well done.

To Mother

To my mom, who was always yelling at us to either stay in or stay out!

Infallible Logic
A little boy, caught in mischief, was asked by his mother: "How do you expect to get to Heaven?" He thought a minute, and then said: "Well, I'll just run in and out and in and out and keep slamming the door till they say: 'For heaven's sake come in or stay out.' Then I'll go in."

I Despise You...

I despise you, laundry.

I motion for a week of just wearing the same thing everyday, no matter how stinky we get, just so that I can have a week go by without having to remember to change the laundry. Anybody going to second that motion?

My Eme

My Emeline turned the wonderful age of 8. She is a most wonderful girl, who is kind, helpful, and beautiful. I am blessed to have her as a daughter and friend. She helps me remember what life is really all about.

I Just Don't Know Sometimes

Why try to be good?

It's funny how emotions can change on a whim with one little tidbit of information. It's funny how upset and afraid one can become when things are taken away that are relied on heavily. And then all of it changes again when it changes for the better again. So why try to be good?...because when you try to be bad, things go wrong, then when we try to be good, things eventually go better.

This Poor Blog

Down right neglect or forgetfulness? Either way...I have been neglecting this here little blog of mine. I have had a really, really, really slow computer that was getting slower and slower every time I used it so it would take me hours to get onto the internet, download some pictures, post them and then it would think for about two hours about actually publishing the post. The one really good thing about Mr. Jewels being back in school are the student discounts for just about everything including a brand spanking new super awesome computer. Now if I can only figure out how to get my pictures from the camera onto the computer I will be set and this here little blog of mine will come to life again.

Six and Counting

I have found a pure love of knitting. My sister does it, my friends and neighbors do it. I've done a lot of washcloths, but the next step for me where knitting is concerned was, socks. Since Christmas I have knitted 3 pairs of socks and started work on a pair for my daughter that I'm trying to get done by the time her birthday rolls around next month. So mind you, some things have been neglected around the house, particularly the laundry. I think every one of our shirts that finally makes it to the closet are hanging there wrinkled. Thank goodness for Suit Coats and forgiving friends.

Disaster, Disaster, New Computer

Last Saturday, 5:00 a.m. woke up to Mr. Jewels asking if I'd like to go swimming in the basement. Our water softener, which, by the way, we had just fixed after years of not having it work, overfilled and spilled out during the night. A tube had come loose. We filled up buckets and buckets of water and watched as the things that had been floating around finally find solid ground. Second disaster...went to help a sister-in-law and her roommate pick up some mattresses for their new apartment 45 minutes away from where we live. Having been told that these were twin mattresses I left home with a tarp and some string and I mean string, not rope, that Mr. Jewels had handed me. They were not twin mattresses, they were full size, two mattresses, two box springs loaded into my small and old Nissan pickup truck. Strapped down with tarp and string I headed onto the freeway to make it back to their place. As I was heading onto the freeway going 40 mph, I see in the rearview mirror the tarp and top mattress fly across 4 lanes of traffic, not hitting a single vehicle and land in the left hand side meridian. I called Highway Patrol to assist me in getting this mattress. He comes and tells me that we are going to get up to speed and dart across the lanes over to the left meridian and then back up to where the mattress is and load it back onto the truck. I suppose I had a look of terror on my face because he said "no, that's too dangerous." After some phone calls to family to come help, we tied down the remaining beds with actual rope and headed back home going 40 mph all the way, leaving behind a good mattress for someone else's lucky day. And now I get to type this post on a brand new computer, this is a first for me.

Making Sweet Socks

To be honest, I'm still just working on one sock, but I'm on the foot already. That's gotta be a good sign. Now the real test is figuring it out again for the next sock.

True Love

This is what Gordon B. Hinckley as said about it..."true love is not so much a matter of romance as it is a matter of anxious concern for the well-being of one's companion."
He also said "love is the very essence of life. It is the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Yet it is more than the end of the rainbow. Love is the security for which children weep, the yearning of youth, the adhesive that binds marriage, and the lubricant that prevents devastating friction in the home; it is the peace of old age, the sunlight of hope shining through death."
Thou shalt live together in love (D&C 42:45)

Hope Through Sacrfice

It has taken me quite a few months to feel any type of hope for the success of our future. After months of looking and applying and interviewing for jobs and praying and fasting and trying to not give up hope, Mr. Jewels and I have decided that the Lord wants for us to give up on the job search temporarily and go back to school to earn a doctorate degree. Hopefully by then the job market will look a lot better and if not, then he will have the option of teaching.
I have felt of lot of varying emotions through this whole process, and at first I was quite content and happy, but as time moved on I began to feel differently, just to name a few...despair, envy, anger, jealousy, pity, grief, selfishness, humility, embarassment, sadness, fear, and finally, hope. Hope through sacrifice. I had to ask myself "Am I willing to give up all that we had been working towards for what the Lord sees for our future, although I cannot yet see it?" It's scary and humbling to allow our Heavenly Father to direct our lives and take care of us. I had to be submissive. With much pondering, help and prayer, the Lord has taken those awful feelings and replaced them with hope, love, desire, willingness, happiness and a renewed faith. I have learned that it is okay to stop and cry for awhile. I have learned that life is full of sacrifices, sometimes easy to make, sometimes hard to make. I know it won't be easy these next couple of years, but there is still hope. "God hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind. Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord" (2 Timothy 1:7-8)

Homemade Goodness

I love the frugal way of life, so anything that will save me some money I want to try. I saw on a television show that I can make my own cleaning supplies, now I have always known that I can make my own cleaning supplies, but now that I have seen it, I believe it (seeing is believing). I have made a disinfectant cleaner for all around cleaning, glass cleaner for windows and mirrors and laundry soap for...you guessed it, laundry. Here are the recipes, if you decide to make your own.
DISINFECTANT CLEANER
3 cups hot water
2 tsp Borax
4 TBSP White Vinegar

GLASS CLEANER
1 cup rubbing alcohol
1 cup water
1 TBSP Vinegar

LAUNDRY DETERGENT
1 Bar Fels-Naptha Bar Soap
1 Cup Borax
1 Cup Washing Soda
1/4 cup Baking Soda
Grate the bar soap as fine as you can, add 1 cup Borax, add 1 cup Washing Soda, add 1/4 cup baking soda. Stir well. Place in airtight container. Use 2 tablespoons per regular load of laundry. You can add a scent if you like, something like lavender oil or tea tree oil, just a little bit goes a long way.

I have some cucumber and peppermint oil that I'll give a go, I want my family to smell fresh and sweet all year long.

Coming Up Short

They say that Necessity is the Mother of Invention, I believe that to be true when it comes to the invention of the Bread Machine. I do love that I know how to make bread, but now with my time being spent on other things and having never used a bread machine, I thought I should at least give this machine a try. It only takes about 5 minutes to drop all the ingredients into the container and with the push of a button, it is off and running, three hours later, bread. I borrowed the machine from Amy down the street (thanks Amy) and was ready to go. I tried it three times but every loaf came out like this.

It may have been the yeast, I'm not sure. A little disappointed, I returned the machine. I will stick with the "natural way" of making bread.

Work

"By work we sustain and enrich life. It enables us to survive the disappointments and tragedies of the mortal experience. Hard-earned achievement brings a sense of self-worth. Work builds and refines character, creates beauty, and is the instrument of our service to one another and to God. A consecrated life is filled with work, sometimes repetitive, sometimes menial, sometimes unappreciated but always work that improves, orders, sustains, lifts, ministers, aspires.”

Reflections on a Consecrated Life
D. Todd Christofferson.

The Start of Something

The longest night of the year, December 21st, Winter Soltice, the kids last day of school for winter break, we decided to celebrate and start a new tradition in our home, (we have very few). We set up the kids tent in the front room next to the Christmas Tree and let them sleep there for the night. It ended up that they did it for two nights, I believe we started a successful tradition. (Again, the date on the picture is wrong)

I remember giving birth to that little boy, but honestly I have no idea where he came from. He is so weird.

The morning after. It's fun sleeping in new places, but nothing beats sleeping in your own bed.

Happy Belated Winter Soltice.

Love is the Best

Sweet daughter of mine puts notes on my nightstand from time to time, her latest one has helped me beyond words. I love her so much.
(Note: the date on the pictures is way off.)