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.