In the Den...

There were old school rap videos playing on you tube when I walked downstairs this morning. There was also my husband dancing like he was in the club while he was getting dressed. He always gets dressed for work downstairs and I have no idea why. I never really thought about it as weird until writing this post. Anyway, super funny and awesome way to start my Friday. :)

Progress

When I start a progect, I am already wanting it to be done. Immediately. It is part of the reason I'm so good at my job(This is how I justify this personality trait as a semi-good thing:)). I hate having things hanging over my head that are undone. It makes me feel like I am in some sort of prison. With that said, I realize now that buying a fixer upper does not necessarily mesh that well with my personality; HOWEVER, I'm try to learn how to let it go and celebrate the progress in smaller steps instead of one huge this must be done now or off with your head scenario. :)

This post is about our recent progress on the house. Sometime it seems very slow going because we are so busy and what renovation takes the most is time, which we don't have a lot of. A couple of weekends ago Cory's dad came over and helped him rebuild the railing on our front steps. There were some overgrown bushes next to it that kept a lot of moisture on the wood so it started to sag. When we took down said bushes in September, the railing all but came down with them. Over the months since, more and more of the post in the railings have come loose and been literally blown off by the wind. It is all now fixed and I'm so excited! All that is left to do now is wait for the wood to dry out and repaint! It has been so wet lately that I haven't been able to get any pictures. It started raining when they were finishing up and hasn't stopped for long since. I finally got some last night so here they are!

Before:

After!
I had a little flag on my flag pole but the wind blew it off and into the neighbor's yard within the first hour. Boo wind. But yay fixed railing! Now I can't wait to paint! :)

Conference Thoughts

Basically, I love conference. It is so relaxing and uplifting. It has been just wonderful to snuggle up to my husband and listen to the words of living prophets. This conference, I couldn't stop thinking about how grateful I am for that. We have a LIVING gospel and prophets who have been called to receive revelation specifically for us. I loved Elder Hollands talk. He always makes me cry, but his message was so true. The spirit will teach us the things we need to know if we just listen. Every time I thought I had picked a favorite talk, the next one would change my mind. I should just give up trying to pick a favorite! Elder Scott's talk was up there though. Hearing church leaders speak about their wives gets me every time. He is my favorite apostle because I always feel like his messages apply so much to my life. Cory says I shouldn't have a favorite when it come to apostles but I just can't help it. Since there is no difference in my love for the apostles, I think it is okay. I feel so good and can't wait to tackle all kinds of things and become an even more dedicated Latter Day Saint. Not just a follower of Christ, but a disciple.

Conference Craft

I have started the tradition of doing a craft every general conference weekend. Since I have to slow down and not make plans for a weekend, it works out as a really good time for crafting! Today my mom came over and we made Easter egg wreaths together! It was fun being able to spend some time with my mom while making such a cute wreath! We both saw it on Mom&Wife and bought the supplies to make it this weekend. I happened to mention my plans to her so we decided to make them together. It was SO EASY and I think it turned out really cute! Mom made the bow for me because I am still pretty hopeless at doing that. Everything else I did myself and I even have the hot glue burns to prove it! :)

I had to go to the grocery store tonight and when I drove up and saw it on the door, it just made me smile. Goofy, but true!

Making Mole Hills Out of Mountains

I stress a lot. I mean seriously, it is ridiculous. I like having everything planned in advance. I make a lot of lists. I counted the other day and have eight different calendars. EIGHT! Who does that?!? Crazy people, that’s who. Unfortunately, that’s also me. This week has been particularly stressful for me and many things haven’t gone as planned. Yesterday when I waited in line at Taco Bell for 15 minutes only to be told their card machine was broken (I never carry cash) when I was already running late getting back from lunch I almost burst into tears. The only reason I didn’t was because I was determined not to cry over something as silly as Taco Bell. I came back to work, vented to my long suffering coworkers about the craziness and snacked on some goldfish. As I was being particularly petulant, I checked the blog of a family from my home town to read about the progress of their daughter who had heart surgery on Wednesday. As I was reading the things this mother had written about seeing her baby girl with tubes coming out of her body after literally having her chest ripped open, I felt so humbled. The words she wrote were so beautiful and heartbreaking. I can’t even imagine what she and the rest of her family are going through but I was so touched by the positive outlook she has on everything. At that moment I was so grateful for my trials. They seem so small in comparison. So what if I don’t get lunch one day. There are children in this world who haven’t had lunch all week. I am so blessed but sometimes I look past all my blessings and only see whatever is not going perfectly with my many plans. I have decided today that I’m going to try a little harder to be a little better, as President Hinckley once said. To count more of my blessing and not worry so much when things aren’t exactly how I want them to be. That’s life. I won’t always be able to change the circumstances, but I can change my attitude. So look out world, I’m now turning my mountains into molehills!

To read about the Penningtons and their sweet Mary Clare, visit Baby Pennington. I'm sure they would appreciate your prayers.

Inspiration

Today a coworker and I were talking about a facebook post about some verses in Proverbs. It was paraphrased and she wondered aloud what the exact wording of the verse was. Of course I then went to LDS.org to look it up. I can't say how much I love the scriptures being online. I started just reading the verses in question but the rest were so good, I finished out the chapter. In the verses is described a virtuous woman. Reading about her, I felt a bit like Elizabeth Bennett thinking to myself "I never saw such a woman." At the same time though, I feel inspired to become at least as much like her as I can.

Proverbs 31:10-31
10 Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.
11 The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.
12 She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.
13 She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her ahands.
14 She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar.
15 She ariseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.
16 She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.
17 She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.
18 She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.
19 She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.
20 She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.
21 She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.
22 She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.
23 Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.
24 She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.
25 Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.
26 She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.
27 She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.
28 Her children rise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.
29 Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.
30 Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the Lord, she shall be praised.
31 Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.

Wouldn't it be just lovely to have someone say such things about you? I think so. :)

When Zombies Attack...

Play Music. According to my nephews, when zombies hear music they HAVE to start dancing. Sunday when Cory and the boys were in the car waiting for me to get out of an after church meeting they started a discussion about zombies. I'm guessing this somehow stemmed from the banshees and aliens from the day before. Of course Hampton then decides that he is a Zombie and starts biting Pearce. Pearce then starts yelling at Cory "Turn on the music! Turn on the music!" Cory does and Hamp starts doing a combination of the robot and raising the roof. This naturally repeated several times and by the time I got to the car they were all laughing hysterically. Even though I missed it, I can't help but laugh even now just imagining it. So there you go. You may have thought you needed a machete, food storage, giganic flashlights, ect. to defend against the zombies but it turns out all you really need is a boombox.
You can find the most famous example of this here: