HappyNess

Latest quilt top:

From this:

To This:

Don't it just make you happy to look at it????

How To EaT Cake

First let me go on record as saying that this is the most disgusting practice-and defilement of chocolate cake that I have ever heard of!! But-this is a longstanding tradition passed down to the next generation from TL......who knows where it came from before him......

First you get a generous piece of chocolate cake.

Then you pour a generous amount of milk over it.

Then you slurp up the soggy mess

Mmmmmm!

Tag

Uh....Jen tagged me. So after much serious contemplation and agony, here's another tag....

4 places I've lived:
1. Mesa, AZ
2. Safford, AZ
3. Tucson, AZ
4. Clovis, CA (i know...boooorrrringggg.)

4 shows I watch:
Ummmm, I don't watch a lot of tv....how about shows I tivo???
1. Jon & Kate plus Eight.......(i watch this to feel relief i am not in those days anymore)
2. Various health shows on Discovery Health (i like dr. oz stuff)
3. Extreme Home Makeover (alas the season is over)
4. The Office ( i still have a couple of episodes recorded but not watched. this show makes me laugh except many times i can't stand Michael)

4 jobs I have had:
1. Working at 31 flavors-
2. Working at a rock shop.
3. Picking fruit in orchards
4. Medical transcriptionist

4 places I've visited:
1. Madrid, Spain
2. Kona, Hawaii (been to other islands too)
3. Quebec City, Quebec (loved this place!)
4. Mexico City, Mexico

4 blogs I read regularly
1. Well, just the family ones will count for more than 4
2. Pioneer Woman
3. Simply living.com (this is a new one)
4. Many, many bloggy friends now-on a nearly daily basis.

4 favorite foods
1. Chocolate chip mint ice cream-31 flavors
2. My yummy green smoothie.
3. Anything from Mimi's cafe
4. Jess & Cassandra's salsa

4 places I would rather be:
1. Somewhere cooler on the beach
2. Somewhere cooler in the mountains
3. Somewhere cooler up north
4. Somewhere cooler anywhere

4 things looking forward to next year:
1. Elder Steve going home.
2. Future Elder Bubba D going.
3. Expanding my garden
4. Getting more out of debt.

4 things I do in my spare time.
1. Blog/surf the net.
2. Read/study
3. Scrapbook
4. Sew quilts/cute stuff for kids/grandkids

4 favorite things to do with kids/family
1. Shop and hang out with TL.
2. Hang out with my kids at home.
3. Hang out with my kids at their houses.
4. Hang out with my kids on the beach/anywhere.

Ok-I tag Mari, Lou, Gin, Lori, LaSchelle, Lisa, Kristie, Ally, Amy, Michelle, Kassi-did I forget anyone???

Just a Few Items of Business

#1 I just spent the last 30 minutes organizing my web "favorites." I was getting tired of going all over the place to check out my favorite web sites so now I have folders called:

Family

Bloggy Friends

Food Storage (my latest obsession-remember?)

Photography

LDS

Scrapbook

Whew-I feel better. I wonder where yours is??????

#2 I keep forgetting to post a link to my daughter's AWESOME photography blog.....go check it out here:http://greenappleimages.com/blog

#3 We have another missionary! Now me & my sissies all have missionary boys....Elder H. entered the MTC yesterday-bound for Taiwan in a few months.....isn't he a cutie??

Breaking News

So this afternoon I'm working on my latest quilt, enjoying the sounds of Coldplay on my i-tunes and all of a sudden it seems suspiciously dark.......I look outside and see this:

Dark clouds, heavy air, it must mean.......................

The Monsoon has arrived----Moisture from Mexico.

Monsoon means muggy air, afternoon cloud build ups, lightening storms, power outages, rain....?? maybe, maybe not-from Julyish to Septemberish. And the dreaded dust storms......A weather reporter a few years ago started calling them haboobs.....giant clouds of dust that roll over the valley-from a phrase in the Middle East. (Personally I just think he liked saying haboob.....) Being in a haboob is not too funny if you are traveling 75 MPH on the freeway and your visability drops to zero in 5 seconds flat.....So folks...

Let the Monsoon begin...

*****Edited- It RAINED!

I am a Devious Mother

Recently we purchased one of these babies...... And I'm having a lovely time whipping up nutritious goodies. Guess what we had for FHE treat the other night:

Peach Ice Cream....yumm-o

But shhhhh....don't tell my kids....but I put this:

And this:

in the mixture...........mwuaahhhaaa haaaa haaa haaaaaa (insert evil laugh)

They loved it!

Phooling with Photos

Pardon me while I mess with a few photos I took today......

How many times does a girl have to re-read the Twilight series before the next book comes out?????

A lollipop makes a really good swizzle stick for the toilet!

(just messing with resizing the photos to make them look nice and sharp for the blog-Thanks for your patience!)

Thoughts on Hibernation, Quilts & Life

Whoa Nellie-How's that for a title and how on earth does it relate????? Keep reading.....

Unlike the vast majority of folks in the US, we do things different in AZ. It's dang HOT here now and we hibernate in the summer rather than the winter. So I get up EARLY (like 5:00 am) and rush around to get as much done as possible before noon while it is still semi-cool and then we hibernate the rest of the day.... In the summers I have enough energy to barely lift my pinky finger while I am eating my bon bons every day so I must resort to quiet activites like reading, blogging and.....

Quilting!

I just finished this top although I am basically pleased with the end result, there are lots of triangles and they are HARD to get straight. I have another quilt top in the wings which I am super excited to get going on this week.....

As I was sewing away the other day, my thoughts waxed philosophical......How is this quilt like life???? Well, some really smart designer(way smarter than me) planned out this quilt pattern so that the end result would be pleasing and beautiful. There were measurements provided and instructions given. Several times during the process as I was reading the instructions I would think....what???? this doesn't make sense......especially if I tried to read ahead......

But if I slowly and carefully read the instructions, went step by step, didn't look ahead and get stressed, well, I was able to figure it all out and I'm pleased with the results. There are a few mistakes fer sure......like measuring and cutting wrong but for the most part, it is a pleasing result.

So how is this like life?

Someone way smarter and wiser than me gave me a Set of Instructions for life. He planned out the Design so that the end result would be pleasing. There are Measurements and Instructions given, and if I follow them carefully I will be happy with the finished product. If I find myself jumping ahead and trying to do things out of order, I get confused and think.....WHAT?..........But if I carefully read the Instructions and try to follow them Step by Step.....well, I should end up with a result that will be pleasing......Yup, there are a few mistakes (a lot) made along the way....but hopefully if I follow the Plan.......the result will be pleasing!

the end

P.S. my apologies if you think this post is the result of a heat-befuddled brain....things will return to normal somewhere after Oct. 1st.........

P.P.S i'm not planning on being finished with my "life design" just yet!!! =)

ThReE ChEeRs FoR tHe sWim TeAm

Getting ready for the race. There's lots of pressure on this swimmer--she's the #1 rated backstroke champ in her age at her school.....

Hooray for the 1st place winners!!-placed first in their respective heats-backstroke

My new Craving

Can you guess what that green stuff is????........yup....it's spinach!

I'm trying to incorporate more fruits and veggies into my diet....and trying coax the family along with me.....and this is my new breakfast beverage of choice......I got the recipe from a new book I read called "Original Fast Foods." They advocate a plant-based diet (not vegetarian) with lots of recipes using fruits and veggies. I was a little skeptical but it actually tastes very good to me....(maybe I have weird tastebuds) It contains about 1 1/4 cup of apple juice (unsweetened) a handful of fresh pineapple (on sale) 1/2 banana, a palm full of raspberries-I've also used strawberries and a handful of SPINACH. Then you have to blend the beejeebies out of it-I HATE chunks-they make me gag (I leave the chunks in the bottom of the glass-ha ha) This is supposed to be a mineral rich drink and it is actually really energizing.

Now don't yell at me and tell me I'm not taking in enough calories for breakfast because this is just a beverage-I also eat some whole grain cereal or toast-eggs & toast, etc. along with it.

I DARE YOU TO TRY IT! (insert evil laugh)

Girls Night Out

Last night was the redemption of my Mother's Day Gift......Girls Night OUT!



The evening begins with a fabulous dinner at the Bamboo Club on Mill....

Then we head south a few blocks to Gammage where we enjoy this:

The music was wonderful...Eliza Doolittle had a fabulous voice...Alfie Doolittle stole the show-along with Freddy........Thanks girls-it was an awesome evening.

Some interesting behind the scenes facts about last night:

*The thermometer in my car registered 115 degrees when we returned to the parking garage at 10:30 pm. You will be relieved to know that as soon as we exited the parking garage-the thermometer dropped to 103 degrees....AT 10:30 PM!!!! (We asked ourselves numerous times again, why do we live here??)

* My shock and horror when the waitress discussed the alcoholic drinks available with my 14-year old daughter!!! I promptly told her she was underage and we don't drink anyway.

* Imagine the sight of 5 grown women-plus one half-grown woman running as fast as our heels would let us through the halls at Gammage because the show had started.

* I am trying to repent of the desire to smack the 400 pound man in front of me who was looking at his playbill right in my line of vision the whole 2nd act!

*Fried spinach tastes like nothing.

AWOL from Blogging

Well, I just looked at the date on my last post and I realized that it has been a few days since I blogged. I can't believe how fast time flies-although I wasn't feeling super bloggish.

See this boy? He is a wonderful guy-good daddy-good man-hardly ever done anything wrong in his life-(that he has told me-ha ha) Well, we got the news that his promised job with the police dept. wasn't coming through as planned last week-after they had already made him an offer-so needless to say-we have all been kinda devastated these days.

It's hard being a mom when your kids are hurting and you can't do anything about it. It's more painful to watch your kids go through heartache-even more so than when you have your own heartache. It's a little hard to kiss the boo-boo when he is way bigger than you and this boo-boo is way bigger than I can kiss away. I'm crying as I write this.....so all I can do is pray and pray and pray and hopefully the hurt will go away....He is going to try again....third time will be the charm!

Other breaking news:

Locally.....Let it be known to all persons.........this will be my place of habitation for the next few months...in the pool in front of the jets.......please leave messages and all calls will be returned when my appendages start looking like prunes.........

Somewhere in Tennessee......This jailbird (the one on the far right) is being transferred and will now be zone leader for the Spanish zone-in charge of 30-35 missionaries......(should I be worried????)

Finally the Father's Day Photo.....minus one little chick......who is busy moving to his new area today (and hopefully staying out of mock jail!)

Today is a Good Day

Why is today a good day? Why of course because I KNOW what I am having for dinner tonight at precisely 8:46.08 AM MST. Knowing this fact at precisely 8:46.08 AM saves much grief at 4:59.45 PM today. There is nothing worse than not knowing what you are going to have for dinner when you are dragging around two (or more) crying rugrats hanging on your legs and DH (dear hubby) is going to be walking in the door any moment. (however, I must admit that this is a somewhat dim and musty memory these days--the crying rugrat thing anyway)

I have given the assignment to teenage daughter #4 to help out with dinner once a week in order to be entitled to her allowance......and my first bit of advice when planning a dinner menu was:

FIRST: Shop from your pantry.....

Well, then of course I'm thinkin-hey, this is a pretty profound piece of advice which mustn't be wasted on a mere 14 year old girl who doesn't appreciate it anyway....it must be shared with the world at large!

I usually plan out my menus weekly-I'm so proud of my girls-they are doing the same thing--based on what I have in the pantry and then shop the sales....saves $$....and lots of stress and grief at 4:59.45 PM.

Oh......what are we having for dinner tonight??? Pasta salad and fresh melons. My family loves it----but only the ones who sprang forth from my womb--tres yernos (sons in law) don't-except the DDIL (dear daughter in law) who had the highly intelligent sense to marry my son and like my pasta salad.

The 5 W's

Who: Teenage daughter
What: Perfectly made bed
When: 8 AM today (maybe earlier but I didn't see it until then)
Where: Teenage daughter's bedroom
Why: Ummm.Did she sleep in this bed last night-or on this bed last night? (she's in my unmade bed at the moment!)

Long Overdue Tag

I got tagged oh....a month or so ago by my sweet friend, Debbie, who is one of the nicest people I know. Get this, when she moved into our ward, she hosted a luncheon for a bunch of people so she could get to know everyone-how nice is that??? So here goes:

Three joys
1. Hanging out with TL. We like to "hang out" and do stuff together-which we are doing a lot more these days since he is still recuperating and trying to change his stressful lifestyle.
2. My family-next to TL, I LOVE hanging out with my kids. As they have grown up-they are some of my favorite people. I loved it as they got older and even when they were teenagers-I loved to just visit and talk and laugh with them in the family room..
3. Learning- I LOVE to learn. I have discovered this as I have gotten older but honestly, I get a real "buzz" from learning new things-especially the gospel and other things I am interested in- like Spanish.......

Three fears
1. Getting a terrible disease. I have struggled with being a hypochondriac for years and still struggle with not overanalyzing every sniffle!
2. Losing one of my kids or spouse. Man oh man-sometimes I used to lay awake at night when they were late coming home with sweat dripping off me worrying that something terrible had happened. Still do this......
3. Doing tags on blogs......part of the reason I put this off is that I have a hard time exposing my deepest feelings to the world.......

Three goals
1. Learning Spanish-I have had a passion for this for years and I am finally getting more practice! I love my Latin brothers and sisters so much! This leads me to my next goal
2. Mission- TL & I want to serve a mission in a Latin American country-(although I am somewhat fearful of this too!)
3. Living more self reliantly Almost all our married life we have wanted to live in a more rural setting-or at least in the city with a little more land. Currently I am frustrated because my garden is so small and I can't have chickens......TL is a farm boy so we would love to have room for horses...

Three latest obsessions
1. Healthy eating I am searching the internet and cookbooks and books for any and all information on healthy eating. We are trying to change our lifestyle more (and dragging our teenagers kicking and screaming with us!) I am a semi-granola anyway....see here...
2. Self Reliance & Food Storage Again-surfing the web-working on a really tightened budget to pay off debts-working hard on food storage and preserving food......
3. Reading I am doing a lot more reading these days and plan to sign up for goodreads and read some classics......
I seem to go from obsession to obsession but these are the current "obsessions du jour." Past ones have been quilting, sewing & scrapbooking and I still love and do those but I don't think about them 12 hours a day currently.....

Three Surprising Facts
1. I could probably be a hermit- I'm really happy being home alone-being alone doesn't bother me. I like civilization but I am not a super socialite...
2. I love the book of Isaiah- I know, I know-I am the weirdest person on earth but I absolutely love studying the book of Isaiah and the Old Testament. It is fascinating and uplifting and we can learn SO MUCH from studying this book-truly a testament of Jesus Christ.
3. I secretly enjoy reading the trash celebrity magazines. SHOCKING- I know-I try to stay away from them-but sometimes when you are getting a pedicure the only thing to read is a dumb trashy celebrity mag (never National Enquirer-stuff like People and Us) Maybe a new goal should be to bring my Old Testament and study Isaiah while I'm getting a pedicure!

Ok-{heaving a big sigh of relief} I did it.....

Okay-now I tag my darling daughters-who don't have time to blog....and my darling nieces whose blogs I LOVE to read every day.... and my sisters who only blog once a month.....and anyone else who is interested!

Pantyhose and other Random Garden Oddities

This is my 200th post!!! Whoo-hoo!

Ok-that's enough.

Pantyhose on my one and only grape bunch-I got the idea from someone to protect it from the birds....(from somebody's blog I think)(actually technically it is a knee-hi)

This is a volunteer broccoli plant. Growing amongst the potato plants and volunteer tomato plant. I just don't have the heart to tell him that it is the wrong season to be growing right now. He is a cold season vegie in these here parts. He won't be very happy in about 4 weeks.....Could this be a good illustration for faith & hope????

Bean plant. It is either:

a: Not enough water

b: Too much sun

c: Time for a bean plant funeral

d: All of the above.

P.S. I am a guinea pig today for the Linus Pauling vitamin C experiment. We are on a quest to build up TL's immune system and avoid nastiness like viral meningitis again. So guess who gets the first virus? me..I will post results of said experiment.

Flashback Friday

Warning: This post will be boring to anyone except my family......

I was reading Shar's narrative about Mt. Graham and getting all sentimental about our trips to the mountain. Since the family has gotten so huge it is nigh near impossible to go to Mt. Graham anymore.....but I rummaged through my moth-eated photos (JK) and came up with some essentials for Mt. Graham:Food-plenty of FOOD. Especially peanut M&Ms. (we pretty much eat for 12 hours a day)

Cable swing-creates semi-terrifying moments (if you are afraid of speed and heights) (I think this is of Bubba D in about 1997)

Cards: Us folks take our pitch games very seriously (and even "cheaters" with the initials TL and SA and RR)

Horseshoes-again-a very serious sport.....

Finally...the piece 'o resistance...

Bows and arrows...Sorry Kassi & Jess-this photo makes me giggle. A time-honored tradition-making bows and arrows. Keeps the Dads and kids extremely busy for hours.

And there's more....getting carsick each and every time we go...good, clean, cool mountain air.......dead rats in the bathroom........ice cold mountain water.....making "houses with pine needles...dodging bears.......memories of family & fun!

May I Introduce You to....

The newest college student in the family.......
This is super exciting and amazing since this awesome young man has struggled with school and learning disabilities from the get-go.....he is excited because he says, "mom, there are lots of hott women at CGCC!" Hey-anything to keep him excited about college......He even got a job working at the college-on his own-he starts Monday! Whoo hoo......
(There is nothing that chaps my hide more than a lazy young adult.....even more than a lazy teenager)

What are You Readin' These Days?

I am a reader. I've always been a reader. To curl up on the couch with a good book is just the best! Throughout the phases of my life, it has sometimes been difficult to find time to read but when I do, it has always satisfied an inner craving of my soul. So here's what's on my best seller list these days......

The #7 book in the #1 Ladies Detective Agency series. Love these...They make me giggle and think at the same time-some profound bits of wisdom flow forth from the mouth of Precious Ramotswe......This was a fun and clean book written for us Pride and Prejudice fans. The cover of the book I got from the library was different than this one but I really enjoyed it....I always have a couple of books going at once-this one was fascinating. It's the non-fiction account of author Barbara Kingsolver's quest to "live off the land." She inserts her own political philosophies into the narrative but it was a really interesting account of their quest to live more simply and enjoy the bounties of their garden.Just finished this one and I loved it. Very thought provoking and motivating to learn to love that which is holy......

From a favorite author---his recent conference talk was a mini Reader's Digest version of this wonderful book. This is one I purchased and I will be re-reading it again and again.This is on my nightstand now. A World War I story....it's a story of finding love-losing love and then hopefully finding it again---I haven't gotten far enough into it yet-but it is a good read so far.

Speaking of good reads...there is a web site called goodreads.com which I have come across and plan to browse in my spare time....someday. I have a pile of books on my desk that were recommended by people whose blogs I read.....thanks for sharing ladies!

Summertime and the Livin' Ain't Easy

Tuesday Time Travel.....go back with me a dozen years.....

It's the first of June and school is out! I am filled with enthusiasm, we have a color coded calendar, meticulously filled with activities for each day. The rules are strict...no TV before noon...do your chores before play....no friends before 9:00 AM...."quiet time" between 12-2**. We have lessons, field trips, library visits....I have goals for updating school scrapbooks, skills my children are going to learn....preparations for summer camps. This summer will be great!!! I am organized and on top of things.

Fast forward 4 weeks......

Most activities are completed for the summer.....the heat is beginning to catch up with me but we are looking forward to our 4th of July escape to the mountains...annual trek to Utah......the kids are sneaking the TV time before noon....the doorbell starts ringing earlier for friends to come and play.....I'm thinking maybe I need to restrict the friends to "one per child" in order to preserve my sanity-but when the extra freckled face little boy shows up to play....I have a hard time saying no.......therefore we end up with at least 17 children running through the house all day (JK-maybe only 10 children)

Fast forward 4 weeks....

All bets are off.....no rules.....TV on all day....The only goal is to make it until school starts...friends running in and out of house all hours of day....."quiet time? what's quiet time?????...children wear as little as possible....sure, eat that popsicle at 8 AM....who cares.......cold cereal becomes a dinner entree on a more frequent basis.....

Fast forward 2 weeks (mas o menos):

First Day of School! ahhhhhhhh........

**For the uninformed: "Quiet time" is a rule I established in order to preserve my sanity and provide extreme torture to my children. Between the hours of 12-2 PM all extraneous children went home, I tried to provide my kids with a nutritious lunch and then it was time to read-and they could watch TV....I did this to have my own "quiet time" and at least allow the baby to take a nap in relative peace...go ahead...ask any of my kids....they HATED it!