Summer Project Update

I started this summer posting several lists of things that I wanted to accomplish this summer.
Ten pounds lost
Ten books read
Ten sewing projects
Ten Pinterest projects
Ten Pinterest recipes
Ten home projects
Ten church projects
and more.

It's been a good motivator.  Each day I try to get something done.  I've been working a lot outside on the yard and painting.  That's about finished so I'll be moving on to indoor projects.  I'm pretty sure I could use a longer summer.
 
Lost 7 pounds
Read 2 books (I'm in the middle of 4 others)
Sewed 1 dress (Have fabric for 6 more projects)
Painted 6 chairs, 2 tables, a fence, 3 planters, and a plate shelf
Planted, weeded, dug, landscaped, laid pavers, added rock, built paths, added yard art

Purged and organized two file cabinets at school
Caught-up with the Sunday School reading
Crocheted 1/2 a baby blanket
Worked on family history
Printed my fan chart
And I've started blogging again!

Yeah - I'm going to need a longer summer.

Annie's Having a Baby

I went to a baby shower for a girl who was my favorite Mia Maid when I was YW president in Park Center Ward.  She's 28 now and having a little boy in a month.  It was so fun seeing her and her whole family again.  They are amazing and so much fun.  I was able to see a lot of the family, plus meet a whole new generation of little kids.  Chad who use to mow my lawn, just finished his MBA and Juris Doctorate this year.  I met all four of Julie's little boys.  Their whole family is funny and smart and just good people.

They're also very clever and creative.  I'm so mad that I didn't take my camera.  I could have taken pictures of the decorations and refreshments, and pinned everything.  Their whole house is full of darling ideas.

It was so exciting to get reconnected and celebrate with everyone.  Just 4 more weeks and the family will be bigger and even better.

The New Adventure of Old JoAnn

They've remodeled the JoAnns right up the street from me, and had a special promotion for 4 days.  On Thursday, Friday, and Saturday I was at their door at 9:00 when they opened.  They gave $5 gift cards to the first 50 customers each day.  I also had a bunch of coupons and they had a bunch of sales.  I bought yarn, a planter box, thread, and two pieces of fabric. 

I made a dress with one piece.  It was fun being able to sew on Saturday.  It was my first time behind the sewing machine since last summer.  The dress was super easy, and the best part was it fit.  (I'll have to model and post pics later.)

My best deal was buying 2 1/3 yards of fabric ($19.99 a yard) and 2 skeins of bamboo yarn ($4.49 each) and spending $12.64!  It was extreme couponing - sort of.  I'm making a bed skirt out of the fabric and slippers out of the yarn.  It's been a fun adventure at the new JoAnns.

 

Missionary Dinner

We had the missionaries, Elder Lee and Elder Berhans, over for a healthy meal.  We fed them turkey burgers on whole wheat pitas, brown rice with mushrooms and fresh herbs, lots of fresh veggies and fresh fruit, and only water to drink - no dessert either.  Actually we couldn't be completely healthy.  We threw in barbeque potato chips and they were a big hit.  The elders were a big hit too.  They are so nice.  It's always fun to visit with them. 

We would have invited their landlady, my friend, over with them, but she was camping with school kids.  Sorry Pam - on several levels.

June 26th, 2003

     Stacey and Mike celebrated their 9th anniversary on Tuesday.  Terry and I celebrated by watching the kids for the afternoon.  It was our first time with all three of the kids.  Maycee is completely chill.  It was easy, and fun.  We were paid in cheesecake.  Nice!

Outing #1

     There's not much we can get in the way of gifts for my dad any more.  Sometimes we see something that just fits, but  he's hard to get for.  This Father's Day Nan and I decided to give him three day trips.  Our first was a trip to Baker, Oregon.  Tad asked, "What are you going there for?"  He just doesn't get it.  Baker was a stellar destination.  Dad loves places like that.  We're going to Sweet next.   
     Terry checked out my car to make sure everything was ready and went to bank for me so that I'd have enough to pay for lunch and get us into the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center.  I packed a cooler with snacks and drinks.  Nan also went to the bank and packed snacks.  When I picked up Dad, he insisted on taking his car.  He already had a cooler packed.  Besides that, he paid for lunch, paid for gas, and bought Nan and I gifts from a kitchen store we wandered through.*  (There was no charge at the museum.)

 

This is a picture of a picture of horses transporting Model Ts. 

     We took a driving tour of Baker.  We all gave it high marks.  Nan could live there.  Then we took a little walking tour.  One picture below is Dad purchasing kitchen items for Nan and me at a darling shop called Bella's.  The giant gold nugget is on display at the US Bank downtown.  We found the best lunch spot, Corner Brick Cafe.  We all raved about our meals, but my turkey sandwich was the best.  I'll never have a turkey sandwich without cream cheese again, and my salad had huckleberry dressing - yum!
     We took in everything at the Oregon Trail Interpretive Center including an hour-long film.  It was good.  Then for the return trip, we decided not to use the freeway (no surprise).  Dad always has a shortcut, or at least an alternate route.  He led us down highway 26 to the town of Sumpter.  We followed the Powder River through the forest and passed a couple reservoirs.  It took us a little longer, but it was worth it.

The Blue. Mountains and the blue car

*He bought himself a truck on our way over.  Forget Craigslist.  He just had Nan make a couple calls.  I'm not sure Mom knows yet, so it's hush-hush until I see it in his garage.
   

Sunday Lesson

I was inspired by Terry's technology example, so when I taught my RS lesson, I prepared a Slide Rocket presentation, complete with two short video clips.  It was a great lesson, not because of me, but because it was on President Uchtdorf's talk, Mercy for the Merciful.  Here's a quote, and one of the video clips that I used:

There is enough heartache and sorrow in this life without our adding to it through our own stubbornness, bitterness, and resentment.

We are not perfect.

The people around us are not perfect. People do things that annoy, disappoint, and anger. In this mortal life it will always be that way.

Nevertheless, we must let go of our grievances. Part of the purpose of mortality is to learn how to let go of such things. That is the Lord’s way.

Back Yard Busy

     Next Saturday will be the last day of June and I'm going to post an update on how my summer project lists are coming.  It seems like I've been working real hard, but everything is taking longer than I think it should.  I've been focusing on the yard, but mostly painting.  I want to start on indoor projects by the time it gets hot, certainly before July 4th, but then again, everything is taking longer than I think it should.

(My first collage posted - Thanks Jana!)

Friends of Summer

     Tuesday night was book club.  I loved the book.  I was leery about even reading this book, The Well and the Mine, because it begins with a baby being thrown down a well.  It also takes place during the depression in an Alabama coal mining town.  Depressing.  But it wasn't.  It was sweet and funny and real.  Great author with a great name, Gin Phillips.  I love Kay's yard.  I love sitting around visiting with friends.  I also loved the still warm lemon bars.  

Wednesday was a birthday party for a book club friend at Smoky Mountain Pizza.  We had the patio to ourselves for most of the 2 1/2 hour lunch.  It was so relaxing.  This is what I've been waiting for all during the school year.

Friday night Terry and I went to dinner at Green Chili with Karren and Rich.  Once and a while I have to let Terry join in the fun.  Great food and great friends.

My Poor Eyes...and Head

I stayed in bed until 8:30 this morning.  I finished The Well and the Mine, the book I needed to read for book club tonight.  I also worked on family history stuff on the computer, blogged, uploaded pictures, updated a family website, and crocheted.  I'm getting through a lot of things on my summer "To Do" list, but it gave me a headache.

Fathers Day 2012

      It was Terry's big day, again.  We had all the kids and grandkids over for dinner and pie.  We had Hawaiian haystacks, so it was easy to fix and there was something chopped to please everyone.  The pies were blueberry and lemon cream.  They were all together just last night, but there was still plenty of visiting.  Dinner was early, everyone left early, and we had a quiet evening.  The only part of the day that wasn't so good, was the third game of the NBA finals.  Terry's team won, but it was too intense and stressful.  It was a quiet evening though.

     This was Bry's first Fathers Day.  It's pretty fun watching him be Isaac's dad.  He has almost a month of experience under his belt.

     I didn't get a picture of Mike, the other dad present, but here's his family.  You can't see Maycee very well in the car seat, but she's just as cute as the other two.

Progressive Dinner for Dad

     It's not quite Fathers Day, but we celebrated a day early.  It's actually Terry's birthday, and he didn't come along.  He had a better offer.  I did think it was funny that he wanted to do something relaxing and chose to go bowling with the kids and grandkids.  They had a great time and Cafe Rio was included.

     We were a little small in number (10), mostly because the salmon are running and some were fishing, Tad's fam is in Italy, and I was the only one from my fam, but I like to think the best of the family was represented.  

     Our celebration started at Andrea's for fruit and cheese appetizers.  There were even fresh raspberries!  We could have filled up on everything there, but the big events were in Nampa, so we had to move on.

(Somebody needs to help me manipulate these pictures.  I don't think I can make collages with blogspot.)

Our next stop was for salad, and a tour of Cole and Santanna's new house.  Everything was darling.  They had to do a lot of painting and work when they moved in.  The decor is a mix of them both - Cabela Elegance.  
 

It was funny that their neighbors were having a garage sale.  That's one of my dad's favorite things.  He didn't have time to shop though.

Cole and Santanna in their little kitchen.  We didn't get just salad, Santanna had prepared a whole salad bar.  It was fresh!  There were lots of "comps" on the tossed salad.  I've always been the salad/relish tray maker in the fam.  I now have competition.

We met up with Matt and Kierra who had been to a wedding.  They looked nice (especially Kierra's shoes), but it wasn't for us.  We're all still getting use to the idea that these two brothers married sisters.  I think it's going to make for a fun life, especially for the future little cousins.

The main course was at Nan's.  We had hamburgers, turkey burgers, baked beans, chips and sodas.  We couldn't have asked for better weather.  I don't think it got up to 80, and there was just a nice little breeze once in while.

Our last stop was at Matt and Kierra's for dessert.  There house is older and they also had a lot of work to do.  They've redone almost everything in the kitchen, and are working on bathroom redos. Their decor is darling too.  It's a casual elegance with a lot of BSU accents.  It has to be so fun for these young couples to fix up their first homes.   

 I didn't get a pic of the dessert, but it was the best - mud pie, with an Oreo cookie crust, vanilla ice cream, and fudge topping.  Kierra had also dipped Oreos and Nutter Butter cookies in chocolate.  In my book you can't go wrong with any kind of Oreo.


     
 
Ava was our only little kid for the day, but at every house there were four-legged friends.  These two black ones are best buddies, Harry and Cain.  We saw Hank at Cole's house.  I can't remember any of the cat's names.

     It was a fabulous day.  Somehow I think it was calmer and more relaxing than Terry's celebration.

Summer Plans - Part 3

My Weight Watchers meeting today was about setting summer goals.  Here are some thoughts from the first page of our weekly pamphlet:

 Scott said that it was years before he realized that his goals weren't realistic, so he couldn't stick with them.  He recommended breaking down a goal until it's small and something he'll actually do.  He also said to incorporate one new thing at a time.  Once that's secure (or at least not "wobbly"), add another.  Finally, he said to get through today.  It's easy to feel overwhelmed if you think about the future too much.  Today is what you have to work with.  When you get enough "todays" in place, you'll have changed your life.

It all makes sense.  It makes me think of all my summer plans, and I think I'm doing everything wrong.  I guess I'll just work with each day this summer.  I should easily meet small parts of several of my goals, but then again, it might be a wobbly summer.

Summer Plans - Part 2

At church yesterday I was thinking about my post on summer plans.  I definitely have too many, but still, I neglected to list any spiritual goals or church plans.  I do have some.  Part of me doesn't want to list things because it's too personal.  I also think it will be pretty lame to list just 10 things I want to do this summer that are "good".  In truth I want to do something to grow spiritually and serve everyday, but mostly I think I'm just doing the normal things that everyone else is doing, and any effort or growth seems so miniscule.  It's pretty humbling to look at a short list for the summer and think how ridiculous it is that it's all I can fit into a summer.  It's sad that it's a stretch.  That being said, here's some of the things (not the real personal ones)  I'm thinking about : 

1. Catch-up (get ahead) on the Sunday School reading assignments.
2. Read the Daughters of My Kingdom book for Relief Society.
3. Renew my temple recommend and go. (Spend a day in Twin Falls.)
4. Go to Education Days at BYU Idaho.
5. Feed the missionaries.
6. Feed others that are in need.
7. Index.
8. Print my fan chart, check names in New Family Search, and maybe learn how to start researching.
9.  In person visits for to everyone I visit teach all three months.
10. Sew Conker pillowcases for the humanitarian center.

Family Home Evening Extended Style

Now that 3 out 4 of the kids live in town (Well, some are in Meridian), and now that we have 5 grandkids (How did that happen so fast?), we've been having extended family home evenings.  Tonight was only our second one, but so far they're a big success.

We met at Stacey and Mike's.  They have a big new sectional, and the whole family fits on it.  We have a potluck dinner first, a lesson, then dessert.  It usually takes us 4 hours, because we  have a lot of family talk time.  Terry has done the lesson both times, but we're now rotating that.  Brent has brought dessert both times.  That's not going to change.  He's the dessert man.

Terry's lesson was a Slide Rocket presentation on their TV, about what we need to do to return to our heavenly Father.

A lot of kids.  A lot of action.  A lot of energy.

Maycee shows off her crawling skills.  She only crawls if there is a cell phone for her to get.  Only nine months old and she want a cell phone.  What's to become of this generation?

Isaac's first FHE.  He's not quite 3 weeks.

We all love him to pieces.

Lakewood Garage Sale

I've been looking forward to the second big garage sale of the season.  I planned an early start, but woke up to pouring rain.  We ventured across the street at 9:00.  It was cold and raining all morning.  It was still fun, but we didn't want to buy any lemonade.  Terry bought a laser printer with a new ink cartridge included for 10 dollars.  It's better than the one we're using, and half the size.  It will work better in my new loft/office plans.  My best deal was a hanging plate shelf unit.  They wanted $10, but took $5.  I'm going to paint it and hang it on the patio with plants, and pictures, and stuff.

Impromptu Get-together

Nan and Andrea were stopping by at Mom and Dad's, so I dropped in too for a visit.  Tess also dropped in.  She was golfing with her mom, but gave out after 9 holes.  Before long Dad was taking all of us to lunch at the Green Chile.  Andrea stayed until her kids were getting home from school.  Nan and I kept visiting and laughing until about 6:30.  I have the best family!  Only Millie the cat was inhospitable.  I love her too though. 

Grandkid Adventures

Pastry Perfection Cookies

New old toys

    

   We needed to borrow an edger from Stacey and Mike, so we decided to borrow a couple grandkids for the day too.  We picked up the Huds and Hads, along with the edger at about 10:00.  We had errands to run and they came along.  First stop was Pastry Perfection.  Terry wanted a pie from there for our extended FHE on Sunday.  I said they didn't make pie, and he thought they were closed on Saturday.  We had to check it out.  We were both wrong.  The kids scored orange frosted sugar cookie.  Second stop, The Assistance League Thrift Store.  This wasn't on our list, but it next door and we all wanted to check it out.  Huds came out of "the old toy store" with a view master that he recognized from Toy Story, and Hadley found a motorized ball with a furry weasel looking thing attached that will chase her around.  Our third stop was at the Natural Grocery.  I needed corn thins, but we came out with a box of healthy stuff.  Fourth stop was Lowes.  We got bags of rocks and stepping stones.  The kids got to ride all over on the big cart.  Finally we made it back to our house.

A load of rocks and two kids along for the ride

Chores

     We were all hungry.  Huds had pickles,

Play

tator tots, and sunflower seeds for lunch.  A lot of them.  Hads liked my corn thins.  She had those for lunch, along with sunflower seeds, cheese, and apples.  After lunch we got busy on yard work.  Terry had to edge.  Huds and Hads did a lot of digging and sweeping.  After our chores were done, we carried on with our adventures with a bike ride.  This was the first of the season and we went too far.  The kids had a great time at the playground and throwing rocks in the river at Barber Park.  When we got back, everyone was ready for a Blue Cow yogurt with candy on top, so even though it was just before dinner, we went for it!  We returned the edger and kids at about six.  We went to bed early that night.

Appetizer before dinner

       

Naked Yard

Our neighbor's houses with big trees

Our naked yard

We had to take our great big tree out of the front yard.  Then we had to take a lot of grass out of our front yard so that we could grind up all the roots.  Now we have people stopping in the street to ask us what we're doing.  I have a vision for our naked yard, but I need Terry to get on board.  He keeps saying he needs a picture or a plan.  I just have to jump in.  So I started, and dragged Terry, his muscle, and his wallet into this project with me.

So far I've cleared a LOT of weeds from the sides of the house.  I made a path that leads to a back window box of herbs.  I tried a couple things from Pinterest - vinegar to kill weeds, and wet newspapers instead of black lining buried under the path.  It's covered with mulch from our tree that's now gone, and lined with rocks that I dug up.  We've made a couple trips to Lowes for rock and stepping stones.  I've planted as much as I can in phase one.  Terry's now taken measurements and is ready to get lumber for the fence and garden box.  I'm hoping we can accomplish phase two next week.  When the weather warms up, I want to be out on the patio with Nedee.  I'll read and crochet.  Nedee will watch from the shed roof.

Side yard path with new hosta plant

First Relaxing Lunch of Summer

Today I met friends at 36th Street Bistro for lunch.  I want to buy everything in the little nursery at the front.  I want to eat everything on the menu.  We caught up on all our news, summer plans, and reality TV during a long and relaxing lunch.  Afterwards, a couple of us wandered through Edwards Nursery, down the road.  I found about $25 worth of perennials and a lot of garden ideas.  We were talking about what a great place that would be to work at, part-time, after retirement, and when we were paying, the two women helping us were retired Boise school teachers.  It could happen!

Big Plans, Maybe Too Big

I have so many things that I want to do this summer, but the biggest thing is to relax and enjoy.  If I'm relaxing too much, I won't be able to accomplish too many big plans.  We'll just have to see how this goes.  I'm going to make the most of each day... or at least half the day.  There are so many things scrambling around in my head, I've decided to jot a list down here, then check back at the end of summer vacation.  I don't think I can accomplish too many top 10 lists, but it sounds so much better than top 5, so here they are:

• Loose 10 pounds (twice would be nice).

• Sew 10 items, mostly clothes for me, but this is problematic because I want the clothes to fit me when I've lost the weight.

• Complete 10 home projects, including:

1. Make a bed skirt
2. Tie a quilt.
3.  Enlarge photos and frame for the bedroom.
4. Get new bedspread
5. Touch-up the paint in Ty's room
6. Shampoo carpets
7. Get containers and organize the pantry
8. Clear out the loft and redesign it

• Complete 10 yard projects, including:

1. Pathways on each side of the house
2. Little fence in front (help Terry and paint)
3. Little rock wall and plantings in front
4. Paint furniture on porch and get a rug
5. Add rocks and stepping stones in back
6. Garden box (help Terry, maybe paint, plant)
7. Add wall and yard art
8. Paint furniture and fence in back 

• Complete 10 projects for school, including:

1. Renew my teaching certificate!
2. Go through and organize files
3. Go through and purge cupboards
4. Go through and organize student library
5. Figure out a Canada unit (that's interesting)
6. Meet with the teachers on my team
7. Figure out the grammar component I'll be teaching

• Read 10 books (might be finishing books and/or audio books) including:

1. The Well and the Mine (Book Club)
2. The Princess Academy (Book Club)
3. The Thirteenth Tale (Book Club, *most excited!)
4. The Importance of Being Earnest (Book Club, May's selection that I missed)
5. Girls Like Us (Carly Simon, Carol King, Joni Mitchell, *excited!)
6. The River Between Us
7. Rhett Butler's People   (finish)
8. The Invention of Hugo Cabret

• How much can one person do?  10 more miscellaneous projects, including:

1. Start blogging again! (They can't be long like this or I'll never be able to keep it up.)
2. Learn the 1940 census and start indexing again.  (I should do at least 10 batches.)
3. Figure out some family history stuff so I can help my friend with her Irish ancestors.
4. Figure out my i-pod again, especially how to get audio books on from the library.  (I haven't used it for 3 years.)
5. Figure out how to borrow Kindle books from the library.
6. Figure out how my students can access research materials from the library online.
7. Crochet Isaac's baby blanket
8. Crochet a throw for Tanner
9. Crochet baby booties (3 pairs)
10. 
    

• Complete 10 Pinterest projects (This could overlap with the above projects!)

• Try 10 Pinterest  recipes (problematic again with the weight loss)

I also have to fit in 5 days with Ty, a week in Big Sky and Education Week in Rexburg, a few days in Ketchum, a trip to the Twin Falls temple, a trip to the Family History Library in Salt Lake, time with grandkids, First Thursday events, farmers markets, yard sales, a few movies, and relaxing lunches with friends and family.  Wow!  This will be interesting.

Best Start to Summer

Yesterday was the last day of school and instead of ending with a celebration, or even a quiet dinner with Terry, I ended with a headache.  I went to bed with 3 Advil and a cool washcloth over my eyes.  But today...is the first day of summer and everything is great.  We were up early for the yard sales in Harris Ranch, Surprise Valley, and East Meadow Park.  I love garage/yard sales!  What a great way to start the summer.  We found a bike for Brent, a crib for Isaac, and I got a belt, a new little fry pan, and two sweaters that I'm going to make into hats.  (It's a Pinterest project.)

In the afternoon I went to Ava's baptism where she wore a beautiful white dress.  ( I need to get back in the habit of taking my camera with me.)  We went to a barbecue after, and I got to visit momentarily with Fredee, Phil, Barb, Marisa, Sean, Carolyn and Ashley.  The Adams family arrives in town 30 minutes before the baptism, and they all left right after dessert - except Ashley who had a flight out the next day.  Maybe we'll get in more talk time this summer.  It did make for a great start to summer - yard sales, family, and good food.