Forgotten Projects

I am the queen of undone things! I have great intentions, but you know where that gets me... sitting in the middle of all sorts of unfinished projects. :o)

This is a blanket I started back in 1996 (not 2006, but 1996!). A friend and I both decided to make the same blanket and make them together. Well, she moved and got married and my blanket ended up in bags in the garage. I think I got too busy or something. Ha ha.

Anyway, I got the sewing bug again a couple of weeks ago when I sewed something for the ward and decided to go out to the garage and pull out the bags filled with this blanket stuff. There were only 3 rows sewn together and 6 rows made, but not sewn on yet. And then I have two rows worth of squares that still need to be stuffed and sewn into rows and then added to the blanket. It has been so fun to get this out and start seeing it come together again. I can't wait to have it finally finished!

I feel all domestic. Ha ha!

Clarity Just Feels Good!!!

I love a clean kitchen, and a dusted, picked up, vacuumed living room. I love freshly cleaned mirrors, toilets and sinks in the bathroom. I love a made bed and cleared floors. I love a clean car, inside and out. I love freshly cut lawns. Aaaahhh.

I drive A LOT for my job. One of the consequences of this is that I get rock chips in my windshield galore. I get teeny tiny ones you can hardly see as well as the ones that are obviously there. My windshield was so bad that when I turned the car to face the sun, it looked like my window had glitter glued to every inch. It sure sparkled, but boy was it hard to see out of. Eventually, I got a crack that went all along the bottom of the windshield and it was time to replace it (thanks to Utah's safety rules). It was amazing the difference from the old one to the new one! I could see! I had no idea the last one was so bad. The whole world became clear. :o) I think I audibly sighed when I got in my car for the first time and saw how beautiful it was. He he.

Over time, with heavy winds blowing to kick up the dirt, and our sprinklers turning the dirt to mud, my car became pretty dirty. I've used the wipers to clean the windows, but they didn't do much good, nor did they get the filth around the edges. Yuck.

The other day, we got a good rain storm while I was out running around to my different clients' offices. By the time I got back to my office, my windows were clean again and I remembered how wonderful it was to have clear, clean windows. It just felt good all over again!

Here's my attempt at likening this to our lives... We all have our ups and downs. Whether it be from trials we're going through, or making wrong choices that bring on consequences, or even forgetting to do things like pray and read our scriptures daily. While we're going through our "downs", we can easily forget how good it feels to have that clarity.

When we are going through trials, sometimes it's hard to remember that we have a Heavenly Father who loves us so much. That we have a Savior who knows our pains and is there for us at any moment of the day or night willing to pour out to us the comfort, love and peace He has to offer us.

When we make wrong choices, we may find ourselves in the bondage of consequences and lose sight of the freedom we absolutely can have when good choices are made.

Even when we aren't reading our scriptures and praying daily, we can find ourselves in a slump, or feel like life is chaotic and we just need help. We may even think all is fine until we make a turn and the sun shines on our spotted window, making it so we can clearly see every blemish.

Obviously we have to go through trials and we have to face consequences of mistakes we make. But hopefully, what we get out of these things in the end is clarity. There may be times when a windshield wiper comes along with a little bit of water to help us see for a moment. But if we don't act on that glimpse of clarity, our window can become dirty again and quickly. But when that flood of sprituality finally comes and all of the gunk is washed away, the clarity that follows will bring us pure joy, true happiness, and the knowledge that all is well.

I am so grateful for the moments of clarity in my life.

More Great In-Laws!

This is my family... Joe's in-laws. Thought I'd show a most recent picture of us all together. It seems Christmas is the only time we get to have us all in one place at the same time anymore.

Travis is on the left with his wife, Brandy, in front of him (baby Maryn is not quite born yet), and their girls, Kalysta and Graysen. They are such a cute family! Then my brother, Todd, is next to Travis. He's such a cutie! I do love his smile! Then comes Ralph with my mom, Karen, sitting in front of him (they are so totally awesome). Yep, there's Joe and me next (I think we're pretty cool if I do say so myself). And on the right is my dang cute, smart brother, Ryan, and my totally sweet, thoughtful sister, Sheriane. I LOVE MY FAMILY! We have so much fun together!

This is baby Maryn. She was born January 3rd, 2008. She is so cute! I wish I wasn't so far away from my family. I miss watching these girls grow up. It happens so fast! Ugh! Kalysta just turned 8 and Graysen just turned 2! Crazy.

This is Joe and me with my dad, Jack, and his wife, Jerrilyn. They were just here to visit my Grandma Evans for a couple of weeks. It was great being able to spend some time with them. They are currently living in Wisconsin. (Next time, we'll go to Tres Hombres, eh?)

This is my sweet Grandma Evans (Dad's Mom)! She is always the most accepting, caring person. I enjoy living so close to her and seeing her when I can. She recently was in a car accident and had 8 broken ribs and actually broke her neck! Ack! She had to wear one of those halo things screwed into her head for about 6 weeks, but is out of that now and in a neck brace. She's doing pretty well and has kept her cute humor throughout it all. We are so grateful she is fine and recovering quickly.

How lucky both Joe and I are to have such wonderful families!

A Shout-Out to My Favorite In-Laws

I have the greatest in-laws in the world, so I thought I'd share them with you.

This picture is of Joe's parents (Dave & Paula) and his great-grandma Lloyd (Dave's Grandma). They are some pretty dang cool people. The minute Joe "brought me home for dinner", they accepted me and made me feel like family. No matter what anyone says, you do marry the family. And I'm grateful for the family I married into.

This is Grandma Bolander (Paula's Mom). She is such a sweet, kind, and loving person. I'm so glad I've had the opportunity to get to know her!



This is a portion of the Green Clan. Grandpa & Grandma Green (on the left) had us over for Father's Day last month. Joe's awesome sister, Jenna, is in front on the left with her boyfriend Chris. This family does love to party. It's way fun. Dave & Paula are in the back on the left, and then me and Joe. Then there's Aunt Annette & Uncle Jeff and their kids (Cherie w/boyfriend, Ryan w/wife Julie and baby Jaxson, and Brandi w/hubby Zach). They are all so fun to get together with.

I found this rock amongst Grandma & Grandpa Green's rocks around their well. I thought it was perfect to discover such a symbol. I'm grateful for all of our family members ('cuz Joe has awesome in-laws too!) and the love that is felt from them all.

First Pickin's

We have a garden! It is a lovely one too. We didn't get everything planted that we wanted to, but I think we have plenty for now.



This picture is the north-east corner of our back yard. We are just starting to tear out the grass to put in the garden.

We first started tearing up the grass by digging with a shovel and then shaking the dirt off the roots. Then we tried using a rototiller to dig up the grass. It tore up the grass pretty well, but didn't get the roots out at all. It was interesting to see the difference in weed growth between the shovel dug spots and the tilled spots. We ended up digging the rest of the garden with a shovel. Ugh!

This is me picking up the grass dug up with the tiller. It was easier to get the grass, but the roots weren't attached. Hmm.

This dog belongs to our neighbors behind us. Quite often while I'm out working in the garden, this old guy will come over and bark away at me. After I tell him nicely that I'm in my own back yard, not his, he stops barking and just sits at the fence and keeps me company. This was Memorial Day when I took this pic. He was actually asleep like this! I thought, "What a perfect way to spend a holiday."

This is our lovely garden today. We have regular peas on the left, then carrots, then green beans, then sugar snap peas. In the back on the right we have corn, then tomatoes, and then strawberries in front. We planted a watermelon plant, but it didn't like where we put it. We didn't get our squashes planted. I might still attempt some zucchini to see if I can get some to grow quickly. We'll see. Anyway, we picked our first peas last night!!! They were soooooo yummy!!! Yay!

Aren't these the most gorgeous, yummy looking peas ever?! Oh yeah!

Ralph (Mom's hubby) planted a whole bunch of rose bushes at our house when they were here in April. We didn't think we'd get anything from them until next year though. But alas, a bud is forming! Yay! I'm so excited for our wall of roses.

This furry creature leaning against the fence is Sarah. She's the dog that lives south of us. Every time I go outside, she goes to our special spot in the fence where I can poke my fingers through and barely "pet" her with one finger. She's hillarious! If I walk anywhere in the yard that's somewhat even near the fence, she'll go to that part and lean against it too. It cracks me up!

It's been so fun to have a house and a yard! A lot of work too, but a lot of fun mostly.

Have a great day!