All Kinds of Good

I am finding that my daily wish-lists are becoming weekly wish-lists and I'm okay with that. Some things need to be done sooner than others, but other things end up getting done days later. It's still super satisfying to check them off, plus I'm getting all kinds of stuff done.


I need to catch-up on the recent bounty of good mail that has come my way. As always, I didn't realize how much I'd received until I sat down to document it. I post my good mail so that I have a permanent record of it, and so that I can remind myself how kind people can be and how much goodness I have in my life...not to show off.

Esther (she doesn't have a blog, but has recently started commenting) sent me this thank you card to thank me for making her this thank you card, ha. She had placed a big Etsy order recently so I threw in a set of cards for her too. Thanks Esther.

Amy W. sent me this cool card to thank me for the Christmas cd and copy of The Christmas Carol that I sent her for being one of the first 3 to comment on one of my posts in December.

Laurie M. sent me this ridiculously cute card printed on an actual lunch sack inviting me to lunch in the near future. How cool is that? She also sent me this cool fortune from a fortune cookie she had. Thanks Laurie.

Amie sent me this thank you note to thank me for the Christmas gift and some recent good mail I'd given her. Thanks Amie.


Bridget sent me this thank you note for making her this birthday stationery. Thanks Bridget.


Amy W. sent Michelle and I (which I didn't realize until after I'd opened both boxes) these boxes of chipboard shapes because she saw them and thought of us. How nice is that? Thanks Amy.


Patsy sent me this fun Valentine-themed good mail the other day, complete with my favorite Dove Milk Chocolate candies. Thanks Patsy.


Jen M. sent me this package with some locally made chocolates and a really nice note. Thanks Jen.

I got this Valentine-themed package from Natasha yesterday. Thanks Natasha.


I got this Royal Mail from Amanda in the UK yesterday. The envelope was covered with cool stamps, her good mail label and a British flag sticker so that alone was a delight. Plus she had a nice, beautifully handwritten note inside, along with these cool book plates. Thanks Amanda.


This is the back of the envelope from Amanda, I thought this was pleasing too.

Contest: Tell me about the best
good mail you've ever received.
I'll pick a winner at random
and send you a package.

**Do the things on your lists
eventually get done?
Do you document your good mail?**

Bunnies?

After writing my SPT post yesterday about needing more productive hours in my day it became obvious to me that I need to take care of the bigger projects earlier in the day while I'm at my best. This isn't what I usually want to do because when Randy and the kids leave I like to come into my scrap room to blog, make good mail labels and cards, and take care of any other creative projects I have going on. I also feel pressed to do these things during the day because Randy has to work on the computer in here in the evenings.


But I psyched myself up and decided to tackle the closet. I moved my iHome into the bedroom so I could listen to my book (A Thousand Splendid Suns) while I fought my side of the closet. It was grim. I couldn't believe how much I had stuffed in there.


I took it all out and piled it on the bed, then went through it item by item to decide whether to keep it, trash it or donate it to DI. It's really not a very big closet, so how did I have so much in there? I worked on the closet for an hour, then got a last-minute invitation for lunch from my dad (very rare). I dropped everything and met him at The Pizza Factory (blast, I forgot to take a self-portrait, probably because he wouldn't have been cooperative.) Then I went to the school for an hour to help in Landon's class room, fortunately Whitney's class was at an assembly so I didn't have to stay to help in there...woohoo (not that I don't like to, just that it was a time bonus for me).


I hate the tangle of hangers everywhere, whether they are in the closet or on the bed. Hangers make me crazy! I returned home and had another hour to work on the closet before picking the kids up from school. I worked like a machine and made a serious dent before I picked them up.


I ended up with 2 bags of clothes and shoes to donate to DI, one whole bag to trash (bleach stained clothes, holey t-shirts, etc.) and a bag of maternity clothes (hello!) to return to Michelle. It felt great to lighten the load in there. Now I have a surplus of hangers, know where everything is, have room to move, and know that the things I have in there actually fit (for the most part).


I was still working on the room when Randy got home from work and ended up being in there until 7:30pm! I cleaned off my desk (I should have taken a before photo, it was horrific) which meant taking everything off of it, dusting it (hence the title of this post), and sorting through everything on there. It was a big job. I don't know why I let so much accumulate on there. I ended up recycling a ton of papers, trashing a bunch of stuff and then putting other things where they actually go. Now I can actually see my desk! I even took all the cards out of my ribbon board, dusted it and then put more recent cards up there. Nice.

Edited to add: Michelle made the awesome ribbon board for my birthday several years ago. She made it following directions from Martha Stewart Living (but I can't find them online, I'll keep trying).

**Do you need to clean your closet?
Do tangled hangers make you crazy too?
Do dust bunnies gross you out?
Where do you put the cards you receive?**

SPT-- 25th Hour

Most of the time I don't feel like I need another hour in the day, it's more a matter of needing another productive hour of the day. I start every day with big plans of the things I want to do and I foolishly include the evening hours in that plan. I have no idea why I keep doing this though because I'm NEVER productive in the evening. Seriously. By the time Randy gets home from work and we all get fed (not necessarily a real dinner) I am DONE for the day. I often feel irritable, tired and not at all like doing anything other than vegging out with a book or the tv.


It's a shame really because in those dreamy hours of productivity I would love to continue with my big projects like cleaning out closets, organizing our stuff, working on good mail, playing games with the kids, and reading alertly for another hour a day. How would that be? A girl can dream can't she?

I suppose I just have to accept the fact that the morning and early afternoon hours are the best for me, so I should make better use of them. In general I'm pretty productive and happy with my days, but it would be really nice to feel like I had a say over what I do in the evenings.

**Can you still be productive at night?
Do you need more hours or just better hours?
How can I have a full closet and nothing to wear?**

Ice, Ice Baby

{The beach towel is serving as a shoe dryer these days.}

I bought some very cute boots last week at Target after our last big snow storm. I have been wearing regular shoes in the snow for years and decided it was time to have some sort of sensible footwear for the winter, plus these were just so cute.


Here's my trouble. They're not warm at all, they basically keep my feet dry and chilled. I wore them to pick the kids up from school today and then almost broke my ankle trying to take them off. Is there a secret to this? Perhaps I should have sat down, instead I hopped around getting snow everywhere and managed to soak my socks in the process. Hmm, is it me or is that the opposite of their intended purpose? (I never knew I was lacking boot-removal skills.)


I had another weather-related issue this morning as I was stepping out of my car to go into our primary presidency meeting. I had to park at the end of the driveway behind the 2 other cars (I was last to arrive, tsk, tsk) so as I set my left foot down on the ground out of the car my foot slid (I wasn't wearing my boots at the time) on the ice. Fortunately it wasn't a full-on wipe out, it was more of a very ungraceful slide causing ankle pain, a shin-splint type feeling and some embarrassment and irritation (all in about 3 seconds time). What is up with the universe?


Four years ago I took a nasty fall coming out of Amy H.'s house one night after bookclub. I went to turn my car on and totally biffed it on a sheet of ice (which I didn't see in the dark). I landed in a hurdlers position with my right leg bent and tucked under me. It hurt so badly I thought for sure I'd broken my leg. I only ended up spraining my ankle and was in great pain for several weeks. Ever since then I walk like an old lady when it comes to ice. You'd think I feared breaking a hip, and maybe I do because ever since that fall at I'm always expecting my feet to fly out from under me (it's awful). I'm only 36, isn't that too young to be walking gingerly?

{This is the view through our storm door today}

The snow has been blowing like crazy so it covered the front of the house, weird. I felt sort of snowed in except for having to run out three times today.

Happy Birthday to Jen!!

**Are you freezing your nards off too?
Do you have boots?
Do you have boot-removal skills?
Do you walk like an old woman in the winter?**

Shocked

We were at our Ward's Cultural Night last night and had just finished listening to an hour of great piano and singing performances and had moved into the gym to see table displays of people's talents (I had a photography display). Our Bishop got everyone's attention and then announced that President Hinckley had died. There was an audible gasp in the room. It was such a shock (which seems a little silly because he was 97 years old) but it was such unexpected news that it shook us all. My eyes filled with tears along with those of the group of women I had been talking with, it was kind of special to be in a room filled with a 100 other people who loved him.


“This church does not belong to its President. Its head is the Lord Jesus Christ, whose name each of us has taken upon ourselves. We are all in this great endeavor together. We are here to assist our Father in His work and His glory. . . . Your obligation is as serious in your sphere of responsibility as is my obligation in my sphere. No calling in this church is small or of little consequence.” --Gordon B. Hinckley

Happy Birthday to Jen!!

**Were you shocked too?**

Sunday Thoughts

FYI--Randy finally rescanned the reverence pictures and converted them to pdf files so I can email them to you if you want them, but they are now available for download on Sugardoodle.net.


Here are some more of my notes (from a different talk) from last week's RS Women's Conference, these are from our Stake President's talk--my thoughts are in parenthesis.

• We just need to give our best to the Lord, whatever that may be. (Do you think that as women we have a tendency to think our best is never enough?)
• "Lord take my heart." It is the most precious thing we can give our Savior. (Why is this so hard to do?)
  
• 1 Samuel 16:7 "But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart." (I want to have this trait so badly.)
  
• Seal your heart to the Lord.
• Be unified as a family, a ward, a stake, a community so that Christ may dwell in your hearts. (Stop finding fault with others, recognize the struggles of others and cut them slack.)
  
• Do we feel the Spirit daily? (I need to make a conscious effort to do this.)
  
• Love one another with a pure heart. (Much easier said than done, but I have moments.)
  
• Do you rejoice in your heart? (Sometimes, but I would definitely like to do this more often.)
  
• Are you happy? Do you smile often? (This shouldn't be a profound question, but it very well could be.)
• Do we pour out our hearts in prayer? (Usually when things are really bad or really good, there's not as much pouring when things are normal.)
  
• Do we take time to ponder? (I think this is a form of having a meeting with yourself, so I think I'm making this a habit.)
• Moses 7:18 "And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them." (This means spiritually poor too, that changes everything doesn't it?)
• Help others win the battle. How great will it be to see them on the right hand of God? (So many people are struggling, and if they confided in us we'd be more than happy to help, so why are we so quick to judge each other and find fault?)

**Are your answers to these questions
very different from mine?
What sorts of things do you struggle with?
Spiritually poor is worse than financially poor, don't you think?**

360 Degree View

Crystal requested a 360 degree view of my scrap room earlier this week so here it is. I love this room. When we first looked at this house as possibility we walked in through the garage and I saw this room first. It was an empty, windowless storage room across from the laundry room and I immediately thought "My Room!!!" (My euphoria was great.)


This is the view with the door closed. I have most of my ribbon separated by color in a clear shoe organizer that hangs on the back of the door. This makes it really easy to find what I'm looking for and is aesthetically pleasing.


To the left of the door is this book shelf which used to house all of Landon's home school supplies, but as of this week is being put to better use with more of my stuff. The top shelf has boxes of envelopes, white card stock, and the shows I often watch/listen to while I'm in here working on things.


Moving to the left from the shelf you can see my updated wall of happiness (I added a few things to this side of the wall this week). This is the wall I face as I sit at the computer all the time. I don't care if it appears to be a cluttery mess, I love it. I put every single up there and it all has a purpose, so it's good to me.


Here is my very clean desk area (as of Monday). We keep our keyboard on a towel so that it doesn't slide around the desk, plus it dulls the noise.


I have the awesome mouse pad Amy M. sent me, the mail truck from Kristi, darling post-it notes from Kelly, my funny eraser from Heather, lip gloss from Melinda, my cute felt flower pot from Mandy, plus some tissues and camera equipment.


Moving on to the left is the other side of the wall of happiness, my computer monitor and well-loved printer. I have colored cardstock on the top shelf of the little bookshelf and a container of do-dads on top of that.


Randy hung the shelves across the back wall, and this room as changed a lot during the 4 years we have lived here. There is a ton of stuff in here and it often looks pretty messy, but since it's my mess and consists of gifts, projects and paper goods it doesn't weigh on me the way a mess in any other room would. This is a happy place for me and where I spend the majority of my time.


This is the floor area directly under the shelves on the back wall. It has plastic containers full of pictures, ongoing projects, gifts to be given, and miscellaneous supplies. I use every inch of floor space in here.


Continuing around from the back wall are my two big stamp shelves. Randy built these for me a couple years ago and I love them. I got the dresser last July for my birthday and it has helped a ton with storage and also with having a surface to work on. I keep my paper cutter on there and often wrap gifts there and prep good mail as well.


This is a close-up of the left side of the dresser. There is so much happiness here. I see white ribbon from Kristi, the book I bound myself at Amy H.'s class last November, a darling polka-dotted box which had homemade caramels from Jenn, the awesome book Michelle made for me 5 years ago, the great book the book club girls gave me for my birthday in 2006 and the awesome Paris book Anna made for my birthday last year. I also have the little plastic bags I put good mail labels in and the "Do Something Creative Everyday" mug that I bought on my last visit to Paper Source.


On the right side of the dress is a new jar of Mod Podge, a jar full of toffee Kisses from Jenn, my handy postal scale, the jar Collette gave me a few years ago (originally filled with green m&ms) now filled with vanilla Tootsie Rolls, baby wipes (for mod podge clean up), the little box of Dream quotes Liz gave me for my birthday last year, and a collage frame Adam gave me that I filled with family photos.


Continuing around to the left from the dresser is the file cabinet full of mailing supplies, tissue paper, photo albums and one draw that won't open (I don't remember what's in there).


The other side of the filing cabinet has many rolls of wrapping paper, hundreds of cds (which I don't have to access often because they're all in my itunes on the computer), ribbon bolts and boxes.

I love looking around and seeing so many things I've received as gifts on birthdays and as good mail. It's humbling every time I really stop to think about it, and I love having a room to put it in so that I can be reminded regularly.

**Was this understandable?
Can you believe how much stuff is in here?
Any organizing suggestions?**

Jenn's Book Club Birthday Dinner

Last night our book club got together at Michelle's house (sadly minus Collette who was sick) to officially celebrate Jenn's birthday (which was December 31st). These dinner are always such a treat because we all contribute something but end up with a great meal.


Last night's dinner was Cafe Rio style burritos with shredded pork. They were so good.


We got Jenn her favorite birthday cake--Albertson's white cake with raspberry filling and buttercream frosting.


Michelle was in charge of Jenn's book and did a fabulous job. We all contributed a couple pages of it, but Michelle picked the papers and embellishments and did both covers (a lot of work). This was officially our last birthday book, but Jenn had a great idea to do Circle Journals this year so we're going to do that.

This is our late-night self-portrait.

I got home after midnight and was feeling surprisingly chipper so I commented on blogs for awhile, then took a hot shower and went to bed. I only slept for about an hour before I woke up feeling all antsy (aka Jimmified) and had to move out to the couch. I read for awhile longer and then had very fitful sleep until I had to wake up to get the kids ready for school. That means I was NOT gymalicious, nor was I even awake-alicious. My body felt so heavy and my mind so foggy. I hate that.


I ended up emailing Michelle about Creative Friday and opted to stay home instead. I thought I'd putter around here and just be tired and a bit grumpy by myself, but I ended up feeling too crappy to even do that. So I sent myself to bed for an authorized nap. I slept for 2.5 hours and woke up feeling much better. I went to the Post Office to mail some Etsy orders and a couple birthday gifts and then picked up the kids from school. How's that for a lame day?

** Do you recover from fitful sleep very well?
What's your favorite kind of cake?
Have you ever participated in a Circle Journal?**

Huge Hot Chocolate

Rewinding to Monday's snowy day at home, Collette came over to borrow a book and ended up staying to visit for awhile. She then mentioned that she had a gift card for Beans & Brews and that we should probably head over there for some hot chocolatey goodness. Who was I to refuse?


I had never been there before, but thoroughly enjoyed the experience (it smelled so good in there). Apparently Mondays are "Mocha Mondays" which means that the 24oz hot chocolate is the same price as the 12oz (hence our huge cups of hot chocolate).

My shortbread cookie didn't last very long.

This is our rather frightening self-portrait. Neither of us got ready that day so we were make-up free, Collette looks better than I do, but I'm all about documenting life and won't let a little pastiness stop me from posting a photo.

There was no mail delivery on Monday (so sad) but here's a little catch-up from Saturday and Tuesday.


Mandy sent me this wickedly cute thank you note for the birthday gift I sent her.


Tasha sent me this book exchange chain letter type thing and totally cracked me up by apologizing for sending it to me. I'm okay with it and will do it and now I need 6 people to send it to myself (any volunteers?).


Wendee sent me this cool photo card to thank me for the good mail labels I sent her. She was one of the winners from Kristi's blog giveaway awhile ago.


Carlo sent me this darling card (drawn by her daughter) to thank me for the birthday stationery I sent her. Thanks!


I've been working on my scrap room this week, cleaning the desk especially. I've been watching Season 2 of Friends and have been loving it. I'm disturbed by how much stuff was packed onto the desk, but I've made serious progress. Woohoo.

**Have you ever had a 24oz hot chocolate?
Do you like shortbread cookies?
Do you want to be in the kid's book exchange?
Does your desk continually get piled high?**