12 on the 12th--August Edition

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1. Beautiful Sunday morning.
2. Four of our six primary class members were there, I love them.
3. Golden brought his Kindness challenge paper back for a treat.
4. Landon taking a power nap.
5. The romantic comedy book I'm reading. It's enjoyable, but not my normal style.
6. Ferris likes to join me for my Sunday naps.
7. Whitney painted some shoes to make them look like Gucci shoes, she's amazing.
8. Randy prepping salad stuff for dinner.
9. Notes on my dresser about Whitney's upcoming doctor's appointment, yikes.
10. Corn on the cob for dinner.
11. Current letterboard quote.
12. I love The Great British Baking Show.

12 on the 12th--July 2018 Edition

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1. Ferris drinks the water from the fish bowl Whitney is giving to a co-worker, ew! I can't imagine what the fish was thinking when he saw Ferris' face in his bowl!
2. I've been re-listening to Angle of Repose and loving it. It's just as heartbreaking the 4-5th time reading it. 
3. The one flower growing in our yard and we didn't even plant it!
4. I went on a 9000+ step walk with my friend Hayley.
5. We dropped Randy's car at Greenwoods to get his brakes fixed.
6. The beautiful birthday bouquet Randy gave me.
7. I worked on my primary lesson and printed some activities for the class.
8. The book I'm reading which was a going away gift from a co-worker at school.
9. Landon just getting home from work (power washing windows), he's woolly these days.
10. We had our July book club gathering and birthday celebration for me and Amy.
11. We discussed these two books (both were good).
12. Whitney and Dallin were in the driveway when I got home, it was tough getting a good photo of them in the dark.

12 on the 12th--May 2018 Edition

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1. Randy slept in his clothes on the couch all night after falling asleep there, weird.
2. I worked on my primary lesson while watching The Durrells in Corfu (delightful).
3. I spent a long time cutting things out, but I was happy with the results.
4. A pleasing pile of cancelled posted I recently purchased on Etsy.
5. Mother's Day tulips for my mom and cute jars of flowers for Robyn and Amy.
6. I changed the pictures in the frames over our bed after having the previous pictures there for 11 years.
7. Landon did a marvelous job mowing the lawn, it's so nice having him home from Utah State.
8. What I'm currently reading. It's so charming and makes me want to move to Cornwall, England to live in a cozy cottage.
9. The current message on our letterboard.
10. Randy doing some work on his laptop.
11. Our Allium are in bloom.
12. Reading in the cozy with Ferris purr/snoring on my chest.

Miscellany--Phone Style

Landon got home 36 hours earlier than expected from his High Adventure canoe trip in Oregon which meant he got to go to Lagoon on Friday with Lori, Robyn, my mom, Amy, Whitney and most of the cousins (I hate amusement parks and was super happy to be home alone).

I gave my visiting teaching partner (her name is Jill too) a copy of The Screwtape Letters for her birthday and was pleased with this wrapping job which incorporated washi tape, tag and ribbon I'd purchased from Pick Your Plum.

Randy and I caught a matinee Friday afternoon which is a rare treat (I usually see movies with Lori).

Saturday was spent trying to get Whitney packed for Girl's Camp. I don't know why it was so difficult (oh wait, yes I do it was because she kept zoning out, dancing, and generally not packing) but it took all afternoon. She had a wicked sunburn on her shoulders (hence the tank top) and kept pausing to sigh about them and at one point lick them! I actually had to say, "Stop licking your shoulder and pack!" What in the world?

2.5 hours later I was still checking things off her list. Good grief.

We're trying a new incentive to help the kids in primary be more reverent so I was up late Saturday night creating these little tickets for us to use.

Whitney actually went outside to write a few thank you notes on Sunday afternoon, I could not have been more pleased. It's the combination of having a table and chairs out there and having Junie (the cat) wandering around the yard.

Whitney left for Girl's Camp on Monday morning (yeeha!).

Landon and a friend from church have Driver's Ed for 3 hours every morning this week and next week, so I've been dropping them off by 8:00 and enjoying having the house to myself for 3 hours.

I finished reading the 5th Flavia de Luce Mystery and had to take a picture of this page because this why I enjoy these books so much. "Home again, home again, jiggedy-jig." Plus I love it that her bike's name is Gladys.

Landon frequently texts me when we're both home...this conversation happened.

Michelle and family returned home from 2 months in Paris on Monday afternoon! We met for lunch at Los Hermanos yesterday and spent almost 3 hours catching up.

It's been cold this week, which is highly unusual for June and has thrown me for a bit of a loop despite my disdain for hot weather (I'm hard to please).

Our thermostat got down to 64 degrees which was chilly even though I was wearing a sweatshirt. I finally caved and turned on the heat to get us back up to 70 and then turned it off for the night. Weird.

I am totally loving Junie Cat. I'm taking care of her since Whitney is at camp which means playing with her in addition to the feeding and such. This morning I sat on the steps teasing her with this little fishing pole Whitney sewed one of the catnip fishies Shannon sent her last week.

I don't know why I have a hard time making myself go for a walk sometimes because I always enjoy it. This morning I saw this gorgeous view just down the street from my house. I also saw a deer in a field, a dead bird, lots of horses, llamas, cows and was startled by some ducks who'd been startled by me (it must have been hilarious to see me jump and swear the way I did when they jumped into the water next to the road I was walking on).

12 on the 12th--April Edition

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1. Randy was showing Landon some sweet moves with the light sabers we were selling at our yard sale.
2. Table view into our yard filled with stuff to sell.
3. Whitney made the pricing posters and totally owned the misspelling!
4. My mom brought donuts around 10:45 when we were weak and weary.
5. Andrew watched Monsters Inc. in the kids' room while we ran the sale outside, it's always good to see him. We hooked him up with a bowl of popcorn and a Coke.
6. There was a lull at the end of the sale so Randy, me, Lori and my mom rested our weary bones on this table set we sold (woohoo).
7. The kids each made about $60 from the stuff they sold.
8. Our tulips are starting to bloom!
9. Randy and I took a much needed nap.
10. I spent a couple hours working primary assignments for the next month.
11. Randy and I watched the season finale of Under the Gunn (we love Tim Gunn).
12. I took a hot shower and went to bed at 10:00 and thought I'd finish this fabulous book but fell asleep before finishing.

Sunday Thoughts

Just in case you were wondering, I LOVE primary.

I conducted today (which I don't usually do because I'm the secretary, but the Primary President was out of town so I filled in for her) and it didn't take long for me to be in tears. In Junior primary (ages 3-7) I became a weepy mess in just minutes as a 4 year old stood with his mouth against the microphone and gave a talk as his dad whispered words of truth into his ear. It was painfully cute, but what did me in was the presence of the Spirit as he spoke. I think the kids all felt it too because the room was remarkably peaceful for our large junior primary. It was also cool to watch the boy's mom stand in the back watching her husband and son together like that, I know she felt great too.

Then in Senior Primary (ages 8-12) I lost it again after an 11 year old boy gave his last talk in primary since he will be turning 12 and moving on to Young Men soon. I have seen him grow up and I remember his older brother (who is now 17) whispering in his ear years ago to help him give a talk. Now the older brother is getting ready to go on a mission and this boy is now a confident 11 year old who did a fantastic job by himself and closed with his testimony. I had to pull myself together after the combination of this memory and his talk.

The gospel is remarkable, and primary is the place where the kids learn it in its purest form. I love the lessons we learn as we sing and I often look around the room and see the adults actively engaged and learning right along with the kids...we're never too old to be in primary!

Tidbits

Really?! Flip flops and no jacket? But she went out there to shovel of her own accord, what was I to do?

Whitney's episode made Landon's shoveling in shorts seem positively bundled!

It's another new year so I set the goal to read 40 more books. It always seems like I read more than that, but I'm not a very fast reader so I really don't.

Plus, I stupidly started this 692 page book last week...this is going to take forever!

Here's my latest pedicure, January and gray seem to go together.

The book club girls got together for a birthday lunch to celebrate Jenn's 40th.

Being the Primary Secretary is a full-time job in the week leading up to the new year. I had no idea what I was in for and seriously spent more than 40 hours working on stuff that week. Fortunately most of it could be done at home in the comfort of my pajamas, but I kept thinking that it's a good thing I like doing this stuff (organizing and typing and such) or I would be bugged.

I've been pinning lots of gift tags on Pinterest and have downloaded and printed them (at our local copy store so I don't use all my ink) and am tickled. I love having cute tags at the ready, and was very happy with this birthday gift for my Secret Pal.

Amie and I got together for a long lunch to catch up on Christmas.

Jenn sent me this cute thank you note and reminded me how much I miss getting good mail regularly. I still send notes all the time, but there was a time when there was something good in my mailbox several times a week and now I don't get anything unless I order it online!

I came across this vignette in Whitney's area of the bedroom and just had to laugh. 

Randy designed these Article of Faith punch cards based on a design I found on Sugardoodle so we're using them in our primary this year. I kind of love them!

12 on the 12th--January Edition

1. I was up early to get ready for church and to do some last minute adjustments on the chair set up instructions.
2. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Primary singing time!
3. These are the pencils we're giving the primary kids on their birthdays this year.
4. Family hang out time on our bed after church.
5. Visiting teaching with my partner Jill B., I knew she'd have cozy boots on.
6. Landon doing homework next to Whitney's Lego set up.
7. Dinner rolls rising.
8. I spent an hour in the cozy reading and dozing.
9. I got a thank you note delivery while we were eating dinner, very sweet.
10. Post dinner wrestling.
11. Brownies and ice cream while we watched Psych together.
12. Downton Abbey for me and Randy is a great way to end the day.

Sunday Thoughts

I LOVE PRIMARY! The doctrine is taught so simply and the songs are so powerful, they make me cry every.single.week. This month the kids are learning the song "He Sent His Son" which is one I learned in primary several years ago and really, really love. As we were singing I realized that this song goes beautifully with this month's visiting teaching message about the Savior. I decided to type of the words to the song to give as part of the message when I go this afternoon. I love it how everything fits so nicely together and how uplifted I feel because of it.

P.S. In Sacrament Meeting today D.H. (a youth who used to be in our ward) played a powerful arrangement of We'll Bring The World His Truth (one of my very favorite primary songs) and As Sisters In Zion; I was a blubbering mess by the end of it.

Epiphany

I saw this on Pinterest and it resonated with me immediately. I think as women we tend to fixate on all kinds of crazy ideals about how our lives should be and then are constantly frustrated when our lives don't look the way we want them to look (or is it just me?).

I think LDS women do this a lot with our church callings and activities as well, and I wish we would STOP! I almost had a nervous break down last month when we (the Primary Presidency) were planning a very over-the-top ward Christmas Party for December 21st! This was thrown our way at the end of November and though I made it known that this wasn't something I enjoy doing because I would rather have things be simple, they did their initial planning while I was in California and opted for an idea they thought they could simplify (these are good women). But as we met to go over the details and assignments it was just going to be way too much and we all felt it. At the end of one of our meetings I actually said, "Let's go to the Bishop's house right now and tell him this just isn't right, we shouldn't be worrying about this in December!" We didn't do that of course, but I was in a tizzy about this and couldn't let it go.

I ended up spilling my guts about it (following the Couples Christmas Party on the Dec. 6th) to the Bishopric member over Primary and he kindly listened to me and tactfully reminded me that they never intended it to be an over-the-top gathering. I realized that WE had done this to ourselves because of our innate desire to make things beautiful and well done! I ended up confessing to my fellow presidency members in the hallway at church the on Sunday (December 8th) and pleaded with them to change the party so we wouldn't be consumed with frivolous responsibilities 4 days before Christmas! They agreed with me (or recognized my craziness) and at our next meeting we reworked the party and turned it into a Nativity starring the Primary kids. Hallelujah!!!

The kids were darling.

We had a huge turnout and everyone got to sing religious Christmas carols!

The Santa we had there (who is actually our custodian from the junior high) was fantastic. We had him set up in the primary room so he was separate from the real Christmas party. I took pictures of him with all the kids who came to see him.

The party wasn't stressful, wasn't overly decorated, and was about the Savior's birth! This whole process (which was emotional and exhausting for me during the early stages) was important for me because it made me express my true feelings and stand up for what I think is right. We don't need to make ourselves crazy in an attempt to make everything beautiful, especially when what we're celebrating is so pure and simple.

**What do you think??**

Creative Friday--It's Still Happening Edition

After missing two weeks of Creative Fridays because of my California trip and then Thanksgiving Break we were happy to get together again. We haven't been taking self-portraits because they seem to be getting increasingly disappointing, but I insisted we do it because they're historically significant and I know we'll be sad later if we stop.

I mixed things up by bringing DP Cheesesteaks for lunch...so good.

We spent the majority of our day cutting out Christmas Tags we'd downloaded and printed from Pinterest.

Aren't they cute?! I'm planning to gift a bunch of them to my Secret Pal next week.

I also put together little treat bags for our primary substitute teacher thank yous.

This Christmas music book on Michelle's piano looked rather homey and festive.

12 on the 12th--October Edition

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1. Cathy is in town from Saudi Arabia (!) so we planned for an early morning walk but I only had a half hour so we sat at McDonald's and talked.
2. Whitney's illustrated birthday card for Randy.
3. Randy's box of birthday Raisin Bran...he can have this any time of course but I bought it special for his birthday since no one else will eat it.
4. Family photo in the car before heading up to help Adam and Amy move.
5. Lori and I boxed up stuff from the kitchen...moving is overwhelming even when it isn't my own move!
6. Lori and I stopped at Einsteins for a snack before heading over to the help unpack at the rental house. We don't have an Einsteins close to us so this was a treat.
7. Adam and Amy's "new" house has a pool!!
8. Upon arriving home Whitney immediately drew this picture of a cat using her water bottle...she's got skills.
9. I started a new book in the cozy (A Virtuous Woman by Kaye Gibbons).
10. Randy took a birthday nap.
11. The four of us went to Chili's for Randy's birthday dinner.
12. We stopped at the church to pick up all the primary teacher bags so I could clean them out and put the new class rolls in them (it took me 3 hours!).

Sunday Thoughts

I LOVE Primary!!

Apparently primary is the place I need to be at church in order to feel the Spirit most strongly. Even though I like being in Relief Society too, I really love the more active, energetic feeling of being in primary and I especially love the music. Not being able to sing well is one of my greatest sorrows in life, but in primary I belt out the songs and am often moved to tears while doing so (and not just because my voice is cracking and making unexpected changes from alto to soprano). 

We have a fantastic music leader who is able to teach the kids the words to the songs and the meaning behind them. Somehow she is able to hold the attention of a room packed with squirmy kids and adults who end up doing exactly what she wants them to do. We sang so loudly today that I'm sure the sisters in Relief Society could hear us in their room (I always loved it when I could hear the primary kids singing, it was like a soundtrack to the lesson we were having).

I love the truthfulness of the doctrine we sing in primary and feel like it gets to the heart of the gospel. I have many favorite songs but I lose it every time we sing "We'll Bring The World His Truth" especially during the chorus. Our music leader always has the kids stand up as the kids sing...

We are as the army of Helaman.
We have been taught in our youth.
And we will be the Lord’s missionaries
To bring the world his truth.

Seeing the room full of kids standing and singing these words makes me picture them as future missionaries and makes everything we do in primary seem vital. It's the best place to be!

Five for Friday

Greeting friends, this is my first Five for Friday post of the new school year and I'm very happy to say that I am posting from home at 10:30am because I don't work on Fridays! It's glorious. I've been cleaning, rocking out to music on Pandora, and enjoying the solitude that comes from having the house to myself, I'm stoked!

 BEFORE

1. I failed to report that Whitney got a newish hair style last Saturday to start junior high. 

AFTER

Sharolyn (our stylist of 7 years) thinned it out (Whitney's hair is super thick and getting curly), cut some bangs, and flat ironed it beautifully. We just wish we could recreate this look at home. I keep telling Whitney she has to practice, practice, practice but so far she's mostly invested her energy into complaining about it instead. Aargh! At least she had a few days of feeling good about her hair before she had to wash it and begin the battle again.

 

2. I got thrown into the deep end of being the primary secretary last weekend when I had to scramble to find 8 substitute teachers to replace all our male teachers because the Stake was coming to do a training for all the men. It was crazy for a bit but some nice women agreed to help out. I made these as thank you gifts.

3. I was able to upgrade my phone to the iPhone 4s a couple weeks ago and got this awesome case from this shop on Etsy...of course I love it.

4. Speaking of phone cases, we gave Landon a phone for his birthday (eek!) and Adam designed this case for him. It's pretty cool and I probably should have asked Adam to make a case for me, but they're a little pricey to have made so we did it for a birthday gift for the boy instead. (#84 is Landon's football jersey number in case you're wondering.)  

5. I saw this on Pinterest this morning and it resonated with me. I always know things are going to work out and I'm grateful for that, it keeps me from being a worrier.