I WON!!!!

I can't say "I NEVER win anything" because that just wouldn't be true.  I have a won a FEW things throughout my life, but VERY few.  Well, lady luck has smiled on me again and I won the giveaway for a REVERSIBLE CANDY CADDY from Thoughts In Vinyl.  It is a KILLER blog with WAY CUTE craft ideas and kits.  The kits include EVERYTHING you need to make this fun, festive, decor items.  The best part? They are pretty inexpensive and she has WONDERFUL sales so check 'em out! :)

Here's a pic of my FABULOUS prize that I can't wait to use!!

I can use this side now

And this side later :) How clever is that?!

Cute Crafty Giveaway

Checkout this way cool giveaway on Thoughts In Vinyl.  They are giving away this cute reversible candy caddy! Check it out!! :)

LOTS of projects and a visit with my Mom

Up here in "potato country" (aka Idaho) we are lucky enough to be one of the last school districts that gets what we call "spud harvest" (aka a 2 week vacation!!!)  During my 2 weeks off this year my mom was able to come visit me, which was WAY FUN!!! :)  During her stay we worked on a TON of different projects for Christmas gifts with a few miscellaneous projects thrown in here and there.  So be prepared to see A LOT of pictures :)  If you want to know how to do any of these fabulous crafts just let me know and I'd be HAPPY TO SHARE!!!! =]

This is a fun and festive burlap Halloween wreath I made. SUPER EASY!!!

Next, we made these plates for my mom to give to the ladies she visit teaches and I made them for the Young Women to use at mutual and give away with some goodies on them :) Another SUPER EASY craft!  We made 8 of these all together.

We also made these plates for Christmas to give to our visiting teaching ladies :) Don't you wish I visit taught you?! Ha ha just kidding ;)  We made 8 of these as well.

We made these flowers to give as Christmas presents to my sisters and cousins.  Way fun and EASY!! (are you noticing a pattern yet? Yes, we like EASY crafts! he he ) I don't even know how many of these we made. TONS!! :)

These are boards you hang on the wall to hold any pictures, notes, and momentos you want.  And guess what, they are  . . . SUPER EASY!!  We made about 8 of these all together.

This is a picture of a board and bow holder and bows I made for my little sis for Christmas (I hope she doesn't see this and spoil the surprise!) =]  And YES I ACTUALLY SEWED!!!!!!! (If you know me then you know that I AM NOT a sewer, but I gave it a whirl and after A LOT of picking out stitches I FINALLY got the hang of it. Kinda =] )

This is a tie blanket and a board I made for a friend of mine.  The board is for her to hang in the baby's room, that is due in November and the blanket is for her.  She LOVES bright green (the pic doesn't do it justice) and zebra so how perfect is that! :)

These are just a few of the frames I made that say "Families Are Forever."  (My mom had hers packed already)

I made SEVERAL of these with various family names of them, but I can't show you those in case the receipients see my blog :) So this is one for my brother and sis-in-law who live in Arizona (I think I'm pretty safe showing you theirs) =]

These are some more frames I made with various sayings on them (oh, by the way, when I say I "made" them I mean that I put in the paper, cut the vinyl and put it on the frame.  Just to clarify) =]

And yet SOME MORE frames!!! I really like the quotes though :) Oh man I did SOOOO many of these!! Adding up ALL the vinyl frames I'd say I did around 20! Yeah it took FOREVER, but it was easy :)

I also made three carseat canopies, but I forgot to take pictures of those.  I'll post those later :) Yep, there was more of my loveley sewing skills at work (or not so lovely in my case!).  I'm learning, but certainly don't have the hang of it yet!! Thank you soooooooooo much Mom for teaching me and being so patient when I messed up! :)

My mom also made 5 tie blankets, 3 quillows (a quilt that folds into a pillow), and a regular blanket.  She was FIERCE on that sewing machine!! :)

All in all we got A LOT done, but boy was it A LOT of work!!! It was soooo fun to have my mom visit and I can't wait to do it again next year!! :)

A little catch up

So over Labor Day weekend Rusty and I went camping with some friends up in a mountain area called Kilgore.  It was a TON of fun nd so relaxing to be up in the mountains away from all worries and cares. Unfortunately, on a 4-wheeler ride I lost my phone (which I took so I could take pictures), so . . . no pictures :(

Last weekend we went and got wood. What that means is that we went into the mountains, found dead trees, chopped them down, cut them up and loaded them up into the trailer.  This is a cord of wood:
It measures 4feet deep by 4feet high, by 8 feet wide.  We loaded 15 cord out of the woods last Saturday! I was exhausted and sore!! 

And guess what we get to go do THIS weekend?

You guessed it . . . Get Wood!!

Yeah!

NOT!!

(oh well, its gotta be done and someone's gotta do it!) 

And on top of all that . . . I got sick! I am FINALLY feeling better and back at work and life in general :)

So life is pretty boring right now, but in about a week my mom (and maybe my lil sis Dee Dee) will be HERE!! Wahooooo!! I LOVE my mama! :]

If I Die Young

"If I die young,

Burry me in satin,

Lay me down in a bed of roses.

Sink me in the river at dawn,

Send me away with the words of a love song.

The sharp knife of a short life."

The words of this song have come to mean so much more to me ove the past few days.  Our small community has been plauged by the death of youth this month.  At the beginning of August we lost a young man who was going to be a freshman this year.  He died in a 4-wheeling accident.  If that wasn't enough, last Sunday in the wee hours of the morning, two high school senior girls were headed back from a rodeo and fell alseep at the wheel.  The car rolled several times and both were killed. 

As I went to the viewing last night (which is the first one I've ever been to) the reality struck me of what it means to be dead.  The girls looked as if they were sleeping, physically, but looking upon them you could tell their spirits had gone out of them and what remained was only the shell of who they are.  I say "are"  because I know that they still exist in the Heavens and doing a great work where they are.  The Lord must have need of these of young souls and a great work for them to do.

I have watched the young women in my ward (the Laurels especially) struggle with this event and as I have thought of what I could say or do to comfort them I have found comfort myself.  I have realized that the Lord truly has a plan for each of us and that there is a reason I am still here.  If the Lord wanted me He could take me, but there is work yet for me to do.  And so it is with each of us.  I have also hard the stark reality put into effect that we are not invinsible.  Life is precious and can be taken away in a split second. 

As I try to understand why this event occurred and why three lives were cut so short I am reminded that

"Life's not the breaths you take, but the moments that take your breath away." 

Life is precious and I hope I can remeber that and not take my life or the people in it for granted.

Riding with the Girls

A few weeks ago my Laurels and I held a planning session and we planned out our mutual activities for the rest of the year.  As part of that they decided they wanted to go ride horses! WAHOOOOO!!!!!! (Did I mention I LOVE these girls) Couldn't have asked for a better activity because if you know me at all then you know that I grew up riding and showing horses.  Horses are in my blood!

So my advisor, Maggie, and I gathered up some horses and with the help of my WONDERFUL neighbor Vince we took them on a ride.  At first we just walked along the canal bank.  Then we took the girls out into a hay field and showed them how to make their horses jog/trot and then lope (a.k.a "go faster").  It was a BLAST!!!! They had so much fun and so did I!! It made me VERY reminiscent of my childhood and riding along the ditch bank with my sister and good buddy Emilee and then racing our horses in between the rows of the lettuce field. (We were a farmers WORST nightmare) he he :) So anyways, it was a TON of fun and here's a pic from our adventure!

From right to left: Cass on Rose, Alli on Honey, Sadie on Red Skin, Kizzy on Denny, Maggie on Dodger, and me on Mare (she doesn't have a name because she acts like a dork.  When she can be consistently good then she gets to have a name =] )

Here We Go Again!

I just got my test results back on my blood draw.  AND . . . my progesterone is . . . incredibly LOW! Ha! Kinda makes me laugh because I always had a notion that my progestrone level and ovulating may be my problem in the first place.  Now the doctor knows that it is too :)

So now what?  Well I get ANOTHER treatment of provera to start a period (a little pill I take for 7 days), then I get a heftier dose of Clomid (the fertility drug) and I take that for 5 days.  Then do what comes natural and go back to the doctor for another poke in the arm :) Gotta love it! Hey at least we're making progress :)

A Little Help

So, as most of you know, Rusty and I have been trying to start a family for

1 year, 11 months, 2 weeks, and 5 days

but whose counting?  The last couple of years have been pretty tough and we have had our sturggles, but we are FINALLY getting some help! I just finished my first round of fertility medicine, have had my progesterone (a hormone in your body that is made for two weeks at ovulation and all throughout pregnancy) level tested, and am now waiting on the results.  If the level is high or even present and I don't start a period then chances are I am prego.  On the flip side, if the level is low or non-existent then chances are I am not prego.  So I have my fingers crossed, have wished on a million stars, and said countless prayers.

Of course I really really really want to be pregnant and carry it full term, but what do ya do?  There is only so much I can do.  My struggle with infertility has taught me to hope, but not get my hopes up (if that makes any sense at all).  I know that someday I will have a family, but I get a little impatient for "someday" to just show up already!  I have had to really remind myself lately not to jump at every teeny, tiny little maybe sign of pregnancy (especially since I now know what my body feels like in the early stages of pregnancy) and to not allow myself to hope for that until I have some concrete signals from my body.  I have allowed myself to let my hopes soar before only to be crusehed by ONE pink line.  I can't do that anymore.  However, I can be VERY GRATEFUL for what I do have :) I have a WONDERFUL husband, a good, job, I am a homeowner, and a mama to a HILARIOUS and lovable St. Bernard named Dozer.  I am a sister, a friend, a daughter, a teacher, and trying to be a better daughter of God.  I am  so       very very blessed!!

So what is the point of this post?  I guess just to get my thoughts and feelings straight in my mind and also because I really use my blog as more of a journal (since I'm HORRIBLE about writing in a real one!).  I just needed to remind myself that the Lord is in charge and that life really is good, no matter how the blood test comes back or how many times I have to count days, take pills, and be poked in the arm.  It is ALL worth it and the Lord will take care of me. 

So friends, I ask this favor of you.  Please keep Rusty and I in your thoughts and prayers that we may be able to handle whatever may come our way.  Whether it is celebration or another try I know that we can get through this because "the Lord is with thee whithersoever thou goest."  Thanks friends :)