A little off the rocker

I thought I show the finished result of this project we started quite a while ago when we still lived in Reno. Steven has fixed up a few rocking chairs in his day. He let me help pick out the fabric and paint for this one. We finally finished it this summer! (Thanks to the special help of a talented seamstress.) Now if we only had somewhere to put it, other than our basement...

Notice our other long term project there in the background...
a headboard for our bed that we made out of an old door
(and have never attached.)

Close up of the fabric.

A few weeks ago we found the perfect rocker for our next one. We already have the fabric picked for this one. (We got it the same day we bought the bee fabric at an eclectic fabric store in Ashland, OR.) This one has fabric on top and bottom. I can't wait to pick out colors and piece it all together!

Letters to myself

So this blogging thing...obviously not up my alley. I'm not sure how to present my life in this format I suppose, and honestly am not always certain I want to share my life with everyone. But I've decided to today.

I came across some "letters to myself" that I wrote back in high school. They were both assignments from church. I wrote the first one right after my freshman year on 6-11-00. It was supposed to be written by the future me and included things to remember along the way, along with things I would hope to have done. I was allowed to re-open this one on my 18th birthday.

The other was an assignment from my seminary teacher David Hardy (now Judge Hardy), whose name and "for Justice of the Peace" are stamped all over the stationary and envelope. This one was written on 5-21-02, a few weeks before graduation and was meant to be opened on my wedding day, or after one year on a mission. The assignment on this one was to write about a weakness that I struggled with then, and how I would want it to be a few years down the road.

I keep these letters along with with my patriarchal blessing, a special letter from my father, and a letter that I never gave to Steven right beside my bed. Whenever I read them I usually tear up. For many reasons. One, they give me a clear sense of who I am, who I've always been, and who I can become. Two, they remind me of things I've always deemed important. Three, they remind me that God loves me. Four, they give me renewed strength.

Sometimes when I think back to the past I expect to find a girl who was much stronger than the person I am now. But by reading these, I am actually filled with the encouragement that I am on the path that I was always meant to be; even though I may not have overcome certain challenges as gracefully as I would have hoped. Sometimes I look at my life and feel like I've messed it all up. But when I read my goals and hopes, I find that many of life's challenging situations have shaped me into a person I hoped I would become.

This reminds me that somewhere I have a list of goals that I made when I was a kid. I will have a to find it and post it here so you can be entertained by how close I have actually come to accomplishing everything on my list, with slight variations.

I guess the bottom line is that for me, listening to my own words from the past, and hearing what kind of person loved ones know me to be is a marvelous treasure. I am so grateful to have each of these, and know that I need to continue to do things like this so I can have it in the future!

Hello...from our garden

Month of Rubies

July, in my mind is the official month of summer. If you haven't had warm weather by this point then usually July makes up for it. Many family trips and reunions are planned during this month which rests symmetrically in the middle of the 3-month break from school. 

And the month, quite literally starts off with a bang, thanks to the fourth of July. My other favorite part comes at the end of the month, a day before pioneer day festivities. Needless to say this is definitely one of my favorite times of the year. 

This weekend we experienced our first Fourth in Pocatello. Without having much planned for the day I decided to dress it up a bit with some good grub. After searching through several recipes I settled on making a simple salsa dip, a cheese ball served with Wheat Thin crackers, classic potato salad, and chocolate-berry meringue. Here is a glance at our spread.

Honestly, I don't think I've ever spent so much time in the kitchen during one single day. Ok, I don't spend that much time in the kitchen period! But Steven was at work all morning so it kept me busy, and in the end it was worth it. Our good friends joined us for dinner and brought some delicious steaks with them. 

After that we went up the hill and watched some amazing fireworks that blew our ears out. I've never been so close to a show. I actually had to kink my neck to see them, like I was in the front row at the movies. I even had to squint at times because it was so bright. Pretty cool. Wish I had my 3-D glasses with me. Ever tried that? It's crazy. My Uncle Bob introduced that to us a few years ago while we were vacationing in Texas. More about him later.

Until then I'll be enjoying this wonderful month of summer! 

Oh yes I did...

You will all probably think I'm incredibly vain after this post. Not just because I posted it, but because I actually took all these pictures of myself in the first place. But what can I say, it was kind of fun! I was out in our yard with our dog Leila and my laptop, didn't have much to do so I busted out photobooth. Which, for those of you who don't know is part of the mac system. So all of these came from the tiny camera on my computer. Obviously low res. Totally random. Definitely makes me a dork. Enjoy.

 

Summa time

I don't love they way Blogger completely nastifies all photographs, but I will post this anyway. This is one of my favorite shots of Steven wake-boarding last summer just outside Reno at Boca. We only go every so often seeing as how we don't own a boat! But whenever someone charitable invites us we jump at the chance. (Thank you Foote's !) I enjoy watching Steven wake-board. He doesn't do any crazy tricks, but I love the way he cuts in and out of the wake. It's a bit more like surfing.

P.S. Dear Surfing...I still dream about you. Let's get together sometime.

The Millennium

Steven and I get to teach Sunday School at church once a month. Even though I'm not the best at delivering them I love preparing the lessons. I always learn so much during prep. Today we got to talk about the Millennium. What a fun topic! There is so much to cover; how to prepare for it, signs of it, what it will actually be like...This is what I focused on. I put together a little fact sheet that I think I'll post here. So here it is.

Facts about the Millennium

Gathered from Gospel Principles, Unit 9, D&C 101, and LDS.org

- The Millennium refers to the 1,000 years following Christ’s Second Coming. (This is patterned after the Lord’s period of rest following the six creative periods.)

- The wicked will be destroyed.

- The earth will become anew.

- Christ will reign personally upon the earth, and all will see him.

- Mortals will live on the earth. Jesus and immortal beings (resurrected saints) will probably not live on the earth the whole time but will frequently visit the earth.

- The Millennium will be a time of righteousness and peace on the earth.

- Everyone will be good, but not everyone will have received the fullness of the gospel. (Everyone living at this time will inherit the terrestrial or celestial kingdom.)

- There will be lots of missionary work. Temples will continue to be built and key ordinances for the living and dead will still happen.

- Agency will still exist. For a time many will continue to believe their false religions and ideas, but eventually everyone will accept Jesus Christ as their Savior.

- With the help of revelation ancestral records will be traced all the way back to Adam and Eve.

- People will be granted what they righteously desire.

- The whole earth will be a delightful garden as it was when Adam and Eve lived.

- The continents will not be divided, but will all be gathered together as it was at first.

- Satan is bound and has no power or influence. Children will grow up without sin.

- There will be no war. People will live in peace and harmony.

- All animals will be at peace. All will eat grass and grain.

- The Lord will be our King. Christ will lead the church and also the political government. Government will be based on righteousness and will preserve the freedoms of all people. Mortals (members and non-members) will hold other government positions, and will receive help from resurrected beings.

- No sorrow, disease, or death. People will grow “as old as trees” when the time comes to “die” they will instantly become immortal instead.

- New truths will be revealed. Including how the earth was created and what will become of it.

- At the end of the Millenium Satan will be “loosed for a little season.” Some will turn away from Heavenly Father. The armies of Satan will fight against the hosts of heaven (led by Michael/Adam.) Satan will be defeated and cast out forever. The final judgment will come. Kingdoms will be assigned to people.