School of Hard Knocks Attendee

For those of you who are around us a fair bit, you know that 2008 has been pretty challenging. Ok, I am just gonna say it – it has been the year from H-E-L-L. If you want details, call me. One day I will blog more about it, when I am ready and when those involved are ready. I am happy to tell it Adios.

How funny (not the ha ha funny) it is that when I started this blog earlier this year I was going to call it something cliché, like “48 and GREAT in 2008”. I am soooo very glad I didn’t. It would seriously be embarrassing now. Besides, I am not 48 anymore. Blogging has been very therapeutic for my husband and for me this year – a needed escape, a creative outlet, and it has assisted in some healing. I love technology!

As the gospel of Jesus Christ teaches us, our weaknesses and challenges can become our strengths and our blessings. I have learned more than ever before that this is in fact TRUE. My dear mother would have called it making it through “the school of hard knocks”. I haven’t graduated from it yet, but really, do we ever?

So, here is what I learned in 2008:

~You NEVER know what will hit you that will prove what you are really made of

~Heavenly Father IS in charge

~The Holy Ghost is REAL and ready to reveal answers when you are ready to listen

~Prayers ARE answered – often not in the way we would hope

~Prayers are OFTEN answered through other people – this I know

~My husband is TRULY my companion, my love, and my helpmeet

~We can use the AMAZING examples of pioneer ancestors, or any worthy ancestor, as shining lights through life’s challenges

~When people say, “OH, your family will be SO blessed as you support your missionary”, don’t try to guess in what ways that will be – AND, that is only because Heavenly Father IS in charge (see #2 here) and the blessings will more than likely absolutely be ones you were NOT expecting to ever need

~Having “sufficient for your needs” is really ALL that matters, and it can be both temporal as well as spiritual

~A sense of humor is KEY to surviving life

~Friends ARE presents from God, especially ones who 1) write stake conference talks just for you, 2) pray for you even after the crisis, 3) distract you by teaching you new skills or through lunch dates and shoe shopping 4) just love you even though they don’t know what to say (which is really okay)

~It is BETTER to hear the “straight story” from those who hold information about a situation that may be unpleasant to hear, yet, it should be heard

~Family, though far away, always LOVES, cares and comes through

On less serious notes:

~politics is both exhausting and polarizing

~googlereader is a wonderful thing

~my house will never be completely clean and I cannot blame kids for that

What’s the point of it all if we don’t learn and then share, right?

Lost but now in Twilight

I admit it. I have been a Twilight Snob. I thought, "What is the big deal?", especially for women my age. Well. well. well. I stand corrected. I saw the movie twice actually, once with my friend Carrie and then again with my daughter. Loved it. I was lost but now I see. Guess I better read the dang books now.

Gifts Given, Blessings Recieved

I blogged earlier about being "ready" for the stress of preparing handmade gifts this Christmas. Well, I gotta say I waited too long to really enjoy the process as I had hoped. I really didn't make too many, although I did have fun making the things displayed here. I do hope to plan better next year because I DO love to make things for people. Below are some things I made.

I made this wreath for my sis in law and her family. I scanned in some older photos I had (her children are now grown) and I photoshopped them to create the black and white old-looking photos. I bought the frames at Kohl's, got pretty ribbons and picks, used a little glue gun, and here is how it turned out:


I really like it - and so did she! I hope it just stays together well for years to come. If not, she has a glue gun!

I made a few of these for neighbor gifts:

Good ol' Target pails with some tasty goodies inside. Les made the little ornament hangers draped over the front. Fun times!

The main thing I made this year was my first quilt! I blogged earlier a teeny bit about learning how to do that. I had saved remnants of clothes over the years that I made for my daughter since she was teeny. My intention was to one day make her a quilt from those fabrics when she was older - maybe ready to graduate high school, or get married. She is now nearly 17. I decided now was a good time. My friend Carrie very patiently helped me select the pattern, showed me how to cut the pieces in a quick way with a rotary cutter and a rotary mat, and then showed me how to FIX the pieces after I completely messed them up. I made the quilt front, and then Carrie showed me how to make the border, the quilt back, and how to bind it. I went to her house to use her wonderful long-arm to quilt it together.

Here are a few photos of the process. Here it is ready to be pinned on to the rollers:

Carrie is getting it started and showing me how to work the machine.

I am hugging the wonderful machine.

Carrie fixing the wonderful machine....

TAA DAAAA!!!

Ooooh!! It is soo cozy!

The happy recipient, which makes it worth every moment of sewing when she was little, fixing every mistake made while learning this process, and definitely worth completing the project.

Sweet and Crunchy!

Are you needing something crunchy and sweet? LOVE this recipe - anytime I have given this to anyone they want MORE. 'Tis addicting. "Tis the season. LOVE it.


Crunchy Cereal Snack Mix

1 Bag Stick Pretzels
1 Bag Bugles (in the chips aisle - it's now in a bag instead of a box)
12 oz. box of Crispix Cereal (generic works just fine)
1 can mixed nuts (we use just cashews and peanuts because we are "nut" wimps).

Mix all of the above in a large pan or two- see below.

Then, melt together in a medium sauce pan:

2 cups brown sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 cup Karo Syrup

Boil for 2 minutes
Pour liquid mixture over cruncy ingredients and stir well. Bake @ 250 for 45 minutes.

Stir every 15 minutes with a spatula from the bottom of the pan-up. This is the most important step--otherwise ingredients will stick together and it will be impossible to remove from pan.

Helpful hint - I have purchased to large foil roaster pans for making this and for caramel popcorn. I keep them in the basement (aka my pantry) and they are the BEST for mixing and for cooking. I tried it the hard way using 4-5 different cookie tins or cake pans. That is a pain. Ponder that.

Merry Christmas

As a mom of an LDS missionary, I want to share this with anyone who hasn't seen it yet:

Lizzie Jane's Little Shop of Lovely Jewelry

It's here! My Sis-in-Law Elizabeth has opened her Etsy shop. Check it out - she has lovely little Christmas earrings and many other pretties. She's local to ya'll in Utah, so take a look. I love her styles and she uses only the best quality to make her FAB creations. She will gradually be adding much more, so check back often!

Way to go, Liz!! I LOVE my things you have made for me!

It's Birthday Time!

Today is my dear hubby’s birthday. HAPPY BIRTHDAY dearest! Wish The Mormon Third Eye a little birthday wish on his blog if you get a sec. He is out of town right now, sadly, so we celebrated last week. There is no other man on earth that I know of who loves chocolate more than I do. So, for his birthday cake, I tried something new! I made a LAVA CAKE!! You know, like the ones at Chili’s? We love those. I found a recipe that was sooo easy and DEElish. They turned out great!! I am not a big fan of bittersweet chocolate, but Richie is so I made them that way. I may experiment next time, though, and try a different type of Ghirardelli chocolate and maybe make a big one instead of 6 individual ones. Try them, you’ll like them!!