Tangled necklaces

Do you have projects that you've been meaning to do forever? I've never had a good way to organize my necklaces. A few months ago Dave bought some tie organizers from Home Depot and I thought - "Hey that would be a great necklace hanger thingy." It's been sitting on the counter in our bathroom for way too long, so today I decided to put it up and untangle my necklaces.

It took me all of 5 seconds to anchor the screws to the wall and only a few minutes to put the necklaces in their new appointed places. I'm so happy and feel so organized. Why do I put off doing things that are so easy and make me so happy? I don't know, but I'm going to tackle more and more of these projects in coming days. Won't it be fun to see them in the blog? It's very motivational to have family coming to town for the wedding in 3 weeks....

Friends across ward boundaries

I was thinking today as I was reading some of my favorite blogs - wouldn't it be fun to live in the same ward as http://groundhogdaywithceliafae.blogspot.com/ and http://denaeharlow.blogspot.com/ or http://jenibelle.blogspot.com/ (I wish I knew how to do that linking thing where the name shows up - plus I'm not sure about blog etiquette when linking to another blog - oh blogging babes teach me of your ways.) I'd have to live in their ward to really be their friend - it's hard to have good friends outside the ward boundaries. I know the aforementioned bloggers live only minutes away from me but if we're not in the same ward and especially the same stake our paths just don't cross. So I'll have to settle for stalking their blogs. I probably know more about their lives than some of my dear friends....

Thank goodness some of my dear friends have blogs - for example, http://bonsblogbydesign.blogspot.com/ and http://thegatchellfamily.blogspot.com/ - I could go on and on. So with my blogging, real life friends I have the best of both worlds!

I love blogging for so many reasons but there's nothing like sitting with friends face to face. The more I learn about people through their blogs the more I wish we were neighbors.

Not so fast with the speedy recovery

As you can see from the pictures, the wisdom tooth thing did not go well for Steven. We had to go back to the oral surgeon Saturday night when his pain became unbearable. Dry sockets have left him low. We learned to irrigate (yuck!!) and treat the sockets with clove oil and things are getting better.

Hopefully he'll be back to his chipper self soon. He pulled himself out of bed to go to sacrament meeting yesterday. When he walked in Jim was there in the foyer to greet him with "You look horrible!" Poor Stevey - better now than in some foreign country. Actually I had a dream that Steven went to Ohio for his mission. He's excited to get those papers in and receive his call.

Last night he was up to playing cards and beat us all soundly and stayed "king" for the night. We were all happy to lose so Steven could feel better.

On wisdom teeth and tongues

Here are the promised pictures. Steven was born with a bound tongue. We decided since he was having his wisdom teeth removed it would be a good time to have his tongue clipped. It will make it easier for him to speak, roll R's (in case of a spanish speaking mission) and keep him from "speaking with forked tongue".

Before

After

Cheeks before

and After

Though he's even a little more swollen today he's done pretty well with the process. Now the mission papers can be submitted!

Anna Matilda Baldwin

I let pioneer day pass without mentioning my rich heritage. My Great, great, great, great grandmother was 16 when she boarded a boat leaving England for America. Her father and brother had gone a year or so earlier, planning to settle with the saints and then send for the rest of the family. They both died of disease after arriving. Anna's mother remarried her fathers business partner who was not a member of the church and was opposed to Anna going to America. She had to sneak away with her belongings in a basket to sail for America.

Anna joined a handcart company and pushed her cart across the plains. The family legend is that she was the only pioneer who gained weight while crossing the plains. It's said that she licked the bowls of the others in the handcart company.

As a teenager I took great courage from Anna's life. Her dedication to the gospel inspired me to stay strong and true. If she could cross the oceans and the plains alone, certainly I could be obedient - my life was so easy compared to hers. I imagined her looking down from heaven. I wanted her to know that her sacrifice for the gospel's sake was valued down through her posterity. This is one of the values of keeping family history alive.

I'm back!!

It's only taken me a week to get back to "normal". Everyone came back safe and sound from girls camp so my work is done - well not really done - there's still a few things to do in the wrapping up department. I loved girls camp!! The adult leaders are fabulous and there's no better way to get to know people than to have time to sit and chat. We really need to do that more often... The girls were amazing! I enjoyed every moment. Since I didn't take a camera I don't have pictures but you can imagine - trees, a lake and girls and adults with lots of smiling!

Now I'm back to looking for an eggplant (the color) dress for the wedding...

You can look forward to my next post about Steven wisdom tooth removal today - never a dull moment!

mother

I've heard it from several sources - use the internet to share your feelings about the gospel. This is a tricky proposition. The subject I'm going to blog about today has caused heated exchanges and so I avoid the subject except with people who I know won't be offended - I really hate to upset people. In the hopes that my friends know my heart, knowing that those who don't agree are comfortable with their life choices and most importantly for my children and grandchildren who may read this someday, I want to get these thoughts recorded.

I'm 50, that means my teenage years were smack dab in the middle of the Women's lib movement. I watched Sister Barbara Smith, General RS pres. at the time, debate Sonja (somebody, can't remember her last name... a former member, women's libber to the max) on the Phil Donahue show. Abortion was a hot topic and women wanted to be "free" by burning bras and working their way up the corporate ladder. Staying home with children was seen as a waste of time. On the other hand the prophet was saying, "No success can compensate for failure in the home" and later "Mothers should be home at the crossroads". This was the backdrop for a moment that fixed my determination to be a "stay at home mother".

When I was in high school my mother had to work. I won't go into the details but I knew she wanted to be home but just couldn't. If you had asked me at that time I would have said it was just fine. I was the oldest of 4 children - we were happy and healthy and well mannered. My dad worked nights so he was sleeping and could be woken for an emergency. Like most teenagers I was involved in my own little world with friends and fun and life was good. Then I had a moment that changed me.

I was walking home from school like any other day. As I turned onto our street I noticed my moms car parked in front of our house. I noticed that the front bumper was crunched making it obvious why she was home in the middle of the day. To my surprise I felt a thrill run though me - my mom was home and I was overjoyed. Ignoring the obvious possibility of injury I rushed to the front door and when I opened it I saw my sweet mom ironing. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen - as if angel choirs were singing. It may sound silly to you but in that moment I realized how much I needed my mom and how much I missed her. Of course, I never told her about this. She couldn't help the necessity but from that moment I knew I would be home with my children.

I told Dave many times in our poverty days that I would live in a trailer if we had to but I would stay home. I have had many little jobs, piano lessons, crafting etc. My boys would probably say they wished I hadn't done that but I was able to be home and it has been a great blessing to me and I hope to them. Now that everyone is nearly grown I'm so thankful that the Lord opened my eyes on that day back in high school. I have seen miracles through the years and I know that the Lord gives us no commandment except He prepares a way for us to accomplish the thing which he commands.

I want to add that I don't judge those who choose to work outside the home. I trust that every woman has prayerfully made her decision. We can stand together to uphold the sacred role of women in the Father's plan.

Two Words - Girls camp

This occupies my waking hours (some of which are in the middle of the night) so you won't hear much from me for the next couple of weeks. After camp comes serious dress shopping for the wedding. Sadly there were no dresses in Utah with sleeves....honestly I even looked for patterns and remained uninspired. I've been assured that eggplant will be a big color for fall. The new lines should start appearing next week - Perfect! The saga continues...I've included some fabulous pictures of Doug and Cate from their engagement shoot because a blog is not a blog without pictures!