Sunday, December 13, 2009
O Christmas Tree
Thursday, November 19, 2009
YW in Excellence: Follow Up
Last Wednesday was Veteran's Day, meaning I didn't have work and the young women at church didn't have school, so I took the opportunity to schedule some extra practice for YW in Excellence. Instead of spending 8 hours in the office, I spent 8 hours at the church building, meeting with each one of the performers in the afternoon and then all of the girls in the evening.
Thursday morning I woke up feeling just a little ill. Next to me, Nathan woke up feeling a lot ill. I decided to stay home from work and take care of my house. Mike promptly swept Amy in the car and took her away so she wouldn't catch anything from us. All good decisions, as it turns out. By Thursday afternoon I was full-blown sick. Fever. Aches. Fatigue.
Yuck.
The illness persisted. I did work from my bed or the couch, and I continued coordinating YW in Excellence. I firmly believed I would recover by Sunday and thus still perform my role in the awards show.
I was wrong.
My fever broke by Sunday, but a cough and a sore throat developed. My loving fellow leaders in the YW program noted that this development made me "sound like a man." They weren't wrong, but I definitely didn't need to hear about it. Especially because it meant the death of my acting career.
So when Sunday night came, one of the other leaders filled in on stage for me, and I hunkered down behind the scenes, plotting how I could write this tragety into the script for next year.
Oh! And even without my sparkling presence on stage, the show was awesome.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Young Women in Excellence: Baby, Look at You Now!
Both the YM and YW have a program to help them develop spiritually. The programs are basically a series of goals; things like reading scriptures, doing acts of service, learning new stuff, etc.
The young men's program is called Duty to God; for the YW it's Personal Progress. Once a year, the young women have an awards ceremony as part of Personal Progress where they receive awards for completing their goals. The name of the awards ceremony is Young Women in Excellence. This year, our ceremony has the theme "Baby, Look at You Now!" We've decided to do a fancy ceremony -- dresses, glitter, dangerous shoes, cake, black table cloths... all the works! I'm pretty excited about it (and not just because it's an excuse to get fancy, although I totally love that part).
Somehow I managed to end up being in charge of the script, and by association, apparently I'm directing a lot of the activities. It wasn't my goal to run the thing; I just had some ideas I really wanted to use for the program. But, alas! Be careful! Sometimes you get more than you bargained for!
So far my responsibilities have included a lot of writing, hand wringing, hair pulling, a few nighs of tossing and turning...
Sharing my closet of gorgeous gowns, going to the dry cleaners, doing some sewing, borrowing stuff from my mom and grandma...
Printing reams of paper, buying folders, sending emails, setting schedules, making more phone calls...
And on and on!
Do I love it? Absolutely.
Will the young women love it? Oh man, I hope so.
There's more to come on this topic... probablly after it's all said and done.
My mom has a blog!
Lo-and-behold, clicking on her name led me to a blog. To her blog! Apparently my mom has a blog! And there are two, not-quite-an-actual-post posts on her blog.
So, world: Go visit my mom's blog. And encourage her to use it.
www.JulieBike.blogspot.com
Mom: Blog!!!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Making a dress?
Obviously you can't tell from the picture, but it's stretchy and light. I have a dress out of fabric like this, so I already know that I love the way it feels.
I think the first pattern is my favorite. I like the design on the left; I'd use black around the neck/waist/sleeves. I might also add a black trim on the bottom, like the picture on the right.
Tuesday, October 27, 2009
On Economics
(Insert groans; I know that everyone is sick of this topic.)
I listen to people talk about our current recession quite often. They talk about how and why we got here, where we're at, and where we're going. I get a lot of questions about it, too.
Here's a phrase I often hear from other professionals, at conferences, and read in the paper: No one saw this crisis coming. No one could have predicted it.
Is that a total load of crap, or what?
Whenever someone says that, I can't help but think s/he is an idiot. Seriously. No one could have seen this coming?! That's completely inaccurate, and here's two reasons:
(1) People did predict the problem. Smart people. They gave presentations and wrote memos and sometimes kicked and screamed, BUT they were poo-poohed or shushed or ignored.
(2) I predicted it.
Okay, I'm over-inflating myself. I didn't know just how bad the problem was or how severe the effecrs would be, but even I could see it coming. I heard my peers in college classes talking about their crazy mortgage loans (adjustable rates? paying only the interest? what?!); and I knew that if a college kid without a job could get a mortgage loan, there was a problem with the system.
Nathan and I also have a tradition of going on the Tour of Homes every summer. We first went in 2005. In 2006, as we walked away from a particularly swanky, supposedly middle-class, brand-new subdivision, we said to each other, "The pace and price of housing construction is not sustainable. Our society can't keep doing this. We're in a housing bubble, and it's going to burst."
I had crunched some numbers, and I knew it was true. But Nate? He's not very good with numbers. He hadn't "crunched" anything. He simply looked around, saw what was happening, and he knew.
So when I hear some Tool telling me that "no one saw this coming; no one could have seen this coming," I always secretly whisper,
Bull---t.
* The image in this post is taken from the website http://www.steadfastfinances.com/
I am in no way affiliated with that website. I do not directly endorse, support, oppose, or otherwise have an opinion on their goals and viewpoints.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
Heavenly Father always knows
So now I've switched into my typical moving mode: slighty stressed, brain in overdrive, planning every last detail... etc. All the things that I'm use to, since Nate and I move 5 times in 4 years. It's kinda funny, actually: since we've moved into our house, I tell everyone that I am NEVER MOVING AGAIN in my life. That much might hold true, but apparently that doesn't mean I can avoid being a central party to a couple more moves. So, after Mike and Amy move in here and back out, I can add two more moves to my list, keeping up my one-per-year average. Too funny.
But you're probably wondering about the title of this post and how it relates to what I'm writing. So I should get back on track...
After I got off the phone with Amy on Tuesday, I went into the basement and started analyzing the space. I made a mental checklist of what needs to be done. I've done this plently of times since we started discussing the possible move, but this time I felt like I was looking with a whole new set of eyes.
For instance, I really looked at the windows this week. We were blessed to find a house with HUGE windows. They are massively helpful for my s.a.d. because they let so much light into the house. Which is also their pitfall. Lots of light at night. Plus less insullation against the weather. In the basement, there are no curtains for the windows. None. But the pully system for curtains (what is it called?!) is still in place, so I can just make/buy curtains and put them up! Realizing this, I started going through my fabric collection to see if I had anything that might work for the windows.
Lo-and-behold, I had fabric that would work. Great fabric. Perfect fabric, in fact...
Three years ago, when we were house-sitting and living in Eugene, I went fabric shopping more often than I do now. On one such trip I came across some great discount fabric. $1 per yard for this heavy, sage-green fabric. I had no use for it. Not even a plan for a use. I didn't really want it, since I had no use for it, but I purchased it anyway. I actually felt a complusion to buy it (which made me worry I was turning into a shopaholic or something... thankfully I haven't!)
Flash back to the present: I still have the fabric. Haven't used it for anything. I've pulled it out a few times over the years and thought about using it, but every time I felt like I was suppose to put it away. And then Tuesday night came, and I took it out once again, and I held it up to the giant windows in my basement.
It's exactly the right size. Right length, right width. Nothing extra, nothing lacking. Perfect.
That moment was a lightbulb to me. I had this overwhelming sense that Heavenly Father knows. He knew we would buy this house; He knew Mike and Amy would come to live with us. I know it sounds mundane, and not like something an All-Powerful Creator would be concerned with, but I think God cares about the little things -- even about having fabric to make curtains. He knows. He knows us, and He loves us.
And I'm grateful for that.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
The Evolution of My Front Yard
The only "before" picture of my house, which unfortunately doesn't show the ugly front tree very clearly. It was impressively yucky, so you're not missing much:
After the tree was cut down and some of the shrubbery was removed. This work was done last spring (2009), within the first couple of months after we moved in:
We mostly took a break on the yard until August, when we started puttering around. We needed to re-seed the lawn, and the picture below shows the front after we took out the little patch of grass that was there. It also shows part of the old plumbing system, which was a BEAST of a job to remove:
(Turns out there were two old plumbing systems under there. We've named them The Old System, and The Old Old System.)
N8bear, trenching out the lines for the new sprinkler system:
After all the lines for the new sprinkler system were trenched /dug:
THE NEW FRONT OF MY HOUSE, WITH A TREE!!!!
Grass seed is planted, but hasn't popped up yet. We're expecting to see some sprouts this weekend. I can't wait to post another picture this spring, when the grass is in and the bulbs are in bloom!
I also need to finish the front deck. I took off the old, metal railing and I raised the deck so it's now level, but I need to put on a new railing.
Monday, August 24, 2009
My Kitchen!
Me: I hate my kitchen -- it's boring and looks old-fashioned.
My neighbor: You know, a very simple and inexpenisve way to solve that is to paint it and put in new hardware.
That got me to thinking (which is rarely a good idea when it comes to house projects, I know). I made some mental calculations. I figured for about 200 bucks I could do a pretty decent makeover of my kitchen. Add new paint and hardware, but leave the rest alone.
So I went to the store and got a paint sample. Nathan hated it. We debated. Then I bought some more paint samples....
The paint-sample part of the story goes on for another 12 colors, so let me sum up by saying that eventually I found both paint colors and hardware that I LOVE, so after about 1 week of long hours (2 days of which were very intense, and my wonderful mother came down and was a tremendous help), I have a beautifully facelifted kitchen. Just look at these before and after pictures:
There are still a few little things to do (small spots that need a paint touch-up, plus I'm planning to replace that picture over the stove with a big spice rack... from Ikea, maybe?), but isn't it beatiful?!
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Kitten Post for My Mum
Abby again, with N8:
Other cute things:
I don't have pictures of all of this stuff, but Jack and Abby have a couple of new toys they LOVE...
Our Wall-to-Rail is Nearly Done!
We're nearly done with the wall-to-rail project. The railing is constructed and in place. There are only minor adjustments remaining, including a little bit of sanding, some painting, and attaching the floorboard trim.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Volunteering
I am only one, but still I am one. I cannot do everything, but still I can do something; and because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I can do.
Edmund Everett Hale
Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Service to others is the payment you make for your space here on earth.
Mohammed Ali
Never before has man had such a great capacity to control his own environment, to end hunger, poverty and disease, to banish illiteracy and human misery. We have the power to make the best generation of mankind in the history of the world.
President John F. Kennedy
I shall pass through this world but once. Any good therefore that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.
Mahatma Gandhi
I was taught that the world had a lot of problems; that I could struggle and change them; that intellectual and material gifts brought the privilege and responsibility of sharing with others less fortunate; and that service is the rent each of us pays for living, the very purpose of life and not something you do in your spare time or after you have reached your personal goals.
Marian Wright Edelman
We make a living by what we do, but we make a life by what we give.
Winston Churchill
In case you love these as much as I do, here's the link to the list I pulled them from.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
More About Kittens
Friday, June 19, 2009
We Have Kittens!
Thursday, June 18, 2009
A Post for My Mum
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Update!
No, I'm afraid it's just good ol' fashion laz.... er.... busyness. Yeah - that's it. I've got too much on my plate to blog as regularly as I a should.
Anyway, I was reminded how long it was today when Craig stopped by to pick up the key to his beach house. Which made me think, "It's been quite awhile since that trip." And thus quite awhile since I've posted anything!
So here I am. I'm... um.... posting. I posted. That was my post. Now back to whatever other time waster I was working on before I wrote this very special update.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
At the Beach
Thursday, April 30, 2009
Spare Bedroom Closet
Just a quick post...
Here are some pictures of the closet in the spare bedroom. I didn't take any "before" pictures because there wasn't much to see; it was just two wooden dowels that went all the way across the closet. About a month ago Nathan and I picked up some finished plywood from Home Depot, then two weeks ago I finally started cutting the plywood into parts for the closet. I also built the closet two weekends ago, but had to wait to paint it until last week. I (finally) finished it Sunday night -- touched up the paint spills, dropped in the drawers, and hung things back up. Although the drawers still need a little work (long story), it's pretty much done. I think it looks pretty nice!