I know I'm not going to school anymore and we have a few more years yet before Alaska Paska makes her debut into kindergarten but it just seems that after 17 years of a life revolving around a school schedule that starts after labor day, summer has an end. And I'm taking it back.
We had a smashing beginning of summer with our trip to Utah and then we got back and things got a little mellow around here. The really hot days caught me off guard and after spending so much of the spring at the parks I couldn't get used to the heat outside where the slides were too hot to go down and the play equipment Alaska wouldn't touch without saying, "hot, hot." We started going out at 4, but even now, with the bulk of summer heat pounding on us, 4 is too hot. And by 6, I am ready to be in for the night cooking dinner. I'm ready for some big things to take back summer and send it on its way with a fall bucket list.
Our 'end of summer' bucket list includes:
Playing outside at 7.
Eating each of the entrees at the Thai trailer.
Making zucchini muffins.
Family photos.
Getting stuff in the mail for my Oregon teaching license.
Crafting 3 projects to sell.
Starting a collage journal and to practice.
Getting icecream at dari delish.
Thrifting down commerce in longview at my own pace.
Eating a burger and malt at the burger place on the corner of commerce.
Nights on the River
I'm not going to let summer slip through my fingers. We're taking it back.
Monday, August 19, 2013
Sunday, August 11, 2013
The Table that Started it All
I will always owe a big hug to my kitchen table. The excitement of having our very own table to make memories around was so overwhelming it acted as the pushing point to create a blog. Weird, right? But I am so grateful I have all of my best memories recorded and I am so grateful to that table of mine for giving me the umph to get it started.
Well. A long time ago when we got that table, I knew it would look best in blue. And this week, it's turning blue. I've got it all primed up and am seriously addicted to painting at this point. Nothing in our house is safe. And may I just add, it makes a big job so much smaller if you're able to paint two things at once. Paint one, and while the other is drying, paint the other, do a little cleaning and shebaam, time for a second coat already and my interest hasn't failed yet.
I was actually working on a second project, instead of painting a second object, although, now that said project is done, it's time to come up with another object to paint. I just don't want to turn into one of those gals that has a gallon of paint and everything she paints is painted out of that bucket so that there's a blue kitchen table in the kitchen, a blue side table in the living room and another blue night-stand in the bedroom. I am writing this right now so that I do not become that lady. No way.
My project was one of those bow-clip holders for a friend who is having a baby girl in September. I love them so much and still have yet to make Alaska one. But maybe, with the extra fabric from this one, I'll come up with the courage and energy to create one for the most important girl in my life right now. Goodness knows we need one. Her bows are scattered throughout my bags and purses as she tears them out at church in the grocery store. She's got a near bald spot on one side of her head that we have remedied with pigtails instead of side ponytailes.
Thank you kitchen table, for being amazing and letting me paint on you. You, too, will soon look fabulous!
Well. A long time ago when we got that table, I knew it would look best in blue. And this week, it's turning blue. I've got it all primed up and am seriously addicted to painting at this point. Nothing in our house is safe. And may I just add, it makes a big job so much smaller if you're able to paint two things at once. Paint one, and while the other is drying, paint the other, do a little cleaning and shebaam, time for a second coat already and my interest hasn't failed yet.
I was actually working on a second project, instead of painting a second object, although, now that said project is done, it's time to come up with another object to paint. I just don't want to turn into one of those gals that has a gallon of paint and everything she paints is painted out of that bucket so that there's a blue kitchen table in the kitchen, a blue side table in the living room and another blue night-stand in the bedroom. I am writing this right now so that I do not become that lady. No way.
My project was one of those bow-clip holders for a friend who is having a baby girl in September. I love them so much and still have yet to make Alaska one. But maybe, with the extra fabric from this one, I'll come up with the courage and energy to create one for the most important girl in my life right now. Goodness knows we need one. Her bows are scattered throughout my bags and purses as she tears them out at church in the grocery store. She's got a near bald spot on one side of her head that we have remedied with pigtails instead of side ponytailes.
Thank you kitchen table, for being amazing and letting me paint on you. You, too, will soon look fabulous!
Clean Your Room
They gave me a calling in the young women's organization at church. Have I mentioned that before? Which is great. I love the girls to pieces. They are absolutely fabulous young women with great ambition and strong testimonies.
I have never been the kind that thinks later after a conversation, "Ooop, should have said that." But for some reason, the pressure to saying something enlightening to these young women tends to bring me up short each and every time and I tend to have repeat conversations in my head and come up with brilliant examples and lessons in my own life that I could share. It's happened twice too many times now and I have decided that until I can remember to always pray to have the spirit with me, to remind me of enlightening things to say, I had better practice by writing my should-have-been answers.
This Sunday we were talking about becoming wives and mothers. The qualties needed and how the girls could be working on those qualities right now. The two that I was asked specifically to talk about were organizational skills and cleanliness while the other was forgiveness.
Question 1 "What was your room like, growing up?"
It was almost always clean. If everything has a home it's a lot easier to put it away quickly instead of always having to look for a place to put it. I think it's also important to own your abilities. I don't like folding laundry. When Steve and I were first married I was the dutiful wife and did the laundry and the folding, but soon I began just stuffing clothes into drawers and that created a problem because the drawers wouldn't always close and it always looked messy. I realized the problem and thought up the solution of purchasing a big bin. Seriously. It's the size of an extra large suitcase and now, instead of folding clothes, I toss his clothes into the bin and our room looks much more organized without clothes peaking out of the dresser. I have more room in the dresser and can stuff my clothes in it without folding them. Problems are solved because I knew my weakness of not wanting to fold and owned it, creating a solution that works for everyone. If you know you will have a pile of clean clothes on your floor mid-week from trying on three different outfits each day, create a space for them to not be on the floor so that it is easier to tell them from the dirties.
We live in an apartment complex where people are in transitions in life and they have a hard time keeping things nice and taking responsibility for messes. One of the little girls that runs around outside likes to come to our house, often asking after Alaska and if she can come out and play. She came in to use the bathroom and came out saying, "Your bathroom is so clean!" She sat on the couch to wait for Alaska to get her shoes on and says, "It feels good in here." I loved that. When a house is clean, it is much easier to concentrate on how it feels in the house. Instead of spending an morning cleaning before someone comes over, I can spend 30 minutes and wash up the breakfast dishes and then spend the other little bit of time reading the scriptures and playing EFY music to invite the spirit. A house not only needs to be clean, but to feel clean, in order for the spirit to work its magic.
Question 2 "Have you and your husband had an experience you would like to share with forgiveness?"
Of course. Yes. So many. But mostly. (And I bawled at this time. It's been so stressful and I didn't even know it) Mostly ever since we've moved, I've been so stressed. It's hard having two families so close. I was always getting upset. Over the smallest things I would yell and scream and it wasn't effective because a person out of control like that is hard to listen to. Steven would tune me out and whatever the problem was never got fixed. So we came up with this scale of 1 to 10. If something is bothering me, I take his hand and say, Steven, I have something hard to tell you. This is always down calmly so that he can prepare his mind for it and then he knows it's important without me having to raise the volume of my voice. I rate it for him and sometimes, if it's a low number, I can tell him right then. If it's a higher number sometimes I need to wait a hour before telling him. We've had to say a lot of, "I'm sorries" and a lot of "I knows" but I think the most important part of forgiveness is the changing part that comes with it. The changes that we make to create a happier life for each other and Alaska.
I have never been the kind that thinks later after a conversation, "Ooop, should have said that." But for some reason, the pressure to saying something enlightening to these young women tends to bring me up short each and every time and I tend to have repeat conversations in my head and come up with brilliant examples and lessons in my own life that I could share. It's happened twice too many times now and I have decided that until I can remember to always pray to have the spirit with me, to remind me of enlightening things to say, I had better practice by writing my should-have-been answers.
This Sunday we were talking about becoming wives and mothers. The qualties needed and how the girls could be working on those qualities right now. The two that I was asked specifically to talk about were organizational skills and cleanliness while the other was forgiveness.
Question 1 "What was your room like, growing up?"
It was almost always clean. If everything has a home it's a lot easier to put it away quickly instead of always having to look for a place to put it. I think it's also important to own your abilities. I don't like folding laundry. When Steve and I were first married I was the dutiful wife and did the laundry and the folding, but soon I began just stuffing clothes into drawers and that created a problem because the drawers wouldn't always close and it always looked messy. I realized the problem and thought up the solution of purchasing a big bin. Seriously. It's the size of an extra large suitcase and now, instead of folding clothes, I toss his clothes into the bin and our room looks much more organized without clothes peaking out of the dresser. I have more room in the dresser and can stuff my clothes in it without folding them. Problems are solved because I knew my weakness of not wanting to fold and owned it, creating a solution that works for everyone. If you know you will have a pile of clean clothes on your floor mid-week from trying on three different outfits each day, create a space for them to not be on the floor so that it is easier to tell them from the dirties.
We live in an apartment complex where people are in transitions in life and they have a hard time keeping things nice and taking responsibility for messes. One of the little girls that runs around outside likes to come to our house, often asking after Alaska and if she can come out and play. She came in to use the bathroom and came out saying, "Your bathroom is so clean!" She sat on the couch to wait for Alaska to get her shoes on and says, "It feels good in here." I loved that. When a house is clean, it is much easier to concentrate on how it feels in the house. Instead of spending an morning cleaning before someone comes over, I can spend 30 minutes and wash up the breakfast dishes and then spend the other little bit of time reading the scriptures and playing EFY music to invite the spirit. A house not only needs to be clean, but to feel clean, in order for the spirit to work its magic.
Question 2 "Have you and your husband had an experience you would like to share with forgiveness?"
Of course. Yes. So many. But mostly. (And I bawled at this time. It's been so stressful and I didn't even know it) Mostly ever since we've moved, I've been so stressed. It's hard having two families so close. I was always getting upset. Over the smallest things I would yell and scream and it wasn't effective because a person out of control like that is hard to listen to. Steven would tune me out and whatever the problem was never got fixed. So we came up with this scale of 1 to 10. If something is bothering me, I take his hand and say, Steven, I have something hard to tell you. This is always down calmly so that he can prepare his mind for it and then he knows it's important without me having to raise the volume of my voice. I rate it for him and sometimes, if it's a low number, I can tell him right then. If it's a higher number sometimes I need to wait a hour before telling him. We've had to say a lot of, "I'm sorries" and a lot of "I knows" but I think the most important part of forgiveness is the changing part that comes with it. The changes that we make to create a happier life for each other and Alaska.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
Overcast Days
After living in the land of sunshine for so long, it is supremely nice to come back to the place where there are overcast days in the middle of July to break up the long summer days. There is something refreshing about sleeping in an extra hour because the morning sunlight that loves to tickle eyelids has somewhere else to be.
Even more refreshing is opening the blinds to behold dry sidewalks, dry cars and soon-to-be dry grass, all shaded with deep blues and grays, holding promises of an adventure. Uninterrupted by a blinding sun that would otherwise promise sweltering temperatures that would only be calmed by toes dipped in the Columbia River. The quietness of a Saturday morning spread out before my eyes and whispered in my ears as I took the garbage out. The first to leave footprints in the dew-covered grass.
The cooling temperatures gave me the extra nudge I've been needing to get Alaska and I up and ready to leave the house at 10 to the Scappoose Farmers' market. Not very big and not too many people wandering around. Apparently the clouds that gave me my energy kept others at home. There were beautiful flowers for $5 put together by a little asian lady who used one hand to hold the stems and another to push flowers into the bouquet and when I took them from her I had to use both hands just to hold it upright. A booth called "Dirt Candy" that sold lots of vegetables and leafy greens. People from church who called out my name and we shared a story and a smile. Little old ladies who smiled at Alaska and called her sweetie as she looked out at them from her stroller.
The clouds burned off by noon, followed by the need for a change of clothes for both Alaska and I. Jeans were traded for shorts and hairs were pulled into ponytails and though the sun shared blue skies I still remembered the morning clouds with a smile.
Even more refreshing is opening the blinds to behold dry sidewalks, dry cars and soon-to-be dry grass, all shaded with deep blues and grays, holding promises of an adventure. Uninterrupted by a blinding sun that would otherwise promise sweltering temperatures that would only be calmed by toes dipped in the Columbia River. The quietness of a Saturday morning spread out before my eyes and whispered in my ears as I took the garbage out. The first to leave footprints in the dew-covered grass.
The cooling temperatures gave me the extra nudge I've been needing to get Alaska and I up and ready to leave the house at 10 to the Scappoose Farmers' market. Not very big and not too many people wandering around. Apparently the clouds that gave me my energy kept others at home. There were beautiful flowers for $5 put together by a little asian lady who used one hand to hold the stems and another to push flowers into the bouquet and when I took them from her I had to use both hands just to hold it upright. A booth called "Dirt Candy" that sold lots of vegetables and leafy greens. People from church who called out my name and we shared a story and a smile. Little old ladies who smiled at Alaska and called her sweetie as she looked out at them from her stroller.
The clouds burned off by noon, followed by the need for a change of clothes for both Alaska and I. Jeans were traded for shorts and hairs were pulled into ponytails and though the sun shared blue skies I still remembered the morning clouds with a smile.
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