UPDATE: Life as I now know it

Well, life has definitely been a challenge lately, that should explain the serious lack in posting for a long time. Currently I am living in my dad's basement. Not the best place in the world to be but at least I have a roof over my head. I went to the singles ward today and it was a good day. I was spiritually fed for sure. It is interesting how at times you go to church expecting to gain one thing and come home with something completely different. I must say, I was expecting to only mildly enjoy church since that is how it has been for me for a long time. Most of my life I have felt like an outcast, like I wasn't really wanted or needed and if I wasn't there, well, it wouldn't have really mattered. I felt so welcomed in this ward and was able to sit down with the bishop after church and discuss with him some of my concerns. I cried a bit over the 3 hours of church but they were cleansing tears and it was good. I know things aren't going to be perfect anytime soon, but I know there are a lot of things that I can improve on and that my happiness depends on the amount of effort and the attitude I have towards the gospel. I was reading a talk by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf today on discipleship. I love how he is so eloquent he is and how he says things how they are and doesn't sugar coat anything! He said,
"Let us remember on this Palm Sunday, during this Easter season, and always that the restored gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ has the power to fill any emptiness, heal any wound, and bridge any vale of sorrow. It is the way of hope, faith, and trust in the Lord. The gospel of Jesus Christ is taught in its fulness in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This Church is led by a living prophet, authorized by the Lord Jesus Christ to provide direction and guidance to help us face the challenges of our day, as serious as they may be."
I can't wait to be able to go to the temple again! What a great blessing the temples are in our lives! Not only does it give us the opportunity to serve our ancestors but it also gives us the opportunity to receive personal revelation and guidance from our loving Heavenly Father. I may not have the best earthly father, but I can take comfort in knowing that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me and cares about what happens to me.

Semestery of Near Insanity

Last semester was crazy, hence no postings last semester. This semester will probably be closer to insane! I am doing Level II of my Elementary Education program plus I am taking a statistics class that I need to apply for my student teaching Spring semester next year. That makes a total of 18 credits for me this semester!
So, what did I do between semesters to relax and prepare for this semester? Well, I studied for the PRAXIS. But to really relax I worked on a lot of crocheting and knitting projects. I made a couple of blankets for Christmas presents. And I am happy to report that both of them are being used regularly by the recipients! I made one for my friend from Ohio that is a cranberry red, dark gray, navy blue, and white. He is a huge Ohio State University fan and he goes to school here at Utah State University so I combined the school colors of Ohio Sate (Red and Grey) with Utah State (Blue and White). The other blanket I made was for my sister for her birthday. It is sage green, chocolate brown and a light tan. She loved it so much that she went and got a whole new bedding set to go with it. I am also working on a blanket for each of my AWESOME roommates. I am making one that is black and white with a green border around each square. There will be 12 squares total. For my other roommate I am making one that is made up of hexagons that are a combination of lily pads and frogs.

Teddy Bears and Dogs

These are a couple of blankets I made for my cousin and a friend. The stuffed animals are made out of fleece and the dogs are made out of cotton fabric on the front and fleece on the back. The teddy bear blanket is made from flannel and fleece. Each blanket took me about a day to do start to finish. The little teddy bears took about an hour or two. The cost to make them is about $50...not including time. There is also a pattern to make a butterfly that is similar to these that I am dying to make but I don't know anyone that has a little girl that I could make it for.

On the Side?

I have been thinking about trying to get a little side business going, I have been really enjoying crocheting lately, I tried knitting, but I like crocheting better, maybe some day I will try knitting again, but for now, I will stick with what I am good at. So, my idea is to make and sell afghans, hats, gloves, etc. I'm not exactly sure how I am going to go about it, but I made a "shopping" bag the other day that turned out super cute. And I am working on an afghan right now. If anyone is interested in them, let me know, or if you know anyone who would be. Even if you have ideas of how to get some business going, I would really appreciate it! I really love the pineapple design, I would like to try making a tablecloth next. And just kind of go from there. I've tried making clothes and they turn out alright, but I like the blankets and other things better for some reason. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy my projects I have been working on and I will post a picture when I get the afghan finished.


This is the Bag that I made



This is the first part of the blanket I am working on:



This is a close up of the detail on the motif of the afghan:



This is what it should look like when it is finished:

Some Updates

First, I stole this picture from facebook of the wig I made so everyone could see how amazing it looked on the girl! I am quite proud that it looked so amazing and so real on her! She is the one in the front with the crazy hair! It looks amazing! Absolutely amazing! :)



Next, I wanted to post some goals that I made. Life has been crazy and frustrating and I thought the best way to get over that was to set some goals. I was going to take a picture of what I did but I suppose I can just explain it. I was looking at the word "goals" and noticed that the beginning of the word is "go" and that if I wanted to go anywhere in life I needed to set goals...so then I took the word and broke it down again into five different areas of my life.
1. Grades
2. Occupation
3. Attitude
4. Lifestyle
5. Spirituality
Each letter then got its own 3x5 card and I wrote the letter for each area...(g.o.a.l.s.). Then on each card I wrote key words for each area as what my goals are.
G-Participate, A's, 100% attendance, Positive attitude, take good notes, enthusiasm, ask questions, ask for help.
O-Open doors, 20 hrs., Smile, serve others, reach out, go above and beyond
A-Positive attitude, 3 positive things each day, think of other people's feelings first before I speak, selflessness, golden rule, find opportunities to serve.
L-Physical Fitness, outdoors, early to bed early to rise, healthy eating, walk more, try new things.
S-Temple worthy, daily scriptures, clean thoughts, journal writing, temple marriage

I wrote them all in ways that if I want I still have room to add to them. I have them hanging on my wall just above my computer, since I spend a lot of time doing homework, I am at my computer a lot so I thought it would be a good place to see them often.

Wig Making

So, at work they decided that I needed to learn how to make wigs. So, I thought that sounded pretty cool...I got a 5 min lesson on the basic techniques of making a wig and then they let me have at it...well, they are all impressed at how quickly I picked it up and how good I am. I suppose that is one of the reasons they are trying to talk me into changing my major to Costume Design. It is tempting...I am just not sure if I want to do that or not. I really want to finish my teaching degree, but if that doesn't work out, well, Costume Design will be a good alternative!

Nuts! 25 Things about me...Thanks Ashley....I am finally getting to this one!

Ashley tagged me to do the 25 things about me FOREVER ago, well, here I am finally getting to it!
1. I grew up in the Great State of Washington.
2. My favorite color is blue, because it brings out the color of my eyes, and well, I just love blue, pretty much any shade is lovely!
3. I am an Elementary Education Major at Utah State University in Logan, UT. I love it here and have enjoyed the small town atmosphere! I am a small town girl and living in the matropolis of Salt Lake City was just too much for me...even though I was about a half hour outside of the city...was still too close for comfort!
4. When I was first learning how to drive my mom and I were out and about and it had been raining a lot...surprise surprise...and we came across a flooded road. There was a car of similar size in front of us and they decided to drive through the flood. I looked at my mom and said...I don't think I can do that! She told me to just wait and see if the other car made it and if they did that I could go ahead and go through it as well. Well, they made it so my mom told me to go...I did and well, we didn't get stuck and I am still alive today!
5. When I was little I was attacked by a rooster and have been deathly afraid of birds ever since...all shapes and sizes scare me!
6. I love horses and we had one when I was little, his name was Jelly Bean, we couldn't ride him because he wasn't broke but I loved our horse! One summer my sister and I came back from our yearly visit with our dad and our mom had sold him! I was very sad! I am sure I cried!
7. I have a lot of Hillbillies in my heritage, my grandma Wight was raised a Hillbilly and she helped raise me, so I suppose that makes me about half Hillbilly! Not to mention the time I spent on my mission to Kentucky...so maybe I have more Hillbilly in me than I realize?
8. My older sister is one of my best friends, even though we fight like crazy sometimes, we still love each other and are always there for each other when we need the other's support. One time in sixth or seventh grade there was a boy at school that was picking on me so my sister called his mom and told her that she had better do something about her son picking on me. When our mom came home she got mad at my sister for calling her, she said that it was the mom's job to do that!
9. One of my favorite pets is a dog...I don't really care what kind of dog...I like most. If I could I would have one right now! Unfortunately college apts don't let you have pets! :(
10. I like to crochet, I enjoy the relaxation and the pleasure that comes from making something useful!
11. I learned to knit over the Thanksgiving Holiday, now I love to knit and am working on my first sweater.
12. I love to cook, bake, or do just about anything that involves food.
13. I love ice cream, it is one of the greatest comfort foods ever made! My favorite flavor right now is Aggie Blue Mint from the Aggie Ice Cream shop on campus! I wish it wasn't so expensive! I would eat it every day if I could!
14. I love to go outdoors, mostly in the spring and fall, and I love to go camping.
15. I love to travel and experience new places. I want to go on a backpacking Europe trip some time before I die!
16. I love my mom more than anything! She is amazing and she has been a great example to me of love and sacrifice!
17. My grandma Wight was also an amazing person and I miss her so much! I can't wait until I get to see her again!
18. One of my greatest accomplishments in life has been serving my mission to Kentucky! I not only grew as a person, but I also made so many wonderful, lifelong, friends that I will always be grateful for the experiences I had.
19. My favorite kind of food would probably be Italian, however I will try just about anything at least once. The most unique thing I have ever tried was squirrel when I was in Beattyville, Kentucky.
20. I have always wished I was a great artist, but unfortunately I can't even draw a straight line with a ruler!
21. I just learned how to ventelate...which for those of you that don't know what that is...it is making wigs and mustaches and such. It is really quite fun and everyone at work was amazed at how quickly I picked it up!
22. I love to watch movies of all types. My favorites are Romantic Comedy and good Action Films! I like movies that aren't predictable, that have twists and turns that are unexpected.
23. I like to play games with family and friends, especially ones that make you think and require some brain power. I am not super competetive but as long as it is all just fun and games, then I enjoy it.
24. I like to try and learn knew things. Life is all about experiences and knowledge.
25. I love to read, especially children's books. Harry Potter has been quite enjoyable, now that I have finally gotten into the books.