This is my disclaimer before I start posting my crafting projects up on my blog. I'm not a neat crafter, in fact some would call it just plain sloppy. So if you are offended by misaligned edges, unmeasured squares, and fingerprints in paint then these are probably sections that should be skipped. Well, with that said, let me explain: I'm trying to keep up on my scripture study this year and follow the church curriculum. So to help me to keep up in the Old Testament I made these book marks:
You are welcome to download this. Just save it to your computer but make sure you click on it first so that you can get the larger file.
Then I decided to make a bookmark for Relief Society:
Both of these have been awesome for keeping me on track. I really like to mark them off and show that I'm keeping up. The problem happened when I crawled into bed one evening, looked down at my list and realized that it was a Teaching For Our Times section. Oh, crap, here I am all cozy in bed and I have to read a talk from General Conference. So I pull out my trusty iphone and read the talk on there. But that got me thinking; what if my iphone hadn't been available, or if one of our 3 computers wasn't available, or possibly if a ninja broke into our home and pilfered our copy of the ensign (excuse my last one, it was in the heat of the moment and I fully realize that Ninjas don't pilfer, pirates do. Just roll with it.) To make sure that the talks and the book are all in the same easy to reach place I decided that I would print them all out, fold them in half, and stick them in between the pages of my book. Simple right, wrong, I have a toddler and nothing slid into a book stays "slid" in. So I spiral bound my book and actually bound the talks inside the book in chronological order so that I could just open up and start reading where ever I left off. Awesome, huh?
The sad part is that as cool as my book is...I am not in RS. I'm in the YW and no one will ever see it or hear my awesome answers to the questions because I came prepared.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Gospel Principles Book
Trains
Oliver really loves trains. He plays with them at friends houses, at the library, at Grandpa's house. But the truly great place he plays trains is at our house; where we don't actually have a train set. Instead he PRETENDS by placing all his cars in a row and saying Choo Choo he pushes them from behind and of course they all jumble up but he patiently puts them all back in their place and starts again. I love to watch him play trains. It reminds of so many things that I feel have been lost in a lot of children today. First: Oliver pretends. I love to watch his imagination grow. It's amazing to see the connections he makes. I know that I wouldn't look at a car and think train even though they are very similar I know that a train is a train and a car is a car. Second: Sorting. It's so good to see him sort. We have a couple different sets of cars. A set that we got him for Christmas last year, a set that we got him for Christmas this year, and a set from Grandma and Grandpa Williams. With all these cars he puts them all in the correct line and the Grandma and Grandpa set doesn't get mixed in with the last year christmas set. and Third: Patience, even though the cars crumple up on each other he still puts them back in the correct place and tries it again. He'll play all afternoon if I don't have anything else going on. 
I love playing "Trains."
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Honeymoon: before & after
Since I wrote about marriage yesterday, it reminded me of our honeymoon. I've had a request to see the before and after of our backpacking. Just to catch everyone up for our honeymoon we went and spent 4 weeks backpacking in Guatemala. In that time we didn't shave and never took a warm shower.
Before:
After:
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Wordfull Wednesday - 3 Important things in Marriage
I was introduced to wordfull Wednesdays by a wonderful woman in my ward. Meg has been involved in this for a while and I found it when I was reading her blog. I followed the link to find more about it and was introduced to this lovely blog. I've been faithfully reading both blogs and have especially enjoyed the wordfull Wednesday activities. So here is my contribution to wordfull Wednesday.
Assignment: What are the three most important things in marriage?
1- Growth
This is my number 1 important thing. If you grow together, you won't grow apart. This is why Bryan and I are religious about our New Year's resolutions. Every year we sit down and talk over our goals for the year and how we are going to achieve them. This isn't a list that gets shoved into a corner somewhere and forgotten. We take all the steps necessary to try and fulfill that. Everything from posting our goals on our blog, to putting them on the calendar, a list goes in our scriptures and another on the wall in our entryway. They are around as a constant reminder and at the end of the year it isn't how many things we've checked off, it's the journey of getting there. In fact; I'll admit that a lot of that list is left undone and many things are moved over to be the next year. But it has been a year where I have known what Bryan wants to achieve and more importantly I've known how to support him and he supports me. We have things to talk about, we show our love through encouragement, and we celebrate together when a goal is reached.
2- Unity
There are many more ways to word this and many ways to break into smaller categories. Among them are fidelity, trust, and communication. I always want to stand as a united front. When raising our children I want to make sure we are on the same page about policies, education, and scripture study. If we don't agree on something then taking the time work it out and find out how we can come to a resolution is worth a lot to a marriage. We are raising a family together and I know that I couldn't do it on my own so it's nice to know that someone has my back and I want to keep him there.
3- Tithing
Nothing has blessed our lives more than paying our tithing. There is seriously a tangible difference in our lives when we pay a full tithe. All of our finances fall into place and things just seem to work out a lot better. If we don't have financial problems than we don't argue or get angry with each other and I'm willing to do anything to keep it that way.
If I could add a fourth it would be humor, but that isn't the assignment so forget I said anything about it.
Bryan and I have only been married for 2 1/2 years but it's been a doozy. Through that short time we have been through a lot. Already, Bryan has graduated from college, we had a beautiful baby, we moved across the country from our parents, started a new job, and bought a house. Just to name a few of the big ones. Among our smaller achievements have been to make new friends, go to Germany, get a YMCA membership, and host our first Thanksgiving where I cooked my own turkey. But what I'm trying to say is that I'm no expert in marriage and my most important things are still in the honeymoon stages of our wonderful life together but I still feel they are important because, well, doesn't everyone want those honeymoon years back.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Week 4: Jan 17-23
Oliver received an entire box of dress up clothes from his Grandma and Grandpa Blacker. He has loved having them. We have played dress up multiple times and in many different outfits. Everything from a dr. to a monkey. But his favorite is the firefighter. I think he likes it for the hat. Thank you Grandma and Grandpa, your costumes are getting plenty of use!
