Crochet Basics

So, I've started a new undertaking.  I'm designing and writing a website, crochet-basics.com  

I'm just getting it going and I have lots and lots of work to do on it.  But, that because I have lots and lots of great plans for it down the road.

It's my new job and I really am loving it.  It's stressful at times, fun and exciting at times, and overwhelming at other times.  But, I'm digging it.  I really enjoy (most of the time) writing the pages and working on new ideas.  It's been good to have a new outlet.  I didn't realize how much I needed to just step out of my everyday life and do something new.

I'm still working out how to balance everything, being a mom, being a wife, being primary president, and now a web designer.  But, I think in the end I'll get it and it will all turn out to be great.

I'm grateful for the opportunity that I have to do this, right now.  I wish that I had done it sooner, but really, I don't think that I was ready to do this earlier.  I think that I'm at the right time in my life to start this new adventure.

So come check it out and see my progress -- however slow it may be at times.  And, share it with your friends!  crochet-basics.com

Girls' New Hair-dos

This is the only recent "before" picture I could find of McKaylie with her hair down.  It's cute, but I really like it when it's short.  Plus, when it's longer, she always has it pulled back in a ponytail.

 

This isn't the best "after" picture, but you get the idea.  It's cute, right?!

I couldn't find a "before" picture of me with my hair down, but it was past my shoulders.  I like this much better!

Walk on the Beach at Sunset

These little guys are all over the beach in the evenings. 

 We decided to go for a walk on the beach tonight.  I'm so glad we did.  It was the perfect night for it . . . a nice cool breeze, gorgeous sunset and crabs running around like crazy.

Ready for a fight

 These guys are pretty big, but most were tiny little things running around.  At times it looked the the sand was moving because the little ones are spotted and look just like the sand.  The kids love it.

Gorgeous sunset tonight

Watching the waves roll in

 Chad and I couldn't help but feel a little sad that this might be our last summer here in Virginia.  It's never been our favorite place to live, but there are things about it that we love and the beach is one of them . . . walks on the beach, watching/listening to the waves, the breeze off the water, enjoying the kids while they play and the amazing sunsets.  If we do leave the East Coast, we will so miss the beach!

McKaylie and Noah catch crabs.

They caught a lot of them, let them go and then caught a lot more.

New Calling

About a month ago - just in time for my birthday - I was given a new calling at church. I'm the new primary president for the Salem ward. For those who might not know, the primary includes all the children ages 18 months - 12 years old. It's a large primary and we just had 3 new families move in this last week. They each have 3 children, so my primary just increased by 9 kids in less that a week. We have around 120 children on our rolls, I think.

Our primary and youth are also combined with a Spanish speaking branch in our stake. I think this (so far) is my biggest challenge. We don't have any records for some of those children. We don't know who some of the parents are and several speak very little English. It gets a little complicated some days. On the flip side of that, I love the song Nephi's Courage and I Am A Child of God in Spanish. The sweetest talk I've heard so far was by a little girl in our Sunbeams class. She gave her entire talk in Spanish. I understood very little of what she was saying but it still touched my heart and made me cry.

This calling keeps me really busy, but I'm enjoying it so far. Maybe someday I'll get to a point where I feel like I have a handle on things . . . I'm not sure if that point will come any time soon though. I have days I feel like I can handle everything and days when I feel like I'm in way over my head. I'm very grateful that I know the Lord doesn't give us anything to do that we can't handle and also that I feel his spirit helping me. I love serving in the primary and working with the children. I'm also really happy to get to be with McKaylie in her last few months of primary.

Strawberry Season

Yummy, Right!!!! We also picked strawberries while Chad was home and made jam! When I have all my canning stuff out, I always try and do as much with it as I can. That way I don't have to keep getting it out over and over again. So, here's a list of all the jams we (I) made:

10 - pints strawberry jam
5 - pints strawberry syrup
4 - pints and 8 - 1/2 pints strawberry/lemon marmalade
8 - pints strawberry/kiwi jam
8 - 1/2 pints cherry/almond jam
7 - 1/2 pints jalapeno jelly

Makes me tired just thinking about it!

USS Ponce Homecoming

I tried to post these the other day and I couldn't get them to load -always so frustrating.Chad's ship came back to Virginia on May 16th after an 8 1/2 month deployment and I was there to meet him. I'm so glad I was able to be there. Chad ship is much smaller than the ones he's been on in the past so this was by far the smallest homecoming I've been to (less than 1,000 people compared to 10,000) but it was no less exciting.

Here's the first good look at the ship coming in and when all the emotions and tears come...... Making it's way to the pier slowly (but not as slow as the carriers which was nice!) There were lots of flags waving in the crowd. It was hard not to catch them in my pictures, but I love the way some of them turned out. Closer still . . . . . . . Ahhhh, Pierside! After the ships are tied off and the tugboats can leave, they always blow their horns in celebration. In my 17 years with the navy, I don't think I've ever enjoyed hearing that horn more! It's been a long cruise.

Etsy

So I'm trying something new. Someone told me about Etsy.com, where you can sell handmade goods. So, I've decided to post some of my "creations" online and see what happens. Check 'em out and tell me what you think. If you like them, spread the word for me, too! You can click on any of the pictures below or go directly to my "shop" here, 4formecrafts.etsy.com
I'll be adding more crafts and blankets soon, so check back again!

Etsy 4forMeCrafts

20th Anniversary

I was going to say that Chad and I celebrated our 20th anniversary last month (Dec 28) but since we're not even in the same hemisphere that's not quite true. It was disappointing to say the least that we couldn't be together on that day.
So, I'll say that our 20th anniversary was last month. And to my surprise, Chad sent me flowers. Ahhhhhh! I was great to get them that day and they were beautiful and I was really touched! It really made my day and my bedroom smelled like roses for days after that, which reminded me of him. So, I thought I needed to include them in my blog. (Thank you, Donna, for helping him out!)

Tooo Cold For Me!!!

30 below with the wind chill factor might be normal out west---but not here! Apparently I've become a wimp over the last few years because I was hating that cold snap we got and it only lasted a few days! I sure was missing those block heaters for my vehicles, too! Vance gave me a hard time about how I was bundled up, so he took a picture to send to his dad! So I thought I'd share it. (I wouldn't stay outside long enough for him to take it out there---It was COLD!!)

Random Phone Pictures . . . .

These are the last pictures taken on my phone.......Shows just how random I really am, I think!

Here's Myshel, showing the cute little apple we got from the high school students after we helped with their fundraiser. (which reminds me ........ where did the kids put the rest of those apples????) Vance, working away on his school laptop, truth be told, he's probably more likely playing a game on it than doing work! A quick shot on my daily walk. Another quick shot from my walk. Noah's handiwork---boy is mom's phone fun! I look deep in thought, though, don't I. I was probably watching TV. Vanilla--There's more pictures on my phone than there probably should be of her, but she's so darn cute!

My week in a nutshell . . .

Wow, it's so easy to get behind . . . ok, a super quick update of last week . . .
I've been to the dentist twice in the last week for a tooth that wasn't even bothering me to begin with and I have another appointment for it next week.

I've been to the doctor's office 3 different times with Vance for a check-up, blood-work and follow up.

I've been to the vet with Nutmeg. She has Lyme disease . . . from a tick that bit her last spring! I knew I was justified in hating ticks. And she has a yeast infection in her ear. . .

I've been visiting teaching to 7 of the 8 sisters on my list. (To be completely fair, some we just drop goodies off to--they won't let us in to talk)

I've been at the school 3 different times volunteering, once for 3 1/2 hours.

I've been to my doctor once.

Had lunch with Anna---that's was great!

The kid's church activities on Wednesday.

Taken Myshel to and from school twice and to and from work . . . I don't know, I lost count.

The kids had a four day weekend.

Vance had a scout jamboree camp out. (and froze!)

I did 800 loads of laundry (I swear it felt like that many)

And I found out that our ward isn't doing a trunk-or-treat this year . . . the year that Halloween falls on Sunday!!!! What to do now??? Is it fair to skip Halloween altogether?

I'm sure I left things out, but I think that I got the main things in there.

I Did It!!!!

I had my MRI this morning . . . and lived through it! Whooohooo!!!!

I didn't need to take the Activan, either. After talking with the nurse on the phone about it when they called to confirm the appointment, I really thought that I could do it. I also asked Chad to give me a priesthood blessing, which was a HUGE help to me. (Thank you, Janice)

It also made a huge difference that they let me put a washcloth over my eyes and listen to the music on my Ipod. Sweet!!!! It took about 20-25 minutes and I didn't feel freaked out at all the whole time I was in there.

People probably think I'm pretty pathetic for being such a baby, but I'm so proud of myself for getting through it. I'm so glad it's done with now and it's not constantly nagging at me in the back of my mind. I'll find out the results in a couple of weeks at my doctor's appointment. I'm not really worried about what they'll find (or not find). I was just worried about getting through the actual MRI.

Thank you everyone for all your sweet thoughts on my behalf. You are all awesome and I am so blessed through you!

MRI? . . . I don't know . . .

I get a lot of headaches and migraines. I have for a long time. Lately, though, I've been getting some headaches that start at the base of my head/neck and trigger migraines. So, my doctor wants to do an MRI just to make sure there's nothing more going on.

Ummmmm. . . . .. . . . . .. . . .. . . . . . . .

I'm really not liking the idea of an MRI because me and tight places don't exactly agree. In fact, I'm freaking a little. I told my doctor about my little (BIG) anxiety with claustrophobia and she reassured me (or tried to) telling me that it really isn't as bad as I'd think. She aslo said she could prescribe something that would help me relax a little. That idea doesn't thrill me either. I don't like the idea of taking Activan, even if it is only 1 pill that she prescribed.

So, now I'm freaking out about the MRI and the "tube" I have to lay in for who knows how long. (Chad's last one took 30 minutes!!!!!!!) AND I'm freaking out about whether I should take the Activan. It does say that it's used to treat anxiety, which seems to be exactly what I've got!

Help!

My Matryoshka Dolls

My sister has sent me several matryoshka (or babushka) dolls from the different countries she's lived in. Matryoshka dolls nest inside each other and are almost always handpainted. I just love them so much. So, I've decided to start collecting them. I told her I'd take some pictures of them and decided to share them here.

These are the first three she sent me from Moldova. Noah loved playing with them, even though I asked him not to. He would tell me that they wanted to come out and play. That's also why this one is missing half a doll. The next two she gave me for Christmas. How perfect that one was santa. Instead of nesting dolls, it had ornaments in it. I loved them just as much. These are probably my favorite so far. the detail on them is amazing. Thank you, Debbie for sharing these with me!

Old Habits . . .

On Saturday I took my wedding ring in for it's 6 month check-up. They told me that the smaller stones were really loose (which didn't surprise me, I mean, I've had it for 19 years!) So, we sent it off to get all tightened up.

I hate not wearing my wedding ring. It just feels like something's missing. I don't know how many times I've tried to twist it or play with it and then realize it's not there. I never knew how often I did that until now. I actually to it a lot. It's funny how you get so accustom to something that you do it out of habit, without even thinking about it.

I'll be very glad to have my ring back. It's a part of me, a part of who I am, I guess. It might be a long couple of weeks.

Out With the Old in Primary

Yesterday our ward sustained a new primary presidency, which means I was released form my calling as 2nd counselor. It came as a bit of a surprise, but I was totally ok with it. The new presidency will be great. I was given a new calling, but they forgot to sustain me, so mum's the word for now, I guess. I think it will be a nice change actually. Although, I'm not sure how I feel about being forgotten on the list of people they sustained. This is the 3rd time they've done that to me when they've given me a new calling. Apparently, I'm easy to forget.

What a Week . . . . .

My computers been acting up all week. I'm had it with my phone. I'm stressed about navy stuff, stressed about home stuff and stressed about Chad stuff. I now have new church stuff (actually that's not so bad). My house is a mess, the dishes aren't done and my kids hate chores. This is the 3rd day of waking up with a migraine, which is really starting to annoy. It's cold and gloomy outside and frustrating inside. I'm glad this week is coming to a end.

(---I'm not nearly as grumpy as I sound . . . really!)

A New Goal

Ok, I've set some new goals for myself. I'm not usually one for New Year's resolutions, but this year I've decided to work on a few things. Some I'm sure I'll be posting about, some, maybe not.

Why am I telling you this . . . because one of my goals is to keep my blog updated like I used to. I've looked back over the years and realized how much information about me and my family is really on here. It's a good thing and I want to get back in the habit of it. So, even if it's only a line or two or a picture, I'm going to try to post something everyday.

So, here's my very first post of 2010. My grandmother crocheted pin cushions that looked like little hats. I loved mine and used it a lot. But my dogs apparently loved it too. So, I decided to try and make one on my own. It turned out pretty good . . . or should I say they turned out pretty good. It was easier than I thought it would be, so I made a second one. I might even make some more. I'm not sure what I'll do with them if I make more, but I'll worry about that when/if it happens. I used cotton yarn on mine and my grandma's were made out of the nylon blend yarn. (I think it's nylon, anyway) I don't know if that made any difference, though. {Maybe tomorrow I'll post Christmas pictures----I'm so behind, aren't I}

Myshel's New Dress . . . . .

Months ago, after I made a dress for McKaylie, Myshel asked me to make her one. Finally, it's done. I really was just procrastinating. It drove me completely crazy and I see lots of mistakes in it, but overall, I don't think it ended up, too bad. She does look pretty cute and most importantly . . . she loves it! Brotherly love . . . . . or is that brotherly torment! Either way, this is my favorite picture we took!!!!

Time.....It's All Relative.......

I was just reminded of a conversation I had at church a week or so ago and Chad said I should post it on my blog. One of the men I was talking to has two girls about 10 years old and relating something to our conversation, I told him that in 10 years his girls would be old enough to be on their own. His response: "Yeah, that's true, and in 10 years you'll probably be a grandma."

That was a somewhat depressing, sobering thought. He was right and that's seriously scary. I came home and told Chad about the conversation and how it kind of freaked me out. In 10 years, Myshel will be 26. I had 2 kids by that age. 10 years used to seem like a long time, now, it feels very very short! Yikes....