Crafting is Fun

Thanks to my SIL Holly for inspiring me to finish the projects I've wanted to do. I did a memory board today. I had fun and I think it turned out good. I did it the colors of my kitchen and it's hanging in my kitchen now, the nerve center of the house!

Plymouth and Boston

A few pictures from our quick trip to Plymouth Rock and Boston Museum of Science. We stayed at the John Carver Inn in Plymouth.

At Plymouth Rock, or what is supposedly left of it, after 388 years. The rock is down at the bottom of the picture behind the kids.


At the Mayflower II, built as a replica of the original.


At the Museum of Science in Boston. Very fun!


All of us in front of a hollowed out "canoe" at the Mayflower II exhibit.

It's all just stuff

My last post was a venting I needed, but in the few days since, I have come to learn some things.

I went to Plymouth, MA with the kids on Wednesday. I enjoyed it and love the early history of America. It amazes me at what the people did to get here, and what they left behind as a sacrifice for freedom and the promise of something better.

When we got back, I finished up preparations for the yard sale, mumbling about it the whole time. I was looking at everything and deciding what was taking up space and could it go in the yard sale. I even added my vanity table to the pile. David gave me a small vanity mirrored table with a bench for Christmas a few years ago. I loved it, but mostly because he gave it to me. So, I was secretly hoping it wouldn't sell. It was one of the first things to go.

I spent the day feeling down and sad about my STUFF. As I was getting ready for bed, I walked past my Book of Mormon on my nightstand and felt the need to stop for a second and read. I just opened to the first and was reading about Nephi and his family. I read the part about the Lord telling Lehi to take his family and flee Jerusalem. Two sons complained about the riches and stuff they had to leave behind and the other two sons said they would go and DO what the Lord commanded.

Needless to say I felt a bit humbled and I know in my heart that the material items are in fact material and un-neccesary.

Then, today...I have been catching up on my friends' blogs. including my friends the Johnsons', April and Ryan. We met them in Japan and she did so much for me when we first moved there and David was out on ship. She was an instant friend and I love her dearly. 8 days ago, they had a stillborn baby girl, due to placental abruption.

I'm sorry that my sisters couldn't come visit, and I'm sorry that I had to sell my stuff, but I'm truly sorrowful for April and Ryan...and in their blog post letting all their friends know about NORAH, Ryan wrote, "We are so grateful that our marriage has been sealed for time and all eternity in the temple. Because of this, we know that our family unit will continue beyond this life, and we will be with her again when our short duration on this earth is over"

In the big picture, the only things that matter are not things, but family and love and staying close to our Heavenly Father so that we can return again to live with him and our precious family, whoever that includes...forever.

I love all of you and to those who have listenend to my gripes this week, thanks. I hope I can be a better person through all of this and realize that what matters most is how I treat others and how I serve.

My love is with the Johnsons'. They are truly amazing people.

When it rains...

My sisters and I and our kids, Summer, 2007, the last time we were together after our 4 years overseas. Back row, Marisa, Sara, Me, Jana.


You know that stupid saying, when it rains it pours? Well today, I felt like it was pouring down. I know, I'm just whiny about it, but I've been low and icky today. So, here's my venting to the void...

Two weeks ago, I decided to have my sisters come out to visit. They needed a vacation real bad and I've been missing them. So, I got out my bidding game for Priceline for plane tickets. Got them for $1109.00 for 4 tickets. My parents pitched in to help pay for them, and we've all been giddy little girls planning for this trip. Last night about 9 pm,8 hours before their scheduled departure, Marisa called me to tell me that Mayson, Jana's four year old, was in the hospital getting ready for surgery. She has been complaining about a sore on her bum since Sunday, and yesterday afternoon, Jana thought it was a staph infection and was trying to help her out by draining it. Mayson kept getting worse and they took her to the hospital and she was promptly ordered into surgery. The tests haven't come back yet, but apparently she has MRSA, which is an anitbiotic resistant staph infection gone very bad. They wanted to get this out of her real fast. I did some research and called my sister-in-law/medical wizard, Gina, who basically said she's seen this MRSA bacteria in a hospital petrie dish growing on it's own...very nasty stuff...and HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS... so, all of them have been with her and no one is safe and thus...TRIP CANCELLED, with no plans for rescheduling.

We are all heartbroken. Of course, we're worried about Mayson, and praying constantly for her, she's still in the hospital as I write this. And now we go about the process of trying to get refunded for the plane tickets. Luckily, I bought travel insurance for these tickets, but who knows how much good that will do. We'll see. I had to fill out 9 pages of paperwork for an insurance claim.

Then..........after I took the kids to the bus this morning, very depressed about the whole thing,I came back to the house and remembered that I needed to check the mail. In the mail box is a letter from the Navy, short and sweet, saying, we've been audited for our last move and we owe the Navy $589.00 for going over our weight allowance. I won't even go into all the reasons that I'm going to march into someone's stinkin office and fight this.

Bring on the rain...

Then....later, I was playing outside with the kids trying to keep their minds off of not going to the airport today and our kite got stuck in a tree.

The icing on the crappy cake? David left this morning for 8 days to New York City with the band for Fleet Week.

Now, I don't have my sisters to play with, I'm probably going to have to pay the Navy for a move we made TWO years ago, I have to purge all of our household goods to the bare minimum, so this doesn't happen again because we haven't made rank yet and after 10 years in the navy and 3 kids, we're still on the same weight allowance that we were 5 years ago, I just started a new class, my best and most favorite subject..(being very sarcastic) Algebra....and I get to do it all alone(until next Wednesday).

I think I'm done...with my complaining, with this post for sure, and with Navy life. I really think I can't take any more moving. So, for tonight, I'll go eat a cookie, watch the finals of Dancing with the Stars, and humble myself because I know that there are people with a lot worse problems than mine. But it helps to write it down...this way I don't set the Navy regulations manual on FIRE. Wait a minute...a big bonfire might be just what I need... anyone have any marshmallows?

I wanna be like Ty

I think Ty Pennington is very cool. Not only does he have a cool job, but his carpentry skills are fantastic! Some of the furniture I've seen him build is really great. So, when my good friend Christine told me about her project of building a headboard, I decided to be freaky friend and copy her! I also enlisted her help for the day. We made a fun trip to Home Depot, got our wood, trim, etc. and another trip to Joann's Fabric and we were ready. It was fun, hard, and a long day, but I'm so happy with the results. I've never had a headboard before, so now I do, and I'm excited that I built it myself, (with Christine, of course). I priced headboards by the kind I wanted, and they were between $250-$500. Here's the breakdown for mine:
$78.00 at Home Depot for plywood, trim, nuts/bolts/washers
$15.00 at Joann's for on sale velvet fabric and a package of batting
$3.00 at Home Depot for pecan satin stain small can
$7.00 to Christine for a jazillion staples
$26.00 at Building 19 for a giant piece of foam
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$129.00 Handmade Headboard total! Very cool! Now, I am ready to start two more projects with leftover plywood...love it!

My head got a little dizzy

A friend of mine sent this one to me. Anyone need a little pick me up? Take a minute and laugh really hard. Click HERE to enjoy.