Don't Forget

Our new ward finally caught me and gave me a calling. Officially I am a Relief Society Meeting Committee Member. Basically I'm on the activities board for Relief Society. They wanted women from different stages in life so I'm the young newlywed I guess (3 years isn't that new though but oh well). We've got an activity planned for this month called Women Who Know... Love Life and Live the Provident Way. We are going to do a section for gardening, cleaning, and home decorating. I'm partnered up to work on home decorating (I'm not that skilled on the other categories). I've been on Pinterest a lot lately looking for ideas and found one that covers a plain cardboard box with fabric, so I did it (my own way). I took a smaller sized shoe box, cut the lid off and modge-podged some fabric and a ribbon on. No sewing involved! I think it turned out nice. I made it for James and I call it the Don't Forget It Box. He forgets at least one of his necessities everyday. So now when he comes home he will put his keys, glasses, wallet, ring, watch, etc in the box and then grab everything out of the box when he leaves in the morning. Here's some pics of my project. (Disregard the glue. It dried clear so no worries)

My "Just Because I Can" List

Sometimes during my day to day chores I think about someday in the future, when we're just rolling in the dough, the things I want in life. If money weren't an issue, there'd be so many little splurges I'd want to indulge in. Its a never-ending list, and most of it are just simple pleasures. Here's what I have so far:

• Name brand ice cream (most importantly, Ben and Jerrys)
• New shoes just because for no reason
• New clothes in general (I'm talking Ross kind of stuff not a Nordstrom shopping spree)
• Disneyland passes (this one is more for when I have kids)
• Subscription to Real Simple magazine
• Mary Kay compact pro filled with lots of glamourous goodies
• Matching bedroom set (headboard, footboard, dressers, nightstands)
• New bedding whenever I see a cute set
• A whole cupboard stocked with juice
• Yummy junk food snacks (Gushers, goldfish, fruit roll ups, Cheetos, etc)
• Getting popcorn and soda AT the movies
• Eating at nicer places (at least a good steak place once and a while)
• A new car (like actually new, not used)
• All the OPI nail polish I want
• Cute socks for every holiday and occasion
• Matching living room set (mainly just matching couches and a loveseat, maybe a recliner)
• Cute Christmas ornaments
• Holiday decorations

The list gets bigger and bigger. Don't get me wrong, its not that I'm being covetous or anything. I just am excited for what our future and in store for us and these are some of the luxuries I can't wait to celebrate our success with. I'll add more on when I think of them. What's on your list?

Bye Bye Moreno Valley

I guess its been long enough since I updated, even though I think only 2 people read this.

We moved again. We seem to do that a lot. This is the 5th time we've moved since we've been married, and thats including moving in together for the first time. I'm so sick of moving!!! However, I have to look at the upside, silver lining, big picture and all that other mumbo jumbo. We own our house in Moreno Valley so it is still ours but now we are fixing it up so we can rent it out to someone else. We're going through a company to manage it for us but we are doing all the repairs and upgrades to make it rentable. Its a little sad though seeing how nice our house looks all upgraded and fixed and we won't be able to enjoy it. Oh well. I certainly won't miss the neighborhood. James and I have put A LOT of time, effort, money, blood, sweat, and tears into fixing up the house. It'll all be worth it though when the renters checks start coming in.

Now we live in Corona again. We started out in Corona when we first got married. I think we are more Corona people then we ever were Moreno Valley people. It just feels right. We are living in Robert's (James' brother) condo that he owns. He is still on his mission but comes home in December. The condo has 3 bedrooms. Robert will have the huge master bedroom while James and I take the 2 smaller bedrooms and the guest bathroom. One of our bedrooms will be, of course, our bedroom and the other one we are going to turn into our own mini living room. That way James and I can relax and watch our own shows if Robert wants to be out in the main living room. I'm still slowly unpacking but everything fits nicely and cozy into the condo. It'll be interesting to see what life is like when Rob moves back in.

Reasons for moving.... Lots of people have been confused about our move. "Don't you own your house?" "Why would you leave it and move in with someone else?" All the questions I've heard have been valid but there is always a reason behind what we do. Yes we own our house, and plan on owning it for a LONG time. But now that James has started working for Farmers Insurance in Santa Ana, the commute was just too awful. He would be driving for almost 3+ hours a day. Thats just unacceptable. Also, living in our house would mean some of our other goals and wants would have to be put on hold until we could afford them. Now that we are in the condo James' commute is only 1 hour a day. He gets home in no time. Plus, we will be saving money on utilities and all those silly things so we can save up for the bigger things we want for our future. Another upside is that we won't have to worry about Robert. No one will. We'll be living with him so we can keep an eye on him and help him to succeed in whatever he wants to do.

So even though there have been a lot of gives and takes in this situation, the outcome will be for the best and it'll go by faster than I realize. I have to sit back and think about what it is that this move means for our future and our family. The Lord has His hand in everything we do and I've certainly seen that lately.

Happy Mother's Day

There have been some changes in our ward's nursery leadership, and so I've had to take on a lot of the responsibilities. Between people just not showing up, or people not coming to nursery because their dress is too tight to bend down in (she seriously said that while she was bearing her "testimony") James and I have given the lesson for the past month. I'm really grateful we have good kids (for the most part). For Easter we made tear-art Easter eggs with a cute little poem on the back. I learned they are not quite ready for tear-art. lol

Easter is not just for the bunny
With goodies and treats that he brings
Easter is when we must celebrate
And Halleluiah is the song that we sing

Easter is really for Jesus
Who died and then rose from the dead
We must always remember the love Jesus showed
And all of the things that He said

So remember this Easter when you go to church
And this message you tell everyone
That Easter is all about Jesus
And the bunny and treats are just for fun

For Mother's Day I decided to make cards. However, instead of having the kids heavily involved I would do the hard work and then have them put their little touch on it. Each card is different for each child. I'm gonna bring in some gold paint and paint their hands and have them put their hand print on the inside of the card. What mother doesn't want their little toddler's hand print to treasure forever? I know I'm gonna be one of those moms who keeps EVERYTHING my kids do. They are going to be drowning in albums and boxes of keepsakes. Shh, don't tell James, he DESPISES hoarding.

Anyways, so I think one of the requirements of being a mom, possibly even to being a woman, is to have read this book and wept.

Having been one of those weepers, I decided to snag the phrase from when the man is holding his mother. This is in the inside of the card next to the hand prints.

I'll love you forever,

I'll like you for always,

As long as I'm living,

My Mommy you'll be.

Are you crying yet? Oh you would be if you opened up a hand made card with this inside next to your kid's metallic hand print. I know, I should totally will nursery worker of the year. JK. But I do hope the moms like them and that my little nursery rascalls treat their mommas good tomorrow. Here's what the cards look like (pre hand print).

Counting on the Farm

Another project I did for Numeracy in my Creative Activities class was a number book. Its called Counting on the Farm. I posted the words on a previous post. I'm really pleased with how my book came out and all the girls at work loved it. I just got a photo album, some scrapbook paper and some farm scrapbooking embellishments. I made up the rhyme myself. Some of the pages are on a shiny, metallic paper and didn't photograph well.

Peter Rabbit Memory

For the Literacy section of my class I did a Peter Rabbit Memory Match. I LOVE all the Beatrix Potter stories and art so I decided to do it on that. I have a few of her books at home. I saw a bunch of her stuff in a window display at Pottery Barn for kids and couldn't stop smiling. lol. Such cute stuff. Anyways, so I found a bunch of Beatrix Potter's coloring pages and double printed them so I could make them into a memory game. It took a lot more time then I thought it would take. After I finished coloring like a billion pictures, twice, I found some scrapbook paper to put on the back so that when the cards are facing down, you won't be able to see through them. They are also all laminated. My teacher makes us laminate EVERYTHING. With my kids someday, I can start them out with just a few pictures, and then as they get older I can add more pairs of pictures.

Animal Match

In my Creative Activities class we have to make 3 projects for each subject. For Numeracy I made these animals. There is a parent and child animal for each. They are all laminated with a magnet on the back. For my kids someday I'll use them on the fridge or a cookie sheet. On the back of each animal is colored paper, matching the animals. For example the goats have the same backing as each other but different backing from the horses. There are some pictures so you can see what I'm talking about. These animal pictures help children match the animals and even to name them. Some of the people in my class couldn't name them all. For instance when I asked what the baby name for the dog, someone said "doggie" instead of puppy. lol. Can you name them?

Sheep and lamb

Cat and kitten

Duck and duckling

Horse and foal

Goat and kid

Cow and calf

Dog and puppy

Chicken and chick

Back of the goats

Back of the dogs