Do it right the first time!

Kyle and I are tackling our first major home improvement project together: painting the living room. I am new to painting and learning alot. But, I did a lot of research by watching Trading Spaces and Designed to Sell. :) This house is 45 years old and needs a lot of loving. Someone, years ago, put up a wallpaper border in the living room. The next person painted OVER the border. But didn't cover the edges, so the edge was very visible, and didn't prime, so the flowers were showing through, too. Hmph. WE got the pleasure of ripping off the wallpaper and today we finished spraying and peeling off the paper and adhesive underneath. It wasn't that big a deal. Why don't people just do things right the first time? It saves a lot of time and hassle. Like when I make my son redo his homework because he sped through it and the handwriting is huge and messy. Do it right the first time, or fix it when you realize there is a problem!

Soapbox over. Back to work.

"No" DOES mean "Yes" in our house

When our baby Jonathan says it, that is. He is 19 months old and learning to talk more every day. He knows how to say "No". He hears it all the time! But then he started saying no everytime we asked him a yes or no question. Do you want milk? NO, he states emphatically. Put the milk away and he screams! Um, you said no silly.

Finally, after months of trying to change his ways, we have made one step forward.
Me: Do you want milk?
Him: NO!
Me: Do you mean yes?
Him: Yeah! (while shaking head up and down vigorously and a huge grin on his face.)

So, it takes asking twice, but we finally get the answer he means to give. It really does work, because if you ask him if he wants to go to bed? He says no. BOTH times!

Check this out! Who knew?

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 11 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Another cute conversation with Ben

So this week is the Just Say NO to Drugs week. Today they have a march around the school property to chant Just Say NO to Drugs and carry posters they made. My son Ben, age 6, made his poster to say:
Just Say NO to Drugs, Alcohol, and Caffeine!
(This just after he overheard Kyle tell me about a new member kid at church who said he couldn't go do baptisms because he drank Coke. Branch President explained that the Prophet encouraged not drinking it, but it wouldn't keep him from the temple.)

I told Ben that most kids at his school (including the LDS kids) probably don't have that rule at their house. "Well", said he, "then it's a good thing I put it on my poster!"

I love that kid!

More dreams

So, in my scrapbook, I have a page listing three goals I had in life: buying a home, eating at Melting Pot, and staying at Anniversary Inn. Well, those are fulfilled. (And don't forget riding on an elephant, of course.) Something else I wished for as a child was to have a child born in the year 2000. I figured that by age 26, that wasn't too much to ask for. Luckily I got married in 1998 and we were blessed with our first child in that first week of 2000. You wouldn't believe how busy that hospital was. I think everyone wanted to have the milennial baby. We didn't plan on that specifically, but once we knew our due date, the concept seemed fun. Didn't happen. That's ok.

I realize, though, that these goals, although fun and good, don't really touch on me. My personal goals for accomplishment or learning. What DO I want to do or become? Right now I am trying to focus on my roles as wife and mother. I don't think I would be satisfied in whatever I tried to do unless I was satisfied with who I am with my husband and my children. In the meantime, I am trying to figure out what else matters most to me. Gardening? I'm not so good at that. I'd like to keep the plants alive, but I don't plan on keeping a farm. Family History? Well, I am getting more caught up on my photo preservation (scrapbooking). This is also a creative outlet for me. I would love to extend my creativity to decorating my home...but I am clueless about choosing colors and trim. I think our friend Vanessa needs to come help me with that. She lives in California, but maybe we can convice her she needs a vacation. (To Oklahoma??) Writing? Between this blog and my scrapbooks, I am progressing on that one.

I have thought that getting published sounds like something I might want to do someday. But on what topic and in what forum, that is yet to be discovered. I have thought about three ideas: weekly public interest columns (but again, this blog serves that purpose without having a deadline!), religious non-fiction, or children's picture books. Problem there being I am not an artist. Again, I have a friend, Susannah, who is. I'll have to contact her about that someday. And Kimber Dawn was an english major and working in publishing. I guess she would be another good friend to have for this one. But for now, it is blogging and journaling in my scrapbooks.

This morning in my scripture reading, I read from the Book of Mormon. It told of a man, Nehor, who went about preaching and building himself up. To get the support of the people, he appealed to their carnal man. He told them what Satan told people in the councils in heaven to gain their approval: God loves all of you and doesn't want anyone to be left out. Everyone can be saved, so don't worry about those people who tell you to be good and repent. In the scriptures, he said they "need not fear nor tremble, but that they might lift up their heads and rejoice; for the Lord had created all men and had also redeemed all men; and in the end, all men should have eternal life."

At first, these words sound appealing. Of course the Lord loves all of us. Of course he wants us all to have eternal life and all be saved. This much is true. The false teaching in all of this comes when he teaches that all men WILL be saved. The beauty of this life is that we were all given the power to choose for ourselves. Imagine how different life would be if we had no power to choose--there would be no point really in coming to earth if everything were already decided for us. We would be robots. This life is the time for us to prepare to meet God. To live in the presence of God after we die, we can't be sinners, liars, murderers, adulterers, or thieves. We must be striving to become like Him and be humble and penitent before Him.

When I read this passage this morning, I felt like I needed to explain this concept so I could remember it and understand it. Nehor, the antichrist, was appealing to the natural man. Of course his concepts sounded (mostly) right to people and the concept that they were ok as they were and didn't need to change sounded so easy and appealing. But the Lord's plan wasn't meant to be easy. When we understand the fact that He wants us to learn and grow and become our best selves, this then appeals to our spirits and we can feel so much more the joy that comes through living the gospel. The whole "eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow we die" mentality gives a false sense of happiness. Short term thrills fall short of giving us everlasting happiness.

As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. The rewards are far greater!

I can now check one goal off my list. Riding an elephant. I felt like a kid!