Softball, crawling, and Heaven is Here

Would anybody be interested in me doing a tutorial for the Kansas Twister quilt? 


Bear is enjoying church softball. Thursday was his third week, and their first loss. He shows up in his college baseball uniform and the guys on the team like to joke about it. Lachlan and I go and watch him. 

Playing with the nursing cover

Being a stay at home mom was a bigger adjustment that I thought. But I wonder how different it would be if he got home at normal dinner time and we had two cars. It's nice to catch up on the reading and quilting that I don't get to do during school, but I miss Bear always being home when I'm home and the freedom of having the car most of the time.

Lachlan found a friend in the mirror

Lachlan gets up on his hands and knees and does a real crawl every once in a while. It's the cutest!

I get to be his mommy

Good hair day

I finished the purple block. I put a quarter on this time to show the size.

I went Father's Day shopping yesterday. The one thing that he actually asked for makes me laugh. I felt so silly checking out at Sports Authority.

We get to go boating with a coworker after Bear gets home from work today so I'll post pictures of that and Father's Day next!

I also  finished reading Heaven is Here by Stephanie Nielson.

I was quite happy with this book. The main message was one of hope and faith. And so I'm actually a little peeved that people are choosing to focus on the little details of her financial situation. It's not your business. It doesn't matter how they were able to pay for flying lessons etc. She didn't deserve what happened to her - rich or poor. And just because her extended family was able to buy them a house after the crash...I have no room to judge. It sounds like some people are just jealous. We can never judge people's personal lives. If you're focusing on her money, you have missed the whole message of this book.

I was kind of bored with the first half because I wanted to get to the details about the crash, but I realized she really wanted you to see how every aspect of her life was affected, and how she had to start all over and push through. Her marriage and family could have totally fallen apart but because she had hope, she made it through.

I also love her determination to be a good mom. I went and held my baby for a long time once I was finished reading, Her book reminds us of what's really important - hope, faith, family, being strong through adversity, and love. I hope to meet her someday.

Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus

I keep reading long books with lots of information that are slow and I have to force myself to read them, but I always end up learning so much in the end and I'm glad that I did. My latest read is Men Are from Mars, Women Are from Venus. It was mentioned a lot in the book "Fascinating Womanhood", which I posted about HERE. Kate recommended it to me also.

All I can say, is it helped me a lot. I know that I'm still a little tiny baby newlywed with lots to learn still, and I haven't gone through all the hard stuff that comes along with marriage. But I'd rather read it now and try to apply it instead of waiting til it's too late.

I enjoyed this book because it looks into both genders, instead of just what women should do like in Fascinating Womanhood. It's written by a man, and he isn't blaming women for everything. Of course I didn't feel like everything he talked about applied to our relationship, but there was a lot of stuff that helped me, like how I need to leave Bear alone sometimes to be himself (men are like rubber bands) and that I'm not crazy for having my ups and downs, needing to talk about everything and just have a venting session every once in a while (women are like waves). It helped Bear to know that when I'm venting, I'm not blaming him, and that I feel much better when I just talk.

The other good thing was learning to ask Bear directly. "Would you take out the trash?" vs. "The kitchen stinks." Men and women each have their silly things, but like the author states at the end:

"Next time you are frustrated with the opposite sex, remember men are from Mars and women are from Venus. Even if you don't remember anything else from this book, remembering that we are supposed to be different will help you to be more loving. By gradually releasing your judgments and blame and persistently asking for what you want, you can create the loving relationships you want, need, and deserve."

I'm grateful I had a good marriage example from my parents and both sets of grandparents. Same with Bear's parents. I'm excited for all the fun years ahead. I am very in love.

*Life Update*

I'm supposed to give a sacrament meeting talk based on Elder Scott's talk, "The Eternal Blessings of Marriage" next Sunday, which will be out last in California. Secretly, I feel like a preschooler lecturing to college students how to do their physics homework. So I'm quite a bit nervous.

Also, I though I had appendicitis earlier this week, because I had pain on my right side. Bear's had his taken out and had a traumatic experience, and was really worried. We finally decided to go to the doctor, who didn't help us at all. The next step was the ER because we needed a CT scan to figure out whatever it was. We're trying to figure out our medical insurance mess, and the pain was dull, not sharp, so we decided to wait it out, I got a blessing that the pain would go away, and it did. I'm fine now. I think it was an ovarian cyst. The doctor did give me a pelvic exam though and said everything looked fine. So I'm back to normal after the scare.

Water For Elephants

This was a book that I couldn't put down. I read it in 3 days or so. It was very vivid and exciting. There were a lot of dirty parts that I thought were unnecessary and that I had to skip over,but it has a surprise happy ending. And I like happy endings. I recommend it.

I can't wait for the movie to come out on DVD. I'm loving all my reading time.

But I'm frustrated with my dress. At least I don't have a deadline I have to meet for it, but I'm afraid it will look cheap and handmade (like it is). I will post pictures after I get the facing and interfacing to work out. Gah. I want my mom's sewing skills.

Even if you're not a circus person, you'll love it. If you don't like animal mistreatment...maybe this book isn't for you.

Millionaire Next Door

My dad gave me this book as a wedding gift, along with another financial book that I have yet to read. As you can see, I read quite a few books before it. And it was actually quite a short book and very interesting, but I had to force myself to read it. It is full of statistics and charts, which I know they needed to prove their point, but I guess I'm too stupid and just want the stories. And everything Stanley and Danko were saying should be obvious, but I guess we need it spelled out to us plainly.

I did take notes though!

• Be frugal, frugal, frugal
• Make a budget (know exactly how much you spend each month and year on everything)
• Get a financial advisor
• Get and accountant
• Invest 30% of your money
• Be a PAW (prodigious accumulator of wealth), now an UAW (under accumulator of wealth)
• You aren't what you drive
• Don't hand out money to adult kids
• Whatever your income, always live below your means
• Teach your children to fish (be independent)
• Teach your children to be courageous
• If your goal is to become financially secure, you'll likely attain it...but if your motive is to make money to spend money on the good life,...you're never gonna make it.
• Money should never change one's values...making money is only a report card. It's a way to tell how you're doing.

So I'm going to set up a budget and try to use as many coupons as I can. Because we need to save up for future bebbes ♥

I read another good blog post book review about this book. You can read it be clicking HERE.

And I found this blog post very interesting. Click HERE.

It's so tempting to keep up with the Jones' today, but I'm going to resist the temptation.

To the Rescue

Lately, I can't stop reading. It's probably because I can't really read at school. I always take mountains of books with me, and don't get through a single one. Maybe it's because I was spending so much time with Bear...I don't know. Anyways, I just keep going onto the next book.

As you can see, I just finished To the Rescue: The Biography of Thomas S. Monson. It all started back at school in October. I saw it at the school library (one of the ups of going to a small school: you have a chance at things you wouldn't at a big school). They must have just put it in the New Arrivals section, because I snatched it. But of course I couldn't read it fast enough at school. I kept renewing it and renewing it, read some of it during Thanksgiving break, but felt bad that I was hogging it and returned it. But then I missed it and kept trying to borrow it but it was continuously checked out. Of course. Then I read a little while I was in Utah for Christmas from my grandma's library. I thought about buying the kindle version, but it was too expensive, and I love the feeling of a real book in my hands.

Finally, I bought it at a Deseret Book on our honeymoon in Las Vegas. I know it's a book that I will want to keep on my bookshelf forever. I didn't really care for the writing style, but of course I love Pres. Monson no matter what. The book was so uplifting and I think I can say that it's changed my life forever. There are so many good quotes from all of the Brethren. I definitely recommend it. He really does reach out to "the one". I had a personal experience with it. You can read about that in the post below this one.

"What will the legacy of President Thomas S. Monson be? Observers have a tendency to set the starting point at the beginning of a man's presidency of the Church. But his legacy goes all the way back to when he began following the Spirit and heeding promptings, when he began reaching out with the power of the Spirit, one-on-one, to anyone and everyone, especially the forgotten. His legacy will be Christlike living." p. 528

The countless stories of him on his way to help someone, and helping a few unexpected people along the way, is just one example of him listening to the Spirit. I had a few favorites, but they're long and I just want you to read it. So go ahead. Now.

Fascinating Womanhood

I just finished reading Fascinating Womanhood by Helen Andelin. I got the inspiration to read it from Heather Ive's blog post, which you can read by clicking HERE.

The description of the book reads:
"A guide to a happy marriage. Teaches women how to awaken their husband's devoted love and tenderness. Gives insight into understanding men, their needs and feelings and what's important to them. Teaches the true meaning of femininity and how it differs from masculinity. Provides a role model for women to pattern from, the ideal woman from a man's point of view, the kind men adore. A classic best seller that has sold over two million copies. It has helped millions of women find true happiness in marriage and can do the same for you."


I know that this book makes some people absolutely livid. It is a feminist's worst nightmare. Now I don't agree with 100% of the book. And I feel like this book is more for people with a struggling marriage, but I know that me and Bear are a little more happy and I think it has very good advice. And I don't agree with people who told me to not read the book. If something is crude, profane, violent, or disgusting, I would let them stop me. But why not read a self-help book that's clean and full of information and then decide for yourself to follow it or throw the book against the wall?

I like that the book encourages me to be feminine. And Bear agrees with me on this one. There's a feminine strength that women have, but it's different than men, and that's okay. As a teenager I felt really insecure because I was short, not athletically inclined, and a little more girly than most of my friends. Boys would comment on it in a negative way which ran me down and I looked at the athletic girls and I felt like they had the boyfriends, popularity, and confidence. Now I realize there's nothing wrong with those girls if it makes them happy, and the boys' negative comments were just like them hitting me in first grade. That was what boys did, but they didn't mean to make me feel worthless or to be mean. Boys will be boys. I didn't need to base my self worth on other people. Girls, be happy with yourselves.

So does this mean I'm going to wear flowery dresses, an apron, pearls, and stay in my kitchen baking cookies all day? No. But it means I'm going to be happy that I'm a woman, that I'm married, and I'm going to do the best I can to make Bear and my future kids happy.

I recommend this book. Or The Fascinating Girl for single or dating girls. I have not read that one, but I heard it's good too. Now, I hate recommending self help books to people...because I hate it when people give them to me. ("You want me to change, huh? Well just because you gave me this darned book, I'm not going to read it.") i understand. It can feel a little offensive. But look into if you're interested. I suggest looking for any book on google shopping on the cheapest site you can find. That's my favorite right now. It's better than Amazon. Because I don't mind used books, but you might.

I love marriage so far. And I'm going to keep working at it.

A lot of people have told me on Facebook lately that they read my blog and enjoy it. It means a lot to me. Because I don't feel like I'm a good writer. i have a hard time expressing myself effectively through writing, or speaking for that matter either. It's my journal. I should have a written one all to myself, but I don't want to remember negative feelings. So thank you to all my readers again.

Jane Eyre

I just finished reading Jane Eyre for the second time. The first time I read it was when I was 15. Even though it was after I watched the movie, I still had a really hard time understanding it. This time was much easier and I fell in love with it all over again. I wasn't able to watch the new movie when it came out in theaters, so I'm anxiously awaiting August. I couldn't stand the 1930's version and I couldn't even finish it, but I've seen two other versions. The problem is the movie is never good enough because the plot isn't the best part, it's the writing and dialogue. The ending gets me every time. The whole book is so beautiful and simply enchanting.

You may like this book if…you crave a strong female literary lead, you enjoy against-all-odds love stories, you like unexpected plot points, you enjoy the classic governess novel, you are familiar with competing models of Christianity, you like contemplating nature versus nurture, you are intrigued by mystic story elements, you enjoy witnessing a plain Jane’s romance

You may not like this book if… you had a horrible childhood and do not care to rehash these memories, you do not appreciate the author’s portrayal of the mentally ill as a shameful burden, you have a hard time falling head-over-heels for the arrogant and strange Rochester, you are deathly afraid of ghosts or fire Haha

It's a classic. You just have to read it. And it's not like Jane Austen or as dark and depressing as Wuthering Heights.

Anybody else got book recommendations for me?

Kansas Twister

In my spare time, I've finally been able to get to my Texas Twister quilt. I just finished my first block which is the red one in the picture above.

^ Here's the cover of the pattern. Someday it will look like that. But I think I'm going to use orange instead of blue. Or both. And I'm thinking about making one little pinwheel backwards, just to spice things up and make it unique. Because I've been using scraps, a lot of the blocks have

I'm almost done with a yellow, lavender, aqua, and orange ones too. I'm doing it all by hand and it's very time consuming, but there's something very satisfying in having sore hands and fingers at the end of the day because of something you made. I like colorful quilts. I don' know if I could make a quilt with only two colors.

Kate's step-mother-in-law who isn't Mormon came to visit and saw me quilting and asked if it was something Mormons had to do once they got married. Hahahahahaha That one made me laugh.

If you want this pattern, it's from Aunt Grace's Scrapbag 1930 by Judie Rothermel. There's a way to do it with a sewing machine, but I'd rather not pull out my sewing machine, and I'd need long strips of fabric for that, not little scarppies. So if you have questions, just let me know and I will help you on your way. It's such a cute pattern and I want to share it with everybody! The sewing machine tutorial is HERE from Why Not Sew?.

Eva Ibboston

I just finished reading this book A Countess Below Stairs. It was very lovely. I read another book by Eva Ibboston back in September too (The Reluctant Heiress). They were both romance novels set in Europe in the 20's. They are very well written and completely pull you in because you need to focus to keep everything straight. There are a lot of characters and it always keeps you on your toes. Look into them! They're clean and this lady know what she's writing about because she was born in Vienna and went to college in England.

We're watching Bleak House by Charles Dickens as a family right now. It is very good so far.

Elinor and Marianne

Nick gave me all of Jane Austen's books in one for Christmas. So I'm finally starting to read the first book, Sense and Sensibility. I've seen the movie so many times, and love to play the songs on the piano. But honestly, I have never read any of Jane Austen's books. That's my new goal. To read all of them. They're so beautifully written. I'm only 2 chapters into it, and I relate with Emma the best. But this part reminds me of me (Marianne) & Tash (Elinor) so much:

Elinor, this daughter whose advice was so effectual, possessed a strength of understanding, and coolness of judgement, which qualified her, though only [sixteen],...She had an excellent heart; her disposition was affectionate, and her feelings were strong: but she knew how to govern them: it was a knowledge which one of her sisters had resolved never to be taught.

Marianne's abilities were, in many respects, quite equal to Elinor's. She was sensible and clever, but eager in everything; her sorrows, her joys, could have no moderation. She was generous, amiable, interesting: she was everything but prudent. The resemblance between her and her mother was strikingly great.

Elinor saw, with concern, the excess of her sister's sensibility...

Book of Mormon

I've been reading the Book of Mormon everyday for one of my 10 hour projects for Personal Progress in Young Womens. I read 5 pages a day, and I started at the beginning of January. I'm at the end of Mosiah now. I've only skipped a couple of days so far and I made them up so I'm not behind. I've been so busy lately, I sometimes feel like I can't find the time. But even though timewise it's impossible, I somehow have been able to get everything done. It's kind of crazy. Seminary teachers speak the truth when they say if you read your scriptures before you do anything else, you will always get everything else done too. I believe what my seminary teacher said now.

There's so many little truths and things in the Book of Mormon that you forget about. It helps calm me down and when I'm having a bad day, I've noticed it will get better the second I say a prayer. Yes, reading 5 pages a day has helped my day to day life. It doesn't even seem like a lot to read anymore. I'm reading the New Testament for seminary too. I think I've read over 10 hours worth by now, but I'm going to finish reading and maybe start over again. My mind is able to focus on what it needs to instead of the gross yucky things people talk about at school. I'm able to tune it out.

Anybody else want to do it with me?

brisingr

I was borrowing this book from a friend. And I just finished it today...I am in awe. I am not a fantasy freak. But I really do love these books. The ending in each one always blows you away. I love the movie too, but it doesn't do the books justice (of course). Lots of people say that his ideas aren't original and it's a mix of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and other fantasy stories. But I say, as long as he's a good writer, who cares? You get sucked into these books, and can't put them down. I had to read the last 2 chapters in homeroom today even though I had a semester exam I needed to study for the next period. And the 2nd book ended on a sad note, and this book did too, to some degree, but the happy news cancels it out for me. I'd been waiting 3 books to find out this happy news. I was the only person who thought that it was true. And from the ending of the 2nd book, it didn't look like it was going to happen. But it did! (I know that doesn't really make sense, but I can't even give the slightest thing away). They're very long, but worth the read. The middle always gets a little boring, but it's worth it because the ending is...ahhhhh!
I totally recommend this series. I'm totally excited for the final book (#4!!!)
Has anybody else read it?

Twilight

I'm reading Twilight right now. Because I need to read it again before the movie comes out!!! I try to find time at school and on the bus to read it. I go into my own little world. Twilight's my favorite book out of the 4.

But the reason why I do like reading it, is because I do have somebody that dazzles my frequently. ahahahaha

Yay for Nov. 21