Berry Picking

Ryan's parents are in town this weekend and I thought it would be fun to plan and do something together this Memorial Day. So we got up kind of early and drove an hour to Afton, Virginia to go to the Critzer Family Farm and go strawberry picking. It was a blast and it was so hot!!! But the heat didn't stop Zoie or us from having a grand 'ole time.

When she was helping me, I handed her the strawberries and she'd put them in the box and say "tank you." Then she would walk down the path, stick her hands in the leaves and say "I see." It was so cute. When she was with Grandma Congdon, they'd eat the strawberries. We all had so much fun and got quite a bit of strawberries.

Ryan and I with Zoie before we left

Berry Picking. We got really sweaty if you can't tell :)

All of our Strawberries.

My plans for the strawberries are to make strawberry and strawberry rhubarb jam, homemade natural fruit roll-ups, to freeze some for future use, and of course to eat a bunch. I have been obsessed with strawberries lately and am in heaven right now. OH......I'm so excited.

Zoie had so much fun picking and was so excited to be outside. I think Ryan and I will have to make a tradition of going out there to pick strawberries each year. This was a great family activity and I hope that Zoie will love and always cherish this times.

I can't wait for July, so we can go back and pick peaches!!! I am really enjoying this opportunity that I have to go and pick these fruits. It's great family time, and I am learning so much on canning, and jam making, etc. Not only do I learn, but Zoie will learn and hopefully she'll look back and remember these times and want to come back and do them again. Today was a great day and I loved that I was able to enjoy with my family.

Staying STRONG in the STORMS of Life

Every Sunday morning we turn a show on for Zoie. We let her watch Joseph: King of Dreams. She loves that show and literally sits through the whole show. I end up watching it with her, every now and then. Each time I sit and watch the show with her I learn something new. Today I learned something so valuable and simple, that it was perfect for today's post.

A quick brief summary of the story of Joseph. Joseph's brothers sold him into slavery, because they were jealous and envious of how their father was treating him. He was sold into Egypt and became a slave for Potiphar. Then he was wrongly accused of sleeping with Potiphar's wife and sent to prison for several years. During his stay in prison he learned something of great worth to him and is now, I feel of great worth to me.

These weekly posts are designed to strengthen our testimony in the Savior, Jesus Christ, which in turn helps us overcome any obstacle in our life path. Imagine how Joseph felt being wrongly accused and thrown into prison for several years. That would upset me, and make me want to have revenge of some sort or just to give up on my life. Wouldn't you? It's a hard trail to bear and move forward from.

The valuable lesson is this,

"I don't know the reason why I'm going through this,

maybe not knowing why, is the test for me.

 A test of faith and strength. I must learn to trust in God.

HE knows better than I. He knows better than I."

"I am a player in a much more greater plan so I got to give a little more than I take."

This is a saying we need to always keep in mind, when we are placed in a difficult situation or challenge. We may not know the reason why we are going through that specific trial at that specific time. It may frustrate us and make us want to give up, but always remember "HE KNOWS BETTER THAN I."  He knows when we need strengthening, encouragement, and help in our life. He has bigger plan and purpose for us, individually, and once we come to understand that, we can accomplish any obstacle in our life path and continue to stay strong in the storms of life.



Homemade Cheese-its

Zoie loves crackers. I found this recipe at Heavenly Homemakers and it looked pretty simple and easy. So I had to give it a try. They taste amazing, plus we have all the ingredients on hand all the time, it'll save us so much money on crackers. Although I couldn't get mine into squares, but I'm sure with more practice I'll have this recipe perfected. Enjoy and tell me what you think when you try it.

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup shredded cheese, room temperature
1 cup wheat flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp cold water

Directions:

1. Beat butter and salt until creamy. Add cheese mix well. Gradually add flour, baking powder, and water until dough forms a ball. Help form ball with hands if need too.

2. Roll dough 1/8 in thick (between parchment paper) on a cookie sheet.
*I just spread mine out on a greased cookie sheet with a spatula.

3. Cut in 1 1/2 in squares. Bake 15 minutes at 350 degrees or until brown. Turn oven off and let sit to get crispy.

4. Store in a tightly covered container.

Staying STRONG in the STORMS of Life

"This is a day of proving ourselves, a day of trial. This is a day when men's hearts are failing them with fear. When the multitudes in the world are asking themselves what the end will be. A few inspired men know what the end will be. The Lord has told us what would occur, in [the scriptures], this wonderful library that I hold in my hand. He has given us the information that we need to adjust our lives and to prepare ourselves that no matter what may transpire we will be on the Lord's side of the line." George Albert Smith

How true this is. We are in a day of challenging times. The Lord gave us the scriptures to help us overcome our trials and prepare for exaltation. It is hard for the Lord to help us, if we don't ask. A minor challenge I have had in my life recently, may not seem like a challenge at all, but to me it is. I am trying to teach Zoie to pray and be reverent. When we will kneel down for family prayer, she fusses and tries to lift us up and unfold our arms. It is really frustrating for me.

One evening I prayed to Heavenly Father asking him to help me figure out how I can get this principle across to Zoie. When I finished, I started to read in the Book of Mormon. I felt inspired to read in 1 Nephi. I wanted to read about Lehi and how he taught his children. After I finished reading, I realized that the only way for me to really teach the importance of prayer and reverence to Zoie was to just do it. Be an example. When we have family prayer, I fold my arms, bow my head, and close my eyes, and pretty much ignore her. It worked for a while, but she still had her moments, but she is only 19 months, it'll get better. A couple weeks later, she now folds her arms and bows her head. She is the biggest reminder to us to pray, and she loves saying "Amen." It is the cutest thing in the world and it melts my heart to see her praying and being reverent. A little while ago, she prayed with her baby and put her baby to sleep. She talked aloud and when she was done said "amen", kissed her baby and laid her down. I wanted to cry, I was so proud of her.

This is not a very big trial, but something I've struggled through and wanted to give up on. But with the strength of the Lord, and the encouragement I found in the scriptures, I was able to learn how to teach my child the importance of prayer. It really is through prayer and the scriptures we can stay STRONG in the STORMS of life.

Baby Girl # 2 Scare

Our family had quite the scare last week. I have had braxton-hicks contractions since the beginning of my third trimester in April. They don't bother me too much, just uncomfortable at times. Some days are better than others.

Last Sunday (may 13), I had them throughout the entire day, very irregular. So I thought nothing of it. Monday (may 14), I had them all morning long about 10-15 minutes apart, still didn't think much of it then, but as the day continued on, the contractions got stronger and shorter. I told Ryan, and we talked and decided that we would just wait until the morning to go in and see the doctor, so we didn't have to go to the hospital and deal with all that jazz. Oh man, Monday night was just horrible, I couldn't sleep, the contractions were so bad and close together. I couldn't get comfortable and it was just plain annoying. Tuesday (may 15) we called the Doctor and went in to see her. I explained everything that was going on and how I felt and such. They hooked me up to the fetal monitor, to time and read the contractions and such. Then they did a preterm early labor test. I had to wait for the test results to come back. If it was positive, they would write me a prescription for Nifedipine, and if it was negative then we didn't have to worry about the possible chance of delivering this baby.

Well.... my test results came back positive, for being in preterm early labor. So I had to go get this prescription filled and this is suppose to slow the contractions down and not make them so strong. It works every now and then. I take one every six hours. Apparently my body adjusts to medicine when I take it, so this drug works one set of six hours and the next, not so much.

Went back in Thursday (may 17), told the doctor how I've been feeling. Wednesday night was horrible, couldn't sleep at all, the contractions were uncomfortable. My doctor decided she would do an ultrasound to check my cervix. Doctor Jensen, said I am really thin and am dilated to about a 3 already. She wants me to continue to take the drugs, so we can keep this baby girl inside until 35 weeks, so her lungs can mature and hopefully she'll gain some weight. She only weighs 3 lbs right now and is very small. We go back in the this Friday, to see how things are going and whether or not we will have this baby in a week or if I will carry her full-term.

We aren't terribly worried, because our doctor doesn't seem to be very worried. Which is great, cause I don't know if I could handle it, if she was worried. I've been ordered not to teach my fitness classes for the next coupe weeks. I need to relax and take it easy. Which is hard for me, cause there is still so much to do and get done before she arrives and I have Zoie who apparently all of a sudden demands my attention and wants to be cuddled and have someone to play with. Ryan has been a great help and support through all of this and I couldn't of asked for a better husband.

There you have it our family scare with Baby Girl # 2. Oh, because of this scare, I got my haircut earlier than I wanted to, but if she decided to come, I wanted my hair short. It is shorter than I expected, but I like it and haven't freaked out about not having long hair. This is the shortest I have ever had it.

Up-Cycled Dresser: COMPLETED!!

I finished the dresser and am very proud of myself. I am still in progres with fixing the drawer and it's missing pieces, but luckily I have a brother-in-law who is great at stuff like that and said he and his friend can make those pieces for me, no problem. YAY!!!!

I lined the drawers this morning with vinyl adhesive wall paper. It's a simple floral design. Take a look. I love it and think it's perfect.

up close shot of the wall paper

how it looks in the drawers

Now the moment we have all been waiting for....

....

...

..

.

Before shot

AFTER.....

...

..

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don't mind my hand and the missing knob on the bottom.

That's the drawer that is being fixed

Now, my make your own projector idea didn't work out, so I had to trace the stencil on by hand. It was very fun and relaxing. I'm so glad to finally have this project completed and can't wait to put it in the girls room tomorrow. I'll be sure to post a picture of the room when it's finished. Thanks, for all the encouragement and such. It was fun to know you guys wanted to know how things were coming.

Stay tuned for my next project in a couple of weeks (maybe) with the Mirror Make-Over. The other piece of furniture I found in the trash. 

Upclcyed-Dresser: Priming Drawers

It's a raining day here today, but that didn't stop me from continuing my work on the dresser.

I'm so excited, tomorrow I will paint and get the stencil ready to be traced.

Want to see the stencil I'm using?

I am using this stencil from All Things Thrifty. I absolutely love it

and think it'll look great.

Remember I decided to blow this up and paint it big on the left side of the dresser.

I planned on painting each circle of petals

a color of the rainbow, but I think I'm changing my mind. I am

leaning towards one solid color.

What do you think?

Suggestions for colors, maybe?

The girls walls are painted a periwrinkle (bluish/purplish) color. The dresser is all white.

I looked forward to your suggestions. Thanks for stopping by. :)

Here is the list of things that I need to do to make this dresser beautified!!! Look the list is slowly getting smaller :)

• wipe down
• clean out
• putty the indention's and handle holes
• prime the dresser
• prime the drawers
• get new knobs for the drawers
• reattach 3 drawers
• drill new holes for knobs
• fix incomplete drawer
• get wood to fill the bottoms of the drawers
• fix back of dresser
• sand it down
• secure the foots of the dresser
• paint dresser
• paint drawers
• put knobs on drawers
• line bottom of drawers with wall paper
• find a cute, girly stencil
• blow up the stencil
• trace stencil onto dresser
• paint stencil
• place in girls room

Staying STRONG in the STORMS of Life

Since it is Mother's Day, I wanted to do a post about Mother's. I'm not going to say much expect being a mother is hard and a blast. I love being a mom. I love my mom. I feel that Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said it best.

"The work of a mother is hard, too often unheralded work. Please know that it is worth it then, now, and forever.

One young mother wrote to me recently that she felt like the world expected her to teach her children reading, writing, interior design, Latin, calculus, and the Internet—all before the baby said something terribly ordinary, like “goo goo.” She worried because she felt she didn’t measure up or somehow wasn’t going to be able to be equal to the task, the mental investment, the spiritual and emotional exertion, the long-night, long-day, stretched-to-the-limit demands that sometimes are required in trying to be and wanting to be the mother God hopes she will be.

But one thing, she said, keeps her going. I quote: “Through the thick and the thin of this, and through the occasional tears of it all, I know deep down inside I am doing God’s work. I know that my motherhood is an eternal partnership with Him.”

Mothers, cherish that role that is so uniquely yours and for which heaven itself sends angels to watch over you and your little ones. Yours is the work of salvation, and therefore you will be magnified, compensated, made more than you are, better than you are, and better than you have ever been. And if, for whatever reason, you are making this courageous effort alone, without your husband at your side, then our prayers will be all the greater for you. Know that in faith things will be made right in spite of you, or more correctly, because of you. We thank all of you, and tell you there is nothing more important in this world than participating so directly in the work and glory of God.

May I say to mothers collectively, in the name of the Lord, you are magnificent. You are doing terrifically well. The very fact that you have been given such a responsibility is everlasting evidence of the trust your Father in Heaven has in you. He is blessing you and He will bless you, even—no, especially—when your days and your nights may be the most challenging. Rely on Him. Rely on Him heavily. Rely on Him forever. And 'press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope.'"

Mother's Day Gifts

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!!!!

"HOME is where your Mom is"

I made this Mother's Day gift for my Mother-in-Law.

 I found this print on pinterest. 

I added some fabric flowers with buttons in the middle.

"L-O-V-E" sign.

My Mom's Mother's Day gift is this sign.

I absolutely love how it turned out.

Idea also came from pinterest.

Up-Cycled Dresser: Painting Dresser

It's PAINTED!!! Well... the dresser is at least---halfway to the finish!!! :)

We even moved it into the girls room. We had to move it in for three reasons; first, I need room on the back porch to prime and paint the drawers. Second, I didn't want any birds to poop on it (they did while it was priming...so gross). Third, I can start rearranging the girls room and making everything fit. Oh... so excited.

I went and bought paint rollers so I wouldn't have to worry about any brush strokes showing on the top and sides. It turned out pretty good. The rollers added a little texture to it, and I think it's just perfect. I did two coats of white paint and it did it's job.

Painting was so relaxing, and stress-free. Lately, I have been working on the dresser while Zoie is taking her nap and while she is up. When she is up I normally just stick her in the living room, turn on her favorite show, right now it's, "Dragon Tales." Then I go out to the back porch and work. It's been great. Here she is chillin' and watchin' her show.



Up-Cycled Dresser: Priming Dresser

Today I primed the dresser. I did some research on priming and found that the Kilz primer is the one of the best primers to use when working with pieces of furniture. I've used it a couple of times and so far it seems to be working pretty great.

I was only able to get the dresser done today as I am hurrying to finish my mom's Mother's Day gift. Stay tuned for that post. Here are the priming pictures. Enjoy. I sure am :)

Here is the list of things that I need to do to make this dresser beautified!!! Look the list is slowly getting smaller :)

• wipe down
• clean out
• putty the indention's and handle holes
• prime the dresser
• prime the drawers
• get new knobs for the drawers
• reattach 3 drawers
• drill new holes for knobs
• fix incomplete drawer
• get wood to fill the bottoms of the drawers
• fix back of dresser
• sand it down
• secure the foots of the dresser
• paint dresser & drawers
• find a cute, girly stencil
• blow up the stencil
• find a projector
• trace stencil onto dresser
• paint stencil
• spray with poly to seal the paint
• place in girls room



Up-Cycled Dresser: Sanding & Drawers FINISHED!!!

The moment you and I have been waiting for....... I am officially FINISHED SANDING the dresser. I am so excited. It's been a long time comin', I know, but thanks for all the encouragement and support. I wouldn't of been able to finish without it.

In the end I did find an electric sander to finish the sides. I'm so grateful to the friend who let me borrow it. She saved my life, literally. Enough said about that here is what I finished today -- sides and front of dresser!!! Tonight I prime...

         

 

Not only did I get the sanding completed, I reattached all the drawers, but one (missing a piece-going to improvise with it). After all the drawers were reattached, I asked my lovely, amazing husband to drill the holes in the drawers for the new knobs. So stoked. Here are the pictures, you can see the tiny holes in between the white holes. Today has been a very good successful day!!

This is the drawer I am improvising on to make a complete drawer.

Here is the list of things that I need to do to make this dresser beautified!!! Look the list is slowly getting smaller :)

• wipe down
• clean out
• putty the indention's and handle holes
• prime the wood (dresser itself and drawers)
• get new knobs for the drawers
• reattach 3 drawers
• drill new holes for knobs
• fix incomplete drawer
• get wood to fill the bottoms of the drawers
• fix back of dresser
• sand it down
• secure the foots of the dresser
• paint dresser & drawers
• find a cute, girly stencil
• blow up the stencil
• find a projector
• trace stencil onto dresser
• paint stencil
• spray with poly to seal the paint
• place in girls room



Inspirational Word Art

My sister Blythe's birthday was Sunday. She turned 22. Happy Birthday Blythe.

I wanted to get her a gift she would obviously like, but something that she wasn't expecting. So I decided to make her some word art. When I was a junior in  college (oh man sounding like my dad :)) I struggled a lot and had a rough year. Everything was difficult and nothing seemed to work out the way I wanted it too. A Missionary Couple that I was friends with told me a good saying in Hebrew that has stuck with me ever since. The saying is "Hupo Meone". It means to hang tough. Whenever things got hard for me or seemed like things weren't ever going to get better, I thought of this saying and life was easier and great.

All I did was get a frame from Walmart. Got some scrapbook paper and cut it to the size of the matte board. Then I took a strip of scrapbook paper, got it slightly wet and crumbled it up into a ball. Next I uncrumbled it and started to shape it into a flower. Once my flower was shaped I hot glued it all together and to the matte, then hot glued a purple button into the middle. To add little more embellishments to it I hot glued some more purple bottoms across the bottom. I absolutely love it.

I hope Blythe loves this gift and it brings some good, happy, inspiration to her life. I love you Blythe!!

Happy Birthday

Thursday, May 3rd was my 23rd birthday!! I can't believe I am 23 years old. In the words of one of my little brothers "Dang, you're old!" :) He'll be 19 on Wednesday and getting ready to serve his mission in Nicaragua.

Ryan had to work most of the day on my birthday, so it was just Zoie and I celebrating. We had a fun, relaxing day. She helped me make my mom's no-bake homemade cheesecake. It was delicious!!!

Then Saturday night, Ryan took me out to dinner. We went into Staunton and ate at Chili's. It was yummy and entertaining (apparently here was a prom going on). I saw a Basket Robins as we entered town and told Ryan I want to get dessert there. They have my favorite Ice Cream, Daiquiri Ice. It's so amazing and that's the only place you can get that flavor. So we went after dinner and guess what?! They didn't have that flavor, I was so bummed and disappointed, that we walked out without getting anything. To make up for no dessert, we decided to go bowling. He beat me both games. We had so much fun and it was nice to be just us. I love Ryan so much and he made the start of my 23rd year the best.

I wanted to share with you all the saying on the card that Ryan got me. I absolutely love it!! Thanks Babe for a great birthday, I love you back.

"Some guys can't handle smart, beautiful, AND successful.

Idiots. 

Happy Birthday to my gorgeous, genius, goddess wife."

.

Staying STRONG in the STORMS of Life

I wanted to share with you all, member and non-member, what we as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints believe.

THE ARTICLES OF FAITH:

1. We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost.
2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.
3. We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
5. We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.
6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, namely, apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, and so forth.
7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation of tongues, and so forth.
8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God.
9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, an we believe that He will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God.
10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the restoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion (the New Jerusalem) will be built upon the American continent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and that the earth will be renewed and receive its paradisaical glory.
11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all me the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.
12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law.
13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul--We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

I know that when we come to understand these articles of faith, we will have the belief that there is God and He is ready to help you with an out stretched arm. Gaining a testimony of each of these will help you stay STRONG in your STORMS of life. I know these articles are true and I do believe in them. I have seen the power of them come and work into my life which in turn made me a better person and blessed my family. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

Up-Cycled Dresser: More Sanding

I am back with more "sanding" updates, days 5-6. It seems like this phase will never end. Lo and behold it will eventually come to an end soon.

 I am feeling really accomplished and proud of myself today. I was able to get all 6 drawers sanded and the top of the dresser sanded as well. It took me about 30 minutes to sand each drawer and about 2 1/2 hours to sand the top of the dresser. Now remember it took me this long because I am hand-sanding (I highly recommend you never do that unless you have too).

Enough said about this let me show how amazing they all look now, pretty even. :)

The look so much better now sanded down. Don't you think so? All I have left to do is the sides and base (I guess you call it that) or the bottom of the dresser. When that's all done I can finally prime the wood and start painting. We are getting there guys. I'm so excited and hope you are too. Thanks for stopping by. 

Up-Cycled Dresser: Putty & Sanding

It's been raining a lot here in Virginia and I haven't been able to work much on the dresser. But on the very few days it doesn't rain, I go outside and get as much done as I can with Zoie running around and wanting to help.

Day 2: I puttied the indention's in the dresser and the holes where the handles used to be on the drawers. That wasn't too bad, just a bit messy. :)

Such a good helper. She helped me unscrew

the handles from the drawers. She got so excited!

Day 3-4: Sanding....Sanding....Sanding.... and some more Sanding!!! We don't have an electric sander, so I am sanding everything by hand, {until, I find someone who is willing to let me borrow theirs}. I have discovered I don't like hand sanding. I don't mind if the project is small, but this project is HUGE and it is just taking forever to sand it down. I really don't mind so much, I just mind the sore hands and shoulders. I try to sand while Zoie is taking her 3 hour nap. Yes, she takes a 3 hour nap every day. Be jealous!! So sanding the dresser is kind of my time to myself and it's very relaxing. I am just so anxious to get this dresser primed and painted, I want to be DONE sanding!!!! Here is what I've gotten done on the sanding part.

These are the two finished sanding drawers {4 left}

This gives you an idea of what I started out with before sanding

The before and after look

Started the top of the dresser, but have a ways to go

I am really excited I am making progress with this project. It is a slow progress, but progress nonetheless. I did tell Ryan that this dresser better come out perfect with all the effort I am putting into it. I'm sure it will. I have two months to finish this. My goal is to have it completely sanded {and maybe primed} by the end of the week and completely finished by the end of this month. I want to get the baby clothes out and washed and put away, just in case she decides to come early.

There you all go -- the progress on the girls dresser.

Here is the list of things that I need to do to make this dresser beautified!!!

• wipe down
• clean out
• putty the indention's and handle holes
• prime the wood (dresser itself and drawers)
• get new knobs for the drawers
• reattach 3 drawers
• drill new holes for knobs
• get wood to fill the bottoms of the drawers
• fix back of dresser
• sand it down
• secure the foots of the dresser
• paint
• find a cute, girly stencil
• blow up the stencil
• find a projector
• trace stencil onto dresser
• paint stencil
• spray with poly to seal the paint
• place in girls room