The only thing constant is change!

I have caught the quilting bug.  I love to make quilt patterns and I love to make those into quilts.  It makes my mind happy.  It makes my soul happy.  It makes our checking account unhappy but oh well.  Here are some of the latest-

I don't know why this keeps turning sideways

I love them.  I especially love the flag quilt.  It's called a bargello pattern.  It's pretty good for my first try.  I will machine quilt these myself.  That still is a bit scary for me.? 

So since I have this new adventure I have struggled with making my sewing room useful and organized.  I read a quote that made me smile.

So I have been looking for a long time ideas that would make my sewing room work.  I have a friend Nancy who has given me ideas and thoughts.  The honey do list for Mike just keeps growing.  :-)

But I'm finally getting around to what this post is all about.  Before I was born my dad and his cabinet making friend built this set of chest of drawers.  This set of chest of drawers has quite the history.  It held many clothes and was pulled open and pushed shut to many times to count.  It was built so strong and sturdy that one could hid inside and a bomb could do off and I'm sure not one hair would come off your head. This chest of drawers went through me and my siblings and our children.  The drawers were sometimes hard to push in and pull out due to the metal tracks.  We would rub soap on them to make them slide easier.

So the kids grew and left home.  The big chest of drawers stayed and was always huge and in the way!  I had looked on Pinterest about how to better make this sewing room work.  I talked to my friends.  I loved this idea here Idea #1   
I even looked into taking out the shelves and putting in shelves like this idea #2

These are the times I really miss my dad.  He would know what to do and how to do it.  I sent ideas and furniture ideas to Mike and he would say I'm not sure how to do that.  Then I was sitting at my sewing table looking at the chest of drawers and it came to me.  "Take the top off and saw it in half then put the top back on the bottom part." Okay that would work and I could use it to cut fabric and to do other stuff.  So I talked to Mike and he told me that before my dad died he made Mike promise that he would never ruin any of the furniture he had made.  I just looked at him and said nice try. 

So here is what we did.  I come home from the gym and was feeling quite strong and into making this happen.  I took all the drawers out and moved the chest to one side of the room.  Mike came home and I was sitting by him on the couch.  I thought no more sitting it's action time.   I got up and found a hammer walked through the room Mike was sitting and into the room I went.  I banged the top of the chest some and the top was coming off nicely.  Mike thought it would break.  Oh silly Mike, it was after all built by my dad.  He took the hammer and started to hit his side.  At this point he said it's nailed on.  I said ya it is.. keep hitting it.  Mike finally said we are committed to this now.  No going back.  I said whoo hooo!  We got the top off and carried the chest out to the garage.  We marked the cutting line with tape.  And off we went.  We laid the chest on each side as we would cut.  We were finally left with two boards that needed to be cut but couldn't be with the skill saw.  Mike found his jig saw and the deed was done. 
 

The lower portion of the chest.

The top tipped on it's side. 

Mike pulling out the nails from the top. 

The next part was to remove the nails from the top.  The outside has a veneer on it that was pretty thick.  So instead of cutting the nails off he was able to use his might strength and pull the nails all the way through the board.  We took my new pride and joy back into the sewing room and here you have it!  I'm so thrilled by how it all turned out. 

The chest back in the room. 

So there you have it.  The interesting part of the story is a little personal.  When I walked into the room with the hammer I said a prayer and asked Heavenly Father if He would allow my dad to come and help me/us do this so it would turn out.  In my head I saw how to do it.  The steps were laid out.  As I talked to Mike he would say this is how I think we need to do this- and he would tell me the steps exactly in the order that they were laid out in my head.  As we cut the chest down it went perfect.  Is the cut perfect no but does it work.  YES!  I truly believe we had divine help that night.  And now my sewing room has a new table and cutting board and fabric holder and quilt holder-upper!  It was a fun night for me.  I knew it was possible and to have this experience enlightened my understanding of asking for help and knowing it comes.  I posted this on Facebook after we were done working- 

"What do you call someone who doesn't think your ideas are crazy or at least doesn't say you are but jumps into the idea boat and begins to paddle with you?? A hero whose name is Mike Ladle! We had an adventure tonight and it turned out just as I had thought and envisioned! Whoop whoop!"

Do we fill our lives with so much of our own treats....

This morning I turned on BYU TV and heard this while I was in another room.  It was given in 2000 at BYU Women's Conference.  By Sharon Larson.  I thought it was great!  The whole talk is great and I would encourage you to listen to it.  I have put the link at the bottom.  But for my sake I have put here the things that pricked my heart and mind.

"In time we will look back at what may seem like disconnected, independent pieces of our
lives and better understand what God is trying to make of us. You remember the analogy
quoted by C. S. Lewis: “Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that
house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right
and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew that those jobs needed doing and so
you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts
abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is
that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new
wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You
thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a
palace.

........ This same daughter, who is now a mother of two—almost three—little boys, brought treats
to sacrament meeting to pacify her boys. As the sacrament tray of bread was passed down
our row, Jake, then three, whispered in my ear, “Tell them we don’t need that bread. We
brought our own treats.” To a three-year-old, the treats from home looked much more
inviting than the pieces of broken bread. Jake did not understand the sacred symbolism of
the bread. But what about us who do understand? Do we fill our lives with so much of our
own treats that we have no appetite for the Bread of Life that will sustain us? Why does a
“mess of pottage,” without any of the essential nutrients, seem more appealing at times than
the Bread of Life, and we find ourselves passing up the banquet the Lord has prepared for
us?  Evil designs do exist in the hearts of conspiring people (see D&C 89:4).

It takes faith to choose the good. Exercising faith in the Lord and His plan for us is spiritual
calisthenics. We have opportunities every day to improve that skill so we will not be
deceived. As women of God, we can feel His love and His strength every day. Even though
we are trying to do the best we can, we all slip and pick ourselves up and try again, and the
Lord is there to dust us off. Some of you are carrying heavy, heavy burdens. We are not free
from tribulation or weighty loads, but I testify (because I know) that He will make you
strong to carry the weight placed upon you. Let Him heal your broken heart and broken
dreams.

President George Q. Cannon reminds us: “No matter how serious the trial, how deep the
distress, how great the affliction, [God] will never desert us. He never has, and He never
will. . . . We have made Him our friend, by obeying His gospel; and He will stand by us. . . .
We shall emerge from all [our] trials and difficulties the better and purer for them, if we
only trust in our God and keep His commandments.”

We can arise as women of God when we choose to trust Him and keep His commandments.
This reassuring song, “Come unto Him,” speaks for you and for me.

I wander through the still of night,
When solitude is ev’rywhere—
Alone, beneath the starry light,
And yet I know that God is there.
I kneel upon the grass and pray;
An answer comes without a voice.
It takes my burden all away
And makes my aching heart rejoice.
It matters not what may befall,
What threat’ning hand hangs over me;
He is my rampart through it all,
My refuge from mine enemy.
Come unto him all ye depressed,
Ye erring souls whose eyes are dim,
Ye weary ones who long for rest.
Come unto him! Come unto him!

Choose you this day whom ye will serve. As for me, I will serve the One who keeps His
promises and has never left me alone.
 
By Sharon Larson-  BYU Women's Conference.  2000

Here is the link I promised.  
http://www.byutv.org/watch/72fca9a6-08fe-4f9a-8189-8070a8ac9842/byu-womens-conference-sharon-g-larsen-2000

Temples

I have had conversations with friends about our temples.  Like how are they different from our chapels and why do we go there?  I love talking about temples.  The feelings that I get while attending or even thinking about temples is one of pure peace and love.  The church has put out a wonderful video that helps explain the differences between our Sunday meeting houses of worship and our temples.  And you can see inside a few of our temples. 

We profess to the world that we are family oriented.  What is more pro-family then to believe we will be together forever as a family?  We believe that Heavenly Father sent us down to earth in families so why wouldn't we return that way?  We believe that families should be together forever.  United and bound with each person that is born into that family and never to be separated after death.  Both my parents have passed away and I know I will see them again.  And I will be with them again because they were married in the temple and sealed for time and all eternity.  Mike and I have been married in the temple and sealed for time and all eternity too.  So maybe think of it like a chain of links all hooked together forever. 

Enjoy the video.

 
 I add my witness that these are sacred buildings that have been decided to our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  Please if you have any questions please leave me a comment or seek out missionaries in your own area.  You can go to www.mormon.org  and they have people on there with whom you can chat with. 

Fridays!

Fri·day: [frahy-dey, -dee] 

noun: the sixth day of the week, following Thursday.

Origin: before 1000; Middle English; Old English Frīgedæg  Freya's day, equivalent to Frīge  (genitive singular of Frēo ) + dæg  day; Frēo  is identical with Old English  adj. frēo  free

 Today is Friday!  I love Friday's.  Since working full time I decided long ago that Friday nights were my favorite nights.  It still meant that I had the weekend ahead of me.  I heard on the news one morning that the night most people don't sleep as well is Sunday night.  I said out loud to the TV "that's because the next day is Monday and you have to get up and go to work."  She agreed with me on TV.  :-)
                                
When I first started to work full time it drove me crazy how much less time "I" had to do my stuff.  Who would clean the house, do the laundry, grocery shop, cook - okay that one was a stretch since Mike was a good cook and Rob loved to cook as well.  Why should I not let their talent shine?  Anyhow, it was hard to get into the groove.  Work quickly became unpleasant and I didn't like being there.  I hated Sundays because I knew the next day was Monday.  My boss was not always a nice person.  So that was hard for me to want to be at work.  But now that I have a whole new group of new people that I work with I enjoy coming to work.  But I still love my Fridays and it's one night in the week that I get to think and choose when I wake up and what I will do that day.  I'm sure I'm in the majority on my love of Fridays.  So I leave you with this- Happy Friday's to you and yours!   

 

 

Family!

My mom use to say all the time "Annette is the happiest when she is with her family."  I can say this is still true.  Mike travels a lot and at times so do I.  I think we have said goodbye at more airports than the average couple.  Starting back in 1978!

I remember thinking after he got home from his mission and we got married that FINALLY no more goodbyes at airports.  Ha!  how wrong I was.  But it is what it is.  Some day we will retire and get to spend all day together.

I've been down in Orlando and I had a 3 week stint down here.  Last week Mike suggested that I just stay down here and he'd come down and see me.  Kristen, Lance and Liam were headed down for Kaitlyn and Austin's wedding.  I loved seeing everyone but alas Sunday came and they went home.  Monday was a holiday and Mike had to head back as well.  I was so sad that everyone had left.  I wanted to do something rebellious like eat a hot fudge sunday!  Or some other rich dessert to sooth my sadness. 

I had a great time shopping with Kristen and Liam.  When Mike arrived we went for dinner and it was so great to see his cute face and be with him.  He truly makes me smile.  We squeezed into a queen size bed and did okay.  We went to the temple on Saturday to see Kaitlyn get married and hear the wise words said to them.  I told Mike that  I think the counsel they give to the couples are really more for the people witnessing the marriage.  They wont ever remember.  But one thing I loved was when he said you will never remember what is said but remember these three words - Always Hold Hands!  When you hold hands you are not far apart from each other.  So true.

We left the temple and went on the hunt to find Mike some new shoes.  We finally found him some and dinked around looking at other stuff.  Sunday we got up and went to church.  Came back to the hotel and decided that we would take a drive over to the coast.  We drove up to Daytona and down the coast to Cocoa Beach where we waved 2 cruise ships out to sea.  Monday we checked out the container store (which I think is a totally cool place) and then over to Bass Pro Shop.  Came back and Mike packed up.  I grew sad as I realized his time really was coming to a close.

I'm down one day and have just two nights here and then I'm heading home myself.  I welcome the traveling break.  I'll be home until October.  Ya for that.  Now I just need to get out to AZ and see our cute little family out there.  I can't wait to play and hang out with Robby!

I love my family.  Life would be horrible without them.  Each holds a very special place in my heart.  I celebrate them in my life.  You are what I live for.  Each and every one of you!!!  Love you all to pieces!!! 

Family Pictures- Make my heart smile!

Last Dec when our whole family was together I knew we needed to take family pictures.  I wanted updated pictures to hang on my wall.  So in discussing this with Kristen a few days at work I asked her if she would ask one of her friends to take our pictures.  I told Kristen I would be happy to pay her.  She asked Freya and not to my surprise the pictures turned out Amazing!  Freya does an awesome job.  In fact there were so many good pictures how was I going to choose?  Yikes.  So I put some on Facebook and decorated my blog with them.  But I wanted them up in my house.

I scanned Pinterest for ideas on how to display them.  Looked for frames but nothing happened.    How was I going to do this?  Frames are expensive in the stores and they didn't have any that I liked together.  I would always walk away and say I'll try again another day.

Enter Friday May 10th.  I was down in Orlando for the day doing training and I drove by IKEA.  I love that place.  I thought hummmm perhaps after the training I'll stop on my way home.  Kristen had wanted me to get her a few things but I had planned on getting them this week since I'm down there all week long.  I decided to delay my trip home and head into IKEA.  I went looking for frames.  And IKEA did not disappoint!  I found some wood looking ones and it happened to come in all the sizes I wanted.

I came home with a car full of frames.  Saturday Morning I woke up way to early but came to the computer and sent to Costco our wonderful pictures.  I over did it a tad with what pictures but I didn't want to come up wishing I had picked another picture.  They were ready at 1:30.  I picked them up and was excited to get started.

I had read enough on Pinterest that suggested that you put your frames in the order on a table or floor.  That way you get what they will look like.  I did that and had Alyse add her thoughts on how they looked together.  Soon Kristen, Lance and Liam arrived followed by Bryan and Michelle.  They all joined in on what they thought.  I was excited.

They opened frames and helped me put the pictures in.  Kristen suggested taking paper and cutting it out the same size as my frames.  Then positioning the paper on the wall.   I took some wrapping paper and cut out the sizes and taped them like how they were on the floor.  Sent a picture off to Kristen to see what she thought.  Alyse had run to the store for me to grab more hanging wire and Bryan was great at helping me get things level.  Michelle watched as we put it up.  We all decided everything needed to be moved to the left.  Move we did.

Bryan and Michelle went home and Alyse arrived back with the wire.  I measured the frame and were the nails needed to be.   Into the wall went the nails.  Hammering right through the paper.  I was so excited to see the results.  The big picture too some adjusting on the wire but as we took down the gold wrapping paper and put up each frame I knew I had done this one right!

I am overjoyed that finally the greatest gifts and joys of our lives are displayed in our home.  Today I want to tell all my children that I am so happy that Heavenly Father sent you to us.  You are my light, my strength, and my joy!   As each person is added to our growing family Mike and I continue to ask how did we get to be so blessed. 

When God Created Mothers!

I have always loved this little story that Erma Bombeck wrote.  I've used it a few times when I was asked to speak on Mother's Day.  Happy Mother's Day to all. 

When the Good Lord was creating mothers, He was into his sixth day of “overtime” when an angel appeared and said, “You’re doing a lot of fiddling around on this one.”
And the Lord said, “Have you read the specs on this order?

• She has to be completely washable, but not plastic;
• Have 180 movable parts... all replaceable;
• Run on black coffee and leftovers;
• Have a lap that disappears when she stands up;
• A kiss that can cure anything from a broken leg to a disappointed love affair;
• And six pairs of hands.”

The angel shook her head slowly and said, “Six pairs of hands... no way.” “It’s not the hands that are causing me problems,” said the Lord. “It’s the three pairs of eyes that mothers have to have.”
“That’s on the standard model?” asked the angel.
The Lord nodded. “One pair that sees through closed doors when she asks, ’What are you kids doing in there?’ when she already knows. Another here in the back of her head that sees what she shouldn’t but what she has to know, and of course the ones here in front that can look at a child when he goofs up and say, ’I understand and I love you’ without so much as uttering a word.”
“Lord,” said the angel, touching His sleeve gently, “Go to bed. Tomorrow...”
“I can’t,” said the Lord, “I’m so close to creating something so close to myself. Already I have one who heals herself when she is sick... can feed a family of six on one pound of hamburger... and can get a nine-year-old to stand under a shower.”
The angel circled the model of a mother very slowly. “It’s too soft,” she sighed.
“But she’s tough!” said the Lord excitedly. “You cannot imagine what this mother can do or endure.”
“Can it think?”
“Not only can it think, but it can reason and compromise,” said the Creator.
Finally, the angel bent over and ran her finger across the cheek. “There’s a leak,” she pronounced. “I told You You were trying to push too much into this model.”
“It’s not a leak,” said the Lord. “It’s a tear.”
“What’s it for?”
“It’s for joy, sadness, disappointment, pain, loneliness, and pride.”
“You are a genius,” said the angel.
The Lord looked somber. “I didn’t put it there,” He said.