cool down!

It is SO blasted hot here.

I live in the Vegas area. And all of a sudden our power bill doubled.

So my daughter and I decided to take matters into our own hands. We gathered up some left-over fabric from IKEA and made these drapes for one of the bedrooms. This morning that room was WAY cooler. This was my first attempt at drape making.

Anyway, then we went shopping for some less expensive fabric for the rest of the house. I'm really excited to show you the drapes as we finish them. We got some beautiful off-white fabric and some really great fabric paint. My daughter's quite the artist, so I know they'll be amazing one-of-a-kind drapes. We spent a total $101 for 9 windows.

Are we sensible shoppers or what?!

multiply ~ disappear

I don't know about your house, but in ours, some things seem to multiply until we have such an abundance that it seems to be all we can do swim our way through them. While other things: well, they just disappear. It doesn't matter how many we buy, we just can't keep them in our house. Here's an example:

At the moment, with some of our family away on trips, and visitors here ... we have a total of 4 people using this particular bathroom. I took a picture of just the one end ... note: 6 toothbrushes. The other end has a sonic toothbrush with 3 heads and one more regular toothbrush. That makes a total of 10 toothbrushes (and that's just what's on the counter). 4 people. No one will claim any of the regular toothbrushes. How does this happen? They're like bunnies ... they multiply when I'm not looking.

On the other hand: it looks like we have a plethora of socks ... be it known that not a single one of these has a mate. I promise: I bought these in pairs ~ I did NOT buy them as single items! It's gotten so bad that my girls actually started a new trend this year at school ... it's now the cool thing to wear mis-matched socks. It's about time someone started that fad.

I could probably figure out the mystery of the missing socks if I worked at it hard enough ... but the multiplying toothbrushes??? I haven't a clue.

Any ideas?

crush

My two youngest girls are die-hard David Archuleta fans.

(Sierra far left, Azure next to her)

If I were a multi-billionaire, I'd hire him to come for Azure's 14th birthday party. (and then I'd have to keep a close eye on Sierra {17} to make sure she doesn't elope with him)

Anyone in blogland with David Archuleta connections?

family ... past and present

Every year we look forward to an extended family reunion ... here our children and grandchildren get to know their 1st and 2nd cousins and learn about their heritage.

It's coming up in a couple of weeks and we can't wait!

“If you look deeply into the palm of your hand, you will see your parents and all generations of your ancestors. All of them are alive in this moment. Each is present in your body. You are the continuation of each of these people.”

-Thich Nhat Hanh

wilderness

Antelope, Idaho

In wilderness I sense the miracle of life, and behind it our scientific accomplishments fade to trivia.

Charles Lindbergh

one long day

Have you ever had a day that you thought would never end? and then years later you love the memory of that day?

I was just remembering one of those days we had a couple of years ago ....

It was summer and the girls in our family were in one car - leaving everyone but the baby behind. Driving the 4 hours or so to our destination, we ended up with a flat tire. No biggie, except this was the 5th tire in just a 2-month period! The silver lining: our previous flats were with girls only, so we all knew what we were doing. One of the bad things about getting a flat while traveling is all the unpacking that has to be done just to get the spare out.

So we got all the way down to our destination, went to go in the apartment (it was late and dark and we were tired!) and the door was locked. My son & his family were still up 4 hours north with the key. So we made human ladders up to the 2nd floor windows to try to break in. No luck. But a few laughs. Finally, with the key on its 4 hour drive to us, we stopped in at an all-night Denny's and ordered endless hot chocolate.

At the time, none of it seemed very fun. But now - it's a happy memory!

Personal Progress

First things first.

Congratulations to Jill from Teenage Bride ...

you won Beyond the Pig and the Ape

Now, a word about Jill: Cuter than cute, Jill was married quite young - and despite the negative reaction of many, she and her husband are very, very happy. They're expecting their first child, a daughter. Jill is a fun-loving but introspective blogger - and I've come to really love and admire her. Check out her blog!

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The youth of our church are encouraged to set and accomplish goals. (well, we all are, really) The Young Women have "Personal Progress" and (this is neat) mothers and other women are invited to participate as well. So a little over a year ago I picked up my own Personal Progress book and started working alongside my daughters. We each work on our own projects as well as doing some together. Well, we all decided we wanted to have everything complete by the time the yougest turns 14.... that's next month. And I'm happy to report that we're right on schedule!

Some of my projects included the family's donation of my hair to the wigmaker for my Mom's wig; starting and keeping an updated blog; successfully growing something in this desert yard of ours that is edible (grapes!); transcribing some of my old journals onto the computer then having them bound for my posterity; hand-quilt baby quilts with my mother and sister; Learn about & follow a fitness program ....

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So anyway, this Personal Progress Program is available online - I've found it valuable for me personally, but also so beneficial in creating a deeper bond between me and my girls. We have tried to spend a little time each Sunday working together on it. And it's been the means of helping me stay focused on things that are truly important rather than each day being chipped away with urgent "must do" things that, in the end, don't really matter.

(sometimes while working on Personal Progress, we get a little relaxed and some of us even fall asleep)

So I'm interested:

How do you stay focused on the important?

happiness is ... [part 4]

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... not fleeting. It's here through thick & thin - it exists when things are tough and when things are easy. Happiness is a state of being where we can exist no matter what chaos surrounds us!

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Meet Sandy who started a project that spreads happiness ... literally. She's an a quest to distribute 1000 handmade paper cranes, each with an uplifting word and definition on it. You can read about her project here. She describes her project as one of patience, peace and papercuts.

"Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence"

Aristotle

Have a wonderful weekend!

To Splurge:

Verb. English. Meaning to dip everything you can get your hands on in chocolate and consume before the chocolate hardens because you can't wait.

Happy Thursday! Don't forget to enter my giveaway (two posts down).

happiness is ... [part 3]

Today I'm excited to share with you some things that have made me smile:

S + B blog is hosting a giveaway from uprinting.com: a 250 piece set of personalized standard or die cut business cards. Sound boring? Think again: these are DARLING. And although I hope I win, I just had to share this with you ... I'm remembering the old, old, old days (as in WAY before I was born) when women would go on visits and leave their "calling cards". (think Pride & Prejudice; Gone with the Wind, etc) I want to do that!

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Gretchen Rubin is accomplished in many ways, but what I love her for is her launch of The Happiness Project. She's made it so easy to join up as groups or individually - publicly or privately. Check out her site and see if it doesn't make you smile!

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And finally {and i really hope this makes you smile} I felt flat on my rear last night in a public place. Granted, others were falling on their own rears at the roller rink, but they were all being comforted by their mommies.

(these are my son's legs .. mine are a little less hairy)

When I mentioned to my son-in-law that at least I was coordinated when it comes to skydiving, he logically responded, "of course you are - falling is your thing"!

Today's happiness post is intended to make you smile. I hope it did as I remember the anonymous quote:

A smile is the shortest distance between two people.

{giveaway} AND ~ happiness is .... (part 2)

... not as elusive as some may think.

I know that happiness is not a feeling - it's a state of being.

And I know that we all possess it. Just sometimes we, by our actions or our thoughts, shut it out.

We are meant to have joy.

And call me simple, but I believe that regardless of our circumstances, we just need to step outside ourselves (that is, cease being selfish) and the fuzzy film of life that shuts out happiness will disappear. We then have proper perspective and are able to see clearly - we are happy.

Pick up a copy of

Beyond the PIG and the APE

or ... (and this should help add to your happiness!)

enter to win your very own personally autographed copy!

Brand-spankin-new ... hot-off-the-press ...

Author Krishna Pendyala

talks about getting rid of the happiness obstacles: PIG, APE and Ego.

(PIG and APE are acronyms ... read the book for more on that)

and embracing life fully.

He teaches us how this leads to success.

Some of my favorite quotes from the book:

"... step away from the cave and embrace life instead of trying to conquer it or control some little corner of it .... we are not only 'in' life, we are life."

"Keeping the Ego on life support is a burden that can wear out the most energentic person."

"Live two days at a time"

(this is a fascinating concept - combines living in the moment and anticipating the future)

It's a great book about self awareness, success and happiness.

To enter simply leave a comment.

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