Bottle Up Lightning Lady Antebellum

I might be a little obsessed with Lady Antebellum. But it's an obsession I'm willing to share! This is their new song, and I like it :)

My friends and I have been to two of their concerts this year. And I've never been to two of ANYONE'S concerts :) For this one, we waited in line for four hours and then RAN so we could be up front. See that bar we're holding on to? That means there is NO ONE ELSE IN FRONT OF US!! Are we sad and pitiful women? Don't care! Because it was SO MUCH FUN! And in this world, once and a while, you've just got take a few more chances. Spin around the floor a few more dances. Or run. To be in front of 1000 people at a Lady Antebellum concert. You pick. And while you're thinking about it, listen to Lady A's new song. You'll be glad you did :)

1/5/11 - Pot Scrubbers

Tonight was Mutual. And we made these handy little crafty little things. Pot scrubbers. If you've never used one of these, you are missing out on the greatest kitchen gadget of all time!. They are crocheted out of net, so they scrub your pots without scratching them. They clean EVERYTHING!! And they're even kind of pretty.

These are some of my young Women. They're ALL mine because I'm the secretary, so my world has no class boundaries :) These are a couple of the Laurels.

And here is one of our Beehives. This is Maddi and she lives just across the street. She is absolutely FULL of personality. As all Beehives are :)

And here, in case you always wanted to know, are the instructions to make these wonderful pot scrubbers. You will need a size J or K crochet hook, some netting 3" wide by about 3 yds long.

Chain 6, slip stitch together, making a circle, and chain 1
Single crochet 9 stitches around the circle. Just stick your crochet hook right down in the little circle and single crochet 9 times around that little thing.
Slip stitch in the beginning stitch and chain 1
That is row 1.
Row 2- Do 2 single crochets in each stitch in row 1. Not a double crochet. 2 single crochet stitches in each of the 9 stitches in row one. Slip stitch in the chain at the beginning of row 2
Row 3 - Do a single crochet in the 1st stitch, and then 2 single crochets in the second stitch. Repeat the pattern all the way around. Slip stitch in the chain of row 2
Row 4 - Single crochet in the first stitch, single crochet in the second stitch and do 2 single crochets in the third stitch. Repeat the pattern around to the beginning.
Row 5 - (which I didn't do because I ran out of net. So, if you run out of net before this row, don't panic! Just end and scrub.) For the last row you do a slip stitch in each single crochet to give it a finished edge then snip of the excess and work it in.

Happy pot scrubbing!!!

1/4/11 - NFL Football

We have had a football poll going on at work. Everyone put in $5 and each week we picked the teams we thought would win. Not being a football watcher myself, this is how I usually picked my winning teams.

*Sometimes I did a nice little pattern. I would circle every other one: home, away, home, away

* Sometimes I would think about who would win in real life - bears vs dolphins. I think a bear could take a dolphin, so I would pick the bears.

And I got a lot of flack for my picking method from the guys at work. They didn't think I was taking our poll seriously. But guess who came in second place today when all the points were tallied. Eat THAT Packard football boys!

A Series of Haikus and True Grit

Our church is at 1
And so we stayed up too late
And then we slept in

After church I napped
And then could not get to sleep
Until 2 AM

Three hours of sleep
On a winter Sunday night
Really makes my day
BAD!!

Much too little sleep
Makes going to see True Grit
A bitter challange

A valiant attempt
To get the boys to True Grit
Without me has failed


Three cheers for me, I made it through the movie without sleeping!! My favorite line from the new, redone True Grit:
"No, I do not like guns. If I did, I would have one that works."
I know, you have to see the movie.

1/2/11 - Tender Mercies

Some of the blessings I have received in my life as late have been what I have felt deep in my heart to be "Tender Mercies". When referring to them as such, Dave asked me, "what is a tender mercy?" And it was then that I realized I wasn't sure, just that I felt these particular blessing had been what I had heard referred to as tender mercies. So today I studied tender mercies, what they are, why they occur, and how we know a blessing we have received is a message of concern sent from a loving Heavenly Father as a tender mercy.

According to David A. Bednar, tender mercies are blessings that are real, they don't happen randomly or by coincidence, their timing helps us discern them, and they are very personal blessings that are sent to help us when we need strength, protection, assurance, guidance, loving kindness, consolation, support and spiritual gifts. Those blessings I mentioned before fit Elder Bednar's points to a "T", and am overwhelmed to consider that my Heavenly Father would be so mindful of me.

Speaking of blessings, not necessarily tender mercies, we have spent a goodly amount of time lately playing this year's new "funnest game of the season" BLOKUS!! A good game of Blokus, some popcorn made with the Whirlypop, and some cherry cordial M&M's and you have all the makings of a fun night with the boys :)

1/1/11- Starting Over From the Beginning

Here it is, the darn snow that stands between me and my family. This is the reason we aren't in St. George today celebrating the New Year with the married half of the Cozzens. And, although it looks pretty from inside the house, the tree is now gone, it's light outside, and the boys have spent two days clearing the stuff off driveways around town. So it may look all Christmasy and pretty, but it's not.

It did allow me to wake up to this, however. The boys asleep in the family room after coming home from New Year's Eve activities still hyper and not ready to put the festivities to bed yet. This scene tugged at my heart. These 20 something, college aged boys asleep on my floor reminded me for just a minutes of those cute little boys whose lives I used to be able to control a little bit, to manipulate, and to relish in. They're only home for one more week, and Dave is already gearing up for the tears and the sadness and the mopey me that comes when they leave.

And that may be why he spent his day yesterday, when he wasn't clearing driveways of snow, building this for me. A new addition to our family room. Lovely, isn't it?

But what' more lovely is that it opens into THIS!! A nice little sewing cabinet where I can work on whatever project suits my fancy right in the middle of my family, where I love to be (if they would only forget about college, families of their own, and their lives elsewhere and come home!)
And then close the doors to the whole mess when it's time for work, or for bed, or mutual, or any of those other trivial things of life that keep me from creating with my sewing machine. This is the best non Christmas gift-I-go- for-nothing ever!! Thanks, Dave ♥♥

Ten Best Books of 2010 and a Bonus

You know those bucket lists, you all have them, right? Well, one of the "things" on my bucket list is to read my age in books every year. I started in 2008 with 50, and then was supposed to read 51 in 2009, but 2009 was an incredibly busy year, so I only managed 45 :( However, this year I did it! 53 books, and I wanted to share my list of which ones I thought were best. So here you are, the best of 53 books I read in 2010:

THE ANATOMY OF PEACE ~ This book, written by The Arbinger Institute, of whom James Farrell, author of The Peacegiver is a member, should be read by every member of the human race. At least once a year. It is interestingly told in story format, so as it teaches, it also entertains. The insights and principles are like turning on a light bulb. I really loved this book, and plan on reading it again. At least once a year :)

THE SILENCE OF GOD ~ by Gale Sears is about a family, the only members of the Church in Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution and is seen through the eyes of nineteen-year-old Agnes Lindlof and her lifelong friend, Natasha, in a powerful, extraordinary story of devotion and loyalty. It was a book I couldn't leave alone until I was finished

AM I NOT A MAN ~ by Utah's own Mark Shirtleff is the story of Dred Scott, a black slave who took his issue of freedom before the supreme court and won . . . and then lost. His case became the catalyst for the election of President Abraham Lincoln. This is another book I couldn't put down, and although I knew the ending, because it's history, after all, I found myself rooting for a better ending right up to the ending that had to be.

THE GUERNSEY LITERARY AND POTATO PEEL PIE SOCIETY ~ by Mary Ann Shaffer. Jill didn't care for this book but I loved it. Another book about World War II has to be pretty good to hold my attention anymore, but this is one of two about that time period that I fell in love with this year. A very charming story that one of my friends placed right up there with To Kill a Mockingbird!

THE GREEN GLASS SEA ~ by Ellen Klages is a book you will find in the children's literature section of your bookstore or library, but it held this adult's attention very well! Although not one of the two books I loved this year about the World War II era, this one takes place during that time period. It is about the building of the atomic bomb seen through the eyes of children whose parents were part of the team working on it. A great story for children or adults.

SEVEN MIRACLES THAT SAVED AMERICA ~ by Chris Stewart. After reading his Great and Terrible series, I'll read anything Chris Stewart wrote, but this book was very well thought out and written, about seven miraculous events that saved our country in the past, and in the end, it gave me hope that there are still miracles out there for our country if we live worthy for them to occur.

MY NAME IS ASHER LEV ~ by Chiam Potok. I used to wish I was an artist. Now I just wish I could see the world the way Asher Lev sees it, through an artist's eyes. This book was poignantly sad but at the same time full of all the greatness and beauty of the world. I hope in the end Asher Lev, a Jewish boy and gifted artist, finally found peace and acceptance in his life. He deserves it.

THIS JUST IN ~ by Kerry Blair is a book that probably will never make anyone's literary books list, but it gets to be on mine because it made me laugh. It is a story of unlikely LDS heroine who happens into a kidnapping because the boy who was taken was in her primary class. Oh, and she's a news reporter. A little mystery, a little romance, and a lot of smiling at the cute humor in this book will make for some light but enjoyable reading.

MRS. MIKE ~ by Benedict Freedman. I'm a little bit embarrassed to admit that I've not read this book before. It's been around forever, apparently, but I finally read it this year. The story was great, I felt myself living within it, experiencing the incredible life this young wife experienced. Even the sad parts left you with hope instead of just that feeling of sadness that so many books written to try and manipulate your emotions do. It was a feel good book, I thought.

THE PEACEGIVERS ~ by James L. Ferrell. This was my second time reading this book, and it got me through a pretty hard time in my life. I love the ideas in this book and the way they are presented in story format so it's easy to parallel those ideas to your own life. I will always love this book for the healing and peace it gave me.

First on my list for 2011. Because my birthday is at the end of November, that's when my reading year starts. So, I've already added several books to my 2011 list. Here is one I loved!!

THE UNBROKEN ~ by Laura Hillenbrand. This is the true story of Louie Zamperini, an Olympic track star before the war, but once the war started, the athlete became an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown. Ahead of Louie lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. How he endured those trials as he was driven to the limits of endurance will leave you shaking your head in unbelief. Told in Laura Hillenbrand's great writing style reminiscent of Seabiscuit, this book is just too good to keep quietly on a list for a whole year!