I ♥ Young Women

I've been in meetings all day long, which is what happens some Sundays when you work in . . . well, really anything in the church : )  It's a new year and we have New Beginnings and Girls Camp and Young Conference to plan, and in trying to think about and plan all those things, we were also trying to come up with something we could give the girls on their birthdays this year.  So I volunteered to "go home and think about it".  This is what I've come up with.  You've probably seen this idea: 

 Where you open a pull top can from the bottom, fill it with stuff and glue the bottom of the can back on.  CUTE!  But we didn't want to just fill the can with candy, so we needed some ideas of what to put in the can.  I have come up with this.  A pack of UNO cards with the following poem attached:

UNO (You Know - get it?)

UNO you are a daughter of God

UNO that He knows and loves you

UNO that this life is a test of your faith

But UNO that He'll help you get through

UNO at all times and all places and things

You will stand as a witness of God

UNO you will follow the footsteps of Christ

As you walk in the path that He trod.

UNO that the values that you have been taught

Will strengthen and help you prepare

To enter the Temple to make and receive

Sacred covenants and ordinances there.

UNO that you will endure to the end

UNO that you'll learn and you'll grow

UNO exaltation will be your reward

Yes, these are the things that UNO (You Know)

I'm pretty sure a pack of UNO cards will fit in a campbells chunky soup can - I hope!  But then we can fill the rest of the can with Hershey hugs and kisses.  What do you think.  Cute, or lame for Young Women.

Redemption, Indulgence and A Story

 First the story . . . As I was putting away my No Bake Cookie ingredients - for the last time EVER!  I walked into the family room and saw this picture

And I realized that there is probably no one in my family who knows why I love this picture so much - other than the obvious fact that it has two of my children in it.  This picture was taken at a time when we actually had too much work rather than not enough.  The new high school was being built and they were putting in new tennis courts. They needed the old ones torn down before the new ones could go in, and Dave didn't have time to do it - at least, he didn't on a normal work day.  So we decided this would be a good opportunity to teach our children the responsibility and benefits of work.  We gathered the family around, told them about the job, and explained that if WE did the work, if Dave didn't have to pay his employees to do it, we could keep more of the money from this job and use it for something we really wanted - like a vacation!  So everyone gave up their Saturday to take down the old tennis courts at the high school.  Rob Welch, who was the head maintenance guy for the school district, showed up with his wife, Lita to check out what we were doing, and when Lita saw Kimbrey running the backhoe, Jill with Kyle up in the bucket, and ME running the loader, she quickly went home and got her daughter, Danalee and brought her back to show her that "she could be ANYTHING she wanted to be.  Just look at these Cozzens women running this heavy equipment."  (She told me this later at the store :)  I had never thought about the implications of that day, but that is what the above picture has come to mean to me.  We really CAN do/be anything we want to in this life, we just have to want it bad enough.  Or have mean enough people around us to make us do them : )

 

And so I gave No Bake Cookies One. More.  Try.  And they worked!  The key, I've found, is to start timing from a rolling boil and cook them for 1 minute and 10 seconds.  It's a very scientific process.  And I DID IT!

So now I'm kicked back in all my glory in front of the fireplace drinking an Orange Fanta Frosty Float.  My indulgence for conquering the illusive No Bake Cookie.  Sweet redemption.

Turning Michael Jackson from "Bad" to "Good" - This Is What I'm Talkin' About

A Pintrest Bookmark

 These little corner bookmarks are so cute!!  And they were fun and easy to make.  The instructions also included a template for the monster corner bookmarks, and once I had those monsters down, the pretty corner bookmark, even though I had to make my own template, was simple. 

 

Above is a photo of the pintrest bookmarks . . .

 

And here are mine.  I think the look of the monster chomping a bite out of my page is so clever!  Fun for kids, even more fun for adults : )

Friday, January 13 - AKA Black Friday!

Today's picture is one I didn't even take, although I would have had I been there.  This is Ellen, Dave and Paul on/in/around the Capital Dome.  Which apparently is the rarest tour in Washington DC.  It's harder to get up to the top of the Capital Building than it is to go to the White House.  But these guys scored a tour because Ellen works there!  I asked Dave what there was to see from the dome of the Capital Building. 

He said, "this picture - and a great view of the city."  So I guess no one tours the dome of the capital building because there is nothing up there. 

Elsewhere in the state it was Friday the 13th.  Just ask Brennan - a near tragedy in his scholarship application process was averted, but his people batteries have been depleted and are going to need "at least a month to recharge" as he says.  And I'm here at home.....holding down the fort.

Finally, A Resolution

 Well, this was more time consuming than I thought, but ended up being symbolic of what I wanted my Resolution photo to say, so I guess it's O.K. that I spent most of my afternoon off today trying to compose and shoot these pictures.  And if Brennan doesn't mind that his money STILL hasn't made it to the bank yet, all is well.

 

My New Year's Resolution this year is to create the time to do more of the things I love.  So the clock represents time, the scriptures, the books, the pin cushion, and the camera are all self explanatory.  The statue of the two little children represents time with my children and grandchildren, and the flower that I craftily folded from a sheet of music represents ....well, music.  In the above photo everything is part of the whole composition.  That was one way I shot it. 

 

 In this photo, the clock, representing time, is in focus because creating time is the subject of my resolution.  I am creating the time to do all those things that are out of focus in the background.  That's another way I shot it.

And in this third photo, the clock is out of focus and the things I want to create more time to do are in focus.  Also, I shot this in another room, so it has a more plain background.  Initially I didn't like the plain background, so moved my whole composition to another room, but in processing my pictures, I kind of liked the plain background.  So . . here are three options.  Which do you like best?

Time To Face It

 I can't make No Bake Cookies.  I can't do it.  No Bake Cookies and Chili.  I've tried!  They either turn out so runny you have to eat them with a spoon, or dry and crumbly.  Just ask my kids if they ever remember me making them No Bake Cookies when they were younger.  It's not because I don't like them, because I do!  I just can't make them.  But tonight I needed a treat for Young Women's, and since it's a new year, and I was feeling a little bit bold, I thought I would try one more time. 

   "You can do it!"  I told myself.  It can't be that hard!  Apparently, it can.  I was very careful to follow every suggestion everyone has ever given me about No Bake Cookies.  I even used a candy thermometer.

 This is how they turned out.  So dry I couldn't even get them to stick together into a cookie shape!  And not one to let food of any kind go to waste, Dave is saving this mess to eat for cereal.

 

My next batch . . .yes, I tried another batch!  turned out better, but still way too dry.  I took them to YW anyway, but not many people dared try them.  I even tried to give them away to the scouts.  Me:  "Hey, you guys want some No Bake Cookies?  They're pretty dry."  Josh Jones:  "Wow, they really ARE dry!"  But he took one anyway, because he's nice.

This is the picture of the day, however.  I'm still struggling with getting pictures in focus indoors, but even blurry, don't you love the looks on these girls faces when they realize their pyramid was coming down?  I love them!