I've Been Making All Kinds Of Things--Read To The End For The Big Surprise!

I saw this cute idea for February's Visiting Teaching message "Managing Resources Wisely and Staying Out of Debt" at See Me Visit Teach and decided to give it a try. I printed the pattern onto the back of some one-sided cardstock and assembled the cute little purses, adding a flower to the flap.Each purse holds 5 chocolate coins. In the message, Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin (1917-2008) gave his 5 key steps to financial freedom: 1) Pay your tithing. 2) Spend less than you earn. 3) Learn to save. 4) Honor your financial obligations. 5) Teach your children to follow your example. Each coin has one of those key steps. When you open the purse, a quote is revealed on the underside: "To pay our debts now and avoid future debt require us to exercise faith in the Savior--not just to do better but to be better. It takes great faith to utter those simple words, 'We can't afford it.' It takes faith to trust that life will be better as we sacrifice our wants in order to meet our own and others' needs." -Elder Robert D. Hales After I finished making that, I learned that I've been making something else:

Yep, I'm pregnant! I'm both excited and terrified. Brian is just excited. I know it's taboo to announce it right away, but that's just not how I roll. I want to tell everyone right away, come what may! But it's after midnight, so this is the next best thing. If all goes well, I believe we'll have another October baby. Kylie will be 8 in October and will be a huge help. I absolutely knew that Kylie was going to be a girl. I don't have any idea this time--still coming to grips with reality! We've been trying to get pregnant for a year and I had just accepted and felt peace about the possibility of not having anymore children. Like they say, when you quit worrying about it, it happens!

50 Things I Love: #6

Jack Handey's Deep ThoughtsI have to thank my Barbie-Buddy* Michelle for introducing me to the genius of Jack Handey quotes back in high school. My life has been deeply enriched by these inspirational quotes. Here are some of my favorites:

• "I hope some animal never bores a hole in my head and lays its eggs in my brain, because later you might think you're having a good idea and its just eggs hatching."
• "It takes a big man to cry, but it takes a bigger man to laugh at that man."
• "Consider the daffodil. And while you're doing that, I'll be over here going through your stuff."
• "If trees could scream, would we be so cavalier about cutting them down? We might, if they screamed all the time, and for no good reason."
• "If you ever catch on fire, try to avoid seeing yourself in a mirror because I bet that's what REALLY throws you into a panic."
• "If you're robbing a bank and your pants fall down, I think it's okay to laugh and to let the hostages laugh too because, come on, life is funny."
• "One thing kids like is to be tricked. For instance, I was going to take my nephew to Disneyland, but instead I drove him to an old burned-out warehouse. "Oh no," I said, "Disneyland burned down!" He cried and cried, but I think that deep down he thought it was a pretty good joke. I started to drive over to the real Disneyland, but it was getting pretty late."

And now my very favorite, best Jack Handey quote of all time......

• "Anytime I see something screech across a room and latch onto someone's neck, and the guy screams and tries to get it off, I have to laugh, because what is that thing."

Brilliant!!!!

*Barbie-Buddy: A friend whom you have known since childhood, and thus played Barbies together, with whom you continue the friendship into adulthood. This term especially applies if you or said friend drove a Barbie car from their house to yours.

AromaTouch Technique

I am so excited to offer the AromaTouch Technique in addition to foot zoning! Read below for a fantastic explanation of the AromaTouch Technique.

doTerra's AromaTouch Technique is a clinical approach to applying essential oils along energy meridians and visceral contact points of the back and feet to help stimulate and balance sympathetic and para-sympathetic nervous systems of the body. The AromaTouch technique improves well-being by reducing physical and emotional stressors and by supporting healthy autonomic function. The technique is simple and intuitive and uses doTerra's certified pure theraputic grade essential oils for an unparalleled grounding experience.

Step One: Stress Management (Balance & Calm)

The AromaTouch Technique begins with doTerra's Balance blend of spruce, rosewood, frankincense, and blue tansy followed by Lavender to support calming, de-stressing, and relaxation.

Step Two: Immune Support (Cleanse & Strengthen)

After establishing a state of calm and tranquility, Melaleuca (tree tree) essential oil is applied as a cleanser and detoxifier, followed by an application of OnGuard protective blend of wild orange, clove, cinnamon, eucalyptus, and rosemary essential oils that stimulate and support the body's own external and internal defensive immune functions.

Step Three: Inflammatory Response (Stimulate & Soothe)

Step three begins with the application of AromaTouch massage blend of basil, grapefruit, cypress, majoram, peppermint, and lavender to help stimulate blood flow to surface tissues, followed by a comforting application of Deep Blue soothing blend of wintergreen, peppermint, blue tansy, German chamomile, helichrysum, and osmanthus to help support a healthy inflammatory response in the body.

Step Four: Homeostasis (Invigorate & Center)

The final step in this technique includes an invigorating application of pure Wild Orange and Peppermint essential oils that refresh, rejuvenate, and center the body, mind, and spirit in strength and serenity.

From everythingdoterra.

This is NOT a massage...but is just as relaxing as one! For my first week I am offering this technique for $20. After this week it will be $30. The technique takes 35-45 relaxing minutes on the massage table. My foot zones continue to be $30. A post about foot zoning will be coming soon. Call or message me if you have questions about the technique or want to schedule an appointment. Katie Bodily (435) 764-2301.

50 Things I Love: #5

A Box of Chocolates!

There is something magical about opening a box of chocolates, looking at the different shapes, colors, and swirls. An agonizing 5 minutes pass as I choose which one to try first. Anyone who knows me knows that I hate nuts, and therefore require a nut-free box of chocolates. Finding a nut in my chocolate is like finding a wad of hair in my chocolate--it just isn't right! So if anyone ever finds themselves scratching their heads, wondering what gift to get me, a box of (nut-free) chocolates will never fail!

Sallie Strikes Again...

...not once, but twice! It never fails: leave a glass of water on the table, and it WILL be tipped over. I imagine the third glass was spared only because it was empty. Lucky, lucky glass.

Rock Climbing

This girl is a little monkey! We watched a rock climbing competition a few weeks ago and Kylie was hooked. She loves going with her daddy. Given a choice between the two of us, she'll pick her dad to belay every time!

Cute little feet!

Getting some chalk. She LOVES having that bag of chalk.

More Valentines

I'm teaching my YW class tomorrow so I made them rice krispie kisses for Valentine's Day and a bookmark with a quote from the lesson. I shaped the rice krispies (with chocolate chips mixed in) in a funnel, wrapped them in tin foil, and added a strip of parchment paper that says "Happy Valentine's Day!" I'm on a crafting frenzy this week! :-)

Valentine's Surprise

Brian is working this week and will miss Valentine's Day with us. So he sent this beautiful surprise:

I LOVE that there's a white lily in the arrangement. When we were first dating he gave me an Easter Lily plant rather than roses because he wanted to do something unique. And for many years after that he has given me an Easter Lily (except for last year and I cried!). The smell of the Easter Lily reminds me of those amazing days of courtship.

Homemade Valentines

I wish I could remember where I saw the idea for these valentines so I could give credit where credit is due. Kylie helped me cut out the flowers and then she assembled all the flowers by herself. I'm sure the boys won't appreciate the cuteness, but hey, it's candy!

For some reason I decided, at 5 pm the night before the Valentine's party to make Kylie's teacher something extra for Valentine's Day. I really wanted to make this idea work, but couldn't. And I didn't have any physical paper that I liked enough to use for this project, so I created everything on my computer using a mini kit from Shabby Princess and printed everything onto high quality white cardstock. The package includes 4 glass marble magnets and 4 clothespins. I was thrilled to discover that I had an extra square of metal from a previous project that would keep the magnets from rolling all around the bag. If you have any questions about the project, let me know.

The completed project! Bleh, the photo is dark.The back.

50 Things I Love: #4

NAPS!!!!

Are you really surprised? I love to nap. I'm not happy about switching to 1 pm church and missing out on Sunday Afternoon Naps. Sure, I get to sleep in later on Sunday, but it's just not the same. Part of my love affair with naps stems from my late-night habits. I would rather stay up all night and get my work done and sleep all day. It's a family curse. My current schedule works great while Kylie is in school, but summer vacation is quickly approaching and I'm going to be in trouble. There's nothing better than crawling into my bed, fluffing up the pillow, and snuggling in for a great nap!

50 Things I Love: #3

In case anyone is wondering, these are in no particular order...on to #3: Olive Garden's Black Tie Mousse Cake. BEST. DESSERT. EVER. Bring on the chocolate coma!

Happy Valentine's Week!

50 Things I Love: #2

These cheeks!

I love these cheeks. I love to kiss them. I love feeling their softness against my cheek. They're so squishy and cute. I always say to Kylie, "Come here and let me kiss your face off!" Of course she runs screaming in the opposite direction. Sometimes I can bribe her to let me kiss her face off.

50 Things I Love: #1

Super cute and flirty Hostess Aprons.

Some day I will learn how to sew, and I will make myself approximately 100 of these aprons to wear for every mood...better make it 1,000!

Can't you just see Kylie and I wearing these?!

It's That Time of Year

It's that time of year when I want a change, when my hair is driving me crazy and I want to do something drastic. I have crazy curly hair that's more frizzy than curly, and not so much curly but wavy. Thankfully it's not nearly as thick as it use to be. I lose a disgusting amount of hair every time I wash it. Anyone else would pass out if they looked down and saw that much hair on the shower drain. Tonight I am again browsing the internet for ideas of what to do with this mess. The problem is that all the hairstyle sites have this as their idea of a naturally curly haircut:

Right...can't you see me going to the grocery store like that? In fact, this is exactly the look I am trying to avoid. Not helpful. Here's another of my favorites:

It's like a bad Glamour Shots picture from the mall! By the way, it's pictures like this that answer the question "Whatever happened to Glamour Shots?" And you know you'll never see me coming to church looking like this:

Nope, never. I am digging the necklace...but that's also something that looks great in the picture but doesn't quite transfer over to reality. My other dilemma is that most curly hair styles are geared toward African-Americans/Blacks/People of Color/whatever they're going by these days. Those styles just don't work on a white chick from Utah.

Since I was a teenager I've toyed with the idea of chemically straightening my hair. I did relax it once, but that just took out the curl and left the frizz. No bueno. Currently I am contemplating the following style:

Yes, it's the classic Utah haircut. I want to be a clone. I would love to be able to have sleek, straight, shiny locks. My frizzy hair makes me feel so frumpy, no matter how much makeup I wear or if I have on a fabulous new outfit. I have no idea if this 'do is even an option for me, but I am definitely looking into it and asking lots of questions. When people tell me to just be happy with the hair that God gave me, I reply that someone has to keep the hairdressers in business! That's job security right there because no one is ever happy with what they have.

Notebooks

We recently had our New Beginnings program for Young Women and part of the program was introducing the new Beehives (12 year old girls). Since our theme for New Beginnings was "Bloom Where You Are Planted" we wanted to give the new Beehives something to help them plant the seeds of their testimony as they begin Young Women. So I threw together these notebooks for them to bring to church and jot down thoughts and inspiration, maybe even tape handouts that they get in class. I'm not super thrilled with how they turned out...but it serves its purpose. I had a bunch of spiral notebooks from Back to School shopping that I got for $0.15 or so. I glued scrapbook paper on the front--I printed a monogram of each girl's first name onto the striped paper with just my printer, printed a saying off my computer, glued on little flowers and gemstones, then mod podged it all together. Being my first big mod podge project, I learned as I went. Then I tied a few ribbons onto the wires. It would have looked better if I had not mod podged everything (because of the bubbles it made) but I wanted it to be durable. I guess we'll see how they fare in the coming year. If anyone has any mod podge tips, let me know!

So helpful!

If You Give a Mom a Muffin

If you give a mom a muffin,

She’ll want a cup of coffee to go with it.
She’ll pour herself some.
Her three-year-old will spill the coffee.
She’ll wipe it up.
Wiping the floor, she’ll find dirty socks.
She’ll remember she has to do laundry.
When she puts the laundry in the washer,
She’ll trip over boots and bump into the freezer.
Bumping into the freezer will remind her she has to plan for supper.
She will get out a pound of hamburger.
She’ll look for her cookbook (”101 Things To Do With a Pound of Hamburger”).
The cookbook is sitting under a pile of mail.
She will see the phone bill, which is due tomorrow.
She will look for her checkbook.
The check book is in her purse that is being dumped out by her two-year-old.
She’ll smell something funny.
She’ll change the two year old’s diaper.
While she is changing the diaper, the phone will ring.
Her five-year-old will answer and hang up.
She’ll remember she wants to phone a friend for coffee.
Thinking of coffee will remind her that she was going to have a cup.
And chances are…
If she has a cup of coffee,
Her kids will have eaten the muffin that went with it.
-Author Unknown-