2015 Christmas Letter that Wasn't

 Last year's Wright Family update was brilliant (if I do say so myself.)  We used hashtags to describe our year with quick snippets of information to explain them.   I was so happy with the way it turned out.  But it ruined this year's Christmas letter.  I was running out of time and did not have time to come up with anything nearly as witty or interesting.  So I punted.  And this is what was on the back of our card:

So for those of you who were disappointed with our lack of information, here is a more traditional 2015 Christmas time updates:

DISNEY: Yes, we went to Disney a lot.  With the savages both on year round school schedules, we took full advantage of the breaks and went every chance we could.  If you add our trips in 2014, we went to Disneyland four times in 12 months just to get the most out of those annual passes.  And since the savages were off track from Martin Luther King Day to Presidents Day and mom hates the winter inversions, we went to Florida and spent a week at Walt Disney World with our dear friends, the Pegrams, and our new friends, the Hatleys.  (And the joke was on us since it was actually warmer in Salt Lake City than Orlando one of the days we were there.)  We followed that up with a week on the Disney Fantasy cruising around the Eastern Caribbean, stopping in San Juan, St. Thomas and Castaway Cay. (And it was definitely warmer in San Juan and St. Thomas than in Salt Lake City.)  Someone asked us if we are Disney stockholders.  No, we just give them all our money.  Next Disney trip is scheduled for January 2017 and we are fighting the urge to pack our bags now.

Old San Juan, January 2015

BESIDES DISNEY:  On our April trip to Disneyland, we added a day at the Ronald Reagan Library to the front end of our trip.  If you ever want to feel nostalgic for the 80's, go there.  I know he wasn't everyone's favorite president, but he was mine.  I loved his optimism and enthusiasm for making the world a better place.  And I loved that he wasn't afraid to work with anyone from any side of an issue to get things done.  We also got to tour an old Air Force One and Marine One there and an exhibit from the Peterson Car Museum too. 

AJ taking the podium at the Ronald Reagan Library, April 2015

Then we ended that trip with a morning of whale watching off the coast of San Diego.  That's been on my bucket list a long time.  We actually did see a couple of finback whales but the highlight of the trip was a sailing through a large pod of common dolphins that put on quite the show for us.  The lowlight was me getting terribly sea sick on the way back to harbor. 

Enjoying the fresh ocean air in San Diego Harbor, April 2015

NEW MEXICO: After our July/August trip to Disneyland, we drove I-40 (paralleling the old Route 66) across Arizona (with a stop to stand on a corner in Winslow, Arizonia of course) and on to Red River, New Mexico for the Ernstrom family reunion.  That might seem like a strange place for my family to gather, but it's about half way between Salt Lake and Houston and my sister-in-law Burleigh's mom lives in Santa Fe.  It was just gorgeous there.  The perfect place for a family reunion.  Just enough to do that no one gets bored, but not so much to do that you don't get to spend time together as a family playing games and hanging out.  Definitely a highlight of our summer.  And we got to stop at Mesa Verde on the way home to tour the Cliff Palace that we missed on our last trip there.

The Ernstrom Brood (with a few Bolds thrown in for good measure).  Red River, New Mexico August 2015

OUR YARD: We lost a good portion of our backyard to bugs last winter/spring so we decided instead of trying to nurse it back, we would do what we've been talking about for a few year: tear out the grass against our fence line and build some raised beds.  So that's what we did during the hottest time of the year.  But we are so glad to have it done and it made vegetable gardening so much better this year.  Here's the picture of the raised vegetable garden we built:

Raised Veggie Garden, June 2015

ANTHON (AKA AJ, Tony or the Bubs): AJ turned 12 in February this year.  That's a big birthday in our faith.  He graduated from Primary (finally!!) and was ordained a Deacon and received the Aaronic Priesthood.  He also started junior high in the fall.  As long as we don't talk about the way he antagonizes his brother or the way he forgets to turn in his homework, he is an amazing young man who surprises us with his goodness just when we need to be reminded.   He still loves to draw and do other artsy things and even helped me decorate the Christmas trees this year.  He took piano for a few months and we need to find a new teacher and get that going again in the new year.

AJ on his ordination day

SPENCER (AKA Sweets): Spencer turned 10 in February and is counting the days until he's 11 and can go to 11 year old scouts next February.  He just received his Webelos and Arrow of Light awards (and dad and I are thrilled to be nearing the end of cub scouts for our family!).  This fall, he had the opportunity to spend 11 weeks in a special therapeutic day program at Matt's Place in Centerville.    He just returned to half days at his regular school right before Christmas break and continues to go to Matt's Place in the afternoons.  We are so thankful to the amazing team there for all the loving way they support him and our family.  Spencer continues to play sports every chance he gets but just rec league Soccer and Basketball in an organized fashion.  And he wants to be outside playing with friends whenever he can. He's also finally losing his teeth.  Too bad the tooth fairy keeps skipping our house.  Oops!

Celebrating Spencer's 10th Birthday at Pizza Pie Cafe, February 2015

James (AKA Dad):  James continues to work hard to support our Disney habit and my other crazy ideas.  He also started a Mobile Forensic Certification program through Dixie State this past fall and that has just added to his busy schedule.  He had the opportunity to go to Milwaukee this fall to represent the Utah chapter of the Federal Law Enforcement Officer Association at its national annual conference.  Our five year Primary class just loves James and asks him every week how many bad guys he caught.  (The answer is always one).  And then they ask him what the bad guy was doing (always making bad choices).

Ride Selfies! Toy Story Midway Mania, April 2015

Paula (AKA Mom): Believe it or not, I took up running at the end of 2014 and did my first 5K on Castaway Cay on our cruise.  (James walked it too!)  I never in a million years thought I would be a runner, but just when I was getting to the point of actually enjoying it, I sprained my ankle in July doing yard work and then developed a terrible case of tendinitis in the same ankle at the end of September.  So I've spent a lot of the last few months in physical therapy trying to get back to running again.  Besides that, I started creating wreaths and other home decor for some friends this year and even decorated a few Christmas trees.  I also got to go to Women's Conference with some of my oldest and dearest friends and of course the Stampin' Up! Convention with some of my other dearest friends.

BYU Women's Conference with my oldest and dearest, Tera, Sabrina, Ali and Vicki, May 2015

As you can see, we were very blessed this past year.  We also had our share of trials and tears but I'd rather dwell on the good than focus on the struggles and sorrow.  And those things do help us appreciate the good for sure.  We have felt the prayers and love of so many of our friends and family through the hard times and are so thankful for them.

I would feel remiss if I didn't share this wonderful Christmas message with everyone.  If you haven't already watched it, please do.  For unto all of us a Savior is Born.  I know it's true.  Merry Christmas!

A Grateful Mom

It might be hard to believe with all the Christmas trees up at my house right now, but my absolute favorite holiday of the year is actually Thanksgiving.  I love that we set aside a day to give thanks for the blessings that are so generously poured out on us.  I have so much to be grateful for but sometimes in the thick of raising "easy to love but hard to raise" children, I forget to take the time to pause and think about all of those things.  So in the spirit of the holiday, I thought I'd share the things that I am most thankful for in my parenting journey.



Laughter: You have to laugh or else you'll cry.  And sometimes the tears come much, much easier than the laughter.  But I love to laugh and my most favorite people in my life are the ones that can make me laugh, even on those days when it's easier to cry.  And my favorite memories with my family are the times when we are all just silly and laughing together. 

Friends:  Raising hard children can be isolating.  It's much easier to just stay home than deal with might happen in public or what you are going to have to deal with afterwards when you bring home an overstimulated child.  And inviting anyone into your home is a crap shoot all it's own.  Finding friends who accept that about your life can be difficult.  Lucky for me, I have several friendships that have stood the test of time and have so far survived this journey.  And even though most of  my dearest, oldest friends live far away, I know I can always count on them to make me laugh when I need it the most, remind me that I am more than just a mom, and pray with us when we need a miracle.

Other Parents: Sometimes, I just need to talk to someone who also knows about executive functioning deficiencies, oppositional defiance, prefrontal cortex and neurodevelopmental disorders, and the long list of prescription drugs and therapies we have both tried for our children. The friend who will roll her eyes with me when a young new mom talks about how hard it is to be a mom, "but if we just love our kids, everything will be OK" during a Relief Society lesson.  The one who you can joke with about how you've lowered your expectations for you child from mission and college to just not ending up in jail.  The ones that just get it.  I'm so thankful for those people in my life.

Vacations:  This might seem a little odd given that my children can be a little bit unpredictable.  When we went on our first Disney cruise in 2013, we were paired with a family for dinner who had two boys, the older one had some mild emotional control issues.  As we sat down for dinner each night and compared notes about our days and some of the meltdowns we had encountered with our children.  She said something that has stuck with me: "My son is going to meltdown where ever we are.  I'd much rather be enjoying the time in between meltdowns on a cruise than sitting at home."  Very wise words.  We've had our share of meltdowns and even a couple of EPIC ones all over the place.  However, the times between the meltdowns, I feel like a normal family doing what normal families do.  It is a our escape from reality, even if it's just a long weekend in sunny St. George. 

Insurance: This is a mixed blessing for us right now.  I am so thankful we have employer-sponsored insurance and that we listened to a caseworker who insisted we accept Medicaid for our youngest.  So even though we seem to be in a constant battle with the insurance company right now to continue to pay for services everyone else thinks our child needs, I could not imagine trying to do this without insurance, or even with an 80-20 plan or high deductible.  


Mental Health Professionals:  For better or for worse, we have had our share of these in our lives over the last seven years.  I'm thankful for the ones that have worked so hard to help our family and I'm thankful for the ones who've said it's time to move on and find someone else who can do what I can't. It can be very hard to find the right people to help your children, but I'm thankful for the team we have right now.

An Eternal Perspective: When there is a new hole in the wall, or my child is having a meltdown in the lobby of the urgent care center, it's hard to remember that these are just small moments in the much, much bigger picture.  I am not the only one who loves my boys.  They were first loved by God.  And He has entrusted them to me.  This is His work and we are promised over and over again in the scriptures that when we are doing His work, we are entitled to His help.  And he sends it in the form of peace, promptings and most definitely helpful, supportive and kind people.

There are many, many more blessings I have in my life but these are the things that seem important to me today.   I hope you can see the blessings in your own life, regardless of what else is going on in it.  Life is hard and parenting is hard.  But I know when we look for the good in our lives, we will find it.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Six Steps to Beautiful Christmas Tree

Last week, I showed you my silver and gold Christmas Tree from my dining room and promised to share more this week about how I decorate my trees.  So when I started on my Teddy Bear tree in the living room, I tried to take pictures as I went to give you some ideas.

Step 1: Set up the Tree I bought a brand new tree this year.  I shopped around a bit because I knew I wanted a prelit tree that had the "sure-light" or "smartlight" technology so that if one bulb went out, the rest of the lights stay lit.  And I also knew that I wanted a "quick shape" tree so it wouldn't need as much fluffing as a regular tree.  I found this one at Hobby Lobby and it lived up to it's promise.  AJ and I got it out of the box and up, lit and ready to start decorating in about 10 minutes.

Step 2: Add Garland  Garlands can be anything from strung popcorn or beads to florals.  On Pinterest a few months back, I saw where someone had taken apart a grape vine wreath to use it as a garland on a Christmas tree.  When I was making fall crafts, I came across two grape vine garlands I bought way back before Roberts Crafts went out of business and I knew exactly what to do with it:

Step 3: Add Fabric  After Christmas last year, I bought a couple of rolls of this burlap at Walmart on clearance.  I had planned to use it for Valentines but never got around to it.

To put it on the tree, I just pinched together the end and ran floral wire around it and attached it near the top of the tree as far into the branch as I could get. 

Then I bunched it back up and attach it to a lower branch like this:

Then I just did a second loop on it like this:

I didn't want to make this a long garland down the tree so I cut it off and then placed five more on the tree.  When I'm placing things on my tree, I always try to form triangles with them.  That helps with a random but uniform look like this:

Step 5: Add Ribbon Streamers  I knew I wanted to put natural burlap on the tree so I found six other ribbons I liked and made two different groupings of ribbons.  I wanted to make sure I mixed patterns and solids and textures.  I took four of the ribbons, made a loop at the top, and added floral wire like this:

Then I attached it to the tree, again setting it back into the branch a ways and letting it cascade down or drape over neighboring branches, however looks best.

To get the ringlets in the ribbon, I used a narrow cardboard tube (the one that the red burlap was wound around) like this (sorry this one is a little fuzzy):

Once I got all the ribbons on, I looked like this:

Step 4: Add Picks  Next I added three different kinds of picks to the tree.  The first one I found in the floral department, not the Christmas pick area, so it needed to be cut apart before I placed small sections of it around the tree:

Here are the other two picks I used:

Again, I use the triangle method to place the picks in the tree too.  When that was done, it looked like this:

Step 6: Add Ornaments Of course the last step is to add your ornaments to the tree.  I always start with the largest ornaments first (stuffed bears in this case) and work my way down to the smaller, more traditional ones.   Here is what it looked like when I did all that:

I suppose step 7 would be to finish the tree with a topper and skirt.  This tree is still a work in progress so I don't have those to share with you yet.  I'd still like to some more "chalkboard" style signs to go on the tree.  When it is just right, I'll post another picture (which might be next year).

If you prefer video tutorials, the Jennifer Decorates has a good one that inspired the way I do my ribbon streamers and the first pick I used.  But remember, there is no right or wrong way to decorate a tree.  As long as you love the way your tree looks when you finish it, then that is all that matters.

I still have one more tree to share and of course, I'll continue to share about other Christmas decor projects I have done around my house too.  

Random Subject: Is There Anything You Regret?

I feel like I am actively avoiding the elephant in the biggest room in the world (aka the Internet).  Yes, I care deeply about what happened in Paris last week.  And yes, I have an opinion about the Syrian refugee crisis and it's taken straight out of Luke 10:29-37.  But that is all I'm going to say about that because nothing you say will change my mind, just like nothing I say will change yours.

So in order to actually have a post today that is totally off that subject, I decided to try something that I've never done before: a random subject generator.  Honestly, I didn't even know this thing existed on the web.  But my good friend Google did and it showed me right where to find it.  Lucky me!  (You can find it yourself right here: Random Subject Generator)

So what is the topic it chose for me?  "Is there anything you regret?"  Oh boy!  I almost hit the magic green button to come up with a new topic because this is something I try not to think about too much.  What's past is past and what's done is done and there is no going back.  So I try to forget the stuff that didn't go so well and focus on the good memories I have. But I do have regrets.  And they all kind of follow the same theme, even recently.

A few weeks ago, I ran into the grocery store to buy a loaf of bread.  Well, I didn't run because I was still wearing an aircast on my ankle, but you get the picture.  My family waited for me in the car so I was trying to hurry the best I could.  But I noticed a mom holding a sleeping child, all wrapped up in a blanket, also trying to pick up a few groceries.  And this was no baby or even young toddler.  Her little girl was bigger than most of us would carry around a grocery store.  In my head, I imagined that her husband had to work late and that her little girl was maybe sick and she needed a few things to get through the night.  Who knows what her real story was?  I never will.

My first instinct was to go up to her and ask her if I could help her.  Maybe hold her basket.  Maybe go get what she needed and bring it back to her.  Whatever she needed that brought her to the store carrying that precious sleeping child.

But I didn't.  Why didn't I?  I don't know.  Fear of stepping in where I didn't belong?  Fear that she was having a really bad night and might start crying or something?  (In retrospect, that's the kind of thing only I would do).  I really, really can't explain why I didn't other than to say my social anxiety got the better of me.

A few minutes later after I checked out, I noticed that she was leaving the store the same time that I did.  Finally, I said to her, "You look like you have your hands full, is there anything I can do?"  But of course then it was too late.  "No, I got it now.  Thank you."  She was very pleasant and even complimented my hairstyle.  But I regretted not offering to help her back when she could have used it.  I felt like the gal showing up to the dinner party and asking if there is anything I can do to help after everything has been brought to the table.

So the Random Subject Generator helped me remember something that I need to be more focused on: never suppress a generous thought.  If I see someone who looks like they need an extra hand or even just a kind word, I need to just do it. 

And maybe the Random Subject Generator will make a random appearance on my blog for time to time.

I May or May Not Have a Christmas Tree Up Already

Pretty sure nearly everyone who reads this blog knows me personally.  And if you have known me or been my friend on Facebook for at least one year than you are already well aware of what I am about to say: I'm just a little bit crazy when it comes to Holiday Decor.   You know Clark Griswold?  I'm his crazy cousin only I decorate the inside of my house instead of the outside.

Usually, I'm pretty good at holding out until at least the week OF Thanksgiving.  But this year, I started obsessing about Christmas decorating in SEPTEMBER!! That may or may not have something to do with not having a Disney Vacation in the near future to obsess about. 

No, I did not put up any Christmas decorations back then. But I did start planning what I wanted to do different (read bigger and better) than last year, including adding a third full-size tree (in addition to the two small ones).  Yes, I am the reason that Hobby Lobby puts its Christmas decorations out for sale right after school starts. 

When we bought our first house, James was not on board with the whole multiple-tree idea.  But I will say, when I broached the subject way back in September of adding yet another tree to the house, he didn't even blink an eye.  After 20 years of marriage, he has finally realized this is a battle he cannot win. (The whole "happy wife, happy life" thing applies).

I've visited every craft and Christmas store between Riverdale and Draper slowly walking the aisles and studying the details of the big fancy trees at Modern Display and Tai Pan Trading.  I've combed Pinterest and YouTube for ideas and tutorials on garlands, wreaths and trees.

So when I woke up last Saturday morning, I had a plan: yes, it's still ridiculously early, but I was putting up a Christmas tree!  I just had to get all those ideas out of my head and into my dining room that day.  My creative friends know exactly what I mean, right?

So here it is:

I had a tough time getting a good picture of the entire tree.  The twinkling lights kept throwing off the focus and it was hard to capture all the detail but it is so sparkly and shiny in real life.  Here's a couple close ups:

 This one shows the gold fabric, deco mesh, and ribbon accents as well as some of the sparkly picks and flowers on the tree.  The ornaments on the tree are mostly mercury glass that I've collected over the past few years.  I just love how they make the tree shine.  And the paper one there in the middle is one I made several years ago featuring Stampin' Up! products.  If I remember right, it was inspired by one Kimberly VanDiepen posted on her blog.

And here's a close up of the tree topper. Like the rest of this tree, this topper had a humble beginning and has evolved over the year.  Last year, it was not nearly this poofy-froofy. (Watch out, that will be Oxford Dictionary's word of the year next year.  Just remember you saw it here first!)  The entire tree wasn't for that matter.  While the ornaments are mostly all the same, (well, of course I bought a few new ones.  Have you seen the mercury glass at Hobby Lobby this year?) the ribbon and fabric treatments are all new and were inspired by the YouTube videos and beautiful trees I saw at the stores.

In case you were wondering, all the extra stuff (excluding the ornaments) came from Hobby Lobby (picks, some of the ribbon and deco mesh), Walmart (clip on poinsettias and gold fabric), and Costco (the gold satin and mesh ribbons).

And if you want to know more about the process of putting ribbons and fabric on your tree, I'll share more about that in an upcoming post so watch for it.  And I'll show pictures of my other trees too.  (No, they aren't up yet, despite my kids begging me to do it.)  They all have completely different styles.

The other reason I put a tree up this early is because I wanted to let my local friends and neighbors know that I am available to decorate your tree too.  Let me know if you want more information!

A Shining Moment of Joy

"Recognize that the joy of motherhood comes in moments. There will be hard times and frustrating times. But amid the challenges, there are shining moments of joy and satisfaction." - Elder M. Russell Ballard, April 2008

A lot of things about being a mother are a real struggle for me.  Frankly, it's a lot harder than I ever imagined it could be in those years that I waited to have my turn.  Don't get me wrong, I love my boys fiercely but more often than not, they challenge me to the breaking point.  There are plenty of days where I drop into bed and wonder if I am doing anything right or if all the effort is just wasted.

Yesterday was not one of those days.  At least not for a few moments when I fully understood what Elder Ballard meant.

A.J. turned 12 last February.  Part of being that age in our faith is knowing that you will be called upon to give a talk in Sacrament Meeting, (our main worship service). Our Bishopric, understanding that he can be an anxious kid, cut him some extra slack and waited this long before asking him to speak.

He had a week to prepare but of course, (after all he is my son) put it off until Saturday afternoon and only did it then because we told him he had to write his talk before he could go outside and roam the neighborhood.

So he sat down at the computer and about 20 minutes later, had more than one full page of ready to go.  He printed it out and handed it to James and me.  I just barely skimmed the beginning of it to make sure he was on the right path and was pleasantly surprised at what he had to say.  But I didn't read the entire talk because I wanted it to hear it the way everyone else would for the first time.

When he stood up at the pulpit to give his talk, I think I might have been more nervous that he was.  After all, I knew just how hard it was for him to stand up there in front of all those people.  And to make it just a little more anxiety-producing, one of the other speakers was a young man who leaves on his mission this week so there were a lot of extra people in attendance and many unfamiliar faces.  And maybe some of my nerves had to do with not being sure exactly what he was going to say.

His topic: preparing now to serve a mission. And he hit it out of the park.  He really did. I know I'm just a little biased, but I'm allowed to be, right?   He started with a couple of jokes.  Here's my favorite:

In the (primary) song, I Hope They Call Me On A Mission it says, "I hope they call me on a mission when I have grown a foot or two."  Now if you can't tell, according to the song, I should be on a mission right now. I've already grown a foot or two.

(It's probably not as funny if you have to explain it, but A.J. is very tall for his age.  He's taller than all his Ernstrom uncles with no sign of slowing down anytime soon).

And he concluded his talk with this (and remember he's only 12 and cares much more about video games and science than writing and grammar):

We all know that you need to have a good attitude and be able to talk to people. If you lose it during your mission then how are you going to get anyone to hear you out. We all can prepare now for that kind of instance by sharing our brotherly kindness. We need to be able to want to listen to what people are going through and what they have to say about life. We all need to get along with our friends and family more often so that by the time we go on a mission we can already have a good attitude as not just a habit but our personality. 

Cue the tears!  These exact things are what I want the most for my children: to be kind and have a good attitude.  And just for a second, I got to see that something is actually sinking in underneath all that curly hair and preteen surliness.  There really are "shining moments of joy and satisfaction." And boy have I needed one lately.

So last night, when I climbed into bed I didn't have to wonder if all the hard work is really worth it.  Just for today, I can tell you it is 100% worth it.  Now all bets are off when I log in to check his grades and see all those missing assignments again. Then I'll need to be reminded to have a good attitude and be kind.

My Social Media Pledge

This is a post I've been thinking about for sometime.  It's one of the reasons I decided to start blogging again.  And I know I promised just a few days ago that I wouldn't get preachy so I'll really try not to do that.

I'm a social person by nature and have always treasured my friendships with others.  So when Facebook came along, it seemed like such a great way to connect with all the people in my life past and present.  What could possibly go wrong?

About a year after I joined, something terrible happened in the neighborhood we lived in at the time: Susan Powell disappeared under mysterious circumstances.  Susan was a member of our Relief Society presidency and I was the counselor over activities.  It was just a few weeks before Christmas and later that same week, we had planned to hold a Relief Society potluck dinner and service project.
 
We deliberated as a presidency and consulted with our bishop about whether we should cancel the activity given the circumstances. It was decided that what our ward family needed right then was to be together and to do this service project.  Besides, Susan wouldn't have wanted us to cancel it.  So I posted this on my Facebook page: "Hoping to see my ward sisters at our Relief Society potluck and service project tonight. I know our minds are elsewhere, but let's get together and make some blankets for those less fortunate than ourselves."  

Just a few minutes later, I received this private message from "Jane Johnson":  "Are you kidding me??? You are worried about a 'Damn' Potluck Dinner and our friend is missing? You can't be serious. Where are your priorities? Cancel the Dinner and start searching for 'hell' sakes!!" 

I don't know a Jane Johnson.  No one by that name lived in our neighborhood or attended our ward.  I believed at the time that it was someone I knew that was hiding behind a pseudo name. At first I was angry.  I’ve never had anything sent like that to me personally before. Then I realized, I was mostly hurt.  Hurt that someone would call me out personally like that and question my motives. Hurt that someone would think I cared more about a party than Susan.

In the days and weeks to come, I would see another friend mocked and scorned publicly on Facebook.  Her only crime?  Wanting desperately to find out what happened to her friend. And I also saw the hurt on her face.

All of this was very eye opening to me and it completely changed the way I used Facebook.  I locked down my privacy settings and stopped taking private messages from people who weren't on my friends list.  And obviously if I still think about it all these years later, it really did have a profound impact on me.

For all the good that social media platforms provide, they also offer a place for others to be just plain mean.  People post things they would never in a million years say to someone face to face. It has sort of dulled our humanity to some extent.

Imagine if everyone on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, message and comment boards and all other social media platforms took a pledge of kindness and respect.  A pledge something like this: 

• I pledge to always consider others feelings, not only you who read my posts, but even politicians, celebrities, athletes and others in the public spotlight, before I hit post.  Maybe Thumper's mom should have said, "If you can't TYPE something nice, don't TYPE nothin' at all."

• If I choose to post or comment on a controversial topic, I pledge to be respectful to those who may have a different opinion.  Our opinions are formed by our experiences and perspective. And because all of us have different experiences and perspective, no two of us will every agree on every single thing.  And that is what makes our world such an interesting place.  I will try to be considerate and respectful of others experiences and perspective when sharing mine.

• I pledge to give you the benefit of the doubt.  I will assume that whatever you posted wasn't meant to personally offend me.  Maybe you and I fundamentally disagree on something. Or maybe it's just a bad day for one of us.  Maybe you were just trying to be verbally ironic. And if you really did mean to offend me, I promise to try and turn the other cheek.

• I pledge to share upbeat, positive and funny things whenever possible but still keep it real.  Yes, there is plenty of bad in the world. But I choose to believe there is infinitely more good if we just look for it.  And yes, I still have my struggles and bad moments and I may share those on occasion too.  Not to get your sympathy, but to show that everyone is human and no one, especially me, has a perfect life. (OK, maybe to get a little sympathy and support too.)

 What would you add to this pledge?  I'm sure I have forgotten something and would love to add to it.  Post a comment below and let me know what I missed.

Pinspiration: Once there was a Snowman

Thanks everyone who has welcomed me back so warmly to the blogosphere.  I was a little worried and I still am, but right now I'm just going with it.  Last night I laid awake for hours because I could not turn my mind off from all the things I have inside that I want to write about.  But first off, I have a craft project to share with you.  Now it's a little early for Christmas decorations at most of your homes.  But I have found if I want to make a Christmas decoration, early November is the perfect time!

My fellow Stampin' Up! demonstrator Mickey Roberts tagged me in a photo on Facebook a few weeks back.  It was a Deco Mesh Snowman head that was oh so cute!  I'd post it here, but that photo had no attribution and I'm always leery of posting something when I don't know it's origin and who to give credit to.  I had seen these before on Pinterest, several of them in fact, and at first I thought hey, that's cute but I'm not going to make one.  Then I saw some that were more than just the snowman's head, and included his body too.  Now I wanted one for my front door for sure!

So this weekend, I did:

How fun is that?!?!   I had originally envisioned him having three circle parts, but once I got the head done and realized how big he was going to be, I decided to just make one circle for the body instead of two.   Do you want to make one for yourself?  I have a few tips:

• First, you'll need some stuff: I used one 12" and one 18" boxed wreath forms (those are the wire frames that you find in the floral supply department), three rolls of white 21" Deco Mesh, a package of white chenille stems (just a fancy name for pipe cleaners), a fun foam top hat, a yard of ribbon for the scarf, and another 18" or so of ribbon and a pick to decorate the hat.  
• For the face and buttons, I happened to already have these wood pieces that I believe came from Wood Connection in Midvale, Utah.  We made them at a Super Saturday in my old ward several years ago.  (Actually, my extremely talented friend Jen made these so we could have a sample for Super Saturday and I ended up with them after the event.)  They are suppose to be used when you make a real snowman but mine never made it that far. 
• Find a tutorial on how to make a Deco Mesh wreath.  The internet is lousy with them so you don't need me to make another one.  I've seen these snowmen made with the ruffle technique and the roll technique (are those even the real terms?) but I would suggest you use the 10" Deco Mesh if you are going to use one of those techniques.  I could not find that length this year, so I just attached the mesh to the wreath form with a stem and then bunched it before attaching it to the form again.  That might not make sense now, but it will when you see a tutorial.  
• The difference between this and a regular wreath is that you need to fill in the middle too.  So I took some stems and strung them across the frame so I would have something to attach the mesh too.  Here's a picture of the back so you can get an idea what I mean (Poor little snowman, all face planted on my tile):
  
• There are all kinds of different snowman hats available at the craft stores.  I picked this foam one up at Hobby Lobby in the Christmas craft section.  One of the nice things about Fun Foam is it's very lightweight and it's easy to poke holes through it to attach the pick and another stem so you can attach it in the back like this:
  
• And yes, there was a long discussion in our house about the pipe.  I didn't originally put it on there, but the savages came behind me and added it so I left it.  

So what do you think?  Do you want to see more Christmas decor projects?  And yes, I do take custom orders. I'm not entirely sure how I would ship this one but I'm willing to check into it if someone really wanted something like this for her front door. 

(And for the record, I only had this on my front door long enough to take a picture. While I might start putting a few Christmas things up in my house before Thanksgiving, I will not be changing out my fall decor on my front porch until after.)

To Blog or Not to Blog: That is the Question

I've been thinking a lot lately about getting back to blogging.  For a few years, I kept a blog for my Stampin' Up! business. On that blog, I felt like I had to keep it to all Stampin' Up! all the time since it catered to that audience.  But my life and interests have been evolving over the past year or so.  (Who am I kidding? They are always evolving.  That's life, right?)

It got me thinking about this blog and about what I'd want to share I did start blogging again: Who am I really?  Do I have to be tied to just one topic on a blog?  Would others really care about what I have to share about mostly random things?  Does it really matter if they don't?

While I don't know the answers to these questions yet, I do have the beginnings of a plan for what I want this blog to be.  I want it to represent the randomness that is my life these days and who I am as a person and how that forms my outlook on the world:

I'm a Christian and a Mormon.  These two things are not mutually exclusive and they are who I am at my core.  I promise not to get too preachy here, but my beliefs do color my interpretation of the world and I might on occasion share something I'm thinking about that reflects these things.

I'm a Mother and a Wife.  And more than that, I'm a mom to two boys who arrived in our family through adoption and came with their own package of special needs.  While being a mom to any child is tough, every day is a crash course in social work, psychology, and psychiatry when you have boys like mine. This is very personal to me but I also want others to know they are not alone in this adventure.

I'm a Homemaker.  It's my full time occupation right now and there will be recipes shared and household musings. And if there is a product that makes my life easier, than you can count on me telling you about it.

I'm a Crafter.  This maybe the thing that shocks me the most.  I spent many years considering myself a craft reject. But I've discovered that as long as I keep painting or sewing out of it, I'm fairly capable.  I still enjoy paper crafting, but lately I've been branching out into other things.  And whoa, Nelly! I go a little overboard with all of this at the Holidays so I'm sure I'll have plenty to show and tell in the coming days and weeks about that.

I'm a Runner.  Or at least I was a runner until I developed a serious case of tendinitis in September.  But I hope to get back to it one day sooner than later because I had just gotten to the point of understanding why people torture their body in this way.  And I lied about the crafter thing being the biggest surprise of my life.  Being a runner is infinitely more shocking.  So it might come up from time to time.

I'm a Traveler.  The only time I feel like a normal family is when we are out exploring the world.  It is my therapy and my happy place. I have a goal to visit all 50 states by time my kids are out of the house.  I love a good road trip, all destinations Disney and anything historical or scenic. 

I'm a Political Junkie. What this means for my blog?  Probably not much because I've also learned as I've gotten older that if you and I have strong, different opinions about something, no matter what I say, I'm unlikely to change your opinion on it.  I promise that if I ever do post something about my political junkiness, I will try my best to keep it respectful and thoughtful and not emotional.  So if you disagree with me, that is 100% OK.  However, I do expect others to be as respectful and thoughtful as well and comments will be moderated.


I'm an aspiring amateur photographer.  But notice no capital letters there.  Don't get your hopes up for fabulous pictures of everything I share here because while I love my Canon DSLR, I still have a long way to go in this department. I'll do my best. 

What else?  I love to laugh and can be a little snarky at times.  So if there is more than one way of interpreting what I am writing, assume that I meant it to be funny.  And as my life continues to evolve, I'm sure this blog will as well.  And if no one shows up to read it, it might not make it that far.