NO ONE is perfect and that is one of the most important things we can count on in each other!

About 8 years ago a friend had made an appointment to come visiting during the week. I made a point to be home at the set time and she never showed up. A few days later I came home to find out that she had stopped by expecting me to be there and of course I wasn’t for that was not the set day or time planned. I talked to her when we ran into each other to say I was sorry to have missed her and wasn’t sure where we had misunderstood each other. I was very surprised by her reaction: she was elated!

She had called and changed the day with me and I had forgotten. She shared how wonderful it felt to know that I wasn’t perfect and made mistakes too! This friend is quite a talker and continued to share her state of joy for quite a few minutes in great energy of spirit and animation.

I was slightly stunned, not sure if I should feel insulted, bewildered, entertained or just annoyed.

Perfect?! Did I give off that unforgivable and annoying persona of being perfect?! “Come bask in my glow”’ kind of person…Yuck!
To have someone be so thrilled to find you are normal and that you too make mistakes is…well, disturbing really, …at least for a little while.

A few days later she called up all apologetic—she had just found the note to remind her to change the appointment and she had never called me to do it. That must have been embarrassing for her.

I will never forget the feeling I had of someone thinking I was so perfect that I needed some visible flaws to make me more approachable or less threatening (since, I assure you, they are in abundance and multiply freely!). Or the feeling of wanting to sit down and lay out all the imperfections and mistakes I have ever made just to be seen as “one of the gals” – a lonely sense of not belonging.

But, all in all, it was a learning experience of how to treat people—no matter how great or human you may or may not think they – or you - are, you must always remember, NO ONE is perfect and that is one of the most important things we can count on in each other! It keeps us humble, teachable, and, most important, well….like able!

Oh, the proms that I know......

Corsage for a lime green and lemon yellow dress.

Remember prom from the good ole’ days? Well things have changed slightly since our day of getting ready (once) in your Sunday best, or maybe a dress for the occasion (not requiring a hoop or petticoat) and being picked up, given a corsage and attending a dance until 11 (maybe having dinner – would all depend) and then you were done and like Eliza Doolittle felt wonderful and could hardly sleep from the excitement!


Corsage for silver and white dress, and the girl loves black roses and azul.

Things have changed a bit. Now it is all day long dates, formal ball gowns, pictures (single, group, fun and serious…$), maybe even starting out with breakfast, and several hundred dollars later, you are falling into bed half asleep already around midnight – and that is just the parents! Well, things are no different down here in Sterling Utah – except who has hundreds to spend? Not I said the average mom!




Well, here in Central Utah where culture and tradition is thick as blood, that means the whole town stops for the whole shebang to take place! But there aren’t hundreds of dollars floating around waiting for a cause so ingenuity bursts forth in the form of formal ball gown swapping, borrowing, or making by hand, parents becoming restaurant and waiters, fine chefs creating fancy meals and ambience, not to mention the florist that must burst forth in all of us, and why? Because it’s fun, right? (Well, until you have to put it all away.)

It's all about every junior girl getting a date for “Junior Prom” (not a bad tradition really – that’s a no-brainer that any girl would have appreciated in any time period) and joining a group and having a plan to make them feel special.



Then comes the inner turmoil after the ‘set up’; trying to convince yourself that you don't have to attend the prom to see the kids dance, but know you will end up going to see the decorations that the kids have spent a week putting up and wanting to see the corsages that you made yourself on the girls ON the dance floor being gorgeous and appreciated.



Lets not forget the only dry cleaners in our county going on a cruise the week of Junior Prom and having to drive to another county to have suits cleaned. That was a keeper for the Journal!

Inviting all the Moms who might like to participate in the 'big dinner' so know one feels left out (I always want to join in the madness and assume they would too).



Lest you think that NOT being the mother of any Juniors frees you from the festivities, think again. I had two boys (no, they are not twins) attending the Prom--go figure! Brotherly love? Well, whatever it is, my boys want to do proms together and so there is more than juniors going to junior prom, but you know it isn’t the same as BEING a junior and going to junior prom, and then when you are a senior there are those girls who need dates,… so on it goes!



Lest I mislead, I must reassure that I happen to enjoy Prom no matter how crazy it gets, which is good because, as my husband pointed out, I have possibly 4 more in a row to do!



I love the challenge of putting together a fancy table and decor out what ever is on hand for the kids......How convenient that I have all boys!

W.O.W.!

WORLD ORGANIZATION OF WOMEN
W.O.W.
What a fun picture of the founding women of this organization! They are dedicated to supporting abundant natural health by encouraging women's innate role as healers through Nutrition, Exercise and Nurturing.

I was delighted to attend a meeting last week on Natural Health supported by this organization. I soaked up the sisterhood and encouraging atmosphere of about 8 ladies attending! Nothing is better than the bond of acceptance and encouragement. There is no one who doesn't benefit from that!


Blake Atkin, a rancher from Cache Valley introduced the benefits of grass fed beef and the interesting facts on the omega 3 & 6's available. Almost as benifial as fish. (Close enough:))

Kathy Hawkins of Salt Lake City presented the importance of clean water and introduced us to a great book, that I already own and love, called "The Secrets of Water"; very fascinating studies. I suggest you read it some time.

Holly Mead, (sorry I don't know where she is from) gave us instructions on the importance of breath. We were instructed on and participated in breathing exercises. We need to be breathing deep and correctly several times a day. This improves many things, of course stress is only one important facets.

I felt very well rounded and ready to take care of myself better by the time I got home.

I look forward to the next opportunity to attend. Of course, I can study out anything on my own......that is the beauty of the organization! They find and share information and we can decide what is best for us and our families.

Miles of Piles!

Here is an attic that was one of those 'everything has a place but it's not in it' attic! All it took was a little side by side elbow grease and plowing through. (and a lot of fabric folding!)




Nothing was removed from the space, just organized and put back again! It was energizing and enjoyable to reorganize the very useful area.




What a big beautiful storage space!





It houses winter clothes, costumes, luggage, exercise equipment, videos, books, toys, blanket, fabric, 3 children's belongings that are on missions, wrapping supplies, Christmas decorations, and on the list goes!

We do not remember the days, we remember the moments.

I had just such a moment. It goes without saying that these kinds of moments are gifts - and I know how truly spoiled rotten I am! It suddenly hit me as I looked over the lake, found beauty in the grey clouds hanging on the mountain and reverence in the hush of a snow covered world, that I was blessed - though the words to describe that kind of feeling still escapes me. That overwhelming feeling of gratitude that heals!


I live within 1/8 of a mile to a State Park where my own husband works and we have free access at any time. JD was running, training for his upcoming marathons, and I was power walking/jogging. While performing this simple routine it was reaffirmed in my mind that quiet time is important; it can rejuvenate and heal us all from the inside out. I am an advocate of exercise and fresh air for mental cleansing, but today that belief was reaffirmed again.


Whether it was mental cleansing of the exercise, or the quiet reflection of the landscape, it was a beautiful day! I will remember the moment. I took a couple cell phone pics (hence the bad pics!)JD is the small dot on the road!


A beautiful snow covered lake.
Have you had any moments like these? I would love to hear about them.

Tap the femininity within!

It is always good to take a little time to remember to visit your femininity. Today that translated into shopping for perfume. Nothing better than a perfume hunt (with a girl friend along to laugh with) to tap the femininity within!

It was time to find a new scent to uplift the spirits. After about 10 fragrances and many sniffs of the coffee beans (to erase the 'nose pallet' as I lovingly call it =) ) I came away with 3 fragrances that 'rang my bell'. I had to choose only one to try on and that was difficult! I like to see how smitten I am with a fragrance AFTER wearing it for a day--if I get tired of it fast, I don't want to buy it. Who wants to go around not liking one’s own scent? And we girls are not wasters of time or money!

I didn't know that Fragrance Advisers existed! But they do AND very knowledgeable (not to mention helpful!) Mine was called “Choc” (yes you read that right! Just like Choc-olate). He had me, right then and there, with THAT line of talk (what a salesman!).

He picked my brain about other scents I have liked suggesting ones for me to try that have familiar feels: fruity, floral, feminine, fresh, bold.... not to mention suggesting new scents that I would not even have considered. I did turn down trying the Madonna fragrance--the bottle was too, …ahem, well.... let’s just say I have four boys in the house and leave it at that!

I now have cord bracelets (with my favorites scents sprayed on them) in my “dainties” drawers to enjoy the fragrance all the more! Now I have to decide which to buy. What a day!

What treasures we find.....

This is a closet I helped a client with last month. It was solid stuff.



I love to dive into these and create piles of 'to go', 'to try on', 'to throw away', 'to put elsewhere', and last but never least -- 'to think about'! That is where the counseling comes in! (why am I keeping this? :/ decisions, decisions!)



The shelves beside the boxes are filled with Christmas decor that has been lovingly gone through and boxed. The boxes contain baby clothes for an upcoming arrival. =) And the top shelf you can not see is beloved stuffed animals and 2 boxes of keep sakes. The other side of the closet not shown is now empty except for the clothes that were chosen to keep, a hamper full of toys, and books on the shelf. The 'to go' bags were hauled out to my van and filled half of the back. We also filled the garbage can!



Woo-Hoo! What fulfillment! The Owner of the closet sat on the bed and said "What a heavy load has been lifted from my shoulders! I feel free! I didn't realize it was such a burden."

That makes my job worthwhile! :)
p.s. Sorry about the cell phone pics. I forgot to pack my camera.

Inspiration from friends....

At the first of the year 2009 I was once again inspired by my good friend Lauri O. She had decided to add a bit of fun and whimsy to her home life by decorating for each season or month. The requirements to the decor that she chose were they had to be simple, cheap and mainly things already around the house. And how cute they were! The large view windows had curling ribbon hanging in spirals just to start. I love being inspired to be creative with little or no budget! She followed this up by agreeing to do the Parade of Homes for Manti. Keeping with her theme of simple, cheap and around the house it was Seusically Darling! I was fortunate to be invited to scrunch, cut out and wrap boxes for the Event. Proof that fun and joy can come at any price. I invite you to visit her blog and check out her Christmas Decor. She is listed in my followings. You will not be disappointed!

Adding Adsense to my blog....

I am having a great time learning and creating this blog! But I have a new idea (new to me anyways). How do you feel about my adding ads to the blog? I thought it was great to do. It would only be ads related to my topics and I thought that would be handy for readers. An example is the link I created to 'closetmaid' in my first blog and again here. I wanted readers to be able to go and see exactly what I had used. I can't possibly do this any better than using the Adsense program along with my links. I can try it and remove it if it isn't working out. Thought I would include you in the decision! =) Should we give it a whirl?

A very 'before' pic

How about this? I found a pic from when we remodeled a bit. We decided to open up the front of the house into a "great room" and create an office space for, you guessed it, organized shelves! The kids all had the chance to knock down the drywall and it was instant fabulous light and room! (JD may argue about how instant it was;)The new wall created a great office space that was needed for a bit of privacy for those trying to work - whether for school, or job. And we also have the weight bench in the room, it needed a home too! The 'great room' side of the wall has a flat screen TV mounted to save space in our cozy home.I just love the feel of the changes!

The Office Shelves Organized: Phase 1

If I had been on top of it I would have given a 'before & after' picture of the shelves.....oh well, a 'before & after' the organizing of the shelves is the best I can offer.

The containers on the top are only kid toys I can't part with.....so that shelf is done! I am hoping to group like things together tomorrow....time will tell!

Note: The top shelf is 20 inches, the rest are 16 inches. I can add 2-3 more shelves if I ever need to. (As of now, I need a sewing area. I can't wait to put that together!)

Clutter Free, Stress Free!

They are finished! Woo-Hoo! The office shelves are up and running. It only took 3 hours or so to complete the job. They are the 'ClosetMaid' system and how easy was that. It felt like instant shelves. One more small area taken care of to the best of mine and JD's time, ability and budget. =) We threw the boxes onto the shelves just to get them out of the way until I can organize them, which if you know me at all you know I look forward to doing! They consist of old t-shirts and wool for rugs, toys I am saving for the grand kids, Christmas wrapping, crafts, sewing, stamp collection, old typewriter (why am I keeping it? :/ not sure...) and a few odds and ends that have no better place to be. Even the kids are happy to have the make shift stacks off of the floor; both the kids appreciation and the stacks having a home is rewarding!