Teaser...

Here is a teaser of my sister-in-law's engagement pictures. To see more, check out my photography blog.

Weekend Plans

This weekend is going to be awesome.

Saturday:

• Wake up, get ready, put on my brand new skirt (which I sewed for my self! It's fierce.)
• Go to Isaac's baptism (He's one of the kiddos in my Primary class and he is so adorable.)
• Go to in-law's house to consult with hair, makeup, and outfit selection for my sister-in-law
• Take engagement portraits for my beautiful sister-in-law and her fiance

Sunday:

• Go to church (with a fun surprise to be announced after church!)
• Come home and bake homemade mini heart shaped razzleberry pies. Mmmmm... they are going to be so yummy!
• Make a special "Easter Dinner" since we're going to be else where for the actual Easter sunday, I wanted to cook my own this weekend. Menu to include: filet wrapped in bacon (mouthwateringly delicious), asparagus, corn (maybe), garlic cheddar mashed potatoes (homemade and the bomb!), and my razzleberry pies for dessert.

Families Can Be Together Forever!

This past weekend I was so blessed to see this beautiful little family become an eternal family. It was one of the most amazing, wonderful, special, testimony strengthening, spiritual experiences. I was so incredibly blessed to be a part of their special weekend.

Food For Thought

"You are the piece of the puzzle of someone else's life. You may never know where you fit, but others are constantly filling holes in their lives with pieces of you" - Authur Unknown

I've had this topic on my mind quite a bit lately. I think a lot of times we forget our worth. We forget who we are and where we came from. I know I am guilty of this more than I'd like to admit. If we just remember that we are amazing, beautiful, wonderful, smart, fabulous indivuals with infinite potential, we will be absolutely unstoppable in this life. I know that all of you who read this have filled multiple holes in my life, and I hope that you are able to say the same about me.

It's Great to Be Eight!

I teach a special age in primary... the kids turning 8 years old. And who can tell me what special thing happens when you turn 8? That's right! You get baptized!

I LOVE my kiddos. Tonight was a fun night, our ward had a fireside especially for my primary class called "It's Great to be Eight!" All the kids and their families came to the church to learn a little about baptism, one of the bishopric came and talked about the interview you have, and then the girls and boys split up to learn about activity days and cub scouts. Then we went to see the baptismal font and the dressing rooms, and we had sugar cookies shaped like 8's! I loved being able to go and see how excited my kids were. They just make me smile. I cannot believe the amount of love, joy, and pride that swells up inside of me when I see those kids - when they learn something new, when they answer tough questions, when they are so excited to tell me about what they did that weekend... I get all choked up. One of my kiddos told me he wanted me to say one of the prayers at his baptism in 2 weeks, and I almost broke down in tears. I just love them so much!

I Know Pride is a Sin, 2nd Edition

Remember This?

Well, after hours and hours of work, multiple adjustments, tearing out EVERY SINGLE SEAM at least once, a lot of tears, a little blood, and (I'm ashamed to admit) a little swearing, this is the final product!!

WITH POCKETS!!!!

I am ridiculously proud of myself. I didn't give up, even when the skirt was a gagillion sizes too big. I just ripped out ALL of the seams and made some adjustments, and I think it turned out amazingly.

And guess what? Megan, this is your birthday present!! I couldn't wait til the next time we got together to give it to you, so I had to show you now! I saw the material at the store and IMMEDIATELY thought of you. And I have enough material left over to make myself one too!!

Natalee, I'm so ready to meet you and Kailin at the fabric store to pick out the fabric to make you girls matching skirts. Anyone else want one while I'm at it? Now that I figured this out I can't wait to try other projects!! I might even tackle making Nick and I some Halloween costumes this year... maybe. YAY ME!!!

Sunday Struggles

I love my calling, and I do a really good job at what I do. I love the kiddos I teach, I love sharing time, I love singing time, I love Primary. But I'm struggling right now, and I was just wondering if anybody has ever taught in Primary and felt this way.

Some weeks I feel like I've been banished. The only adults in my ward that I know are the adults in Primary. I don't have any friends at church. I walk down the halls and see women talking and laughing, over hear people talk about play dates, double dates, and family outings with a bunch of different families. Sometimes I feel like such an outsider. My Relief Society president doesn't even know my name. I saw her at the grocery store the other day and said hello, and at first she didn't even recognize me, and then the light kind of came on and she said "Hi Heather, how are you?" as I was walking past her.

I just feel like I don't fit in anywhere right now. There's nobody to relate to... everyone has kids and the people with kids are friends with the other people who have kids the same age. I'm not very good at making friends, I don't feel comfortable going up to random people and striking up a conversation. I haven't been able to go to Enrichment night in who knows how long because it was the same night as school. I just don't know what to do. During Primary I'm content to be buddies with the 7/8 year olds, but after church when I walk the halls, I long for someone to reach out to me. For someone to be my friend.

I do have friends, in fact I have wonderful friends, but all but one of those friends lives a minimum of a 35 minute drive from my house, and the one friend that lives close by hates my roommates and refuses to come to my house. And Nick is a wonderful man, but he is content to sit at home and play video games while sports of any kind is on in the background. He would be content to have no friends at all, but I really need girlfriends.

I'm struggling and am not sure what to do. I guess more than anything I just needed to get this out of my head and put it out there to see if anyone has had a similar experience.

Skirt Adventure Update.

So far things are going pretty well, as far as the sewing goes. I went and bought a new pattern and got everything cut out and started sewing. I had the skirt all sewn together and was about to sew the contrasting band on the bottom to finish things off when I was admiring my awesome new skirt and thought it looked a little big.

It was at this point, when the entire skirt was practically finished, that I decide to try it on. That's when I run into trouble. I can fit two of myself inside the skirt. I could literally gain 60-70 pounds and STILL fit into the skirt and have room to spare. Oops... The pattern gives hip/waist measurements that correspond to the sizes, so I measured myself and cut out the size that corresponded to that measurement. Apparently the measurements don't line up with the sizes the way the pattern says they do. Because I could have cut out the pattern 4 or 5 sizes smaller than what I cut out.

I'm not entirely sure what to do. I'm pretty sure that I have enough material to cut out another skirt, but I'm not sure if I want to do that. And the tough part is that all the extra material is in the front of the skirt, and the skirt has pockets in the side seams, so the side seams need to stay on your sides or the pockets will serve no purpose. If the extra material was in the back, I would just cut down the middle and cut out the extra and sew it back together, and then it wouldn't effect the pockets. I might try doing that anyway, I just think it will look weird with an extra seam down the front.

Any suggestions?

Oooppsss...

Soooo, my skirt might not be happening. :( I cut out the pattern. Washed and ironed the material. Layed out the material to pin the pattern on and start cutting out the pieces, only to discover that the material isn't wide enough. Oh no!! What do I do?? I REALLY want to make this skirt using this material, but the front piece for the skirt doesn't fit going the direction of the pattern. BOOOO!!!! I'm going back to Joann's to try and find either a different pattern or different material, or maybe both. I'm so very sad. Hopefully things will turn out better with the next pattern/material/pattern & material.

Wish Me Luck!

I'm going to attempt to turn these:




Into this (the blue and white one):

I have next to no sewing experience. A few years ago I successfully sewed a pair of pajama pants, so I figure this won't be too much more complicated... Maybe... Hopefully...

I am very frustrated with my wardrobe... especially my Sunday wardrobe, so I decided it was time to take matters into my own hands. I'm excited about the theoretical skirt. It's going to be very bright and summery, and the material makes me want to drink lemonade :) I'll keep you updated on my progress.