Another card post

Hey everyone! I have a couple more cards for you!

Before I share, though, I thought I'd share an incredibly successful dish I made yesterday.

This recipe from Life in the Lofthouse was divine! The chicken was a bit of work to make (since you dip it, pan fry it, then bake it), but the rice was a really easy one-pot side dish and I made it while the chicken was in the oven. It made plenty for leftovers, so I'm having a scrumptious lunch today! ;-) Plus, any meal the hubs likes is a success!

*Note: I used brown basmati rice for the fried rice. It probably would have tasted better with white, but I'd rather it be more healthy. Plus, I kind of like the extra chewy texture the brown rice gives it.

It looked just as good in her picture as it did when I made it. Here's the recipe!

Alright, here are my cards. I actually created these with only little bits of inspiration from Pinterest.

Card #1: Fun birthday party card. I sort of cheated on this one and used a blank Hallmark card I kept from something random. I added the balloons and party hat using paper scraps and a fun jewel embellishment.

Card #2: Another birthday card that was inspired by the lovely pine trees in my neighborhood. I'm not sure how I feel about this one, but hubby said he likes it, so maybe that should be good enough for me. :-) I used a makeup sponge and a blue stamp pad on white paper for the gradient/ombre effect, but you could just as easily use blue paper.

Card #3: Woven birthday card for either boys or country girls at heart :-) I found the denim print paper at Joann when I went to their Labor Day sale, and thought it would go well with the plaid I already had.

That's all I have today! Have a happy day!

Iris folding attempt #2

I have to say, I am having so much fun experimenting with card making! This second attempt at iris folding was so much fun to create.

In this picture, the colors are a little off from what they actually are, but you get the idea. :-)
I used the iris folding pattern here and edited the rectangular shape just slightly to get the watering can shape. The handle and spout are just out of a different matching paper (not iris folded).

Yay! Happy Friday!

Nerdiness and another birthday card

Michael and I had a great date night last night. We went to go see the Doctor Who Season 8 premiere, and it was fantastic! I was surprised at how packed it was - I guess I didn't realize how many fans there are out here!

I made the bow tie necklace using this tutorial - it was fun to make!

I also did my nails all nerdy - gold themed for all except the British flag. Gold Converse shoe, Tardis circle thingys, 2 hearts and Silence tally marks.

Gotta say, I'm so blessed to have a man who humors me and my silly obsessions :-) We had a blast!

Then today I tried my hand at iris folding, and this birthday card is what I came up with:

It didn't turn out quite as polished as I'd have liked it to be, but not bad for a first try, eh?

Happy Tuesday!

Girly blue birthday card

Here's another one! I thought up this one all by myself (no particular Pinterest help), so I'm a bit proud of it. :-) The flowers are new - a good friend of mine dropped off some of her extra scrapbooking supplies to me, and I, of course, had to make another card with some of them!

Another birthday card:

I like it, anyway! And this concludes our birthday card frenzy of August 2014.

Happy Wednesday!

I'm on a roll!

I'm on a roll this week! Here's another card I just made. Lots of family birthdays coming up - gotta be prepared! :-)

I used paper scraps, ink, black ribbon and vellum paper for this one.

Happy Tuesday!

My New Hobby (and a couple card ideas!)

Well, it's been a while, hasn't it? Things have been great! I just got back last week from an awesome girls' retreat with my in-laws, which was super fun! My Facebook friends can find the most interesting pictures (with my awesome in-laws in them) on my FB profile. :-)

I did want to write about my new hobby - card making! Actually, this really isn't a new hobby as it is one that I've recently been dedicating more time to. In high school I had a young women's activity where we did card making, and fell in love with it.

The funny thing is, though card making is similar to scrapbooking, I really don't enjoy scrapbooking at all. I think it's because scrapbooks behave the way my dirty dishes do, there's always more to do. So if you decide to scrapbook, you kind of have to make a big commitment to at least finish one book. Am I right?

For me, card making involves the same type of creativity that scrapbooking does, except there's an end to the project. When the card is done, it's done. And it's also an excuse to send off adorable cards to family members via snail mail. I know when I get something in the mail it just makes me happy, so why not help make someone's day?

Anyway, on to the fun part of this post. Here are two cards that I created myself, with only a bit of inspiration from Pinterest.

#1: Girly happy birthday card

I've discovered that I really enjoy freehanding designs on my cards instead of stamping (because stamps are just so darn expensive!). That's what I did here. I'm sure if I weren't so lazy I could create designs on the computer to print off (since I used printer paper anyway... don't judge!), but I didn't for this one. :-)

#2: do you see what i see?

There are so many different ways you could add your own flair to this one. I used fiber paper (is that what you call it?) for the snowman, some pre-embossed paper for the nose, and metallic markers for the star and snow, but you could totally change it up and do snowflake stamps, hole punch snow, or whatever you want. I had fun with it, anyway :-)

Anyway, that's it for today - and I'm off to make dinner. Happy Monday!

85 Must-Read Books (for all ages)

Hey everyone! Happy Father's Day!

So, funny story. A friend of mine pinned a link to this webpage on Pinterest a week or two ago, where the author of the blog post lists some of her favorite books to read aloud to kids. At the end of the post, she asks for suggestions. I was going to post a comment, and in the middle of typing out the comment, I realized that in order to add all my favorites that hadn't been listed, I would have to write a novel. Don't get me wrong - she has a great list of books, some of which I have read, and I'm going to go read some of them after this. I'm just sayin' - she inspired me to make a list of all my favorites that I read as a kid/teen, along with a few gems I've read since.

Disclaimer: I don't have kids yet, but I remember being a kid and loving these books as a kid (not to mention re-reading and loving many of them again as an adult). So my age estimates for the appropriateness of the books, if I give them, may not be very accurate. Just a heads-up.

1-7. The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis

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OK, maybe I'm a bit biased because I was raised on these books, but in my opinion these are the best children's books of all time. They are written for younger children, but I've read and re-read them many times as a teen and adult, and they just get better and better. There is a lot of Christian symbolism, which is awesome to talk to your kids (or spouse) about. Plus, they're witty and clever.

Here's the list (in reading order):

1. The Magician's Nephew (prequel that was actually written as #6 in the series, but makes the most chronological sense as #1)
2. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe
3. Prince Caspian
4. The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
5. The Silver Chair
6. The Horse and His Boy 
7. The Last Battle

8. The Witch of Blackbird Pond by Elizabeth George Speare

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This is a historical fiction about the Salem, Massachusetts witch trials. It is an excellent read for older kids, although some younger kids might do well with it too.




















9. The Bronze Bow, also by Elizabeth George Speare

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Another excellent historical fiction for older kids, this one is set in Jesus' time and chronicles the life of a fictional follower of Jesus. Super, super interesting and moving read.

10. Johnny Tremain by Esther Forbes

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While I'm thinking about good historical fiction books, I ought to list this one. Johnny Tremain is about a boy growing up as an apprentice during the American Revolution. I haven't read it in a while, but I remember reading it at least three times in older elementary-middle school, it was that good.

11. A Barrel of Laughs, A Vale of Tears by Jules Feiffer

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This one is great for all ages. It's an absolutely hilarious fantasy book about a prince and his adventures. It was our family tradition growing up to check out the book on tape/CD version to listen to every time we went on a long road trip, and the guy who reads the book is hilarious. The book version is fun too, of course. :-)

12-15. Enchanted Forest Chronicles (Dealing with Dragons) by Patricia C. Wrede

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This is an awesome fantasy series about a not-so-princesslike princess and her adventures with dragons, wizards, princes, knights, and a witch and her cats. It's probably good for most kids elementary school on. And kids at heart of all ages, too - Michael and I are actually reading through this series together now, and he is devouring them.

The four books in the series are:

1. Dealing with Dragons
2. Searching for Dragons
3. Calling on Dragons
4. Talking with Dragons

16-20. The Dark is Rising Series (Over Sea, Under Stone)

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I haven't read this series in a LONG time, so I don't remember what age group it would be best for, but I read them at least a couple times as an older elementary schooler. This series is another fantasy series that is about some kids that go on adventures to fight the rise of evil forces.

The books are:

1. Over Sea, Under Stone
2. The Dark is Rising
3. Greenwitch
4. The Grey King
5. Silver on the Tree

21-27. Ramona Quimby series by Beverly Cleary
As is evidenced by the huge chunk of this list that's made up of her books, I am a huge fan of Beverly Cleary and have been since I was a really young kid (as in, as soon as I was reading chapter books I was reading her books). The Ramona series is about a little girl and her family and all the wacky things that happen to them (aka life!). Great for young kids.

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The books are, in order:

1. Beezus and Ramona
2. Ramona the Pest
3. Ramona the Brave
4. Ramona and her Father
5. Ramona and her Mother
6. Ramona Quimby, age 8
7. Ramona Forever
8. Ramona's World

28-33. Henry Huggins series by Beverly Cleary

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Another series by Beverly Cleary, this one is about a young boy and his adventures growing up. Also great for young kids, but older elementary school-aged kids would probably get more of the humor.

Books:

1. Henry Huggins
2. Henry and Beezus
3. Henry and Ribsy
4. Henry and the Paper Route
5. Henry and the Clubhouse
6. Ribsy

34-35. Ellen and Otis Series by Beverly Cleary
This 2-book series is great for young kids. It's about the antics of a mischievous boy and the problems of a well-behaved girl, how they don't get along and how they eventually make up.

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36-38. Ralph S. Mouse series by Beverly Cleary

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Super cute story about a talking mouse who befriends a boy, and his adventures.

The Series:

1. The Mouse and the Motorcycle
2. Runaway Ralph
3. Ralph S. Mouse

39. Mitch and Amy by Beverly Cleary

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This is a gem of a book that tells the story of twins in elementary school. Great for kids of all ages.

40. The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner

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This messes up my list, because there are dozens of books in this series. These are easy-to-read mystery books for kids of all ages. 

41-47. Shadow Children series by Margaret Peterson Haddix

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Fantastic series (for older kids - probably middle school or older) about a future in which no one is allowed to have more than two children. 

The Books:

1. Among the Hidden 
2. Among the Impostors
3. Among the Betrayed
4. Among the Barons
5. Among the Brave
6. Among the Enemy
7. Among the Free

48. Ella Enchanted by Gail Carson Levine

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This one is a classic for girls (and boys, really) of older elementary school age and older. I've read it several times - it's a twist on the Cinderella story about a girl who was cursed by an evil fairy with the curse of obedience. 

(P.S. Don't base your judgment of the book on the movie you may have seen - the book is way better!)

(P.P.S. Also, all of the princess books I've read by Ms. Levine are fabulous. I don't think I've read all of them though, which is why I don't list the rest here.)

49. Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls 

This is one of the few dog books that I've actually enjoyed. It's about a boy and his two hunting dogs.

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50. Summer of the Monkeys, also by Wilson Rawls

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Hilarious book about a boy who, in an effort to earn a reward, tries to catch monkeys that had escaped from a circus. Good for kids who can handle hearing about alcohol (since there is an incident where the boy accidentally finds some alcohol and experiences the aftereffects).

51. Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbitt

Oddly enough, this is one where the movie is, in my opinion, just as good as the book. I read this book in a single day as a middle schooler. 

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52. Holes by Louis Sachar

Awesome book about a boy who was sent to a youth detention center camp for a crime he didn't commit. Probably best for middle schoolers.

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53. A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

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Classic. Good for girls (or boys) of all ages. It's about a little girl whose father goes away to war, leaving her at a boarding school where she has to cope without him.

54-60. The Septimus Heap series by Angie Sage

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So I have to clarify that I have only read through the first three or four of this series, because at the time I discovered them I was in the last couple semesters of college and ridiculously busy. However, they are hilarious and very fun reads, probably for kids 10 and up. 

The series:

1. Magyk
2. Flyte
3. Physik
4. Queste
5. Syren
6. Darke
7. Fyre

61-63. The Bartimaeus Sequence by Jonathan Stroud

This is an excellent fantasy trilogy for middle schoolers and older. Any description I give won't do it justice.

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The Series:

1. The Amulet of Samarkand
2. The Golem's Eye
3. Ptolemy's Gate

64-71. Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery

So admittedly, I haven't read the full series, probably because when I initially read the first few books in late elementary school I wasn't interested in reading about ancient married people... haha. But the ones I have read are awesome. It's about an orphan girl who has a quite rosy outlook on life, and her story after she is adopted by mistake. 

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Books:

1. Anne of Green Gables
2. Anne of Avonlea
3. Anne of the Island
4. Anne of Windy Poplars
5. Anne's House of Dreams
6. Anne of Ingleside
7. Rainbow Valley
8. Rilla of Ingleside

72. Pollyanna by Eleanor H. Porter

Classic story about a girl who is always playing the Glad Game. Great for older elementary school kids.

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73. A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Fascinating fantasy/sci-fi book for middle schoolers & up - I've re-read it several times. It also has some sequels that I don't think I've read. 

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74-80. Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling

OK, so I'm a total Harry Potter geek, but this list just wouldn't be complete without these amazing books. Because of the dark nature of some of them, they probably are appropriate for high schoolers and older. 

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 Books:

1. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
2. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets
3. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban
4. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire
5. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix
6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
7. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

81. The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien

Awesome book - I remember enjoying it in middle school.

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82-84. Little Women Series by Louisa May Alcott

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Classic series about four sisters in 19th-century New England, and their coming-of-age and falling-in-love stories. The writing style is probably best understood by high schoolers (or precocious middle schoolers).

In the series:

1. Little Women
2. Little Men
3. Jo's Boys

85. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen

This is an obvious classic, and one of my favorites. It's best for high schoolers, since the writing style is pretty heavy and younger kids probably won't pick up on some of the humor. Awesome book.

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OK folks, that's all I've got for you! I'm probably missing tons, but I'm pretty sure I covered most of my all-time favorites. What books would you recommend? 

Thoughts on Perfection

I'm sorry for not posting sooner. I need to make a habit of it. Maybe if I set a goal for once a week, I would be more consistent? I think so. Alright, Sunday will be my blogging day.

Recently I've been trying hard to lose weight. Like many people do, I gained quite a bit of weight when we got married. This was a really hard thing for me to come to terms with, and I was in denial for a couple years. But when my doctor said I needed to do something about it, and I came to the realization that my health was worse than it had ever been, I picked myself up by the bootstraps and made a hobby out of losing weight. The website MyFitnessPal has been my best friend in this journey - I've never liked counting calories, but it is the only way I've ever been successful at losing weight. With counting calories I have been trying to get more fruits and veggies in my diet as well. Then, a couple weeks in, I decided I also needed to exercise more. So I bought a couple power yoga videos and found some bodyweight training videos free on Amazon Prime Instant, and have been fairly consistent about exercising at least 3 times a week. I have now lost 16 of 40 pounds and am excited to be making my way to a more healthy lifestyle.

Now, the reason I write all this is not to brag, to complain, to ask for compliments, nor to ask for advice. I just wanted to share some of the things I've personally learned while losing weight about striving for perfection. Also, this post isn't really related to housewifery, but it's been on my mind recently, and what better place to share?

One of the things that I've noticed good yoga instructors say over and over again is that yoga should not be about doing a set of perfect poses. Instead, it should be about enjoying what you can do at this moment in time, but at the same time stretching a little further each time you practice. Recently I've noticed how this perspective applies to all of life - not just yoga. As mortals, we are imperfect. We have weaknesses and tough times and struggles. Everyone does. And we should acknowledge that.* But we don't have to let that stop us from stretching and striving towards being our own personal best.

*(Side note: that's one thing I love about my ward right now. The amazing sisters in our ward are so willing to open their hearts to each other, to share their experiences and to be real!)

Michael and I had a great conversation yesterday about perfection. We were trying to decide what it meant to commit to keeping all the commandments when we know we're human and we know we're going to make mistakes. Then we both had sort of an epiphany - we CANNOT be perfect on our own. We can't - it's part of this mortal life. BUT - we can be perfect in Christ. THAT is what we commit to. We commit to repent consistently because we know that as mortals, we are imperfect. We commit to taking advantage of that great gift of the Atonement. We commit to do our personal best and to let Christ take care of the rest. We commit to centering our lives on Jesus Christ. I love this BYU speech by Brad Wilcox. In it, he says, "Jesus doesn't make up the difference. Jesus makes all the difference. Grace is not about filling gaps. It is about filling us." God is awesome. He is good. He is understanding. He is our Father. He wants us to be happy. I know this personally, without a shadow of a doubt.

I hope what I've learned helps someone else, because it has already helped me. And if it doesn't, that is okay.

Have a happy Sunday!

Hello... and goodbye... to Boo

Because my husband is a sweetheart and because I've been pleading with him for months for a pet, he finally agreed to let me have a cat! We welcomed into our home Boo, a cuddly and playful Siamese cat whose previous owners had a dog he didn't get along with.

What a sweet kitty! He loved being around people, and would follow us around the house to keep us company (or just to get an ear rub ;-) ). He was also really entertaining and could spend hours chasing a feather on a string. Plus, cuddling up on the couch with a fuzzy heater that doesn't spike your electric bill... you just can't beat that!

And who can possibly resist those eyes?

Well, we certainly couldn't. But some decisions have to be made selflessly, including this one. With the end of our lease looming in July, and with wanting to save up money to eventually buy a house, we are probably going to have to downsize soon, and we wanted Boo to have room to be curious.

(Much as we loved Boo, we also didn't want to get even more attached and financially invested in him just to have to let him go. So we decided it would be better to let him go sooner rather than later.)

So we put him up for adoption and with a couple tries found a good home for Boo. We hope he'll be happier and though we miss him (even Hubby says he does!), we're confident we made the right choice. And who knows, maybe with this good experience under our belts, someday in the future when we have a little kiddo looking up at his dad with puppy-dog eyes asking, "can I have a pet, Daddy, please????", his dad will say yes. Just maybe. ;-)

- Sarah

My Experiences with Homeschooling

So, several people have recently asked me for my opinions on homeschooling - the experiences I had and the pros and cons that come with it. I'm still not sure if my husband and I will homeschool our children or not. It's a decision that, when we come to it, will be made after knowing what our individual children need, and after lots of prayer. But for now I want to share a little bit of detail about my homeschooling experience for those of my friends who are making that decision now.

The reason my mom began homeschooling me was because my birthday is late in the year, so the school system wouldn't allow me to start in public school kindergarten at age 4 (almost 5). My mom already had me reading short books by that age, and felt like I needed to be in school. So, she started to homeschool me, and loved it so much she didn't want to quit! ;-)

Starting in kindergarten, I was fully homeschooled through middle school, then partially homeschooled my freshman and sophomore years of high school. My mom took my siblings and I to homeschool groups where we would play with other LDS homeschool kids in the area. That led to a fantastic Spanish class with maybe 7-10 kids in it, taught by another homeschool mom (who I now consider one of my mentors). My youngest siblings now participate in band at the middle school, which probably would have been an option for me if I had been interested (I played the piano though, and didn't have the desire at the time to learn another instrument!).

Note: For me in high school, it wasn't a problem for me to graduate. All I really had to "catch up" on during my junior and senior years (after I decided to earn a diploma instead of a GED) was a science class I didn't take my sophomore year and a couple PE and health classes. However, at least at my old high school, policies have changed and it would probably not be quite as easy now to catch up. My younger high-school-aged siblings were all full-time from the beginning.

The Cons:

• Social Skills
  I would have liked more interaction with non-LDS homeschoolers as well as the LDS, because when I got to high school it was a pretty huge culture shock. I don't think I was quite as prepared as I could have been on that front. 
• Different Kinds of Work
  Because our homework and studies at home were basically one and the same, I wasn't super prepared for the type of work that went in to homework and studying for exams. Though we had homeschooling exams every other year (I believe?) to make sure we were on track, they didn't come close to the homework, papers, projects, and exams that high school presented. However, it didn't take me too long to adjust to the different workload, because of the self-discipline I developed. So maybe this isn't a "con" after all! It was just another learning experience.
• Depth of Some Subjects
  I would have liked a little bit more depth to some of the subjects taught me as a middle schooler (science and English in particular). However, because of the self-discipline I developed, it really wasn't that hard to catch up (and there wasn't too much catching up I needed to do).
• Potential Con: Catching Up
  This didn't happen to me, but it almost did. In high school I almost just got a GED (which I'm not dissing, but it's not quite as beneficial as a diploma), which probably would have made it harder to get into college, especially if it was a non-LDS school. Because I made the decision just in time to catch up, there was some catching up to do, so look out for this one.

The Pros: 

• Work Ethic
  I appreciated the work ethic I learned from having to be self-disciplined (to do studying and homework). 
• Morality & ReligionI loved having the moral and religious aspects of education taught alongside, and even incorporated into, the secular subjects. 
• Social Skills
  Now I appreciate the social skills I developed because I interacted with other kids of all ages, and with adults. Because I had so many social situations not only with other kids my age, but with people of all ages, I was more able later on to ignore age differences than I think my peers were (especially in high school).
• Early Start
  Because my mom started me young and pushed me, I was able to start high school math in geometry instead of algebra, which is a huge contributing factor to how much I enjoyed math (which I later got a degree in!).
• Love of Learning
  When you are homeschooled right, you appreciate learning for learning's sake. This is so different from some other kids who hate learning because they associate it with standardized tests, boring lectures, and either too much or not enough of a challenge. (Disclaimer: Not all teachers are boring, in fact, I didn't have a boring teacher or class until I got to college. I'm just saying that kids tend to exaggerate the bad parts of school and associate school with... well, boringness.) When you get to tell Mom what you want to be taught and have her guide you through it, or best of all, let you learn it on your own, you get so much excitement from learning a new math theorem, reading a good history story, or discovering why the baking soda and vinegar blow up the balloon. That is probably the most valuable thing I took from being homeschooled.

So, this list isn't even close to all-inclusive, but hopefully that gives you something of an idea of the pros and cons. Hopefully they made sense. :-)

- Sarah

Edit:
I was further asked what I liked and didn't like about high school versus homeschooling. Here are my (rather unorganized) thoughts on that.
In high school I liked having more friends with different backgrounds, whereas a lot of my homeschooled friends were from similar backgrounds (LDS, homeschooled, lots of siblings, same culture, etc.). I also liked learning different subjects in person from people who studied those subjects, instead of getting the information from books. (Although I love reading, it makes it much easier to be able to ask clarifying questions and understand the subject a bit deeper than book knowledge goes.) I also liked the social learning aspect of my high school - being able to ask questions and have different perspectives and methods of solving equations, analyzing poetry, explaining why scientific things work, etc. provided by the teacher and different students in the class. With homeschool, you get the book's opinion and methods and your mom's (which are great, but if your learning style is different you may need more).
On the other hand, with homeschooling I loved being able to study and get all my work done at once, whereas in high school, of course, there's class AND homework AND tests AND finals AND projects, etc.... I also liked having the closer to one-on-one attention that my mom can give, which you don't usually get in high school as much (depending on the class and your teachers).
Another thing is, at home you don't have to worry where you fit in or who your friends are, because you're a family and you kind of have built-in friends. :-) In high school there's that whole trying to fit in, find friends you like and get along with and can spend time with. But in my opinion, it's good for kids to experience getting to know people and going through that struggle of being a good friend to have good friends. So that's another thing to think about.
Hope that helps! :-)