Good, Better, Best

I have been pondering lately about the things I would like to accomplish in my life.  It's a long list.  The thing I struggle with is whether it is wise to have these goals.  They are all "good" goals, but are they better and best?  I have watched friends and acquaintances accomplish wonderful things, I have been slightly jealous of them.  Not because of what they have accomplished, but because they have set a goal, and met it.  Because they have found a balance between what they want and what their responsibilities are to their children, family, God, and church.

I have really wanted to start my own business.  I want to do something creative.  My latest thought is to design quilt patterns and sell those, and make quilts to sell on the side.  For those of you who know me well, you know I love quilting. This is something that does enrich my life.  But, my big question is why do I have to be "successful" to make it worth something?  I have pondered long and hard about this.  It takes energy and time to make the patterns/quilts.  Then there is the marketing, promoting, etc.  Should I really be doing this?  Then I say, am I just chickening out?  Am I making up excuses so I don't have to risk?  Basically, what's the deal?  Should I spend my energy and time on something that might bring me extra money,  a sense of accomplishment, and maybe pride?  Those things are all "good", but are they better and best?  Who knows.  When I get down and deep I realize they are just good.  That I could spend my time doing better things...but I still long for worldly praise, extra comfort, etc.

What is the answer?  I guess I already know, but I am mourning the loss of "possibility."  Or, of course, I could say...."Maybe later."    I have already started making some patterns, maybe I could just do this a little at a time, and by the time I am 70 I will be ready.  ha ha ha ha.  I just hope whatever I do decide to do (or not do) will be "best," and not just "good."

I'm It.

I have been tagged by my fun friend Kim Watson (who used to live here in sunny, AZ).  Now I need to share 7 quirky things about myself.  Let's hope I can limit it to just 7.  

1.  I am a slight clean freak.  Now, when I say this you must know, I am far from perfectly clean.  But, I do have a hard time going to bed with my Kitchen dirty.  I do like to have everything picked up and I love having clean surfaces.  That said, my cupboards and drawers are far from perfect.  I think this is the result of wanting the surface clean.  I often pick a couple drawers to be a mess, and just throw everything into those drawers to "hide" all the stuff we all hate dealing with.

          

         

 2.  I am turned on by fabric.  Not just any fabric, good quilting fabric.  I love it when the fabric feels like butter, so smooth and perfect.  This is not fabric you can find at JoAnn's or other large chains, this is the stuff in the little quilting shops, oh and it is beautiful.  My favorite fabric manufacturer is Moda.  Of course, there are others with beautiful fabrics, but Moda is so consistently perfect.  hmmmm, I could go on and on.

3.  I must admit I enjoy running.  My husband defines this as definitely quirky.  He thinks I am absolutely crazy because I rarely take a day off.   I just love the feeling that come from running.

I feel all clean and alive.  It is great!  

4.  I really don't like meat.  I just don't crave it, but I still eat it.  Okay, here comes the quirky part.  With all that,  I love In N' Out burgers.  I don't know how,  but I do love them.  We've been lucky, we got one just a couples miles from our house this last fall.  We've only been there 2 or 3 times, but it is nice to know it is close by.

5.  Well, I said I don't like meat.  Here comes the second quirky thing.  I don't like to touch meat while I am preparing meals for my family.  So, how do I do it?  Buy bags of frozen meat, and simply shake into a cooking dish.  Yes, this limits our choices of dinners, but I have found wonderful ways to go around touching meat.  It's funny, but it works out for my family so they actually get meat with their meals.

6.  I have a very sarcastic humor, which is lost on a lot of people.  Sometimes I am amazed at this, because it seems so very obvious to me.   Apparently, not everyone was brought up with sarcastic comments all the time.  I know I shouldn't be sarcastic, but to me it is like telling me, I really shouldn't be short.  I may agree about that, but I don't know how to go about changing it.

7. I don't love camping.  The reason is the quirky thing.   I hate to get all the "junk" out, and then have to put it all away.  Isn't it just easier to stay home?  There is so much work involved in camping, and then you have to come home and clean for a week.  That is not my idea of vacation.  My perfect idea of vacation is to stay at home, and not answer the phone, and pretend we are not here.  I still get a toilet and shower, I still get nice dinners, clean kids.....and at the end of it I don't have to disinfect, and scrub down everything.

Okay, now it's my turn.  Tag your it: Melissa, Summer, Kim P., Suzette, Angie, Brittney, Christine

The rules are:  

1. Link to the that tagged you, and post the rules on your blog. 

2.  Share 7 random and or weird facts about yourself.

3. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post, and include links to their blogs.

4. Let each person know that they've been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

This one's for you.

This is my sweet family.   But, I really want to talk about my hubby.  As I was driving home from preschool today I was thinking about how lucky I am.  I have this fantastic man who takes such good care of me, and my little ones, and asks little in return.  I am amazed at his goodness.  I think to many he seems like a "tough guy," but to me he is all goodness and light.  All he requires of me is for me to treat myself kindly.  He never nags me, or wants me to do things better, he just loves me (and most of the time would like me to sit down and relax with him).  He works so hard at his work, but he always puts family first.  He does all he can for his calling, and keeps his priorities straight.  He is so gentle with me, and wants to make sure I am doing well.  If I start to obsess about all the things I should be doing better, he calms me down, and just loves me.  I hope all our children find a spouse as good for them, as he has been for me.  There's so much more I could expound on to demonstrate his vast goodness, but I fear that would result in a seriously long tribute to this wonderful man.  So, here's to you, my favorite man, may you always know that you are one of a kind.

Santa Barbara

My Uncle Brian and Bj on the pier

We all took a walk on the beach together, here's

my mom strolling along, ahead of the pack.

So, I was cold at the beach, I'm from Tucson,

what do you expect?

I was so amazed that these crazy guys were

out there surfing.  Didn't they know it was 

cold?  Freezing?

Here's Bj and Mom finding Geocaches together.

So, we went to Santa Barbara this weekend.  I had a family foundation meeting, and it was really fun to meet all together, and enjoy the beach.    Each year we have a meeting where those on the board get together.  It is really great to see my aunts and uncles and a few of my cousins.  We had a great time together visiting the fun places in Santa Barbara, enjoying the beach, and listening to, arguing with, and learning from each other.  We spent Friday on the beach, looking for cache's, and enjoying the scenery.  There was this huge Yacht, and we all had to take a look.  Then on Saturday we spent the day in Solvang, and enjoyed the Dutch culture and food.  My aunt has a house there, so it was fun to have an insiders knowledge of all the fun things there.   We were lucky enough to find a fun ward to go to on Sunday, and Bj and I were surprised to find there were young couple able to afford living in Santa Barbara.  We spent the rest of that day enjoying the art that was strewn along the beach front.    We both enjoyed our time in Santa Barbara, but we weren't sad to come home.  We love our little ones and we were both missing spending time with them, and their fun little ways.

The weather there was beautiful, and I know it was even more wonderful for those coming from colder climates.  I felt a little jealous of all the oxygen in the air, it was so green, and the smell in the air was so clean and fresh, and I must say a little less desert smelling.  Every time I go to CA, I think maybe I want to move there.  The weather there is more temperate, and I think, "this wouldn't be so bad." But, then I realize I can't even afford to own a cardboard box. Isn't that the joy of vacations? Thinking, "maybe I could live here," or "I can't wait to get home," or "I never knew this was so wonderful." Then on the flight home I realize that happiness comes from being with the ones I love, so right now, Arizona holds my heart.

reading level

Movie Reviews

After reading my friends blog, I thought I would see what my reading level was. High School....now that's not so bad. I am no genious, I have seriously lost some brain cells going through what we all lovingly call motherhood, so if I am at "High School" I say congrats to me. So, I challenge you three people who visit my blog to see what your reading level is....I am sure it will give you a little laugh.

What I saw?

So, my sweet husband told me I should treat this as a sort of journal. And, that I should remember to put down my thoughts about how I have seen the hand of God in my life today. So, as I was thinking about this, I reflected on the joy that is in life. I am so grateful that I have funny friends. People that bring me to tears with their humor. I love to read, to listen to, and to watch humorous things. I have realized in my old age, that I don't really like anything that isn't funny. I mean really, what is the point? I get enough drama out of my own life, I need to surround myself with all things funny, just to take my mind off my day to day grind (which, of course, is a wonderful grind...but still, I love to laugh at myself, and others if they will let me). So, that is it. I am grateful for funny friends, funny movies, and quirky lines in movies I can quote over and over to myself and others. Right now I am loving to quote the movie Waitress....seriously, I love making up my own pies. like..."don't want to ask for no directions pie", or "can't they fix that pothole pie," or "monkey in the middle pie," etc... etc.... So, what is your pie?