Sporadic Snowflake Trip #2

Last Sunday evening, I decided to take a quick trip to and from Snowflake on Monday. Saturday, Jason and I decided to take a quick trip up, we left about 6:30pm Saturday night and were back in Mesa at about 6:30pm Sunday night. We went to support Jason's cousin Kristen, who is going to serve a mission in Santiago, Chile. Michelle let us stay at her house, even with such short notice, and of course she made us a delicious breakfast. Best bed and breakfast ever. After church on Sunday, we enjoyed a luncheon in Shumway with lots of family. It's always fun to visit with family and eat good food. The big bonus Sunday was the absolutely beautiful weather, the baby goats, the blossoming fruit trees and the beautiful green fields. But let's focus on the weather. Anyone that has been to Snowflake knows it can be a little windy, but on Sunday, every 30-45 minutes or so, the wind would blow, just enough to cool us off, and then it'd die down again. The afternoon was quite lovely. I decided I need a summer home in Shumway. The blossoms on the peach tree behind Clara were so pretty. Every time I tried taking a picture of her with the tree, her double chin got bigger.

Someone was transporting a few sheep and Clara was very concerned. They were baaing and Clara really wanted to know what they were saying. (She got to see sheep, cows, baby goats and feed the mom and dad goats. Lucky her; she loves animals.)

I wish I spent more time with old people.

Look at that blue, blue sky!

Good Days

I always love days where I accomplish things for each of my responsibilities and it's even better when time spent mothering and homemaking occupy most of the day. That's when I feel my life is balanced. Not a balance of time, but a balance of importance.

Kind of like today.

Wake up (gotta start somewhere!)
Bake muffins with Clara
Eat said muffins
Bake bread with Clara
Pack picnic lunch
Get myself and Clara's self ready
Start dinner (rarely do I remember to do this type of thing in the morning, but when I do, it always feels good)
Run an errand (Angela, are you offended I just referred to you as an errand?)
Visit the Scout Shop
Drive to Tempe Town Lake
Hide under a blanket from the 10 drops of rain with Clara
Have picnic at Tempe Town Lake
Roll down grass hills with Clara

Play tag with Clara (think: barefoot, sunny, cool, grass, awesome)

Play with camera settings

Come home

Read books to Clara

Sing to Clara

Clara naps

I blog (this is where my priorities get slightly out of order)

I work (see?)

Clara's up

Read a story

Enjoy the rain and sudden wind

Blow bubbles

Finish dinner prep

Eat dinner

Miss Jason

Watch a movie

More stories & bedtime routine

Now it's quiet and I'm trying to decide if I am as tired as I think I am or if it's just because tomorrow will start much too early...

Funerals: Part Two

I'm not sure about anyone else, but it seems my family often plays the "At my funeral..." game after funerals. We all share how long we expect our funerals to be, what music we want to be played, the kind of food we want at the luncheon and Jason normally mentions something about a cardboard box because caskets are a waste of money. We don't go so far as to act out our funerals as one's sister's father-in-law might. But we do discuss what we want when that inevitable day comes. Yesterday was no exception.

For the record...

My mom would like a 15 minute funeral. She says her life is so simple, there is no reason for it to be longer. She might be a simple person, but trust me, her life has been anything but simple. So Mom, it might have to be 20 minutes. She also wants "Consider the Lilies" to be sung. But that comes as no surprise to any of her children.

For me? I have always said I want "You Can Make A Pathway Bright" and "There Is Sunshine in My Soul Today" sung at my funeral and no tears. Today, I decided I want "Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing" to be sung, I want it to be 30 minutes and I want the luncheon to be really good food. Better yet, give everyone the day off and use some of the loads of money I'll leave behind to cater it. Oh, and instead of spending the money to print colored programs, please develop a poster sized picture of me to hang up. Just kidding (but only on the last one).

Funerals: Part One

At my parent's house on Sunday, we were discussing the sadness level of funerals. I boldly, and unemotionally, declared that when old people die, their funerals aren't really that sad. They have lived their life, they get to reunite with their spouse and other family and they don't have to suffer in their mortal bodies any longer. Plus, through the sealing power, they can see them again. It doesn't help that I never really had a relationship with any of my grandparents.

However, I changed my mind today when I attended the funeral for Otto Mills. He was 84 and Grandpa to my Mills cousins. When we lived in Snowflake, I often went to his house after school or different sporting things with Michelle to wait for a ride (we lived "out of town" and their house was "in town"). I loved the treats and snacks and their rotary dial phone. I called him Grandpa Mills and always got a hug every time I saw him, even though I wasn't a granddaughter. But it wasn't those memories that left me retracting my initial thoughts on funerals for the elderly. And it wasn't seeing him at the viewing. It was giving my Uncle Danny a hug. I looked into his eyes and saw his sadness, his mourning and his loss. He was missing his father that had raised him, taught him and loved him unconditionally. My eyes filled with tears as I realized the heartache that must come from losing a parent, no matter their age. 64, 84, 104, it's never easy. It is his dad. I attempted to imagine the sadness and realized, it's probably something that can't be put into words. I was again empathetic as I watched my cousins and their cousins file into the chapel behind the casket carrying their Grandpa. The tears they shed were for a Grandpa they loved and will miss dearly. Again, 64, 84, 104... it doesn't matter. He is their grandpa.

My new conclusion is that yes, it's a happy occasion for the elderly that get to move on. However, for those stuck here in mortality, it's a somber occasion. They have peace knowing they can see him again, but it's only natural for them to feel sadness and sorrow as they mourn their loss. In fact, it's a sign of love.

PS Some of my favorite thoughts were during Steve Mills' talk. In discussing the mourning process and that it signifies deep love, he said, "Taking the mourning from death is like taking love from life." Steve also mentioned a friend that told him we are born to die. His response was, "Yes, but we die to live." If you believe in eternal life, you know how true that is.

With & Without

Other than thinking about taxes too much, here's what we have been up to this past week or so. I like to take pictures, but for many reasons, there are times when I don't take any pictures. Nonetheless, I like to attempt to preserve all memories, not just those with pictures.

Memories without pictures:

Thursday evening I spent a little time at a Humanitarian service project. That stuff makes me so emotional. We were tying quilts that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will donate to the people around the world suffering from natural disasters. I sometimes feel guilty that I have so much and I donate my time to helping these people a few times a year. I decided it would be really fun to start a quilting club. I don't hesitate to play Bunco once a month so why can't I gather friends for an evening to donate some time? Besides, the best part of Bunco is the visiting and that's easily done when tying a quilt. I'm serious. Who wants to join my Quilt Club?

On Friday we met some friends at San Tan so the kids could play at the splash pad. The weather ended up being surprisingly cooler than forecasted, so the kids got cold rather quickly. I think I was bummed that our outing wasn't a relief from the heat... since there wasn't really any heat... so the camera stayed put.

Saturday morning we planned to attend the Falcon Field Open House. However, after getting too little sleep, Clara started crying at 10am. We told her she needed to lay down for a minute and less than five minutes later, she was totally zonked out. She hasn't taken a nap that early in the morning for a really long time.

Saturday we went to my cousin's son's baptism in Queen Creek. It was my first experience attending a Catholic baptism so it was interesting to see how things are done. I am very fascinated by religious. Afterwards, everyone went to Lisa and Daryle's for food and a nice long visit. I figured I was having too much fun eating candy and talking everyone's ear off to get my camera. Even my cousin Rob was here from Washington and I didn't get out the camera. Ah well, pictures or not, we had a great time and I always love spending time with that family.

Lots of work... who wants to have memories of that?

Memories with pictures:
We went to the Zoo with some friends last Thursday. This picture has very little to do with the Zoo and everything to do with managing to capture one of Clara's hilarious expressions.

And if you are wondering why I would take a picture of my daughter falling into a cold stream at the Zoo, rest assure. She thought she was the funniest thing around and kept laying in the stream. Good thing we didn't stop at the splash park because I didn't want her wet. :)

Clara got her first "real" hair cut. I have been the only one to cut her hair up until this week. Lamar and I like to barter and this is how I requested payment. Clara was so good and loved it. The end result was darling. The bad news is, Clara has my fine, FINE hair. The good news is, with lots of hair product and lots of time styling, it can still be cute. Well, at least until she sits in her carseat for 30 minutes...

Friday was the crowning moment of Clara's week. Several months ago, Clara got to have a sleepover with Lucy and Elsa. She's been wanting to have them over to our house, but it's hard since I work Fridays. I had Friday off so we decided to capitalize on that and have the sleepover. The only mistake I made was telling Clara about it a week in advance. That meant every time I told Clara we were doing something, she'd ask if Lucy and Elsa were coming over after that. All week long this went on. At least I know she was excited. We started off with a princess tea party (Lucy and Elsa came over in dresses and by the time we had our tea party, all the girls had swapped dresses).

We also made crowns and wands, but mostly, the girls just wanted to play. Here are the four SLEEPY little princesses Saturday morning. I don't think they spent more than 30 minutes out of their dresses, not counting nighttime.

On Saturday we went to Ryan's party. Clara wore his batman cape around and carried a toy shot gun, telling everyone, "I am saving people" or "I need to go save some people".

Jason took this before church... and we were still on time to my 8:00am choir practice.

Man, I love this little goose. Only working on site one day this week was really nice. Lately Clara loves puckering dramatically for kisses and blowing kisses to me when I leave her room at night. Oh, the joy.

Simplify

I may or may not like money and I may or may not talk about it too much. Which is the reason you shouldn't be entirely surprised that my thoughts are once again, related to money.


Recently I have been thinking a lot about how complicated our lives are. Not because we live in a complicated world, but simply because we fill our lives with so many things. I am a frugal person for the most part, but somehow, my house has filled up with junk. This has left me pondering those two fun words that are frequently defined differently depending on who you talk to: need and want. This week Jason and I decided we need to make a list of needs and wants. However, most of the items he tried to shove in the need column weren't exactly needs. "Remember Honey" I told him, "a need is something that is basically necessary to sustain life." I suggested we make three columns: need, priority want and want. I think we would both benefit from such a list.

I've been thinking about how Americans (I don't know enough to know if it's the entire world or just our Country) live an over-indulgent lifestyle. I buy and buy things I will use, things that are handy and things that I want. But how much of that is stuff I really need? Probably very little. The sad part is, I haven't decided if I have enough will power to stop. So perhaps it will be baby steps. First, I'd really like to rid my house of lots of stuff. Clothes, books, toys, etc. Then, I would like to cut back on unnecessary spending a lot. As I explained to Jason, I am not trying to never spend a dime on anything but a necessity (food and clothing). I'm just saying, my house would be cleaner, life would be more pleasant and our savings would be bigger if I did a better job of staying away from wants more often.

Picture Perfect

I drove up to my mom's earlier this week and saw this
Clara's squeals of joy implied she had never been on the swing before, when reality, she enjoys it a couple times a week. It even made Daniel laugh and smile. Daniel doesn't laugh or smile for just anything. I started taking pictures with my phone, but they were all blurry. I thought, Shucks, because it's not all that often Uncle Daniel is out swinging his favorite niece and they are both having a great time. But then I realized, blurry or not, the picture still preserves the memory. Why does it seem like the perfect picture preserves memories better than the off-centered blurry ones? They both do the same thing, put a bookmark in time of a happy moment I don't want to forget.

My Dirty Little Secret

Several months ago when I showed up at my mom's one morning, there was a peculiar little green bag hanging on her door. When I asked about the contents, my mom laughed, not wanting to tell me her secret. They have their dry cleaning picked up and delivered to their home each week. I laughed, thinking, High Maintenance. Expensive! Unnecessary. Time passed and our dry clean pile just kept growing and I found out the price for 1-800-Dry Clean is barely more than the cheap-o place I normally take things to and the quality is much better. So last weekend, we tried it out. They picked up 13 shirts, 7 pants and a suit (I told you the pile grew) on Saturday and returned it to our door today, Monday. There is no delivery fee or special charges and you get a 25% discount on the first time service. While we definitely don't need a regularly scheduled pick up, I will be utilizing them from now on. Jason's shirts, which are usually all we'll have done, are only $2 a piece. Not too shabby for front door service! If you dry clean stuff, you should check out 1-800-Dry-Clean.

Realizations

Craziness was non-stop this week. It started off on Monday when I laid on the couch for twelve hours, which wasn't exactly the best precursor to the upcoming chaos. I think I got up twice to use the restroom, once to make Clara breakfast, once to put lunch on a plate for Clara and twice when I attempted to do something other than lay down flat. However, even if I'm too busy to cook, clean, eat or sleep, at least my mind can still ponder.

Having a 24 hour flu made me very sympathetic for moms that endure those feelings for weeks on end. I sure had it easy with Clara.

I need to take more videos of Clara. She has the sweetest little voice.

Sometimes music motivates me to get off my rear and clean. But this week, it just made me want to sing, dance and not clean a thing.

I eat a lot, and a lot of junk, when I am up late at night working.

It's official, a clean house is not my priority. It'd be nice, but that goal isn't getting accomplished anytime soon. Oh well.

A few days after I get sick, I feel like I can take on the world because an 80% body feels WAY better than a lifeless, yet warm, body sprawled no the couch.

I have made serious improvements keeping work and life separate. It's not easy when I do so much from home, but I finally am close to where I want to be. If it's not an emergency, it can wait. Clara can't {and shouldn't}.

Last week I thought lice was just gross. Now I know it's also really, really time consuming.

There is nothing cool about working on Saturday. At least I still have Sunday to look forward to.

I keep pretending I don't have much going on next week, when really I should be preparing for more chaos. That makes me a little nervous.

I could really use a vacation. One is scheduled this summer, but I'm guessing it won't come soon enough.

I really want a big piece of land to live on. Garden, animals, space to run, jump and play. I care very little about what house is on it, but the land. A miniature farm! I don't know that I am going to want to move unless it's to something like that. Maybe my vision will change, but for now, that's where it stands.

I feel fat and unhealthy when I don't eat well. Even if it's only a few days of it.

I hate saying no and I love helping people. I got a call this week regarding a potential client that is in great need. I said I would think about it. One hour, one headache and 25 thoughts of Clara later, I concluded I was insane and made a quick phone call to decline. Over committing my time is definitely a huge temptation for me.

Taking someone dinner that includes a bag of grapes, a bag of carrots and two pizzas from Basha's is only slightly funnier than it is embarrassing.

Posts are always better with pictures... or least a picture... So here's one of Clara looking like a miniature tourist backpacking in Europe, and a boy no less. Shaggy hair, dirty t-shirt and jeans that have been worn for days straight and a beanie.
The bunny and pink shoes, however, are detrimental to her disguise.

Sewing Lesson & Easter

Clara loves skirts. She doesn't have many casual skirts and I can never find the right one in the store. So when Amy called and proposed we make a skirt together for Clara, I was thrilled. Anything I've seen involving Amy, fabric and a sewing machine has been cute, so I had high hopes. I picked out the fabric (good thing I started with just two prints... otherwise that part could've taken eight hours) and Amy helped me sew this little darling for Clara. I am still impressed that I helped sew something that looks so put together and I still love it. Even if I had the motivation to do this on my own, it never would've looked like this without Amy's help. Plus, it was the perfect thing for Clara to wear on Easter. Oh, and perfect for dancing in too. Clara agrees.

Speaking of Easter... I loved being able to enjoy General Conference on Easter. Easter made Conference a little more special and Conference made Easter a little special. This year wasn't the most "festive" year for Easter in our house. We didn't dye eggs and we didn't do an Easter egg hunt at our house. The strange thing is I didn't feel bad about it at all. I figure the things like that are fun, but since it's not the essence of the reason we celebrate, they aren't necessary to make Easter special. And don't feel bad for Clara, she went on an Easter egg hunt at my parent's and since she was the only kid under 11, she had no competition and hunted every last egg by herself.

Saving Spree

See? I told you there'd be more.

At the beginning of March, Jason approached me to let me know, in a very serious tone, that we needed a gun safe. He made sure to put emphasis on the word need, hoping to convince me it was a necessity with no further explanation. Okay, I kindly said {I always speak kindly}, we'll save for it, then buy one. But Mr. Serious put his foot down and said, "This is not a want, this is a need." I was skeptical because we have had pretty much the same life, house, valuables (or lack thereof) for over six years so I was rather confused as to how this became a need over night. He reassured me it had nothing to do with the gun he recently purchased. Nothing at all. It was for the pictures and our data. Just in case fire ever decided to consume our humble abode or someone broke in*. I wasn't totally opposed, but I also wasn't about to go make a large purchase on a whim.


That's when I came up with the greatest idea ever! (Just ask Jason what a great idea it was). I kind of like to hoard gift cards so we have accumulated a small stash over the last several months. I proposed to Jason that if we could use only gift cards in the month of March, except bills that we had to pay, we'd use the money we would save to buy a safe. For me, this was pretty easy (except having to forgo my beloved Costco trips). For Jason, it was not. He got a $25 gift card at the beginning of the month for eating out. (We won't say how long it lasted, but I'm guessing no transactions happened after the first week). I was most nervous about the grocery side of things. Especially when we had company for a week, I fed the missionaries and I worked four days in a row, but it all turned out nicely. At the beginning of the month I had left over produce from the week before, then Kiri brought some with her, I bought fresh produce four times (mostly with gift cards) and my mom provided a week of lunches and dinners. We cheated a few times, but the total of our instances of cheating wouldn't total more than the giftcards we didn't use.


Considering doing this again, I decided it was fun and it definitely helped us cut back on how much we spend eating out, but on other stuff, I'll still buy it, just later. Every time I needed/wanted something, I just thought, I'll wait and get it next month. Which means whatever I saved this month will be over spent next month. In case you're wondering, we still don't have a gun case. Our plan was diverted to using the money for our backyard. Much better, if you ask me.

*Jason got nervous when a house in our neighborhood was broken into and that's really how this whole thing started. Funny thing is, it's not the first time this has happened in our neighborhood, more like the third or fourth. He just hadn't known about all the others.

I'll Take the Good With the Bad

Reasons this past week was not lovely: lice, vomiting & diarrhea (names of the infected will remain anonymous)

Reasons this past week was lovely: sewing lesson (more to come), high school friends, exciting new opportunities (possibly more to come), Karen, the end of our saving spree (more to come), junk food, Costco, General Conference & Easter

Net affect? Life is lovely.