I do all my laundry in one day. It’s a pain, but it gets it done, over with, don’t have to worry about it for another week.
You are not so important that you have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.
9 days. That’s all it took for The Artist’s bedroom. And the first day I was at work while they pulled everything out into my front room. I have to say the hardest part of all the redecorating is having the mess in my front room. I use that room as my quiet clean room where I can go and relax. And when it’s full of the kids’ stuff, I can’t sit or relax!
So day 1 was pulling everything out, days 2 and 3 were painting, and we got his bed put back in at the end of day 3. The next 3 days nothing was done. It was the weekend, and then the first day of school (Whoo Hoo!). Then it was hanging shelves and painting picture frames and organizing.
Here is a before picture (the only picture I could find of the room. Ignore the crazy kid in the middle!):
And after pictures:
As you can see, I chose NOT to strip his dresser. It a weird sort of way, it looks good in the room. I am sure I will change my mind later, but stripping the first dresser is too fresh in my mind right now! The Artist uses it as a desk for his drawing, so it will never, ever be that clean again!
My favorite project in this room was his drum stool. The Doctor salvaged it from work and it worked fine, but it was gray and scratched up and not pretty. I bought a can of navy blue spray paint and went to work on it. I love how it ended up!
I got this room done in 4 days less than bedroom #1. I was quite happy with that!
Modesty is very important to me. My church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (the Mormons), has said this about modesty:
Modesty is an attitude of propriety and decency in dress, grooming, language, and behavior. If we are modest, we do not draw undue attention to ourselves. Instead, we seek to “glorify God in [our] body, and in [our] spirit” (1 Corinthians 6:20; see also 1 Corinthians 6:19).
Our clothing expresses who we are. It sends messages about us, and it influences the way we and others act. When we are well groomed and modestly dressed, we can invite the companionship of the Spirit and exercise a good influence on those around us.
Central to the command to be modest is an understanding of the sacred power of procreation, the ability to bring children into the world. This power is to be used only between husband and wife. Revealing and sexually suggestive clothing, which includes short shorts and skirts, tight clothing, and shirts that do not cover the stomach, can stimulate desires and actions that violate the Lord's law of chastity.
In addition, when we get married in the temple, we begin to wear sacred underwear, called garments.
The garment provides a constant reminder of the covenants made in the temple. The garment should be treated with respect at all times. It should not be exposed to the view of those who do not understand its significance, and it should not be adjusted to accommodate different styles of clothing. When worn properly, the garment provides protection against temptation and evil. Wearing the garment is an outward expression of an inward commitment to follow the Savior.
The garment comes down to our knees and covers our shoulders. We keep the garment covered, thus wearing shirts with sleeves and shorts that come to our knees.
I believe very strongly in modesty. And I believe that we should start teaching our children when they are young. This means not allowing them to wear certain clothes.
I do not let The Princess wear tank tops. The shirts always have sleeves. If she has an outfit that doesn’t have sleeves, we put an undershirt on with it to keep her modest. She also doesn’t wear swim suits that don’t cover her stomach. I know that tankini’s have become all the rage, but I have seen a lot of them that don’t keep the stomach covered, especially on kids. So we just avoid them. The shorts she wears are longer than most. I try to get them as long as possible.
I also do not let my boys wear tank tops or run around without their shirts on.
I know a lot of people think that’s silly, especially with the boys, but I’ll tell you this. My mom had the same rules for me while I was growing up, and when it came time for me to get married in the temple and begin wearing garments, I only had to get rid of a few pairs of shorts. All the rest of my clothes were modest enough that I could continue wearing them. All of them. I was used to dressing modestly, so it wasn’t a shock to start wearing the garment.
I am so grateful to my mom for teaching me to dress modestly, and I will continue to teach my children the same.
A few years ago, I treated myself to a Twinkie. A fresh Twinkie from the grocery store.
And I hated it!
It was too soft and spongy and I really disliked the texture. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong because I had been eating Twinkies for years.
And then it hit me.
I had been eating Twinkies for year…from the outlet store. The Twinkies that were about to “expire,” or go past their freshness date. That is where my mom always bought them, and where I always bought them. They are so much cheaper than full retail price at the store. So I had been eating nearly stale Twinkies. Hence, when I had a fresh one, I didn’t like it at all. That wasn’t the way it was supposed to taste!
I still can’t eat them from the store. They have to be from the outlet. That’s just they way it is.
(But I love them frozen now. Just freeze them, then eat them right out of the freezer. Yummy!)
Life is too short to waste time hating someone.
We decided that since we are sticking around here for a while, it was time to paint. We moved all the children’s bedrooms around, which necessitated painting The Teenager’s room first, since he moved upstairs into the pink bedroom. We knew everyone else would be okay waiting, but a 17 year old boy in a pink bedroom wouldn’t go over well.
He has wanted black walls forever. There was no way I was allowing that to happen. So I started looking online for ideas for teenage boys. I saw a cute bedroom decorated with gray and black and red. I knew he would love that, and when I showed it to him, I was right. He was thrilled. We went to the store and found a cute pillow with the exact colors we wanted. We bought bedding and paint and we were ready to go.
It took me 15 days to do his room. One day to get all the rooms moved around and everything out of his room, one day to paint, and 2 days to strip and repaint his dresser. He had done it initially, and it was bad. I mean, really bad. It looks so much better now! And then I was burned out. I let it go for about a week because I just couldn’t think about it. I had school shopping and work and other things to do.
Finally, I repainted all his picture frames black and sprayed them with a glossy finish. I love how they turned out. Then I was able to hang the pictures and shelves on the wall. Done! I was so glad to get that room done. I am determined that then next rooms won’t take as long!
Here is a before picture:
And after pictures:
We all found it amazing that his weight bench and stuffed animals even match the room! The room is a very adult feeling room. He has a bunch of Lego sets that he will display on the shelves, but he gets to take care of that. He loves how it looks and feels, which makes me very happy.
Now, off to room #2!
As you and I dig into our pockets to help people in disasters and crises, please keep these facts in mind:
The American Red Cross
- President and CEO - Marsha J. Evans received a salary for the year 2010 of $651,957, plus all personal, medical and pension expenses.
- Less than 10 cents of your donated dollar actually goes to the cause.
The United Way
- President Brian Gallagher receives a $375,000 base salary, along with numerous personal and family expense benefits.
- Less than 12 cents of your donated dollar actually goes to the cause.
UNICEF
- CEO Caryl M. Stern receives $1.2 Million per year (100k per month) plus all living and housing expenses, including a ROLLS ROYCE.
- Less than 15 cents of your donated dollar actually goes to the cause.
The Salvation Army
- Commissioner Todd Bassett receives a salary of only $13,000 per year (plus housing) for managing this $2 billion dollar organization.
- 96 cents of all donated dollars go to the cause.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
- No salary paid to administrators or volunteers.
- 100% of every dollar goes to the cause! See LDSphilanthropies.org
Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a college kid with a maxed out charge card.
What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?
1. I would plant corn in my garden. We have tried it before and the wind blew it all over. It was very frustrating.
2. I would go on The Biggest Loser. I want to lose weight, and I could win all the money too!
3. I would also go on The Amazing Race. I love that show and it looks like so much fun!
4. I would sky dive (I still plan on doing this at some point in my life, but it would be nice to absolutely know I wouldn’t die!).
5. I would do the Couch to 5K and succeed in running a 5K without stopping. I tried before and killed my knee. it took months for it to feel better. I never went to the doctor, because I have too many other things wrong with me. I don’t want to know what is wrong with it.
6. I would put all my true feelings on my blog and makes lots of money because everyone would either think I was hilarious or they would feel really sorry for me. :-)
7. I would get 100% on my Visiting Teaching for the rest of my life.
8. I would accompany a choir on the organ in the Conference Center.
I would love to hear your answers!
You can choose to be bitter, or you can choose to be better.
A young lady walked around the room while leading and explaining stress management to an audience. She held a raised glass of water, and everyone knew she was going to ask the ultimate question, 'half empty or half full?
She fooled them all... "How heavy is this glass of water?" Answers called out ranged from 8-ounces to 20-ounces.
She replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long I hold it. If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.
“That's the way it is with stress. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes
increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and
rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden - holding stress longer and better each time practiced.”
So, as early in the evening as you can, put all your burdens down. Don't carry them through the evening and into the night. Let them go and pick them up tomorrow.
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