I keep seeing these tidbits all over Facebook and the web about the "Wear Pants To Church On Sunday" and it got me thinking. A lot.
Here's my two cents....
On most every LDS church meetinghouse there is a sign that says "Visitors Welcome". Nowhere on that sign, or anywhere in the building does it state a dress code. We welcome visitors and members. Every week. Some come in jeans, some come in dresses, I've seen people come to church in their work uniforms. I've seen hats, tennis shoes, and dreadlocks...and none of it offended me.
Sure, I wear a skirt/dress every Sunday. I use the term "Sunday best" frequently, and to me that equates a dress, or skirt and top for the girls and slacks, button-up shirt and tie for the boys. But I would never feel less of an equal to a man at church just because I am wearing a skirt. I never feel like an object to be scrutinized sexually, just because I'm wearing a dress.
I warn you, my reader (yeah, that's singular...), to stay away from the saccharine spoutings on the web. It's a slippery slope to anti-church literature, even if this was started by members of the Church. It seems an awful silly thing to me.
Wear a skirt, wear pants. I don't care. And don't judge others. They have every right to be there. Wearing whatever they want.
Remember, church is about worshiping our Savior. Not about clothes.
So, peeps...
I now have the computer. I have hundreds of pictures to upload. I have all the appropriate cords to connect everything to. I even have had a little extra time to be able to do the uploads...
The problem now? You apparently are allowed 1 GB of picture space with Google. I apparently hit that ceiling. Without warning.
The allowance includes Google+, Google Web Albums, Picasa, etc. I started deleting some web albums and then got all freaked out that it was going to start taking the photos off of my blog postings that I stopped. And haven't revisited...
So, if you're interested in looking at pictures of the Great Home Remodel of 2012, and you're not a friend on Facebook, either friend me, or let me know and I'll hook you up. They're awesome.
Cae & Landry: "Dad!! Dad! C'mere! You need to come look at our pet, something is wrong with it!"
Shane: "You don't have a pet here at Grandma's house." (suspiciously looks around)
Cael & Landry: "Yes, we do! Come look, it needs help!"
Shane (to me after identifying the issue): "It was a caterpiller. In the wagon. It wasn't moving."
Oh, it could have been so much worse!
Picture overload anyone? And these aren't even the pictures I've been promising for so long. I'm not ready for those ones yet. These are just ones to try to catch up on the last month or so. We are alive, and though the pictures are all taken with my cell phone instead of an actual camera, you'll still see that life goes on, even when maintaining regularity of life doesn't.
I am posting this from my brand-spanking-new-beautiful-and-awesome laptop. My Christmas present to myself. Thank you piano students and photography clients...you are making my blogging experience so much better.
So really, I have nothing for you, just wanted to share the great news of the laptop.
And this great news...I've completed my food assignments for Thanksgiving dinner. 2 chocolate pies, 2 pumpkin pies, 1 cherry pie, 1 cranberry/apple pie and sweet potatoes - 1 topped in marshmallows and 1 topped in pecans/coconuts/brown sugar. Yay for yummy food tomorrow!
Also, in other news...We have 'walls' in our bedroom/bathroom/closet! It's just dry wall, and there is no electricity, but there are actual divisions that look like walls. That is progress in my opinion. Plus my contractor is planning on working a half day tomorrow. So much for vacations for the workers. We keep them rolling through weekends and holidays! Plus Shane called our foreman when he was gone one morning at 8 a.m., only to find out he was on his honeymoon in Vegas (yes, it was 6 am Vegas time). He just laughed today when I apologized for the rude awakening.
Anyway...hopefully I'll be back to more regular postings, with pictures. Soon.
I have close to a gazillion dozens of pictures to show you guys. Probably nearing a hundred. There are pics of Halloween, which I'm pretty sure I haven't shown you yet. There are pics of my awesome kids holding my cute nephew. There are pics of soccer games and football games. There are just some awesome goofy pics. And there are house pics. Lots and lots of house pics. Lots and lots and lots of house pics.
My house is basically a skeleton of it's former self. Every day I go to see my house, sort of to wish it well and kind of to document the process of overcoming the money pit we call home. Hence the photos. First, they started the electrical. That process was a little daunting, because we were still living there. It was a little dusty, a little noisy, and a little weird to have workers storming the castle all day long.
Then we decided to take the plunge and do the whole thing. Seriously, the whole house. If they were already going to be opening up holes in the wall to run electricity why not take walls down, ceilings down and re-do all the projects we've noticed needed doing in the past 4 1/2 years. That's when we decided to move out. There was no way a family of 6 living busy lives should share a house with a whole crew of workers and dust and equipment...and no electricity, plumbing or heating.
Then we started meeting with our foreman and contractor and we added more and more projects. (Have I ever mentioned our house was owned by monkeys, who routinely updated stuff in the house the worst way possible? 'Cause it was...) Every time the foreman would open up another ceiling or wall he'd call Shane over to let him know he was surprised our house was standing. (well, not totally, but close) I swear nearly every joist holding our upper floor up has been cut to accommodate plumbing or a/c duct work. I'm pretty sure the monkeys didn't realize that joists and beams are meant to stay in one piece to hold up floors and walls and ceilings...Monkeys aren't very smart.
But, progress is being made. And the bones of the house (at least the vertical ones) seem strong and good. Which is a plus, considering all the crap we've seen. (not literally, crap would have been gross, and there wasn't actually any crap, so that's super good) We have a new, insulated roof over the family/sun room. We have framing for the laundry room, storage room, master bathroom and master walk-in closet. We have picked the tile for the upper deck, storage, laundry and bathrooms. We've picked vanities and lights. I know what paint I'm going to use when we get walls again, and I even saw a tub in the master bathroom yesterday.
So...pictures are coming. But, along with no home, I have no computer to call mine. I am seriously contemplating buying a laptop as an early Christmas present to myself so I can catch up on photo edits and blogging. And news. And when I do get plugged in, you guys are going to see all the skeletons in my closet. Or at least my house's skeletons. And they are mighty scary!
As I sit here, at the laundromat, doing my weekly worship of the laundry gods, I realized we are seven days into a month of gratitude, and I haven't posted once...which isn't so atypical lately, but I promised you, my loyal readers, that I would do better. And I haven't. And I don't reality see an end of the chaos in sight, so I'm going to do this all at once...no taking small bites at this one. My thirty thanks: 1. I am grateful for WiFi at the laundromat, and DS's for the kids. Otherwise once a week my life would stink, and you wouldn't be blessed with this awesome post. (even though it is really hard to type on a phone...don't mind the spelling errors...) 2. I am grateful for the right to vote, and the freedoms we are given in this great country of the United States of America. Even though election decisions don't always turn out like I wanted I still have rights and at least I utilized my right to vote and showed pride in my country. 3. I am thankful for the freedom to worship whatever religion I choose, and I am grateful that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I am grateful for the atonement of Jesus Christ and the blessings I am promised if I keep the commandments and endure to the end. 4. I have been blessed to be born into an amazing family. My mom is amazing, selfless and a great example to me. She did everything she could for me while raising me, and still does all she can for our family. 5. I was also blessed to marry into a great family. Not only did the Snows take Lincoln and me into their lives 8 years ago, they've accepted our family of 6 into their home not once, but twice, since moving here to West Texas. 6. I am grateful I have the world's best husband. Seriously, I do. And I love him more. I am grateful he's willing to work hard, so I can be with the kids. I am grateful that he will scratch my back when it itches, rub my feet when they hurt, and let me do the same for him. I am grateful for the times we get to go out and enjoy time together, even if we have kids with us, or it's just to the grocery store. I love spending time with him, and I am so grateful I was able to marry my best friend. 7. I am thankful for my kids. No matter what you all think, I have the world's best kids. Hands down. They are such a joy and seriously complete my life. Even when they drive me crazy sometimes. I still love to steal into their rooms at night and give them all extra kisses and hugs, because I just can't get enough. 8. I am grateful for my home, even now when it looks like it's been through world war 3, it's still my home and I love it. I love the personality that each room has, and the fun memories we've made and will make there. I know that home is just where you are, but I LOVE my house! 9. I am grateful for music (and I guess my ability to hear it). There is nothing better than cranking some great music to help lift your mood and motivation. I love pretty much any kind of music, depending on my mood I can go for classical to country, from alternative to rock. 10. I am thankful for friends. I am particularly grateful for the friends who just accept me as I am, the ones that I feel like I don't have to impress everytime I am around them. I love the ones who realize I have a busy life, they have a busy life, and we may not have a chance to get together all that often, but when we do have a chance it'll be awesome. I also love the friends who respect that my family comes first, even before friends. 11. I am grateful for talents, and for the opportunities to work on those talents. I love to cook, to take pictures, to crochet, to play music, and I am glad that I get to use those talents all the time, because it helps me get better at them all. 12. I am also grateful for opportunities to do things I am not as comfortable at, like speaking in front of people, playing in front of people, and making big decisions. Those things are hard for me, but how can I grow without being challenged? 13. I am grateful for friendly people. I love the crossing guards at Savannah's school, they are always happy. I love the front desk and nursery staff at the gym, they are always nice. I don't love dealing with grumpy, incompetent people, so when I am around happy people I love it. 14. I am grateful for my calling in church right now. I love working with the youth in our ward, particularly the girls that I get to work with most closely. I love getting to know them better, talking to them about their daily struggles, helping them realize that the drama they are experiencing now will go away in a week, and there are much more important things they should be concentrating on. I love the rapport I have with the youth, Lincoln included. I love teaching them. I love that it is the first calling I have had in years that I feel I can actually make a difference, like it was inspiration rather than desperation for having someone to sit behind a piano. 15. I am grateful that I have a healthy body, and that my family is all healthy. Sure, we get colds, and Lincoln struggles with asthma, but having a friend just lose her second child to a genetic medical condition makes me so grateful for the health that our family has. 16. I am grateful for the atonement, so that when people I know pass away I have something to help take a little of the edge off of the pain. It doesn't take the grief and pain all away, but the knowledge I have of being able to be with our loved ones again does ease the grief a little. 17. I am grateful for technology that allows me to keep in touch with friends and family no matter the distance between us. I've been able to maintain friendships and relationships that without Facebook, texting and email I'd never have the patience or energy to pursue. 18. I am grateful for hot cocoa and warm jackets when it gets below 70 degrees outside. (Yes, I am a total cold weather wimp) 19. I am also thankful for air conditioning when we spend weeks at 100+ degrees. 20. And ice cubes... they're awesome. Along with refrigerators, washing machines, dryers, water heaters, R/O units (here in Midland), running water, automobiles, television...all things I am so grateful for. I was meant to be born when I was. I couldn't have made it any earlier. I need modern conveniences. 21. I am also grateful for DVR, which could have been lumped into the last one, but seriously people...DVR. I can pause live tv, and record in advance whatever I want. Sure, it's shallow, and I could totally live without it, but this simple pleasure allows Shane and me to have OUR time, after the kids go to bed, to watch what we wanted to watch when they were awake. It's like a mini-date night. I love it. 22. I am grateful for eyes that can show me the beauty of life. Even here in Desolate West Texas. I love trying to find things that I would like to take a picture of. It helps me to see the beauty in life, and look for the pretty instead of the nasty. 23. I am thankful for my sense of smell, and for things that smell good. If I could attach an air freshener to my nose every day I would, because I hate bad, musty, and stale smells, but I LOVE good smells. 24. I am grateful for my other senses too: taste and touch. Because I have them... 25. I am grateful for my education, and the desire I have to get more. I love learning and I love to help my kids realize they can love learning too. I am also grateful that Lincoln hasn't yet passed up my knowledge of math, science or english, so I can still help him with his homework. 26. I am thankful for those who have life much harder than me. I can learn from their humility, and I can serve which helps me to be more humble. 27. I am also grateful for those times in life when things aren't going well, so we can learn to put our trust in God, and we can learn that we really are stronger than we think we are. Plus, things always seem to work out. 28. I am grateful for the land that we live in. West Texas has it's problems, for sure, but I love living in a place where people have pride for where they live, where we have a pledge of allegiance for the state we live in, where people are proud to tell you where they're from. Where football is huge, and all games end in prayer (led by the team on the field). I love that public meetings begin with a prayer. I love that the first thing most people will ask to someone who just moved in is if they have a church, and if they don't have one they'll offer you theirs. (Especially if you're Mormon). 29. I am grateful for siblings, half ones and in-laws, who love me and let me love them. Even if I wasn't raised in their household. Family isn't just who you were raised with, or who you share blood with. 30. I am grateful for holidays, like Thanksgiving, that give me opportunities to see family, and eat food, and remember what I'm thankful for.
You know, two years ago if I'd titled a post with Holy Crap!! I'd have had to put a disclaimer on it because it would have been accompanied by a picture of actual crap...so glad I'm past that! (And I'll bet you're all excited I'm past that too...)
We are nearing the end of the craziest 8 weeks of our lives. It may actually edge out the 8 weeks between having twins and moving to Texas...maybe. We have two more weeks of soccer and football, and I am very much looking forward to sitting at home on a Saturday cleaning toilets, folding laundry and watching college football. It has been crazy busy, chaotic at times and I've realized something...the world does not end if you miss something that at the time seems very important, but in the whole scheme of things isn't that big of a deal. (ie: soccer practice, orchestra rehearsal) as long as you make it to the bigger things. (ie: soccer game, orchestra concert). This craziness has actually taught me a few more things too: I've figured out that Savannah and Cael aren't really cut out for soccer but they love swimming, Landry has potential for soccer but probably not swimming but would rock at anything related to art or music, Lincoln is great at soccer and possibly tennis, but not necessarily ready for football.
We are currently having all the electricity redone throughout our home. This is exciting for many reasons:
1. We are hopefully preventing the risk of electrical fires from 50+ year old, faulty-not-up-to-any-third-world-code-standards by actually getting new electrical lines.
2. We are updating where we want our outlets, switches, etc. This should be required after living in any home for more than a couple of years. You know you've all thought of places you could really use a light/plug...
3. While the workers are working on this process (and it is not a short/fast one by any means) I have resigned myself to the fact that my house doesn't have to be absolutely clean because construction is so messy it doesn't matter anyway (and just for the record, I think we have hired the cleanest crew ever, so I'm barely able to use this as an excuse...).
Also on the realization list lately:
I have actually been able to experience Autumn this year! It's always been my favorite season, and I've seriously missed it living here in desolate West Texas. We've experienced the mysterious and oft-missed third season in abundance this year, accompanied by rain and colored leaves! Hopefully West Texas will continue to remind me why I love it here with rain, but no snow this Winter. We got more snow than Utah did last year and I do not want to see that again.
I have figured out chords on the ukelele, which is huge considering the guitar was so hard for me!
I have gotten to hold a multitude of babies lately and I realized I love babies! I just don't want any more of my own. I love being able to give the babies back when I have things I need to do.
Sometimes I get really overwhelmed. I think of all the reasons why my life is so hard, my path is so rough. I feel like there is no way to fit more into 24 hours, and I could really use a clone to get to everywhere I need to be simultaneously. But seriously, if I spend 10 minutes reading Facebook and blogs I realize my life is AWESOME!
I have a wonderful husband who loves me, takes care of me, and I get to be with FOREVER! I have four amazingly awesome kids who despite issues that they each came with are healthy, happy, helpful, and are mine for eternity!
So, to sum things up...We're busy, we're blessed, we're happy and we have no more crap!
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