Raisins

Prepare yourselves.

It's time for arts and crafts with the non-artsy craftist. [Yes. That'd be me.]

Work on Friday:
Charly: Miss Michelle, can you draw me a swan?
Me: I'm not very good at drawing. Maybe you could ask Mr. Shay.
C: Pleeeeaaassseee! Just try! A pink swan!
... And a pond too. And a tree..... And a....

.... 30 Minutes later.


I call it the [pink] swan that should have been a flamingo. Yeah. I'm expecting a contract from Crayola any day now... ;) I wield a marker and some crayons like a fiend...


Ok. Here's the actual reason we have gathered today.


Last November my dearest mother decided I should relearn to crochet since I was spending a lot of time off my feet.
She persuaded me with purple and gray yarn (How can you resist purple and gray? Seriously.) and the idea that each stitch would be a testament to my strength during this tough time of my life.


Today, I finally finished the blanket that I now lovingly refer to as "mondo blanket" AKA the monster that should have been a blanket.

Disclaimer: Remember that one time that I told you that I'm not very crafty...


How many blankets does it take to warm two people sitting across the room from each other?



That's right. Only ONE, if it's the mondo blanket.

 Notice the dramatic pose.


[I got a little tangled up and fell. My mom was kind enough to get it documented. Haha]
 


 You just can't beat that purple and gray. :)





Thanks for loving me even though I am really bad at crocheting. :) You rock, Momma.

AND Let's hope my quilt isn't related to mondo blanket... :)


Life's good. Thanks for being a part of it!

Much Love!!

First, I have got to give a shout out to my little Joseph. :) (For those of you unfamiliar with the weird Clark nicknaming phenomenon, that is Hannah.) Hannah made All-State Mixed Choir as a junior!!! Only 3 people from her whole high school made it! Way to go, Jo! You rock the socks... of the world.


This is her when she found out. She wasn't excited at all... :)

Yesterday was the big doctor day. Long story short:
No CRPS. Just an undefined neuropathic pain disorder. So I don't feel any less pain today than I did yesterday, but my mind is at peace. I plan to go back to Idaho in January and move forward with my life. I know I will be ok. I don't know how or when, just that I will be.

Also. My Italian doctor loves me. He found out I am Mormon and was asking me a lot of questions about it. We talked a lot about missionaries. I explained that you have to have health problems resolved to go so I haven't been able to yet. As I was leaving he yelled, "Bye! Have fun! Think about your mission!" It was a cool day. :)

And most importantly. I get a handicapped parking pass!!!! YES.

Today at work I had a great conversation with my little friend Gabriel. He just turned 6 this week and he has REALLY BIG MUSCLES now.

This is the picture he drew. (Yes, I work at a Catholic school.)


M: How do you know that God loves you?
G: Uh-Cuz He maked me! He maked everyone in the whooole world!
M: Even me?
G: Yep.
M: Even the people in China and Africa??
G: .... Uh... Yeah! (He wasn't too sure about that one at first.) Do you know how He maked everybody so fast?
M: How?
G: Uh-Cuz He has TWO hands! (He said this very matter-of-factly.)

I repeat. I love my kiddos. :) I am blessed to work with them.

So many tender mercies this week. God has definitely been using His TWO hands to bless my life.

Life. Is. Good. :)

Much Love!!

A year and two days ago (Yes, that'd be 11/11/11) I had foot surgery. So I'm "waxin' nostalgic" and all that...

When I look back to who I was, I am amazed at how much I have changed (and how much I haven't)... Because...

Of course. Some things never change. :)

There is something about November. November and new experiences. This November is no different for me. But I won't bore you with the whole list.

Last November, by request of my wonderful Momma, I began crocheting my beloved afgan. It is huge, disproportionate, and may possibly save an entire 3rd world country (Ooops! Where is my educated mind!?! ... "Developing Nation"...) someday. And I love it. One of these days I will actually finish it. ...

This November it is a quilt.





A VERY bright quilt.




Yeah. We're basically best friends already. :)

Side note: The best things can be found at JoAnns... Look closely to find a treasure.



Yep. Doilies stapled into the head rests. Priceless.

Whoever said a Subaru Forrester couldn't be girly never met this lady.


Another new experience for me comes in the form of needles. Yay. My favorite.



Acupuncture.

Once upon a lovely Monday morning, I took a trip to the accu-practor, Dr. Hatch: AKA Doctor # 15. (We dubbed him thus because he is also a chiropractor.) I don't actually know if it works yet... 2 times a week for 3 weeks... I'll let ya know. ;) 


So I've been climbing some metaphoric mountains, as usual. My dear friend and former YW leader clued in from out-of-state (which is pretty impressive, I might add) and suggested this Mormon Message:

http://www.mormonchannel.org/mormonmessages?v=1839005837001

This is derived from one of my favorite talks given by Hugh B. Brown. The complete text can be found here:

http://www.lds.org/new-era/1973/01/the-currant-bush?lang=eng&query=currant+bush

(In case you were clueless like me and wanted to know what a currant bush actually looks like, I did you a favor and looked it up.)


The constant theme in my life and scripture study lately has been patience, faith, and accepting the Lord's will for me. These are not easy things to learn and I have been actively learning them for a while now. (And I still have a LOT to learn in these areas unfortunately.)

I don't have any idea what the plan is for me. But I have recently learned to remember something extremely important:

Not only is the plan for me going to be awesome, it already is.

Raisins in the bran. :)

I am grateful to "the Gardener" who loves me enough to cut me down so that I can grow into what He knows I can become. It will all be worth it. :)

Also, I'm grateful to my friends and family. I simply could not do it without you. Thank you times a really big number!

Doctors 16 and 17 tomorrow! Bring it on!

Much Love!!

Lately I have been especially grateful for the children I get to work with. Both my primary kiddos and my Ave Maria kids remind me of what is most important. Life is simple to them and they know what matters. They love so quickly.

I want to be like them when I grow up.

Politics from a kindergartener: (Remember to use your best high pitched little boy voice and don't separate your sentences or pause unless you absolutely must breathe.)
Mick Romney!? I voted for Mick Romney! Uh-Cuz President Obama does abortion and abortion is killing a baby before it's even borned and that is bad and mean.

I got to watch this for Child Development. :) Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fCHIM-bGiTI

My favorite part is, "They have a whole mess of babies!"

Here's to the amazing, sweet, wonderful kids in our lives... And the other ones too. :P

3 Doctor appointments next week! (Serious raisins.) Wish me luck!

Much Love!