Story Time

Just being silly with the girls

Goin' digital

So if there are any of you out there that still use the old bunny ears on your TV, you are aware that in 2009 analog television will no longer be available. In 2009 all the stations will be required to broadcast in digital. This means our bunny ear antennas will no longer work. If you're like me and it's just out of the question to pay for cable/satellite, then you will need to buy a converter box to receive the digital broadcasting on your old tube style TV. Once again, the thought of paying for anything to watch TV makes me squirm. The government has decided to provide a coupon program to help people buy the converter boxes. Right now each household can get 2 coupons worth $40 each (only one coupon per converter box). Eligible converter boxes will cost anywhere from $50 - $70, so this is a big chance to save! Just go to the DTV website to apply for a coupon for your family.

Cable guy

So lately I've been getting in a creative mood. I've been pretty impressed with the holiday stuff people were making and I just had to join in. My most recent fascination is knitting. I've been knitting for years now, but I've never moved beyond an extremely basic scarf. I still have a long way to go and a lot to learn, but I'm slowly making progress. Right now I'm in the process of learning how to do a cable knit (see above picture). So far it seems pretty easy, it's just going to take some practice to really perfect it.


I just recently finished a pair of fingerless gloves from some yarn I got on sale a while back. I didn't have enough yarn to make yet another scarf, and so I thought I'd give this a try. It was a really quick project and I think they turned out really nice. (They're really soft!)

My final project I'm going to show you has nothing to do with knitting but it just came out so dang cute! Every year we give the girls a new ornament to hang on the tree. This year we decided to save some money and have me make them an ornament. Using this tutorial, I made both of the girls these really cute mitten ornaments. I thought they wouldn't really care about them since they didn't have anything to do with princesses, but they loved them! They really liked the fact that I made it special for them. They're so sweet...

An answer to your questions....

After posting the "Fiesta Navidena" video, some of you have asked why I am in the Spanish Branch. Well, since the holidays are over and my kids are in the kitchen playing with "goo", I actually have the time to post the answer.

3 1/2 years ago we moved to Louisville for Shane to attend Law School. Before moving here we found out that Louisville had a Spanish Branch. I was worried that Shane would lose his Spanish during law school if he wasn't forced to practice it. Prior to moving to Louisville he had plenty of practice at school (he did a double major which included spanish) and he also was a translator in the Jail system. So, when we moved to Louisville we were trying to think of ways that we could get into the Spanish Branch. We moved into the boundaries of the building where the Spanish Branch met to increase our chances of getting in. Then, after attending the English ward for a couple of months I asked one of the counselors how we could possibly attend the Spanish Branch. Well, the rest was history. The executive secretary from the Spanish branch was sitting right by us when I made that comment and he immediately told the branch president that we were interested and wanted to go. A week later we received a call from the Stake President asking us to meet him. He extended us a calling as Service Missionaries in the branch for 18 months. Well, 18 months came and went and we gladly extended our service mission many times. Finally after almost 3 years we were released from the Spanish Branch 2 weeks ago. It was sooooooooo amazingly sad but we were ready to go. It was a LOT of work.


The main reason why they needed service missionaries in the branch was because most members were brand new. We had baptisms almost every sunday. So you have TONS of new members, and none that are capable or ready for large scale callings. Even small callings were very intimidating for these people. So we were there to teach and train members how to hold callings and then also hold callings that the members simply couldn't have yet.

Now some of you might be thinking that I speak Spanish having spent so much time in the Spanish branch. You would be sooooooo wrong. I didn't speak a word of it before going in and I really haven't progressed much beyond that. For the first 2 years I was the Young Women's president and all of the youth programs are done in English. They do this because they combine all of those programs with an English ward so there are more youth to interact with. Plus, 99% of the time the kids can speak English. Also, many of the members really wanted somebody to practice their english with. They all said they felt comfortable with me practicing their English and I felt strongly about helping them. The not speaking Spanish part really wasn't a problem until I was released from YW's. Once I had to start attending Relief Society and stuff that kinda got old not understanding what was going on. But once again, almost everybody there either speaks english or is trying to learn, so I always had plenty of interpreters.

So there you go, that's my story.

A Christmas Carrols DEAD

Dax Flame is my Hero... if only one day I could get him and Dwight Shrute to meet. My life would then be complete. Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

Fiesta Navidena

Spanish Branch Christmas Party -- Not like your regular Mormon Christmas Parties!

I'm alive, well.... maybe.....

So I got a sweet message from Amber making sure I was okay since I haven't posted anything in a while. Well, the past few weeks have been a whirlwind. I'm planning the branch Christmas party and I've been trying to get all of the decorations and such together. I have also been putting together the branch choirs and the actual Christmas program for the Sunday service. In between there has been music classes/piano lessons I'm teaching along with volunteering at Kelly's school, shopping for Christmas gifts at Unique Thrift (best thrift store in town) AND getting sick in the middle of it all. I had some weird virus that gives you flu-like symptoms for just a few days. Weird. So here's a few of the things that I find note-worthy:

1. I have found THE best gifts for the kids at a thrift store here in Louisville. I'm just ecstatic. Perfect condition, super cheap, and it's totally what the girls wanted! Kelly is super into diaries/journals and scribbles in them constantly. She always reminds us that they are private, but of course little sister finds her way to them to look at them. WELL, while I was at Unique Thrift, I found one of those "password" diaries where you have to say the password before it will unlock for you. Okay, this is a BRAND NEW item that normally costs $40. It also has a little movable lamp inside of it and a secret compartment as well. SO COOL. I got it for $1.30. I'm so stoked and I know Kelly will be too. Isabelle loves stuffed animals and big Barbie cars and I found both. I also got a couple of other really cool gifts there all-in-all totaling $21. Not too bad for a LOT of presents in really really really good condition or brand new.

2. After 2 1/2 months I finally finished the gift I made for my mother-in-law. I was soooo excited to give it to her and she absolutely loved it! (We exchanged Christmas gifts at Thanksgiving). She's way into bird watching and has been wanting me to crochet her something for a long time.


3. I'm in the process right now of making decorations for the branch Christmas party this friday. I'm trying to cut costs on decorations since the majority of our budget goes towards food. Once again I got some amazing deals at Unique Thrift. I showed up one day just trying to get some cheap ornaments and garland and such and they announced that all of their Christmas trees were 1/2 off that day only. Oh My Gosh...... I got one 4 1/2 foot tree for $2.50 and another 4 1/2 ft pre-lit tree for $8.50. Awesome!!! Then, we got another free tree from Shane's office. Now I'm making a bunch of paper snowflakes using Martha Stewart's instructions and those pom-poms that Candace showed us.



4. And last, but certainly not least, today is my mother's birthday. She's 49 years old. Okay, she's not 49 years old, but that's what I've been telling everyone for the past 5 years because I kept forgeting to actually ask how old she was. Turns out she's 54! She looks dang good for 54! (You know you do mom!) Anyway, I thought I would list just a few things that I love about my mom:

• All of my friends loved my mom growing up. She was like the cool mom that all of the kids wanted.
  
• She was literally the only person that could handle 5 super smart-mouthed kids that loved to push her buttons just to see if she would ever crack (she never did).
• She always made me feel beautiful and loved, and what more could a kid ask for?
• She's a dedicated wife and mother and a great role-model for me

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!!!!!