Cry Me A River

Ever had one of those "poor me" weeks? I guess mine started last week really and so I have had a bit of time to ponder. Last week I was driving our van around picking up and dropping off kids when I noticed it wasn't shifting great. Three years ago we put in a new transmission (2007 Toyota Sienna) and so I recognized the symptoms of transmission problems. After taking the van into the shop we find that we are going to need to replace the 4th and 5th gears which will cost an arm and leg. Two days later Tyler got an ultra-flat tire in his car and with Birch and Tyler both out-of-town for the day (and no cell reception) I had to figure out what to do on my own (and yes, the spare tire was flat too). Later I thought I would make a nice crockpot of dinner for my family and then come in a few hours later into the kitchen and found the ceramic insert had totally split and broth was pouring all over the counter. Then I go to drive the riding lawn mower and I am reminded that it too is on its' last leg. The transmission is also on it's way out and so each time we mow we know we are blessed when it makes it through one more mowing. Then I go to pay for a printing job and find that someone has paid me previously in a fake $5 bill (first time experience for me) and so I am out another $5 (and a little bit of embarrassment too). Lastly, I've been driving Birch's car for the week while the van is in the shop and the "check engine" light pops on. Today we go outside in the backyard and find that one of our large trees has split in half and fallen over without even any crazy winds.

Well, you'd think that would be enough to throw anyone into throwing an all-nighter pity party. I have entertained the thought a bit. In fact, I may have uttered a few times "I thought you were supposed to be blessed when you have a missionary out serving." Then my mind is sent into a frenzy realizing how much I am blessed. First of all, there is no place I'd rather Elder Alex Ditto be right now. Sure we miss him but I LOVE what he is learning and how much he is growing from all his Romanian experiences.

Almost exactly a year ago our hot water heater blew up. The emergency valve blew out at 11:30 pm. The entire house ended up having to drain through that little one inch hole and so I spent several hours squatted on a upside down bucket holding a hose trying to help direct the gushing water from totally flooding the basement. Shortly after I was chatting (possibly whining a tad about missions and blessing, etc... and this looming $5000 bill in putting in a new water heater) with a friend. Being a wise woman she shared that when her seven children were serving missions she was extremely blessed. She shared that instead of the car getting a flat tire miles away from home it happened in their driveway, etc...

And so I have spent the week thinking of how each annoyance has been a tender mercy.

1- the van ran smoothly while we traveled the previously weekend to Utah for my brother's wedding

2- we got a $400 discount on the new transmission (granite this doesn't feel like much when the previous one only lasted three years and the warranty just ended) but it is something

3- while I was frustrated that Birch was out-of-town for helping with Tyler's flat tire and the roadside assistance we were paying for wasn't super convenient and the spare tire was flat -- I was blessed with our Bishop and his wife spending a couple of hours of their precious Saturday to help me get the tire fixed.

4- the whole fake money thing was a bit comical and lame but really I was blessed that it was only $5 and that I wasn't arrested for trying to use fake money.

5- I was able to buy a new insert for my crockpot and really reflect on how many meals I have been able to make for my family and many others over the years in my trusty crockpot.

6- While we know we will have to buy a new riding mower next year, I have been able to feel gratitude each week when I mow and I am able to complete the job (yes, it takes four times longer than it used to). If it can just hold out another month!!!

7- I took Birch's car in to have them check out why the "check engine" light went on. I have only driven his car a few times since we bought it last year. Since I knew I was going to be driving it a bunch this week I filled it up with gas on Monday. Turns out when you don't turn the gas cap until it clicks the "check engine" light comes on when you reach 3/4 a tank. So...the car was totally fine...I was just dumb. Tender mercy was that the car was fine AND they didn't charge me for figuring out the issue (bonus blessing: they washed the car for free).

8- The tree....hum, the tender mercy (meaning the divine signature of God's hand) is that Alysee is babysitting a family of three little girls at the house right now. They had all been playing outside on the playground having a great time but decided to come in for a snack. Somewhere in that short amount of time the tree decided to come crashing down. I am SO thankful that no one was hurt. And as a bonus I'm thankful that our fence seems to still be standing!

While you might still find me with a stray tear every once-in-a-while this week -- I have mostly been able to laugh about it all and remember how blessed I really am. Perhaps this week we shall replace the split tree and plant a money tree instead :) But honestly, I feel the touch of God's hand in my life. I feel blessed to have a son spreading joy and God's love in Romania. I feel blessed to have an able bodied husband that can borrow a chain saw (anyone have one?) and chop up that tree next week. I feel blessed to have my family gather around the dinner table each night. I am blessed.

(And if you are still reading this I am impressed. I had to hurry and get my thoughts down before I have a change of heart and curl up in bed with an episode of "Highway to Heaven."

Closet Pride

I know it is a little lame to share your closet BUT...due to the amazing make-over by All City Closet Co. I really must share. I totally should have taken a before picture but I was too ashamed. Imagine cheap wire shelving and bars with WAY too many clothes, things all over the ground, shoes on the ground on shelves, boots tipping over, etc... You get the idea. We have a tiny closet so it was stuffed to the gills.

So a month ago we heard a loud bang and following investigation found that the top wire shelf had come crashing down. My bead box exploded, dresses everywhere and everything was just one big mess. We looked at several options (Martha Stewart closet system by Home Depot), fixing our current wire shelving, etc... After going to the tour of homes this past year and see my friend, April's amazing closet we decided to get a bid from All City Closet out of the Tri-cities.

Yes, it was expensive and yes, they totally customized EVERYTHING for us, and yes, we are SO happy with it. Basically we wanted to use all space from top-to-bottom and side-to-side. They pre-build most things at their shop in the Tri-cities and then in one day took down our existing system, touched up the walls, and then built our new closet. It took them about five hours. Our favorite touches: shelving made to exactly fit all of our IKEA bins, pull out pant hanger for Birch, two put out tie hangers (hangs 50 ties), my boot clips, and we each get 96" of hanging space (not bad for our tiny closet).

I'm Sara Ditto and I now have closet pride.

Our Family Map

I finally finished the last touch to the basement this week.  We decided we wanted to have a family map documenting all the places we have and will go as a family and couple.  I searched and searched for the perfect map and ended up falling in love with an artist in Australia.  She customized our map and made sure it was quite accurate with labels as well.

 I ordered the digital map from Blursbyaishop.  Then I had it printed through on online poster company called Posterprintfactory.com.

 My next step was to modge podge the poster to the 40" x 30" canvas.  This was a little stressful to make sure that I didn't get any bubbles.  I found some great tips here:  http://beachbrights.blogspot.com/2011/01/diy-artwork-turn-poster-into-canvas.html  I decided it was more of a two person job so my sister, Emily helped me make with this step.

The final step was to add texture to the modge podge to give it more of a real canvas look.  This idea came from here:  http://www.allthingsthrifty.com/2014/06/diy-art-canvas-with-real-texture.html

Next my super awesome sister-in-law Annie did some vinyl lettering for me to hang on the wall.  I found the idea online and then remade it (is that called copying?).  After hanging the map we decided that it would look good to split the lettering and put it above and below the map.  

We all LOVE the way the map turned out and now we are still trying to decide how to add "markers" to where we have been.  Now I'm itchin' to go somewhere!!!

Basement Face Lift

In preparation for Blayre, Ryan, Owen, and baby Carter moving into our house for eleven weeks we decided our basement could use a little face lift.  

 It was all kind of a snowball effect with Birch wanting to add recessed lighting and me wanting to paint the guest room and redecorate.  After we both worked ourselves to the bones and realized that there was no way we were going to have time or the energy to finish the basement ourselves we hired some help.

 We hired a terrific and really reasonably priced guy, Robert Gonzolo, to do our dry wall repair on the ceiling, re-texturing the ceiling, and painting both the walls and the ceiling.  We thought we got a killer deal with hiring him for $400 to do all that work.  

 I spent HOURS stressing over the paint color for the walls and ceiling.  I ended up going with  painting the walls (70% strength) and ceiling at (40% strength) and Birch added the recessed lighting   I made new curtains; the cute little bed is for our house guest.

 BIG project -- adding recessed lighting (previously was three shop lights)

 Guest Room make-over -- painted walls, new pillows, lamp, curtains, small dresser

 Thanks Kimberly Greenfield for the awesome picture what I used to make this beautiful HUGE print.

Kitchen:  BEFORE

The kitchen is really the last thing that we had not updated in our house.  It was hard to justify redoing it because we do not use the kitchen at all.  It holds legos, games, movies, and crafts. 

 Birch re-did the plumbing.  Seems like it never goes quiet like it should.

 I Painted the cabinets, took out the oven, new countertop, sink, faucet, tile flooring, and cabinet pulls/knobs, and I made some new artwork.

 Birch tiled the backsplash

 Barney Zauss did the beautiful tile floor work and the wood trimmed laminate counter-top. So impressed!!!

I'm pretty good at copying ideas...saw this somewhere online and redesigned it. It is framed and hung int he basement kitchen

We are pretty darn pleased with the way the whole basement turned out.  We had already updated the boy's room and the bathroom so this was the final touch.

I think we are now ready for our house guests!!!

A Snowy Day

In November we had our first snow fall and the kids all were sure this was going to be a BIG WINTER. Much to their dismay we had a green Christmas and they had just about given up hope. Last week the heavens opened and the snow came down.

I shoveled two days last week and realized just how little shoveling I have done in my life. My neck was way sore the next day and I was exhausted. I'm sure that it didn't help that our driveway is huge. Some days we have been shoveling three to four times a day.

Alysee got bundled up for school the other day and was enjoying a bit of the sunshine.

Okay, so I am sure hoping that this isn't something Nate does on a regular basis. I was uploading photos that Birch took and I wasn't too happy to see this.

Angel Nate

Obviously he is pretty proud of himself!

The kids have had lots of fun sledding but I think we are all ready for the sun to come out and the snow to melt away!

A place for everything...and everything in its' place

Way back in November I taught a class on "Making your home an organized safe haven." It was kind of an overwhelming topic because there are so many aspects of organization AND I wouldn't say I was a pro at any of them. I spent about seven months preparing for this presentation all the while thinking about how my house could sure use a visit from the Organization Bunny. Birch and I tackled a few of the areas that especially needed some attention but my pantry was put on hold until a few weeks ago.

First here are a few highlights from my presentation:
Organizing our Time

• One side of the tree is an overgrown bramble of showy branches, but with small fruit.
• The other side is well pruned with large fruit.
• Notice the roots on each side of the tree
• 
  
• 1. First Examine Motives

• Delving into our motives for doing what we do is akin to open heart surgery or maybe better said “open soul searching.” It requires taking a good hard look in the mirror and acknowledging the wrinkles. We have to acknowledge who is dictating our motives for being so busy.

• When too much of our focus, our energy, our time and means are going to the many branches of life instead of the spiritual roots, our efforts could actually be the antithesis of our eternal goals--an over abundance and preoccupation with things and activities can rob us of the very spiritual vitality, peace and joy we are seeking to achieve in our lives and families.'

2. Prune

• When we begin to know who we are--the kind of tree we are to become at maturity--we begin to get a sense of how to prune and shape our life’s tree. Pruning is SIMPLIFING.

• Cutting off the excess branches leaves a tree looking frighteningly bare, and may even be a bit painful, but if our tree doesn’t get pruned, it will become overgrown with branches and not produce the kind nor the quality of fruit we so desire

3.

Prioritize

• Thin the fruit (prioritize). Make sure you’re working on what’s truly important instead of getting caught up in minor things.

4.

Roots

• The most important element in finding balance in our lives came when we considered nourishing the roots--the vital part of the tree that doesn’t show.

“

Small and Simple Things Essential to Growth” by Elder Bednar

Click here if you cannot see the video: http://lds.org/study/prophets-speak-today/unto-all-the- world/small-simple-things-essential-to-growth?cid=email-shared&lang=eng

· President Monson has promised, “Your testimony, when constantly nourished, will keep you safe.”³⁸ We push our spiritual roots deep, feasting daily on the words of Christ in the scriptures. We trust in the words of living prophets, placed before us to show us the way. We pray and pray and listen to the quiet voice of the Holy Ghost that leads us along and speaks peace to our soul. Whatever challenges arise, we never, never leave Him.”

A friend of Birch's dad once made this comment -- Birch and I have said it tons of times over the years as our children leave scratch marks in our new refinished hardwood floors, our yard could use some extra attention, or we choose to do a family activity over some home improvement project.

I'd say this poster is the theme for my facelift of our horrible panty.

Before:

Honestly I would have probably saved my pantry for my mom to tackle if she was not on a mission right now. There is no way this mess could have lasted eighteen more months. My mom is so good at this type of thing. Just look at it -- the SHAME!

Six Hours Later...

Is it bad to be prideful about ones' pantry?

The containers were all bought at IKEA.

The label maker hadn't seen the daylight for a couple of years -- it went over time.
Then I was having so much fun I decided to redo the spice cabinet. I put my basic baking ingredients in this cabinet.

And moved the spices to the corner wheel organizer.

Then I decided to get rid of my sugar and flour ceramic containers. They never hold enough to even make a batch of something but they took up the same amount of room as my new tupperwares.

Lastly I conquered the kitchen desk cabinet. I had all sorts of candle holders and decide to chuck them all -- we just aren't a candle-lit dinner family. It was much better to have containers for my birthday decorating stuff.

I think anyone who has come to visit me recently has been given the tour -- I just might have a love affair with my newly organized kitchen!

Conclusion

Benefits of Getting organized:

· Feel better and have more energy

· You'll save more money. When you're organized, you'll always know what you have, before you buy more.

· Get more done

· Create space for the people and activities that matter most to you

· Decrease levels of daily stress, anxiety, and tension

· Think more clearly and feel more creative

· Save valuable time you used to spend hunting for things

· Get rid of the guilt you used to feel every time you faced your cluttered environment

· More easily feel the spirit

· Grow bigger fruit