planet earth

Have you seen this series?





We tivoed a few of them on Sunday and are slowly finding time to watch them. It is so beautiful and well made. We kept saying things to each other like "that is so weird" or "how cool is that!"

I think my love of this type of tv comes from a childhood filled with National Geographic magazines and similar shows because of my dad. But who won't love this series. It really is amazing.




We were both really interested in the photography and the cinematography of this show. It is really fabulous.

tender mercies

Saturday night chris & I were chatting about the upcoming stake conference. our stake counselor had already warned us that the visiting general authority would be calling people out of the audience to speak/bear testimony. last night i expressed my distaste/hate of speaking especially on the spot and without preparation. ah! hate it....



So then Sunday I ran into our stake president in warsaw and he asked to talk with me during sunday school. we chatted and i thought he just wanted an update about yw's and our life since we have not seen him in a while. NO! He officially asked me to speak. 7-10 mins. on Standing in Holy Places. We had a good laugh about the coincidence of the situation. President is a great man and used to be our bishop! I still think this is so ironic and funny but stake conference is two weeks away and the reality of speaking in front of the stake and a general authority has not fully sunk in.... yet. AH! It will soon enough.



Please share if you have any thoughts or great insights about this topic. I would love any suggestions.



I call this a tender mercy because it is an example yet again that Heavenly Father knows me, my fears (speaking on the spot), my desires and my goals!




such a funny picture!


but i am also so grateful for chris and all that he does not only for me but for all those around him. HE is a great man and I appreciate how much he supports me and lets me run with even the crazy ideas that I have. He is the best!!!

I love you

a nine patch

A nine patch-i learned a lot this week with some helpful tips to complete it more accurately! I am not in love with these two together but with all four of them I think I will love it.


Here are all four of the fabrics. Next section we will connect it with a monkey wrench. YEAH!

This class makes me schedule time to sew and that has been fabulous!

autumn

I love this time of year. Plus upstate NY is so beautiful! I drove down to Warsaw today a little over an hour and about half of that is spent on back country roads. There were bright yellow, orange and red trees the entire way plus pumpkin patches, hay and corn fields plus even a few hills. I wanted to stop and buy squash and gourdes plus take a million pictures but I had an agenda to follow. It was so fun though and made my Sunday!

I want my mantel to look like this..love it!

pillows...

I just got these pillows in the mail from anthropology and I love the pattern and the texture but the color is a little too bright! Chris loves yellow but he even thought they were not right. I took pictures to try and convince myself but they were sent right back. Sad, now I am on the hunt again for more pillows.

one more thing.....

So last week i was asked to help out with a parent group on Tuesday nights. Tuesdays are especially busy with stake meetings, mutual nights or presidency meetings. Chris is usually gone for meetings as well so it is not like he will miss me. But how can I pack one more thing into Tuesday evenings...I am not sure how this is going to work out? And I am now regretting the choice to help out with something extra. I will have to think of some fun way to spend that little extra money. AH! I need to learn to say no thanks!

raise and shout the cougars are out...

Go BYU! Well not really it was such a horrible game to watch and not just because Chris was a sore loser. But come on 44 to 0 yes ZERO. That is not a game. Poor Pokes.





We did have a good time though. We do not have fancy cable so the Mountain West is not an option. We heard that there was a sports bar that was playing mountain west games but last week we got an invite to watch with the site & temple missionaries at the hill cumorah. They had paid for the cable to be able to watch BYU games. It is in the basement of the visitors center on a little TV. We were looking forward to UW vs BYU game. We even had a little wager between Chris & I but the game itself was so sad that I cannot hold Chris to cleaning the bathroom for the next month or rubbing my feet every night for a week. The missionaries all brought great food and we enjoyed the company. Thanks guys!!








I love this picture it looks like we are in a cave! It was a very funny experience and at this point Chris was still smiling! It was horrible game. You can just barely see the tiny TV we were all huddled around.


"There is always next year!" ~chris

the scarlet thread

When we were rented our apartment in Webster last year I found this little quilt store that is so cute and small. It looks a lot like the quilting bee in Lander. I have made several things over the years and have always just figured the patterns out or followed the tips in the book but after finding this fabulous store I wanted to take a quilting class. So I started it last night. It has been great! I have already learned some great things that are so simple but I never knew before. I was feeling guilty not being at home or doing something more productive since I am gone a lot with work and YW already. But I had such a great time last night that I think I can sacrifice 4 hours a month and not feel too bad! I am making a baby quilt from Amy Butler fabric that I love!!! And no that is not an announcement. I just loved the colors and baby quilts are much smaller=cheaper. Anyway, I love the class.

booties

I love these boots for fall but I'm still a little hesitant to wear them with anything other than jeans or pants. I will just have to ease my way into this hot new trend. I am also not sure if my thick calves can sport them. But I love them. Especially the red ones!

All of these are from anthropologie.

Which I also love.

oh! how lovely was the morning....

Sunday we had a special sacrament meeting with the singles branch at the sacred grove. It was really neat. The speakers were Elder & Sister Pinegar who both have served in various capacities in the church-YW General Presidency and MTC President, etc, etc. They are great speakers and fabulous people. It was just so neat to sit among the same trees and enjoy the spirit of the grove as well as have a fabulous sacrament meeting.




The day however was very, very hot and humid. We arrived early to set up and then started moving benches in the heat. Crazy! After the sacrament metting we headed to the Hill Cumorah for the Joseph Smith movie and then lunch. It was a lot of work but was a fabulous meeting with over a hundred people in attendance. Well worth it!

autumn

i love this time of year! it is starting to get cool and the leaves will be changing soon. i know it is only september, and not even the middle of it at that, but i feel the excitement already. i always wanted a fall wedding and it did not happen so i tell chris every year he has to make it up to me by letting me have fun decorating. i love this website with ideas and gorgeous pictures......
matthew mead

Paper Source

Last year we spent a month in Italy and brought a few things home that I absolutely love. One of those items that we got was a calendar of pictures of cities from all over Italia. I was getting sad as we watched those go each month because I have loved the pictures. I was thrilled when I got the Paper Source catalog and saw that they actually carry them! I do not have to go back to Italia. I can just order another one online. How funny! I would prefer to go back to Venice but that's not likely!

a little lotta

I have several of lotta jansdotters handbags and i love the fabric and patterns. these two items i really like for the house and knew i would love the textures as well. check her out if you have not seen her stuff.

tuleh

It is Fashion week!!! You have to love the fabulous colors and patterns for 2009. It makes me excited for spring even though we are just starting fall. (style.com)

I am in love with Project Runway. Who isn't these days but when it is Wednesday night Chris can't even ask me a question. It is the one show I really look forward to watching. I have missed the past three weeks and was surprised last night to see who was "out."

This little number however deserved to go. It really was horrible. I think someone said it was like the model was pooping fabric, and that she was wearing granny panties.

Chris just does not understand my love. It makes my heart happy! Evening the pooping fabric outfit. ah! love it!

a little slice of home

For labor day chriser & I decided to run away. we had so many things going on and really wanted a break from callings, the house and work. so we took a little "staycation" to Spencer, NY. At a little B&B on the Finger Lakes. It was a fabulous little place that was quiet, had great breakfast, a hot tub outside; where we watched the sunset and everything for a relaxing weekend.

The area is really fun and full of state parks all around the lake with beautiful hikes and waterfalls. The lake was full of sail boats that entire weekend. Also there are wineries all up and down both sides of the lake with great grape juice, pies and cheese. I loved all the many antiques malls and shops. It was a great weekend and so relaxing!

the packer hostel....

currently, chris is serving in the singles branch in our stake. this calling has brought many new, interesting and challenging experiences.

these last few weeks we have had some great young ladies staying with us while searching for an apartment. it was nice to have room to open our house to them and we are grateful to get to know them better. welcome to rochester deborah and ashlie!!

it is interesting however, to think of all the things that you do when it is just the two of you and no ones watching. like how chris had to behave and be clean. no more watching tv in his underwear. or walking naked from the shower. it would have been great to have dinner on the table at 5:30 but at least we had food in the frig and we are usually lucky to even see each other in a day let alone have dinner together. some day those schedules will be better.


thanks ladies. i appreciated your help in keeping chris in line! i hope you love the branch and school.....