Tuesday, June 29, 2010

hey i have something cool to show you!

This folks is my first quilt! yipeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! if you look closely you can see the stitching. yeah its taking me a long time cuz i'm stitching it all by hand. but, i'm only stitching one side of the stems, and the inside of the petals on the flowers, if that makes sense. i saw this fabric like 2 years ago ish in wal-mart and i fell in love with it. it's taken me an obviously long time to start this baby but i've got good reason to quicken the pace...if ya know what i'm sayin. i'm going to make pillow shams. I'm probably not going to quilt them- but we shall see. I also got some cute yellow fabric for the back of the pillow shams, and i'll probably make one pillow with it to go in front but we will also see about that. I can't wait to be done- but i've got a long time before that so i'm just stitching along... i thought i'd share with you my crafty side. :) cuz i do have one. i didn't know i did. but i do. :)

Sunday, June 27, 2010

HEY Sammy Grace- what's goin on around your place?

....i thought it was funny. but ya wanna hear a really funny one that i came up with? nana posted it on facebook but here it is again. Susannah and i were driving to manti to pick up our friend who needed a ride to st. george (susannah and i also needed a lil road trip so it worked out quite well) and along the way i was itching my nose and it was really irritating so nana asked if i needed a tissue and i said no, then i paused, and said "it just feels like my nose is being attacked by sneeze bugs" NOW is that or is that Not the perfect description of what your nose feels like just before you have to sneeze? i sure thought so. Susannah just giggled up a storm after that one. I'm not sure if that sweet phrase even comes close to my nieces dream of future employment- yep that's right folks she wants to be a 'cooking skydancer' and who wouldn't want to be one? i sure dont know. i don't know why i didn't think of that earlier. i probably coulda skipped out on college. dangit.

this will most definitely be a long post. but i neeed to just type my thoughts. its kindof...theraputic i guess, at times. ahhhh life. how is my life? its weird. right now it is anyway. i love it, dont get me wrong. but its weird. we're now down to 3 weeks and a few days. to be specific 24 days until Colten gets home. Can you believe it? i can't. but then again i can. cuz its sure been a (freakin) long time. In 2 years (ish) what have i accomplished? I don't know. I set a lot of goals and achieved a lot of em, don't get me wrong if you really wanted i could bust out a list right now of what i've accomplished. but in the BIG scheme of things what have I realllly accomplished?

Patience? not so much. I mean i think i'm better, but seeing as how my mom currently wants me to change my name to patience i think i've still got a lot to learn. (She literally is calling me patience on a regular basis)...i'll keep working on it.

Grown Spiritually? You better believe it! I know loads more now than i used to, yet i still feel completely...what's the word... Not knowledgeable? couldn't think of the word...dang. but anyway, and ya wanna know what i reallly wanna be when i "grow up"? a seminary substitute teacher. hahaha and i'm completely serious. i still wanna get my associates degree- and maybe try out for american idol (just for fun) but i love the gospel. i really do. that's all there is to it. I could go on forever about how much I love learning the gospel, and how much I love my Heavenly Father and how grateful I am for His Son Jesus Christ, but I wont. But truly, if I could help others learn what I know, I know I will learn even more and I will be able to be an instrument in the Lord's hands in a very useful way. I've learned so much, and i'm ridiculously excited to continue learning throughout the rest of my life. Plus, being a substitute seminary teacher I won't have a full time job, I'll meet lots of people, get paid, and still be home by the time my future children get home from school------while were on the subject though, what do I want to be even more than anything? where could i make the biggest impact? the biggest difference? in my home. yep folks being a mom is where its at. i'm obviously not one yet, and won't be for a while, but that is my true dream, my true desire, and what i've really always wanted. i really remember when i was a little girl, laying in bed, i thought over and over in my head what do i wanna be when i grow up? and as weirdo as it sounds, i thought of being a mom and the most amazing feeling came over me, and i was done for- that's what i really want. (p.s. maybe i REALLY should have entitled this post REALLY, cuz i sure say it alot)

Learned a lot about the real Samantha Grace? yes. oh yes. to a point (and my family will testify to this) over the past few...(many) months, i haven't been completely myself.... it's been hard to be. but i'm moving forward. at least always trying to. in the process i'm learning what i really love, what i want out of life, and just simply who i am. like for example- i do better talking to people one on one, not so good in groups. i just sit quietly in groups which is actually better cuz then i can just listen and i don't say anything stupid :) haha. i'm a white/blue personality, according to The Color Code (dun dun dun) yeah thats right its intense. so that taught me a lot about how i think and why i do certain things. I even just read a book called "The 5 Love Languages" and i found i'm a Quality Time kind of lover (that just sounds funny but idk how else to say it) and Words of Affirmation are very important to me. Look this stuff up folks its very interesting. what it means is i show love and need love by spending quality time with people. this can just mean sitting next to someone and talking to them. but words also fill up my "love tank" haha and so the words "I Love You" to me, mean so much more. anyway, those are all just specifics, but there's been a lot of other experiences that i've had that have taught me a bit more about who i am and some of its been great, and some not so great. but that's whats great is that i know where i need to improve, and i'll just keep swimming, just keep swimming, and then just keep swimming.

Met some amazing people? too many to count. I have made some serious friendships, and i'm so grateful for that. I've also learned more about friendship, and relationships, and people in general. I know i've got tons more to learn about people. I know i've made many mistakes, and too often I have hurt people I love, but I'm thankful for forgiveness, and hope to always be worthy of it. I hope even more so that, in the future, and everyday, that i don't take the people in my life for granted. They ARE what we take with us when we go, and knowing them, loving them, caring for them, teaching them, learning from them, and just being there for them is what it's all about. Through people we learn to be Christlike, through service and love. Obviously repentance and obedience are right up there with life's lessons, but the first and great commandment is to Love God, with all your heart, might, mind, and strength. and the 2nd is like unto it, to love thy neighbor as thyself. and isn't one of the ways we show love for God through serving our fellow men? i think so. so, I'm sorry to those I've hurt, I feel sorrow that I can't explain for ever hurting anyone. I do know now though, and this is one big huge important lesson, that even though we make mistakes, once we truly repent, we have to learn to move on. Sometimes I think I make myself think that if i feel sorry enough, then i can change how someone else feels, like if somehow I suffer enough then they will finally forgive, but that's not the way it works. God is our judge, and it is up to us to forgive all men. All the time. in every situation. So I have to let go of grudges, and pray that others will to, but sometimes they won't because they have agency, and I learned that thats ok. Men are that they might have joy, not sorrow. so if I do my best, and truly, humbly, repent when i sin, and believe that Christ will take my burdens upon Himself, through Him i can be ok, i can be stronger, and move forward with a smile on my face :)

I could just keep adding more. However, this is already a long post. I just feel so different from who i was 2 years ago, but its not a bad thing. I'm thankful for what I've gone through, and I'm thankful for trials. Even though that parts kinda hard to type, its the truth. Trials really are special, cuz they really change a person, it's up to us how we choose to change through the trial though, we can let it weaken us and weaken us and weaken us, or we can let it rebuild the little broken parts and make em stronger to withstand whatever else will come our way. I believe that. I know that. and that's all folks---have a wonderful week?! :)

Friday, June 11, 2010

Good News :) and a smidge bad...

we'll start with the bad...still don't know which chicken is eatin the eggs...and truly it is awkward that they would even do that in the first place.

Good News:

#1- Colten only has like 5 weeks and a few days. I'm speechless. Happy, like really happy, like really really happy, yet speechless. y'all will hear more about that as time goes on fo sho.

#2- How is P90X going? we'll i've been trying to 'bring it' as Mr tony tells me everytime i turn it on, (which is it a bad sign that i had a creepy dream about him? he's supposed to be like a good idol figure to help me want to be more fit then i had this dream...made me see a whole new side to him haha but i still keep going) anyway, I don't know if i really look different, which i'm fine with, cuz i feel like i could punch through a couple walls, that was a weird visual...haha, but i can now do pushups, guy ones, maybe that's lame compared to some hardcore people who might read this blog, but really this is a big deal for me cuz i have a large lower half i gotta lift up and down everytime i do a 'guy' pushup. i just feel a lot more muscley, (sp?) and so the bottomline is that i decided p90x and i have a love/hate relationship. i don't wanna turn it on, but i hate it when i don't do it, and i love it afterward. I recommend p90x, it is a good system. it's fun, it's a variety of workouts, and it does bring results. (I hate the yoga video though i really wish they'd redo that)

#3 Life's good. I'm way behind on my Book of Mormon reading, but I have been reading other good books. I would recommend: The 5 Love Languages. I loved this book because ya just never think of some things, and how you can love people according to their love language. I can't remember the authors name right this second, and i'm not gonna run upstairs to check, but its a good book. Other Recommendation: Finding Peace, Happiness, and Joy by Elder Richard G. Scott. I have about 3 more pages, so i mean i can't give ya a complete opinion...jk it's a good book and i'm positive the last lil bit will be worth reading. I must say this book found me, and I needed it. I will be looking back to this book throughout my life i can already tell. I marked that sucker up and down cuz it was just so good. It is full of principles, and reminders of God's love, which once you understand that, what else can bring true peace and happiness? Of course there are a lot of things, but the foundation is based in His love, for through His love and kindness He sent His Son who showed ultimate love, the kind of love the world had never seen before and the kind of love that will last forever, and is for every person ever...and ever.

I hope all of y'all have a fantastic 5 1/2 weeks cuz I sure will...I'll probably only be a smidge excited here and there about something comin up....i'm lying i hope you know...i'm gonna be extatic! and ridiculously unsettled with anticipation! lucky me. haha. its alllll worth it:)

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Bad News.

So, this will be hard for most of you, but just read on. We have a chicken (I'm possibly suspecting that there is actually 2 of them participating in the following evil act) that is eating eggs. BAD. when they do that they are supposed to become sunday dinner! but i dont know which one it is! and how do you catch em?!!?!! They are sneakily in and out of that chicken coop before i know which one is the culprit. Wish me luck. and when i do find out which one it is, wish me more luck that i'll actually be able to catch it. (That phrase is the reason this post does not need a picture, just visualize me trying to catch a chicken...) Random post, but thats my style. Just Sayin.