You Would THINK...

You would THINK that someone who graduated from Cosmetology/Barbering School would know how to do simple things with their hair.

You would THINK they would be better with bobby pins.

Well - you'd be wrong.

BUT I'm not giving up. I have long enough hair right now that I WANT to do all the fun things you can do with long hair. One of my favorite blogs for hair tutorials is The Small Things Blog.

Today it's supposed to be 102 degrees, so it was a good day to put my hair UP. It was perfect. Day 2 hair. Loose curls. Let's go! Inspired by this photo (top), I created my own rendition (bottom). I have a lot to learn, but I'm getting better.

Hairy Situation!

So I've been wandering from stylist to stylist over the past six-eight months or so looking for someone who "fits" me perfectly. Yesterday I found her! She knows her stuff. She understood the size of sections I wanted in my weave, she did a great job on the cut, her prices were reasonable, and she was fast (not that I ever like to be done - I could sit there all day having someone fuss with my hair).

Here name is Ginger Garn - she is actually Melissa's best friend. I was so glad I tried her out. We tried some new colors based on The Small Things Blog (http://www.thesmallthingsblog.com/p/hair_17.html) and it turned out great. Next time we're going to add a darker brown though.

I snapped some photos because I loved the size of the sections she took and how it turned out. It doesn't look much different to people because I had been touching up the roots (on top - in my part), but now it's all colored all throughout the interior too - which feels SOOO much better, and it will look so much better when I braid it or put it up.

Thanks Ginger!

Sushi or Not Sushi? That is the Question.

And the answer is YES, definitely SUSHI!

My cute co-worker Colleen Schmidt had never had sushi before...until now. Mary Karanu, Cindy Allen and I were lucky to be her escorts for her maiden voyage into sushi-dom.

She had heard us talk about it, and decided to give it a go. It's always best I think to go with people who have had sushi before when you're going for your first time so you have some inkling what to order!

We went to a little place on 3900 S State Street called Red Ginger Bistro. (It's not my favorite place -- Sakana in Jordan Landing still holds that ranking -- but the prices at Red Ginger are FANTASTIC and their food is super good.)

We had such a great time. We all quickly agreed on four rolls to start with, and asked them to cut them into 10 pieces rather than 8 so there would be more to share (and you could fit the bites into your mouth, which is always a plus - just sayin').

We even ordered one more after we ate all of those because we still wanted MORE!

Here we are pretending we know how to actually USE chopsticks. Well, actually, we all DID use them for our entire lunch so one way or another we managed to get the food into our mouths!

Kathy, Colleen and Mary (Thanks to Cindy for being our photographer!)

Colleen was a great sport! I remember being much more skeptical and cautious during my first experience with sushi. She jumped in with both chopsticks and tried the wasabi and ginger and everything! She liked it, too. Whaddya know?

We have another convert. When's our next date, ladies? And who else is ready to try this delicious food?  :)

A Legacy of Love... and Lots of Stitches

A couple of years ago my mom taught my friend Cindy Allen and I how to make temple aprons. We don't use the pre-made kits you can buy. We make them from scratch using a pattern my Grandma Moulton used. My Grandma made over 160 of these temple aprons by hand -- having 11 children of her own. I don't know how she did it, but she said she never tired of making temple aprons. She made aprons for each of her 11 children, their spouses, and each of their children and eventual spouses. So I was the very lucky recipient of one of her personally hand made temple aprons. It is a treasure to me, and I feel so connected to her when I am in the temple. I think of the hours she worked on it and the love that went into each stitch.

My mom has made over 35 aprons herself! She is my miracle mom and I love her so much!

So back to my story... off Cindy and I went armed with the knowledge of how to do the stitches. When we were both done with the embroidery we made another trip to my mom's house to finish them off. She is such a great teacher, and was very patient with us as we tried to keep up.

My first apron is intended to be for Rylan so I finished that one off square. The ladies aprons are often hemstitched or trimmed around the edges of the leaves for a more delicate and feminine look.

Yesterday I went up to Mom's again to help her mark another apron for her to work on. When we got done, she started on hers and I kept going on my next apron (I'm well into my third apron and I am very much enjoying the time I can spend working on it). This is such a special treat for us to share together.

It takes a little time to mark an apron and you really have to concentrate so we both took turns. My mom is ambidextrous so she can do things like this with either her left or right hand. Yesterday, she preferred her left. (I tried it too, and whaddya know? It worked out just fine...but I still stuck with my right hand.)





Here are some pictures of the apron I just finished...

The finished product with the elastic and hook attached.

Showing how this one was finished straight across the top.

This shows the stitches as well as the machine hemstitching around the outside edges.

And the back with a nice clean piece of fabric sewn on with the hemstiching.

In August or September we are going to get together with a group of cousins and aunts to teach them how to make Grandma Moulton's aprons. We can't wait!

Trusted Temple Ties

*sigh*

These last few weeks have been super emotional. I am so very concerned for my son, and I pray Heavenly Father's blessings and care for him.

Next door to me, there was some GREAT news. My neighbor Shauna Jensen went through the temple for her first time on Wednesday night. I was blessed to be invited to attend her session. She has been working very hard and preparing diligently to be ready for this great day. I am so proud of her.

Several weeks ago, I was finishing up my second hand made temple apron. (More on this on my next blog.) At the time, I was just working on a temple apron to have something to do while I watched TV, but as I neared the end it occurred to me that this apron was meant for Shauna! So I immediately had the drive to finish it --- and SOON! I got the embroidery done and found a lady who could do the hemstitching around the edges.

The thought that once someone makes a decision to do something GOOD in his or her life, Satan goes about doing everything he can to destroy that plan is 100% without a doubt true. I find it happens nearly every time I plan to attend the temple. Somehow it seems to work better to have impromptu "plans."

Well - the hemstitching lady ended up having her machine go down, having to replace, having to learn all over again how to thread this new machine, threads breaking, etc... but finally literally THE DAY BEFORE the date for the temple, I was able to pick up the finished apron and give it to Shauna. Here is a picture of the finished product. It turned out beautiful!

The temple was wonderful. Shauna was overwhelmed, but peace and love replaced fear and doubt and she could tell that was from being in the House of the Lord. That was the best thing she could have recognized that day. That will be a testimony builder for her and keep her going back.

A trip to Leatherby's afterwards for ice-cream was in order so off we all went (she must have had 25-30 friends and family there at the temple - it was amazing). Our group at Leatherby's was about 17 or 18. It was delicious and I think a great way to end the evening.

Love and congratulations to Shauna for earning this reward!

Life Is NOT Like A Box of Chocolates...

It's More Like A Roller Coaster!

So a while back Rylan dropped the bomb on me that he was thinking he'd like to move to Missouri to live with his dad. Although I felt like the Lord had been preparing me for some sort of "upheaval" in my life, this was the farthest thing from my mind. Of course the thought had crossed my mind, but I didn't think it was going to happen. And not now. (Any time was too soon.)

Over the last couple of months Rylan has been trying to make this huge life-changing decision. He really WANTED to move, but never felt like he got an answer. He had a trip to Missouri planned to visit Grandpa and to surprise his dad while he was there. That was only going to be 2 1/2 weeks. Well, while he was there, he made the decision that he is going to move there (as in MOVE there; as in go to school there; as in NOT be here with me). He was going to come home from his "visit" on the regular flight, but then only be here long enough to spend some time with his friends here and gather the things he wants, and he is flying back to Missouri on July 30th. That's only about a month away.

My heart is breaking. I am trying very hard to be brave, and to have faith that everything will work out. But I am so worried for my son. I love him more than anything on this earth. He is my world. I just want him to be happy, and I know that living a certain way will bring about that happiness. When I picked him up at the airport a few days ago it was SO good to see him and even better to be able to HUG him! He had a smile on his face, and said, "Hi Mom!" That made my day. He is on a trip to St. George now with the priests in the ward (boating, etc.) and then he comes home.

That's when my stopwatch will start ticking.

I'm already dreading the day I take him to the airport to leave. Good grief! I cried hard enough just taking him for his visit. This time I won't know when I will see him again. This time I will feel empty-handed and helpless as to his day-to-day life.

I constantly pray HARD that Heavenly Father will keep a watchful eye over him, and guide his path, and help him to be happy and to feel loved and to give love. I miss him already.

Big Hair Days

So I was cleaning out my garage the other day getting ready for a yard sale and I came across some "treasures..." my Glamour Shots from 1993.

I still remember going to get this done. I have to say I'm a sucker for makeovers and someone doing my hair so it was a lot of fun.