Journaling

I've never been very good at journaling. I always feel silly while I'm writing, and then later when I go back and read it I feel even sillier and sometimes even end up ripping pages out and tearing them into tiny pieces. It's that bad. I don't know, I just can't get the right tone down, I guess. I never feel like I sound like myself.

I think my best-chronicled years were my mission years. It was still spotty, and I did better with some companions than others (thanks, Heidi!), but I managed to fill a few composition books, a loose leaf binder, and of course my daily planners. Maybe it was easier then because it felt like there was always something to write about - meeting people, sharing the gospel, disappointments, joys, hilarious moments, really embarrassing ones, and of course extremely spiritual times.

And, you know, times when I got soaked.

The thing is, I feel like this time in my life is also a very spiritual, very precious time. I feel like I have extra responsibility to record these years because my children won't remember them. Isaac is not going to remember a single thing of what happens to him - it'll probably be a year or two more before his first memories kick in. So I feel like I am the keeper of these precious years. And I am not doing a very good job.

Sometimes I feel like I just need to find the right journal. Maybe one with journaling prompts included to help me on days when I'm feeling blank? (Sorry you're feeling so blank inside... anyone? Brian Regan fans?) I really love these printable journaling pages from Grace is Overrated, but after printing several of them out, I realized they weren't really helping me write about my life now. I want someone to create the Mom version, but as of yet, no one has.

So, I finally made myself a journal. It's not the mother of all journals I'd like it to be, but it's a journal and it's cute. I've been wanting to make one for a while, had the perfect fabric picked out, bought my composition book during back-to-school sales for 25 cents. So, six months later, I finally got it together.

Here it is:
 

Here's how it looks inside.

Yeah, cute journal and everything, and I still don't write in it. I want to. Does the first blank page of a journal intimidate anyone else as much as it intimidates me?

Any suggestions?

Really do love that fabric, though.

Tutorial Tuesday: A Birthday Bunting

When we were kids, my sisters and I loved -- I mean love, love, love, love, loved -- to make birthday banners. And not just for birthdays, no no. Welcome Home! banners. We Love You! banners. We Want More Allowance! banners. (Ok, I may have made that last one up, but it would have been a great idea.)

We had a dot matrix printer - you know the kind where the pages of paper are all connected, so the banners are lovely but you can ruin your school report if you don't rip carefully enough? Yeah, one of these babies:

image found here

A Cow Says Moo: A Magnet Story

On Saturday, James made the dangerous decision to say "No" -- when I asked him if he would mind if I went shopping at a fabric store for a little while. :) I got some adorable new fabric to make into cuffs, as well as more adorable fabric to make into a bunting (tune in for that tutorial tomorrow). Then, well, he said he didn't mind, so instead of coming straight home after I left the fabric store, I figured I'd swing by Hobby Lobby -- since it was on the way home and all. <Insert devious grin>

Yeah, like that. :) But I had pure intentions, see. I wanted to go to Hobby Lobby because I really really really wanted to make these magnets for Isaac. (Have I mentioned that Jessica from Utah County Mom is a genius?) Of course, while at Hobby Lobby, I picked up a ton of other things, but that's beside the point. Isaac loves his magnets and that's all that matters.

Best part? Isaac now knows that a cow says "Moo." And if you ask him to find the cow, he'll run to the fridge, grab the cow magnet, and come running back yelling "Moo mooo mooo moo moo mooo." Entertainment for parents and child alike.

So, thanks Jessica for the idea! Now I just have to make the magnetic board! Jessica, you are going to kill my budget if you keep posting all these awesome ideas. :P

What about you guys? Anything fun this weekend? Do anything devious?

*Oh, and speaking of Utah County Mom, Jessica's got a giveaway going on right now - open until tomorrow! - for tickets to the Living Planet Aquarium. If you're a local, go enter to win a fun trip to see the fishes.*

The Making of an Appa Pillow Pet: "How the Awesomeness Was Wrought" or "The Gruesome Death of an Innocent Panda"

Think of this post as less of a how-to and more of a descriptive narrative. If you are looking to make your own Appa pillow friend, I hope that sharing my experience will help you in your quest. So here's what I did.

First, I decided that I needed to use some sort of pattern. There is a fair amount of improvisation in my crafting m.o., but completely winging things usually ends poorly for me. I didn't want to destroy any of the pillow pets that Isaac got for Christmas, so I had to think of something else. Luckily for me, my local grocery store was selling a knock-off version of the famous soft friends for only $7.99. I went and found the one with the roundest head. It just happened to be a panda:

Don't get attached. This does not end well for the panda. 

(It might ease the grief if you notice the panda looks slightly evil.)

A Very Appa-y Birthday: The Appa Pillow Pet

Sorry about the brief hiatus. I really am trying to blog every day, but this week I got a little sidetracked, and I will admit that it was totally not my fault. :P It was the fault of a man named Brandon Sanderson and his stupid, wonderful, addicting book.

Brilliant book, whether you typically like fantasy or not. This is my second time reading it, and I'm just as sucked in as I was the first. Darn Nook. Darn Brandon Sanderson.

But excuses aside, I've actually been really excited to share a project with you guys. You see, last week was my husband's birthday. James doesn't typically get very excited over birthdays, especially not his own. Every year I try to come up with something that will get at least a twinge of excitement out of him. He rarely lets me do a party, and he usually buys his own "gift" - usually by saying, "This electrical/computery component we need is my birthday present." This year he tried to claim the sign-up fee for the Utah Valley Marathon as his present - as if running ever brought joy to anyone :P

What a weirdy.

Three Headbands: One Dollar - Sweet Action

So, they just opened up a new Dollar Tree really close to my house. I've been antsy to check it out ever since I saw the lights were on in there, but haven't had the chance. Until Today. (Ominous music swells.)

A Fun Hairband Project

So, I have a sewing machine. His name is Jarvis. Jarvis is computerized, lcd screen and everything, and he tells me when I am screwing up. That's why I called him Jarvis (think Iron Man). I love Jarvis very much, and that is why he had to go away for a while.

Sometimes we hurt the ones we love.