January Focus Follow Up

I can't believe that January is over and that February is starting tomorrow. Time just goes by too quickly these days.

This has been a great month but also a hard month. When I realized that I needed to make some changes if I wanted change to happen, my attitude has shifted for the better. Things aren't upsetting me like they used to, I'm able to handle each little crisis with a better perspective and I've been trying to think things through before reacting. But, the best part of all is that I've been trying to put Dan's needs above my own (or at least closer to the top of my "To Do" list) and it has proven to be very effective.
Now, I know that I promised a list of things I would do for Dan each day - I don't have one. While talking with Dan a day or two after my post, he informed me that he thought organizing was BORING (gasp)! So, there went half of my list! However, it was good because it made me realize that I needed to do something for him that he would appreciate and he felt love from...not what my idea of showing love is.

If any of you have taken the Love Language quiz, you'll know what I am talking about. I'm one of those people that if the partner does the dishes or the laundry, I feel loved! Dan is not that person...so it wasn't going to be a matter of just doing things for him. So, I tried to say I love you more or cuddle with him at night (I'm not a cuddler...I like to have my side of the bed all to myself). However, I did make him special treats for him for work.

Anne and I made him these yummy peanut butter chocolate chip cookies, we made rice crispy treats, brownies and tonight we are going to have a double layer chocolate cake with chocolate frosting after dinner...his favorite! Food is one way to a man's heart, after all!
The most important part of all is that I had Dan on my mind on a more regular basis since I was always trying to think of what I could do for him each day. Sometimes it meant me TRYING to only say positive things to him (trying being the key word) or to let him get that extra 10 minutes of sleep before work.

One night, while Dan was gone to work and after Anne had gone to bed, I decided to do something I haven't done in a while. I decided to listen to the Matt Townsend show online (talk radio show on KSL) while playing Solitaire. I clicked on one titled Reinventing Date Nights...Reinventing Marriage. He talks about making a better effort to date your spouse. So, I brought it up with Dan and he is on board! We are going to just do one date night a month (he doesn't have a regular work schedule so we can't say every Friday night) and we are each going to take turns planning. I'll be starting off in February and we'll go from there.

So, the summary of this FOCUS is that whatever you decide is most important to you, and that you devote most of your time to, is what is going to be a big part of your life. It can't be the only part since we have so many other things going on, however we can't let those other things become the main part causing those we love to be left in the dust and wondering if we still love them.

Oh, and thank you to all of my friends who wrote such nice things about me and that I couldn't possibly be so self-centered. Umm...wait until you read tomorrow what my FOCUS is for next month! Ha, ha!

Relief Society Closet

As many of you know, I love to organize and be in places that are organized. So, you can imagine what I felt every time I opened the RS closet doors and saw this...

We'll call this door #1...

Door #2 - the most opened door since this is where our supplies were for our Sunday meetings.

Here is a close up shot of #2

Door #3

and door #4...yes, we have a lot of closet space. That part is nice! I was also very worried about finding little creatures while we did the clean out but we got lucky! We only found one spider.

So, I taught a mini organzing class Tuesday night to the women and young women of our ward. I then invited any that wanted a "hands on experience" to come and take part today (Saturday) but no one showed up! Am I surprised? Not really! So, it was just my second counselor, Michelle, Antonia (wasn't happy I had to bring her but that's life) and me! In the long run, however, it was nice that it was only Michelle and I because it was easier to get rid of more stuff! Having Anne there on the other hand...no comment!

Anyway, so 4 hours later, this is the result of all of our hard work!

Door #4. This is where all of our quilting material is, some yarn, sewing machines and table decorations that I decided to keep for our VT workshop later this year. (But then they are all going). Do you like the windows? You can tell our church house has been added on to. This door is blocked by the piano so we put items in here that we don't need easy access to.

This is door #2. It still has everything we need for Sunday but also some items that are going to other sisters in the ward.

Door #3 - roasting pans, quilt frame stands and an iron.

Door #4 - I wanted this to be for Michelle since she is over activities and now she'll have easier access to the items she uses on a more regular basis. There are random craft supplies, table cloths, dish rags, oven mits, and even a box for funerals (I'm going to stock it up with all of the items used so then we can just pull it out and have it ready to go. No more running around the church trying to track down what we need.) We kept a few of the center pieces just for fun!

The only thing I wasn't happy with is the quilt frames (which are not shown). They are really long and so they didn't really fit anywhere. We put them in door #3 and so they somewhat block the roasting pans. Other than giving them to someone in the ward to store for us, that is really our only option. We didn't want them in door #1 because as you can see from the first set of pictures, they poked out into door #2's area and we didn't want them to be in the way in there.

And what happened to everything else? Garbage or DI! I'm kicking myself now for not taking a picture of what the RS room looked like with everything pulled out! It filled the whole room!

It was quite the project but now I'll be able to open the door wide on Sundays and not feel like screaming anymore! =)

Thank you so much Michelle for all of your hard work and help today...and for doing the DI run! Couldn't have done it all without you!

Now, time to take a nice hot shower and maybe a nap!

Mommy's Little Helper

Our little Anne loves to help out whenever she can, especially in the kitchen. Aunt La made her this adorable apron and we finally got to put it to great use this past week! While Daddy was out running some errands, he decided to pick up a pizza so we decided to make the cheese bread to go along with it!

She helped roll out the dough.

She tested the pepperoni while we waited for the cheese bread to bake.

And here we are with the final product. YUMMY! Do you like how Anne is pulling away from the hot pan? I just love this little helper!!!

January Focus

This week I've been feeling really "BLAH!" Could it be because the rush of the holidays are over and so I don't have anything to "look forward to"? Or could it be because the valley is full of yucky smog and so I haven't really been outside in a while? Is it because what I would like to be in my life right now seems to be happening to everyone else? Or is it something else all together? Whatever it is, I know that my focus isn't where I want it to be.
This year, Dan and I will be celebrating our 10 year anniversary! Although we won't be going to Hawaii like we had hoped, we will (hopefully) be getting away for a couple days while Anne spends time with Nana. However, in the mean time, I need to be focusing more of my time and energy on him. Not just making dinner, getting his sandwiches ready for work and giving him a kiss at the door goodbye...although, he should feel special that we make a big deal about him going to and coming home from work!

A couple from Canada that Dan knows really well and I came to love while they stayed with us a few days last year gave us this figurine of a couple embracing for Christmas. It is titled "Together" and it is sitting on our desk (to my left) and I just love to look at it. While sitting here today, looking through blogs, I had an "Ah-ha" moment! The reason I'm feeling so blah is because I'm focusing too much on me, what I want and what will make me happy! Yes, I spend a lot of time throughout the week thinking of others, and so some of you may say that I should be thinking of myself, but I also need to be thinking of my family...Dan and Antonia...and what I can do to help them be happy as well. They tend to be pushed to the side when I have a meeting or other obligation. And although I can't make those things go away, I can make the most of the time that I do have with them.

I thought about doing a 365 blog like so many others are doing but I'm such a perfectionist and so it would become a task that if I didn't do it, it would make me feel like a failure. So, I ruled that one out. Then I thought about doing something on a monthly basis. A little bit easier to handle. But, I also want it to have a theme focused on my family and what I can do to help bring happiness to our home.

So...here is my focus for January- and since it was inspired by the figurine, it is going to be about Dan and I. I'm going to try to come up with one nice thing each day that I can do for Dan that isn't part of what I have to do! Now, that may sound easy but it can also be hard since I'm the one folding his laundry, etc. So, it might be a little note that I slip in his lunch box or just reorganizing his closet for him (for the 10th time) without pointing it out to him like I did the last 9 times!

I think what I will do is make a list (I LOVE making lists) of everything I come up with and then I'll share that list with you at the end of the month. And I know that Dan reads this blog...so now it can be a little bit of a challenge to see if I can do these things without Dan noticing. Obviously, however, I'd want the note in the lunch box to be noticed! So I'll also note if I was successful or not. It really is going to be more about me thinking more about him and his hapiness rather than being praised each day for something I did. If I do it for the praise, then once again...it is all about me! And that isn't the point!

And each month I'll post a new focus to help make this year a happy, wonderful and fun one for me and my family! I already have ideas rolling around in my head now...I just needed to give them a kick start!

Merry Christmas to me!

I got my Christmas present this week! I told Dan that I wanted new shelves for Christmas but with all of his overtime work during the month of December, he wasn't able to do anything until after the holidays! We had this open space that was just begging to help me better organize our home!

Tuesday was the big day. I had to leave to be a part of an activity for the young women and then to a meeting but Anne decided she would be Daddy's little helper.

When I got home, they were just finishing up...at 9:30 pm...so I got to see the shelves put in. So exciting! It makes me smile everytime I walk into my bathroom now. I know, silly! They'll get painted a little later on but they are already being put to great use!

And this is my silly little girl! While I was somewhat distracted today, she decided to climb in! Even though I've told her many times before she couldn't get in, that didn't stop her! So, of course, I had to take a picture, before telling her once again that is for her baby doll. Something tells me this won't be the last time I pull her out of this!