Personal Progress holder -- a quick sew

Just after I received my call to serve in the Young Women's presidency in our ward, I found a tutorial for a Personal Progress book holder on Pinterest several months ago.  I pinned it because I thought it was a really cute and clever way to carry your Personal Progress book, the For Strength of Youth pamphlet, and your Personal Progress journal (except I don't use that journal because I have my personal private blog, so I put the True to the Faith book in there seeing that we are going to be referring to it much more with the new curriculum).

Well tonight I finally sat down and made one -- with scrap materials!  I followed this pattern at the beginning, but as I was coming close to finishing the PP book holder, I unpicked the whole thing and started over.  I ended up following a pattern that I have used to make several crayon rolls these past few months for some friends, and it turned out much better.

Viola!

**In case you want to make one yourself, I found that the measurements on the first pattern for dividing the books were great.  I did not like the height of the holder so I chopped it by a few inches.  The first pattern suggests that you sew the pocket book on top of the already sewn backing.  I did not like that idea because you would see the lines on the back of the book holder, and also because it requires more work as you have to fold the edges of the pocket under and then sew it on to the backing.  I just seemed silly so I unpicked it and followed the crayon roll tutorial on putting the book together.**

Christmas 2012

Before I post about this years Christmas, I must start with Christmas Eve.

As it was a Monday evening it meant that we did our FHE (Family Home Evening).  We took some video footage of Hannah singing two of her favorite FHE songs which are Popcorn Popping, and Head Shoulders Knees and Toes.  But blogger isn't allowing me to upload those videos at the moment so I'll have to do them later.  I'm too tired to figure out the problem.

After FHE, Hannah opened one gift.  They were two books from Grandma and Grandpa C.  Sorry, we didn't get any pictures last night.  Our camera is out of commission at the moment so we have to use our phones.

This morning Hannah woke up and she found that Santa had brought her a book, and some of her favorite fruit snacks.

We then proceeded to open some gifts:

Kronk enjoyed the opening of gifts, as usual.

Hannah enjoyed pushing all of her new things around in her shopping cart, and playing inside the box that it came in.  She also had lots of fun with Daddy.

Later today we went to our neighbors house for an Argentina themed dinner.  Each year, their family chooses a different country, and they make dishes associated with that country.  The food was really tasty!  I was assigned to bring a dessert. I decided to make Pasta Frola de Dulce de Membrillo - Quince Tart.  I still am not quite sure what it was.  This is what the picture on the recipe looked like.

And my dish looked nothing like it.  Let's just say that the instructions of the recipe were not too great.  But, it was still yummy so that's good.

I only took two pictures at our neighbors house.  We were so preoccupied with watching Hannah that we completely forgot to take pictures of the food.  And speaking of food, Hannah discovered Doritos tonight.  Her hands and face were covered with cheese so we took a very quick family picture with her, and then we quickly went to go wash her hands and mouth so she didn't get cheesy Doritos all over our neighbors home, or our clothes.

Afterwards we came home and face-timed with a good friend in California.  It was nice to catch up with Beth and wish her a Merry Christmas.  Living on the east coast makes it harder to talk with family due to the time change, so I think we'll end up chatting with them over the next few days.  It's just hard to do with all the chaos of Christmas going on.

Hannah did not want to go to bed at her usual time tonight so we played with her a little more. I think all of her new gifts were giving her some new found energy.  But eventually she went down and I was able to start on this blog post, but to be honest, I am tired and I would like to go to bed myself.

So Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Ensigns read

Today, I accomplished another one of my goals for this year --  read all the Ensigns cover to cover.

This is my third year doing this and I love it so much that I think I will always continue this goal. I'm so glad my friend Cylynn encouraged me to do this.  I have become a better person from reading these church magazines.  They are a such a quick and easy read I usually end up finishing that month's issue in about 10 days.

Now that I am involved with serving the youth in my church calling, I have taken on reading the New Era magazine each month as well (the New Era is the church's magazine specifically for the youth). So now I need to add a new goal to my list for next year: read the New Era magazines cover to cover.

Ensign magazine covers courtesy of lds.org

Journal goal accomplished

I have never been good at keeping a journal.  I always hated the idea of sitting down and writing -- you can get writers cramp, and also because there is no back space or delete buttons on a sheet of paper.  I found it frustrating.

But technology these days makes it much easier to keep a journal.  I started a private blog for myself in 2009 in hopes that I would do better at journaling.  I figured I could sit down during my lunch hours when I worked and type away.  Yeah, that never really happened.  I journaled once or twice every 3 or 4 months and that was pretty much it.  Pathetic, I know.

I realized that I needed to improve in this area so I set a goal to journal 3 times a month during the year 2012.  Well on December 2nd I accomplished my journaling goal!  Wahoo!

I actually enjoyed doing this undertaking.  In fact, I enjoyed it so much that instead of doing 36 journal entries this year I did 53 -- which is a major accomplishment for me!

This is one goal that I am going to continue year after year.  It's been quite therapeutic, and a great way for preserving memories in my life.

A "High" Weekend

On December 9th, Nathan was extended the call to serve on the High Council for our Stake. Yep.  It was a complete -- and I mean C.O.M.P.L.E.T.E. shock to both of us.  Serving on the high council in this stake is a really big calling because our stake is so spread out (some units are about 2 hours away).  I guess there will be some Sunday's when I will be, as some say, a "high council widow."

But, in order to serve on the high council Nathan had to be ordained to the office of a High Priest.  Due to some prayers being answered (thanks David), Nathan's father was able to travel out here to Pennsylvania and ordain Nathan to the office of a High Priest.  It was a remarkable experience and we were able to spend some good quality time with LaMar.  It was indeed a "high" weekend!

Here are some photos of our weekend.

These were the pictures we took after the ordination (FYI -- I did have church clothes on, but I accidentally changed before we took pictures).

LaMar playing with Hannah.

We got to see 2 trains.  One was the train that is at the grocery store, Wegmans.  The other train was a real one at the park.  It was the polar express (that's what they call the train here during the Victorian Bellefonte Christmas).

And we got to feed the ducks, which of course Hannah LOVES.

Thanks LaMar for coming out this weekend.  It meant a lot to us, and I know it meant a lot to Nathan.

Tap Dogs

One of the perks that Nathan got early on for working at Penn State was they gave him two free tickets of his choice to an artistic/theatrical production that was at one of the auditoriums here at the school.  Penn State gave him a list of performances, and then he got to choose which one he wanted to attend.  Nathan decided to get tickets for Tap Dogs because it was one of the more pricier performances, and also because he knew that I love dancing.  So last Thursday evening we went to go see the show.  It was FANTASTIC and we highly recommend it!

Tap Dogs is a show of 6 men who tap dance the entire time (90 minutes)!  We weren't allowed to take any pictures or videos during the performance, but here is a youtube video to give you an idea of what Tap Dogs is all about (though the video does not do it justice -- really).

Thanks Penn State for the free date.  We hope you continue to give us free tickets for more things like this. :)

Hannah's Birthday

**FYI, our camera battery died during presents so all of these pictures are from using our phones, which is why they are not the best quality.  Sorry.**

As Hannah's birthday was approaching, I noticed that I started to feel some pressure to throw a large party for her, and spend countless hours trying to decorate a cake that I knew she would not eat (Hannah is a super picky eater -- not joking).

Our lives have been very chaotic these last few months with work schedules, and also with my church assignment of working with the youth.  We decided to spend the day together, just the 3 of us.  No big party, and no elaborate/decorative cake.  I put my foot down and decided to simplify life rather than complicate it.  After all, Hannah will not remember one thing about today so why was I going to add an enormous amount of pressure to our lives when we really didn't need to.  It just didn't make sense.

So, here is how the events of the day went.

Hannah had a doctors appointment today for her 2 year check-up (this was the only day that would work with our schedule).  Her birthday present from the doctor was a flu shot.  Not very fun, but necessary.  At least Hannah liked playing with the car in the reception area.

After the doctors office, Hannah and I went to Target to purchase some necessary items, and also to browse around.  She and I then headed to Pier One so that I could collect some decorating ideas for the house (the Pier One in State College just opened).  Then we picked up Nathan from work as he took the afternoon off in honor of Hannah's birthday.

Hannah, Nathan, and I went to Hannah's favorite grocery store, Wegmanns, and did some grocery shopping.  This grocery store has a running toy train that hangs from the ceiling in the dairy aisle.  Whenever we go to Wegmanns Hannah says "choo choo" REPEATEDLY.  She also likes to look at the lobsters (she calls them "obsters"), but you can't get her too close to the tank or else she gets scared.  We decided to do the grocery shopping today because Nathan has never seen Hannah get excited about the lobsters and the train as he is always at work while I grocery shop.  So, it was a treat for Hannah and for Nathan.

After grocery shopping we came home, changed into some comfy clothes, and ate lunch.  While Nathan was changing his clothes, Hannah put on his shoes and enjoyed being silly.  By the way, her outfit she is wearing is a gift from Grandma C (thanks Grandma).

Then we put Hannah down for a nap.  She wasn't going down at first so I rocked her in the chair and she fell asleep in my arms (which N.E.V.E.R. happens anymore because Hannah does not really like to cuddle).  I think the flu shot started making her feel crummy because for the rest of the day she was kind of grumpy and not her perky self.

After nap time we opened gifts.  Hannah was much more interested in the boxes and bags than the actual gifts (go figure).  Hannah got several dresses, a book, lots of clothes, little trinket toys, and money.  Thank you to everyone who got her presents.  I tried to take individual shots with her and the gifts, but she was not having it.  Sorry grandparents, but these pictures will have to suffice.

We then headed to the kitchen where we gave Hannah her cupcake to eat.  We were pretty confident that Hannah would not want to eat any type of cake as she is very picky with her food, so when we went grocery shopping this afternoon we purchased one cupcake (can you see why I didn't want to spend so much time making and decorating a cake?).  We put the cupcake on her tray and she cried.  Not kidding.

Hannah had issues with the cupcake, so Nathan and I ate it instead and got frosting all over our mouths.

After we got rid of all the frosting on her tray, Hannah asked for a bar (which means a Nutri-Grain cereal bar).  So, I gave her one and she was a happy camper.

Once Hannah was done eating her cereal bar, we put her in the bath and got her all ready for bed because Nathan and I had to attend a party elsewhere.  We gave instructions to the babysitter and snuck out of the house to go to the white elephant party next-door.

Those were the events of Hannah's birthday.  Not your typical birthday festivities, but she did enjoy most of them.  We love Hannah very much and these past 2 years have been an incredible adventure.  It will be interesting to see what the next year brings.