Star Light, Star Bright

Here are just a few pictures from the Starlight Parade!

Our ticket into the VIP seating

Our reserved seating!

Aren't these neat hats? Pixie was very reluctant to put this on. She only did to humor me.

Noodle cradling all our glowing flowers.

Picture of a Picture-taker (Pixie); a family classic!

The VW shirts were my favorite costume!

Blue one!

The Alaska Airlines float which my sister-in-law was aboard

My sister-in-law greeting people

A set of glowing Drum Majors

A parade is complete when there are at least four stormtroopers around.

The wonderful signal to the end of the parade: the clean-up crew!

Like I said, these are just a few pictures from that parade! We had a lot of fun. My nieces and I are determined to be in the Costume 5K Run next year that starts off the parade. They keep thinking of costumes for us to wear!

Stay tuned for more pictures from the wonderful month of June!

Citizen of Busytown

I seem to be averaging one post a month this year. I'll have to change that soon.

This month has been a whirlwind of weekend activities! All my weekends have had some kind of event. The first Saturday, I attended the Starlight Parade with my nieces and nephew. What an amazing time we had! Because of their mom, we had the opportunity to sit in reserved seating for the parade. The Starlight Parade is perhaps my all-time favorite parade because all the floats have lights. Even the bands had glow sticks on their uniforms and even on some instruments! We took a lot of pictures- practically every float except of the ones we missed as we ran down the street to keep listening to a band- and shared a lot of laughter!

The second Saturday was the Grand Floral Parade, and I was privileged (once again thanks to my sister-in-law) to sit in the Colosseum for the parade. Here's a fact I bet you didn't know. The Portland Grand Floral Parade is one of the only parades in the world to go through a building! It was a wonderful parade and a beautiful day. This year the Rose Festival was lucky to have such great weather for both big parades!

Last Friday was the bridal shower I threw for a good friend of mine. The shower was quite a success I am happy to report! The food was worth the lack of sleep for making it! However, I must say that my favorite part of the food display was the amazing center piece. The shower's theme was Kitchen and Recipes. For the center piece, I purchased a small colander and a bunch of chrysanthemums. We placed a bowl of water underneath the overturned colander and poked the flowers through the holes! I was so delighted that it turned out so beautifully. As the shower was wrapping up, the bride remarked to me that it was everything she had wanted for her shower! Success!!

This last Saturday held a wonderful event. I treated my niece, Bookworm, to a Portland Mormon Choir & Orchestra concert where the guest artist was none other than Jenny Oaks Baker! It was probably one of the best concerts I have ever attended! The music was so beautiful and inspiring that I can hardly wait to resume band in the Fall. I could feel the Spirit very strongly as Ms. Baker poured her testimony of Jesus Christ into her music. What struck me the most about her playing was how much she moved her body while playing. She conveyed emotions and dynamics with her movements. It was quite a sight and a great experience. Bookworm and I shared some great experiences that I will expound upon more when I post the pictures from that night.

This weekend holds the Regional Youth Dance Festival that two of my nieces are participating in. I've been hearing about this event for a while and am very excited to see the fruits of the youth's hard work. This week also holds the restart of my business. Hopefully, I can see the fruit of my labor as I get this business rolling.

That's all for now.

Small Accomplishments

This week brought the beginning to a grand (and grueling) adventure. I started training for my first 5K run. Crazy, I know. I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to do this. Oh yeah... I wanted to be healthier and more fit. I am using a training schedule my sister-in-law suggested to me that trains a non-runner (me) to run a 5K in about nine weeks. I downloaded a podcast to my iPod that guides me as I run. 


First, I must say that the Northwest has greeted my return with open, wet arms. It rained 26 of the 30 days in April, which for those of you not in the Northwest is a new rain record. Anyone who knows me will tell you that I love the rain more than practically everyone. Yet, I am not quite ready to go running in the rain. I suppose that would cut the need for a shower afterwards! I had to find a break in the weather this week to fit in my run.


Today was my second run for the week, and I feel a small sense of accomplishment. I finished the workout- start to finish without stopping! I can't tell you how grand that makes me feel. It gives me a sense that I will be ready on time for the 5K if I keep going!!! That's the key. Two days ago on my first run, I could only do five of the eight 60-second runs. Then today, I did all eight!! I really had to push myself on the last one, but I did it! This is teaching me that I can do anything as long as I remember to push myself to the end. That's the key- pushing through the hard parts to reach the end.


Paka


*Pictures of my journey West still to come!*

Fashion-forward Scriptures

Today, I started and finished a project! Back in October, I made a tote for my church things. I now have a coordinating scripture case! Take a look!

I used the same fabric as my tote but chose to use the other side instead. I'm pretty happy with how my scripture case turned out. It took me about two hours from start to finish, not including the bobbin situation I had. The best thing about sewing is learning new techniques. I had never made a buttonhole before, so I was quite apprehensive about that part. I found the Instruction Manual for my sewing machine online and read how to make buttonholes. After doing three test runs, I decided to make the buttonhole on my case.

I am quite impressed with my little machine's abilities. I hope to explore this summer more of what this baby can do.

So, what do you think?
Pretty good for not using a pattern on either one, huh?

A Sure Foundation

We learn in Corinthians that "old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new". This is true with shoes. After years of loving my 'every day' shoes, they finally have gone the way of the earth, or at least into the garbage can.

It is best to replace something when you throw it away, and that is precisely what I did. I am now the fashionable owner of these new 'every day' shoes:

So far, I've been happy with them, and I think they will serve me quite well as I work towards my first 5k this summer. My true purpose in going to the shoe store was to find a new pair of high heels to go with my new black dress.

After visiting six stores, I found my fabulous new heels. I love them! They are different from all my other heels and have quite a personality about them. Yes, my shoe addiction has officially started thanks to these shoes. I can say that I am not the only girl who feel in love with them.

My niece, Little Miss, loved my shoes. She didn't want to give them back! Here is a picture of my nephew, Imaginator, wearing them while Little Miss was complaining- hence being up on her toes.

She had great balance walking in my heels; of course, it helps that her foot sits only in the toe of the shoe. I was still impressed.

I can tell you what our Aunt-Niece outings will be when her feet stop growing! She's my little fashionista!!

Good-bye Friday, Hello Sunday

With this new month comes a new work schedule. I am super excited about the change. My supervisor called me into her office last week to talk about my schedule. I mentioned that I am free Friday afternoons, and she offered that she would love to have me work the Friday evening shift instead of Sunday! One of the downsides is I won't be able to participate in any activity held on a Friday, but an up-side is I can attend the next CES Fireside.

Oh, this is such a great blessing for me. I can't tell you how much I have missed a peaceful, relaxed Sunday in the last three months, one where I can take time to ponder what I learned in church. This change is definitely something I have needed for many, many reasons. I love it when a window opens somewhere and how the Lord knows our needs and our wants!

Hurray for Sundays!

Birthday Celebrations Part 2

When I got home after school on my birthday, I discovered my bedroom had been birthday-ified by my roommate, Utes.

That night, my visiting teacher treated me to a movie! It was such an amazing movie. We went to see Invictus, and I haven't enjoyed a movie so much in a long time. It's a really uplifting movie about the South African Rugby team and their win in the 1995 World Cup. The story is very powerful and moving, showing that people can move past differences and come together. I highly recommend it to everyone!

What movie would be complete without treats to enjoy during the movie? None. I felt so loved by my visiting teacher because she payed for the movie and for our treats. She even bought me my favorite movie snack: chocolate covered pretzels!

Friday, my sister-in-law and I celebrated our birthday by going out to eat. We chose eat at one of the only Outback Steakhouses in Utah. I'd never eaten there, and the food was FABULOUS!! Outback Steakhouse is my new favorite restaurant as of that meal. Here is a picture of our amazing salads and the Bloomin' Onion.

 That was honestly one of the best salads and steak dinners I have ever had. They can expect my business again!

My last birthday activity was a movie marathon with another of my friends. We watched The 10th Kingdom, or at least most of it. That movie is one of the best epic fairy tales. I enjoyed having WinCo muffins, hot chocolate, and pizza during the five hours that we watched of the movie. We haven't finished it yet, but I already know the ending. I'm not chomping at the bit to find out what happened.

All in all, my birthday this year was quite a birthday! I don't think I could have asked for more. Thank you to all who were involved in celebrating my birthday!

Love you all!