With Room For Improvement...

My Christmas present last year was a new sewing machine. I didn't know what I was doing but I gave it a try and sewed a couple things last week. I love my machine, it's easy to use which is so good for a beginner like me. Not scared away yet, planning on doing some more projects. The first thing I worked on was making eight colored cloths to put on tabletops as centerpiece decorations representing the Young Women values (see below). They looked pretty good at our New Beginnings activity.

My next project was to replace the zipper in my favorite skirt (which I haven't been able to wear for more than a year). That was a nightmare! But...it's done:)

Another Year, Another Great Day at the Ren Fest!

Last weekend my mom, sister, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, friend and I spent a full day at the Renaissance Festival. Its always a good time but this year was better then most. Here we are with the head guy from Tartanic, a Scottish band we watch every year.

My friend Carly and I while waiting for the show to start.

This was a new act, Barely Balanced. It was a mix of acrobat stunts, juggling and comedy. We all enjoyed some good laughs. If you can't tell, she is juggling butcher knives while he is balancing on a plastic pipe.

This is London Broil, our all time favorite show at the festival. They were hysterical as always.

The joust to the death was even better then ever. This year they introduced new weapons and the show was well choreographed. To make it extra fun, we happened to be cheering for the knight who won (the guy on the left)!

This is my sister and brother-in-law who spent the day with us. What a sport they both were, he put on the skirt (I mean kilt) and she kept up all day with just six weeks left till delivery!

Good times!!!

These guys on stilts came up behind her while I was taking the picture.

On our way out we stop for a picture with the Count. It was a magical day witnessing loads of talent, laughing constantly and being treated like a lady of the court. I didn't want to go home.

Comparing Ponzi Schemes

Neal Boortz recently posted this side by side comparison of the two largest Ponzi schemes used to steal investor money in this country.

Another big difference between the two schemes was the fact that Madoff's victims invested their money voluntarily, while Social Security is funded at the point of a gun. Madoff's investors stopped giving him their money as soon as it was revealed to be a fraud. IRS is still forcing people to pay in to the SSA even now that's its collapse has been revealed to be imminent.

Superbowl Party

We were invited to view the Superbowl at a friends house in Chandler and it was a lot of fun. A huge high definition projector screen, surround sound and lots of food!

My Favorite Sport

It had been 7 1/2 years since I put on this gi and had a go with Misty. There is a club in Tucson that we were able to go play at so we gave it a go. Unfortunately it didn't take long to rediscover and old injury but we went light and had a good time.

A little at a time!

My sister's house was left a mess by her ex who started renovating their house and then got lazy. Now, it's up to us to finish it. Thank you, thank you, thank you to Misty's friends who have put in some time helping out as well! In January we (Misty, my mom and I) took on the master closet. As you can see now there are missing baseboards and a lack of a wall unit.

Now this looks like a master closet!

The first week of February my mom and I went again down to Tucson and put on the grubby clothes in anticipation of getting dirty. This picture is a hallway that leads to a laundry room and bedroom. Misty finished the drywall the week before along with taping and mudding and here I am sanding it so we can start painting.
Here I am painting the guest closet which had been textured earlier by Misty.

While I was sanding and painting my mom and sister focused on the spare bathroom. Here my mom is replacing the outlet (the old one was a mustard color, yuck!).

Misty is replacing the light fixture above the vanity.

Here is what the old light fixture and vanity looked like, except at this point we had already removed the mirror from the wall.

Hello Beauty! This is an amazing transformation!!! Gonna look even better when we replace that blue shelf with one that matches the vanity. Already have the shelf just need the fixture to hang it. That will be done the next visit.

Did you all know that we were electricians, painters, plumbers, carpenters, etc.! You can do anything you put your mind into! By the way, Misty laid tile in her entryway the night after we left...by herself! Yes folks, my sister is amazing.

New Year, New Calling

Most of you have heard the news by this point but I wanted to share some pictures. The last week of December I was called as the Young Womens President for the Gila River Ward. I was a bit shocked but real excited. There are 22 girls and keeping up with activities (ward and stake), Sunday lessons, and personal visits has been somewhat of a tornado. I love my two counselors and getting to know them and the girls has been the best part of the calling. Below is an activity where some played volleyball and others sculpted ice cream and candy.

Like my owl? The work of a true artist!