Love isn't love 'til you give it away!

This Valentine's banner that Becky cut and sewed for us made me happy all month!

And also, my Valentine table runner (that I made last year when I worked for Kim) brought smiles anytime I looked at it.

This sign/quote did too. It's on my kitchen window sill where I see it each morning. It inspires me to go and do. 

So I decided to do some old-fashioned Valentine's door ditching. I gathered tags and ribbon , giant sugar cookies from Old Grist Mill and a variety of Valentine candy. (The tan tag is actually a tag that Scott's sister Jill made for us, along with a plate of fabulous cookies and chocolate candies. All handcrafted by Jill...she's amazing. )

I found cards and stickers to help add loving messages. 

I had a good supply of these cherry M&Ms that were made just for Valentine's Day, I  had to hide them because I knew Scott (and I) would eat more than his share, and I definitely wanted to give a bag to my friend Dorothy who loved them but never could find them in December. The red candy colors are so pretty.

We wrapped up the M&Ms - and laughed at the red "spokescandy" trying to look romantic. Wrote some cheesy words and tied on the cute tags. Dropped them off, but weren't fast enough to do the door ditch thing. 

Now you won't believe this. Scott made banana bread - yes by himself. He gave it away too.  

 We had a grand Valentine's Day, Scott and I, taking goodies to neighbors, staff at work, visiting teaching friends, etc. We talked to family on the phone and opened e-cards from our grandkids.

These Valentines came to us from little Lizzie. The Doc McStuffins theme was adorable and perfect for Dr. Raymond.

sNowflaKe cooKies

It's snowing today! Finally. 

This picture is from before Christmas, and I put it on Instagram, but I love it so much I had to blog it too. Aren't those cookies gorgeous? The frosting decorations were exquisite and you can't see, but they looked glittery and sparkly too. 

For my snowy picture, I knew I had to place the cookies on the perfect plate. I love the white white Waterford china. I bought one dinner plate and one salad plate when Dillards in Logan closed and their china samples were half of half price. Those silver squiggle-swoops are my favorite. 

My daughter-in-law Sierra and her mom made and decorated the cookies. Sierra and Leslie are awesome at things like sugar cookies and caramel apples and holiday celebrations with fancy food to match. For their Chinese New Year party last week, they had Mike cook Japanese food for them, and they had cute decorations and probably homemade fortune cookies. I love how they do things up right! But I'm most impressed with their sugar cookies (because I love to eat them). Leslie's recipe not only looks great but tastes delicious (the icing too). I probably ate most of the cookies myself because, unlike Scott who can forget food, I kept sneaking into the kitchen for one more nibble. 

scRapbooking nowadaYs

Scrapbooking! No, I haven't done it lately, but I sure have enjoyed looking at what others make. It's still alive and (sort of) well. Many scrappers have taken their layouts to an art form as you can see from the examples that follow. I'm amazed by their creativity and dedication to their art. I admire the companies who continue to design gorgeous product. The photos are from the blog of an Australian scrapbook distributor called Aussie ScrapSource. 

I just love watching trends and seeing how they change. Right now there seems to be an emphasis on texture with lots of layers and clusters of product on light-colored (or sometimes chalkboard-ish) backgrounds. The one-photo layout is still popular. Lots of scrappers are adding interest with stencils and spray mists.

Heidi Swapp

Carta Bella - Bella Blvd.

Sizzix

BoBunny

Jillibean Soup

Studio Calico

Studio Calico

ADORNit
The last image is the pretty Capri Collection from ADORNit where I once worked as writer and editor. It's actually not a new collection, but I included this layout because I came up with the name for the papers and fabrics: Capri. A simple but nice name that made me think of sunshine, sea scenes, and happy vacations. The girls on the layout are the owner/founder/artist Carolee McMullin and her daughters..the ADORNit girls...also a name that I developed! 

a little bit of readiNg

Yesterday I wrote a blog post about a book called The Rent Collector by Camron Wright. I had read about half of the book when I decided to blog it, and I made some negative comments. Well, all day today, I felt bad about writing about a book that I hadn't finished. So I decided that this evening, after I went to the gym and had dinner, I'd finish the book and then revise my blog post.

As it turned out, I enjoyed the book very much. It is filled with interesting characters, an engaging story, and lots of retellings of classic literary tales and legends. There are twists and turns in the plot, surprises and sweet moments. The author also weaves a bit of history into the novel.

It is a novel that is based on true experiences and real places in Cambodia. The story takes place in a huge waste dump where people actually live and barely survive by picking recyclables from the trash to trade for a bit of money each day. Their existence is possible because of their hard work and the way they take care of each other.

The writing is good and not annoying. The conversations are real and events believable. One thing I didn't like is that somewhere in the middle, the teacher gets out-of-character preachy. That's when I skimmed through several pages until the story got back on track. I also skimmed through the retellings of several myths and legends - mainly because I was pushing to finish the book tonight. I plan to go back and read the stories because they're the soul of what the book is trying to teach.

The book is about a young mother who learns how to read from an unlikely teacher - the cruel woman who collects her rent. As the reading lessons progress, stories unfold and lives are changed. I have to say how refreshing it is to read a book without worrying about uncomfortable content or language.

As I read, I paused to appreciate the miracle of learning to read. (I have grandkids who are learning to read, and it's something we take for granted.) I liked the celebration of the joy of having a book to read. I felt gratitude as I finished the book and looked at the stack of novels on the table beside me waiting to be read.

There is great background material about the author and his writing adventure, as well as a story synopsis in this review in the Deseret News here. 

Sierra and Mike

I took this photo right before we hugged these two goodbye and sent them off on their next life adventure. Mike has an awesome new job in Utah county at Verio. It's a huge company that offers online business solutions to businesses worldwide. Mike graduated from USU in 2012 in Management Information Systems and worked an IT job at Icon to get some good experience. And he went "above and beyond" and studied, took exams, and became Red Hat certified...that's a good step in the IT world. It all paid off, and he's about to start something new and challenging. Meanwhile, Sierra finished school, finished student teaching, worked several jobs, and graduated in December. Her major was Special Education and her student teaching was with older high school and post-high school students. Everyone says it and I agree that it takes a very wonderful person to do the kind of work Sierra does and loves.

They're not going far, but for Scott and me it's pretty huge because we loved having them here in town as they dated, were engaged. and during their first year of marriage. They'd come to the house to hang out and do their laundry and for Sunday dinner. Now we're alone in Logan. All of our kids and grandkids live out of the valley...though thankfully, within easy driving distance. We know we'll be spending lots of hours in the car between here and Las Vegas with stops in Salt Lake, American Fork, and Orem.

I love all the Keep Calm signs. This one is perfect for Mike and Sierra's past, present and future! 

sKi daY

On New Year's Day, Scott tried to convince me to go skiing. That was just simply the LAST thing I wanted to do. I was still cleaning up holiday decorations and trying to put my house back together after all the December fun. So I said NO. He took it well and spent the rest of the day helping me.

Well, that evening I was talking to Becky, and she mentioned that they were going skiing the next day. Totally surprised myself and Scott by inviting us to go along. Before we knew it we were driving to Salt Lake, then following them into the lodge - look closely and you can see Becky with baby Hollis in her car seat and Emmett being carried by Pitt. (It's hard to walk in those heavy boots.)

Skiing with my daughter and grandson? Couldn't miss it. And, I had a motive that would let me ski less and let Scott ski more...I'd be a good Grammy and tend the baby in the lodge while the others skied...which is exactly what I did.

Can you believe this 4 1/4 year old?! His dad has taught him well and now he's skiing by himself and loving it! Last year and the year before he skied with an adult keeping him upright by using a harness. This year, he's on his own and doing great! You wouldn't believe the slopes they tackled. No bunny hill for this kid!

Scott, Emmett and Pitt at the favorite Solitude photo spot.

This makes me happy and Pitt happy and Becky especially happy. 

That's me in black on one of my four awesome runs. Four runs is just the right amount of skiing and the non-mogul slopes take away my fears of injury. 

Becky and Emmett and blue blue sky. The name Solitude is perfect for this uncrowded and beautiful ski resort.

Little Hollis spent six hours in the lodge with hardly a whimper. What a sweetie! Becky and I enjoyed tending and tater tots almost as much as skiing. 

2014 quilt challenge

I'm trying something new! I'm participating in a yearlong quilt project. It's the Aurifil Block-of-the-Month Quilt Challenge.

The information about this challenge is here on Pat Sloan's blog. She's the host of the online event and she has made the first block and posted some tips to make the block quickly and easily. She also interviewed the designer who created the block - her name is Brigitte Heitland of Zen Chic Quilts. 

Aurifil is company that produces fine threads for sewing and quilting. They have twelve quilt designers who will create and share a block each month. One reason I wanted to do this is to learn the stories behind the blocks. The designers are supposed to make a block in honor of a woman they admire. Follow along and the result will be a nice quilt at the end of the year. 

I decided to use my stash of ADORNit fabrics from when I worked there. The colors are so pretty with the grays, blues and reds. and I think they'll make me happy any time of the year. 

'twas the day after Christmas

We used to be tired and grumpy on the day after Christmas. About five years ago, we started a tradition of ice skating and lunch. It got us out of the house and away from the toys and treats for a little while. We love it. This year I sent an email inviting lots of families, and the turn out was awesome! The Eccles Ice Arena, our local (indoor) rink, provides "walkers" for the kids to skate with, plus they let you take strollers on the ice. So everyone from babies to toddlers to oldies can enjoy the skating. 

This little sweetie is only two years and a couple of months.

And Suzie, Winston and Lizzie are from Las Vegas where they don't do ice!

Go Brookelyn!

That's Carter in the front - he was skating on his own after an hour. 

My sister and his son and family came from out of town!

Three generations on the ice. 

Mike and Sierra missed the ice skating last year because they were on their honeymoon. 

Look at the size of our group - and it's not even everyone!

Cute granddaughters.

Becky and Emmett - he wanted to wear his helmet - they're cool now and that's neat!

Emmett and dad watching the zamboni groom the ice after the two-hour skate session.

* Ringing in 2014 *

We started our New Year's Eve celebration at a restaurant that had a special buffet. We've eaten there for several years for New Year's Eve. We always take the last seating which starts at 8:30, but it's usually pretty crowded when we arrive. Well, last night was way different with very few customers and all the help in "go home mode" (yet it was still three hours until the new year). We laughed our way through our meal because the place was weirdly quiet (their sound system was "broken") and the waiters abandoned us to get ahead of us in the buffet line then go eat on the other end of the room...you can see them in the background. 

It was so pathetic it was funny. We had to get our own pitchers of water and clear our own plates. The dessert table was mostly empty - only the cookies were left. We had fun in spite of all of the above. As always, our friend Marty put a positive spin on it by saying, "It was like we had our own private dining room." 

After dinner we went to Ken and Marty's house. That's Marty with dark hair and my sister-in-law Lesa.

Marty always creates beautiful table settings with beautiful flowers that she arranges and lovely dishes. 

We were so full from dinner that we only had sparkling cider and ginger ale to drink.

 The girls.

The guys. Scott couldn't help himself.