My-Town Swim Lessons- Angie

My boys took their first swim lessons from the neatest people, whom we've known for many years. Angie's Sharks and Minnows swim school is located in West Boise (near Centenial High School) and they are fabulous!! It's a backyard, heated pool and they have been teaching swim lessons for 22 years now! It's being run by Angie Hobson and her mom, Mary Gleason. Angie is the head instructor and is a SAHM of 4 kids. She has Kortney Belnap, a BYU college student that teaches with her. I love the way they teach children how to swim! My boys had Gina (Angie's younger sister) as their instructor a few years ago. They are all great with kids and really know how to make it fun and non-intimidating, which is so nice!!

My-Town Preschool ~Breaking News~

I finally found a reasonably priced preschool close by for my daughter! Yay!! Little Wonders is an in-home preschool that is located in Meridian (Linder/Cherry area). You've got to go check this one out if you are still looking for a preschool for your 3 or 4 year old in Meridian for this next school year! And hurry over because spots are limited.

I'm Still Alive

How's everyone? I have not posted in a long time it seems... And I am totally okay with it. Whew! I've had some catching up to do in other areas of my life, and I'm still not caught up. (Will I ever be??) Probably not, but I'm okay with that too I guess.

I've decided that I cannot do it all, and that it's OKAY! I've decided that my time is precious and is best spent with the ones I love the most. I just cannot figure out how some women can do couponing and blog about it too. Do they just not sleep? Do they have superhuman powers? I just can't seem to figure it out... And I'm not even going to try.

My most fave [me-time] hobbies/interests right now:
-Blogging
-Couponing
-The Biggest Loser (the only show I never miss every week)

My most important responsibilities/needs right now:
-My husband and children
-My primary calling at church
-My home
-My health (diet/exercise/sleep)

Hours in a day for all of it: Never enough!!

Something's gotta give!!
Right now I am raising a family and keeping a strong marriage. That is number 1.
I am the primary president in my ward. That is number 1 1/2.
A clean and orderly home... Number 1 3/4.
My kids mom, my husband's girlfriend, ME, myself, and I... 2.

Well, looks like the other stuff is going to have to come last. That's why I've not posted in a while. And I am not going to worry about it anymore. I am hearby releasing myself from regular posting on The Creative Homemaker.

I have a long list of things I still want to post about including Ideas, "Tutes", My Town shout-outs, and more. I've promised a weekly "blogger of the week", and a "keeping it real" series. It's all there on my white-board and all in my head! But it can't be on my priority list, so... check back again for more sporatic posts. XOXO

Happy Easter!

I just wanted to share a little Easter gift I recieved in my email inbox from a few different friends. So here's to the true meaning of Easter. Enjoy!!

Easter Dinner

What's on your traditional Easter menu? For breakfast we like to make eggs benedict with our colored hard-boiled Easter eggs. For dinner we usually have ham with "holiday potatoes" and all the the other fixins. Yum! This year we are getting together at my sis-in-law's for a more casual dinner of chicken salad on homemade rolls, salads, and dessert of course! Here are 2 recipes for my fave things to have with HAM- "Ham Sauce" and "Holiday Potatoes".

Some Fab Easter Egg Ideas

Here are some fun ideas that I have found and want to do this week. (May not get to any or all of them), but worth a try for some fun, creative Easter eggs!!

Homemaking Fun

Creations by Kara

We are THAT Family

Joys of Home

Explore, Dream, Discover

Sugardoodle... Conference... Attention LDS Moms!

I have put some of my creations on Sugardoodle.net over the last few months. I still have several more to send, but haven't had a chance yet. This last Sunday (3/26) I taught sharing time in primary about the counsel in heaven and the plan of salvation, and I tied it in with general conference, and how God gave us prophets as part of His plan to help us know how to return to Him someday. I made this plan of salvation visual aid and also cut out pictures of the scriptures, the Savior, Joseph Smith's first vision, temple, and President Monson speaking at gen. conf. from past Ensigns/Friends. When I did the lesson, we put those pictures up around the 'earth' when I tied in gen. conf.


Also, speaking of Sugardoodle.net (my most fave website!!) and general conference, there are a ton of great General Conference ideas and packets to chose from there!!

I'll let you know when I get more of my creations sent. I'll give you links to my other stuff when I get a chance.

BTW, we are heading to SLC in about an hour for the weekend. We don't make it over to UT too often, even though it's only 5 hours away. You UT gals... Is there anywhere I should stop? Distribution and Ikea are on my list. But I am also in need of a wheat grinder still!! I am leaning toward the Wondermill. I'm thinking UT might be the place to find the best deal. ??? Help?

Love you ladies!! Have a FAB conference weekend!! XOXO

I Love Girlfriends!!

Here is an email conversation I had with my dear friend, Andrea this week (one of my kindred sisters- and I only have a handful of them- who are so much like me it's almost freeky). I am sharing it with you because it really picked me up and gave me a virtual hug. I know it's long, but if there are any of you that needed to hear this too here you go. Anyway, thank you Andrea, for your sweetness. I love you...

Angela-
I was reading your blog post today and I just want to tell you....you are not alone!!!! Everyone of us feel like that at times. I too am a perfectionist and feel like if I can't do it all and do it right then why even try. I get overwhelmed really easily and sometimes try to bite off WAY more than I can chew. Here are a couple of things that I have learned.....
1. Doing something (even 5 minutes of something) is better than doing nothing at all.
2. Take a look at what you are doing and decide if it is stress or adversity. It is stress if you have control over it and are doing it to yourself. It is adversity if it is something that is happening to you that you have no control over.
3. Pray
4. Take 15 minutes and do something for yourself....especially if you feel like you don't have time to do it.....that's when you need it the most.
5. You can't fill anyone else's bucket if yours is full of holes. You can only give what you have inside you. If you don't take the time to refill you eventually you run out and everything around you falls apart.
6. Find a friend that you can unload on. Dump it. Cry. Get a hug. Then get up and get going again. They are more than willing to shoulder that for a time. I'm sure there are other times that you have been the one who has been that friend.
7. Go to the temple. There is peace there. Sometimes in this crazy world that is the only place you can feel it. It puts things in perspective.
8. Find someone who is worse off than you and help. It doesn't have to be anything big. Sometimes it is just walking thru the grocery store and smiling at 5 people.
9. Look for something to be grateful for. At one point in my life (when I was at college) I had a roommate that made me tell her at least 1 good thing that happened that day. There was one day that I just couldn't. There wasn't anything good that happened. She finally told me "Well....at least you weren't run over by a bus." Somedays that is the only good thing that you can say. Everyone has days like that.
10. Hang in there! If you are at the bottom the only place to go is up.

Life is overwhelming. "Stuff" in life is overwhelming. When you are feeling that way Satan knows he is winning. He wants us to feel helpless and hopeless. All I can say is hang on. Things will work out. It takes time, but challenges change and we grow stronger from going through them.
You are NEVER alone!
Andrea

Andrea- You are such a sweetheart! Thank you for all the sweet advice you sent me. I am going to print it off and put it somewhere I can read it again. Girlfriends are such a blessing, to keep each other going and lift each other up. Yeah, I have been doing some really hard thinking the past week or so about my heavy load- all that I put on my own self. I look around and see other moms doing just fine doing a thousand things and keeping up and everything looks beautiful on the outside. I think to myself, if they can do it so can I. I am wonderwoman you know. J NOT!!! Aren’t they??... Just like Sis. Tanner says… We compare the eloquent things others do and say (at their best) with our worst. I am trying to remember that. Satan knows how to get each of us down, individually. I’m just trying to push him away right now. Thank you for your kind words and inspiration. It made me cry, and was exactly what I needed to hear that day. Thanks for being a friend and lifting me up. Love you, Angela

You are very welcome. I hope it helped some. I think I needed to write it out for me more than I needed to send it to you. I'm going through the same stuff right now.

We are all really good at comparing our worst to someone else's best. I think sometimes we just need to sit back and take a good hard look at what we are wanting to accomplish. There is a time and a place for everything. I've been struggling with this same thing. I teach 14 piano students, have [3 other kids] and another one on the way. I have gestational diabetes already and I'm on insulin. Pregnancy isn't an easy thing for me. I just go downhill from here on out and end with a C-section and a new baby that keeps me up all night. I had to look far enough ahead to drop a lot of things out of my schedule. [I may have to] "let someone else down" so I have enough energy for my kids and husband. The thing I keep going back to with all of it is that there is a time and a place for everything. I just have to decide if right now is the time for all my piano students, newsletters, church assignments, etc or if right now is when I need to place my family as #1 and put in the time with them. I know the answer, but still want to think I can do it all.

([...] are things that I changed to make it shorter.)
(Then she sent me that song in the next post...)

I Can't Do Everything

I can't do everything.
I know because I've tried.
I told myself I could
And then found out I lied.
I believed with all my heart
That I should do it all,
But I can't do everything
and when I try I fall.

I can't please everyone.
I know because I've tried
I needed their love so much
Sometimes I compromised.
But the more I live and learn,
The more I clearly see
That I can't please anyone,
Until I'm pleased with me.

So here I am asking with all my heart
For the feeling I have been dreaming of.
Just fill the empty spaces that keep us apart,
And help me find myself in your love.
'Cause I can't do anything
Without some help from above
And I can't please anyone until I know I'm loved.
And I believe I'm loved.
-Michael McLean

"You are loved! Your Heavenly Father loves you. Your husband loves you. Your children love you. You have many friends and family that love you. Sometimes we tend to forget that, or it gets lost in all the "clutter" of our everyday lives. You can't do everything, but you can do something. You would probably be really surprised about the number of people's lives that you touch. They are most likely looking at you and saying the same thing...."If she can do it why can't I?" It always surprises me when I hear other people tell me that I have it all together. I don't! Believe me I wish I did, but I don't.

Hang in there. Things will get easier or your ability to deal with them becomes greater. I truly do believe that with all my heart!" -Andrea (my dear friend)