Church Stuff

So...

Early this month, we held our annual Young Women in Excellence for our Young Women.  It ended up being super awesome.  We did the theme as 1 Timothy 4:12:
 

We did everything black and white.  White table cloths with black decor.  We painted punkins black and white and glittered them too like this without dots:

We used newspapers as tablecloths on the display tables.  Even the desserts were black and white.

We had white Christmas lights all over and vases with black and white ornaments as the centerpieces on the tables.  I printed off the values with scripture and theme here in black and white.  Each Laurel wrote her testimony and we typed it to kinda look like this, but in a frame and used them as centerpieces as well:

Go here for this awesome idea.

It was absolutely beautiful.  One of the girls said, "It was so pretty in there I thought I was at a wedding!"  I was so happy to have Vanessa help me out with the decorations and for the other leaders who helped decorate.  It really looked wonderful.

The handouts turned out so cute.  One of my Beehives was helping with YWinE for her Integrity project and helped make the invitations and the handouts.  This is sort of what they looked like:

Okay, so we didn't do it on wood (cost and sanity saved!) but we did have her cut out the "be" part on black and white paper, then glued it onto really cute and complimentary black and white paper.  Then I wrote on a tag "thou an example".  Then we put them in 8 x 10 frames and they looked adorable.  We put them all over the display tables and anywhere that needed a filler.  For a template, go here.

We sang "I'm Trying to be Like Jesus" and did the theme, scripture, and intro to Personal Progress.  Each young women had a place to display things they had done in Personal Progress, school, sports, and other talents they had.  We had the young women who got their awards this year speak.  They did absolutely amazing.  It made me so happy to listen to them.  One of the girls did a musical number where she played the piano and sang at the same time.  Awesome, right? 

It was so nice to be able to brag about the young people and the amazing things they do.  All in all, I would do it all over again.  I'm really lucky to serve in the Young Women program and I am so happy to have the people I serve with.

janalee

Making Mistakes

Well, this post is all about how stupid my week has been.

Soooo....

I was just waiting at the church for some girls who had a meeting so they were running a tad late to Young Womens.  We were going to see an awesome production of West Side Story.  I had taken a book to read, but then thought, "the church is empty, I am alone...I could play the piano and actually enjoy it."  Side note:  I am not very good at playing the piano, but I wanted to see if I still could play some songs I used to enjoy.  Another side note:  If you are in my ward and tattle that I play the piano, you will be in trouble.  Haha.  So I put my phone on silent so it wouldn't be disrespectful and go off in the chapel.  I placed it up on the piano so I can see if the YW text or call me when they arrive.  I'm playing the first song and totally relaxing.  I had been having a week that I wish would just go away and everything just seemed a lot better in that moment. 

Don't worry.  It didn't end there.  I go to change the page when I have finished the song, and I bump the piano and my phone falls...INTO THE GRAND PIANO.

Seriously.  Who loses their phone in a freaking piano??

So I'm trying to get to it, but my hands aren't freakishly long and thin, so its not doing anything but hurting my hand.  Then, my phone starts to vibrate.  Its ringing.  Awesome.  I can't get to it.  So then, a girl comes in and says, "I've been calling you and you haven't been answering!"  I said, "Yeah, cuz my stupid phone is in the stupid piano."  HAHAHA.  I was SUPER frustrated.  So we got a spatula and tried to get it out.  I can only imagine what people would have thought had they seen us.  Finally, she said, "The play starts in fifteen minutes."  I said, "Okay...we're not really getting anywhere with this, so we'll go and pray the whole time."  So we get going a little ways when a police car comes behind me.  "OH NO!  Court...my Driver License is inside my phone!!!"  I have an old phone that flips open to a keyboard and when I don't want to take my wallet, I put the DL in there.  Stupid?  Yep.  She said, "Relax!  I'm sure this happens all the time!"  "Really?  Idiots get their phones holding their Driver License lost in pianos ALL the time?"  HAHAHA  Wow.  She was so kind.  "This won't matter in the end, it will all be okay."  I asked for her to call and let them know we are coming.  She hands me the iPhone, and I have NO clue how to use it.  She said, "You don't have an iPhone?  Janalee...This is a BLESSING!  Its God's way of saying, get a smartphone!"  HAHAHA  She is awesome.  As luck would have it, we got to the play before it started.  So I went and asked my Bishopric to help me after.

Then, the anxiety came.  How much will this cost?  How will I get the photos off?  I'll have to get a new Driver License.  What about all my contacts?  And what about all the stuff I have written so I don't forget or lose the info.  IDIOT.  Why am I so dependent on a PHONE???  I didn't calm down and with every song, I got more upset.  Why did this happen?  Seriously.  I'm so dumb.

So after the play, which was a sad story, but good, we went back to the church.  Just as the Bishop is saying, I don't think there is any way for us to get to it without breaking the piano, he sort of pulls this one part and it came straight off!!!!  MIRACLE!  I grabbed my phone, SO THANKFUL that it was finally free and I could stop worrying.  We all were so surprised it worked out!  I said how thankful I was and immediately texted Courtnie, and the others I had told about it!  Everyone said, "Its a miracle!"  And I agreed.

So, when you have a bad day, and you think you are dumb, ask yourself this question:  "Am I so dumb that I got my own phone with my Driver License stuck in a grand piano?"

I hope that the answer will be "no" for everyone else.

janalee

Learning

Yo! Yo! Yo!

Its been a long time, hasn't it.

Sorry, I've been a flake.

I have been busy being busy for too long.  Here are some things I've been learning:

• Doors are WAY bigger than you think they are.  Wait, do you often think about doors?  HAHA.  I'm an idiot.  I painted my front door and when I started, at 7:30 pm, mind you, I thought, "This won't take long at all, and then it can be open for two hours and dry and I can go to bed by 11."  LIES.  Once I got halfway done, I thought about stopping and letting it dry so I really could go to bed by 11, but then thought, "Oh well!  What's sleep, anyway?"  IDIOT.  I did the first coat of paint that night, and knew I needed better light to get it just right.  I came back at 5 after work and got to work immediately.  It went much better that time.  The final project turned out like this:

• Life doesn't ever happen the way we think it will.

• Harry Potter is magical.  Seriously, I am LOVING reading those books all over again.  I still can't stand Snape.  Spoiler Alert:  I know what happens to him in the end and why, but he had no reason to be sure a jerk to Harry.  If you really loved Lily, maybe have a little respect for her son, even if you did hate his dad.  Lame.  <Insert mean joke about his greasy black hair here>

• Finishing what you start can be hard sometimes.  For example, if you start to make a coat rack in August, and it still isn't done in October, you probably need to finish it, even if you don't really care about anything.  You might end up with something that looks great:

 

the pictures inside are these:

For some reason, I can't find the one of Alexa and me...So here is one from way, way back of she and I.  

Aren't they so cute?

•  I am so behind about Christmas shopping.  I know most people will groan at this.  I just have to spread it out so I can afford it.  Its coming quickly (cough, 69 days, cough) and I still have a few people on the list who need prizes.  Hopefully I'll get done in the next month.

• I love Argentine pasta.  Juli taught me how to make it.  It is really easy.  Wanna know how?  Take an onion, red pepper, garlic, and if you want, a yellow pepper and put them in a pan with some olive oil.  Let them simma, then, after a while add a package of ground beef.   Pour some salt on it, and if you like it spicy, some crushed red pepper.  When that is all cooked up, add two 8 ounce cans of tomato sauce and stir it, stir it real good.  Put it over linguine noodles and you will be in Heaven.  Seriously, soooo tasty.  Blog post and a recipe.  I must be feeling super generous today.   ;)

• Audio books might be the most awesome thing I've found in quite a while.  I usually listen to music all day, but it has been a pleasure having To Kill a Mockingbird in the background this week.  So good.

• My nieces never cease to amaze me.  Children are such a blessing, aren't they?  Ava asked me so many funny questions at our lunch date the other day.  It is so fun getting to know them better every day and being able to see a change in them.  They get better and better the older they get.  I always thought it would be awful for them to get big, but it is just as much fun as when they are little.  They are always learning and it is so much fun.
  
  Anyway,  That better be all for today.  Hope y'all have a wonderful day.
  
  
  ~janalee~

books and reminders

My niece and I have been reading Charlotte's Web and finally finished it this week, two days before school started.  I am pretty tenderhearted when it comes to stories about friends.  I will be honest.  I cried when Charlotte was dying and after she did die.  Now you might be thinking, "You are a grown woman!  Why would you cry?"  I have read that story several times and it always gets to me.  This time around it reminded me of a beautiful girl I was friends with who passed away nearly five years ago.  I couldn't help but think of her.  She was like Charlotte:  strong, kind, wise, funny, smart, etc.  She helped other along life's way and never ever made me feel bad about myself, always built me up.  She also left behind her child for someone to watch over.  As the anniversary of her death, I have been thinking of her dad as well, who passed away with her.  He was such a great man.

Kennedy, my niece, sat listening to me read when Charlotte is telling Wilbur she won't be coming home with him.  She said, "Why are you crying?"  I said, "Because I know what Wilbur feels like."  I kept thinking of how different life is when they are gone.  I remember walking into the house the first time and every time after that, expecting them to come talk to me, or at least be there.  What a weird void.  And by weird, I mean awful.  I guess that is the point of life though.  To love others and find our way back to them. 

Anyway, this is probably a ridiculous post, but it is what it is.  I love that book.  I love my dear friends.  I miss them.  I am going to go cry for a minute now. 

janalee

Laughter

If you want a good laugh, watch this:

Posture!

Friends

So, I have some awesome people in my life.

When I served an LDS mission in the Oregon Eugene, these wonderful people came into my life.  Rhonda and Don are two of my favorite people and have made an impact on my life.  I cannot express the love and admiration I have for them.

They were coming to Vegas for a wedding and I was lucky enough to get off work a little early due to a power outage and make it down in time to spend some time with them.  The ride home wasn't even that bad considering the fact that it was so late.  Good thing for good music and friends.  I am so thankful for them!

So anyway, I know I look like a hot mess in a lot of the photos, but I love them anyways.



Other friends I should blog about are the friends who gave me spiders.

When I first moved in to my new home, I had spiders galore!  Like out of control.  We're talking huge, hairy, nasty-asty, spiders that I had to vacuum up instead of stomp on.  (Not very Oregonian, I know.)  Anyways, I posted on FB "Spiders: 0  Janalee:  8" that week.  This past week, we had a game night and they surprised me with money spiders!  They are made with tons of tiny pins, pipe cleaners for legs and pom poms for eyes, and instead of being covered in hair, they are covered in dollars!  How cool is that?  And look at how cute they are:

Super cute!!!

I have great friends and I feel so blessed.  Shout out to all my homegirls from game night.  I love you guys!

Welp, I am happy!  See?

And I hope you are happy as well.

Janalee

Dressing Up!

Yo yo yo.

So I bought this gem of a dresser from a yard sale for 10 bucks:

Look at the contact paper, people.  Look at that.  It was covering the entire thing.  The lady had stapled it after she had previously glued it down.  Because, as we all know, glue doesn't work on paper....Wow.  It was quite the time getting the contact paper off.  If you search on Pinterest.com, it will tell you to blow dry the paper and it will come up.  I tried that and it didn't help at all.  So I used a fancy stapler remover like this:
 
Combine that with wet towels to get the paper up more, goo gone, and dish soap and water, and it might work out.  It made my hands super raw though, so they were gross for a few days.  Oh well.

Anyway, I scraped it off as much as I could, let the towels work their magic for a few hours, and removed the paper from the dresser.  The goo gone and soap help get that nasty glue off.

Then, I primed that baby.  It smelled awesome in my house.

Then it was time to paint that sucker.


And I couldn't decide if I should do it black or blue.

So I did both.  First I painted it black and applied a second coat.  Then I put tape over parts of it to make a chevron pattern.  Its not perfect, but nothing ever is.  So, alas, here is the final product.

I know a couple of them are a bit crooked, but its all good, right?  Anyway, I'm just glad that bloody contact paper is out of my life!

Janalee