Monday, April 11, 2011

Speeding

The older I get the slower I drive. When I lived in Boston I drove at reckless speeds because that's what everyone else drove. I was just keeping up with traffic. I actually thought I was doing traffic a favor by not clogging up the lanes. Now, that I am oh so wise at 31, however, I still speed but I check myself at about 5 over. I don't care that people are ten feet from my bumper or that there is a pile up behind me on our one lane roads out here. The speed limit is 35, that means I don't go 55, it means I go 40. In the past I have felt almost self righteous in my "safe speeding" mentality. I always figured God didn't care about such trivialities. Yes, thou shalt not steal, thou shalt not kill, thou shalt not commit adultery, check, check, and check. But what about some of the lesser laws. As a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I also "believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law" (12th article of faith). So does that mean that my breaking a law at 40 (even though I know I'm not going to be stopped by any cop) is the same as breaking the law at 55 (most cops should stop me at this point)? On my way home from seminary I had this awful dilemma. If I believe Christ suffered for my sins, is he suffering for my little speeding habits too? Do I unconsciously cause Him more pain every time I put my pedal to the metal? I'm in a very real moral quandary here so any thoughts would be greatly appreciated, whether you are a member of my faith or not. Thanks for your help.

Sunday, April 10, 2011

We Believe in MIRACLES

Just a heads up for those who may be curious. Matt still has no internship for the summer and has less than three weeks before the end of the year. What started out as a stressful thought in August has turned agonizing over the last month. It doesn't help that even jobs that seem perfectly tailored to Matthew still inexplicably say no. We don't get it. His career counselor doesn't get it. His classmates don't get it. We know the Lord has a plan for us, we are just hoping He lets us know what it is before too much longer. In addition, I am still sans child. We have officially made it to the 4 year mark of trying and failing at having children. A year ago, I had my extremely low thyroid diagnosed and addressed and in the past few months, due to some other issues, I have found that I have not only one problem that often leads to infertility but two more. All unrelated, but all having significant effects on my ability to conceive. In another month the other two will be looked into via minor surgery. I'm hoping that these are the last two issues to fix before babes start happening. As such, our new mantra in our home is "We Believe in MIRACLES". We know they happen every day, and we know that the Lord loves us, so with enough faith, maybe they will happen for us VERY SOON.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Newest Projects

I've had a couple of projects mostly done for the longest time but not entirely finished. As such, I've finally gotten around to completing them. Like the flannel rag quilt pictured above.

Now this pictured quilt is a special story. My maternal grandmother, God rest her soul, had a goal to make a quilt for each of her MANY granddaughters when they got married. Well, I took my own sweet time getting there and she was getting older, so on a visit to my parent's house with my aunts she decided it was time, married or not to make my quilt. The group of women went to the fabric store to buy the material. My grandmother picked out some material my mother knew I would hate (I am sorry to say that I am indeed a picky sort) so my mother convinced her to let her buy the above fabric instead. At home, my aunts cut out the material and appliqued the flowers. I think their enthusiasm for the project waned at that point because that's as far as it got.

Months later my mother gave me the supplies and told me if I wanted my grandmother quilt I would need to finish it. I complained that it didn't seem fair somehow, that my grandmother quilt was purchased by my mother, cut out by my aunts and finished by me, but she was firm. If she finished it, she said, she was going to keep it. Keep MY grandmother quilt, for shame. So I took the fabric and put in a pile for years. At some point I finished the top and even put the layers together and pinned it, but there again it layed in a pile for another few years.

Finally a few days ago, I got around to quilting, tieing it and binding it. It's not my favorite quilt as we all know how I'm fairly partial to stars (see first pictured quilt and really any other quilt I've posted), but it is sweet and maybe one day my own daughter will take a fancy to it.

Two projects down, now I have just one more. We'll see how long it takes me to get around to that one.