Peeling potatoes used to be my least favorite chore in the kitchen, until my son taught be a trick he made up. This technique is a game changer when it comes to peeling potatoes. It makes it so much faster and easier.
My favorite food is creamy, velvety mashed potatoes. Pelling potatoes used to be my least favorite chore in the kitchen when making a Thanksgiving meal. What is your least favorite chore? Comment below and let me know your thoughts.
Free Downloadable Recipe
This is a perfect craft to do for families you Minister to, neighbors, and friends. It's an easy craft that can be done for a young women's activity, achievement days, Seminary or any other time you would like to celebrate Easter, but still remember the reason for the season.
My favorite motto is, "focus on the good and bury the pans." I’m sure you’ve got to be wondering what bury the pans could possibly mean. In order to understand what this is all about, I’m going to tell you a little story about my mother. When she was growing up she didn’t learn a lot of the basic skills she always wanted to know. When she first got married she wanted to make a fabulous dinner for my dad as a surprise. Her first try at cooking consisted of meat, potatoes and gravy. Not exactly a beginners meal, but she didn’t know any better. Well not one thing turned out as she planned. In fact all 3 items were scorched beyond recognition and 3 of her pans were ruined beyond repair.
When you don't know how to cook
And you don't know how to
clean a scorched pan
what do you do?
My mom was so sad and upset. The burned pans stunk up the entire house. She didn’t know what to do, but in her embarrassment, she took the ruined pans and ruined food out to the back yard, dug a hole, and buried them.
My mom took the ruined pans and ruined food out to the back yard, dug a hole, and buried them
Then she just sat down and cried. Oh, how this breaks my heart to think about. We all have times in our lives when metaphorically speaking, we burn the food and the pans. It’s not a matter of if, but when. The question is, what are we going to do about it? My mom decided the only way to learn how to cook, is to humble herself and admit that she didn’t have the skills she so desired. When my dad got home from work, she confessed that the meal she was trying to make didn’t turn out. She asked him if he knew how to cook. Turns out he did. They spent the night bonding and cooking. He taught her how to cook delicious mashed potatoes, and gravy.
Mashed Potatoes and Gravy
Later on in life, my mom’s gravy became the most coveted commodity. In fact she learned how to cook up masterful meals out of basic ingredients. But in her pride, I don’t think she ever admitted to my dad, that she had buried the pans in the yard. I feel like that is A OKAY. Everyone doesn’t have to see when things don’t go right, but it is a good idea to not give up.
My mom’s willingness to try and try again has really rubbed off on me. In fact, I’m sure that is why I am such a DIYer.
diyismyhappyplace
My mom learned how to do everything that needed to be done around the house. She took my little brother to a barbershop and told the barber, she only had enough money for one haircut, but she had a lot of children. She asked the barber if he would teach her how to cut little boys hair.
I can still remember sitting out in the car
watching through the window
as my mom learned how to cut hair
I can still remember sitting out in the car watching through the window as my mom learned how to cut hair. From that day on, with one little lesson, my mom cut all of our hair. She eventually had 9 children and we all were blessed that she knew how to cut our hair.
She also realized in order to cloth 9 children, she would need to learn how to sew. Similarly she took one sewing lesson and then worked and tried and failed but eventually became a master seamstress. It didn’t happen overnight.
In order to cloth 9 children, my mom learned how to sew
Some of our haircuts and some of our clothes were not top notch, but eventually, in time, her efforts paid off. In fact, she made all the bridesmaid dresses for her daughter’s weddings, and sewed or reimagined 3 wedding dresses.
If an appliance quit working, she would go to the library, check out a book, and learn how to fix it.
Aberdeen Public Library
Checked out a book to learn how to repair the vacuum
She started with a vacuum cleaner and over time, she became mechanically minded and even fixed some of our vehicles over the years.
One day I asked her how she knew how to paint, do electrical, building projects, plumbing, so many other things. She told me, if she didn’t know how to do something, she would find someone who did, then ask them to show her how. Then she would just try and try until she got it right. I’m sure many attempts at projects got buried along the way, but she kept trying. Her, GIVE IT A TRY spirit really rubbed off on her kids. I guess that is why 3 of my siblings have actually built their own homes. I’m not that ambitious, but I will admit there isn’t a single surface inside or outside of my home that I haven’t updated, remodeled and changed. I guess that’s where I get my DO IT YOURSELF ambition.
I too will try just about anything. If I want it, or like it, I try to figure out how I can build it, create it, reimagine it, or make it, but on a tight budget, just like my mom used to do, but she didn’t have the luxury of youtube how to videos, or home improvement stores or even the Dollar Store. She lived out on a farm, far from stores. She did almost everything on what she could grow, trade, or muster up on her own.
There is a movie called Apollo 13. It reminds me of my mom and myself. The rocket malfunctions while on a mission. They have to figure out how to fix it based on what they have on the rocket.
So now you know my type of DIY. If you would like to follow me and my progress, please follow my blog and my youtube channel. And remember “Focus on the Good and Bury the Pans”
When I was in my 30’s, I lived in a community where there were 3 different women’s volleyball leagues within a mile of my house. They were categorized as upper, middle and lower division. I’m a pickup volleyball player at best who never even played in high school outside of Physical Education class. I played basketball and thought maybe at my age I should try an “easier sport” so I figured volleyball would fit that bill. I tend to be competitive by nature so the thought of joining the “lower” division seemed out of the question. I assumed that would be the league were goof-off inexperienced players would be. I decided in my head that I needed to, at the very least, be in the middle division but I thought maybe I should be in the upper division. I met a new friend at the park who was looking for an alternate player for one game. She played in the middle division. I jumped at the chance.
When I got to the event center that night ready to play, the team captain, who happened to be my husband’s boss, asked me if I was a setter or a hitter. This was the first clue I might be out of my league. I didn’t know what the difference was. Let’s just say, the entire evening I made an entire fool of myself. I was the only person on the court that night that served underhand and don’t even get me started on my skill level. I would jump up at the net as if to block a shot, but the reality was, I had no idea what I was doing. The idea of volleyball being an easy sport was quickly thrown out the window.
For the next year, I spent every spare minute learning the game of volleyball. I learned what a hitter was, a setter, a libero and every other volleyball term. I recorded every volleyball game that came on television. I would watch it meticulously trying to learn who was moving where and why. Even going to the local high school and college games as often as I could but the bottom line was, there was no way to really become a volleyball player without some coaching and practice. I remembered back when we were warming up the night of my "first" volleyball game, someone asked me if I would like to pepper with her. I needed to learn what it meant to pepper. No volleyball game I watched told me what that was. As it turns out, that is a term used during practice. That’s exactly what I needed. I needed practice. After all, practice makes permanent.
FYI the definition: To pepper, two players face each other separated by a distance of 5–20 feet (2–6 meters). Distances vary based upon the players' preference. Player 2 starts by hitting or tossing a volleyball to player 1. Player 1 then passes the ball back to player 2 starting the drill.
I finally realized if I wanted to be a volleyball player, I needed to find someone who knew the game to teach me and to practice with me. I got a group of ladies together to make up a practice team. I knew I needed to learn things that couldn’t be taught just by watching. We practiced daily for a couple months and these sweet ladies taught me the basics. We got ourselves a sponsor and some matching t-shirts and joined the league, in the lower division.
This group of 8 thirty something ladies, who had not previously been in the volleyball league, were essentially out of our league. Even though every person on my team, other than myself of course, had played in high school, we were all out of practice. The big parable for me was, just because you watch the game of volleyball, or even played the game at some point in your life, does not translate into being good at the sport 15 years later. It took a lot of practice, and years of playing together before our little team worked our way to the top of the lower division. We even ended up taking lower division grand champions.
Eventually some of the other lower division teams started complaining that we were unfairly in that division and needed to move up to the middle division. Now that was a huge accomplishment.
Even though we had come a long way, I personally never made it to the level of my dreams. I never got the skill to jump up in the air, smack the ball as hard as I could to spike it down on the opposing team, perfectly in the back corner of the court. It would take far more practice and learning to ever get to that point, and let’s face it, a community league volleyball team is not worth that sort of effort. At least not for me. So, let’s transition the volleyball story over to another similar situation I find myself in today. It’s a tiling project I took on in the same manner I did the first volleyball game.
My Dream of being a great "Spiker" was never realized!
What does this have to do with tile? Well...
The only way to understand the predicament I find myself in right now you need to have a little background. About 6 months ago, I was in the Habitat Restore looking for a couple odds and ends. I love doing little fixer upper projects around the house. D.I.Y. shows and videos are an obsession, but my personal skill level is mostly in the painting area. I have painted things that probably shouldn’t be painted, like linoleum, mirrors, counter-tops just to name a few. Huge goals include turning trash into treasures. Confidence builders came along the way like when I took a torn, worn-out leather sofa, stitched it up and threw some stain on it. I remember thinking to myself, if this doesn’t work it’s off to the dump. Surprisingly it turned out, good as new. I guess I was building up my “Do It Yourself” confidence over time.
Jump forward to me walking through the Habitat building supply store looking for my next project when I saw a huge area of brand-new tile. It had a sign on it, “NOT FOR SALE.” I have picked up lots of building supplies over the years for little projects, but they have always been leftover shingles, or an odd sheet of siding I would turn into a shelf or fix a bookcase or something rather small. I even built a shed in the backyard from leftover building supplies from this store, but I never came across enough building supplies to do an entire construction job. Yet here at this second-hand store was brand-new tile. There was so much for sell I could tile an entire showroom floor. I found out it was not for sale because it had not been put into the system yet. They told me it would be for sale the next day.
I rushed back first thing in the morning. All night I could hardly sleep. The thought of getting beautiful, large format grey tile for a steal consumed me. I was in love. I helped my sister cut some tile about 20 years earlier, so in my mind, I was practically a professional. Even though my bathroom floor is still looking awesome with my painted linoleum, let’s face it, tile would be a huge upgrade. Maybe this would be my chance. Let’s just make a long story short. When the tile went on sale, it was such a good price, that I ended up buying and entire pallet full. I lined up a moving company to pick it up and deliver it to my house.
It’s been sitting in my garage for 6 months while I watched one video after the other online to teach me how to tile. I would freeze the television on every frame that had tile being set and analyze exactly what products were being used and how it was done. Watching youtube tiling videos became an obsession. “Remember my volleyball obsession?” It was the same thing. Once again, I tried to do something without practicing before the big game!
In my mind, just like the volleyball game, I thought I was better than I was. I decided not to start with the bathroom after all. I had so much tile, I would go for it and take on my large family room. As it turns out, being a first-time tiler, and starting with large format tile, was the equivalent of joining a volleyball team that was out of my league. Having no set skills to fall back on makes it a huge undertaking. My estimate of how long it would take to lay the tile was 3 days. It turns out I only average between 20 and 30 tiles a day. I have been working for a solid week and I still have around 40-50 tiles to go just to finish one room. It took a week to get the floor prepped for tile, that’s another story, and don’t even get me started on the grouting. At this point, my body aches all over, my wrists are swollen, and my skin is having a reaction to the tiling mud. This morning, before I can even start tiling, I need to let some Tylenol kick in.
Here I am with a smile on my face Because I am only just starting I have no idea what I'm in for...
After working a week
Still not done
Usually, when working on home improvements, I love the process almost as much as the finished product, but I have to say, when it comes to tiling, it’s not my favorite. I just keep going, slowly, saying in my head, over and over again, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can. Oh, I can’t wait until I can say, I knew I could. Oh, I hope I get to that point!
Rather than posting the perfect family photo, this post needs the REAL family photo
I decided to post a real, unfiltered story about myself. I am a blogger who has been off my game for a little while. It's like I am flying around the airport but not landing very often. I love to do remodel projects around the house and blog about them. For about a year now, I haven’t updated my blog because of a condition I have been dealing with. I do plan on getting back to blogging soon but for now I want to share a very personal story.
Many people suffer from migraine headaches. I have a different sort of migraine condition. I don’t have headaches and pain, but rather episodes of amnesia or weird fading in and out of amnesia. Other times, I am completely fine with no memory loss. It’s very weird. I have had many tests run over the past year or so and have been under the care of 3 different neurologist. It’s a rather rare condition but I’m not the only one.
One person who was suffering the same condition as me had an episode while having a brain scan done. My doctor told me the scan showed what looked like heat waves going on in the brain that causes the fading in and out of amnesia.
Now that I know exactly what it is, I am more aware when it is happening. It is frustrating to me when it happens at inconvenient times. During my worst episode I couldn’t even remember my own kids’ names.
Luckily it eventually passes and then I am back to my normal self. Whatever normal is for me.
The first time I had a real bad spell I ended up in the hospital for a few days because it mirrors the symptoms of a stroke. For about 6 months the doctors even called the episode a stroke until they had finished with all their brain scans and were able to rule the stroke out.
It is so rare they don’t even have an official name for my condition or if they do, I can't remember what it is called. The only way I know to describe it is amnesia during a migraine.
While having an episode I sat down and thought long and hard how I could describe what it was going on inside my head. The best way I can describe it is I feel like my thought process has to go through a black hole in order to get to the other side. Common sense and things our brains usually process easily every day can get bogged down in what feels like mud in my brain.
At times I can't even remember who dear friends are.
Just like any other migraine it can be very strong or so light you hardly even know is there so most of the time I am able to plow through my daily life somewhat normal. When I am having a light migraine I just tend to repeat myself a lot. It can be very upsetting, even for someone who always likes to look at the bright side of things.
I am not making this post to complain, or to draw sympathy, but rather to bring to light that every single person has an unperfect life. Social media might make it appear that there are no troubles and we may feel like we are the only ones with hard things. Or in some cases social media makes it appear as if all of life is one big mistake. I would like to think that neither one are a true representation. Life is a test full of ups and downs. We each take the good and take the bad because it is all part of the package and that's ok. My issues might not show up like a broken arm so many might not even know, but I'm sure every person in the world has their own set of challenges. Some are visible and some are not, but regardless, we are all doing the very best we can with the cards we are dealt.
I always like to look on the bright side of every coin. It is just my nature. For this reason I would like to share a tender mercy in my life. At one point I didn't know my kids names or even what a glass of water was. When I would try to talk, my words got all jumbled up. The only word that has never gotten jumbled or lost in translation for me is the word, “Tim.” Tim is my rock and my world. He is my husband, best friend, and my constant through life. Today is our 29th anniversary. I love him so much and I’m so grateful for the best companion a person could ever wish for.
I just found out there is a bomb threat at my son's school. Some parents are picking up their kids. What would you do if this were you? This is a copy of the article that was posted a few minutes ago.
Three tweets threatening sent Monday morning warning of a bomb at Papillion La Vista South High School are being investigated by school administration and police.
Papillion La Vista Schools spokesperson Annette Eyman says the tweets came in one after another on Monday, from an account that was newly created. That account has since been taken off Twitter.
Papillion police searched the school, finding nothing. There are extra law enforcement officers at the school today and the FBI has been contacted. Investigators are working to determine the individual who sent the tweets.
The tweets were from a twitter account and read, in part, "@PLSHSTitans I am serious, I will bomb the school during the day and shooters will be in the building this week, watch out here I come."
"I have bombs made. This week I will bomb the school and put lives in danger, watch out."
An email was sent to parents and an announcement was made to students of the threat, however, school remains in session. Eyman said, "If parents want to call their children out of school, it's certainly the parents' choice as always."
Another News Post
By Marjorie Sturgeon. CREATED 1:21 PM
PAPILLION, Neb. (KMTV) – School officials are investigating threatening Twitter posts directed at Papillion-La Vista South High School.
A spokesperson for the school district says authorities were notified about Twitter posts after they were discovered Sunday afternoon. The district also sent an email to parents Monday:
"We want to make you aware of a situation we are dealing with at Papillion-La Vista South. An anonymous bomb threat was made to our school on social media. Law enforcement was immediately contacted and they are aggressively investigating the situation. We do have additional police presence at the school today. We can assure you we are working with the police to do everything possible to identify the source of the threat. We want to assure you that we are taking all measures to make sure our students and staff are safe and continue to operate in a normal fashion. We ask for your cooperation to help keep this situation in perspective and if your child has any information, please contact a school principal. Thank you for your support and we will keep you informed as more information becomes available."
The posts made on a Twitter account that has been suspended made reference to bombs and a shooting at the school.
Police searched the school, but didn't find anything suspicious, according to school officials.
The FBI and local police are investigating.
Update. At 9:00 p.m. the student was tracked down and caught. It was a hoax.
The thing I love most about children, is their absolute innocence. There are so many times when you misjudge, or get frustrated with a child, when really, they are not trying to be bad. A lot of our trials with children really stem from communication and understanding. At times it would do us all good to slow down and try to remember what life would be like if we didn't know everything we think we know.
I have a great friend who has a child that puts everything in her mouth. I'll call her Lizzy, (names have been changed). We were getting in an elevator and little two year old Lizzy saw some food on the ground and before you could blink an eye, she had it in her mouth. I'm not sure if it was a piece of chicken nugget, or dog food. Either way, to this little girl, it looked as good as anything else she might be asked to eat.
Later on in the evening, she was lucky enough to find some already chewed gum on the ground. In her mind, she figured it looked delicious and interesting so she popped it in her mouth. After her mom told her to spit it out, five minutes later she spotted a discarded cigarette. She felt the need to pick it up and taste it too. This is when my sweet friend recognized the need to stop everything, and get down and look into her sweet child's eyes and explain in detail, on a level she could understand without confusion, why we don't pick everything up and put it in our mouth. What a great teaching opportunity and parenting moment.
Had she punished this little girl at this time, she still would have missed a wonderful teaching opportunity. This same day I witnessed a parent on the complete opposite end of the spectrum. I was standing in line at a store when a father and son who appeared to be about the same age, around two years old, came in. As soon as they entered the store the oxygen in the room seemed to get sucked out. The father was yelling and screaming and calling the poor little guy names. At one point, his phone rang and he talked the same way to who ever was on the other end of the line. I looked at this little boy and he seemed to be mentally crushed and broken. I just wanted to scoop him up in my arms. From my perspective this little guy was expected to follow a set of instructions far beyond his capacity to understand. In the end both the child and the parent were left angry. Neither one was satisfied with the outcome.
I look to the bible for help whenever I wonder how to handle the raising of a child. “For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth” (Hebrews 12:6). I know at times we need to chasten our children.
President Boyd K. Packer has observed that when a person in a position to correct another fails to do so, he is thinking of himself. Remember that reproof should be timely, with sharpness or clarity... and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy.
I love it when I see a parent who does this in such a wonderful manner.
For Me, The Jury Is Still Out I would love to hear your thoughts
I don't know if I am completely crazy, or if I am the only one, but I think there might be others out there who have had struggles figuring out the workings of ebay.
I decided I would try a new challenge in my life. I have heard about ebay and I might have even purchased something from ebay once years ago, but I have never sold anything. Last week I put 10 items up for sale on ebay. As items were sold I started getting messages from the buyers that the Paypal account was not letting them pay for their item.
I spent countless hours looking through and reading ebay and Paypal, checking to see if they were linked and what the problem could be. Finally I called the help desk and after an hour of trouble shooting we figured out what was wrong. It seems crazy to me.
It turns out that you need to have a business account rather than a personal account with Paypal in order to sell items. Basically the IRS needs to know if you are making money. I'm fine with this, and it makes sense now, but am I crazy, or does it make sense that the EBay system shouldn't even allow you to list items for sale at all on their system until you were set up with the proper account?
Has anyone else had any struggles with this or am I the only one?
