WV Conf: Take Me Home, Country Roads

I spent last weekend down in West Virginia for yet another YSA conference. It is starting to get hard to keep them all straight! This year WV opted to hold their conference at Jackson's Mill, a camp with some history. It's part of the WVU campus.

Truth in Advertising!

After months and months of sounding like a broken record  promoting this conference to the other YSAs in our group, it was finally time to go. I had a full car going down- my friend Kaitlyn sat up front with me and we had two guys from our fhe group in the backseat. If I wasn't driving, none of them would have had a way to WV! The trip down took about 5 hours, it took longer because of the rain and traffic and pitstops needed.

But we got there just in time for....stupid Get to Know You Games! Why, they're my favorite! {Sarcasm Sign}

I was forced to play, they had several teams rotate through activities. I am proud to admit that I did well during Musical Chairs- I lost out when four tried to become three. Out of a group of 14! We all have hidden talents. Oh, and I faked needing to do something with my phone so I could escape church-themed charades. How would you portray "Fishers of Men"? I don't know either and didn't want to try.

Once again, Get to Know You Games don't really let you get to know people. Although they let you see who's cool under pressure.

 Some poor girl dumped a ton of water on herself and all over the stage and floor during apple bobbing:

Running around with a kite attached to your hat- how sexy!

Is it now clear why I hate GTKYG? At least they weren't SFGTKYG.

No, I didn't participate in either activity. Though gosh, they looked fun. {Sarcasm Sign}

The real fun that night was the bon fire. Our speaker told the story of his first date with his wife- a bad date story that puts most bad date stories to rest! What an amazing woman to see past all that. It was fun to hang out with my friends and joke around. No photos of the bonfire- kindof hard to take pics in the dark.

Saturday was an early breakfast (7:30 am!) and then classes. First was a class where you covered a small military size Book of Mormon with fabric and doodads using irons and Wonder Under. It even has a magnetic closure. Pretty sweet.

Yup, mine's the aqua one!

Then it was finger-poking fun at woodcarving!
Here's what ours was supposed to look like:

Mine is *not* that far along. At all.

After lunch was Geocaching. I'd never done it before so it was fun to learn how to input coordinates and find stuff. My guy partner (not pictured) was less than desirable but I survived.

Then we got to watch an educational lecture from a raptor bird sanctuary/rescue place. They rehabilitate hurt birds of prey and use the ones that can't go back into the wild in their demos. It was an interesting show, it was neat to see the birds.

We saw a screech owl, "Owlice"

 A broadwing hawk named "Neo"

 ...and a tame red tail hawk named Annie that was probably stolen from the wild and tamed (illegal!).

This bird can really poop. Let me tell ya.

Later came free time and we walked down to the General Store. Saw a Civil War camp reenactment and people in period dress.

Reenactment with guns:

Fed the big koi fish in the pond:

After dinner, there was a speaker, the Mission President of the WV mission. He spoke about the theme and how there is really only one road to God and it's up to us if we're near or far. (Are you thinking about Grover at this point? I was!) It was a good talk and uplifting.

And since we were in WV, you gotta square dance. It's the law. I got roped into square dancing which was fine but I was so mad that I got tricked into having to be partners with a girl. And we were the only same sex couple in the entire room of 6 groups. They needed one more couple to complete a group and had run out of willing boys. At any rate, it was mortifying. And fed several complexes of mine. Probably other people didn't care that it was us girls, but I was mad that I was tricked/forced into it, mad that no guy wanted to be my partner in the first place and just mad. I have not been that mad in some time. Definitely the low point of the conference. Our group kept messing up too on account of our partnership- the guys kept trying to dance with me and would forget that I was "the boy". Or I'd forget that I was not supposed to do the girl part. I was so glad to be done with that! Other people looked like they were having fun, it was fun to watch my friends dance. Some groups did very well.

Then came the real dance, I was glad to groove my anger away. It actually was a pretty good dance and I did get asked to dance once. I did run away from some undesirable men, though. It was too dark to take a pic during the dance but I wanted to show off my new shirt so here you go:

We slept very well that night.

Breakfast again at 7:30 am and then Sacrament meeting. There were some really wonderful testimonies borne.

Sunday best:

Kaitlyn, Mitch and myself

The campgrounds were lovely. Spring has come to WV and it was great to have warm temps (could have done without the humidity), green grass and blooms in the trees. The cabins were really sweet looking and nice inside. Because it is Jackson's Mill, there are millstones everywhere.

Even in stone foundations:

The mess hall was a really cute building:

Our cabin, Marion:

Entryway of our cabin, note the two millstones above the fireplace:

 West Virginia rocks!

Some lows during the conference, but overall a fun weekend!

It was nice to get away and take a break.

Even though this conference served as a big reminder that I am not "young" anymore!

Sigh...

Random

Hmm...what have I been up to these days?

I am glad to report that I have been fine since my kidney stone.

Been keeping busy with school.

And really busy with church stuff.

Last weekend was great, I loved Conference. So uplifting.

The weekend before that was so FULL of church stuff that I was hardly home!

Singles dinner, RS luncheon, YW broadcast, Branch Council mtg, Church and YSA testmony meeting all in two and a half days!

Yikes!

No single guys came to the Single Adult dinner...just six gals including me and also a bunch of married leaders.

Anybody wondering why I'm still single?

Hmmm...in other news...

Dad cleaned out his coat pockets:

We keep getting dustings of snow:

The Jr High kids are doing great with the projects we do with them:

And Laura got another puppy to raise to be a guide dog a couple days ago:

Randy is very flexible! Let's hope he'll be a good puppy. Grant had the nickname "Tasmanian Devil" for a reason.

We don't have babies at the Chaney house. We have puppies!

I did get to be a mom for 30 min this weekend during conference- held a 6 mo old baby so his mommy could use the potty and get their stuff together. He spit up on me too, I got the whole mommy experience! And it was funny how many compliments I got when I was holding the baby in one arm and using the rug sweeper in the other! I can multitask. Sometimes.

His mommy said "Will you take the baby for me?" and I said "I will take any baby I can get!"

And yay I got my student teaching packet turned in! Gotta love paperwork. And paying for clearances. And taking Praxis exams. And gotta love it when your advisor forgot to sign a paper and you have to track him down or pay a $100 late fee!

My semester is over with in about a month!

I hope I have a fun summer!

That is, if Spring ever comes!

Break

I realized that I never did post about what I did on Spring Break. Is it really Spring Break when it comes way before Spring? It would have been more appropriately titled Winter Break.

I did manage to have some fun before I came down with a yucky cold. There are a few Washingtonians in my YSA group, and they had friends from WA come to visit. Laura and I joined with them and we formed The Washingtonians and had some fun in Erie. It's always fun to make instant friends in the gospel. Isn't it amazing when it's like you've always known each other?

We showed the visitors Presque Isle, and by the time we made it out there, the sun was setting and it was really lovely. I think I prefer the scenery there in the winter, it's so serene. I hadn't taken sunset pictures there before, I was glad I had my good camera with me. Lake Erie was very much frozen, and it was neat to see.

Yes, that is frozen Lake Erie behind me:

And it's nice to have Laura be my personal photographer.

I didn't do much else over break, tried (ha!) to clean my room. Got a few projects done or started. Spent time on the couch. Wanted to go to an art museum but didn't cause I felt crummy.

So there you have it. 

Sick and tired...of being sick and tired

More adventures for Ladybuglizzy...on Thursday night I started having incredible abdominal pain on my left side. Tried to go to sleep (and I was tired too) and I couldn't. That's a lot of pain if I can't sleep through it. After talking to my mom, I figured it was a kidney stone, but you never know. There's so much going on in your abdomen! What if it was an intestinal blockage, my appendix (some people have it on the wrong side) or another ovarian cyst?

My good mommy took me to the ER at one in the morning and we didn't get home til 5:30 am. That's love. And keep in mind the local hospital is not that great. Before we left, my dad said a prayer that my pain would be lowered and that I would get good care in the hospital and I'm glad to say that's what happened. Everyone who dealt with me was super nice and helpful, which is not always the case at this hospital. Prayer works.

By the time we got to the hospital, I had pretty much stopped hurting but it was still good to know why I had hurt so bad. It was pretty funny talking to the nurse since my pain scale is not the same as other people's pain scales. I have dealt with a lot of painful stuff throughout my life. Once you live through ear surgery while you're awake, you can handle anything. Someone else's 8 would be like my 5...

They took blood and urine, we waited for those tests. Yep, blood in urine, so off to catscan for my abdomen. Waited for those results. Yep, kidney stone. Waited for the rest of my IV bag to empty and then they let me go. While waiting for my IV to finish, I got some painkillers. I don't remember what they gave me, but it was good stuff. Helped me to sleep, but when I needed to get up and be functional, I was able to do so. I've taken painkillers in the past where I couldn't function, I slurred my words. Blech.

My parents and I were supposed to go on the temple trip on Saturday and didn't. My parents didn't want to be that far away from me for that long in case something happened. I felt bad that none of us went to the temple because of me- and my dad was actually going to go and I don't think he's been to the temple since I got my endowments out in 2002.

Well Mom called our branch president to cancel and news spreads fast in the Corry branch (thank goodness I didn't have something really really embarrassing!)- I got a phone call from my former branch president checking up on me. It was kind of him to call, but also a bit awkward since we don't usually chat on the phone. He had a bad ordeal with a stone awhile ago, I think he hurt for days. Somewhere in the short phone call he said "They say kidney stones hurt worse then having a baby" and I said "Well, I wouldn't know about that, huh?" and he was like "Oh yeah...well you should get working on that in the future." Only he would give me a zinger in the middle of a sympathy call, lol.

I spent the weekend sleeping and resting and taking it easy. Had a smaller recurrence of pain on Sunday. Didn't go to school Monday either. But part of that was the nail in the tire we discovered Sunday night. Overall I'm doing ok, it just stinks having to be functional and upright. I miss my couch today.

This is after having the flu and then a nasty cold. I'm getting pretty tired of being sick and tired. This needs to change! Between being sick and having a few snow days, I am missing too much school! I miss having a functional body.

Spring is coming, hooray! I need a change.



Kidney stones may not break my bones...but they sure hurt like heck.

Why Wait?

One of my sweet friends saw the embroidered dishtowels I had posted on FB recently and said something to the effect of "I'd love something special like that when I get married."

And that comment broke my little heart- why do us single gals put off the joys in life simply because we don't have a special someone?

So I asked her what her desired future kitchen colors were and made her a matching suite of embroidered dishtowels, towels, and a hotpad:

Sometimes the rules of life make me laugh- I'm not allowed to have matching, nice or cute things because I'm single and haven't had a bridal or baby shower? Where did I sign up for that?

Sometimes I swear I'm going to start throwing showers for my single galpals and myself...um, we like nice things too! Do we not matter?

It's all too easy to put off happiness and say "Well I'll have a cute kitchen when I'm married" or "Well I'll be happy when I'm married" or "I'll be happy when I have kids." But what in the meantime? You should allow yourself to be happy now. You are a worthwhile person now. Don't waste your time here on earth just because you're single and/or childless. Life's too short for that. It's easy to focus too much on the future and forget about today.

I don't discriminate- I made a different set of kitchen stuff for my friend who got married. Her desired kitchen colors were red, green, black and tan. She is in her early 30's and just married a great guy in the temple- gotta reward that.

So married or single, have a cute kitchen and seize the day.

Elder Scott

February 18th and 19th was a super duper busy weekend.

For starters, there was Snow Conference for the youth:

 It's a yurt!

I was all set to have one of my girls attend, and then when I went to pick her up she bailed- she was sick. I sat in her driveway- what to do? Should I still go even if I didn't have any youth going? I was pretty tempted not to go- the prospect of sleeping in (and not in a room of chatty teenage girls) was looking really good. Really good.

But I decided to go anyhow. I'd said I was going and didn't really have a way to contact them. Plus I enjoy myself at these things. And my friends would be there. It was pretty mild weather, our snow was melting.

Snow Conference turned out great. It's always nice to be places where you can feel the spirit. The kids had a dance Friday night (one boy asked my 19 yr old YSA friend to dance and was mortified to find out she was a chaperone! What a cougar, lol.). My friend Kaitlyn and I found ourselves talking to another leader I'd never met before. She was my age, married a younger man a couple years ago. She said to us "Oh, does this take you back?" and I was like, "Um, we're YSA- we've never left! We go to dances every other month or so and they aren't much different then this!". It was funny. Yeah most people my age don't go to YSA dances. Ha ha.

After not getting much sleep (chatty girls and 8am breakfast) we had classes on Saturday. We rotated through 6 classes in three spots- the girls cabin, and two yurts. I've seen yurts at home shows before, they're fun. Good classes- anytime you get to watch a clip of the Cosby show for a church lesson, it's great.

Overnight we got snow- and the temp had totally dropped. Good thing I brought my big coat and ice cleats!

I left after lunch and jetted about 3 hours in the snow and wind up to Palmyra because....

...Elder Scott was speaking in person to the YSA!

I found myself changing into dress clothes at the Palmyra McD's. I am getting talented at that.

It was, of course, a great meeting.

Elder Jay Jensen of the Seventy was also there in attendance. The YSA choir was actually really good. And I found it interesting that Elder Scott got up and stood to the side up on the stand so that he could properly watch the choir instead of just staying in his chair like everyone else up there. What a sweet man.

Elder Jensen spoke first and it was a really nice talk. He talked about how we are duel beings with a spirit and body. When God gives us revelation, he sends it to our spirits to direct our bodies. When Satan tries to tempt us, he sends those messages to our bodies in an attempt to enslave our spirits. He said that we surely had lessons before we came to earth- and the most important topics in that "class manual" were 1)The Atonement and 2) the family. He encouraged us to be a covenant Israel.

Then Elder Scott spoke. Would you believe that he has a sense of humor? He was sweet and funny that evening. He said we all needed a sense of humor in life. Would you believe that he wound up in a police station twice while dating his future wife? How funny is that? One time he passed a police car on the wrong side, another time they had car problems and a cop picked them up. And then he said "And she still married me." He was so sweet about his wife, he misses her.

Yes, you can imagine a lot of the evening was about dating and marriage. All good stuff. He talked about hard times- he and his wife lost a little boy due to a heart defect.

He said some words that I needed to hear- I've been worrying lately about what I'm going to do after I graduate- and of course I want it all laid out for me easy peasy. Well, he gave a reminder that that's not how it works, we go one step at a time. We can have a happy life, we have to put our faith in the Lord. I swear he was talking only to me when he said all that.

He also had a question and answer session. Some good questions were asked, some I kindof had to roll my eyes at. It was interesting to hear his responses. One girl asked about the disparity in the number of worthy men vs the number of worthy women in the church- what are us girls to do? It was interesting for a General Authority to come out and say that a lot of the women's opportunities for marriage depends on the choices that the men make- that they need to be making good choices. I don't know if I've heard men get called on the carpet like that before.

I really wanted to ask a question, but didn't have the opportunity. I wanted to ask for advice for those of us who are soon leaving the YSA program due to age. I also wanted to ask what the church is doing for those of us in this age demographic- I can't help but feel shunned or put out to pasture at times.

When he ended the meeting, he invoked several blessings upon the congregation, it was very special to be a part of that and hear such sweet words come out of his mouth. He invoked a blessing that  we would have protection from being manipulated by Satan. He invoked a blessing that we would be able to identify the boundaries in which happiness can be obtained.

And he invoked a special blessing on us sisters in the audience- that we can feel the Savior's love in our lives and have peace and guidance in our lives.

Don't rationalize happiness away.

I drove home in a windstorm and didn't get home til 2 am! And somehow I made it to church the next morning. I was Zombie Liz, but I was there.

I was so glad for a nap.

PA Life

I find myself doing a lot of stuff I never had to back home.

Like lug firewood around. A lot.

We only have a woodstove to heat with now.

It's been a bad winter, we've used most of the wood on our back porch.

Which means...

....taking an entire Saturday to move more wood.

Step 1: Dig a 35 foot trench through 3 feet of hard crusty snow so that you can reach the woodpile:

Step 2: Photograph the snow bridge that defies gravity:

And don't forget to document the "pouf" on top of the log:

Step 3: Dig a trench through the deep snow on either side of the pile so that you can reach the woodpile.

Step 4: Clear the foot and a half of crusty snow off of the pile.

Step 5: Redig your trench.

Step 6: Try to undo frozen knots in rope that holds down the cover on woodpile.

Step 7: Have you and Mom lift off a huge heavy piece of galvanized roofing material to reach the wood. Slice your ring and glove and almost slice your hand with the sharp edge.

 

Step 8: Have Dad jack up the truck and switch regular tires for ones with chains on them:

Step 9: Lug several loads of firewood via wheelbarrow while waiting for Dad to finish with the truck:

Step 10: Photograph the bare ground where the truck had been. Treasure the memory- you haven't seen the ground since Thanksgiving.

Step 11: Shovel out the three feet of hard crusty snow that lies in the bed of the truck:

Step 12: Climb up in the bed of the truck and shovel most of it out.

Step 13: Relay many many logs into said back of truck. Pray truck doesn't get stuck in driveway. Move truck by house.  

Step 14: Relay said many many logs from driveway onto back porch.

Step 15: Have Mom model her fabulous hairdo.

Step 16: Kick her off her 'bench' and fill it up with many many pieces of wood.

Step 17: Hurt so bad the next day that you can't function.


Step 18: Document your pain so that you have plenty of stories to tell the next generation: "When I was your age..."


Oh and did I mention that it rained and snowed on us all day and was freezing cold?

Coming Soon to a store near you...

I often joke that I want to write a handbook for Old Marrieds on how to deal with us YSA (cause we're a different species, don't ya know).

In my frustrations in dealing with people, I decided to turn my pain around...into something funny.

So here we go- the books I long to write:

And then I decided that us singles needed books too:

We need to educate the young people so that these prejudices don't continue:

{I started laughing so hard I was crying when I thought of that last one in my car.}

Keep an eye out- if things keep going as they are then one day these will be at your local church bookstore ;)

Four Hours of Motherhood

No makeup- this is reality!

No, I didn’t have a baby, but I babysat a 15 month old little boy the other Sunday. Remember me talking about The Latebloomers and their adopted baby? That’s who we babysat for the first time- at our house. Well, the Latebloomers moved into our branch this summer and Bro Latebloomer just became our branch president which I’m hoping means less inquiries about my love life. The Corry branch now has a baby in it, which is pretty unusual. And entertaining- it’s nice to have something to watch during Sacrament meeting!

Laura was off babysitting her Primary kids, so Mom and I tag teamed for Lil’ Droopsnoot. He screamed for a couple minutes after his parents dropped him off at our house, but that’s to be expected. And there’s just something about Mom that makes every baby within 10 yards of her cry- it’s been our family joke for the last 20 years. I joked with Dad that 15 months is the best of both worlds- he’s mobile AND not potty-trained! Oh, joy.

I picked him up from Mom and wiped his nose and he settled down. I spent most of the four hours that he was at our house on the couch with him on my lap, he was happy there and we weren’t about to disturb that. We watched Toy Story movies and some old Muppet Shows- he was mesmerized by the Muppets singing and dancing! I know you shouldn’t have the tv babysit your kids, but it made our experience a lot easier!

I fed him Cheerios and soon learned that if I had too many in my hand that they went all over the couch. He ate applesauce while on my knee at the table and Mom was daring and fed him sweet potatoes while he was on the couch with me. Miracle of miracles, we didn’t get sweet potato everywhere!

There for awhile we played with him in his pop up tent, he had these colored plastic balls that he liked to throw out of his tent and have us throw them in his tent. He got a big kick when I would put a plastic ball under his shirt or up his pant leg and then work to get them out. I opened up my pant leg to him to see what he would do and he stuck a plastic ball up there, what a funny kid. I had fun- I am such a big kid myself. His mother said she'd never thought to stick the plastic balls up his pant leg, I guess I am creative. LOL

And then four hours had come and gone and his parents picked him up and things went back to normal. I was a bit apprehensive about us watching him but things worked out really well. The little tyke laughed and cooed most of the time.

So why write about this? Well it’s not every day that I deal with little babies. If I’m around kids then they’re usually over the age of 5. Like I said, there’s no little ones in our branch (until now), just the older Primary children. I have to go to Stake Conference to see little ones! I don’t really have friends out here that have kids- I’m mainly friends with YSA or my college peers or my adult YSA advisors (who have kids but they’re grown ups!). My friends with kids are out West.

But even before moving out here, I wasn’t around babies very much. My only sibling is only 4 years younger then me, so by the time I was old enough to babysit, she wasn’t much behind. We lived out in the boonies, so I didn’t babysit much anyhow- few people wanted to drive all the way out to pick me up, drive to their house, and take me back home. I only have two cousins that are younger than me and they live in CA. Most of my experience with babies comes from serving in Nursery for the 3 months before I left on my mission and also the Rodarte twins that got passed around in RS before we moved. And we moved over three years ago!
There’s nothing like having a tyke come over to make one realize how unbabyproof our house is- clearly we have no babies around here! There’s the wood stove (which had a fire in it), electrical cords and outlets, the three big dogs, and countless sharp objects and things not suitable for babies. Like the space heater with the pointy metal corners that was right by where he was playing in his tent. I was right there with him to make sure he didn’t hit it.

My mother took a the photo above- I think she wanted to document that I do have some motherly instincts. My poor mother- I know she wants grandchildren.


It felt good to know that I can take care of a youngin’. And that babies can like me. It’s nice to know that I have some motherly instincts in me and it was nice to see them come out. I wanted to keep him! It feels natural when I pick him up and hold him. Maybe someday the stork will bring me one or two.

Remembering Grandpa

My Grandpa Roy died in December of 1990, so this December made twenty years since he's been gone. Where has time gone? I was 10 when he died, and he lived in CA so I saw him about once a year. Sometimes more. Unfortunately I didn't get to know him as much as I would have liked.

This photo of my dad and Grandpa was taken about the time I was born. He used to smoke a pipe.

I still remember witnessing the terrible phone call that my mother received from my Grandma right after he died. Grandpa hadn't been feeling right ("indigestion") and they took him to the hospital where he had a heart attack and could not be revived. He was 68.

I remember my mother crying and I remember walking over and hugging her. I didn't know what to do and didn't think to hug her, but some force compelled me to get up and move over to her. We now know what that was, huh? We went to California for the funeral and stayed for Christmas. I remember seeing Grandpa laid out before his funeral. I remember riding in a limo to the grave site. I remember the chocolate mousse that someone brought over. I don't remember much else, though in hindsight I sure hope I behaved properly considering the circumstances.

My grandpa was not a member of the church, though he did grow up in Utah. Maybe if his ancestors had stayed faithful he would have been a member. Nonetheless, he was a very good man, kind and honest. He had a sense of humor. He loved his family. He loved my grandma. When other men did activities outside of work, my grandpa spent his spare time at home. My mother remembers weekend trips with her family. My grandpa was always supportive of the things my mother and her sisters did- dance recitals, church activities. He once told my mother that "he didn't have to worry about them choosing between right and wrong, they always chose between right and right" for their activities.

When the time came that my mother wanted to serve a mission, it was him that was more supportive then my grandma who is a member. My grandma didn't want my mother to go to Colombia (South America was not a good place to go during the 70s) but my grandpa understood that this was the right thing to do. He even gave her a corsage at the airport when she left for her mission.

My grandparent's home was a magnet for all the kids in the neighborhood- it was a place where they could come play and be safe. When the neighborhood had a block party, the other adults would be drinking and lighting fireworks while my grandparents organized games for the kids. There was even a girl in the neighborhood who would come over and play board games with my grandparents because her parents never did things like that- and she'd come play even when my aunt, her friend, was in the other room doing homework!

When my parents married in the temple, none of their parents could attend. My grandpa understood and was supportive. When my mother was looking for a husband, she wanted someone with the good qualities that her father had. The only time my grandpa ever raised his voice was in defense of my mother- some drunk creep in the neighborhood grabbed her and spun her around when she was out at the car thinking she was his wife. My mother waited and said no to several boys who proposed marriage until she met my father- who had the qualities she was looking for.

The August before Grandpa died, my mom's side of the family went to Disneyland. It was mine and my sister's first time at Disneyland. It was a really fun trip with my family, my two aunts and Grandma and Grandpa. I'm so glad that we could get together and take that trip. We didn't know what laid ahead.

I remember Laura and I running and crawling into bed with my grandma and grandpa and my grandpa doing his "grizzly bear" impersonation. It was not a very big bed! He also had hair that always stood straight up- all he could ever do with his hair was a flatop. Mom remembers when he didn't get a haircut and his hair still stood up straight even though it was a couple inches long. I remember running my hand over his hair, it tickled. When we see people with hair like that, we lovingly refer to it as "Grandpa hair".

I remember Grandpa visiting us in WA and helping my dad dig in the yard to find a pipe- which wasn't anywhere where it was supposed to be! They dug a big trench that had to have been at least a hundred feet. Grandpa was a good worker, and he didn't mind doing things for his family.

I did a report on my grandpa right before he died- in 5th grade you were to interview a member of your family. He was the oldest of my grandparents, so I interviewed him. My grandpa doesn't exist in videotape or tape recordings, my recollection of his voice is a bit fuzzy. The interview is a treasure. My grandpa didn't own much and much of what he did own (like clothes) is no longer around. I do have one of his plaid flannel shirts.

 Grandpa served in WWII, though not in active duty. He was like Radar on M.A.S.H. An extra hole in his eye didn't hurt him any, but kept him from fighting. I can't help but wonder if that was Heavenly Father saving him fro not so good things.

He met my grandma while at college, they were both waiting for a bus in Utah. Their story is funny- each claimed it was the other one who made the first move and asked what time it was at that bus stop.
This is nowhere near thorough enough to commemorate my grandpa's life. But I tried.

Thank you Grandpa, for being a good man and loving your family.

Thank you Grandpa for serving your country.

Thank you Grandpa for supporting my mother to serve a mission.

Thank you for asking Grandma the time (if that was you).

Because you were the man you were, my mother served a mission and later on found a good husband, which directly affected me for the better. Because you were the man you were, my mother knew that family was important.

Thank you.


We still miss you.

Grandpa and me

The Semester of Me

So I've started the Spring semester. Working on Week 3 as a matter of fact. I am taking Jr Field, Geography of Asia (it's interesting), Economic Geography (BOO!) and a Special Ed class that is good. I had been signed up to take Intermediate Metals but dropped out for a geography class (that is for a stupid requirement). At first I was bummed (and it's weird not being in a studio class), but then I learned that we'd be doing mostly hammering techniques-and the main reason I wanted in this class was to get back into casting! When I saw the workload that Jr Field requires, I was really glad not to have a studio class.

Junior Field entails me going to two Jr Highs in Erie during the week to teach art as part of an after school program. I have two other students who teach with me. It's nice to share the workload but communicating is a challenge. I find myself having to be the one who worries if everyone did their jobs. Last week was a total guinea pig week as we got to know the students and what they can do. The students in last semester's class had five weeks to prepare before they got to actually teach...meanwhile we got one week and we didn't even find out our partners until the end of that week so we basically had the weekend to prepare before teaching kids. Yikes!

Jr Field is going well so far but it's a big challenge. I'm so thankful for all my past teaching experience!

It's actually kinda nice to not have a studio class this semester- they take up so much time! I never would have thought I'd be glad not to have one. I had been looking for a studio class to take while I can- this is the last semester of regular classes before I do student teaching!

I actually have some time to breathe. Sometimes I get to bed when I'm supposed to. And it's nice to not have to be forced in making stuff I don't want to make!

A complaint of mine about studio classes is that you learn skills...but you don't necessarily get to make stuff that you'd want to make. Or know what your style is. I have no idea what my painting style would be if I didn't have an assignment. I want to find that out.

So I decided that this semester I did have a studio class- my own studio, that is.

This will be the semester where I make what I want to make.

And maybe finish some UFOs.

Good grief I have enough of those!

This semester is becoming very busy with YSA and YW activities on top of school, phew! Lots of schedules to keep track of! Thank heavens for my planner in my purse.

So stay tuned for things from Studio Liz!