Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Motivation

I was thinking back over the past weekend. Then I read this article which got me to thinking back even further. Motivation is often driven by something that is going to take place. Father's Day is coming. The whole family is coming over. Is the floor clean enough for crawling grandchildren? Are little things put away that are choking hazards or that I don't want eaten? Should I dust? You know the feeling, well maybe some of you do. I had never thought of motivation as a spiritual experience. I just thought I did some things out of last minute panic or lack of planning, maybe both. Then I came across this article. God Created Company so the House Would Get Clean: Musings on Motivation It made me realize that there is more to motivation that just company coming over to your house. There is a spiritual base as well. Many times I seem to overlook the spiritual side of the most obvious of things. I hope you enjoy the article. Click on the title of the article above and it will take you to it.

Square Foot Gardening

Well we are going to be up to date now. Here is the most recent in the line of articles that is being written. For # 3 Square Foot Gardening click here

Coupon

Here is a link to Goodwill's online coupon. It is a printable coupon and they do update it when this one expires. So check back for the new one.

Monday, June 1, 2009

Couponing

After our combined meeting this past Sunday. Well I thought I might check out a couple of the coupon sites that were mentioned and a few that were not. Now everyone has there own likes and dislikes, but lets face it, free is better. I called around also and the Pinching your Pennies site was free and offered quite a bit. From those I spoke to, they were able to save anywhere from 20-40% on their grocery bills if they used the system. It has u-tube videos to watch and a lot of valuable directions. Might want to give it a look to see if you like it. You have to register to use the forums, but it is free. Gives you all of the coupons and prices for Arizona. Plus many other additional things.

Square Foot Gardening

There are many different ways to garden. I ran across this article and thought of many of you that don't have the time nor space to do a large garden. Or maybe you just wanted to get started gardening and maybe this could be the beginning of the gardening bug, so to speak. I hope you enjoy his articles. He does write articles frequently, so this will be an ongoing topic. If there are others that you wish to share with the sisters, please send me an email so that I can post them.

I am a little behind on his articles, so I will list them as 1 and 2 to get us caught up.
#1 "Square Foot Gardening" click here.
#2 "Square Foot Gardening" click here.

June Birthdays

Happy Birthday Sisters!!!

3 - Heather Morris
4 - Ashley Williams
4 - Erika Menhennett
5 - Rebecca Scorse
10 - Norma Valentine
15 - Lesli Dana
17 - Rebecca Mantanona
20 - Lena Kaye
24 - Danielle Rogers
26 - Luella Stoffel
29 - Dorothy Thomas
30 - Gertie Epps
30 - Lydia Allen
30 - Melody Smith

June Presidency Message

Sisters, as a presidency we want to share our love with you. You are our minds constantly and in our prayers! We appreciate your goodness and are blessed to serve with you. We want to thank all those who have helped recently with compassionate service.

One of our focuses this year is to 'increase in faith and personal righteousness.' So how do we increase our faith? Of course...pray, read scriptures, and go to church are still the correct answers. However, to experience or gain something we never had before we must do something we've never done. Once the basics have become foundational, find a commandment or standard that you would like to improve on or a part of your testimony you would like stronger.

With faith, pray sincerely expressing desire to improve. Then live that principle more completely, proving to the Lord you are willing to do your part. Then you will see for yourself the truthfulness of that principle, you will see God's hand in your life and you will find answers, confirmation and strength to continue to live more diligently.

In James Chapter 2:17 we read that without works is dead. Occasionally I find myself just going through the motions...but I know that my faith is never at a stand still. It requires constant nourishment to grow! As we increase our faith so will our desire to improve our personal righteousness.

As we come closer to the Savior by increasing our faith we will also desire to be more like Him! May we recognize that the fruit of living the gospel is always the most delicious! May we have faith and strength to be like our Savior.
-RS Presidency

New Callings In April & May

Well I am a little behind. I will plan on doing this at least once a month. That way for those of you that either are unable to attend for any reason, you will at least be kept up to date on the happenings and not feel left out.

These are the callings, in no particular order or time frame:

Kristen Cheney----Gospel Essentials Teacher
Steve Bingham-----Sunday School Teacher
Terri Jensen------Primary Worker
Julie Ambri-------Primary Worker
Heather Morris----Activities Day Assistant
Nathan Mathison---Sunday School Teacher
Chuck Dvoracek----Primary Worker
Rick Carlsen------Stake High Council
Paul Jensen-------1st Counselor in the Bishopric

If I missed you I apologize. Please email me and I will add you onto my next list. If your calling is incorrect, also let me know so I can post a correction. I try to catch it all, but sometimes I get lost in the shuffle. :)

Spring Thing

We had a wonderful time at the "Spring Thing". Our April 2009 Enrichment activity.

We started out the evening by watching "Live" demonstrations of many easy to fix meals and desserts prepared by Sisters Smith, Allen, and Gray. It was like being on a television set while they were taping a cooking show. Rachel Ray fans eat your hearts out. Adobe Villa Relief Society has the best when it comes to food preparation!!!! We even got to sample what was prepared along with many other dishes that were brought in. I can't even name what my favorite was. I was glad that I didn't eat dinner though. Because I was stuffed when we left.

After dinner :) we broke up into groups so that we could learn many helpful tips in various areas. There was a group that went in to learn about various different ways to make your house look more beautiful using only the items that you presently have. You can tell by the pictures that it was worth every moment you spent in there. Not only was it about home decorating but also using cleansers made from things in your home. Like vinegar, borax, lemon juice and baking soda. The list of things you can do is so long I can't begin to list it all. So check with Sharon McLaws or Relief Society Presidency to get a copy of it all. Great info. I will say this, the little frig magnet that said:

1. Clean it!
2. Use what you have!
3. Follow the "tabletop" rules:
-Fresh flowers
-A tray (use the BROAD definition)!
-Great lighting and artwork!
was wonderful advice that we can all put to use and do it within our means.

Another great choice was gardening. Who better to teach than Sister Murri. Can you imagine having a full blown garden in your yard where you don't have to purchase any vegetables or fruits. Well she can definitely help with that. She brought many useful tips to get people going and to help keep their gardens producing even after the spring and summer crops. The two little plants in pots were just props on a table. Really now, did you expect her to hall a garden into the Primary Room.

We would love to post pictures of peoples gardens small and large on the blog. No matter if you are a 4 x 4 gardener like myself, have pots around your patio, or feel you can feed the ward with your garden. Send me your pics so that we can share. I think this would be great fun!!!

Lastly, but not leastly was our sewing group that had the largest space ever!!! We were sewing school bags for humanitarian. OK, so the other groups were way more exciting, interesting, fun, informational...............need I say more.

The night was a great SUCCESS. Thank you to everyone who put in such hard work to make it a wonderful night for all of us.