Wisconsin Diaries - Baby Shower

From 7.7.13

Today I finished up a baby quilt and stuffed monkey for a baby shower that I’m going to. I’m not sure if I mentioned it before, but I don’t even know the woman having the baby. Haha! She is my mom’s cousin’s daughter-in-law.My grandma was invited and it turns out that she doesn’t even want to go now. I laughed when she told me that after I had already finished the gift. Oh well, I’m still going to go. I’ll know some people there and this is a good opportunity to fight the fear of man that I so easily struggle with.

I finished reading the book “When People are Big and God is Small.” Everyone should read that book! I was challenged so much with my view of people and my view of God. Since reading the book my prayer on a daily basis is that I will fear God more.

Wisconsin Diaries - Quilting

From July 6, 2013

I’ve been making some progress on my quilt! I’m so excited! I have to laugh though. My grandma is very much into traditional quilts and doesn’t really like what I’m making. There are definitely traditional aspects of this quilt I’m putting together, but also some non-traditional parts to it. When I first bought this fabric I knew I wouldn’t have enough to use it across an entire quilt. So I decided that most of this quilt would be the solid fabric with a band of the patterned fabric in the pinwheel style. I really like the idea. I think it is going to turn out nice. Grandma was giving me a hard time tonight when I was laying it out and trying to figure out how I was going to put it together. She kept trying to tell me that I needed more squares and how to arrange the colors the way she liked. Multiple times when I told her I liked it the way I had it she said, “Well, to each his own.” Yup, that’s right. I like how it is looking and I think I’ll like how it looks on my bed.

Quilt Progress!

My quilt is coming along! I think in the next couple of days I'll have the top done. Then to layer and quilt it all. Not sure if I'll be able to do that here or if I'll have to wait until I get home. But I love how it is turning out!

Summer Reading

One of my goals for the summer is to read as many books as I possibly can. As I was packing for my summer in Wisconsin it was really hard for me to chose which books to bring along. I have a major tendency to buy books and then never read them. I think I brought about 15 books with me. They are almost half and half fiction and non-fiction. So far I’ve finished 3 books: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Helen Keller’s Teacher, and The Adventures of Edgar and Allan Poe. So far they’ve all been juvenile fiction, but honestly I have no problem with that. My plan is to alternate between fiction and non-fiction.

So now for the next book I picked up “When People are Big and God is Small.” A good friend of mine gave me this book a while ago and I and just now picking it up. Usually when I read non-fiction books it takes me forever, but this one is different. I’m already several chapters into the book and boy am I feeling convicted. I’ve always known that fearing man is something I’ve struggled with, but after starting to read this book and answer the questions at the end of each chapter I didn’t know how so many of my actions show how much I fear man.

At the end of the third chapter the author encourages the reader to make a list of your actions that demonstrate a fear of man both from the past and the present. Oh my goodness!! I started making my list and it made me realize how badly I’ve feared man throughout my life.

So within the first 4 chapters of this books I’ve felt extremely convicted, but I’ve also felt challenged and comforted. I’ve felt challenged to be much more focused on Christ and comforted over how much God loves me.

This passage really stuck out to me as I was reading tonight. The author asked, “Will you trust in man or will you trust in the Lord?”

“Cursed is the one who trust in man,
who depends on flesh for his strength
and whose heart turns away from the Lord.
He will be like a bush in the wastelands;
he will not see prosperity when it comes.
He will dwell in the parched places of the desert,
in a salt land where no one lives.
But blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence is in him.
He will be like a tree planted by the water
that sends out its roots by the stream.
It does not fear when the heat comes;
its leaves are always green.
It has no worries in a year of drought
and never fails to bear fruit.
Jeremiah 17:5-8

My Quilt

I started working on my quilt on Sunday! I am so excited!! I love making quilts and I'm finally making one for myself! Here are a few pics of what I've gotten done. Obviously I have a lot more squares than I took pictures of. :)

I only have the little squares sewn together so far. Next I'll sew them into pinwheels like I laid them out here. It is going to be a fun quilt! I love all of the colors in the fabric. Each piece is very different. I've been holding onto this fabric for a few years waiting to make this quilt for myself. 

Wisconsin Adventure!

Well, it has been nearly two weeks since I flew into Wisconsin for my summer adventure. And what an adventure it has been so far! Here is a glimpse of what those two weeks have been full of.

• 1 afternoon at the ER
•  a freezing cold ER room – I think my toes turned blue
•  several days of high blood sugar tests (hence the trip to the ER)
• 1 HUGE Joann Fabric Store
•  2 stops at McDonalds for cheap hamburgers – my grandma’s favorite
• 1 quilt shop
• 1 real cup of coffee
• a lot of fried bologna – I’m about at my limit
• 3 thunder storms
• multiple attempts at running
• 25(ish) min walks every night after supper
• a little bit of sewing
• finished reading 3 books
• 4 trips to the library for free wifi

There have definitely been ups and downs in the last two weeks. The ER trip revealed that my grandma had a bladder infection, which is why her sugar was so high. So we were glad it wasn’t more than that. There were a few days that I really struggled being here and was a little stir crazy, but I’ve also been able to spend some great time in God’s Word over the last few weeks. My focus during my quiet time has been better than it has been in a while. My prayer is that I’ll be able to build a good habit of this quiet time and that I’ll be able to continue it when I get home and back into my routine.

It has been nice to spend time with my grandparents. My main way to help them right now is to make sure my grandma takes all of her pills throughout the day. That is the biggest struggle. She doesn’t like taking so many pills and she isn’t convinced that they help at all. She stands at the sink grumbling about the amount of pills she has to take. I just keep telling her that I trust her dr. And if he says she needs to take them then she needs to take them. She doesn’t like that I pester her about taking them though.

Today they claimed that their goal is to find me a husband and then I can buy the house that is for sale across the street. The house across the street is pretty cute. J

Jamie the Runner?

The two words "Jamie" and "Running" have never and I mean never gone together. I try not to think about running the mile in high school. The days we had to do that were the worst. And I was usually that last person to finish. But now I'm giving it a try! We'll see how it goes. 

Today I started using the Couch to 5K training plan. I made it through half of the first day. It is going to take me a while I think, but I'm not giving up! My goal is to walk/jog/run a 3 or 5k in the fall. I'm not sure if I'll get to that point, but at least I'm going to try. 

Pre Wisconsin Diaries

There aren't many days left of school and my brain is definitely thinking about the summer! I'm so excited to spend the next couples of months in Wisconsin with my grandparents. It will be fun spending time with them. I'm sure I've mentioned this before, but I love drilling them with questions about our family. I keep a journal of the stories they tell of when they grew up. I'm hoping that by the end of the summer I'll have to buy a new journal. :)

I'm also looking forward to just a slower pase for a while. I'm bringing books, sewing projects, my guitar and walking/running shoes. Those are all things that I don't have time to do on a regular basis. It makes me so happy that I can spend time doing those fun things I love to do. (Let me clarify -- I don't love running, but I'm hoping to like running by the end of the summer)

So my question for you is:

How many books do I take? 

While I was there for 1 1/2 weeks at Christmas I ready 3 books and was ready to start a 4th. I went through my bookshelves last night and pulled out the ones I've been wanting to read and I have 15 books in a stack right now. Lol! That is a lot of books! Is that too many? Space won't be the issue because I'm going to ship a box of books and fabric so that I don't have to pack it for on the plane. (Thanks Steph for that great idea!)

Looking forward to seeing you soon Grandma & Grandpa! 

Happy Mother's Day!

I'm so thankful for the wonderful mom that God gave to me. I'm told on a regular basis how much like my mom I am. It is such a wonderful compliment. I love spending time with her. She is a great listener and gives great advice. I love that I can talk to her about anything. I especially love how she encourages me in my walk with the Lord. 

Love you Mom! 

Ugh

I think I'm going to set the record for how many times I can set off my smoke detector in one day. It went off this morning while I was making bacon and again tonight while I was making dinner. My neighbors must think I'm the worst cook on earth or that I'm trying to burn my house down.
Good grief!

I sure hope my dinner turns out ok. :)

Black Thumbs Anonymous

Hello, my name is Jamie and I kill plants. 

I feel like I need to join a group. Lol! I love plants, but I think because of how busy I am I just can't seem to keep them alive. I feel so sorry for the once beautiful hydrangea that is on my deck. It is looking pretty sad today.

So sweet

I love teaching! I think it is so much fun and I absolutely love my students.
Grading papers is probably one of my least favorite parts of the job. Not that grading 3rd grade papers is hard, it is just very time consuming and there is a lot of it. But I have to say that the best part of grading 3rd grade papers is that I find random drawings they have made more me. Just one or two slipped in with the rest of the papers. Such a sweet surprise! It brings a smile to my face every time. :)

It is in sight!!

Yes, I know it is still early...But after the rough day I had today all I can think about is...

SUMMER!!

It is just a little over 1 month away. I'm so looking forward to relaxing this summer. This will be the first summer that I won't spend the entire break working. I'm praying that I'll come back in the fall feeling very refreshed. In case you didn't know I'm going to be spending the summer in Wisconsin with my grandparents. I'm so excited to spend a long period of time with them, hear stories of when they were growing up, learn how to make my grandma's cinnamon rolls, sewing projects, read (lots of reading), and go for walks in the evening. (Sigh) Doesn't that just sound wonderful! I feel relaxed just thinking about it.

Here are two of the projects I am planning on doing while I'm in Wisconsin. 

This one is for me. I already own this fabric too! Yay!

 This will be the first time I'll actually finish a quilt for myself. 

I'm excited for this one to cover my bed.

Not sure who this one will be for...I might just keep it too. :)

Now, to keep my brain focused on work for the next several weeks. Ha!

Ooo, but my birthday is coming up!! Yay! 30, here I come!

Off to grade papers!

God's Plans for Me are Good!

Sleepover with Dani

Tales of a 3rd Grade Teacher

Last week on of my students invited me to move in with his family. :) So sweet! 

I love my class! 

Valentines

As a single woman this could have been a very depressing week with everything being about Valentine's Day. But I have to say that I didn't feel depressed at all! Yay! All week long I was overwhelmed with how much God loves me. I'd say this was the best Valentine's week I've ever had. God is good...all the time!

Now if I can just stay away from the chocolate my students gave me. :)

Favorite Kind of Saturday!

Love this view on a day off!

This is how I relax. 

And this is what my yoga pants look like after I sew all day long. Lol! 

Tales of a 3rd Grade Teacher

Last week was full of funny stories in my 3rd grade classroom.

In chapel last week the pre-k class did a little performance. My class was excited to see Danika up there. At the end of chapel our administrator said to the adults, "So parents and grandparents, who had the cutest child up there?" All of them rose their hands. The child sitting next to me tried to push my hand up. I looked at him and this is the short conversation we had.

"I'm not Danika's mommy, so I'm not going to raise my hand."
"But he said grandparents too!"
"What! I'm not Danika's grandma!!!"
"Then what are you?"
"I'm her aunt!"
"Oh"
"I'm not old enough to be her grandma!"

Then I proceeded to cry slightly because I was trying so hard not to laugh.
It was so extremely funny!

Sunrise

This picture doesn't do it justice, but there was a beautiful sunrise when I flew from San Fran to Wisconsin. I love the great reminders of how awesome God is! 

Toes

I've been slacking off on my Tuesday Treasures lately! Yikes!
Here is something that made me giggle a little. :)

God gave you toes as a device for finding furniture in the dark.

Thanksgiving

Well, today was probably the most random Thanksgiving I've ever had. But it was a great day!
I really have so much that I'm thankful for, but most of all I'm thankful for my salvation. I really don't deserve to spend eternity in heaven, but God chose to make me a part of His family. I can't even imagine what my life would be like without Christ. I'm so thankful to be His child!

Tuesday Treasure - A Shield

I feel so blessed to work at a Christian school. I love that I can start the day with a devotional and prayer time! And the funny thing is that I read through a kids devotional book and I feel challenged by it every day. I love that God knows exactly what I need to hear and when I need to hear it. Over the last week and a half I've struggled with some things at school. Words have been said to me that have stung and I'm such a people pleaser. I want everyone to be happy and I don't want anyone to be upset with me. The story from this morning's devotions was such a good reminder to me. "Satan would like nothing better than to sink his teeth into us. But God is like the thick glass that keeps the sharks away (in an aquarium). He acts as a shield and protects us. We stay behind the shield by learning and following God's Word. If we ignore what God says, it's as though we step out from His shield and become easy prey for the 'shark.'"

Psalm 3:3 "But you, O Lord, are a shield around me." 

When my focus is on God and I remember He is my shield the 'bites' that come my way won't hurt as much. I have to focus on God's truth!
I'm not sure if this all makes sense...I'm probably rambling, but it is something I treasured today.

Tuesday Treasure

Thankful that no matter who becomes president, 

my God is still on the throne and sovereign over all!

Tuesday Treasure

In my Sunday fellowship group we've been going through a dvd series by James McDonald called Gripped by the Greatness of God. It is such a great study. I've been challenged every week by the focus on God's greatness. One of them that hit me the most was the week when we talked about how awesome God is. Awesome is a word that is commonly misused. I misuse it all the time. Only God can be awesome! I've become very aware of how I use that word.

Today I'm treasuring how awesome God is.
In science I'm teaching my students about the solar system. We had a great discussion the other day about how awesome God is. With just a word He created so many things that we can't even understand. I can teach my students little bits of information about the solar system, but our awesome God knows so much more about it! How cool is that!

I love that I serve such an awesome God!

Tuesday Treasure

Just pulled this up while I was looking through some pictures. I very much treasure this picture. It represents a very fun day and a great friendship. So thankful for this wonderful friend!! 

Lovin' the Haircut

It has been a while since I got my haircut, but I still haven't posted a picture of it. Not the best picture of me, but here it is. I love my new hairdresser. She is great! I will definitely be going back to her.

Today was a fun day. Started out with some nice fellowship with ladies from church. Had some coffee and a muffin and listened to A close family friend share her testimony to the group. I love time of fellowship with my church family.

Next I went to my parent's house. As I arrived my dad was just leaving to go to an estate sale that had some tools. (my mom and sister had called him to tell him he should go to it) So instead of driving himself he hopped in my car and we went together. It was nice spending some time with just the two of us.

Elvis is in the building!

The afternoon was topped off with a family trip to the Sonoma County Harvest Fair. We were all excited to see how my dad's pumpkin did at the fair. We weren't disappointed. He got second place! Dad and Danika went on some rides while my mom, sister, and I found "treasures" in the vendors hall. We were pleasantly surprised with how much we found. One of the things I'll have to wait until Christmas to get, but oh well it will be fun when I get it. :)

It was a fun day. Finishing off the day with an Alfred Hitchcock movie (North by Northwest). His movies always remind me of college. My friend Kelley and I would have marathon movie nights where we'd watch a bunch of Hitchcock movies. It was the best! Nothing like a good suspense movie! Good times.

And there you have the random ramblings of Jamie. Lol!

Happy Fall!!

I love my fall wreath! It makes me happy when I get home. 

Next I need to make a Christmas one. But I have a little time to get that one done. 

What do you think, Steph? Project when you are in SR next?

Tuesday Treasure

I love my mom!! 

It is such a blessing when people tell me a sound, look, sing, and act like her. 

What great compliments!

Saturday = Sewing Day

I love it when I have a free Saturday. I tend to work on a sewing or craft project when I have this kind of free time. This picture is from a project I finished this summer. Today I've been working on two different quilts. One is just a scrap quilt. It is totally random and very colorful. Not sure how I'll feel about the finished project. It is a little crazy. The other is a gift for someone. I love giving quilts to people. :) 

A Quiet Friday Night

After a long week I love being able to come home and relax. Drinking tea from my Stephanie mug (and praying for her while I drink from it), watching a movie, and working on a scrap quilt I started a few weeks ago. Nice quiet evening.

Tuesday Treasure

I really want to get back into blogging! I've been slacking in that area. So I'm going at least try for every Tuesday posting something. Part of my problem is that I feel like posting when it has been a rough day and I need to vent. So in order to avoid that I've decided to create "Tuesday Treasure." Every Tuesday I'm going to post something...a quote, a picture, a blessing. This will be good!!
Here we go!

God loves us to infinity and beyond! :) 

Anxious

Do you ever have random moments of feeling anxious?
I'm feeling that way right now. Not sure what brought it on.
Trying to think on what is true and real now. Lord, help me to keep my focus on You!

Kolaches with Grandma

One of the things I love about my grandma is that she loves to cook. After staying with her for a week and a half I really came to appreciate her love of being in the kitchen. I've been really into learning about my family history so I spent my time in Wisconsin asking about my grandparents' childhood. One thing I asked my grandma was if her mom loved cooking too. I figured she did because my grandma liked it so much. I was wrong. My grandma was number 7 out of 9 kids. When she was old enough she took over the cooking for her mom. They lived on a farm so there was a lot to do and my great-grandma had other things to get done throughout the day. My great-grandma also didn't speak or read much English. That made it difficult to follow recipes. One of the main reasons though for my grandma's early use of the kitchen was because she had to have glasses. What? Glasses? What does that have to do with her cooking at a young age? Because glasses were so expensive back then her family didn't let her go into the barn to do chores. My great-grandparents didn't want her glasses to break. 

As time moved forward cooking and baking became her thing. She doesn't feel like she is great at cooking (something I disagree with), but she finds it relaxing. If her blood-pressure is high she bakes something and it helps bring it down. Every day I was there I offered to wash dishes, but she refused because she likes doing them. 

On this visit I had the joy of helping her bake a few things. It was so fun. We spent a lot of time laughing. Especially when I unknowingly gave her a hard boiled egg when we were making cookies. It took us a few seconds to figure out why it wasn't cracking right. A few days before I left we made kolaches. They are similar to a danish. This is a treat I always remember her making when we came to visit. I loved waking up to the smell of them in the morning. They were so good. 

I'm so thankful for the sweet time with my grandma last week. What a wonderful blessing. 

Uncle Don

My grandparents, mom, and uncle Don

Two weeks ago my family had quite a shock. Very suddenly my uncle went to be with the Lord. It was a bitter-sweet week as we did a lot of traveling, remembering, laughing, and crying together. I'm so thankful that I was able to fly out right away to stay with my grandparents. My family and I were very concerned with them being alone during such an emotional time. After 2 days of being there with them we drove from Wisconsin to Illinois in order to join the rest of the family for a visitation and memorial service. It was a very nice time.
I was so blessed to hear all of the wonderful things said about my uncle at the services. What a wonderful man of God. He had a servants heart. He loved the Lord more than anything and loved his family. I'm so thankful for the time I had with him. He was always so fun to be around. I will miss him. But I know that he is in heaven right now worshiping our Savior and loving it.

Joyful, Patient, and Faithful

I'm trying to remind myself of these words this morning. 

My frustration from last night has carried into this morning and it has great potential to completely ruin my day. I really don't want that to happen. So right now I'm making a choice to change my attitude on the entire situation. It's ironic because choosing to change your attitude is what we talked about at day camp yesterday. I have two choices - a) I can grumble about my issues all day and have a terrible day or b) I can be patient and see how God is going to work it all out. 

I'm choosing option b. 

And really already God is working it out. 

So my job today is to be joyful, patient, and faithful. 

Sorry for the vent session.

Needing to vent.
I'm so frustrated right now. I've been excited for the last few weeks because I bought a tv on 1saleaday.com. It wasn't a huge screen or anything, but it would mean that I wouldn't have to watch movies on my computer anymore. Yay! Well it came today and as I was setting it up I realized that the dvd player I bought didn't have hdmi, which for this tv it had to have that cord. So I packaged the dvd player back up, drove all the way to walmart and exchanged it for a higher end dvd player. Only $10 more, but then had to buy a hdmi cord. That was a little frustrating because they are not very cheap. So I get home set it up and the dvd I put in is playing, but there is no sound. I'm sitting in my living room looking through all sorts of manuals and websites trying to figure out the problem. Finally I go onto samsung's site and chat with a support guy. It turns out (!) that I bought a monitor and NOT a tv. (I want to cry) So yes, it can hook up to my dvd player, but it won't work on a remote and there are no internal speakers. Ugh! The guy said that I could probably get something to hook speakers up to the dvd player. Oh look more money to spend. And the glorious thing about 1saleaday is that there are no returns. So I have a monitor that isn't a tv and I can't even hook it up to my computer because it is a mac and I don't own a pc.
So what I had hoped to be an exciting evening of having my own tv has turned into a frustrating evening of being back on my computer.
Ok I'm done complaining now. Sorry that you had to hear me spew all of that out.

Current Favorite Hobby

I love quilting! I have to say that this is my favorite way to relax right now. I sit down with my rotary cutter, fabric and sewing machine put on a movie and have a ball! There are moments of frustration, which comes with any hobby, but for the most part it is so relaxing to me. Many people look at a sewing machine and get stressed out. To me it is a way to unwind. 

I've made 7 quilts so far. At least I think it is 7. I haven't been so great at taking pictures of all of them. 6 of them are baby quilts and 1 is a twin size. They've all been gifts. I have several quilts in mind for myself, but haven't gotten around to it. Hopefully someday soon. 

My sister is the one who got me started on making quilts. When I knew that my niece was on the way I decided that it would be special to make her a baby quilt. It is something made by me that she can keep for a long time. Once I did that one I knew that this would be a great gift for my close friends who were having babies. Just this year I've branched out to making bigger quilts. I'm hoping to make one to use as my bedding in my room. 

The most resent quilt I made is the one pictured on this post. It is the biggest quilt I've made. I was so excited to give it to my wonderful friend, Stephanie. I didn't tell her I was making it and I just picked out fabric I thought she would like. The best part is that she loves it and it totally matches her bedroom! Awesome! I was so glad that I could make this special gift for her. 

I'm no where near being an expert at quilting, but I feel that I'm getting better with each quilt I make. I'm really thankful for activities like quilting to help me relax. And it is fun to give the end result to a friend. 

God is good like that. :) 

4th of July Fun

My parents hosted a great 4th of July BBQ. A lot of her great ideas were from pinterest. We all had a great time. I picked up this frame from an estate sale a few weeks ago. This is exactly what I bought it for. Great for photos of who came to the BBQ. 

 We all drank out of these mason jars topped with patriotic cupcake holders. Genius!

 Sidewalk chalk added an extra touch of decorations on the patio. 

This had to be the best pinterest idea my mom used. She froze water with food coloring in layers. Inside were 8 little plastic frogs. We were all given little squirt guns to work at melting the ice. (Somehow my dad ended up with a big one... convenient) This very quickly turned into a water fight. Thankfully they were small water guns. It was fun and refreshing. Dani eventually got out her play-dough hammer and began pounding on the ice. :) It was very fun. 

Frozen water balloons to keep the drinks cool. 

A fun day with family and friends! 

Wichitawesome

Having a great visit with the Writebols!

A Relaxing Saturday Night

I couldn't get it to rotate...grr

 What a perfect Saturday night (over the weekend - obviously)! It consisted of popcorn and a movie. Gotta love Netflix! I ended up watching an Audrey Hepburn movie. It was funny and cute. It wasn't the most exciting movie, but it was so nice to watch a good clean movie. 

I'm gradually learning how to make popcorn on the stove as good as my dad does. He makes the best popcorn! I feel so lucky when I'm over at their how and he makes a batch. Yum! I haven't perfected the art, but I'm working on it. I think I used a little too much oil this time around. 

Popcorn - Jim Humphreys' Style 

My popcorn bowl and I had a lovely evening. :) 

Remembering

Memorial Day 2012

Growing up I always remember Memorial Day weekend. One of the things we did as a family was help put flags up in the Santa Rosa Memorial Cemetery. We actually did it as a fundraiser for the Marching Band up until a few years ago. As a kid I remember it being a fun thing to do almost like a scavenger hunt. We'd have to find all of the grave stones that said the person had been a part of the military and then put a flag in the ground by it. It sounds a little terrible to say it was like a scavenger hunt, but as a little kid that is what it was. On Saturday morning we would put all the flags up and then Monday afternoon we'd walk through and take them down. 

It wasn't until this year that I actually attended the ceremony held on Memorial Day. It was such a neat experience. There were a couple hundred people there and there were flags everywhere. It was such a great time of honoring those who have served our country and fought for our freedom. 

While I was there I was reminded that my own grandfather served in the army. I don't know what rank he was or where he went, but I know that he worked to make a difference for our country. I'm so thankful for the people who are willing to risk their lives for my freedom and safety.