I have questions, and you’re smart.

1. My food budget is not working for me right now.  Before every paycheck, we run out of grocery money.  And food.  I’m either a foolish grocery shopper or my food budget is simply not realistic.  Do you mind divulging what amount you budget for food and how many people are in your family?  (For example:  $400 a month for 5 people)

2.  How do you get boogers off the wall without taking off the paint?  As much as I’d like to pretend I wrote this question for comedic effect, I didn’t. *shaking head in disbelief*

3.  Has anyone ever used those silicone muffin tins or bread pans?  Do they work or are they more trouble than help?

4.  Natalie’s having a Rapunzel tea party for her birthday on Thursday.  I’m making these wig things for the girls to wear and they’re going to decorate each other’s braids with little flowers.  Then I was going to show the movie clip from Tangled where she dances at the festival.  I figured they could all dance around for a while.  I’ll have a cake (heaven help me, I’m trying to make a tower out of cupcakes) and “tea” (cream soda), but I don’t have anything else planned.  Anybody out there have any ideas for something really simple I could do to fill up the rest of two hours?  The wigs and tower cake have pretty much maxed out my creative threshold.

5.  I’d love to hear some of your best, inexpensive, and simple ideas for homemade Christmas presents.  Do you have a favorite go-to craft or treat for neighbors, teachers, extended family, etc.? Keywords:  cheap.  And did I already say simple?  Please don’t overestimate me.  🙂

So we all have different strengths and weaknesses, right?  I’m counting on you to fill in the gaping holes where my own talents fall short.  I can teach a mean gospel doctrine lesson, but all this crafty, homemaking stuff is given me a headache.

I once heard Sister Julie Beck say that we will never have enough time and energy to do all the good things our heart desires to do.  Amen.  It’s a curse of the nurturing way of womanhood; we want to help in so many ways, and our to-do lists become so long, but we just can’t do it all.

I’ve been thinking of the words to this hymn:

There are chances for work all around just now,
Opportunities right in our way.
Do not let them pass by, saying, “Sometime I’ll try,”
But go and do something today.
’Tis noble of man to work and to give;
Love’s labor has merit alone.
Only he who does something helps others to live.
To God each good work will be known.

I wanted to pass along a few opportunities for service or help that I’ve been made aware of recently.  I can help a little with some, but not with all myself, so I’m sharing them with you.  Maybe something will stand out to you as a way you can help, and with a team of us contributing just a little, we can add up to make a difference.

–> There is a scholarship available for single mothers to study at LDS Business College.  Apparently, the funds are running low and they really want to be able to help struggling single mothers to have access to an education.  I think it’s a great cause.  I tried really hard to make the widget work, but it was not meant to be.  However, good ol’ blog pal DeNae is hosting up some incentives for making a contribution to this fund, so feel free to hop over there and contribute through that route.  Please do.  This video shares one success story of the fund.

–> Also, for any of you nursing mothers who may not have much time or money to donate to good causes, consider checking out Helping Hands Bank (for breast milk), where you can share your … um, abundance.  It’s another easy way to make a big difference.

–>  Maybe you’re already familiar with The Vineyard, but it’s a place, sponsored by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where you can donate your time and talents to building the kingdom in simple ways, like photography or language translation, or editing or technology.  It also has a list of church-sponsored charities and ways that you can contribute.  Definitely worth checking out.

–> One reader wanted me to pass along her and her husband’s recent attempts to produce good media that can be used in Family Home Evening lessons or for children’s entertainment and learning.  Here’s a link to find out more about that.

–> Mormon Market is a new company that sells products for the LDS Market.  They donate $1 from every order to the the Church General Missionary Fund.  If you see anything there you’re interested in purchasing, you can use the coupon code ENOS1 to get a 15% discount.

If anyone else has a favorite cause or charity or service opportunity, feel free to share links in the comments below.  After all,

Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure,
A blessing of duty and love.

Remember this talk we studied last week for GCBC?

Well.

If you get a prompting to do something for or say something to someone, and it seems kind of odd and you feel kind of foolish,

Do it anyway.

If your husband says, “Won’t [she] think you’re kind of weird if you do that?” and you say, “Well, yah, maybe,”

Do it anyway.

It won’t take long at all for you to figure out that God knew exactly what he was doing when he made you think those random thoughts.  You’ll learn for yourself that He can trust you, and that feels really good.

The end.

Here’s the thing about gratitude:  It’s a catch-all feel-good.  When you thank someone for something you appreciate, you both feel better.  A little while back, when I was having a harried day and had to run to the pharmacy for another sick child, I ran into an elderly man that I recognized from my college days. I said hello to him, but for some reason I felt a flood of gratitude when I got back in my van as I realized what an important role he had played in my life.  (He was my mission-prep teacher at BYU, plus the Stake president that set me apart for my mission.)  I went home and wrote him a thank-you letter to tell him how much I appreciated all he had done during a very developmental time in my life and in my testimony.  I can’t tell you how good it made me feel to write that.  I just mulled over and over the blessings that the Lord has given me.  I really have no idea how he felt when he got it, but I’m sure he’s been secretly trying to hunt me down since then to thank me profusely for my life-changing note.  Or something.  Anyway, thank-you notes rock.

Beloved blog friend Melanie Jacobson just published her second novel, Not My Type.  In her own words, the genre is “LDS chick lit,” so it’s full of romantic tension, characters that are both hip and righteous, and very fun, sassy banter in the dialogue.  The cool thing about the book is how the theme of gratitude is woven throughout the main character’s conflict resolution.  Pepper Spicer (cute name, huh?) is extremely discouraged about her young adult life–  embarrassing romantic failure, living with her parents, working at a sandwich shop instead of living out her career dreams — in short, not at all what she’d wished for.  Her current circumstances leave her flitting between depression and bitterness.  Her wise father challenges her to take some steps toward a happier life, and a key element of his advice is writing thank-you notes.  She scoffs at the naivete of his solution, but agrees to give it a shot.  It’s fun to see how her life changes as she learns to embrace the good in her past and her present.  And since it’s LDS chick lit, of course this solution also involves a handsome, witty man.  So if you’re looking for a fun read that lets you relive the exciting upheaval of your young adult dating years (without the terrible accompanying emotional pain), you need to get a copy of Not My Type for yourself.

Can I help you out a little with that?  On Saturday, September 22nd at the Barnes & Noble in Murray, Utah, Melanie is having a book release party along with several other talented authors.  More info below*.  Anyway, I’m going to go.  And I’m going to buy one of you a copy of her book.  Here’s the catch.  You have to write a thank you note to someone.  Go do it right now.  It can be an email or snail mail– I’m not picky.  It does, however, have to be sincere; maybe think of someone who could really benefit from your gratitude.  When you’re done, come back here and report in the comments.  Anyone who does so will be entered in a drawing to win a copy of Not My Type, which I will purchase and get Melanie her majesty to sign in person, with a love note to you.

In case you have no desire to thank any one at all, or if you just want to double your chances, I think there are repeated giveaways going on here, too.  Or you could come to the book release and buy your own.  Or, of course, you can just buy one here or here or even on Kindle here.  🙂

“My brothers and sisters, do we remember to give thanks for the blessings we receive? Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, but it also unlocks the doors of heaven and helps us feel God’s love. . . . We often take for granted the very people who most deserve our gratitude. Let us not wait until it is too late for us to express that gratitude.”  — Thomas S. Monson

See that, Melanie?  You and President Monson were in the same post!  It’s like vicariously participating in General Conference Book Club.  *wink*

Okay, everyone, as you were.  After you write a thank-you note or buy a book.  Okay, I’m done.

* Thursday, September 22 · 6:00pm – 8:00pm,  Barnes & Noble: 5300 South State Street, Murray, Utah; participating authors: Sarah M. Eden, Melanie Bennett Jacobson, Josi S. Kilpack

I’ve lived in Utah a whole year now.  I can hardly believe it.  Anyway, as was inevitable, living in Utah has changed my life in a few ways:

1. Kids everywhere. Any one of my children has 5 or more possible play-date friend options within walking distance.  This means that my children play more at other people’s houses and more children play here than I’ve ever been used to in the past.  Despite my previous aversion to other people’s children, it’s been quite nice.
2. We’ve always enjoyed little camping trips, but now they’re all in the desert.  I’m a lush forest and flowered trails kind of girl, but Matt keeps trying to convince me that the desert is “beautiful in its own way.”  I’d agree that parts of it are magnificent.  The miles and miles of flat, ugly, and boring in between the magnificence are a little less impressive though.  Here’s where we camped over Labor Day, at Goblin Valley State Park:
3. Did you know that you can buy food storage/emergency essentials (like huge buckets of wheat) as well as LDS literature in most local grocery stores?  That still weirds me out a little bit.
4. Utah makes you fat.  No, seriously.  All of my clothes are too tight now, and since I refuse to take any personal responsibility, I’m flat-out blaming it on Utah.  Matt, if we move back to the South or midwest, I promise I would lose 20 pounds in a year.  The only logical thing I can think of to blame this phenomenon on is the abundance of long-lost friends that live here and the accompanying lunch dates to catch up.  (That was a weird sentence, but I don’t really know how to fix it.)
5. There is crafty stuff everywhere, and I am not much of a crafter– never have been.  But I have admittedly been influenced by some of the stuff I’ve seen, and I’ve even had the courage to try a few things myself.  I wish you knew how uncharacteristic that is.  So, I made this FHE chart for our family.  I totally dreamed up the whole concept by myself while browsing the rows at Hobby Lobby (waiting for a picture to be framed).  Not only that, but I realized that I couldn’t be an official citizen of Utah unless I put some kind of vinyl quote on my wall.  So I custom ordered this little ditty from here based on an FHE lesson we had once and have returned to in concept many, many times.  I guess it’s sort of like a family motto or goal or something like that.  (I painted that little house. Move over, Picasso.)

Anyway,  I’m sure there’s more, but that’s all I can come up with.  Oh, and obviously moving to Utah has made me a way lamer blogger.  I recently browsed through all my old archives and I thought, Hey, I used to have a pretty cool blog when I actually spent time on it.  I’m still undecided about whether I’m going to do blog therapy or let it keep sliding downhill.  Time will tell.  But no matter what happens, it’s all Utah’s fault.

p.s.  As a side note, despite the temptation that abounds on local billboards and magazines, I have not yet had plastic surgery, been to a quick-cash store, or done eyelash extensions.  I do, however, have fantastic neighbors and I’ve had the privilege of attending several meetings and firesides and conferences taught by amazing people, so you know, it’s not all bad.