a little early spring organizing

i can feel it coming on - my itch to start cleaning and organizing.  there is something about winter and the cold that makes me want to curl up into a ball, drink hot chocolate and not do anything! 

but when the sun starts to warm me up a little bit, i just want to tear through all of the stuff that clutters my house and my mind and get rid of it.

it started at the office where i work.  i attached one of my coworker's office.  she never saw it coming.  i went through there with a vengeance and made her get rid of things that she's had on her desk since 1999.  they needed to go. she wasn't a willing participant at first, but after things started looking more organized and clutter free, she "saw the light" and joined in.

it hasn't stopped there.  i went through a nightstand in my bedroom that is the "catch-all" for lots of stuff.  from a crochet project i started 2 years ago, to old books that i never finished reading, to nathan church books, to electronic games and electronic accessories.... basically just a bunch of stuff that needed to either be thrown away or put away where it really goes.  so i went through there, pulled everything out.  put a bunch in the garbage, put a bunch away where it really should be and then organized the stuff that stays.  i didn't take a picture, but it looks a ton better.

most recently my cookbook has been bugging me.  i have a few "real" cookbooks, but i am talking about the binder with sheet protectors where i shove random recipes that i find or like or have been given to me. 

pages weren't secured.  there were a ton of recipes in the back that i had never taken the time to put in the correct category, and there were a bunch of recipes that i have printed out, hoping to try them, but never actually making them.  it was really bugging me. but luckily, it's a pretty easy fix.

i got two white binders from my storage room and went to work, first, i took everything out and decided whether or not to keep the recipes.  a few years ago i went through and typed up a bunch of my recipes.  later i decided that it took to much work to continue doing that.  but since i still had them electronically, i went through and decided which ones to keep.  i printed new sheets to put in my new binders. 

i also printed out some new recipes from an office recipe book that i compiled a few years ago.  a bunch of people at my office donated recipes for it.  i went through and printed out the ones that i know are goodies to add to my collection.  (if anyone reading this wants a copy, let me know and i will email it to you.)

any recipe that wasn't typed, i went through and judged it's keep-worthiness on:

• have i made this recipe?  
• yes
• did i like it?  
• if not, in the recycle pile it went.
• if i did like it, it got separated into my recipe categories to be put into the binder.
• no
• do i still want to try it?
• yes - i put it in a pile of "recipes to try".  i won't be putting these in my categories until they have passed the try test.
• no - into the recycle pile.

i was able to get rid of a lot of the clutter just with this step alone.

next, i went through and separated my recipe categories into "meals" and "other stuff".  i wanted to separate my recipes into two different binders for ease of use.  if i am trying to make dinner, i just want to look through dinner type recipes.  if i want to make a dessert, then i just want to look at those types of recipes. (by the way, i put breakfast recipes in my meal binder, because those are meals to me.)

one of my new recipe binders!  i know it doesn't look that much different, but believe me, it is tons different.  my binders have pockets on the front and back cover (my old one didn't).  in the pocket on the front, i have put recipe cards and in the pocket on the back cover i put the recipes that i still want to try.

it seems like a stupid little project, but believe me, i feel a ton better about it.  next, i think i am going to tackle my hall closet.  it's sort of a smorgasbord of things: linens, batteries, coloring books, office supplies...  it is really bugging me.

jared's 5th grade class performs romeo and juliet

this morning, nathan and i headed up to the elementary school to watch jared perform as romeo in his class' production of romeo and juliet.  the kids did a great job!

"romeo" just before the play began

headed to the masquerade ball

romeo speaking to juliet on her balcony

the capulets and montegues mourning romeo and juliet

personal progress - faith #6 (come follow me lesson: what is the plan of salvation?)

as a young woman leader, i do not have to complete the "additional value experiences" to get my young womanhood recognition award, but when the requirements are something that i can work on with my girls, i'll do it.

that was the case with faith value experience #6, which says,

Increase your understanding of the plan of salvation. Resources for study include 1 Corinthians 15:22; Revelation 12:7–9; 2 Nephi 9:1–28; 11:4–7; Doctrine and Covenants 76:50–113; 93:33–34; Moses 4:1–4; and Abraham 3:24–27. Draw or obtain a picture that depicts the plan of salvation, including the premortal existence, birth, mortal life, death, judgment, and life after judgment. Using this picture, explain the plan of salvation to your class, your family, or a friend. Discuss how knowledge of the plan affects your actions, helps you understand your identity, and has strengthened your faith.

during the whole month of february, our sunday lessons focused on the plan of salvation. i was able to give our combined lesson focusing mainly on, "what is the plan of salvation?"

i wanted to provide a visual for the girls of what the basic rundown of the plan looked like so, i looked around and found this great pdf that can be adapted for different age levels. i blew up the pictures to make a posterboard sized plan, but i also printed them some regular-sized ones so that they could put them in their scripture journals if they wanted to, kind of like this:

of course, what i wrote is what i felt was important to me and what i learned and wanted to remember from what i read in the scriptures listed.  i also studied the material from the lesson plan and added some of that information as well.

i started out by telling the girls that Alma 42 was written by Alma to his son Corianton who had committed sexual sins.  i asked them why they thought Alma would teach about the plan of salvation to his son because of his sins.  would we make different choices if we didn't understand the plan of salvation?  how does an understanding of this plan affect the decisions you make?

then i had the girls read different verses in Alma 42 to find the different titles given to this plan and why the names applied.  those we discussed were:

• plan of salvation
• plan of happiness
• plan of redemption
• plan of mercy

i noticed that many of the depictions of the plan of salvation exclude anything to do with the creation, the fall and the atonement.  this may be for simplicity or for ease of use for young children, but i found this a little concerning.  those 3 events are what make the whole plan of salvation possible!  i made sure to focus heavily on the creation, the fall and the atonement in my lesson and hopefully the girls realized how important they are.

as i spoke about the creation, i put out some play dough and then talked about how in order for the plan of salvation to begin, we needed a place to come to, gain bodies, and be tested and tried.

when i spoke about the fall, i set out an apple.  the fall brought about spiritual death (being cut off from God) and physical death (our body and spirit being separated).

then i set out a sacrament cup.  i spoke about the atonement.  the atonement helps us to overcome spiritual and physical death.  we discussed grace and mercy and the steps we must take to apply the atonement:

1. have faith in Jesus Christ
2. repent
3. be baptized
4. receive the Holy Ghost
5. endure to the end

i also made sure to point out that the atonement began in Gethsemane, included His suffering and death and the cross and ended with His resurrection.  Jesus Christ overcame spiritual death for us in His suffering and physical death by His resurrection.

i wanted to give them something smaller that depicted the plan of salvation with those 3 key elements, so again i searched online.  i really like this printable and gave the girls each a copy at the end of the lesson to use as a bookmark.  i also really like this graphic as well that could be printed as a bookmark, but unfortunately, it didn't get published until after i had given my lesson and completed this personal progress goal.

since i taught the girls a sunday lesson on the plan of salvation, i completed the portion of this value experience which is to explain it to a class, family or friend.  during the lesson we also discussed how a knowledge of the plan affects our actions, how it strengthens our faith and how it helps us understand our identity.