In PURSE-uit of Excellence

In my church's Young Women's Program (ages 12-18, for those of you who aren't LDS) I am the Personal Progress Leader (We help the girls set goals and do projects in seven value categories--a little like the girl version of boy scouts, only not so much like girl scouts) 

Anyway, at the end of the year we have a program called Young Women in Excellence were we honor the girls for their hard work and achievements. 

This year we had a "purse" theme going.  Playing off the title Purse-onal Progress, (you might recall the purses I give the girls on their advancement birthdays--12,14,16--filled with birthday items appropriate to the significance of the age; 12-a value bracelet and personal progress helps, pencil, highlighter,stick notes, etc.;14-items to prepare for church dances; 16 - items to prepare for dating--these were cute things like Hershey kisses that said,"When you feel the urge to kiss, splurge on this", etc.) 

The whole theme carried over to the end of year program which we entitled In Purse-uit of Excellence.  We decorated with purses, the invites were little purses, each project display was labeled with purses that the girls put notes to each other in, and the girls did skits with a purse involved (The Beehives--ages 12&13-- did a Trivial Purse-uit game show; the Mia Maids--14&15--did a skit that involved solving problems with things found in Grandma's purse; The Laurels--16&17--did a skit about making good choices that simply had the girls carrying their stuff in a large purse, good, bad and otherwise.) 

And finally, as the Personal Progress Leader I gave a short talk that involved things found in my purse that could represent the seven values and how they help me in my life.  I thought it turned out really cute so I am going to share it with you:

When I was in high school I thought carrying a purse meant you were old.  Only mothers and old ladies carried purses.  Because of that I found myself places without items that I needed.  I wasn’t prepared, or I didn’t have items at my disposal that would have made the situation easier or even possible.

As I got a little older I came to the conclusion that it was smarter to be prepared, and easier to carry those items I might need if I carried a purse.  And that became more important that how I might appear.  But once I started carry a purse and putting things in it, I found it too easy to fill it with things I didn’t need.  Things that just cluttered up the space--wrappers, receipts, random objects--and these items made it harder to get to the ones I needed.  

This experience taught me a valuable lesson.  One that I would like to liken unto life in general and preparing oneself by filling ones spiritual purse with things that will help, rather than hinder our eternal progression, while living our daily lives.  The Young Women’s Program, and specifically the Personal Progress Program is an excellent way to accumulate the necessary items to fill our spiritual purses.

In my purse I have seven valuable items to have in life that will also represent each of the seven YW Values.  Each item is meant to show how the personal progress program can prepare these young women for their lives as adults, as it has prepared me.

Keys (Faith)   The key to the gospel and to living our life successfully is Faith.  President Monson once said “There is a key which each one of us earnestly seeks to obtain and which will open the locks to the treasure houses of the knowledge which we desire to acquire. That key is the key of faith. In this work, no lock will open without it. I testify that when we do all we can to accomplish the work that is before us, the Lord will make available to us the sacred key needed to unlock the treasure which we so much seek.”(Pres. Monson May 2004)  Faith is necessary in all aspects of our life.

Cell Phone (Divine Nature)  It is a reminder of our Divine nature as daughters of God.  As such we must keep the lines of communication open through prayer. In the most recent conference, Elder David A. Bednar said “Simply stated, prayer is communication to Heavenly Father from His sons and daughters on earth. “As soon as we learn the true relationship in which we stand toward God (namely, God is our Father, and we are his children), then at once prayer becomes natural and instinctive on our part”

Drivers’ license (Individual Worth)  This reminds us of our individual worth.  Not only does this tell others who we are, it reminds us who we are.  That we are unique and valuable. (“Your Life Has a Purpose,” Bishop H. Burke Peterson New Era, May 1979, pp. 4–5).“My dear friends, you are a royal generation. You were preserved to come to the earth in this time for a special purpose. Not just a few of you, but all of you. There are things for each of you to do that no one else can do as well as you. If you do not prepare to do them, they will not be done. Your mission is unique and distinctive for you. Please don’t make another have to take your place. He or she can’t do it as well as you can. If you will let Him, I testify that our Father in Heaven will walk with you through the journey of life and inspire you to know your special purpose here” 

Pictures of Children (Knowledge)  I chose a picture of my kids because the skills you need to be a parent and maintain a household are vast.  Many of the skills we learn as a teenager translate into useful skills as a parent. Beyond that, knowledge is one of the few things we will take with us from this life, D&C 130: 18-19  18 Whatever principle of ^aintelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the ^bresurrection.

  19 And if a person gains more ^aknowledge and intelligence in this life through his ^bdiligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the ^cadvantage in the world to come.)

Debit Card (Choice & Accountability) Few things show clearer results to our choices than budgeting.  It is quickly obvious whether we have made good choices  when dealing with money and our accountability can be painful if we are not careful.  But I think this can represent eternal treasures as well.  We may not see the consequences as quickly but they are of larger importance.  In Matthew 6:20 we are reminded: ”lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal”

Nail File (Good Works) This file is a tool used to shape our nails.  Like this file we should  be tools in the Lord’s hands to help shape the lives of others through our good works.  D&C 35:14 Their arm shall be my arm.’ Elder Marion D. Hanks: “. .your arm, your resources, your intelligence, your tongue, your energy, are the only tools the Lord has to work with”(BYU Speech Oct. 1958)

Chapstick (Integrity) Not only should we be worried about what we put on our lips, but more importantly what comes out of them.  We need to have the moral courage to stand for righteousness with our words and our actions.  President Howard W. Hunter said in the April 1990 conference: “The ability to stand by one’s principles, to live with integrity and faith according to one’s belief—that is what matters, that is the difference between a contribution and a commitment. That devotion to true principle—in our individual lives, in our homes and families, and in all places where we meet and influence other people—that devotion is what God is ultimately requesting of us.

I have certainly gained a better appreciation for my purse, actual and allegorical.  And I hope you girls will too.  I know that if you learn to fill your spiritual purses with the values you are learning and practicing in Young Women you will find yourselves better prepared spiritually and physically throughout your lives. 

I think it all turned out really well.  I love finding ideas online to use so I am sharing these with you.  I hope you find them useful.

A Final Outdoor Push. . .Maybe.

Last weekend we spent four hours making our front drive look like this:

I only wish I had remembered to take a before picture. It used to have over grown, half dead rock rose and a mass amount of day lilies. I transplanted some of the day lilies. I wasn't in love with the idea that they spend half the summer growing in, then bloomed for a week or two, then spent another month dying out. I planted a clump of daffodils and a clump of. . .I forget. I guess I will be surprised it the spring. I think crocuses or something like that. ***Iwent and looked and they are Chionodoxa--mixed, so they will be various colors of purple, pink and white***

And we worked on the tree house during the week. Our whole day to work on the tree house somehow turned into less than two hours. I am still trying to figure that one out. I did start to paint it--yellow with white trim, but forgot to photograph the additional progress. It is supposed to be sunny this weekend so maybe, maybe, MAYBE, we will actually get it finished. Talk about a weekend project gone seriously awry. It's October for heaven's sake! Ah, well, it has a roof so they can play in it during the rainy months too, right?

Planning Ahead. . .

I moved to this lovely state one year ago. We pulled up the last day of September and the truck arrived on October first. When I try to remember just how our yard looked I have merely a vague memory. I remember thinking how lovely it was. It was, after all, October and there were trees and green shrubs still, and roses blooming in the side yard--which was a heck of a lot more than I could say for the plot of ground I had left behind.

My biggest anticipation was to see what popped up come spring. Would there be daffodils? Tulips? Maybe some hyacinths, or other lovely plants indigenous to this prolific state that I had yet to learn the names of?

Nope. Nothing. Nada. Zilch.

I think I owned the only house in the area without something blooming--and weeds don't count. Although, all the fields nearby were blooming in carefree abandon with wildflowers. But not my yard.

So last week I went out and bought all of these:

And I planted them in bunches about my yard. So in addition to all the work we have put into our yard this summer, I WILL have spring flowers come May. . .maybe sooner. I can't wait.

The Saga of the Front Porch Rocker. . .

About five years ago I decided I needed rocking chairs on my front porch. It just makes the house feel homey, and gives you somewhere to sit.

It's the All American Dream. . .isn't it? The house, the front porch, the rocker. . .watching the world go by--or at least the neighbor's cat.

So anyway. I had my eye on these simple white rockers at Walmart because they were cheap (all others I had found where $150 or more) and they were cute. Every year I would say to my husband, "We should buy those rockers. They would be really cute on our porch."

He would put me off somehow, convinced that they might actually be tacky. Every year I would suggest we buy them and we'd go through it again. Or we'd say,"They won't fit in the car with all the kids, so we'll get them without the kids." Only we never did.

So this year the rockers show up a little fancier and cost more. And I still want them. So we watch and watch for them to go on sale. And I often remind Rob, "If we would have bought them last year we would have paid less." Summer ends. They never go on sale. They are almost out of them. We break down and buy them. We get home and discover they are missing essential hardware to put them together.

And our daughter looks at them and says, "Why did you get white? If you got black they would have matched the shutters."

Brilliant.

Why didn't I think of that? Then Rob sees they have nicer, simpler, better built rockers--in black--at Lowes. So we return the whites ones and after two trips to two Lowes we have two black rockers. AND, I love them.

A Little Yard Improvement. . .

I have lofty goals for my yard. But first I have the gargantuan task of reclaiming control of my yard. This included taking out a couple trees and bushes and some major weeding. Here are a couple successful areas so far.

My front yard:

From blocked by tree. . .

To Roots Spawned by Satan. . .

To lovely seeded grass (we hope)--after hours of torture.

My back corner was almost painless.

It went from this:

To this, with only weeding, rock picking and stepping stone placing. I just should have taken it's picture before leaves started falling on it!

Two down. . .oh so much more to do.

Tree House Update

We have slowly been working on the tree house all summer in between vacations and yard work and general pandemonium. We are nearing completion. Which is good now that school is starting tomorrow. At least it has a roof, so they can still play in the rain! Here is the most recent pic of our progress. . .

Tree House Progress. . .

We have eeked out a little work on the tree house over the last week. We were gone over the fourth and got nothing done. But this weekend we will be working on the roof. I will keep you posted. Here is our current status. All four walls are up and a ladder/stair--which just encourages the kiddos to climb up. Yesterday it was all decorated with flowers my four year old picked in the yard. . and leaves pulled from the branches she and her friend could reach. We need solid walls and a rail double quick! Before we have a job site injury.