Modesty

Allow me to get my thoughts and feelings down on a slightly controversial topic. I wish I was a better writer...but here are my jumbled thoughts- I hope they don't offend. 

So we have all heard about this scandal a few weeks ago...right? So this student wears this outfit at BYU...and then receives this note from a random boy telling her essentially she is dressed immodestly. Now let's not even talk about the note and whether or not you think the boy should have done that-whole other topic. 

 I admit when I first saw this picture of how she dressed I thought the same thing as everyone's comments "She looks pretty covered to me!" 

Then a few day's ago it's in the news that this girl got a modeling gig from all this for a modesty clothing line in Provo. Here is where I took a second look at modesty.  

The girl is wearing the exact same dress/top as the day she received the note but is modeling the product now called the "Brittany's Flawless Slip" underneath it. It is a slip extender worn as the company stated "for skirts or dresses that hit above the knee" 

I feel like this sends the message that her original dress was hitting above the knee so a modest alternative is to add a slip extender. So therefore she was dressing "immodestly" before without one? Maybe that boy wasn't completely off his rocker? (maybe out of line). But was that outfit immodest? I have to admit...I started to lean that way. 

Here's were the leggings controversy comes into play. "But she was wearing leggings- so then it's okay to wear a skirt or dress above the knee." 

I think we can all agree that according to both the BYU Honor code and Mormon standards that skirts and dresses should come to the knee...right? So if that is not the case, a slip extender is a great option, or leggings...? 

Now let me say that I have been wearing leggings as pants for almost a year now and have enjoyed every moment in them because it's practically like wearing sweats. They are so comfortable and really cute. But, after reading more on the BYU Honor Code and in the For Strength of Youth pamphlet two phrases from these have stood out to me.  

"Immodest clothing is any clothing that is tight, sheer, or revealing"

Clothing is inappropriate when it is form fitting

I have argued my way around it for a while now girls, but I just think I can't anymore. Leggings are definitely tight and in there nature- FORM FITTING.  I have a hard time defending leggings as modest using those standards. All they do is just change the color of your legs essentially. Does that really make it okay to now wear them with a short skirt or a normal t-shirt? 

(dang it!) 

Today we had Stake Conference and it was a broadcast for the whole east coast. Elder Scott spoke and it was very inspiring to me. I felt many promptings to be better and to change a few things in my life. One of which is my level of modesty. He spoke about this for a time and I again felt prompted that the leggings I wear and some of my tighter skinny jeans are not modest. They are tight and form fitting. That's a clear standard and I am clearly breaking it.  Right after his admonishment to dress more modestly he gave a promise that not only would we be blessed if we did this but our husbands and our children. This hit me. Modesty seemed to matter so much when I was a youth. And now I feel like I have lost sight of it a bit. But it is just as relevant to me now as it was then. And I just got a promise from a prophet that my children would be blessed if I choose to dress more modestly. I thought "I don't want to be responsible for them not getting some blessings because I want to wear my leggings!" That's silly. It was really powerful to me to think that the small choices I make even if it's what I wear or what music I listen to will have so many effects on my children. When Lucy is later faced with a hard decisions on what prom dress to wear how can I guide her when I myself was not willing to give up a fashion statement to follow what I feel is right? Please know, that I know this is a small thing, but I want some of these small things to matter to my kids, so they have to matter to me now. 

 So that's it, after all these little promptings and findings this week, I am choosing to be more committed to dressing modestly. I am excited. Now don't get my wrong- I will still wear my looser pair of skinny jeans, and I may still wear something you look at me and think "that is sooo form fitting! " (ha!)  but know I am trying, and I am going to look more into modesty and what it really means to me. 

I am so glad I went to Stake Conference today and I am so grateful for the small reminders to be better. There is always room for improvement even if we can just tackle one small thing at a time. 

Lucy Lately

Between all the "No!"-s and the whining, and the dramatic meltdowns this almost 2 year old (crazy) is pretty fun. Here are some of things she is doing lately. 

She has become opinionated about what she wears. Particularly in the shoe department. I try to guide her to things that match, but occasionally I do let her wear those hideous pink Crocs she loves so much. Overall she is pretty stylish, and definitely girly! 

She wants to "help" with everything! A job I give her frequently is unloading the silverware. She loves it! She begs to do it and she is now able to sort them into the right slots too. Win win. 

About a month ago Will and Lydia came over and we watched The Lion King. Ever since then Lucy has been OBSESSED with the movie. That's all she wants to watch. It started with her only being able to pay attention during the songs but now she watches it everyday and watches the whole movie. Most of the time standing right at the bottom of the t.v. stand, staring intently. She loves screaming "LION" every time she sees Mufasa. And "aaah aah" for Rafiki. It's pretty cute. And, don't worry I skip the part where Mufasa dies. Probably more for my sake than hers, but either way. 

It is hard to get her to do other things now that she is hooked on a show. She constantly asks for it and refuses to play with other things. (see above where I mention whining and meltdowns...insert one here) And while I would now say that Lion King is my favorite Disney movie (I forgot how good it is) I wouldn't mind a variety. My next goal is The Little Mermaid. 

This Girl loves cereal. Especially sugary ones. So we have come up with a solution. Her daily bowl consists of Kix sprinkled with a few Trix. She also loves Bananas lately, she asks for them all day, every day. 

Another new thing she does is shushing us. When we are singing or even talking and she decides she wants quiet she will put her finger to her lips and go "sssss" (It's more of a hiss.) It cracked me up at first and now it's getting a little annoying. 

When I force her to do something else besides watch The Lion King she likes:

- taking pictures with her camera and saying "cheese!" 

- Talking on her phone...she walks around jabbering. 

- playing outside on bikes and cars- she will go far up the sidewalk on her own now. 

- baby Max and baby Jack...she asks about them daily. 

- playing with her "choo choo" (train)

- tissues...she has a strange obsession with them. 

- drinking my protein shakes...she loves them. I don't give her very much...but she asks for them constantly. 

That's Lu Lately...gotta love that girl. 

Seeing Green

I have never really gotten into St. Patrick's Day but my holiday shelves needed more than my "Lucky" blocks I made last year. I decided to pull out all my supplies in my closet and throw together some things to fill up my shelves. I am really happy with how it all turned out. It took several hours over the past 2 days but I'm done! All these were really simple and fun to make. It felt good to use up supplies I already had and not have to spend more money. I also am rather proud that some of these ideas were pretty original. (which is rare with me) Pinterest really didn't have a whole lot. So feel free to use any of these ideas...and Happy (soon to be) March!!!

I have had a small roll of burlap in my closet for over a year now. I adore burlap and have been waiting for the perfect project to use it. I love it when I have seen images stamped on burlap...beautiful. I had my project! I painted the board I had black, cut out vinyl shamrocks on my silhouette, stuck them to squares of burlap, dapped green paint on stencil, remove, and modge podged burlap squares to board. Volia! So simple. 

Subway Art found here.  I love using there holiday subway signs.

Isn't the Lucky Horseshoe adorable? I thought so. Thanks Brittany for the Moss and the inspiration. To make your own (cute for letters) see here. 

I had green candles so I just added little cuffs to them with scrapbook paper and using my Silhouette to cut out the clover. I also used pages from an old book (thanks Lisa) for the pennant part. 

Blocks I did last year but here is the link anyway. The other side is Valentines Day themed. 

Used up all my green fabric scraps making this wreath. 

There is not much green colored candy (a shame) so in my candy jars I put in dried split peas. I added cuffs to the jars as well. I found the peas near the bags of beans in the grocery store. easy peasy (ha) 

Want inspiration to make your own jars? I use them for every holiday! Look here and here. 

The jar on the far left I will be putting some chocolate gold coins in to be my pot of gold. I found this free Rainbow print here.  I painted a wood frame I had green and just printed it on my home printer. I think it's adorable. It would be even cuter to make your own button rainbow. But really who has the time? ;) 

Happy Crafting! 

MCV Ball 2012

This was our second year at the Ball and we had a great time once again. It was a little bit of a bummer not having it at the beautiful Jefferson but that didn't stop us from having a great time! 

It's so fun to get all gussied up! At the Gibbon's house before we left. Thanks to the Miles for babysitting! 

Neighbors and fellow 3rd years...love these guys! 

I am so sad that these first few pictures are so terrible. My camera was being weird. 

Dinner

So fun to party with all these awesome girls! Between dancing, chatting, and hanging in the game room it was a great night. 

This year instead of a casino they had Carnival games. I will admit most of them were a bit of a bust. But we fooled around with some and made them fun. Air hockey with Gibbons, Corn Hole with Laytons, operation, football and golf were the favorites. Not to mention the yummy popcorn and the Cotton Candy! I think I would have paid the $50 just to have the all you can eat cotton candy! I was in heaven!

And of course- always the highlight the photo booth! What was nice was that we got there so early that we didn't even have to wait in line. I wish we had done like 5 more!  And again- really bad picture...and I was too lazy to scan. Sorry. 

I also love the Ball because it's a rare chance to get my groove on! Although these dances are far from the good ole Stake Dances. (I miss you Cotton Eyed Joe!) I tell ya, you would be shocked to see how America's future dentists and doctors are dancing! But we just ignore mock it and do our own ridiculous moves! Lauren was my rapping buddy...we knew all the ghetto songs! ooooohh yaaah! ;)  Oh and can you tell by these pictures how much Erik loves dancing? ha! We left quickly after these were taken because his ears were ringing! 

Although there was a time for dancing and I like to tell myself I am still totally young and hip...I will say that for the first hour or so I felt like an old geezer. I just keep thinking "could they turn that music down!" "It's so noisy in here" "Why is everyone being so rowdy?" "What- I have to pay for water? What I have to pay for parking?" "Oh man I am so tired!" -haha! I guess I am getting old! 

I quickly let loose- with a little help from a baby asprin- jk! (name that show!) and had a young vivacious evening! ;) 

I seriously could not walk as we were leaving. I was limping in my killer heels. (again-I'm getting old) So I took them off and walked on the nasty pavement, and then my sweet husband offered his shoes -at least he had socks on. I just had to get a picture! We were quite a sight to see. At least people probably thought we were just wasted! :) 

Thanks for the fun date night Erik! I love dressing up and dancing with you! 

First Manicure

We had a fun girls night doing nails yesterday while Daddy was gone. Lucy was very cooperative and you can tell she loves having her nails "pretty" She can't stop looking at them! Oh how I love having a girl!

Valentines Day

We started our day with playgroup where Lucy got to pass out her valentines to all her friends. 

 I love watching Lucy play with all her friends. 

The feast I made for Erik. PF Changs Lettuce Wraps, and Cherry Turnovers. He was in heaven!! It was a total success. 

I think he ate 9 of them! ha!

Lucy had like 3 lollipops that day! ;) She loved her treats from her friends and the fun package from my family.

She is starting to get the hang of opening presents! 

Best Present Ever! Elmo PJ's and bubbles. Seriously...she immediately started putting these on and demanded we started blowing bubbles! ha! She was in Heaven. 

I made Erik this frame we can hang in our room and write "love" notes to each other. hehe. 

Soo cute! She wore this all the next day too. Best 6 bucks I ever spent! 

After dinner I was a rockstar wife and still "allowed" Erik to go to his Intramural bball game. I know...I should earn a medal! ;)  In fact we decided to all go and cheer him on. I do really enjoy watching him play and Lucy was well behaved as well. 

As for my present....

All I wanted this year was flowers. Erik usually does Costco flowers, which I love. But I guess he wanted to splurge and do something special, have flowers delivered. So he forked out a pretty penny and they NEVER CAME. I was sad and Erik was livid! I felt really bad for Erik. And I was mad at this company. Who does that? Anyway- I tried not to let it ruin our night, but it was sad. Erik was not going to let me not have anything on valentines day so he ran and got me chick fil A and the new Birthday Cake Oreo's from the grocery store. (which sadly didn't live up to there potential...in case anyone's wondering- don't tell Erik!) He also gave me one of his famous Hot Rock Massages which is like Heaven on earth. So it ended up being a pretty good night. I am just grateful to have someone to love on Valentines Day and someone who loves me too. 

My Sweet Valentine

Total Cutie Right? I am so Lucky! 

Happy Valentines Day! 

Our week in review

Last week was kind of a crazy one. Here is what we were up to (maybe this account will make up for not blogging?)


Monday- Grandma Fox came down and we ate out (twice) and played at the Children's Museum where they   informed me our pass had expired...sheesh thanks for the warning! Girls night with a visit from an old friend. It was sooo great to see Emily and catch up. I love that girl and miss her even more now! Finished reading book 2 (Pretties) in the Uglies series. Love these books!
Tuesday- Erik woke up in the middle of the night with intense stomach pain and throwing up. The episodes got so bad that Erik felt we should go to the Dr. Well after a preliminary doctor visit we ended up in the ER. They thought it could be gall stones but after doing an ultrasound and other exams landed on either food poisoning or combined with how much he ate yesterday (and how fatty it was)- a bad case of the flu virus going around. So...it was a bit of a long and expensive (Erik foolishly has no insurance) trip for not much but peace of mind. I mean it was scary when he was killed over holding his gut. I had never seen him like this! Anyway, I think he felt embarrassed that he went to the ER for what ended up being just that, but better safe than sorry right? That day- Parenthood marathon with my sick hubby.
Wednesday- finished my 12th episode of Revenge. I got through all 12 episodes in one week to catch up to live. ha! Oh my gosh amazing show! Spent the day babysitting friends. Later we ran to the library to pick up book 3  and to Walmart where I found these i am dying to try. They are just stickers basically! Sweet. That night I was on ride duty for Faith in God primary activity. Which is always a challenge that ends up well worth it in the end. This night  included me crying to Erik on the phone because I was stuck on a one way street where a tow truck was blocking the way...forever, and I couldn't find the house I was looking for and I was scared because I am in sketch town and I am a big baby. uggh. Needless to say I survived. This branch is making me a bit tougher! ;)
Thursday- gym then music time with friends- Lucy loves Music time! Made these valentines for grandparents. Mailed them off.  Later that day we had some kiddes over to decorate sugar cookies. Shoot I should have taken pictures. Lucy loved eating the conversation hearts and licking off the frosting. Scraps that night with some great company till 12:30!
Friday- Zumba with Brittany- it's good to be back. Then Lucy went to get babysat by Britt for a quick appointment I had. So I go pick her up after only about  25 min. I go upstairs and she had with Brittany "helping" get baby Max ready for the day. My sweet friend  had let Lucy help bathe him, change his diaper, rub lotion on him, and comb his hair. This is pretty much heaven for Lucy. She LOVES anything to do with taking care of babies. So when I told her it was time to go she screamed "no!" over and over and then ran down 2 flights of stairs and went and "hid" in Britt's bedroom. I couldn't believe it! It was so hilarious. She has NEVER acted like that. She was determined to stay. Britt was kind enough to let her stay a little longer. I just love how much she loves babies! She has been talking about baby Max all weekend! Brittany you made my child's week! :) That night- babysitting co op duty. Made Lucy's friend valentines and a present for Erik. Came home and decided to have a deep gospel convo with the hubbs that kept us up till after 1am and left me thinking "why are we so stupid?"
Saturday- 8am church meeting, much needed nap, Costco where we got awful grapes but a delcious take and bake pizza. Oh not to mention we finally got our first snow! It was a viscous storm for like 15 min. thunder and all, then it was over. There was s dusting on the ground so Lucy and Erik went out and played for a bit with the kids. (we had to get some use out of that snowsuit and boot Lisa sent!) More parenthood.

Sunday- exhausting sharing time..primary kids out of control. Left to wonder what the heck should we do? But I still totally love it..and love those kids. Relaxing afternoon. Yummy dinner, and games with friends. 

Baaa!

I have to say one of Lucy's favorite animals is the sheep. She calls them "baaa!" So last week we had a warm day and we went with friends to Crump park to see the animals.  Her and Charlie climbed up to get a good look and were pointing and making noises...it was so cute. The sheep even came close so we could pet them.  It was a fun morning and Lucy was in Baaa heaven! 

CTR

Sorry we are pretty boring around here this time of year. It's pretty sad when you haven't posted in like 2 weeks and then this is what you come up with to post....

Today I went to lds.org looking to buy a CTR ring. I typed in CTR ring in the search bar hoping it would lead me to the right place and look what came up instead.

http://www.lds.org/friend/2000/11/trying-to-be-like-jesus-christ/ctr-ring-a-missionary-tool?lang=eng&query=ctr+ring

Haha! I had almost forgotten about this. It's a story I submitted and had published in the November 2000 Friend Magazine. I haven't looked over it in a really long time. You should see the hideous and extremely large picture that was attached to the article when it was printed. lol!  It was fun to see this again. It makes me feel famous being the first thing to pop up and all. Sheesh! ;)