Creole Wisdom

work vent

I am sorry, but with this entry I am just going to have to be a complainer. For the most part I adore my job at the daycare. My co-workers, the environment, and the kids are wonderful. Generally, the parents are great, too.

Then there is "Rita." Let's talk about Rita for a moment. Rita, is probably in her mid twenties, and has two children. One is 4 and the other, a nearly 6 mo. old is in our room. We noticed, early on that baby "Sue" was really, really irritable. We would do all we could, but she cried all the time- It was so bad that I would go home and hear her wails in my sleep (fun!) A few days later we noticed her breathing was not "right," sort of raspy when we put our heads up to listen to her chest-

We mentioned this to mom, who was frankly not very interested, but said she would mention it as the next check up. Since it was scheduled for a few days later we thought, no worries! Wrong. Mom kept rescheduling the appointment... Meanwhile nothing changed with "Sue."

Then on Monday I walk into work to find TWO posted notices on our door about illnesses, one for Pink Eye and the other for Pneumonia- Turns out baby "Sue" had been taken into the emergency room on Friday at midnight and it turned out she had not just Pink Eye and Pneumonia, but also Bronchitis and ear infections.

I was livid. Are we living in seventeenth century Maine during a blizzard? Oh, but I forgot to mention that mom smokes and one of the causes of pneumonia is second-hand-smoke.  Classy. And baby "Sue" was premature, another cause of smoking when you are pregnant. We know she smokes around "Sue" because her diaper bag and clothing reek of tobacco. Not only that but "Sue" refuses to sleep in a crib (we have one for each child) because at home they just leave her to sleep in a car seat.

So, get me straight: there's a test to be able to drive, but not to have a baby?

family weekend, part 2

Visiting the Amish on Monday was quite the experience.  I have never seen them up close and personal, and we visited several families. My grandma is having a quilt finished for me by a woman we stopped by the see- I am so thrilled to see how it comes out. It is a "wedding ring" design and has quite a bit of blue in it.

It was also nice to see my grandma's nearly two-hundred year old home again. I have so many great memories of that place especially in the below photo. As you can see, this is my grandma's front hall. The toile wallpaper, and the children's play area really remind me of my childhood. Of course, the wooden sliding board handcrafted by my grandpa is stilled used today for rowdy family get togethers and holidays where children are in abundance.

Now, it must be said that Miss Emily really knows her stuff when it comes to books. This gem, Twilight, which is nearly 500 pages took me nearly four days to read. It is a wonderful, beautifully written, and fabulous read. The author really draws the reader in with her writing style, I beg you... go and buy this book, you will not regret it!

PS: what's that book sitting on?  The adorable dress I wore to the wedding from Anthropology!

family weekend, part 1

I had a wonderful time visiting family in PA. It is so wonderful to come from a large extended family with tons of people making any family function more fun. The obvious purpose for the visit was to be there to see my cousin Gustave and Lindsay get married. I took so many shots, and am planning on creating a scrapbook for them.

Gustave is Catholic, as the rest of my family is, but Lindsay is Methodist so the ceremony was held in a Methodist church. Having never been to a Methodist wedding ceremony it was interesting to see similarities and differences! I love this shot of them coming out of the church, Gustave is just thrilled with his bride-

This is probably one of my all time favorites, just of them laughing.  The reception was held at my Aunt's beautiful home. We certainly lucked out weather wise, it was perfect.

Visiting Aunt Mary's home right over the state border in New York for breakfast was another highlight. I am sitting on my mom's lap surrounded by Aunt Gert, Jocelyn (Mary's daughter), Aunt Annie, Aunt Mary, and Grandma:


A shot of my grandmother and I, a woman who I really admire. She is 84 and still going! Sort of an interesting tid bit: she's remarried to "Grandpa Bob" (my maternal grandfather passed away several years back) who happens to be LDS. It was interesting to see a green hymnal sitting on my grandma's piano with her nun figurines on top ; )

Of course, it would not be a trip to Erie without a beach visit. Amelia (my closest cousin, Gustave's sister) and I spend the afternoon there with my mom plus two crazy aunts.

Wonderful, family-filled trip.  Highlights include:
-Meeting Addie (cousin Liz's daughter) for the first time
-Riding more "fun" er. wild horses with my second cousin Katy Ann
-Meeting great-uncle Lewis for the first time
-Hearing grandma tell the story of how a wealthy Jewish family tried to by baby Aunt Gert off of her(!)
-Being crazy hilarious with my aunts
-Seeing Gustave marry the woman of his dreams
-Eating delicious food
-Visiting Amish people (more on that in post #2)

national geographic special

How do two Mormon single girls, one of the world's greatest endangered species, spend an evening?  Only we have the exclusive.  Their night, fabulous and full of delicious treats consisted of:

A salad inspired by the spirit, divine in it's perfection. Organic baby greens, avocados, sweetened dried cranberries, salted nuts, and balsamic vinegar paired with Limonada (naturally) combined to create the ideal evening dinner.  All prepared within the setting of an efficiency apartment in the lovely town by the name of Dinky-

Closeup! And take note of the pace in which the ladies munched it down.  "You have to make this again, Katie, it's the best" -Jana (pictured above in pale pink).

The gospel restored, a salad divine, and a balmy summer night.  Can you really ask for more?

birthday mini-album

Made this cute mini album for mom's upcoming birthday. I am really surprised at how much I love and use brighter colors in scrapbooking, since I'm more more of a pastel fan.  It was so easy to put together, here's the recipe:

•1 woolen mini album from KI Memories
•Two chipboard journaling tags
•About 5 coordinated sheets of patterned paper, doubled sided
•cutter, double sided tape, photos edited and cropped to 3x3 inches

All I did was cut the paper, add the photos, journaled on the tags, and ta-da a (simple to make) cute birthday gift:

Mini albums are so fun to make, but I rarely have an occasion for them. Be on the lookout for most mini album posts, though, because I just got two new ones to make documenting my recent adventures. 

back, with photos to share

Just got back from San Francisco this evening.  Thank you all my lovely readers for your thoughts and suggestions.  They were quite helpful on my short excursion out to the west coast.  Having never been to SF (besides a stint when I was three, and clearly not cognitive) I wasn't too sure of what to expect!

It looks so warm!  But it wasn't.  I love Mark Twain's quote which locals seemed to say quite often, "the coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."  So true!  However it was so beautiful. 

The architecture was something else, so lovely.  It really reminded me a lot of Rome, and I loved the Italian and Spanish influences.  I can see why so many movies/shows are shot here (despite the fog) it is a lovely city.  And so clean!  I was impressed and admit I had my doubts coming from perfectly fabulous Midwest.

I am really thrilled that I got out to see the Golden Gate Bridge on a nice "sunny" day. Really, an amazing and stunning place with awesome views.  Something that really got me was all the desert-like plants and vegetation.  I am not at all used to see some of those plants, and it was so neat to check them out.  For some reason I would not of expected that in SF.

Some highlights of the trip included:
•Staying at the wonderful hotel, The Palace, in downtown SF
•Eating brunch at a cute local place near Dolores Park
•Walking around Washington Heights and taking photos of houses
•Driving down to Monterey and having delicious seafood
•The 17 mile drive, so pretty! Makes me want to take up golf
•Shopping in Santa Cruz
•Seeing the Pacific Ocean again
•Spending a great father's day with Dad : )
•Driving up some VERY steep hills and getting a little bit scared that we might roll back down and die-
•Chocolate at you-know-where mmm yum!

enrichment, take 1

So, for my very first enrichment I think things turned out okay.  We decided on a pink, green, and white theme since there was no specific purpose of this enrichment night- just a getting to know you kind of thing. 
•Decorative, hanging tissue pompoms are from Martha Stewart, but I first saw them on Jordan's amazing blog.  They were incredibly easy to do, and I would make them again for any time of occasion (party, Christmas, sorority stuff, etc...) Such a zip to put together.
•For dessert we had vanilla cupcakes with vanilla frosting topped with fresh raspberries.  I could not resist making green jello.  I'm such a dork.
•I thought it would be fun to have a change up on the traditional pink lemonade by using Perrier instead of regular water.  Everyone loved it!

For the future I'd love to figure out a way to cover the chairs with something pretty, they are not very "fun." Other than that and the fluorescent lighting (which I cannot change, lol) I'm proud of how it all looked/went.

•••••••••••••

In other news, Elder D was transfered today.  Last night we all got to say good bye.  Like we've done time and time again Jana, Elder B, Elder D, and myself sat outside on the institute steps and just chatted.  We've all become good friends over the past few months. 

Needless to say it was er... kind of emotional.  Which I am not very often.  Honestly, I hardly ever cry, but there I was looking like major emotional wreck crying in front of him with his very sweet letter in my hand.  I feel so blessed that he was able to baptize me, and I truly do not know if I would of become a member without all his help (obviously I had investigated for a very long time).  He is also the most righteous guy (my age) that I know, truly a wonderful person- Who else do you know writes three page (both side) good-bye letters?!? 

are you going to...

Alright my dear readers, tell me what to:

•do
•see
•eat
•buy
•photograph

in San Francisco

I'll be there Friday-Monday. 

Cannot wait!

(never been and am so pumped)

found objects

Mom and I were out this weekend shopping (again). I am her supreme shopping buddy.  She says, "want to go  to ______ to get _______ ?"  And I say, "sure thing!"  I'm positive my step-dad often wonders what we do all the day long, but whose kidding anyone- he does see the bags err... evidence. 

But on to the goods:

•The LDS bookstore after going to the Temple.  I have been meaning to get the "Peculiar" book for some time, but had not gotten around to it.  Since I now have a calling in RS (was set apart today) I picked up the enrichment book, we have one Wednesday, so wish me luck. 

•I think scrapbook embellishments are much too overpriced (like the stuff in the front of Anthropology, lol, I mean not the sale rack).  I refuse to pay $8.00 for a few strips of ribbon.  Especially since I can find unique, beautiful pieces for so cheap.  I think these were about 10-20 cents each.  And you all know how I love the red and blue color combination, especially on layouts.

•And who could resist this charming little apron?  I now own four aprons of my very own!  This is a very good thing, since my hope chest is getting refinished and I need to start filling that up with fun things.  I found this at the place that had the buttons, again, notice the color combo?  I wore it last night when I was whipping up a soufflé with mom. I think there is something so great about aprons, and they are also sexy, too (and I'm not really sure why!)

on life's lists of to-do's

... Go to the temple.

I'm going to the temple tomorrow at (eek) 7am. So I'm leaving the house at 6:15, and I am so ready. so humbled. so at peace.

I am sure there will be no better way to start out a Saturday. I am looking forward to the peace that I will find, and the time to get my head out of all the worldly things that tend to confuse and pollute my life on a daily basis.

I have taken photos of this temple once, and am looking forward to going inside for the VERY FIRST TIME.