Swingin' Re-do

Right now, I'm listening to old school Janet Jackson.
Just thought you ought to know.


Moving on.

We got this baby swing from a friend, a very generous friend who wanted to GIVE us some of their old baby stuff. Free stuff?? Who's going to say no to that!

While I was so grateful for the freebies, I felt like I wanted this little swing to get some updating TLC.

So, like the tightwad I am, I went to my mom's house and raided her fabric stash.
She has tons.
Most of it was freakishly cute girl fabric.
No way in heck am I putting my boy on a flowery swing.
Nope.

So I picked these:

Good for a boy, but useable by a girl someday.

I took the swing apart, and using the old pad, cut a new one. I thought I'd add some fun stripes from the other fabric.

Then I taped up the bars around the greyish plastic parts and spray painted them blue.
Sorry I don't have a full tutorial. Most of this was by the seat of my pants, experimental, and trial and error.
In the end, it worked out.

Final product!

I think it's super cute. I wanted to do it in orange, gray, and light blue (since those are the colors I'm kinda leaning toward for his room) but my mama didn't have any that wasn't girly. And remember, I'm cheap, so I didn't want to go buy any.

All I gotta say is this boy better like his swing. His mommy worked hard on it!

Dear Taylor,

You'll probably never see this. But in the event that you do, I hope you'll take it to heart.

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I have to confess, you couldn't call me one of your longest fans. I wasn't there "from the beginning" of your career even though I remember when you got started. I thought the songs from your first album were cute but overplayed. Which, I suppose in the music business, is a very good thing.

I don't have every one of your songs memorized. I've never been to any of your concerts. I've never waved a T-Party! poster, sported a glittery 13 on my hand, and held up my hands in the shape of your trademark heart.

I'm not that person. I now wish I was. Because Taylor, you are beyond fabulous.

You truly are a role model. Someone who shows this world that you don't have to be promiscuous to be popular. You make life and love relatable and dreams feel reachable. You give hope to the awkward little girl in all of us. Those of us who were bullied; the "late-bloomers," the broken-hearted but pure-in-hearted ones who felt like we had to be like everyone else to be loved.

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I often say I wish your songs were around when I was a teenager, because I guarantee I have survived a situation for just about every song you've written.

Thank you, Taylor. Thanks for continuing to be who you want to be, not what the world wants you to be. Thanks for strumming to the beat of your own guitar, and making us all feel like we're heard, understood, and loved... no matter what stage in life we're in.

Please stay true to this super-woman you've become. Remember the young girls who look up to you, the teenagers who relate to you, and the grown women who admire you.

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Love,

Ames

Because the tomb was empty

I'm not celebrating today with bunnies

or chocolate

or marshmallow chickens.

I didn't dye any eggs

or hide them

or hunt for them this morning.

I didn't buy an Easter dress.

Not even Easter earrings.

I know next year will be different. We'll hunt eggs, maybe buy new outfits, and talk about bunnies. I didn't do any of these things this year... not because I made the choice not to. They just didn't happen. 

But this morning I woke up and felt little excited kicks as though he knew it was Easter morning.

"Wake up, Mom. Today we can celebrate."

We can celebrate our family being forever. We can celebrate life. We can celebrate Christ. We can celebrate victory over separation.

All because of Him. 

Because he took my sins, pains, and burdens,

And allowed himself to be cruelly humiliated and painfully executed,

Then laid down his earthly body

And took it up again,

He is mine forever.

and she is mine forever

...and so is he.

Today I'm forever grateful

Because the tomb was empty.

Remember the old bucket list?

I've got 30 more days to complete it.

30 days, people!! 30 days until I'm 30!

What the heck happened?

I'm still a kid, how can I be 30?

Well, anyway. It's happening whether I like it or not. And there are a few things left on my list that I need to do. Some of them, I crossed off because I physically/financially canNOT do them. Or they aren't emotionally important to me anymore. The numbers are off because that's the number they were on my original list:

3. Bring at least one soul unto Jesus Christ.
4. Finish writing a book.
5. Land an agent/publisher.
7. Visit the Harry Potter Theme Park.
8. Choreograph just one more dance.
11. Meet a bloggy friend in person.
12. Start an etsy shop.
13. Eat a meal at The Melting Pot. fondue = yum
14. Have a complete Harry Potter movie marathon.
15. Hike a trail in Sedona, AZ.
16. Complete a 10k race.
17. Get a makeover.
19. Spend more quality time with my parents
22. Buy a brand new car.
23. Lose ten more pounds Ha! more like GAIN twenty.
26. Be an extra in a Hollywood film.
27. Attend a temple session in a temple other than the Mesa one.
28. Ride the Phoenix Metro Light Rail.


So I've got some things to do. Quite a lot of things, actually. Buying a brand new car is going to be easy. I'm going to buy one for my boy. A toy one, people come on. What do you take me for?
I'd appreciate help with the "meet a bloggy buddy" one. How 'bout one or more of you come down to good ole AZ before it turns to h-e-double-hockeysticks and hang out with me?
heh.
just in case you were going to anyway.
no pressure.

**EDIT**
I just realized, I HAVE met a bloggy buddy! At least, she read my blog. (and I am now a follower of hers). How could I forget about sweet Theresa from Whales? I'll cross that one off my list even though I would never say no to meeting another bloggy buddy :)

Weekend lowdown

Do you ever put off blogging because you don't have a picture to go with it? Or you're too lazy to take a picture and upload it?

Yeah, me niether.

...ahem...

Okay, that was a total lie.

So, today is a day that follows a super lovely weekend for several reasons:

1. LDS General Conference. Seriously, I just felt so much love and peace coming from these great men and women who taught us this weekend. Feeling recharged!

2. I got to meet an incredibly adorable Welsh family on Sunday. They are here visiting my aunt and uncle, Linda and Rex, who served their mission in Wales alongside this faithful family who have to drive  a whole hour to church and four hours to the nearest temple. Wow. Calvin and Theresa and their children Gareth, Ross, and Martha are seriously rock stars in my book. (Of course, they're British, so that automatically puts them on my list of major coolness.) Linda said they were eager to meet me, but I was just as eager to meet them. I'm hoping for a lovely friendship to bloom and continue!
And they even brought me some chocolate from Britain!!! I was so tickled pink.

3. Got to be with family. Didn't get to see all of them, which makes me sad, but any time spent with my family or my in-laws is precious.

4. Earned over thirty bucks in tips at a job I worked this weekend. (That's additional to what I already get paid.) That was so awesome.

5. Gearing up for a few new projects. One of them is to make over the baby swing we got from generous friends in our ward. Just to update it a little.
The other is a writing project, which at this point will remain unnamed until I can look more into it. There may be a story like this already in existence. I just have to make sure there isn't before I dive in. Hoping I'm original!