Seeds

Many people have expressed appreciation for what I shared in my last post and I wanted to do a bit of a follow up. It will be one month today since Jay was killed in a car accident. It might seem a little strange, but one of my predominant feelings is still gratitude. I had a lot to be grateful for before, but now I'm more grateful for many things that I took for granted.

I'm more grateful for every day and moment that I have with my family. I'm more grateful for every day and moment that I have. I'm more grateful that angels and the Spirit World are so close. I'm grateful for the amazing and thoughtful support I've received some so many people. I'm grateful for all the true principles I've learned throughout my life that have prepared me for a time such as this. 

Cloth Dipaper Misconceptions

I've been cloth diapering for over 3 years now, and still enjoy it! I have a clothes line now too so I can use the super powers of the sun and wind. (Those super powers include removing stains while drying clothes without effecting my energy bill). You can check out some of my other posts about cloth here.

I'll agree that cloth diapers aren't for everyone. If you are as passionate about disposable diapers as some are about politics and religion, then cloth is not for you. But otherwise, its worth considering.

First, I want  to clear up a few misconceptions. Then I'll share some other details in another post.

"I don't want to deal with poop"

If poop grosses you out that much, you might want to reconsider having children. Unless you have a full time nanny or you are really good at elimination communication, you will be dealing with poop. And whether you cloth diaper or not, raising children will include a fair amount of various bodily fluids, including poop. Just accept the fact that there will be things like pee, poo and throw up on clothes, in beds, and on you. Or cover your house, furniture and floor in plastic and wear a rain coat all the time.

That being said, cloth diapering has not increased the amount of poop I have to handle (unless I'm doing the flats and handwashing challenge). Breast fed poop is water soluble so it goes straight from babies bum to the wet bag to the washing machine. And since EBF poop is also more prone to blow outs, I highly recommend cloth diapering for as long as the baby is breastfed, even if you don't want to after. As far as dealing with more solid poops, there is a multitude of ways to do that.

"Cloth is too much work"

That's completely a matter of perspective. Choose the system that's best for your needs. You have to deal with the diapers before and after the baby wears them either way. Would you rather have more trips to the store(or online orders) or a bigger up front purchase and more laundry? Would you rather have more stinky garbage or laundry? And if laundry is your nemesis, there are cloth diaper washing services available, and probably neighbors that would be willing to do your diaper laundry for some extra income.

"Cloth smells funny"

This may be true if the wash routine needs tweaked. Otherwise, I prefer the smell of cloth over plastic but that's personal preference.s

An Open Letter To the Future Foot Zoners of Washington State

Dear Reader,

Is it you? Are you the one?

I’ve learned some amazing things over the past year, and for a few months I’ve felt strongly that I need to bring these things “home” to Washington. There is someone that needs these tools in their life and either knowingly or unknowingly is crying out for help.

Well, I got the message, and I’ve realized that this cry for help is from more than just one person. I know there are many people that will benefit from the knowledge and skills I have to share. But even if it were just one person, it would still be completely worth it.

One Size Fits All

Do you ever have one of those moments when you are in the middle of typing a facebook message, responding to a friend you haven't talk to in a long time and trying to make it meaningful and heartfelt when you accidentally hit enter before you were able to edit it? And then the smell of poop comes wafting up from under the computer desk where a toddler is sitting and you have to make the decision of whether to finish the letter in a thoughtful way or hurriedly finish, take the toddler before he manages to seep the mess onto the floor instead of just sitting in it, wash him off, let your mind wander about other things you want to write about and then when said toddler is clean and down for a nap you end up writing a blog post you have been meaning to write for a long time instead of the facebook message you started?

No? Well maybe it is just me then...I even managed to have make a number of connections from the facebook message to writing in my blog (like how I was writing to the person who introduced me to NaNoWriMo, NaNoWriMo is fun because I like to write. Because I like to write, blogging is an enjoyable activity. I have lots of things I have been planning to write blog posts about, so I should just do it!)

What Is Truth?

Oh say, what is truth? 'Tis the fairest gem

That the riches of worlds can produce,

And priceless the value of truth will be when

The proud monarch's costliest diadem

Is counted but dross and refuse.

-John Jaques, 1827-1900

Truth is things as they really are, and it can be pretty hard to come by. 

I recently finished listening to the book "1984" by George Orwell. If you are into dark, depressing, futuristic stories that are eerily similar to the present even though they were written over half a century ago, this book is for you! If you want something inspiring and happy, don't read it. ;) 

Besides a feeling of hopelessness, the reader is left to ask this question: "Is the lunatic a person who believes there are problems in the world and that life and the system are less than perfect, even though they are the minority or even the only person who believes these things are so? Or is it lunacy to believe everything along with the crowd even when it doesn't really make sense?"

Ingrown Toenails and Virtuous Living

Repentance, Toenails, and Prostitutes

While I was a missionary for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I spent a lot of time walking around. Walking, less than ideal shoes, and poor care on my part led to an ingrown toenail that eventually became so painful I couldn't walk normally anymore and a piece of the nail needed to be surgically removed.

The afternoon after I had the piece of my toenail removed, I went out to work. Normally, we would walk around and talk to people, but with the big bandage on my toe, not to mention the throbbing toe within, I wasn't up for much walking. We prayed that the people would come to us, since I wasn't up for finding the people.

It wasn't long before we found ourselves waiting at a bus singing hymns waiting for the Lord to answer our prayer. It was answered when Cecilia came over to talk to us. We had talked with her before, and though she hadn't told us what she did for work, we had a pretty good guess when we saw what she was wearing on her way to her first day at a new job. As we sang "How Great Thou Art", something inside of her felt peace and hope that she hadn't felt for a long time. We talked with her and tried to help her know that God loved her. She still had doubts whether she could be forgiven or be accepted at church when she was working as a prostitute.

Easter Traditions

This year I wanted to start some Christ centered Easter traditions. I found lots of great stuff online, but I wanted my own variation that would be personalized and adapted for our family. So I've kind of combined various ideas into something that works for us.