Blessings in Disguise

As most of you know, we (Lorin) has gone back to school to get his MBA.  That means a lot of changes for us- the biggest one being financial.  Every little dollar counts. The transactions were pretty small but were occurring every month.  I thought Lorin was doing it and he thought I was.  When we finally decided to talk about how we shouldn't continue those anymore, we realized neither of us was actually doing it!  So when we looked back on past statements and saw some unauthorized transactions that had been happening for over a year, we called right away to get it cleared. In fact, 2 other people in my neighborhood had the same thing happen to them with the same company!  We felt surprisingly calm and the company was very helpful.  In the end, we were to get back about $400.  $400!! Can you believe that? I am a true believer that everything happens for a reason.  It was like a forced savings- and now we are able to pay for our plane tickets back East. 

I would like to share a few other blessings in disguise:
- My beloved Subaru's transmission died.  We were able to trade it in for a car that had room to grow in.  A few weeks later we found out that I was pregnant with sweet baby A (surprise!) so we really needed the room! There was no way we could fit 3 car seats in that car.
- My first car's, a cute little Honda, transmission also died.....we were able to trade that for a car with 4 wheel drive.  My husband has a 40 minute commute each way and with the snow it makes it a safer commute.  And I don't have to worry as much with him driving so much.
- In our church we pay tithes.  Well, in January we "overpaid" for some reason.  Well after reviewing our tithes with our Bishop we realized we did back then which means we are all caught up this year.  There was no way we could have paid what we supposedly "owed"- not now at least.
- As we were reviewing our budget for Christmas gifts this year (my heart hurt for my kids) we got an email.  We were able to collect our rewards for our bank card.  It was just a few dollars short of what we had set the kids' budget. 
- I went to 2 boutiques. I spent days preparing.  I sold 0, ZERO, zilch of my products.  I did sell a bottle of water.  Needless to say, I was ready to quit pretty much everything.  I was a bit dramatic.  After talking to my rational husband, we made some decisions.  Boutiques are not my thing.  I can't do them.  I met a lot of wonderful people and I enjoy that aspect.  But for all that work and no reward it is just not plausible.  I don't have the time.  So after feeling like a failure, I realized I do OK online and will just focus on that. 
- We applied for a loan to help us through grad school since Lorin is not working.  For some reason they still think we are making what Lorin made last year.  We only have enough money for the next few months.  Because of that extra money we are getting from the bank we are able to save more this month.  At first I thought having such a frugal husband was hard, but it has come in pretty handy! I don't know how the rest will play out but that's ok.  I think it will be fine.
-My last one is very personal and probably very controversial.  I will be as vague as I can :) I was working hard at achieving something when something else happened.  I was not ready for that to happen.  I had a very hard time with it.  It was something that would affect all of us, not just me.  After a few weeks I learned to accept it and now I know that it was supposed to happen at that time.  I could not be happier.

Days are long....years are short

I had a friend request a custom print for Christmas.  I wanted to make something simple as the message is pretty powerful.  As I was working on it, it made me think about how many times I long for naptime and then bedtime.  I've wished the days away and now I cannot believe that my little baby is 4! Where did the time go.  So, go and kiss those owies, hold that sticky hand and smile at the crumbs all over the floor.  I know I will want them back once they are gone.

*This is in my shop! (With or without the itty bitty footprints)

 

Namesake

As the spouse of a BYU MBA student, we get to do a lot of cool things.  One is participate with the National Advisory Council (NAC).  They had a luncheon last Friday that included a wonderful speaker, Virginia Pearce. She is the daughter of our late Prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley.  I will go into what she spoke of in a later post, but just the fact that I was in the same "room" (we were outside) as her was incredible.  I really loved President Hinckley.  I felt like he understood and loved the youth of the church...back when I was a youth! He made such an impact on my life that I named my firstborn son after him: Ashton Hinckley. 
It is funny how things come together.  For school, Ashton had to find out why he was named what he was.  I told him about President Hinckley and how much Daddy and I loved him, even though we never met him.  We told him he was a wonderful and spiritual man.  He was funny, silly and so in love with his wife, Marjorie.  He was well spoken and respectful of others, especially those in the media.  Ashton enjoyed hearing about this and was able to share what he could remember about the man he was named after.  The next day, to my surprise, I met President Hinckley's daughter.  As cheesy as it may sound, I told her that I admired her father and named our son after him.  She was grateful and gracious showing the slight sorrow of a daughter who missed her dad.  She signed my book and took a picture with me.  She is the closest I will have ever gotten to President Hinckley.  It just goes to show that you can leave a great legacy.  It is just a great a privilege to meet a child/grandaughter/etc. of a greatly loved person.
I think it is important to have something to live up to- to not taint your namesake- to make them proud and be proud of your origins.

Mine isn't that cool- my parents named me after an actress they liked.....if you know me, I am extremely shy in public- so there goes that namesake!
Who are you guys named after?

Back from hibernation

 I am alive!  I am a mother to 3 children- 4 and under.  I am surviving...trying to get back to normal life with few hours of sleep. 

I have been pretty busy...see?  How could I not snuggle with this precious babe all day long?

 Ashton started preschool- which he absolutely loves!!

Ollie and I hang out, play and nap, of course!


















Little Miss Adelle and I like to go out from time to time- just the girls :)

 

Look at how big she has gotten!  Just minutes old.... 

now 11 weeks old!!!

Trying to balance family, home and work is going to be a challenge.  I always feel guilty if I work when my kids are awake, but I have to- even if it is just 1 hour.  In order for my business to continue I have to put in work.  Nights are difficult as well because I want to spend time with my husband and it is easier to clean the house without little hands destroying what you just completed.  Anyway, after talking with my husband about the difficult balancing act I have to perform, we decided that it will be good for me to have my "me" time and "work" time.  They can't be the same, even if I actually enjoy working.  I have to be more focused in my work time and really dedicate time to produce new ideas and new product.  I am, afterall, providing a small cushion for us to fall back on financially since he is in the BYU MBA program (aka poor students...again!). 

So from now on, I will be more focused and will try to blog about 3 times a week with personal things, but mostly party ideas or client commissioned work.

Coming up...... husband commissioned work.  Doing manly design work was a bit difficult for me because I like beautiful and colorful things.  Stay tuned for the final product!