Pyles of Clutter

See the good in the world

During the school year, I would randomly turn on BYU TV and think, "My kids are there."  I know, weird.  But it turns out that BYU TV has had a little slogan going for awhile that goes like this:

See the Good in the World.

I've been thinking about that a lot in the last couple of weeks.  I think I've got some good to look for.  I decided that I really need to start trying to accentuate the positive in my world.  I'm hoping to do that for the month.  I realize that the month is almost half gone, but I have some good to tell you about from the past two weeks, so I'll be doing a little catch up first, then daily trying to keep on task.

JULY 1

This was the day I said goodbye to Seaside, Oregon and the beach.  We had a lot of fun here, and the beach (ocean) was beautiful and I'd love to come back again next year.  But the GREAT part of this day, was this:

Being back home in my own bed.
 

JULY 2

Our pantry was EMP-TY and so I took Lilly and went to Tri Cities to go grocery shopping.  It was a good, if long, day.  The good I saw today was these super cute $4 rings we bought for all the girls in the family (except Tess.  She's got something that she wouldn't lose the first day).  They are our Best Friend Rings.  I love them, and I love my girls.

JULY 3

Terry and I spent this day just being together.  There are definitely times when Terry's little idiosyncrasies drive me crazy, but there is never a time when I don't want to be without them.  He is my rock, and I am his stone.  We anchor each other to our family.

JULY 4

So much good on Independence Day, AND Sunday, AND family day!  So. Much. Good.

JULY 5

Back to running.  And I have to say, it felt good.  Six miles today.

JULY 6

 

I found this great recipe, inspired by Subway's new sandwich, for Orchard Chicken Salad.  People, I am loving this recipe and so is *most* everyone else in my house.  So we generally always have some in the fridge.  As soon as we use it up, I make some more.  Yummy!

JULY 7

 Okay, so it's getting hot here finally.  And.... our air conditioner is still broken.  We didn't ever get it fixed from last year.  Eek.  So today, all I could think about was, "give me a breeze".  Thank goodness for fans.

JULY 8

Tessa had Autumn over to play today.  I didn't take any pictures though, since I was busy doing "stuff".  But I love that they can play for 4 hours without one argument.  I love best friends, with no strings attached.

JULY 9

 
Because of the heat, we are taking refuge at the pool a lot!  And I'm loving it.  This is my spot at the pool.  If you look closely, there is a sign that says, "Reserved for Susan Pyle".  Okay, not really, but I'm pretty good at getting this spot and I love it.  Today, while I was sitting in my chair, I leaned my head back and looked up at the sky.  It was a beautiful shade of blue, and the tree I was sitting under was a deep shade of green, and the colors together were striking, and I thought, what an awesome world we live in. 

JULY 10

 
It was Chace's baptism today.  This is the ultimate good in the world, the joy and love this boy has for the gospel.  I love this boy.

 
It was also Marlys' baby shower.  The great good that Marlys and Jake are having a baby, and the greater good of them being twins is another ultimate good in the world.  Come soon babies!  But not too soon!

JULY 11 

Some days just start off hard.  I was having a little heartache this morning, and then I went to church.  For some people, church is the hardest three hours of the week.  For me, it is the greatest part of my week, even when I have to be in Relief Society. ;)  I came home, full of hope, and my heart was much lighter.  I felt like I could make it again.  I love church.

JULY 12

 

It is Lilly's birthday today.  She is the good I see in the world today.  I love you Lilly!

JULY 13

  
 I took Tessa to the dentist today.  We go to the dentist in a town that is about 90 miles away. And so while having no cavities is a good thing in the world, getting to hear Tess tell me her stories, sing me her songs, and tell me jokes for the entire way there AND back, is the good in the world today. 

JULY 14

Today, I helped two women in my ward who are both just really lonely.  The gratitude that I got for them for what little I did, it's humbling.  I guess being in Relief Society isn't that bad. 
 

 

All caught up!  See you tomorrow!

 

Here's a deal for you...

For those of you living close to a Food Pavilion:

They are having a sale on cereal, specifically Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Cheerios and Multigrain Cheerios, buy 4 boxes for $4.  (you must buy four to get the sale price)

Then if you go on coupons.com, they have coupons to print out for Cinnamon Toast Crunch and Cheerios, .55 off!!  People!  That is a box of cereal for .45!! 

Man do I love a bargain!

Yum.

This is my drawer of happiness, my little secret stash.  This is where I go to hide, in my drawer of happiness.  

Good Mail: Home Edition

Last weekend, Zoey got to have the incredible experience of being in our stake's production of "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat."  Oh my, people.  Who knew we had so many talented people in our stake!  Zoey was a dancer (not much singing talent in this family).  She had so much fun! Okay, the point of this story, we were singing a lot of Joseph songs, and then after we saw the production, there was even more Joseph singing.  Problem: we don't know all the words.  Only a few select words from each song, such as "go go go Joseph, you know what they say" and "Jacob! Jacob and sons."  But that is really it.  Sad I know. 

Well, I happen to comment on Melanie's blog that we had loved the production as much as she, but were lyrics challenged.  A little while after I had commented, a van drove up to my house, and out jumped Melanie with this gem, a CD with the the songs of Joseph (sung by Donny Osmond, total bonus!!) Oh My, People.  We have enjoyed this CD over and over, which brings back the production we enjoyed here.  Melanie, thank you so very much!!  (By the way, I have that movie here if you want to come and watch at some point, or borrow it! Ooohhh, I'm loving it!) Yes, a right to my door delivery of good mail!

And then there I was, minding my own business, making some lunch for the herd of locust, when in came this little beauty carrying a basket of eggs.  I said, "Meg, where did you get the basket of eggs?" to which she replied, "Apparently, Jane thought you ordered some eggs."  Well, my goodness!  It caused a bit of stir for Megan as she was walking through the high school on her way home from lunch.  She has seminary, with Jane as her teacher right before lunch.  Oh, Jane!  What a fabulous surprise!  I loved having the eggs, and I loved the little basket that they came in!  You are incredible. 

There's not much better than right to your door good mail.  I love it!  Thank you again, Melanie and Jane!!

Catch up #1: Good Mail

Did  I happen to mention...

That I'm going to have this whole week to myself!  My dream vacation; I get to stay at my house, and my kids are all gone!  Well, not all of them, AJ will be here, but I can readily ignore him, and he will be glad that I am.  Really.  The older three girls are at girls camp, and the little girl is going to her grandparents house for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday.  I realize this is not the WHOLE week, but both sets of grandparents work in the temple on Tuesdays and so we are going to spend some quality time together today, Monday, and then we are going to Tri-Cities tomorrow to do grocery shopping, and then, then, total emptiness in my house.  I'm so excited. 

Well, the point to all this is~okay, I had to think for a minute there because I couldn't remember.  Oops.  Okay, the point is that I have all this time to catch up my life and try to get ready for the rest of the year.  In a week.  Wish me luck. 

My first catch up is with my blogging.  I have so many catch up posts to do, and I do have all week to do it in, so no excuses.  Here goes!

GOOD MAIL GOODNESS~~

First, a little tale.  I took this picture of my desk to put in for Tackle it Tuesday tomorrow, while I started cleaning off my desk:

Oh yes, Nikki!  My desk looks like that again!  Anyone who has followed my blog knows that this is the bane of my existence, hot spots!  Clutter collectors!  I have several and this one, my desk is always a disaster!  I thought, well, you have the week, my dear, so get to it.  It actually looks better than it usually does too, because I took all my scrapbook stuff off to go to the retreat this last weekend (post to come later).  I literally have not touched this desk for the last couple of months, so when I got started cleaning, and reached the bottom of desk, this is what I found:

A good mail package from Kristi!  I had no idea it was down there, and it has been there since like April or something!  I'm so red-faced!  Not even kidding!  Oh Kristi!  Thank you soooo much, and a thank you coming SOON!!  I promise.  I LOVE the ribbon, and the sucker is absolutely adorable.  I can hardly wait to eat it!  Again, so embarrassed.  Again, thank you so very much!

My super sister, Pam, that lives in Salt Lake City, has been doing something called "Giving back" and she has been sending things to our family members that all live up here.  She is the only one in both our families that doesn't live within a 2 hour radius of our home, and we miss her terribly.  Well, she sent me this beautiful tile, with this great quote.  I LOVE it dearly, and am so appreciative of her for sending it to me.  I feel like it has so much meaning in my life and goes with my word: Choice.  I will make the choice to be happy.  Thank you Pam, I love you very much!

I hope this looks okay when the post loads.  AJ went with three of his friends, scuba diving off the island of Roatan off the coast of Honduras.  While he was there, he only went shopping one time, (he was with all boys, no female persuasion there), but he thought of me.  He remembered that I love nativities and so bought me this little nativity.  It fits in the palm of my hand. It is so beautiful and with great detail, even though it is so small.  As you can see though, it already got broke, by someone when I was gone on my birthday weekend.  No one has fessed up yet.  Hmmm.  Anyway.  Thank you so much for thinking of me AJ.  You are such a good boy, and I will miss you when you leave.

And that moves us to my birthday! 

Thank you so much, Jill for the beautiful cards!  I'm always so impressed with the designs you come up with!  I love this one and I will be sending some out right away!  (See above post about Kristi's good mail!)  Thank you so much for thinking of me!  You are absolutely awesome!

And also for my birthday:

Crystalyn sent this beautiful letter S, which is a magnet!  So adorable!  I love it!  A little bit of brightness on my refrigerator!  Thank you so much for sending this to me, Crystalyn, when you are so busy! It is greatly appreciated!!

And the most amazing thing I have gotten in the mail, a birthday card from my Very Good Friend, Janet, who recently died of kidney failure.  She had made me a card on her computer and gotten it all ready to send with instructions for her daughter to send it so that I would receive it on my birthday.  She had died two weeks  earlier.  I can not express to you how I feel about getting a card from my friend in heaven.  How do you describe the feeling of love that comes from that, how do you describe how grateful I am to have had her for a friend, if only for what seems like such a short time, but in reality was several years?  What a blessing!  I thank my Heavenly Father every day for such a friend and hope that I can live up to her example.  I saved the best for last.  Thank you Janet, with all my soul, for being my friend. 

And that is all caught up.  Love, me. 

Oh my good-ness!

Now she's done it!

That's right, I've been introduced to good mail! 

Jill has sent me my own good mail stickers!  If you don't know what good mail is all about, go to Jill's website and take a look at her good mail gallery.  What an outpouring of love and devotion among friends!  Some of these people have never met, except through that special world of blogging.  Go on now, go on over to Jill's blog.  She is really such a caring, giving person.  I adore her.  Thank you so much Jill!!  You truly made my day, and now it is my turn to make someone else's.  I hope I can live up to it!