Pictures - Family Connections Experiment

Today I'm going to share my day in pictures. So easy, especially compared to the emotions of yesterday's writing. My bedtime lately is right around 1 am and I wake up at 8 am. I usually spend a half hour or so lying in bed thinking about the upcoming day while I'm kind of half asleep or just scrolling through my phone before I actually get up and start moving. Normally what finally propels me out of bed is a desperate need to use the bathroom. 

Today what got me out of the warm embrace of my covers was a phone call from Jared. He's doing all the hard work of getting things lined up so he and the younger two girls can leave England and he has to do everything in just about a month. This morning we were talking about the logistics of it all. Moving is no joke, particularly when you're moving from one country to another. I'm grateful that I have the very legitimate excuse of living on the other side of the world to keep me from doing much of the work for this move. I'm grateful that Jared is amazing and knows how to get things done. I'm grateful that one month from now we'll all be together again for a little while before Jared heads off to Kuwait for a year. 

On Sunday after dinner, my mom handed out a list of things she wanted to have completed around the house this week as well as some projects she'd like to work on later this month. When they were on their mission there was a sewer problem and a big section of the back yard had to be dug up to fix it. They've slowly been working on getting the grass and surrounding areas back to how they used to be. This week the task was putting the concrete curbing back where it belonged, building it up with dirt under and around to hold it in place, and transplanting the tulips that were mysteriously growing where there used to be only lawn. 

The big concrete sections had been leaning against the back fence, that you can see on the left side of the picture. Abby and I moved them closer to where they belonged and my dad and I finished up the task of digging out the space and getting them back into position. This job was not without its dangers. The middle finger on my right hand is bruised and swollen from one of those sections being dropped on my hand and, for the second Tuesday in a row, I'm realizing that the sun and I aren't friends so my skin is a little crispy. But hey, we got it done. The curbing is back where it belongs, the dirt has been used to fill in the dip in the terrain, and the tulips have all been transplanted. All that's left on the list is to break up the dirt, mix in some good soil, and plant grass seed in the bare section.

This afternoon Heather and I were texting back and forth about tacos, salsa, and guacamole because of Cinco de Mayo. She sent me this GIF and I was entranced by Shia LeBeouf and I could not stop watching it on repeat for a good two or three minutes. When did he do this? Why did he do this? Why do I find it so hilarious and entertaining? We may never know.

Dinner was sweet pork burritos from Costa Vida. Thank goodness for drive-thrus and my dad buying us dinner. These burritos are massive! I tried to finish it all but only made it about 2/3 of the way through. That's okay though because Abigail couldn't finish more than 1/3 of hers so now we have the equivalent of an entire burrito left over for another day. 

Emily has asked Abigail to make her pictures with outlines for both Ohio and Utah and a drawing on Emily in each state but with no facial features drawn on the picture. Abby is amazing and made it happen today. She's now working on similar drawings for almost every missionary we know because it will give her something to do during the time that she's designated for art each day. 

Scripture study before bed with Abigail. I'm in charge of our Come, Follow Me discussion this Sunday for our home church so I really need to know these chapters. Luckily the story of Abinadi is amazing with so much we can learn and apply to life today so all I need to do is come up with some good questions and let the discussion happen! 

This evening I spent a good chunk of time working on assignments for my classes. I like the format that all three classes have this semester - some assignments due on Wednesday by midnight and the rest due on Saturday by midnight. It makes it easier to break up the work for the week and with two deadlines each week, I can't put everything off until the last minute and then feel overwhelmed by it all. I just wish I had two screens for when I'm typing notes that have to be submitted and reading chapters in the online textbook. This split-screen situation is a little better than toggling back and forth between windows, but not much better. 

Finally, I tried on a dress I ordered that arrived today. I'd tried it on earlier in the day but that was over my clothes and without the benefit of a mirror. I could tell that it was loose and it probably wasn't going to work. I need structure in my clothing or I just look a lot bigger than I actually am. I love the fabric, both the floral print and the feel of it, but I do not like the fit of this dress. It's like a little girl's nightgown. Or like a pioneer dress. All I'm missing is a pinafore apron to wear over it. 

There is so much extra fabric in this dress that at least one other person could fit in here. I'm going back and forth between sending it back to the store or taking it apart at the seams and using the fabric to make something else entirely. What do you think? Can it be saved and made into something worth wearing?