Thursday, May 01, 2008

fund raiser and gardening...



We did a big fund raiser for the young women to pay to go to girls camp this summer. They each had to sell a minimum of 5 name boards at $20.00 each to cover the cost of camp. They took orders for 2 weeks and did really well. They were all motivated because the first girl that sold 7 boards would get to have personalized vinyl lettering done in their bedroom. Every board was completely custom with the families last name and the established date of when they were married. They also got to choose the color their board was painted. Some people ordered custom quotes instead of names. Last Saturday we all got together to sand, paint, then sand the edges of the boards. That took 5 1/2 hours to do. Then today the leaders all got together to apply the vinyl. That took 6 hours.We made a total of almost 100 boards. Kim, who cut the vinyl worked her self ragged for 4 days preparing. I sure appreciate all of her hard work. I forgot to take my camera over there to take pictures of the piles of completed boards. They turned out so good. I ordered one for Brek and Brittany. I'm planning to give it to her for Mother's Day. I hope she likes it.
After Kim has a few weeks break from doing vinyl I'm totally going to order some stuff from her. You can check out her website. Cute stuff!
Last night ALL the girls in the Maricopa stake got together to do their first aid certification. It was really a lot of fun to be there with everyone who will be going to camp. We sang tons of camp songs then rotated classes to pass off their certification. We had the fire department there to teach some of the classes, but they didn't bring their practice dummies. Pretty funny how quickly teenage girls will volunteer themselves for a CPR demonstration. LOL!
I was practicing for camp last night. I put on a breathe right nose strip and asked Mark to tell me if it helps my snoring. My nose itched so much and you totally can't scratch it with that thing on. In the morning I took it off and my nose was sore for hours. Plus he said I still snored, just not as bad. Looks like I'll be sleeping in my car up there. :o/











Sunday we went to my in laws house to have a birthday dinner for my father in law. Every time I go over there I am totally sucked into their back yard. The WHOLE thing is garden. I love it...I appreciate it. Probably because I am not a good gardener. I tried it years ago and it was terrible. Our back yard is rocks, dirt and weeds. I hate it. When I go there and see how awesome it can be done, even in the Arizona heat it gives me hope that perhaps one day I can go this too just on a smaller scale. Mark's dad was a farmer and has some massive skills. His mom is awesome at canning. Great combination. I've done some canning, but there is more I can learn and plan to use the wealth of knowledge they have. I have a sincere desire to be good at gardening.
Get this...I finally had a pepsi the other night. It totally didn't taste great. How could that be? I love pepsi. I drank half of it then dumped it out and refilled my cup with water. I'm doing so good. Down 4 pounds so far!!! yay me!


13 comments:

Kassie said...

Way to go on the weight loss. I have yet to lose anything, but I gave up soda pop years ago and lost my carbonation weight then. I remember how bad Pepsi tasted after I hadn't had it for a long time, and I've never gone back to drinking it. I still have Sprite occasionally, but I find that I hate what carbonation does to my innards. I really like to get noncarbonated lemonade. Thankfully, it's offered almost anywhere anymore. Keep up the good work. How's the walking going? I'm trying to do 2 miles a day on my treadmill.

Briana said...

YAY YOU! And that IS a good thing that it didn't taste good to you!

What a lot of work those boards were. Wow, you and the girls are amazing.

Kimberly said...

Those boards are just so cute! Bet ya'll had alot of fun making them! You are such a great momma and teacher...I really am enjoying reading your blog...you encourage me so much. I have gone private with my blog so if u would like to read it, please email me at kimberlysmith76@yahoo.com...have a blessed weekend!

Anonymous said...

Good job on the weightloss! I've lost over half of what I need to get off and I don't even really have to have anything anymore. I have discovered 2 things though, a diet coke with lime staves of the hunger pangs so I don't do anything stupid between when I get home from work and fixing dinner. I also found, when I walked up to Safeway to pick up a couple of things I needed for dinner the other night that I was "all good" going up and down the aisles until I hit the chip aisle. My eyes looked up and right there was a bag of crunchy Cheetohs and my tummy started a-rumblin'! CHEETOHS!??? I hardly ever eat them! I had to practically run out of that aisle before I put a bag in my basket! So crazy!

Keep up the good work! The weightloss will probably help the snoring too!

Anonymous said...

Hi Jolene, did you get my card? I sent it a few weeks ago. Good job on the 4 pounds, woohoo. I know how hard it is, your doing great.

Blessings
Tiara

Monogram Queen said...

Those name boards look awesome! Great idea for a fundraiser! I am sure Brittany will love hers.

I wish I had gardening skills too. Oh well I only live a little over a mile from our huge Farmers Market. Better than nothing!

Jacquie said...

Oh the garden looks wonderful! I have to decide if I'm doing one this year?

Good job in the weight loss.

Suzie said...

totally proud of you for the weight loss and the pepsi free way.

and how ambitious of you all to do that fundraiser!

I say you hand out little survivor bags to your sleepmates when you get to camp and include a little treat and some earplugs.
that's what I did anyway!

Sarah said...

Hey Jolene, Great job on the name boards. I was actually wondering about those because I signed up for one but never heard from anyone about what I wanted it to say? Did I get missed? Anyways, maybe it's too late to even add anoher board. Could you let me know?
Thanks!
Sarah Lewis
602-818-0311

Wendster said...

Hey Jolene!
Way to go on the weight loss! That is super. I remember when I first gave up corn syrup how I craved and craved it. I wanted the cheapy chocolates and the peanut butter and the bbq sauce ... .so many things are made with corn syrup and it's so bad for you. I also gave up hydrogenated oil two years ago, and gave up white flour six years ago (allergy) ... so now fast food doesn't even LOOK good. I never never NEVER thought there would be a day when french fries didn't taste like heaven to me. . . but now they taste terrible.
Oh wait ... I am going on and on about me. OOoopsy! My point is that I can relate to missing something til I taste it again. What did I miss it for? It's junk.
Those signs are amazing! YOU are amazing. I have no doubt that you were the masterminding force behind the whole project. Good job!
What about doing a special order ONLINE fund raiser? I'd send all of my blogging pals over for one! (You'd get three orders. LOL) But I know my parents, sister, and self would want one. They'd be a hot seller.
Sorry I have been hiding out. I've been blogging, but I felt all embarrassed that I didn't send you one of those cards with info about me on it ... I know you really wanted some of those and I said I would make and send one and then didn't follow through so then I felt like a big jerk and like I shouldn't stop by. Which you NEVER EVER said ANYTHING that should make me feel that way. That was ME beating myself up.
So ... sorry I didn't send a card when I said I would ... and can I stop by some more? (I hadn't seen a comment from you in a long time and I thought that maybe you were ... I don't know .. . maybe not too happy with me.)
I bet you probably never even thought TWICE about it and it didn't bug you at all ... you are always so kind like that. So supportive and forgiving. I can see that in all of your posts. But my "fear" could use a teeny tiny bit of help being swept away.
So ... if you really AREN'T upset with me, I'd love you to stop by and say "all is well".
I miss hanging out over here.
And I miss seeing you at my blog.

Wendster said...

Hey ... I've just been reading some of the other posts and read that the date has been extended for the getting to know you cards ... YAY! A chance at redemption and to win a stinkin' cute prize! YAY! But I am way more interested in the redemption. LOL. It occurs to me that I don't know the specs for them, so could you PLEASE just jot them down in a comment to me?
I really want to send one. What size are they? And any info about me that I want to put on it?

And now for something completely different: I thought it would give you a chuckle to know that today is naked gardening day across the US.

And I read the post about the trouble with the police. WOW. Did they cuff you? Were the police ment cute?

Just wonderin'.

Cassandra said...

I love those signs! I just ordered one for my entryway, but I would love to have one like that too! I wish my daughter's YW group would do something like that!

Natalie said...

way to go on the weight loss!!!!

nice to meet you. i don't remember where i linked from...i started on a friends blog and linked to a blog i hadn't visited before and then did it again and again and here i am.