With all of the 24th of July celebrations going on this week, it's caused me to reflect on my own pioneer ancestry. This naturally leads me to think about how I can capture that history to share it with my children.

3) Distressing

I've had so much fun watching all of my friends get tagged and seeing parts of their lives and homes we wouldn't normally see. Well, I guess it's my turn. My friend, Heather, tagged me. I've been putting it off, using my broken computer as an excuse. But I got a temporary replacement computer, so I guess I can't put it off any longer. So here goes--sorry my pictures aren't the greatest. I took them all with my phone.

My mom would die if she knew I was putting a picture of my kitchen sink on the internet with *gasp* dirty dishes in it. I think that's what the sink is for, a temporary holding spot for dirty dishes, until I feel like loading the dishwasher.

If you look close, you'll see my attempts at being healthy. There's soymilk on the door, broccoli, skim milk, grapes, and yogurt. But don't look too close, or you might also see the whip cream on the top shelf and peach pie on the bottom.

I was tempted to just take a picture of my feet, because I really don't like shoes at all. But that would just be gross, so if I have to wear them my preference is definitely sandals. Socks are just way too restrictive. You'll even find me wearing sandals in the winter, and flip flops are my favorite!

Here's a picture of one side of my closet. You'll see all of my pants, my little girls dresses, and my shoes in the top. The two sets of drawers in the bottom belong to my two youngest children. On the other side (not pictured) I keep all of my shirts on top, and another son's clothes on the bottom. So yes, in case you weren't keeping count . . . four people share this closet.

5) My Laundry PileLet's see . . . seven people wear one outfit per day (yeah, right! The kids always change at least once.) That's 7 outfits per day times 7 days, that's at least 49 outfits per week that need washing. I have to stay caught up on it, or it quickly spirals out of control. Here's my laundry sorting sytem--towels in the white basket, and then slots for my colored clothes, kids' colored clothes, and whites. It looks like the kids' clothes need washing!

6) What my Kids are Doing Right Now

My oldest, chatting online with her friends.
This daughter loves to follow me around. She was on the bed, talking to me while I worked.
My two littlest. One asleep . . . and the other watching TV and eating a huge sucker.
I had to chase my two sons around to get their pictures, but finally caught this one when they weren't looking. They are playing a game with their little brother.

7) My Favorite Room
The kitchen is my favorite room, because it's where my kids like to hang out--eating, of course. We spend lots of time sitting in the barstools, talking and having fun--and eating!

8) My Most Recent Purchase
No, this is not a picture of the original. I bought an Icee for my son yesterday at BYU because he waited patiently for 3 long hours, while I got a computer problem fixed. The original Icee is long gone, but it was tasty!

With beautiful scenery

Sitting by the fire

Sleeping in and breakfast in bed

Or, sitting outside in a hot tub

Watching the sunset, with someone I love.

(And writing, of course!)

10) Self Portrait

WOW! I think that is the longest thing I've ever posted. Hope you had fun getting a look at my crazy life! Now for the real fun . . . I get to tag 3 unsuspecting, innocent people:

Keith Fisher - LDS Writers Blogck (Without whom I wouldn't have started on this whole crazy writing and blogging journey.)

Autumn Ables - Queen of Chaos (My sister in spirit who always has such fun music on her blog!)

Christine Bryant - Day Dreamer (Because she's an amazing writer and I want her to blog more often. :)

Let's face it. Scrapbooking can be expensive. If you consider the paper at $1.00 per sheet, stickers approximately $2.00 per sheet, and embellishments at $3.00-$5.00 per package, you can easily spend $10.00 to complete one scrapbook page. And that's not even considering the tools required.

Luckily, we have the internet. There are tons of scrapbooking bargains to be found online. The first place to look is eBay. Okay, so I may be a little prejudiced since I have a scrapbooking store on eBay (Kim's ScrapShack). But there are a lot of other vendors besides myself who sell products at great prices. Just do a search for scrapbooking and thousands of items will come up. Your best bet is to skip the auctions and just scroll down to the bottom of the page and buy directly from Ebay stores. You can buy items now at bargain prices, without having to wait for an auction to end.

You can also find great prices at most scrapbooking sites on the internet. Most sites have a clearance or sale link you can follow to find great deals. Below are a few of my favorites:

Dollar Scrapbooking
Creative Express
Two Peas in a Bucket
Keeping Memories Alive
Scrapbooking Warehouse
Scrap 'N Save

You can also find many more scrapbooking websites at the Scrapbooking Top 50 website. Be sure to look for a sale or clearance link at any site you go to. You'll be amazed at what you can find. There are often name brand products listed at 75% off the retail price.

Your memories are definitely worth preserving. But they don't have to cost a fortune!

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Return to the Neighborhood.

The thought of 72-hour kits and food storage has always overwhelmed me. I think it’s because there is so much information available, it’s hard to wade through, and get to the meat of exactly what is required.

I know that emergency preparedness is essential. We have been warned by church leaders time and time again to prepare.

“Acquire and store a reserve of food and supplies that will sustain life. Obtain clothing and build a savings account on a sensible, well-planned basis that can serve well in times of emergency. As long as I can remember, we have been taught to prepare for the future and to obtain a year’s supply of necessities. I would guess that the years of plenty have almost universally caused us to set aside this counsel. I believe the time to disregard this counsel is over. With events in the world today, it must be considered with all seriousness.”
--L. Tom Perry, 1995

“The revelation to produce and store food may be as essential to our temporal welfare today as boarding the ark was to the people in the days of Noah.”
--Ezra Taft Benson, 1980

This week I read an amazing book on getting prepared, Preparedness Principles by Barbara Salsbury. The book is full of educated, timely information that, if followed, will help you and your family to be more prepared.

One of the guiding principles in the book is “being a little bit prepared is a whole lot better than not being prepared at all.” Not all of us have the financial resources to go out and purchase everything we need, nor should we. By following the plan Barbara sets forth in her book, you can acquire the needed items in a timely but prudent manner.

Throughout the book, Barbara discusses four categories of preparedness:
1) Principles for surviving worst-case scenarios
2) Principles of provident living
3) Principles for dealing with disasters
4) Principles for emergency evacuation

The book not only discusses items you need to store, but what to do with it once you have it—where and how to store, recipes and preparation tips, using, replacing, and rotating, and shelf life.

It also goes far beyond food storage. It discusses emergency shelter, alternative heat souces, sanitation, water, evacuation plans, communication, transportation and much more.

The book retails for $26.99 and can be purchased at your local bookstore or online at Amazon.

Barbara has also two other amazing books on preparedness:

-Beating the High Cost of Eating
-Plan . . . not Panic
For completely up-to-date preparedness information check out Barbara’s blog—Three P’s in a Pod. There she discusses a variety of personal preparedness solutions.

Scrapbookers often find journaling the hardest thing to do, whether it’s coming up with a catchy title for the page or writing a description of the events pictured. But, in my opinion, it is the most important part of the scrapbook.

I have a four year old who loves to look through her scrapbook. She often brings it to me and asks me to read ‘her story’. Without the journaling, the book would just be photos. Yes, photos can tell a story. But there are many benefits to adding journaling to your pages.

The simple fact is, you will not always be around to tell your children about the pictures in their scrapbook. And frankly, it’s hard to remember detailed facts about every event, vacation, and holiday for which your family has pictures.

I love sitting with my daughter and reading ‘her story’. It brings back memories of the special time it was for our family when she was born. In fact, I recently submitted a story about her birth, and without the scrapbook to remind me, small details that enriched the story would have been forgotten.

When you are looking for ideas for fun and creative journaling, browse through magazines and jot down any quote or title that appeals to you. Look up quotation sites on the Internet. Also, don’t overlook your favorite songs and poems. I’ve seen lots of darling scrapbook pages that included a meaningful poem for the journaling. If you blog, or email stories about your children, these are great places to find journaling ideas. You can even simply copy them directly and put in your scrapbook.

If you think your handwriting isn’t good—don’t worry about it. The personal touch handwriting lends to the page is very important. You handwriting is part of you. When you create scrapbooks for those you love, you are essentially sharing a part of yourself.

There are tons of fun ways to add journaling to your pages. The most simple way is to write directly on the page. You can also write or print your journaling on paper and mat it with another coordinating paper that matches your layout. You can make pockets and create a journal card, attach ribbon to the top, and slide it into the pocket. You could also make a card with journaling inside, or a journaling window with flaps folded like shutters over the journaling. The ideas are endless!

Have fun journaling and scrapbooking this week. If you have any fun journaling ideas I didn’t mention here, I’d love to hear about them.

Join the Neighborhood Newsletter . . . Subscriptions are free and joining is easy. Just by signing up and maintaining your subscription to receive the yourLDSneighborhood.com newsletter, you become eligible for our "Thank You" prizes. Our dozens of giveaways range from a trip for two to China, to iPods® (each with a $50 gift certificate for LDS music), cruises, and more.

Learn about our amazing monthly, quarterly, and annual giveaways by clicking here.

Return to the Neighborhood.

How many of you followed the Summer Road Trip over on the Inksplasher blog? I did. It was loads of fun.

And guess what? I even won a prize! I won a bottle of Urban Botanic body lotion in the Summer Road Trip Fragrance. It is part pina colada, pear, and coconut, and it smells heavenly. Thanks Karlene!

You can see a recap of the road trip here.