Top Secret Young Women Project Revealed!

Several weeks ago, our ward young women president asked if I would be willing to take on a special project--to be in charge of the graduation presents for the Laurel's who will be soon be leaving us. Of course I said, "yes." She told me that I had a $10 per girl budget. I thought that was VERY generous. She also told me that in the past, they have received towels from Costco and that another woman in the ward will embroider their first initial. I thought that was a lovely idea.

I contacted each mother of the graduating seniors to find out what their favorite color is. Do you know that ONLY one girl has pink as her favorite color? All the rest were different shades of blue--turquoise and sky blue being the predominant favorites. No purple. No red. No yellow. I feel rather sorry for those colors.

Armed with this information, I went to Costco to look at their towels. They were lovely towels, but they came in shades of beige, white, and mossy green. No favorite colors there. This would not do!

I asked a few people for suggestions worthy of a young women graduation gift. Several people suggested a gift card to Jamba Juice or In and Out. Those are FUN gifts but so....temporary. I wanted something permanent! Something that these girls would hopefully treasure and remember their young women years with fondness. Something they could use and take with them when they leave home.

And then I remembered Utah Sister! Utah Sister is currently a ward Relief Society president. Utah Sister came up with a lovely idea a few years ago to make fleece blankets for the INCOMING young women--a way to welcome them to Relief Society. I thought, "Loralee, if this is good enough for a 'welcome to Relief Society present' why then it is also good enough for a 'Congratulations, you are graduating (whether you want to or not) Young Women present.'" Thus, the fleece blanket project was born!

I began scouring the Joanne's ads faithfully, waiting for a lovely sale of their fleece material. Lo and behold, there came such a sale shortly before I left for Utah and my much anticipated graduation. Armed with my "favorite color" knowledge, I went to Joanne's and was immediately overwhelmed with the plethora of fabric to be found. Some were clearly not suitable with a most decidedly baby motif, but there were many, many options. There were so many options that I...(wait for it!)


ACTUALLY PULLED OUT MY CELL PHONE AND TURNED IT ON!

I then actually USED my cell phone and called home.

I needed Emily at the fabric store--STAT--to help me make my selections. She has good taste and I knew she would know what 17 and 18 year old girls like. We chose several lovely patterns. I then purchased my first EVER rotary cutter and mat to add to the ease of the project (they were also 50% off thank you very much) and then the fabric was placed in my closet to await the day when I returned from Utah--about two weeks hence.

(I don't think I have ever used hence in this blog before. I don't know how I feel about using it now.)

Two weeks later, armed with directions I found on the Internet, I began cutting and cutting and cutting, and "tying" and "tying" and "tying" five lovely fleece blankets. For two weeks, I spent every. free. moment. working on these blankets.

My back became very stiff and sore from cutting out these blankets.

It was part of the gift.

I stayed up late too many nights to finish a blanket.

It became part of the gift.

I neglected other aspects of my life.

It became part of the gift.

They were made with a great deal of love.

This also became a big part of the gift.

Finally, I finished the last blanket--Emily's blanket--as I rode home from the Oakland Temple with my mom and Jack after working there last Friday.

Here are the blankets.

Blankets for Stacie, Emily, Dawn, Katie, and Laura. I'm going to miss those girls! At least, two are related to me. I'll see them around, even when they are OLD Relief Society women.

Wrapped up and ready to go.

Accompanying each blanket was a lovely card from the Young Women president and Laurel adviser and a very cheesy poem written by me. I won't share it with you in it's entirety (it's three stanza's long) but to give you a FLAVOR of the poem here are the first two lines:

If you're ever feeling blue,
May this blanket comfort you.

Please don't judge me harshly. I NEVER claimed to be a poet.

Emily says that it's her FAVORITE blanket ever. I'm glad you like it my darling daughter.

Modest is the Hottest

Emily attended "Mormon Prom" Saturday night with her good friend, Daniel. Daniel and his mother drove all the way from Stockton so they could share this special evening.

Emily had a GREAT time, but it was not an easy project getting ready for Prom. It took a small village to make sure that Emily would feel comfortable with her outfit.

We found a fairly modest dress at a store. It was on clearance so the price was right but we would need to do alterations and find a shrug.

We searched two malls and a large outlet shopping center looking for a shrug that she could wear to make the dress modest. We struck out. It was my friend Karen who found the perfect shrug for Emily.

The dress was a little large. My mother happily took in the side seams so it would fit better.

Emily wanted to shorten the dress to knee length. I wasn't comfortable doing this. Through the help of my sister-in-law Shauna and niece, Chelsie, we found someone who could not only shorten the dress but add new spaghetti straps. The ones that came with the dress were so loose that they weren't effective. The woman who altered the dress was very reasonable. I appreciated her help.

As I watched Emily head off to Prom with Daniel, her cousins, and their dates, she looked lovely. She sparkled and look self-confident and comfortable because she knows that "modest is the hottest."

Chelsie, Danny, Emily, Daniel, Stacie, and Ricardo. Don't they look great?

I thought you would enjoy this video. One young woman also found prom dress shopping a frustrating experience and decided to do something about it.



She is my new hero.

We Believe

This evening, Emily and I attended the Young Women broadcast. It was wonderful. The talks by the General Young Women presidency were inspiring. The message from President Eyering was thought-provoking. I'm looking forward to reading them in the May Ensign so I can digest their messages fully. The theme tonight was I Believe. I believe in being honest and true. I believe in being benevolent. I believe in being virtuous. President Eyering taught eloquently how we can believe--how we can have a living, growing testimony all the time. He mentioned Alma 32 quite a bit and explained how we can gain our own testimony. I had finished re-reading Alma 32 earlier in the week so many of his references were very fresh.

One thing he said that impressed me was, (and I'm paraphrasing) "Every time I read the Book of Mormon I take Moroni's challenge and pray and ask Heavenly Father if the Book of Mormon is true. This is one way that I keep my testimony living and growing."

I've done that myself occasionally, but I can't say I've prayed about the truthfulness every time I've finished reading it. It's something that I need to do.

As I was sitting in the chapel next to Emily, I suddenly realized that this was the last Young Women meeting I would attend with a daughter. I've been attending one of these meetings since 1994 when Christie was 12. Every year for 15 years, at least one daughter has sat by me in the chapel. I'm feeling a little nostalgic that another chapter is coming to a close.

However, I may have the opportunity of sitting in the chapel with my daughters for the Relief Society broadcasts. That will be a lovely experience.

Drive Through Tri-tip Dinner

Yesterday, was our Young Women's camp fundraiser. Our wonderful Bishop and another talented man in our ward were the chefs. They BBQ-ed tri-tip, roasted new red potatoes, and we tossed together a yummy salad. My big contribution to the meal was whipping up batch after batch after batch after batch (do you get the picture?) of raspberry vinaigrette. Because Chef K. does EVERYTHING by taste, each batch was slightly different (Hmmm...this needs more pepper. Hmmmm.... this needs a couple more squeezes of lemon juice. Hmmmm....a little more red wine vinegar. PERFECT!)

The Young Women sold tickets to members of the ward, neighbors, and friends. They baked oodles and oodles of delectable cupcakes, chocolaty brownies, and soft and moist cookies to sell at the bake sale. They came to the church in three shifts to prep, serve, and sell their baked goods at our first annual "tri-tip drive-through dinner and bake sale."

At least it MIGHT be our first annual "tri-tip drive-through dinner and bake sale."

Just before 6:00 pm, the first cars arrived in the parking lot. I was at my official table, spreadsheet and highlighter marker in hand ready to call in the orders to the kitchen. Using a trusty walkie-talkie, I would ask for three, or four, or sometimes 10 meals at a time. The girls in the kitchen would scurry and put together the requested meals and then hustle outside to deliver the warm food to the waiting occupants.

Other girls wheeled delectable goodies to each car, selling their baked goods at $3.00 a plate. Many of the members said, "Keep the change." They were very generous and we were very happy with how well things turned out. The food was delicious! If I had been in charge of making 210 dinners, I know it would not have turned out so well.

After many, many nights of losing sleep over this production, I am so grateful it is over. I am grateful for all the men and women who helped me pull it off. I am grateful for the sweet young women in my ward who worked so hard selling tickets, working cheerfully, and having fun at the same time.

Now, I need to concentrate on that last BYU class! Life is busy. Life is good.

"Mom--You're Strong"

Once upon a time when I was a younger Mommy, I took up strength training. I bought a few light dumbbells and some exercise tapes. Eventually I bought a bar bell. I felt so hard core! In those days, our family room couch had good clearance and I stored my bar bell under it. My kids were quite impressed that I actually lifted weights. Let me give you two examples.

Example One:

When Emily was in Kindergarten or 1st grade, she drew a picture of me. I was lifting weights in my picture--two dumbbells that weighed 100 pounds EACH! I kept that picture on my refrigerator for years. It brought me a good laugh. I want to say I have NEVER lifted 100 pounds. I don't think it is possible.

Example Two:

A couple of years after I was called to serve as Relief Society president, our ward was combined with another ward. There were now two Relief Society presidencies, two Primary presidencies, etc. The Bishop of the other ward was released so at least that wasn't an issue. The Bishop called a meeting and asked the President's and Quorum Leaders of both wards to attend. He wanted us to share notes about the members of each ward. Perhaps Christie thought this meeting was a test or a chance to campaign for further service. She wrote out a speech for me to give to state why I should continue to serve as the Relief Society president. I don't remember all the details about the speech except the part that stated, "And I lift weights!" (And no, I did NOT give this speech!)

Last night was our ward's New Beginnings. We had an Olympic theme. After the opening ceremonies, the three teams--Laurels, Mia Maids, and Beehives competed in different value events. A parent or sibling was encouraged to also participate. One of the events was "weight lifting." Emily nominated both of us to represent the Laurel team. "You're strong," she said.

Now, I have to say, I don't feel particularly strong. I don't lift my bar bell as often as I used to--partly because it's now stored in the garage and it's not very convenient. But, I do try to lift weights at least once a week.

Emily and I went to the front of the Cultural Hall. We joined the other mother-daughter pairs and were given two hymn books to hold. We were instructed to raise our arms horizontally and parallel to the ground and without bending our elbows hold the books as long as possible.

I am not exaggerating that I started doing a little dance to the Olympic music. This wasn't too bad.

Soon, two more hymn books were added to our outstretched arms. Still, not too bad. I kept dancing.

Three people soon dropped their hymn books. They added a third hymn book to each outstretched arm. Hmmm....Now it was becoming a wee bit uncomfortable. I stopped dancing, but kept bouncing to the music.

Emily was the last girl standing but even she lost her strength. It was down to another mother and I. A fourth hymn book was added. My arms were starting to burn. OK, this was starting to HURT!

Thank goodness, the other mother dropped her hymn books. I was the Olympic champion weight lifter! There was great rejoicing on the Laurel team.

So, for my dear darling daughters, here is another story to add to your mother's weight lifting lore.

Dating Advice

Last night I attended a Mutual activity for one of the wards in the stake. I was asked to take part on a dating panel. The young women were asked to write any question they wanted anonymously and the "expert" panel would be happy to answer them.

The questions ranged from "why can't we date until we're sixteen" to "is it OK to kiss on a first date?" One young woman wanted to know what necking meant. Another young woman wanted to know if it was OK to date nonmembers if they had good standards and values. Probably my favorite question (that I picked out of the bag so I got to answer it first) was "How do I let a boy know I like him without scaring him off?" I thought back to my teenage days so long ago. I said, "Well, I think the best thing you can do is make eye contact and smile. Then look away for a few seconds and make eye contact and smile again. It's also important to actually talk to them occasionally. If you do that, most guys will know that you are interested and you won't be so overbearing." A few of the other adults also chimed in and one of the Laurel's in attendance basically agreed with what I said.

Today I went visiting teaching. My companion has been single for ten years. Her husband passed away after complications from surgery. As I dropped her off she said, "I wouldn't mind finding a male friend but at my age it's hard. Most of the good ones are married. I would be interested in getting to know "Brother Jones" better. But I don't know how to let him know that I'm interested."

I almost laughed. Basically the same question asked in less than 24 hours by first a teenager and then a woman who has several grandchildren. "Well," I told her feeling somewhat like 'Dear Abby,' "you probably should make eye contact and smile at him. It wouldn't hurt to talk to him either..."