Quote for Tuesday

I came across this quote from our beloved prophet, Gordon B. Hinckley, and thought it appropriate to share. 

"Girls, Aim high, but do not aim so high that you totally miss the target.What really matters is that he will love you, that he will respect you, that he will honor you, that he will be absolutely true to you, that he will give you the freedom of expression and let you fly in the development of your own talents. He is not going to be perfect, but if he is kind and thoughtful, if he knows how to work and earn a living, if he is honest and full of faith, the chances are you will not go wrong, that you will be immensely happy...True love is not so much a matter of romance as it is a matter of anxious concern for the well-being of one's companion."

GORDON B. HINCKLEY

Snowy sacrament meetings and sunday reminders

"Now my bethren, we see that God is mindful of every people, whatsoever land they may be in; yea, he numbereth his people, and his bowels of mercy are over all the earth. Now this is my joy and my great thanksgiving; yea, and I will give thanks unto my God forever." Alma 26:37

I'm grateful to have some really close friends that live so close to us here in Watertown. There are around 5 homes with LDS guys and girls within walking distance to one another. We all gathered this morning for sacrament meeting and it was very special. I decided to share this scripture because it hit me so powerfully this morning how mindful the Lord is of each of us and our individual needs. His love can be felt at any time and in any place the moment we invite him in. It is a very powerful principle. The love of the Lord is all around us, continuously, we just have to keep the pathway to us clear by filling our lives with good things (and good people). 

Happy Sunday to the rest of you! 

Would rather be swimming with Nemo.

Snow time in Boston! It started snowing yesterday around 10am but didn't get heavy until later in the afternoon. We last our power for a few hours last night but other than that it hasn't been so bad. Until we woke up this morning.... 

This is our covered front porch. Shows you how windy it has been!

We didn't even think to close the garage last night! Duh! 

This is my third winter in Boston and the first time I've EVER seen snow like this. The snow reached clear up to my thigh while walking through it taking pictures this morning! My cute and very with it roommate got us out there at about 9:30am to start shoveling... I wasn't thinking it would take too long. Well after two hours of shoveling we came it to take a break and defrost. I've never been more grateful for taco soup :) So we barely made a dent in the shoveling but hopefully we will have the driveway cleared up by the end of the day. We can take the bus to church if we have to! The city is still closed down and banned all cars from the roads with a $500 fine and possible jail time if you're caught on the roads. So we are happy to stay indoors today. 

Snow day wishes

This is gonna be me tomorrow! Just kidding... it better not be me. We just got new that our school is closing tomorrow (even though it hasn't started snowing yet). Boston is supposed to be getting close to 2 feet of snow. I'm kind of excited because I've never been in a snow storm that crazy before! 

Things I'd like to do tomorrow. 

1. Snow shoeing

2. Snow kissing

3. Snow sledding

4. Snowmobiling

5. Snow cones

6. Snow angels

Things I will actually do tomorrow..

1. Homework all day

2. Drink hot chocolate all day

Ya, it's gonna be great.

CJ 

Blankets Galore!

So I'm posting about some WONDERFUL news!

In Boston we received about 250 blankets and beanies to send to New York. Thank you so much to all of you who made blankets and donated them.

In Arizona and Utah blankets and beanies were collected as well. SO HAPPY! Here are a few pictures of the loading and shipping from AZ.

43 boxes to be exact. We were able to find someone to donate the money to ship them to NEW YORK yeeaaaaaa. 

Here are some pictures from our friend Gerry in New York who helped with distribution. These were taken after they arrived in NY. 

I wanted to share a note Gerry sent us recently.

Hi Liz (my mom)
Just a quick update ,
2 pallets of the blankets went to the Roxbury volunteer fire department in Breezy Point for distribution where 83 homes were burnt to the ground the night of the storm.
The remainder are being distributed throughout Broad Channel. The people are truly grateful and appreciate the talent , time and effort that was put into making each blanket and hat.  along with the monumental task of packaging and shipping the boxes. I myself want to thank you and want you to know you have 1254 new Friends in Broad Channel

Gerry

Does that not warm your heart? Admit it, yours just got a little bigger.. More of the blankets were sent to New Jersey and we are still waiting to hear back from them on the distribution. I'm excited to continue service like the YEAR ROUND! There's lots of work to do people!

-CJ 

Just being all grateful up in here. Catholic Christmas pageant success.

We had our Christmas Pageant at St. Peters school last night. Just imagine the magic of Disneyland, combined with christmas lights, caroling, church spirit, family and friends, along with the cutest kids on the planet. That's just like a portion of the amazingness of this pageant. It was the BEST.

Ya, I can't really put it into words. I worked a 14 hour day yesterday and even after I got home (and all packed to fly home) I was still going going from all the energy of the pageant excitement. There is nothing more fulfilling then preparing students for something then watching them succeed incredibly! The school is k-8. We worked with each grade in preparing a Christmas song (all of which had 2 part harmonies). The 8th grade was dressed for the nativity to perform and narrate the whole pageant. We also have a choir at the school that we worked with at lunch every day in preparing some other special numbers that Dave and I arranged. I played the piano for the whole concert (about 13 songs) along with a drummer and bassist. So fun!!! I walked away last night in tears after several standing ovations from a wonderful audience. The kids did SO WELL and I was so thrilled to be a part of it. I don't think I'll ever be able to leave this job?

I also had several friends come to support me last night, and that meant so much to me since none of my family was able to attend. This has been the best Christmas so far and I haven't even played the name game with my family yet...

Here are some photos and I also included some from my piano last Saturday.

Recital success and chocolate.

So I held my very first piano/voice recital this last saturday evening and it was a SMASHING success. Perhaps arriving at the church to set up 3 hours early did it? Or maybe it was putting all of my students through "recital boot camp" last week.... which they totally loved by the way. Teaching full time these last few months has taught me a lot, to say the least. I've been learning extreme patience with my little 4 year olds as well as my 14 year olds. I've also made quite the list of practice excuses and hilarious phrases my students come up with. Teaching is the BEST.

Now on to the next concert! My cute students at St. Peters k-8 school will be performing our annual Christmas pageant this thursday evening. I can hardly wait. They've been working hard for the last couple of months and the school community has been getting excited. I guess the pageant has quite the reputation to being amazing. It's such a blessing for me to be a part of the pageant and get to spend time with these cute kids everyday!

Hope everyone else is having a happy holiday!

Chocolate piano gift from student. Don't think I'll be eating it. My apartment is cold enough to keep it whole for a while. 

CJ  

Quilt extravaganza- still excepting blankets for Sandy victims!

I've been meaning to update for a while and then just slacked off.... The last few weeks have been wonderful as we have had blankets piling into my apartment out here in Boston!!! My ward decided to contribute as well so we purchased enough material for 100 fleece blankets and worked on cutting and tying them this last week. Here are a few pics. (And sorry some of them are blurry... guess I need to get the new iphone). 

We had a lot of fun getting all of this done and the help of so many wonderful people! Please keep sending your blankets in. If you're in Arizona you can drop them off at my parents house at 3917 E. Des Moines St in Mesa. If your're in Boston you can bring them over anytime to my apartment at 54 Maplewood st. in Watertown. 

Thanks! 

Patchwork lovin

This is Hazel, one of my cute piano students. She has been working on this quilt for a while and when she heard about Comfort Sandy's Kids she knew it was the perfect place to send her quilt. Thank you Hazel!! 

Unless someone like YOU cares a whole lot!

There is little to no temporary housing for thousands of people who can't live in their homes after Sandy.

An Article from ABC local shares stories from people like Charolette, on Staten Island, who lost all her furniture along with everything else. Her story along with 15,000 other Staten Islanders without homes urge me to do something. Click here for article

Another article talks about many who do have housing but are living in horrible conditions. The article reads "Families are living in deplorable conditions with no heat, no hot water, and disease carrying bugs everywhere". A resident shared "The closets smell because of the cockroaches and the kids have been getting sick because of the closets," She says they have no money to leave. 

Click here for article 

If the articles or striking facts above haven't hit your heart in the just right spot yet check out the photos below. 

Perfect Thanksgiving service for your family right? Now... read the post below to learn how you can help! Please comment or email me if you have any questions.  AND PLEASE PASS ALONG! Facebook, pinterest, twitter.... you know the drill. 

My mom and sister are also blogging about our movement.
http://www.zachandtarabrough.blogspot.com/
http://e3liz.blogspot.com/

Comfort Sandy's Kids- a new movement

Listen up if you have a heart any bigger than the Grinch's 

Now is the time to ACT if you would like a super-sized heart.

Here are some tutorials to help you as you help others! 

We made our own plus found a bunch of links to other quilting and crafty blogs in case you want to get really crazy. 

Remember, we would love all kinds of blankets, including big ones, small ones, quilted, tied, or fleece. Anything to help our fellow americans stay warm and feel your love. *But please no used blankets or beanies, only homemade or newly purchased.

Blankets for Sandy’s Kids

Blankets range from 54x60 for the fleece and 54x36 for cotton

Blankets can cost from $10 - $20 depending on where you get your fabric. The fleece I just bought at JoAnn’s fabrics was 50% off @ 12.99/yd. so I paid just at $10 per blanket.

My cotton blankets are made from fabric purchased at Wal-Mart they have lots of cute fun prints at very reasonable prices.

Fleece Blankets

1-½ yds. Fleece

Make sure your edges are all nice and straight.  Cutting off all rough edges and salvages. 

There are lots of ways now to do your ends. You can tie all 4 sides of your blanket or you can choose to only tie 2 ends.

Cut 4 inch fringe about 1 inch think on each side you plan on tying. 

Options: tie each individual fringe by itself.

Or: tie two pieces of fringe together in a square knot. (right over left and left over right – so that when it is washed the knot will stay.)

Either method is cute and fun.  You can also find great tutorials on how to sew 2 pieces of fleece together to make a thicker blanket.

Super easy Cotton tied blankets

1 ½ yd. cotton print

1 ½ yd. cotton solid

crib size batting

yarn

Quilting needle

Wash and dry fabric (to prevent shrinking after blanket is made.)

On a flat surface lay the back side of your fabric with right side up.  Next layer on top of that your top layer of fabric with right side down. On top of that lay out your batting, pin all three layers together.

Trim all three layers so your edges are all straight and even.  Can use a straight edge and rotary blade if you have one.

Sew all three layers together leaving a 5 inch opening on one side.  Remove pins.

Turn blanket inside out.  Your batting should be in between your fabric now with the right sides of your fabric facing out.  Be sure to push out each corner from inside so you have nice defined corners.  Press

Sew up your 5 inch opening carefully on the machine or by hand. Be sure your fabric is tucked inside along that seam.

Time to tie your quilt.

Begin by marking your quilt with a 5x5 template. (I cheat and usually just stitch according to the pattern on the print.) The purposes of the ties are to keep the fabric together and the batting in place.  In the blanket shown we tied in the middle of every other fish, skipped two rows of fish and started again.  Use your best judgment and just make if fun, cute and consistent.

Thread your quilting needle with about a yard of yarn, pulling your yarn through until both ends of the yarn are even.  Make a small stitch at your first marking, making sure you go all the way through both fabrics.  Pull your yarn completely through until you have 3 inches left on the end. 

Next there are several ways you can tie your yarn.  The most important part is that you make a square knot at each mark. 

Here are two ways to tie:

1)    Continue on stitching your yarn through each mark, making sure your 3 inch end stays secure and doesn’t get pulled through.  When you get to the end of your yarn, cut in between each mark, and tie at each stich point the yarn in a square knot.

2)    Tie as you go: after each stitch cut your yarn, tie your square knot and continue on.

3)    There is also a method to tie before you cut your yarn, but it is hard to explain.  If you would like to know how, send us an email and we’ll help walk you through it! J

Finish up: look at each tie and make sure it looks nice and clean. Check the back side of the fabric to make 

sure it also looks nice and clean leaving no crazy yarn pieces back there.  Trim each tie to about 1 inch long.

Viola – you have a fun warm blanket to send to a Sandy family and everyone gets to be warm inside!

If you're feeling all funzy follow these links to get some inspiration!  

For Blankets:

Pretty Rag Quilts

How to Sew a Basic Quilt

Quilting Made Simple

How to tie a quilt

How to Tie a Quilt 2

Pleated Stripe Quilt

Basketweave Quilt Pattern

Beanies:

Fleece Beanies

Knitted Hat with a Loom

Free Hat Patterns

Info. about us: In 2001 we started Comfort the Kids, and with the help of several hundreds of amazing people delivered over 2500 handmade red white and blue blankets to children who lost family members in the twin towers on 9/11. To keep the fun going, we delivered over 500 blankets to victims of some of the California wildfires in 2003, and in 2006 sent over 500 blankets to Houston, Texas to a children's burn unit affected by hurricane Katrina.  As a family we are grateful for the blessings in our lives and feel it a privilege to share those blessings with those suffering.  Please join us and share your warmth and love with the families that are bracing for a very cold winter on the east coast. Please give a blanket, so you AND those who bundle up in your blanket will feel some comfort, warmth and peace this cold winter season. 

My cute little life right now equals happy

So I thought that I would give a quick update of what's happening right now! I'm teaching full time at a k-8 charter school in Cambridge, MA. It's a great small school with such a cute community. I'm the music teacher so I see each of the classes once a week. It has been incredibly fun so far! The kids are really cute and well behaved. I think it helps that it's not a public school because the kids receive a lot of attention since there is only one class per grade level.

One challenge of teaching at a k-8 school is that each age group learns so differently and have such different interests. Each class have such unique personalities! I'm building 9 different curriculums for each class that are really based on their skill set and how quickly they learn. k-3rd grade is really fun; we do a lot of short activities and games centered around learning rhythm, solfege, movement, and theory. 4th-8th grades have more of choral pieces, creative writing, more advanced theory, improvisation, world music, and performing. All the kids keep me busy and happy. My classroom is right next to the cafeteria so I get to see all the kids everyday and I LOVE that so many of them stop to say hi to me in the mornings or during lunch.

I get to play the piano for Mass every thursday morning. All the kids walk over to the Catholic church next door for mass and they spend an hour there listening to Father O'Malley, singing, and taking communion. Not all of the kids and teachers at the school are Catholic but a good portion of them are. Playing the piano for the choir is really fun! The choir is getting better and better.

I'm teaching private piano lessons as well and have about 30 students!! The age range for those lessons are from 5-14. I teach the lessons at the school every day (after school gets out). I'm learning so much from teaching privately and absolutely love it. The parents and kids are great and I feel like we are finally in a good pattern of practicing. We have a piano recital coming up on Dec. 15th that they are all preparing and getting excited for. It has been challenging helping my students learn how to practice productively and affectively. That has been the hardest thing. Getting them to sit at the piano 30 minutes a day was just the first step, now they have to learn how to use that time well and actually force themselves to work hard at it every day! So, I'm learning a lot! I'm also learning a lot of patience..... (guess I didn't learn enough of it from teaching in China the first or second time). Third times a charm right?

So I really love my job! I moved to Watertown in September which is just outside of Boston (like 10 minute drive) so that I could be closer to work. I live in a cute house with 3 other LDS girls who are all working and going to school. We love our neighborhood and everything has been great so far. I honestly couldn't have written out a more ideal situation or job for me right now. It has just been such a blessing!

Going home for Thanksgiving next week! Huge family reunion, friends wedding, and some dates.....  I need to find me a man and he ain't in Boston. Did I just say that?

CJP 

Sleeping bags and creepy crawlies

So I have to post about our wonderful ward camping trip this last weekend.... mostly wonderful. Three singles wards our here in Boston went to Camp Zion in New Hampshire for the weekend and had a blast! Camp Zion is right on a beautiful lake and is only about an hour and a half outside of Boston.

On saturday night we had our skit and then ended up jumping in the lake (most of us with our clothes on) for a dance party. This may be a strong contributing factor to my lost voice for the last few days..

I headed to bed around 2am and got to the cabin and all the other girls were already asleep. So I quietly unzipped my sleeping bag and got in. I went to lie down and pulled my bag up to find something heavy on the other end of my bed, wait no inside my bag! I kicked around a little and realized it was pokey. I unzipped my bag and grabbed my phone to shine my light on it and WHAM a huge lobster staring at me. I didn't want to wake the other girls up so I did a few silent shrieks. Figured it was dead so I unzipped my bag and shoved it on the floor but NO it starts moving around!!! Freaking out!! I knew immediately who the perpetrators were so I sent out a few nasty words via text. After I was assured that they did not do it I told them to get over to my cabin to at least get the lobster out. (by this time all of the girls in the cabin were awake, they thought I was crazy when I was yelling "lobster in my bed", I guess they thought I was saying, monster in my bed...)  

So Jake and Brent come over and I tell them the whole story and they are flipping out that it's so huge and blah blah blah. Next morning I found out that they had actually followed me home and were outside of my cabin the whole time, being the criminals that they are... clever guys. real clever. There was actually a whole team of guys in on the prank, retaliation in action for each.

This is me the next morning right before cooking time. 

Cooking time.  

Thank goodness Vanary was there to tear apart the lobster, such a champ. 

So that's the end of the lobster story. Pretty sure I'll never be able to climb into a sleeping bag again with out checking for a lobster.. or some other creep thing. 

CJ