Working

For the past few weeks I've been taking my resume to the nurseries and garden centers in the area.  As much as I love to be at home their has to be a balance in life too.  Our home (apartment) is small and it's easy to run out of things to do, and being new to the area I don't know a whole lot of people.  My husband often works 60 hours a week and I start to go a little stir crazy with nothing to do.  Sure, I can find stuff!  I quilt, I read, I blog, etc...I still get a little crazy though.  

Well, today I started my first job as a married woman.  I'm working at a local garden center/nursery and I think I'm going to LOVE it.  I've always felt the importance of mother's being at home for their children but had been of the opinion that a couple without children could always benefit from the potential to save-up some money.  Finding a job after being married though has definitely had some changes in mentality:

1.) I really don't care how much money I make.  I want to do something I enjoy and have fun with it.  (In fact I'm earning over $5.00/hour LESS than my last job that I had when I was single and I really don't care.  I'm glad I don't have all that responsibility that I had before!)

2.) I'm not there to show my boss that I'm the best there ever was (which is oh, so stressful), I'm there to be myself, have a good time, and of course do the best I can do without comparing myself to others.  I already feel a relief of stress.

3.) Part time is perfect.  I'm not torn between wanting to go home and feeling that I have to stay for a billion more hours, or see if I can get some overtime to support myself!

4.) It's a boost of confidence because my employer still wanted me to work for them even after I laid everything out on the table (part-time, not available Sundays).

5.) I honestly feel I can do a better job because I feel more comfortable and relaxed, not like before when I felt like if I make one little mistake it would be the end of the world and I NEEDED that job so I had to constantly BE perfect, even though this was impossible. 

6.) Because spring-time is a busy time of year for gardening, and they need extra help in the spring, I don't feel like I've signed my life over to them!  I don't owe them my soul, my money, or my first born child-just my summer.  When it's time to quit to raise my family I can, and they won't hate me for it.  (Contrast that to my last job and I felt like a criminal because I quit after only being there 7 months-even though the only reason I was quitting was because I was getting married and moving to a different city.  I felt like I owed them at least a year or two.)

I can see that this really is what is best for this stage of my life right now.  Sitting at home alone all day is depressing.  I admire women who can do that, but quite frankly, I don't think any of them actually sit at home alone all day (at least not the happy ones).  I think they go visit family and friends, find some volunteer work, pick up their kids from school, go to school activities, go to their kids activities, etc.  

Unfortunately I don't think working will be a cure-all for my loneliness (because I did work today and here I am still lonely for my husband to come home in 3 hours), but at least it gives me something else to do in the meantime.  

She Quilts!

Now that I have so much more free time on my hands I can persue the hobbies that I always wanted to but simply didn't have the time for.  My new hobby?  Quilting!  I cannot tell you how long I have wanted to do this.  In fact, I love it so much, I feel like I was born for it!  I'm still a beginner, but I'm so exited to have a lifetime ahead of me to be able to do this!

Another neat thing about quilting is the legacy that accompanies it.  I cannot look at pictures of quilts and not remember the thousands of pioneer women who walked across the plains in search of a better life.  Some for more opportunities or homesteading, and some, like my pioneer ancestors, who walked across a continent to escape religious persecution and to be able to worship their God in freedom.  I can imagine them, walking barefoot with frost-bitten toes across a frozen prairie, or sweltering in the hot summer sun, but still continuing on with faith and diligence, and saving every scrap of material along the way to and piece together into something useful and beautiful.  What a wonderful legacy to follow!

P.S. Click here if you would like to read the story about the Martin Handcart Company crossing the Sweetwater River shown above.

It's almost spring!

Hey everybody!  Now that spring is almost officially here and the weather's getting warmer and everybody is feeling just a bit cheerier I decided it was time to springify my page.  Hope you like the more springy look!

My mother's advice for keeping a clean home that she never follows but passed on to me

Not too long ago my mother told me all of the necessary steps required to keep home clean.  These are suggestions she learned from her sister (who, by the way always has an immaculate home) but my mother wasn't the best at implementing them herself.  The other day she shared with me how this is done and I figured I'd share it on here.

1.) Make your bed every morning.

2.) Keep things picked up off of the floor.  Put everything back in it's place as soon as you're finished with it and if you have things that don't have a place get rid of them.

Husbands, by the way, don't count he can stay!

3.) Never leave dirty dishes in the sink.  Even if there are only 2 or 3 dishes in the sink, wash them right away! (Or if you have a dishwasher it makes it even easier-just place the dishes inside, and voila-they're out of the way!)

4.) Once this is done you can easily do all your other cleaning (bathrooms, vacuuming, dusting, etc) else in just 2 hours a week.

I think this is great advice!  Unfortunately I don't follow it every day either!

Malus domestica

So I figure it's about time to say what Malus domestica means and why I chose it as the title of my blog.  Well, as some of you may know I am a horticulturist and spent four years studying horticulture at what I consider to be one of the best schools around.  Malus domestica is the scientific name for this plant:

   

                            

That's right!  Your common apple.  In school we loved making fun of the name (...it's the domestic violence plant...it's the bad domestics plant...).  Well, I chose the name Malus domestica for my blog because that's exactly what it sounds like...bad domestics.  I figured it would be a witty choice to name my blog as often times I feel as though I'm blindly fumbling around in the whole domestics department.  Could there be a deeper, more psychological meaning in my selection of this?  Could it be that the name alone may convey poor domestic quality but in reality it's something entirely different than what it seems...a common apple?  Could this be a reflection of my true feelings?  Eh, that's more complex than what I want to think about.  I changed my major from psychology to horticulture after just one psychology class.  But at any rate there you have it....Malus domestica.

Ode to parents

Why is it that the older I get the more I get choked up with emotion every time I think if my parents.  Gee, views on life sure do change a lot between ages 16 and 26.  I'm so glad they're still around, so many people aren't so fortunate.  I think the hardest thing about my wedding day was the feeling that I was abandoning my parents.  I guess that after all those growing-up years filled with feelings of misunderstanding, disentitlement, frustration, embarasment and all other feelings kids have growing up, it all worked out in the end after all.  Turns out they're some of my favorite peeps in the whole wide world!

Light

One of the hardest things about living in the Northwest is the short days in the winter.  One of the greatest things about living in the Northwest is the long days in the summer.  In the dead of winter it can be pitch dark as early as 4:30 in the afternoon.  But in mid-summer it stays light until almost 10:oo pm.  It is so wonderful to feel spring coming as the days get longer and longer. I love light.  In looking for an apartment one of my prerequesites was that it be bright.  I turn all the lights on in the house when it's not bright enough.  I used to want to live in Alaska until I realized the prospect of days with no light at all.  And when you think about it, light is the source of all life.  Plants, which are on the bottom of the food chain, produce their food from light.  Our growth, our ability to function, our energy, the only thing that keeps us going...is light.  This is true spiritually as well as physically.  It makes me think of one of my favorite scriptures about the true source of all light:

 "He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth; Which truth shineth.  This is the light of Christ. As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made.  As also he is the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made; As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made; And the earth also, and the power thereof, even the earth upon which you stand.  And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings; Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space-The light which is in all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things."  Doctrine and Covenants 88:6-13

His light is in each of us and it is the source of all light...the source of all life.  As long as we look to Him that light will shine in us, and our understanding will be increased.

"And if your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things."  Doctrine and Covenants 88:67

"That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light growth brighter and brighter until the perfect day." Doctrine and Covenants 50:24

So often in life we feel distressed and discouraged.  I have noticed in my own life that when I neglect to nourish my spirituality and fail to daily fill my life with the words of Christ it seems as though I am in darkness.  I feel like the houseplant that is stuck in a room without the curtains open and I'm constantly trying to twist and turn myself in all the wrong directions trying to get to that light that will sustain me.  When I bask in the light of Christ I am strengthened and able to do all things in Him.  My prayer is that we each seek the light that will nourish and strengthen us. 

Star light

Star bright

Many stars I see tonight

In the darkness, black or blue

Shines the light of you, so true

While dark it seems from far away

Where you are, is light to stay