The Cutest dogs in the world!

We are really thinking about getting another "Missy Dog" - Min pin to everyone else. Here is a you tube clip of what a baby Missy is like.

Galveston and Ike

For our vacation this year we were going to go to Galveston and visit Allen's mom, and her husband. We passed through Houston, in Sept. 06', and got to visit Galveston for a few days, and really wanted to go back for an extended visit sometime soon. We really enjoyed the island, and they way of life there, along with the time we spent visiting Rose & Ronnie - Allen's mom & her husband. Everything in Galveston was so beautiful. We had an absolute blast!We never did get to go back before Hurricane Ike hit. We were in fact planning on being in Galveston when Ike hit.

At my job, we select our vacations at the beginning of Janurary, so I had picked the week of the 15th of September. A few days before we were to leave, Ike was making its way toward Galveston, so we held off of going. We are glad we did not go now, we would have ended up evacuating 2 times that week.

Rose and Ronnie are just now able to be back in their home, which escaped the hurricane. They were lucky to live at the edge of the most elevated area of the island. They suffered some roof damage. A week ago, they had some power and water back on the island, but the aftermath still remains of Ike.

Here are some pictures of Galveston back in 06', and 2 of the remains of Ike from a week ago, of our favorite store, Murdoch's.

Pumpkin Village ... a SpOokY Thing!

"Jack-o'-lantern" first referred to night watchmen who carried lanterns because there were no street lamps. Jack, a popular diminutive of the name John, was often used to mean "man," and as a result, a man carrying a lantern was often referred to as a jack-o'-lantern. When turnips, carved with faces to ward off evil spirits, were lit from within, they were considered lanterns, too. Eventually, the term "jack-o'-lantern" came to refer to the smiling pumpkins we associate with Halloween. Lit from within, they glow on the stoops, in the yards, and in the windows of homes and shops all across the country. This time of year, images of haunted houses are everywhere, too. This project combines the jack-o'-lantern and the haunted house, and the eerie result -- a glowing pumpkin house suggesting unseen ghosts and monsters -- is as unusual as it is frightening. You can carve several haunted-house jack-o'-lanterns to create a haunted neighborhood.

Tools and Materials
Pumpkin
Knife, for carving
Spoon or ice cream scoop
China marker
Utility knife, straight-blade knife, or small saw
Cheesecloth
Toothpick
Construction paper (optional)
Wire (optional)
Double-sided tape
Small Halloween toys (optional)
Fine-gauge or copper wire
Votive candle

Haunted Halloween Village How-To
1) Cut the top off the pumpkin with the knife. This will be the roof of the house.

2) Scoop the pulp out of the pumpkin.

3) Draw windows and a door on the pumpkin with the china marker.

4) Carve out the windows and door using a utility knife or another sharp tool. Keep cuts clean. The straighter the edges, the better. Remove any pulp hanging behind the windows or door.

5) Using a damp cheesecloth, wipe off any marks left on the surface of the pumpkin from the china marker.

6) To make the chimney, cut a rectangle out of the top of the pumpkin and pull out the piece. Break a toothpick in half, and insert each piece of toothpick into the sides of the hole left by the rectangle. Replace the piece you cut in its hole, resting on the toothpick pieces, so it sits up higher than the roof and resembles a chimney.

7) You can add construction-paper cutouts, suspended by wire, to the outside of the pumpkin: Cut out silhouettes of bats, cats, or witches in duplicate. Sandwich wire between two identical images using double-sided tape, then stick the wire into the roof of the pumpkin. This will create the effect of cats roaming, or bats or witches flying around the outside of the house. You can also use small Halloween toys in the windows to create interesting silhouettes.

8) Place a votive candle inside a glass holder into the pumpkin. Light will shine through the windows and door.

First Published: October 2002

Martha Don't Live here!

You all can now see what I have been working soo hard on tonight. It is not the 34 pumpkin long pumpkin snake Martha Stewart made, but it is the very best thing I have made in my life, next to my few quilts, and signs, etc. This is by far the coolest! I know, I am soo full of myself right now, But I am SOO very proud of my work!

So, with out further wait, the pumpkin snake that I featured in my first Halloween blog, from Martha Stewart's site, in my own front yard! My pumpkin snake is made from 10 pumpkins total. It took me 3 hours to complete. I used regular small clear christmas lights instead of the C9 lights Martha used.

All that is needed:
small knife for carving
spade bit
drill w/ extra battery
big big trash can - filled up a 5 gallon pot
1 string 100 light christmas lights - 2.50 from Walmart
1 extension cord
a whole lot of patience - ANYONE CAN MAKE THIS!
total cost: $28.00 pumpkins + lights

Lace Pumpkins

Not all pumpkins are orange, nor are they necessarily destined to become leering jack-o'-lanterns. The designs used on these pumpkins, carved freehand, mimic the lacelike openwork of 18th-century pierced creamware dishes, and turn any pumpkin (especially a pale Lumina) into an intricately patterned lamp.

1. Select a pumpkin or squash such as Lumina, spaghetti squash, or Blue Hubbard. You'll need wood-carving tools, sold in hardware and art-supply stores. For this project, small pieces of pipe can also be used to make cuts and punch out circles from the gourd. When choosing tools, bear in mind the shape of the perforation your tool will make, and choose those that produce unusual punctures. For example, top and bottom cuts with a V-shaped gouge leave a diamond form.

2. Cut an opening in the bottom of your pumpkin. Scrape out the seeds and most of the flesh. Place a length of masking tape around the circumference of the gourd as a carving guideline. Start cutting.

3. The going gets easier once you've circled the pumpkin with a pattern -- just keep following it, adding more bands of cuts. If you carve a small, simple design that doesn't feed the candle much air, make an air hole on one side to help it burn.

Little Sue

I consider myself to be a very high-strung person. I would be a weed-eater if I was a tool. Wound tight, letting stuff fly, by either slinging or cleaning, and just look how aggressive they are. Me to a "T". And besides all that, you most generally find a weedeater working in the yard, just like me. I wonder if people are starting to think that I am a yard ornament some of the time... lol.

Anyway, I have the extraordinary gift of giving myself heartburn. I can get it from spicy foods, and bring it on by stress. It is kind of like my own little stress overload indicator. I have heartburn with a combination of acid reflux. I can feel my chest burn when I get really worried or stressed too quickly, and then it starts up my chest, like I am breathing fire. When I get to feeling like this I try to simmer down, but, it is very hard for me to back the throttle down some days. Somedays, it feels like my plate is the size of penny... some days it could be the size of a large table top. Luckily, I am getting better at controlling this. I maybe have an episode once a month now - which is better from where I was having it happen a couple times a week. My blood pressure is low, so when this all happens, or I get wound up really fast, my head gets light from the increase of blood pressure in my body. It really worries Allen. Good thing that God built me with low blood pressure, otherwise, I would have already died from the higher blood pressure.

My Mom, Sue, and my "baby" Missy dog



















I can't help it, it was breed into me by my mother, Sue.. When I get wound up, Allen calls me "Little Sue". I even come complete with the same sound effects as her, I think that is why my dad has problems liking me too much. I'm sure it is really hard for him to get past the walk, talk, and go get'm attitude, that I have, that matches my mom so well. If you were blind, you would not be able to tell the difference in the two of us... so I am told, by lots of people. Funny, even though I grew up a "Daddy's Girl", I turned out to be so much like my mom, but a little modified... Dark brown hair vs. her blonde. I know that I could never be anything other than what I am, and that is okay. That was what God wanted.

I sometimes wonder if the whole infertility thing is one of God's plans not to have any more "little Sues" in this world. Obiviously 2 is enough. I like to blame that, instead of getting mad at God when I get down about the infertility issue. I'm just so wound so tightly, no one else could handle it I guess.

Work Life - What can Brown do for You?

As you all know I work at UPS. I have what I call "vampire" hours. I go to work at 12am and leave at 5am. This past month, I have been working until 730am.. so I am actually getting to see the place buzz. This is a good thing in a sense. I take my vampire hours for granted I have found. I think that I would be terrible to be around if I worked there from 5am to noon. Dealing with the public, and some of the big wigs from Chicago, is just not my thing. I think it is due to not having anyone really in the office when I am there to deal with. I just go to work and do my job.. that's all I want to do.

Lately, I have been catching some of the gossip of who's doing who and what. I cannot believe some of the things I hear while in the next room! I really don't want to know the things that are being said. It just really makes me feel like I don't have a clue to what really does go on with anyone around there. That is good for me. I hate getting caught up in drama. It just really is not my thing.

I cannot wait for my hours to go back to normal soon... that is if no one in the office quits, requiring me to take on more hours to cover the jobs. We have 5 people looking/interviewing for jobs outside of UPS right now. They all work through the day, so I now totally understand why. I really do like my job, I love it some days and hate it on others. I know that I could never go out and find another part time job that paid what I make.... I would have to work full time somewhere to even get close to my job, so I do get paid really good with good insurance and benefits for a part time job. I enjoy what I do, I just don't deal with people anymore. I am spoiled to say the least.

Anyway, I hope everyone out there still has their job, with how the economy has been like lately. Hopefully we will get out of this rut soon, and things will pick back up. I am heading for my "coffin" right now. Have a great Thursday morning! When I get up, it will be my "Friday"! Yay!\

Finally some Fall Weather!

I am sooo excited about the Fall weather we will be getting in the next day. FINALLY! I hate 80 degree weather, with no breeze. Fall of course is my most favorite time of year. I think that is because of the beautiful colorful trees on display. Every color is warm and cozy. I love to fix some good coffee and put on a nice pair of jeans and a sweatshirt and sit out on the deck in the evening, watching the leaves fall, and steam pouring out of my mug. There is a kind of peace, or relaxing feeling in the air, knowing the holidays are coming soon. Maple trees are my absolute favorite tree in the world. Allen and I really do love our yellow maple tree in the front yard, that has now fully turned yellow. I love decorating for Halloween/Harvest. It is soo welcoming and warm.

Allen and I have finally decided what we will be dressing up as for Halloween. Hunter Dan and Hunter Ann. Missy will be a "Hot Dog", complete with buns and a swirley mustard stripe down the back. SOoo Cute! We usually do not do much for Halloween - not many trick-or-treaters here in the country... more candy for me!

Anyway, I got in the picture taking mood yesterday, and here are a few of my favorite pictures out in the front yard. I am soo proud of how the house is decorated this year. It is still a tie I think from last years fall pictures to this years pictures on to which is decorated the best. I'll let you decide. I really love them both. Not having kids helps with the decorating dedication time and work required.








































































Every picture from here and above is from yesterday. Everything below is from last year. Let me know which year is the best.. 08' or 07'!



2007

Candy Wrapper Buckets - A GOOD THING!

Tin paint buckets become something else entirely when they're decoupaged with Halloween-candy wrappers, especially some of the older, prettier ones -- like Mary Janes, which have a vintage charm. Colorfully patterned, these buckets can be used to hold anything from crayons to loose change, or use them on Halloween night to pass out treats. Simply apply matte medium (a kind of glue) to the bucket with an inexpensive paintbrush, smooth on wrappers, and then coat the outside with more matte medium. You can buy bags of candy before Halloween just for the wrappers. Or, if you prefer, you and your children can use the wrappers from the candy they collect to make buckets for next Halloween.

The Great Outdoors!

Well, Allen & I went on another bow hunt with the video camera last night and this morning, out in our new blind. The footage is priceless, I let out a few bad words, and you can hear Allen telling me to watch my mouth, then to only call a doe a stupid bitch. lol. Allen wanted to erase it, but I think we will keep it to look back on when our video skills get better.We had fun with the video camera, got lots of good footage of some does checking out Bucky Jr- our decoy.



















Bucky Jr. - Our new whitetail deer decoy - can be buck or doe!

We never did have one come in close enough for me to shoot though. The farthest out I can shoot, and take a deer safely is 35 yards. If I were to shoot over 35 yards, I would take the chance of my arrow not passing through the deer, making the deer suffer, tracking more difficult, and finding the deer a whole lot harder. I am now shooting my bow at 46lbs... sounds light doesn't it? Well, all of you know how macho I am, and believe me, when you pull back a bow, they way you have to pull it back is more difficult than just picking up the weight straight on. Allen now shoots his bow on 68lbs. My goal for the end of this season is to be up to at least 55lbs.

We are now booking a Mule deer hunt in Colorado for next August. I... we have to be in a lot better shape than we are now, so Curves will be seeing me a lot more, and I need to be able to shoot 50 yards out when we go, which means I will have to be able to pull back and hold 55-60lbs by the time we go. I could pull back 55lbs, but I would struggle right now. You have to be able to relax while being pulled back, or you could get target panic, and jab the trigger, making you shoot off to the left or right really bad.














Seven Spur Outfitters Lodge we will be staying at.

Allen says I have great form when I shoot, no jabbing ... very little target panic when I get in a hurry. I just have to breath and relax. I practice every evening for 1/2 an hour. Believe me, my yard has been suffering.

On a good note, my Shesafari hunting clothes are in the special camo for out west, so I will be all set except for a pair of snake proof boots... I want some to stomp a mud hole in their head - I HATE snakes, and I'm terrified of them, especially rattle snakes.

Anyway, here are some of the pictures from the Silver Spur in Rifle, Colorado. And, if you have never seen a picture of a Mule deer, here you go!

Hunting Clothes for the Hunting WOMAN!

I am now the new proud owner of some real women's hunting clothes! After years of wearing boys/men's hunting clothes - with the crotch down to my knees, I will now be wearing hunting clothes actually designed for women! I am soo excited to be wearing something this great! For years, I let Allen buy the new clothes at Cabela's and would look around aimlessly trying to find some NICE hunting clothes that would fit me right. I finally found them! I hope to become part of their Team SheSafari soon! I will keep you updated on that. Their website is listed at the bottom, if there are any other ladies who hunt, or would like to hunt, so you too can find some exceptionally great hunting clothes that are not over priced.

www.shesafari.com

Also, below is the founder of Shesafari, and her testimonial.

Pam Zaitz is the founder, president and lead designer of SHE Safari women’s hunting and outdoor apparel. Introduced to the outdoors by her husband Brian almost 18 years ago, Pam now shares her passion for hunting and conservation with her entire family, including sons Parker and McLane. After 15 years of wearing men’s and youth clothing on her hunting trips and with an impending trip to Tanzania and Zimbabwe, she decided it was time for women to have apparel that actually fit and performed like it should, all the while keeping feminine style and tailoring. Now a successful business woman, devoted wife and mother of two, she is able to combine her love for her faith, family and the outdoors full time.

Pam has hunted small to large game from Texas to Tanzania and continues to explore opportunities throughout the world to grow her outdoor experiences. Over the years Pam hunt ed primarily with a rifle but in 2006 took up the challenge of bow hunting, harvesting her first animal. Fueled by the excitement of that experience, she now has hunts planned throughout the world with both rifle and archery equipment.

Pam never stops designing the next in women’s outdoor apparel. By being active in the outdoor industry and blessed with the ability to hunt different regions, she keeps her design wheels in tune. She believes there is always another design that women deserve and want just around the corner. Pam says, “My goal is to get more women involved in the outdoors with their families and what a better way than to make sure women everywhere are comfortable and feel confident in the field. I just hope I can play a small part in families enjoying all that God has created.”

Bad Thing... Eyeball Highball

Eyeball Highball

Look for radishes that are fairly uniform in size, so they will fit nicely into your ice-cube tray.

Ingredients

• 14 medium radishes
• 7 pimiento-stuffed olives, halved crosswise
• 16 ounces gin or vodka
  
• 1 ounce vermouth

Directions

1. Trim stem and root ends of radish. Use a paring knife to scrape red skin from radish, leaving just enough to give a veiny appearance. With a small melon baller, cut a hole in radish, about 1/2 inch in diameter. Fit an olive half, cut-side facing out, into hole. Place radish in ice-cube tray. Repeat with remaining radishes. Fill tray with water; freeze.
2. Mix vodka or gin with vermouth; stir with ice. Divide eyeball ice cubes among four glasses. Strain martini; pour into glasses, and serve.

Being Childless Means.....

In spirit of Halloween and in celebration of Fall - My most favorite season, I decided to change my blog background. I hope that everyone likes it, and it is easy to read the text. If it is not, please let me know.

In recent blogs, I have commented about being content without having kids, and referring to this blog as just plain Martha. The more that I really do think about not having kids, the more I really think about all of the possibilities that we have in front of us. To me, I like to plan/expect the worse, so I am prepared for whatever may come. If the worse does not happen, then, I figure that I got a bonus, or I am ahead of plans. We are not totally against having kids, but are now enjoying the perks to not having kids. I can lie in bed ALL DAY if I want, I don't have to fix supper every night either. I do realize that kids can be great and are a real blessing, but why can't not having them be a blessing at the same time. We are both, after all, still in our twenties, why not enjoy our youth, instead of having to wait until the children are grown, and moved out??? I am really thinking about all of the things in live that I have always wanted to learn, or do, or have... without kids, they are really more realistic than what I had orig. thought. I am now more happy with life, and not so angry at God anymore - since the thought has been sinking in more and more. I am not so bitter either, which I know had shown back when a baby was all we could think about. I read an interesting article today I will share with you about a childless marriage. I really thought it hit home with me.


Since she was a young girl, Melanie had always imagined she'd be a mother. Once married, she had begun planning what her nursery would look like. She had had the whole thing designed in her mind. She could see the crib, imagine the stuffed animals and brightly colored toys lined up, the sound of children's laughter that would fill the room.

It only slowly dawned on her that she would never have a baby. First there were months and then years of trying, visits to doctors, fertility tests and tears on her pillow at night.

Now, the room she had dreamed of for a nursery has been turned over to projects, but the scrapbooks she hoped to make aren't going to be filled with the family pictures. There aren't albums stuffed with mementos from children or pictures of babies with merry eyes.

Empty rooms, empty scrapbooks, empty dreams. Painfully, Melanie realized she would have to start over to remake the vision of what her life would be.

As the years passed, she grew accustomed to people asking when she was going to start her family. She even grew accustomed to it when people stopped asking as she passed the childbearing years.

She learned to prefer the company of men, because whenever she found herself in a group of women it was only a matter of time before they started talking about their children. How does Charlie like his teacher? they’d ask each other. Melanie had nothing to contribute to the conversation. She had nothing in common with these women, who were supposed to be her sisters in the gospel.

Homemaking meetings, and then enrichment meetings, held little to offer her. She once went to a homemaking meeting where the whole theme was SuperMom. Everyone made a shirt with a SuperMom decal on it. When she said she couldn’t make the shirt because she wasn’t a mother, the teachers tried to talk her into a shirt that said Future SuperMom. Instead she made a shirt that said SuperMe.

Sometimes it seemed bishops didn't know what to do with her. Should they put her in Primary or Young Women, or were those the worst possible callings for a childless woman? As she grew older – and the bishops started getting younger – the nervousness of the bishops often manifested itself as fear. She got so tired of having bishops who were afraid of her. She wasn’t contagious, and it was unfair to be treated as though people could catch whatever it was she had.

Unfairness was at the root of it, of course. When she went grocery shopping and parked her virtuous grocery cart, all full of fruits and vegetables and healthy foods, behind a mother whose cart was full of bagged cookies and chips and sugary cereals, the thoughts came. Why did God let her be a mother, rather than me? I would have done such a better job! Does he love her more? What have I done wrong?

Mother's Day was the worst day of the year, of course. For years she folded her hands under her armpits when the flowers were being passed around. She wasn’t a mother, and she wasn’t going to take one. Then she realized she was only upsetting people who were trying to be kind to her. She stopped going to church on Mother’s Day, so she wouldn’t have to hurt anyone who was only trying to make her feel better. But staying home was just as hard. As hard as she looked, there was nobody there to throw a pair of chubby arms around her neck and say, “You’re the best mommy in the world!”

As years went by, she was stunned to see that some mothers envied her. One of them who came to her house wouldn’t stop raving about the furniture. Finally Melanie said, “Would you trade your four children for my furniture?” Realizing that Melanie was not the one who should be envied, the woman quickly departed.

An Epidemic of Barrenness

Melanie’s situation is one that is all too common in the Church. There seems to be an epidemic of barrenness, and a growing army of women in the Church who are denied the joys of motherhood. Many childless women adopt, but many more don’t feel inspired to do so. These are the ones who find themselves adrift in the community of Saints. Church members don’t know where to put a childless woman – and often she doesn’t have a clue, herself.

I know these things, because I’m one of the childless. My story may not be typical, but that may be the point. Maybe there isn’t a typical situation as far as childlessness is concerned. Childless people are as different as mothers are different, and one size definitely doesn’t fit all.

I didn’t plan on being childless. In fact, I didn’t plan on any of the things that have happened to me in this life. I saw my parents and thought my life would be a mirror of theirs. I would be get married to someone I’d grow to hate, I’d be poor, I’d have three children, and I would be bitterly unhappy.

To my surprise and gratitude, none of those things came to pass. I have a terrific marriage; we aren’t poor, and I am extremely happy. I am also childless.

Oddly, I was prepared for childlessness. When I joined the Church as a junior at Brigham Young University, the first thing I did was run out to get a patriarchal blessing. When I returned home, my roommates gathered around me. “What did it say?” they asked.

I shrugged. “It said I was never going to have children.”

My roommates were quick to reassure me that patriarchal blessings just don’t say things like that. “Mine did,” I insisted. So we waited until the printed copy of my blessing arrived in the mail. Sure enough, there was nothing promising children in my patriarchal blessing. But there was nothing that said I wouldn’t have them, either. Despite what my patriarchal blessing did or didn’t say, I knew from the time the patriarch’s hands were on my head that I would never have children.

Insults and Incompetence

Even though I knew I would be childless, part of me expected to have children anyway. I bought baby clothes, years before I was ever married. I picked out names. I was ready for motherhood. But motherhood never came. Clark and I had the requisite fertility tests. We were poked and prodded – and insulted. (“It’s your fault,” said one doctor. “Your husband is a perfect specimen of manhood.”)

I was subjected to doctors who were too lazy and too insensitive to treat anybody, much less childless women. One of them kept trying to prescribe antidepressants, not because I was depressed, but because his wife, who was also childless, was depressed. When I humored him and took the antidepressants for a short while, he kept calling me every month with the news that I was pregnant. I was the one who finally read in the tiny letters of the clinical pharmacology sheet that the antidepressant he’d put me on was notorious for causing false positives for pregnancy tests. Why did I have to tell the doctor that?

We thought about adopting, but when a wonderful child was offered to us we got a stupor of thought that told us that adoption wasn’t for us. For reasons that were – and are – unknown to us, we were not destined to be parents in this life.

Although the opportunity of motherhood was taken away from me, I was given a great gift at the same time. That gift was that it never occurred to be devastated about being childless. My mantra became the words of the Apostle Paul, who said, “For I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content” (Philippians 4:11).

I can’t pretend I have always followed that counsel. When I gained 140 pounds in six months and doctors never figured out why, I grieved. More than twenty years later, I have never come to terms with that. When I was treated unfairly or cheated by people whom I had trusted, I got angry. When life has dealt me bitter blows, I have had to work hard not to absorb that bitterness.

But at least as far as childlessness is concerned, I was able to accept the situation I was given. I knew this was the Lord's will for me, and that was enough that I never shed a single tear over my childless state. I don’t know why more childless women haven’t been given that gift, but apparently it was something I needed.

Compensations

As I’ve lived through twenty-eight years of childless marriage, I have learned that the old saying is true that windows are opened whenever doors are closed. There are compensations for every deprivation we face – even childlessness. And although having children is a wonderful blessing, and even a commandment for those who can have them, we have to rejoice where we are with the blessings we have, rather than wasting our lives yearning for blessings we haven’t been given.

Here are some blessings of being married and childless. If you find yourself married and childless, these are some consolations:

· Being childless means there are only two people in the household. This may sound like a curse rather than a blessing, but there are advantages here. The biggest one is that if there are only two of you, you can’t ignore things that shouldn’t be ignored. When two partners in a marriage start drifting apart, it is easier for the husband and the wife to focus on the children, rather than on fixing their marriage – or even recognizing that the problems exist. It is only when the last child has left the nest that the wife turns to her friends and says, “We don’t have anything to talk about anymore.”

If there are only two of you in the house, you know there are problems as soon as the problems arise. Because you diagnose the cancer early, it is easy to cut it out without a fatality. And even if there aren’t problems, the fact that it’s just the two of you against the world makes you rely on one another more than other couples are likely to do. People who have only each other to lean on are far more likely to work hard on the relationship.

· Being childless gives you the luxury of getting sick. I catch everything. I have been diagnosed with more fatal diseases than many people have ever heard of. My parents, who were chain-smokers, bequeathed a bad set of lungs to me. Even on a good day, I don’t have the energy to raise children. And on a day when I have the flu and can’t get out of bed, I’m exceedingly grateful that I don’t have to get out of bed even though I can’t.

The reverse of this is that childless people do not have children to bring home everything that’s going around the school. We’ve never had to deal with lice, and whatever bug “everybody” has is more likely to pass over our house. If your immune system isn’t all that great to begin with, it’s good to be able to keep your house at least marginally safe from contagion.

· Being childless allows you more freedom – freedom of travel, freedom to relocate, freedom to take advantage of opportunities that are denied to people with children. The freedom of not having children at home to worry about is a very real compensation for childlessness. Think about it. We can travel when hotel rates are cheaper, and when cruise ships are so empty that the cruise lines almost pay us to travel. If one of us is sent on a sudden business trip, the other one can go and make a second honeymoon (or a twentieth, or a fiftieth) out of it. We were able to move across the country when the opportunity presented itself, without having to worry about a traumatized thirteen-year-old who didn’t want to leave her friends. We have spent the past ten years as temple ordinance workers – a calling that is denied to mothers who still have children at home.

· Being childless means that you get to determine how you spend your time. We have seen families leave the Church because the children’s soccer schedule took over their lives. We don’t have soccer practice – or piano lessons, or band practice, or any of the other opportunities for children that completely commandeer the life of whoever chauffeurs the children around. Instead of taking children to their extracurricular lessons, we were able to discover and develop our own talents by taking cooking classes and stained glass or drawing lessons of our own. We can also watch what television shows we want to watch, spend years of our lives not going to Disney movies (or the amusement parks, for that matter!), and invite friends over to the house to visit.

For us, Family Home Evening consists of dinner out as a couple on Monday nights. Ward members refer to it as our “Family Home Eating,” but that weekly date gives us time to spend making our two-person family stronger.

· Being childless makes for a cleaner house, and nicer furniture to put in it. Granted, people who would forego having children just for the sake of nicer furniture have their priorities skewed. But if you can’t have children anyway, it’s a comfort to know that you don’t have to work as hard to keep the house clean. If your house is a mess, there’s nobody to blame it on but yourself.

· Being childless gives you the luxury of being able to make mistakes without stigmatizing a child for life. If you’re a parent, every word you say and every gesture you make has the potential of devastating a child.

I remember one day in a Girl Scout meeting a group of us were singing. I was trying to harmonize like a friend who was singing alto, but I apparently really messed it up. My mother, the Girl Scout leader, told me I sounded horrible. That was the last time I ever sang in a group where I thought anyone could ever hear me.

My mother wasn’t a bad person, and she was an excellent mother. She made one careless remark, and it traumatized me for life. My tongue has three left feet. I am constantly saying things I regret. Thank goodness I don’t have children, or they would have been twitching wrecks by the time they were three.

· Being childless spares you a whole lot of heartache. In our twenty-eight years of marriage, we’ve seen virtually every tragedy that can befall a parent. We’ve had friends whose children had children out of wedlock – and then went on to keep the children and compound the pain for everyone in the family. We’ve had friends whose children have died tragically (and when isn’t it tragic when a child dies?), and friends whose children have made such terrible decisions that death would have been a blessing. We have had friends whose children committed murder, and we have even had friends whose children were murdered.

We have never had to stay up at night, praying for a child who was taking drugs or using alcohol or who had left the Church. We have never had the agony of certain knowledge that our daughter was marrying someone who would give her a life of sorrow. We have never had to send a son off to war.

It’s important to know that envy goes in both directions. Even as I have envied people who have a houseful of children around them, other people have envied me because I can travel, because our childlessness has allowed us to afford a nicer house, or because – well, they don’t need a reason. It’s always easier to see someone whose life is different, and to wish you had that other person’s life. There are women who tell me they always thought they were destined for more than washing diapers, and reminding them of the sacred role of motherhood is no more helpful for them than it is for me.

Different Ways of Growing Up

I’ve heard people say you can’t be an adult until you’ve had children, and I strongly disagree with that. There is more than one way to learn the lessons you need to learn in life, and to reach spiritual maturity. Parenthood is certainly a fast track to maturity, but it isn’t the only one. Probably the most difficult challenge of being a childless Church member is handling the sincere but thoughtless comments of other members, delivered over the pulpit or in casual conversation.

Being a parent takes a lot of sacrifice. It also takes a lot of courage. I admire people who have children, and my admiration is unbounded for people who have large families and raise those families well.

But it also takes courage to be childless. It takes courage to endure the questions and the ridicule. It takes courage to endure the things that are said about you – both behind your back and to your face. It takes courage to cheerfully ignore the people who tell you that you’re childless because you’re “not relaxing,” and that if you only adopt a child you’ll soon have children of your own. It takes even more courage to turn the other cheek when people tell you right to your face that if you were a righteous person the Lord would give you children – and then demand that you tell them about your unrepented sins.

It takes courage for the women who go out and pursue a career after all attempts at childbearing have failed – only to be treated like second-class citizens by other members of the Church who are all too happy to assume they chose a career over children out of selfishness.

It takes courage to stand up on Mother’s Day and take the flower so as not to hurt the feelings of anyone else. It takes courage to accept a calling as a nursery leader or a Primary teacher, even though none of those children can ever be yours. It takes courage to stay in the room when every ward conference five years in a row is about how to be a better parent, as though there were no other subject we could focus on than parenthood. It takes courage not to take offense when a well-meaning Relief Society teacher always follows the word “mothers” with “and those of you in the room who are not mothers” – even though a quick survey of the room shows that you’re the only non-mother present.

We don't write our own scripts in this life, as much as we may want to. We are poor when we want to be affluent (or at least able to pay our bills!). We are ugly when we want to be beautiful (or at least not-ugly). We are single when we want to be married. And yes, we are childless when we have been told that the most important thing we can do is to be good parents.

All of us – those with children and those without – are God’s children. He loves us all. We each get the trials in life we need. Our trials may be a major burden for us, but there are always blessings that compensate. I am convinced that those of us who live righteous lives will not lose any of the blessings of life. Those blessings may be delayed, but they will not be kept from us. If we rejoice in the things we’ve been given rather than grieve over the blessings we’ve been temporarily denied, we may one day be able to say with Paul that we have learned, in whatsoever state we find ourselves, therein to be content.

It is VERY HARD not to be angry with God sometimes, but it is nice to know that I am not going through this alone. I have God with me, and my best friend in the whole world...my husband. Knowing that I am not alone, and there are other things in live besides "living the American Dream", makes me feel so much more at peace with the world. I will still feel that tug when I see a pregnant woman, or a new born baby, but, I have many blessings in life to be thankful for too. So, which ever path I will go down in life, childless or not, I will not be bitter about how I got there.

Halloween Pumpkin Carving 101

Pumpkin Creatures: Owls

The owls' extra-large eyes are made from halved miniature pumpkins and gourds. Their feet and ears are curved pieces of pumpkin.

Tools and Materials
Pen Drill with 5/8-inch bit or large hole cutter String lights Toothpicks Rubber bands Tall glass Electrical tape Wood gouge or linoleum cutter Serrated knife

Pumpkin Owls How-To
These instructions can be adapted to create the facial details of other animals.

1. Cut a large hole out of the top of a pumpkin, scoop out insides, and keep top to plug hole later; cut a 1- to 1 1/4-inch hole in the back for ventilation. Make eye holes: First mark with a pen, then drill (with a 5/8-inch bit) or cut with a large hole cutter. Next, in the tops of two mini pumpkins, cut holes slightly larger than eye holes; scoop out insides. Drill a small hole in the bottom of each mini pumpkin. From inside larger pumpkin, push four lights through each eye hole, securing the bottom of the bundle with a rubber band to keep the bulbs from touching one another. Attach mini pumpkins over lights using toothpicks. Wrap more lights around a glass, securing wires with tape, and place inside body.

2. Add "feathers": Use a wood gouge or linoleum cutter to make half circles in the skin.











3. Cut ear, nose, and feet shapes from other pumpkins with a serrated knife; attach with toothpicks.











First Published: October 2003

Snake Pumpkin... A GOOD THING!

Okay, my blog is titled Martha vs. Motherhood. WE are now xing out the Motherhood, from earlier discussions between Allen and I, so now I am just referring to this all as just plain MARTHA. Something new... I will start posting some of Martha Stewart's craft ideas. Why not? After all, she is a lot of my inspiration. With Halloween just in a few weeks, I thought I would show everyone what craft I am doing this year.

Craft of the Day: Pumpkin Snake

To complete her front-door Halloween display, Martha assembles a row of pumpkins, mimicking the twists of a slithering snake. The first and largest pumpkin forms the serpent's head, and the rest make up its long, scaly body. Each "body" pumpkin is drilled with holes of various sizes, then lined up with the others so the snake curves and slithers. Christmas lights are strung through the line of pumpkins; these lights illuminate the carvings and are not a fire hazard. After dark, this glowing snake will light the path to your front door.

Tools and Materials
Pumpkins
Small utility saw
Large-bulb white Christmas lights
Plastic pumpkin-carving scoop, drill with borer tool and 3/4-inch and 1-inch bits
Felt-tip pen; utility knife
Extension cord

Pumpkin Snake How-To
Decide how long you want your pumpkin snake to be, and choose pumpkins in a variety of sizes, from large to small, to simulate the body of a snake. Choose a big, elongated pumpkin for the head.

Using the utility saw, cut a hole in the top and bottom of the first "body" pumpkin. One hole should be about fist-size, in order for you to reach your hand in and remove the seeds, and the other just big enough for a string of lights to pass through.

Hollow out the insides of the pumpkin with the scoop.

Drill a series of holes into the sides of the pumpkin, varying the size of the bits. When drilling the larger holes, you don't have to puncture all the way through the flesh; the light will glow through partly drilled holes. Repeat with all pumpkins except for the head.

Set the pumpkin head on its side, so that the elongated shape can form the jaw of the snake. Draw a serpent face with long fangs around the stem of the pumpkin (which you should remove when you cut out the mouth), using a felt-tip marker. Cut out the eyes and mouth with the small saw. With a fine-tip utility knife, carve out other snake features, such as nostrils.

Once you have cleaned and drilled all your pumpkins, arrange them in a snaking line.

Starting with the head (which should be farthest from the house), pass the string of lights through the holes at each end of the pumpkins (the larger pumpkins may require two to three lights; the smaller pumpkins near the tail, just one). You may need an extension cord to reach an electrical outlet.

First Published: October 2003

Recap of last few days

Okay, so we did not get a deer on Saturday either. I passed up a small buck and could not get a shot at the 2 doe deer either. We had fun though.

We come back home and watched the Sex and the City movie, and then went over to the neighbors for some jungle juice. This was the first time in over 4 years that I have had vodka. Last time I drank vodka, it was the worst hangover - the only hangover that I have ever had. SICK as a dog ALL DAY! Anyway, jungle juice was really good.

Allen and I have been talking over a few things over the last few weeks. I don't know if all of the trying for a baby has just plain gotten to us or what, but we are really contemplating not having kids at all. We have agreed for now, if we get preggers from now, until we turn 35, it is great. We are not going to try for anything. We have been wanting kids for so long now, it is just time to focus on us. We do have a great marriage, and just want to enjoy each other. I am just sick of going in circles with no light in sight. Anyway, after we turn 35, if we still have no kids, we are getting fixed. I don't want to turn 40, and risk the chance of having a baby with mental and physical problems. And we really do not want to be 70 by the time they turn 18. It will just be a final measure to make sure our decision will be final. We would both like to have the means to have a child in our home, and I am sure after we turn 35, we will already have our retirement plans building. I just want to be prepared, having a college fund or just money saved for vacations as a family. We just do not want to spend thousands of dollars, and have a baby, but have no money to raise one. This whole decision is subject to change at any time I am sure. We just right this moment have things in life we want to do for ourselves.

Don't forget One Tree Hill is on tonight, once again!

First Bow Hunt of the Season

Okay, for all of you huntin buffs, Wednesday was the opening day of bow season for the elusive white tail deer. - that had a little bit of Ted Nuget coming off of that, but that's okay. Allen and I went out last night down to Berryville to get the first hunt under our belts, but things didn't go as planned. We got down there with everything except the video camera- it was dead. We went and looked at the cougar tracks that Allen's grandpa found on Wednesday - I'll have pictures on here later on today. Anyway, walked all the way of what seemed like a 5 mile hike with a stand on my back, just to find that Allen's grandpa never did clear out the brush he said he had earlier, making it to if we got up in the stand, we would not have a clear shot. Allen climbed up the ladder stand that was there already, and attempted to set the second stand up. Well... Allen could not get it to bite into the tree, it was hot, and nothing was working right. We quickly decided that this was not going to work and just went back home.

Instead of hunting outside, we went to walmart, and picked up the new Cabela's Dangerous Hunts 2009. It was fun except Allen could not find his orginal PS3 remote that was needed to play most of the game instead of our extra cordless remotes we now use. We are now attempting to go tonight to my grandpa's woods - I know we will see something, we are going in MY tree. I have already taken 3 NICE "Monster Bucks" from this tree, thus it is now MY tree. We went over and checked everything out and made sure we were ready to go. So, tonight at 3:30, we will be up in the woods together hunting and videoing the experience. If we get a deer tonight, I'll be sure to post the footage on here later on with some nice pics. Wish me luck! And I'll report back on here tonight!