Catching Up 3: Personal Finance Class

The Church has a new self-reliance initiative, and this past few months I've been privileged to have participated in it. Last fall I went through the Find a better Job group, and this time around I went through the Personal Finance group. I have to say the program has been such a blessing in my life. Over the course of twelve weeks, we meet weekly for two hours as a group, with a facilitator. We review the materials, which all have a spiritual foundation, then we counsel together and offer ideas and suggestions to each other. I thoroughly enjoyed the Better Jobs group, and the Spirit that I had with me. This was even more evident with the Personal Finance class. I met with other members of my stake, who I did not previously know, and we all got to be very close. We had a regular text chain where we sent notes of encouragement, or asked for faith and prayers. I also got to be close friends with my action partner. We now go walking together on Saturday mornings, and continue to text each other throughout the week. And as a side benefit, my finances are in much better shape than they were at the beginning of the year. This will be a huge help, especially as I pay for this next year of school.

A couple of weeks ago, I was presented during sacrament meeting with a certificate for completing the course. I wasn't in it for the certificate, but I appreciate that the program is considered important enough by our Church leaders to warrant it. It has definitely been a blessing, and a motivating force in my life.

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Tidying Up

If you've been watching Netflix much lately, you've probably seen the new series "Tidying Up", with Marie Kondo. She's an expert in cleaning, tidying, and storing stuff, and her method is quite inspiring. I enjoyed the show so much that I ordered her book "The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up", and spent several days trying to get my house more in order. Not that I'm a hoarder - I have a basically tidy home. But the Kon-mari method teaches you to look at your belongings and ask yourself if each particular belonging brings you joy. If it doesn't, it's time for it to move on. I went through all my clothes first, followed by my books and DVD's, followed by the office, followed by the kitchen and laundry room. Whatever didn't bring me joy or a happy memory went into the pile. And when all was said and done, I ended up taking an entire car full of stuff to the local Deseret Industries, to hopefully be re-purposed for someone else to find

New 'Do

For probably the last 10 years or so, I've had pretty much the same hairstyle. For the most part, it's been long, all one length, and I would eventually put it up in a ponytail almost every day, because I couldn't stand having it in my face. It drove me crazy, but I didn't know what to do with it, and at the same time, I liked that I could basically get up and go every day without a lot of effort. For the past several months now, I've been threatening to do something different and drastic, and finally, yesterday, I did. At the recommendation of Angel, I made an appointment with her stylist. It took several weeks to get in, but finally, the day arrived. Angel went with me, for moral support, and to be the photographer. I went in with some basic ideas, but after some consultation and looking at photos with Francine, this is what I ended up with. First, the "before" shot: In process: And finally, the finished product: I can't remember the last time

Triple D Divas Do Northern Utah

Last Saturday, the Triple D Divas met for a day trip get-away to Northern Utah - specifically Logan and Brigham City (with a little touch of Idee-ho thrown in for good measure). We started our journey with lunch at the Bluebird Cafe. Everyone knows about the Bluebird - it's about the oldest place on main street, and is tradition for anyone whose ever done a Logan Temple Trip. We went in to see the Logan Tabernacle, and I snapped this cool picture of the oragn pipes. (Of course, now that we're all in our 40's and have shrinking bladders, the Tabernacle also made for a clean and convenient potty stop.) ...Also a view of the Logan Temple spires from outside the Tabernacle... From there, it was off to Glossner's Cheese Factory for some squeaky cheese. After that, we went to the Pepperidge Farms Outlet, and the girls all found some cookies and stuff. But nothing really excited me there. However, the outlet is located in

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