Curtis' Beating....oh wait, Curtis' Beading

Clear back in September 2007 Curtis attended a Wood Badge training. I know that you are asking, what is Wood Badge? Wood Badge is Scouting's premier training course. Baden-Powell (the Father of Scouting) designed it so that Scouters could learn, in as practical a way possible, the skills and methods of Scouting. Curtis went up for 3 days on 2 different weekends and participated in this training. At the end of the training he had to come up with 5 different goals that he would do to help him to apply the things that he learned. These goals were known as his ticket. Curtis had 18 months after the training to complete his ticket, then he would receive a certificate, a small neckerchief, a leather slide, and two small wooden beads on a leather thong. Those who have been to Wood Badge call the presentation of their certificate as their Beading Ceremony (well at least all of those in his patrol did...). Leave it to Curtis to cut it close...he had until the end of March to finish, and he finished with about 5 weeks to go. There were 5 other people in his patrol and 4 of them finished before he did.

What were some of Curtis' goals? They were to: 1) Exercise 3-4 times a week for 6 months 2) Make sure that all of the boys in his troop were trained in their positions 3) Teach the scout committee about the troop mtg plan and the patrol method 4) Attend mtgs of 10 different units (besides his own) including Venture, Varsity, Cub Scout and other Boy Scout troops to learn more about scouting and how they run the program (6 of these had to be non-LDS troops) and 5) Create a knot board that had all of the knots and lashings needed to pass for 1st class, and collect other troop resources.

After finally finishing all of these, Curtis was awarded his beads. He had the option of receiving them at the monthly Round Table mtg that the district puts on, or at some other scouting event. Curtis decided that it would be fun to receive his award at a Court of Honor that our Ward did this past week. Curtis' troop guide, Jim, came to the Court of Honor to recognize him in his achievements. Jim dressed up as Baden-Powell and told the story of how scouting was started and why he created the Wood Badge training. All of the boys there loved it...Baden-Powell gave some history: he was born in 1857, the scouting program started in England in 1907 and started in the US in 1910. Before he had Curtis come to the front, he called the Wood Badge Court of Honor to order by putting an ax into a log that was in the front of the room (this was the part that the boys really liked). Anyway, after the history lesson, Bonnie (who was also in Curtis' patrol at Wood Badge) helped to present Curtis his neckerchief, leather slide, and two small wooden beads on a leather thong. Then Jim presented him with his certificate.

Curtis was pretty excited about accomplishing his ticket. He did not receive his Eagle Scout award, but feels like he is an Eagle Scout now because he was in the Eagle patrol up at Wood Badge and he successfully completed his ticket. Way to go Curtis!!

Jim (aka Baden-Powell)
Bonnie finally able to get the beads around Curtis' head
(the string was tied a little too small, so we later re-adjusted it)

Getting his certificate!

Making blankets with Brenda

This year I decided that I would help Brenda work on her Young Women goals so that she could get her Young Womanhood Recognition award before she turns 18. (I can't believe that my baby sister is 17 and will be 18 in just over 8 months!) As many of you that know her, you know that this is no small project, as Brenda has a severe cognitive disability (it's like dealing with a 6 yr old all the time). Every Saturday Brenda comes over to our house while Dad is sleeping and Mom and Nicole are at work and we work on her YW goals. So far I think that we have been able to finish about 12 goals, finished one 10 hr project and are in the process of working on another one. Most of her goals/projects we are adapting to her needs, so this can be a little difficult because I've had to be a little creative. Brenda and I have been reading scriptures together for most of her goals. I've been very impressed that she can read most of them by herself and that she will read them out loud to me. (I have never really been able to get her to read to me until now(she reads at about a 2nd or 3rd grade level)....I'm excited about this and very touched. Brenda has a sweet spirit and a strong simple testimony). One of the project ideas listed in the book was to make something for your future home. I realized that Brenda could still do this....we could make a blanket for her. Now I know your thinking, Sara sew and get Brenda to help...yeah right! Don't worry, this blanket required no sewing at all. We made a no sew fleece blanket, so all we would have to do is cut and tie the fabric and ta-da, a brand new warm blanket!

I talked to Judie (Curtis' Mom) to find out where the best place was to buy fleece. Judie had an ad for Hancock's fabric that had fleece fabric up to 50% off-so we went there to look at colors. I told Brenda that she could pick black & gold (for Kuna), blue & orange (BSU) or some other colors if the didn't have those colors. I was surprised that she picked black & gold because she is always wanting more BSU stuff...but since she is in High School, it's cool to have Kuna stuff. Because of the sale, we were able to buy enough fabric to make 2 blankets. Brenda decided that she wanted one of the blankets for herself and the other one for Nicole. The first blanket was definitely an adventure. There was more black fleece than gold (they varied in the width...which I didn't know until after we bought it. Now I know to check the labels to see what the width of the fabrics) So we cut it to be the same size, the best we could...(it was a little off, but oh well). Then we cut a 4 inch square out in each corner and marked where we needed to cut the strips. After cutting 1 inch strips all the way around the blanket, we started tying every other strip. When that was done, we flipped the blanket over and finished tying the rest (this was suppose to help the blanket not ball up...). Brenda had a hard time getting these strips tied, so I ended up tying the knot and she would pull them tight. The blanket ended up balling up in the corners, but still looked good. She was sooooo excited to take this one home and put it on her bed! She was also really excited to show her YW leaders what she had done. Here are some pictures:

Cutting the strips

working together to tie the blanket

The finished product!

The second blanket I had Judie help me cut evenly so that both the black & gold fleece was the same size. I also decided to cut the strips into 1/2 inch strips to see if it was any easier for Brenda to tie. This time Brenda was able to tie 98% of the strips on her own and the only thing I had to do was keep reminding her to pay attention to what she was doing. It took us 2 different Saturdays to tie this one, but it looked really good when we finished.

the 2nd blanket

Brenda holding both of them. I think they turned out really good!!!

All in all this was a fun project to work on with Brenda. She was so excited to work on it and kept saying over and over how much she couldn't wait till she could give Nicole her warm blanket and show everyone what she had made. It was pretty cute. I was also very impressed that she was able to concentrate for so long on a project. Next project with Brenda: I'm not sure yet, I'm still thinking about what she could realistically do. But one thing is for sure, it should be fun! I love you Brenda!!!

Our Valentine's Day

Yes, I know Valentine's Day was a week ago...I'm trying to catch up on all of the different things that I wanted to blog about. However, better late then never!

Valentine's Day is kinda fun for us because two days before is our 1/2 yr anniversary date. So we have now officially been married for 3 1/2 yrs as of Feb. 12th. Even though this is an important date for us, we don't usually do a whole lot, I think it's because my birthday is just over 2 weeks after that and Curtis feels that my birthday is special and should be celebrated more (I have no complaints...).

This year we both actually thought ahead and planned something for each other. Curtis made me "breakfast in bed". He got up early and made waffles with strawberries and whipped cream, bacon, toast, and orange juice. I didn't get up until he was done cooking. He was going to bring my breakfast to me in bed, but I decided it would be easier to just eat at the table. I loved breakfast because 1-I didn't have to cook it and 2-Curtis made it all by himself. (He does know how to cook, but it doesn't happen very often. When he does cook, I usually end up helping him and telling him how to do some part of it. So I was very impressed that he did it all w/out my help.) I knew that Curtis had called the day before and ordered something but had no idea what it would be. While I was doing my morning smoke (aka treatments) he left to go and pick it up. I was surprised when he came back with roses. (I can still count on one hand the number of times that he has bought flowers for me....however the next time I'll have to start using two hands, unless I count w/sign language-hee,hee,hee) When Curtis came in the house he had gone straight into the bedroom and then came out looking sad. Apparently he had also bought a teddy bear to go with the flowers and realized when he got home that it was the same bear that he had bought for me last time. He told me all of this before I got to see the bear, so I went in the bedroom to look. Sure enough, the bear that he had just bought was the twin to the last bear that he got for me...but with slight differences in the color of the fur. Usually when Curtis buys flowers for me he goes to Flowerama. (The owners of the store (Courtright's) were in my ward in High School and she was one of my Young Women Leaders. They are also the ones that did the flowers for our wedding.) Anyway, they had teddy bears and other cute things that you could buy and so that is how he ended up buying the twin bear. He knew that I would like it and remembered why when he got home.

Aren't they beautiful! A week later they are still alive!

I decided to take Curtis to the BSU men's basketball game that was on Valentine's day. Several months ago we were considering getting the pick 6 plan, but we never got around to picking 6 home games that would work for our schedule so we never did it. I had remembered that one of the games was going to be on Valentines day(BSU vs Utah State), so I thought we should go. (Curtis hasn't been to a bball game all year and really misses it. Of course he likes the football games slightly more, and I prefer the basketball games...it all goes back to my balance & dizziness problems over a year ago). I tried my best to surprise him with going to the game. I kept telling him that I had plans for us on Valentine's night so he was not to plan anything. For a while I had him going that we were going to get away to a hotel for the night just for some much needed time together with no family around. (My sister lives with us, it's great to have her here, but you never know when she's going to have friends over...). A few days before, he had asked if we were going to the game, but I didn't ever give a yes/no answer. On Friday after Curtis got home from work he said that he couldn't take it any more....he wanted to know what we were doing and how he needed to plan his day. I tried to make him wait, but I couldn't stand the begging anymore....so I gave him the card and tickets. You should have the look on his face when he realized that we were going to the game, he was like a kid in a candy store.

We went out to dinner at Carino's and for the first time in several months, I ate just as much as Curtis did. Then off to the game we went. It was lots of fun. We sat in the student section (it's nice to still have a family member still going to BSU, thanks Sam!) During the first half we were wondering if BSU would ever get ahead, then right before half-time they got a 3 point basket and went ahead for the first time all game. The second half was great! BSU at one point was ahead 12 points. The game ended 66 BSU 56 Utah St. The best thing about the game was that we killed Utah State's 19 game winning streak (the longest in the nation). Go Broncos!!! Here are some pictures from the game that were on the Bronco Athletics website.

notice the finger caught in the net...

Our computer is FINALLY fixed!

Our computer has been having some problems over the last 6-8 months. It wouldn't start up about every 10th time that we turned it on and then it would take about 5 or 6 tries before it would start up (there were a few other things as well, but this was the main problem). It wasn't a virus problem, it was an HP problem that they have had with some of their laptop computers. They had sent out a recall on computer but since it wasn't a major issue we just never got around to getting it fixed. Of course we kept having deadlines that we needed the computer for and felt that we couldn't be with out a computer for 2 weeks or more, so we just did what we could to live with the inconvenience of the problem. About a week and a half ago the computer finally gave in and stopped working. We couldn't get it to turn on and nothing would show on the screen. Curtis spent an hour or more talking to the HP support person (0n 2 different days) and they finally decided to send us a box to get the problem fixed. Last week the box showed up on Tuesday, we shipped the computer back on Wednesday and by Friday afternoon our computer was back in a box and on it's way back to us. We got it back last night and were SOOO EXCITED to find that it was our original computer and that the problems were fixed! Yahoo!!!! (We were worried because we had been told that they would end up sending us back a computer that was the same notebook series but not our original computer. We also thought that it would take 2-4 weeks to get it fixed.) I'm sooooo glad that it only took a week to get the computer fixed. It's amazing how much you rely on using the computer until it is not readily available to you the second you need to use it. On the other hand, it was really nice to not have it around because we were able to spend more time with each other talking and doing other things instead of wasting time on the computer (that wasn't work or calling related). Man, what would the world be like if we didn't have computers? I almost can't imagine it anymore.

Sara's Job

I now have a job! Can you believe it? I have been meaning to write about this for a while now but the last month has been pretty busy since I started working and I haven't had the time I wanted to do this. I know that some of you know that I'm working and all of the details about it, but I'll share all of the who, what, where, when and why for everyone else who I don't get to talk with as often as I would like.
A year ago I was in school and was sort-of thinking about working. Curtis and I were in the Temple on Valentines Day last year and we saw Jim Grigg and his wife in the cafeteria. Jim is a distant relative of mine (I think that my great-grandma and his grandpa were brother and sister) and had been in my parents ward in Kuna at one time or another. He asked me what degree I was going to be graduating with and was very excited when I told him Social Work. Jim is the owner of Kuna Counseling Center and is a individual and family Counselor. He told me that whenever I wanted to start working that I should give him a call and he would have a job for me. So I tucked that info away and didn't think about it for a while.
After having some much needed time off from school I was encouraged (in August) to get a job from my counselor at Vocational Rehabilitation. They helped pay for most of my schooling and in return I was suppose to find a job and keep it for at least three months. By doing this they would be able to call my case a success and be able to get more funds from the government to in turn help someone else with a disability to find employment as well. I didn't want to work at first and was very overwhelmed by this, mostly for health reasons. After looking and talking with Curtis, I finally decided that I should just call up Jim and ask him if he still had a job for me. When I made the phone call I was pretty much hired on the spot w/out to many questions. I went in the next day to talk to Jim about becoming a PsychoSocial Rehabilitation Worker (PSRW). (Basically one-on-one with someone who has a mental illness who needs help learning social skills and how to manage their illness....a lot like working with my sister Brenda) We discovered that since I had my Social Work degree I had to be licensed in order to work as a PSRW. So that started the long process of me taking my licensure exam....about 3 months or so from filling out the paper work to take the exam to getting the paper in the mail that said I was an official Licensed Social Worker (LSW).
I kept in touch with Jim over the last 6 months and in January was finally feeling well enough to start working. I called him on a Friday and at the time he didn't have a position opened for me (mostly because all of the clients that needed a PSRW had one), but he would put me on the top of his list to call when something came up. I thought it would be a month or so before something came up but NO.....the very next Monday (Sam's birthday, Jan 19) he called and said that one of his workers left to go somewhere else and work and that he had a position opened for me with as many hours as I wanted. I went on Jan. 21 to fill out paper work and attend the weekly training meetings of the other PSRW's and have been busy working since then. It all happened really fast for me, but I've been very blessed to get this job when I did. Jim knows all about my health problems (Samantha use to nanny his 5 or 6 kids and worked in the office at one time too) and was completely ok with me setting the amount of hours that I wanted to work. Being a PSRW I basically work when ever I want....my client is allowed 4 hrs a week and we can work together anytime as long as it fits in with my schedule and theirs. Most of the PSRWs have at least 3 or more clients, but Jim is completely fine with me having only 1 client (I may try to pick up another one in a month or so....we'll see). Even though I only get paid for 4 hrs w/my client and for my hour of supervision/training each week, I am working a little more than that. I don't get paid to do all my paperwork or finding resources to use with my client. So right now I'm probably putting in around 8-10 hrs a week with all of that factored in too. Yes, it is very part time, but it is perfect for me! (of course all the time I spend taking care of myself is basically like having a full time job!)
A little about my client: I'm working with a 9 yr old girl who lives in Nampa. She has ADD/ADHD and is all boy (aka very much a tomboy at heart). She is VERY smart and pretty fun to be around. Right now we spend a lot of time playing games like Operation and Mancala and talking a lot. I'm suppose to teach her how to respect adults, understand her ADD/ADHD and learn coping skills during times when she is stressed. On paper it sounds kinda hard, but I'm learning that it really isn't too bad, it's a lot of common sense skills that I'm teaching her that come naturally to most people. Right now my biggest challenge is learning to ask the right questions or learning to understand what questions I have that I need to get answered, but it's slowly coming with time. I really like my job and the adventure that it is bringing into my life.

This is so funny!!

As many of you know, I use this thing called The Vest to help with airway clearance everyday. I use this thing for 30 min. at a time at least twice a day (or more if I'm sick). One of my favorite things to do is have family and friends try this on just so they can see what it is like. It's absolutely hilarious!!! It's so fun to turn the Vest on full blast and then watch their reactions. I also love it when they try to sing a song with it on. (One time Shasta put in on when I was in the hospital and then proceeded to read us a story about the 3 Little Pigs, complete with different voices....We all laughed for a good 30+ minutes and almost wet our pants because it was so funny!!!) Since Sam lives with us, many of her friends have been over and tried it on. This video was taken at Christmas time when they were all here for dinner & games. I tell you, watching this is like doing a breathing treatment. I laugh and cough so much....I love it! I hope the video works (sorry that it's sideways, I don't know how to change that) and that you enjoy a good laugh today. :o)