Another LONG Day Helping The Neighbor

I am so blessed to have such wonderful neighbors. Over the years, this family has helped us so many times. I am grateful that I am able to help them for once.


I have been helping them for the last few days and will continue working tomorrow. I am helping her organize her house and clean out some rooms.

Today, I finally finished organizing and cleaning the storage room that has shelving. There is a small fruit / food storage room off that main storage area and I finished cleaning that room tonight and arrived home after 10 p.m.

I will head over tomorrow and will hopefully be able to help her with the last two storage rooms / unfinished basement rooms where she is storing items for family but it all go put into several piles in the centers and it is hard to walk around in there and her husband tripped and fell into stored frames cutting a huge and lengthy cut on his forearm. That fall was the beginning of his downfall as he never seemed to recover.

She is a bit unsteady on her feet and I worry that if it isn't organized, she may also trip. I am getting rid of the carpet scraps that tripped me up today as well. She is so grateful for the help and I am grateful I can help her.

I forgot to take finished pictures but will take a few tomorrow if I remember so you can see the finished basement.

Have a Blessed Day!

10 hours Working on The Neighbors Basement

I went to help my neighbor again today and thought I would be able to help her finish her biggest basement storage room. 

We started working on it last week and I really thought I could help her get it done in a few hours. 

However, we got into about 5 boxes that were large of stuff from their travels all over the world as well as boxes from all her children, from school and college. 

I have been helping her go through all of those things while cleaning all the shelves, vacuuming them, the floor, washing them down etc. 

They have traveled the world quite a bit and have some fun things. They had this weird looking African woven hat. I thought it was a lamp shade, but  they gave it to him in Africa. He traveled and taught in many countries.  

At the end of the night, my entire car was full of things as I can take them to the local food bank and they can distribute them. I have another car full of things in one of her bedrooms and we aren't finished with one room. 

She said she would like my help getting through the other storage rooms and shed at her house. 

I need to work on the brick fence I hit this winter and get it fixed. I also need to get my sprinklers turned on and weed and feed the lawn, as well as get finished on several projects that I have started before Princess Five comes home in two weeks. 

I told her I would help her tomorrow and pray we can finished the canning / food storage room and the last section in the big storage room, and I can empty her house of the donation stuff. I am hoping to get the brick wall done on Friday or Saturday. 

Before leaving, I pulled out the last three boxes of stuff for her to go through in the morning before her hair appointment, so when I get there after her appointment, we can finish up the big room. 

Helping her has made me really want to clean out my own home as I don't want my children to have to do this, as I have had to do it with both of my parents. 

The problem I face currently, is that four of my five girls have most of their belongings stored at my home, and I also have LOTS of stuff from my mothers estate and all the family history stuff that needs to be finished, so I feel like a huge hoarder. I am grateful for my large home so I can help them out with this situation, but I would like to clean out the rooms and make them more of guest rooms and repaint them all to more calm colors at some point. 

So much to do, but grateful I have the ability to organize things well, and be able to use it to help others! Have a blessed day!

NY Boat Club - Two Weeks To Go - Counting Down

Our recent convert Saem always says things such as motivational Monday, and self care Saturday, he always makes us laugh.

This week has probably the hardest one of isolation, but we are still working hard:) we definitely have never been this busy. There are some good things to isolation:)

Here are some of the highlights:

-We had a Spanish Sunday School this week!! It was awesome. Our friend Josie came and she really liked it:):) we also put her on date! We don't know when we are going to be able to have a baptism, the isolation has been extended indefinitely but we are trying for June 21st! She really is doing so much to learn, it's been really cool, she always takes notes in our lessons and marks up her Book of Mormon!

-my comp got a rubix cube and I can now solve it... with the instructions!

-we got a new sink! Our sink was really special. It started leaking really bad so we had to only use the sprayer but we got a new one! Miracles can happen! 

-We finally got ahold of ELSA!! She has been crazy busy during all this because she's a nurse, but she finally had time and we were able to have an INCREDIBLE member with her and one of our less active members, it was seriously amazing! We taught her the Word of Wisdom and Law of Tithing and she accepted it soooooo willingly. I love her so much, and she will be baptized when all this blows over! 

-We went on a drive to the Hudson this week! That was so refreshing! The beach was closed, but we found this cute little dock and we went out to the end and took pictures. It was really nice to get out and do something. We can't go out for much but we are able to get sunshine sometimes. 

That's about all but we are still working hard! 

Cuídense 

Hermana Princess Five

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL

Girls Giving Gratitude - One Blessed Momma

Last Thanksgiving, I was doing a Scout activity where I was teaching them about gratitude. I wanted to teach them how to write a "thank you" note and to show gratitude for those people in their lives who have helped them in some way. 

I pondered on what I could do to help them show more gratitude and came up with some activities that I was planning on posting about. Here is one of the activities that we played, with a bit of a twist, but this is a post how we played a similar game at a family camping event. Instead of putting "getting to know you questions on the ball, we wrote things like, "Name a person you are grateful for" or, "Name ten things you are grateful for!" 

I had pictures on all these things on my cellphone and planned on posting about them. However, at Thanksgiving, my grandson deleted my entire phone and the back up card on my phone. Because of that, I never posted on these notes I made or what I did with them. 

Before the scout meeting, I got some paper and made some cards. I had some envelopes I bought at a second hand store and used those with the cards I made. I have some gratitude type stamps and chose one that says, "Thankful For You" to use. 

I stamped about 750 cards and envelopes. I packaged up 20 cards and envelopes and tied them in ribbons. I had the boys write a few cards that evening as well as their family members. I then sent home a package of 20 cards with each boy for them to use in the future. 

At Thanksgiving, I had a visit with my girls and shared with them how I thought it would be good to focus on giving thanks for the next month. I suggested they could write a thank you note for each day of the month if they thought it was a good idea and gave them each a package of 50 notes to use. I shared my thoughts and hoped they would use them. 

Flash forward to this week. One day, Princess Four sends me a thank you message for giving her the notes as she shared that she had used one of the notes to give one of her roommates a gift as she is moving out. I told her I was glad that she was able to use them. 

I thought it was interesting that Princess Three, the very next day, sent me a "thank you" text saying she had used the cards to write some notes to each of the girls she is over in her church group and dropped off flowers with each card and she also send me some pictures. 

I thought it was so interesting that two of the girls used the notes within a day of each other. I know that two more of my girls have used the notes as well. It is wonderful that they are grateful and sharing that with her friends. 

I thought it was interesting that it happened to be during Corona that they are sharing gratitude. It is amazing that during this crazy time, they are sharing more gratitude and lifting those who may need it during this awful time.

Keep safe and have a Blessed and Thankful Day! 

Helping a Neighbor in Need - Cleaning her Basement

I woke thinking about one of my elderly neighbors this morning. I was planning on calling her to ask how she was doing and see if she needed anything, but before I could call her, I got a call from her.

She said she needed a face mask and did I know where to get one as she couldn't find one to buy. I told her I would give her one. She then asked if I could help her clean out her basement as I have helped her several times with that type of thing.

I went over and delivered the mask and we spent about 2 1/2 hours cleaning out one small section of her storage room. She didn't have a large vacuum, so I was using a small opening canister vacuum. There was also a box with some furs in it that had a mouse at one time so I carried lots of loads to the garbage and we filled her garbage can.

When using the small vacuum, I had to pick up anything large or it would clog. I stuffed the items into my pocket and forgot about them until I got home and went to get into the shower. There were game pieces and some marbles and a dime.

She had a few lamps that her husband made. He was like a grandfather to my girls and when she asked if I thought I could fix the one and could have them both if I wanted them, I told her I am sure there were a few of my girls that would LOVE to have a lamp made by him. He was my "go to" carpenter for 20 years. He helped me fix so many projects and made me frames etc. I LOVE that man and was very sad when he passed away last year.

I brought home the lamps and will work on fixing the one as I have an extra lamp kit so it is perfect! I am headed over next week to hopefully finish the rest of the storage room as the other shelves aren't as full or messy, and I cleaned the center area of the room so it shouldn't take much more than a day to finish up that room for her. I am glad I could help her.

It is nice that I can help someone during this time. I wore a mask much of the time in her home as I wouldn't want to get her sick, but also, the mice issue.

Have a Blessed Day!

Cookie Kits After Holiday Fun For Cheap

After Christmas, the clearance area at our local Walmart had some gingerbread house kits on clearance, and when I saw that they had some sesame street gingerbread kits for sale , I decided to get some. 

Princess Four has collected Sesame Street items since she was young and I thought that this would be a fun activity for our family to do at our Easter campout. 

With the Corona mess going on, I knew it wasn't going to happen so when I had an opportunity to send the kits home with Princess Three when she stopped over to drop some stuff off for Princess Four over Easter. 

I packed up a few different things for each girl to do and sent them home so they could do them with their roommates. 

This past week, I got some cute photos from the girls of their activities with their friends. 

I think it was a fun activity for them to do while they were quarantined. I wouldn't spend the money on them at full price, but when they are 75% off, it makes it an inexpensive way to enjoy time doing something creative. 

I was at the store this week and found they had some Easter Egg decorating sugar cookie kits verses the gingerbread kits at Christmas. The tag on them said they were around five dollars but when I did a price checker on them, it was under $2. 

Each kit had 12 cookies so I picked up the three kits so we can do them at our Summer camping coming up. I thought it would be a fun activity for the kids to do on the off time. For such an inexpensive thing, it brings some good fun. I highly recommend these kits, especially at clearance prices! 

Have a Blessed Day!

Wish I Could Take a Road Trip

I have had a sinus migraine for the past few days as we have had storms. I went to the bank today and it is amazing to me that gas is so cheap. I wish I had someone to go on a road trip with having the gas be so cheap but the reality is, we now have clusters of Corona in our small town.

One of the clusters was at a fast food place, and another was at a store. I worry with my lung issues that if I got it, it could be bad, so I am set on staying home. I hope you are staying safe and hope you are enjoying your spring!

Have a blessed day!

The Book Of Pokemon - Princess Five has 22 days left in NY

Our friend John told us that the Book of Mormon sounds like the Book of Pokemon 😂

Hey everybody! How are you? I hope all is well in these crazy times:)

This week has actually been so crazy busy, but it's been way fun. Here are some of the highlights!

-We had 4 "exchanges" this week! They were so much fun! We couldn't go on physical exchanges because yeah, so we did phone calls with them and I loved it. I love being a Sister Training Leader. I love being able to talk to all the sisters, and get ideas from what they are doing in their areas. They're so awesome, they are all doing pretty well with isolation. See the pictures below to see how much fun we've had with them 😂

-This week was really special. For the first time in about 6 weeks I got to take the sacrament. Sisters haven't been able to for a long time, but the elders were so nice this week. They came to the church, blessed it and then left it for us. It was such a different experience but it was really special to be able to finally have it. It really is so important for us. We also had a Sunday School zoom call with our ward! I didn't realize how much I've missed them, it was so good to see their faces, it honestly almost made me cry. They really focused on how important the sacrament is for us and how it isn't something we should take for granted.

-Our friend Josie is doing AMAZING. We had an amazing team up lesson with her and one of the returned missionaries in our ward. And the lesson just perfectly slid into baptism and she wants to get baptized! She really wants to be a part of all this and is really striving to see the truth in her life. I have loved teaching her. It's been so hard to find solid people to teach while in quarantine, but she is just incredible. Formers are amazing. We are going to invite her to be baptized this week so keep her in your prayers! Teaching her has really helped me stay motivated!

-John. John is a new friend. Also an aspiring youtuber. John found us through our Facebook page. He lives in Peru. It's so cool that because of the circumstances, we can still call him and teach him. The work will still go on, even in places that don't have a lot of missionaries right now. Seriously, no unhallowed hand can stop the work of the Lord from progressing. 

Anyway, he reached out to us around the time of our global fasts. He wondered why we still fasted today, so basically we sent him what we like to call a "resto texto" where you cant just explain why we fast, you have to give background with basically turns into a little restoration lesson over text, but it was so good. He wanted to learn more. When we first called him, we didn't know what to think, he was really in to the bible, but when we called him again the second time, we had an incredible lesson with him.

We taught him last night and it was honestly the funniest lesson I've had in quarantine. He's just chilling outside as we helped answer his questions and talk about the gospel. Then he was out past 8 and they have a curfew in Peru so the curfew sirens started going off and then people just started singing and being crazy loud. He was just out laughing and walking around the whole time though, it was crazy! Peru is so crazy different from here, but it is awesome and he is really awesome. He also lives right by the temple which is even more awesome. 

He's definitely been one of the best highlights from the last few weeks.

Anyways, that's about it. The work is hard. It's hard to see an end in sight but I'm so glad to be here and I am going to keep giving it everything I've got. 

Cuidense,

Hermana Princess Five

HURRAH FOR ISRAEL

Quotes from this week:

"New York es una babylonia"-John from Peru. Pretty accurate

"Uh yeah, that's because I thought it in my head two days ago."-Salam-he asked us what our last meal would be and we told him that it was a good question.

"Girls are really good at hiding their emotions so I don't actually know how they're doing."-Elder Bill, he's the district leader over two of our sisters so we had to talk with him about how they were doing

Pictures:

-masksss

-we had our sisters recreate Book of Mormon story pictures, it was beautiful

-reality glasses, it looks like real life, because it is! Thanks Reeses Puffs Cereal box for some quality entertainment!

The "TO DO" List Isn't Going To Plan

Getting the "To Do" list worked on is getting out of hand. I have been talking to Princess Five twice weekly on video chat as she is in quarantine on her mission. She is a bit nervous to come home after being on such a organized schedule, to my house that is me puttering around working on projects. 

I was looking for jobs for her a few months back, and had some good leads for one in the town where she has housing for the fall, and will be headed to finish up her bachelors degree, but with this new life situation, the jobs all went away. 

So, in order for her to not be anxious to come home and "do nothing but sleep all day" in her words, I have compiled a "list" of things that she could help me with when she gets home. 

She will be under house quarantine as she will be flying home through airports, planes and other places where she could get sick. She will have to be home for two weeks at least to make sure she isn't sick or contagious to others. 

I won't be able to leave either, so I am planning a huge shopping trip right before she heads home and this "list" of things she can do in the house and yard will hopefully give her something to do to feel needed when she gets home. 

Her older sister is finishing up her bachelors degree at the end of next week and is also planning on heading home, so I may have two girls home for the summer as it may be hard for Princess Four to get a job during this crazy time. 

So, I have been writing a list of things they could do when they get home. I asked Princess Five which items on the list she would like to do, and which she would NOT like to do, so that in this last month of living alone, I can possibly get some of the things off the list that she isn't interested in doing. 

One of the things she didn't want to do is to work on organizing the T-shirts I have for future quilts. I figured that was one of the things she would like to do but was wrong. I had been doing some yard work this past week and then thought she may like the yard work, so have a few started projects in the yard that I won't finish in the next month so we can work in the yard and hopefully get some sun time when she gets home. 

I have several outside projects started but not going anywhere, and then I have several started projects inside that I haven't finished and I started another one this week. 

I am trying to slim down my home décor as I have a ton of stuff I have purchased and just stuck on shelves, but haven't really put them in a nice decorative way. I really want to "clean house" and hopefully slim down my belongings in case I decide to downsize. 

I pulled all these décor items out of my beach bathroom and have offered them to others. I gave away some books for a teen on Saturday for free as well trying to clean house. I have been keeping an eye on the yard sale sites, and if I see someone looking for something, I am giving it to them to help me clean house and them finding something they want. The second hand stores are closed currently, and you can't have a yard sale, so those online sites are nice to be able to give things away free. 

I also started working on sorting the T-shirts for quilts into totes. I have been picking up shirts for future quilts as I find the ones I am looking to make in the future. When I did Sesame Street and the Comic quilts a few years back, I had a horrible time finding shirts and paid full price for many, and a friend ordered some on eBay for me. It was expensive to make them. 

Now, when I find shirts that will be one of the quilts I want to do in the future, I grab the shirt for $1 and $2 and maybe $3 but for the most part, try to keep it under $2 for each shirt. So, over the past two years, I have collected LOTS of shirt with some help from Princess Two who has a knack for finding fun shirts. 

I am to the point that I think I have enough shirts for almost all the quilts I want to make. I enjoy making them, and hope that things will calm soon and I will get all the other projects I am working on done, so I can enjoy doing more quilts. 

However, I am currently half finished with Princess Three's life quilt, working on some family history stuff, going through rooms, projects outside, and now the t-shirt sorting project. I was also going through my own jewelry recently and am halfway through that project, so I am getting a bit overwhelmed with my "to do" list as there are so many projects half done that I shouldn't have started any new ones. 

I hope that I can enjoy my time with the girls home, but at the same time, rather than doing puzzles and games which we all enjoy, that I can get their help finishing some things that would help them feel like they are helping me to give some purpose to their time home. 

Lots of crazy things going on in the world currently. I just need to keep the craziness on the outside of the house and hope I can start checking off the half finished projects from my "list" so that it is a little less crazy  in the house! 

Have a Blessed day!