My Sole Responsibility

I've heard that a few of our Stampin' Up! demonstrators have expressed some concern that I mention religion on my blog and the blog is linked to the Stampin' Up! site and sometimes mentioned in Stampin' Up! material. I'm not sure if people are offended by my mention of religion, or if they're concerned that I'm mixing personal thoughts and feelings with professional, but I thought this was a subject worth bringing up.

I want to make it very clear that this blog is my personal blog, and I am solely responsible for the content of the blog. Stampin' Up! doesn't endorse my blog or any contents on the blog. While some companies do have "official" blogs, soshelli.com is not an official Stampin' Up! blog at all. It's all mine--good or bad!

I hope it's mostly good. If I've offended anyone by mentioning religion, I'm sorry--that is not my intention at all! My religion is at the heart of everything I am. It's what has made me who I am. I can't imagine sharing anything personal without my beliefs and values being brought up fairly frequently because they are so much a part of me. I've tried to be careful about what I've said; I think I've only mentioned the name of the church I belong to once. Most of the time I talk about my church and my beliefs in general.

I don't want people to feel like I'm preaching or teaching or promoting any specific religion or belief. But if I felt like I couldn't mention general thoughts and feelings about what is such a huge part of me and my life, I don't think I could share much.

I hope that clears up my intent behind talking about things of a religious or spiritual nature. I hope most of you aren't bothered when I mention religion. In fact, one of the things I value when I meet demonstrators is our conversations about our shared faith in God.

I also respect diversity and the fact that some of you may be uncomfortable when I mention religion. It won't bother me at all if you choose not to read those postings, or even choose to ignore my blog altogether. I learned long ago that we can't please everyone all of the time, and that diversity is what adds spice to life!

Heading Home from San Antonio

Well, I'm heading back to Utah tomorrow, after a wonderful regional seminar experience in San Antonio. San Antonio is one of my favorite places to visit, partly because it's almost always warm, partly because the river walk is so beautiful, and partly (mostly) because the people are so wonderful.

And this weekend was no exception. I left colder weather in Utah for beautiful weather in Texas, and the demonstrators were fabulous! They were so warm and friendly; they made us feel right at home. Our regionals went well, and-as always-I loved meeting with the demonstrators.

As promised last week, here's the project I showed--a fun little Halloween game.

  

These are is based on those hand-held toys we played when we were younger where you flipped up a ball on a string and tried to catch it in a cup. Only, as you can see, in this instance, you flip up a pumpkin (or a skull) on a string up and catch it in a pennant cup.

I'm planning on filling the cups with candy for our grandchildren, and after the candy is gone (which won't take long!), they'll have a little game to play. You'll need something to weigh down the pumpkin or skull; I used a dime, but it's a little heavy. If you can find something a tiny bit lighter, I think it will work better.

I thought this was a darling little game, and I was thrilled to demonstrate it at the regionals. However, wouldn't you know it, while I was there, a demonstrator gave me a gift--another Halloween game. I think I like it even better than this one! If I have time, I'm going to make a few to add to the Halloween treats I'm putting together for our grandchildren. If I do that, I'll be sure to post it for you to see too!

TV Spot

On Tuesday I appeared on "Studio 5," a morning talk show on KSL, our local NBC affiliate. I loved the projects I showed-beautiful table settings for three different holidays (Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year's), all made from one package of our new Ski Slope Designer Series paper, along with a variety of different accessories.

I planned on providing the link for you on Tuesday but was on the run from morning ‘til night and completely forgot until now.

Here's the link: http://studio5.ksl.com/?nid=61&sid=4573672. If link doesn't launch automatically, copy and paste it into your browser.)

You can watch the appearance itself, as well as see the projects. We also provided supply lists and basic instructions for each of the table settings.

Happy Holidays!

Oops!

Oops! I was reading your comments a moment ago and realized the entry I thought I'd posted Sunday evening didn't get posted. When I checked to see what happened, it was obvious I didn't click the "published" button, so the entry was sitting out in LaLa Land. You should now be able to find Part Two in it's proper place. I'm so sorry!

A Date Night and Grandpa Gardner

My sweetheart and I went on a date last night, one of the few that we've been able to fit in lately. We're both busy, and it's even more difficult since we've had Sterling's father living with us. Grandpa Gardner is nearly 95 years old, and his body is very healthy for a man his age. His mind, unfortunately, isn't nearly as healthy, and six years ago it became clear he could no longer live alone, so he came to live with us.

He's changed our lives. We love this man, of course; we just didn't anticipate having to find babysitters at this point in time. (smile) Grandpa needs to have someone watching him all the time, and Sterling has assumed that responsibility wonderfully.

Because Grandpa loves to do errands, Sterling takes his father almost everywhere with him. That means that when I'm in the car, I get to sit in the back seat! Not exactly where I thought I'd be when I'm riding in the car with my husband, but the patience and love Sterling shows his father is inspiring, and I am grateful that we are in a position where we can take care of him. But we aren't as free as we had thought we'd be, so our dates are less frequent than either one of us would like.

Sterling has to go out of town today, and I'm leaving for regionals later this week, so Sterling actually took his father to our friend's house yesterday afternoon; they sometimes watch Grandpa when we have to go out of town. That meant that last night we could go on a date! I actually felt giddy when Sterling suggested it.

The humor in the situation is what we planned for our date. Initially, we talked about dinner and a movie, but then common sense set in. Sterling had several errands he needed to do before leaving town, and I hadn't been to the hospital to visit my dad yet. So for our "hot" date we had our glasses tightened, stopped at Wal-Mart, and visited Dad. We did manage to fit in a delicious dinner. And in between it all, I got to sit in the front seat with Sterling and hold his hand. That was enough to make it a date for me!