Fears

Lately I have had, for some strange reason, this renewed desire to do some things I’ve always been scared of doing. And I have come to realize that what may seem difficult are not that way when you have a desire and put your mind to it. If you have the attitude, “Why not try?”, you’ll be amazed at what you can do.

Fear #1

I don’t know why, but I have always had a fear of doing any kind of home canning by myself. Growing up, my mom did canning, but I remember for a bit there my mom struggled with getting her jars to seal. I decided that I should give it a shot. My freezer apricot jam really sucked this spring, and so I decided to bottle it instead (btw, apricot strawberry makes great jam).  And I was pleasantly surprised at how easy canning really is! I don’t know why I was so scared to do it in the first place. And I did some tomatoes the other day and they turned out too! Each one of my jars sealed! (knock on wood) Maybe this is something that most people know how to do, but I am SO proud of myself for this one.

Fear #2

I have always wanted to sew, but it’s been something that I have always thought, “that’ll be a hobby I’ll pick up some other day.” Sewing is not the easiest thing to do, but I know that the more you do it, the better you get. I decided that I should pick up on another hobby and decided I should make Kimi a quilt for her bed. I am SO EXCITED to get going on this–it’s going to be so cute! I of course chose a difficult pattern with applique flowers. It’s going to be Mary Engelbreit style. My goal is to finish the top by the end of October so that it can be quilted for her and finished by Christmas.  She has a black wrought-iron bed, and so I think it will look cute with the fabric I chose.

This is the pattern:

This is the fabric I chose:

Fear #3

I love going boating, and learned how to double ski a long time ago when our family owned a boat. My dad told us girls when we were little that we had to learn how to slalum ski before we could get our driver’s license. Yeah, that didn’t last. Life got busy and the boat died and never got repaired. Since I’ve married Mike, I’ve had more chances to go boating. We go out to the Snake every summer during their family reunion. I always getting a little nervous before I ski (kinda silly….I know), but 2 years ago I got bored with double skis. Skiing with one seemed near impossible. So I tried dropping a ski the last day we were out on the River, and never got the hang of it. The next summer I was pregnant with Noah, and then this last summer I decided to try again. The last day we went out, the weather was MARGINAL—the water was rocky and lightning was in the distance. I still decided to give it a try before the weather got too bad—probably not the best place to be in a thunderstorm. I was so close to staying up. One more try and I would have done it. I stayed up for probably 12 seconds, and then lost my balance. So, next summer I’m way excited to go again!

Fear #4

Ok, this one I am almost embarrassed to share with you. I got my first speeding ticket two years ago while I was visiting my family in WA, and I annoyingly got another speeding ticket earlier this summer here in UT. I was worried about how it would affect our insurance, and so I opted to go to traffic court to see if the judge would drop my ticket. I had never been to court before, and so I didn’t know what to expect. I was so nervous when I appeared, and didn’t exactly know what to do. I knew what I was going to say when I was to testify in front of the judge, but didn’t exactly know the process. Sadly enough, it was not worth it to me for going to court. He didn’t drop my ticket, and my bail I paid 2 months earlier was just applied to my ticket fee. I guess I at least know what to expect if Mike or I have to appear again in traffic court in the future.