Lessons From Sugar Cookie Dough

Tonight I started my Halloween sugar cookie process.  Making the dough is not my favorite part but it is what is needed before you can make the cookies. Needless to say I have been able to learn a few life lessons while making sugar cookies over the years. I know it sounds kind of strange to say that but trust me when I say it is a surprise what you can take away from sugar cookie dough.
My first lesson is one that m mother taught me when I she taught me how to bake / cook.......Clean Up As You Go.  She taught me that if I spill something to wipe it up and not wait until the very end.  I think this lesson can be used for more than just baking.  But I will confess if you look at my room right now you will see that I am not too good at following this rule.  LOL  I have tried to clean up my messes as I make them.  Sometimes it has taken me awhile but I have tried my best to do so.  I have also probably been to cautious so I would not make too many messes, I am not very good at cleaning. Another thing thing that I have learned from making these sugar cookies is there is going to be something added that you have to do that you don't like but you can't let that one thing ruin it for you.  I do not like sour cream. I do not like the smell of it, the feel of it, or the taste of it. The sugar cookie recipe that I make calls for sour cream to be added.  I am sure if I did not add the sour cream they would taste fine but they would not be the same.  I have learned that sometimes in life you have to do something you don't like but that doesn't mean your whole life is going to be bad.  Just do it and enjoy the rest of the wonderful stuff that comes with it. I am sure a mother doesn't like changing a dirty diaper or two but it is something you have to do when you have a child. Yet I am sure that all the other stuff that comes with being a mother is worth it.  
There also comes a point when I am making the cookies where I have to add lots of flour.  There comes a point in this process where the beaters on the mixer are not strong enough to mix all the flour into the dough. At that point I do not stop mixing and say the dough is done because it is not.  It is sticky and will not roll out correctly if I stop now.  So in order to finish and make the dough just right I have to put the beaters aside and use my hands, yes I wash them first.  LOL I have to really get in there and mix the dough. The lesson I have learned from this is you have to finish the job even it it starts to get hard.  Sure I would like to stop when the beaters stop working but then the job / dough is not done.  So you have to keep going until it is ready and you are done.  The flour is the last step for the dough making process and once it is all done I cover up the dough and put it in the fridge to chill. So you see sometime there are good thing in life that take work and if you don't put in all the work you will never fully understand or realize its full worth.  Things in life are going to start out good and maybe easy but there will come a point where it starts to get hard.  You can't give up! You have to keep going, keep working, and do all that you can to finish and when it is all done you get to sit back and chill for awhile until the next adventure begins. 

GIFT GIVING

I LOVE to give gifts.  I love trying to find that special present for someone, that great card that fits them perfectly, fun wrapping paper and ribbons to wrap the present(s) with.  I think I more excited to give the gift than the person who is getting the gift will be. While I enjoy the whole gift giving process I am not so good at the receiving gifts things.  While I do know it is better to give than receive and that is something I try to do everyday.  I try to give a little more than what I get or receive. But I have learned that sometimes it is ok to be on the receiving end of the gift giving processes.  While I am sometimes embarrassed and feel bad that people would spend money on me I have to remember that by not accepting their gift I am denying them the same wonderful feeling that I get when I give.  
I have also learned that you don't have to spend a lot in order for it to mean a lot to someone.  While I do love to give gifts I do have to limit myself on the amount of money that I spend, now you know why I don't have credit cards.  I have always hated that fact that I can not give and / or do for others what I would love to do because of my limited budget.  My friends often laugh and tell me the reason I probably would not win a big lottery is because I would give all the money away.  LOL 
But as I have gotten "older" I have learned that you don't have to spend a lot of money in order to give a gift.  Sometimes a gift to someone could be a "Hello", phone call, e-mail. giving of your time to help someone can mean more to a person than just giving them a gift wrapped in pretty paper with a bow. I often think of Christ and the MANY MANY gifts that he gave and has given to all of use.  He did not buy them at the local mall or market or spend hours wrapping them but they are gifts that are precious and loving.  I think if what you give to someone comes from your heart and is given with love than it is a gift.  The most amazing gifts are not always bought in stores or wrapped up with pretty bows but come from your heart and that is what makes them priceless. So remember it is better to give than receive but it is also ok to receive just as long as you are willing to give back to someone, someday and sometime. 

BUSY! BUSY! BUSY!!

So I have REALLY REALLY messed up and not kept up with my plan to write everyday before the BIG 40 arrives.  I guess that is another thing that I have learned in life.....Things Do Not Always Go As Planned.  LOL  Needless to say my life has been CRAZY busy the past couple of weeks and often I find myself leaving earlier each day for work and getting home later.  I wish that was not the case but have you seen the price of gas in the Bay Area?  I girl has to work for her gas!  LOL But between work and church stuff life has have been keeping me pretty busy.  So going forward I am going to have to try and knock off about 4 life lessons to reach my 40 before I turn 40!
Like I said at the start I have learned that things do not always go as planned but if you go with the flow and keep you chin up some amazing things can happen.  I have also learned that sometimes you can not do it all and if you need to ask for help it is OK.  Just cause you need help doesn't mean that you have failed.  It has taken me a REALLY REALLY long time to learn that last lesson.  I often find myself wanting to do try to do it all on my own and really find it difficult to ask for help.  I think that if I have to ask for help then that means I have failed. But over the last couple weeks and years I have learned that as long as I have tired if I need help than it is OK to ask for help. I am thankful for those that have been willing to help me and teach me that just because I have asked for help does not mean I have failed. 

WORK & PLAY

So I kind of messed up again yesterday and did not get a chance to write anything.
Work has been really crazy busy the past couple of weeks. While I LOVE my job and I LOVE working sometimes it does get to be a little too much.  I often wonder if I am ever going to get caught up at work and just when I think I am another "project" comes my way or someone goes on vacation and I have to cover for them  But with that being said it feels good to have a job and work a full day 10 / 11 hour day. I guess that is another lesson that I have learned in my life.  If you are going to do a job make sure you do it well! I am trying my best to do my job well and keep on top of it all. If I could stay at the office until 10 at night to get stuff done I would.  But I have also learned in life that you need to take time away from work and play a little. That second lesson I am often not too good at but maybe I will learn to get better. 

YOU ARE NEVER TOO OLD

I LOVE CHILDREN'S BOOKS! 
One thing that I have learned is that you are never too old to read or buy a good children's book.
I love going to the bookstore and going right to the children's section.
It is fun to look at the fun art in the books, the characters that these writers have created and see the ways they have tried to bring things to life for their readers.  But most of all I love how they bring a simple and true message that not only is beneficial for a child to remember but also an adult.  While I do not have children of my own I find myself buying children's books to just enjoy.  I love to give some of my favorites to new mothers or little kids.  I only hope they will enjoy them as much as I have So you see while the section in the bookstore may have smaller shelves, stuff animals and little chairs you are never to old to go browse through and read / buy a book or two.  And who knows if you are lucky you might get a better life lesson out of the book than you would have reading the latest vampire series.

MAKE SOMEONE SMILE

Another lesson that I have learned in life is it always great to make someone smile.
You don't have to do something big or glamorous to make someone smile.  Sometimes it is the little thing(s) that you do that can add a big smile to one's face. It could be something simple as a little e-mail/ text to say Hello or Good Luck.  It could be an unexpected card in the mail or just a simple Hello at work, church or school.  
I know how great I feel when someone does something that makes me smile and so I try everyday to try to something that will make someone smile or happy.

FORGET-ME-NOT

In June of this year I was released from my calling as the Valiant Girls primary teacher.  Needless to say I was not to thrilled with this release but I was put in as the Activity Days leader so I would still get a chance to see the AMAZING girls that I was teaching.  I was also put in as the Primary Music Leader so I was still going to get the chance to be around them in sharing / singing time.  Yet there comes a time when each one of these beautiful girls that I have taught turns 12 and moves on to the Young Women's program. Needless to say this is kind of a sad time for me.  I am sure they are happy about it and excited to be moving, growing up and no longer be called a "primary" child. This year there have been 3 girls turn 12 and leave my class / primary.  These girls have changed my life for the better and I have grown to love in ways that I never thought would be possible.  While I am not a mother in some small way I have gotten a little blink of what motherhood is like.  I have grown to care about and love these girls so much.  I have been able to see their amazing beauty (inside and out) and watch their amazing talents grow.  I want the best for them, have tried to encourage them and remind them just how much they are loved. In so small way they have become "my" girls.  Just as a mother is sad to see her child leave she is happy and excited for the new steps and adventures that await their child.  Sure they will see their child again but that child might not need them as much as they once did and that is hard.  I know that I will still get to see these girls in church and I will do my best to always keep in touch with them.  But I do know that as they grow they will have new adventures and things that take place in their life and keeping in touch with their old primary teacher may not be that big of priority.  So as each one of "my" girls has left I have given them a little special gift and something I want them to always remember from me. There is this beautiful Willow Tree Forget -Me-Not figurine that I give them.  I give them this gift not because I want them to not forget me but for them to not forget how much they are loved.  I want them to look and the figurine and have it remind them of how much they are loved by their family, their friends, their teachers and most of their Heavenly Father.  I want them to know that now matter where they go in life, what they do and what path they take that they will never be forgotten and they will always be loved.  And if by small little change I am lucky they might look at the figurine and be reminded of that "old" primary teacher they had in the Valparaiso Ward and know how much she loves and will never forget them.