There's Gold In Your Veggie Garden!

How about offering some fun gardening classes for Enrichment activities?

If you haven't planted a summer garden yet, it's still not too late! Just plop some of those starter veggies you can get from your local garden store into the ground and, voila, you're good to go. No yard? Try container gardening! In a tough economy, vegetable gardens can help you cut your grocery bill drastically. Besides the economic practicality, knowing how to grow your own food empowers you in a way like nothing else.


Within your garden you will find food, hope, medicine, a sense of great accomplishment, the value of hard work, gratitude for nature, sun on your face, a renewed joy for cooking, and some hidden gems you never knew. Take the cucumber, for example. Look at all of the things that bumpy little vegetable can do:

1. Cucumbers contain most of the vitamins you need every day, just one cucumber contains Vitamin B1, Vitamin B2, Vitamin B3, Vitamin B5, Vitamin B6, Folic Acid, Vitamin C, Calcium, Iron, Magnesium, Phosphorus, Potassium and Zinc.

2. Feeling tired in the afternoon? Put down the caffeinated soda and pick up a cucumber. Cucumbers are a good source of B Vitamins and Carbohydrates that can provide that quick pick-me-up that can last for hours.

3. Tired of your bathroom mirror fogging up after a shower? Try rubbing a cucumber slice along the mirror, it will eliminate the fog and provide a soothing, spa-like fragrance.

4. Are grubs and slugs ruining your planting beds? Place a few slices in a small pie tin and your garden will be free of pests all season long. The chemicals in the cucumber react with the aluminum to give off a scent undetectable to humans, but drive garden pests crazy and make them flee the area.

5. Looking for a fast and easy way to remove cellulite before going out or to the pool? Try rubbing a slice or two of cucumbers along your problem area for a few minutes, the phytochemicals in the cucumber cause the collagen in your skin to tighten, firming up the outer layer and reducing the visibility of cellulite. Works great on wrinkles too!!!

6. Want to avoid a hangover or headache? Eat a few cucumber slices before going to bed and wake up refreshed and headache free. Cucumbers contain enough sugar, B vitamins and electrolytes to replenish essential nutrients the body lost, keeping everything in equilibrium, avoiding both a hangover and headache!!

7. Looking to fight off that afternoon or evening snacking binge? Eat some cucumber.

8. Have an important meeting or job interview and you realize that you don't have enough time to polish your shoes? Rub a freshly-cut cucumber over the shoe, its chemicals will provide a quick and durable shine that not only looks great but also repels water.

9. Out of WD-40 and need to fix a squeaky hinge? Take a cucumber slice and rub it along the problematic hinge, and voila, the squeak is gone!

10. Stressed out and don't have time for massage, facial or visit to the spa? Cut up an entire cucumber and place it in a boiling pot of water, the chemicals and nutrients from the cucumber with react with the boiling water and be released in the steam, creating a soothing, relaxing aroma that has been shown the reduce stress in new mothers and college students during final exams.

11. Just finish a business lunch and realize you don't have gum or mints? Take a slice of cucumber and press it to the roof of your mouth with your tongue for 30 seconds to eliminate bad breath, the phytochemcials will kill the bacteria in your mouth responsible for causing bad breath.

12. Looking for a 'green' way to clean your faucets, sinks or stainless steel? Take a slice of cucumber and rub it on the surface you want to clean, not only will it remove years of tarnish and bring back the shine, but is won't leave streaks and won't harm you fingers or fingernails while you clean.

13. Using a pen and made a mistake? Take the outside of the cucumber and slowly use it to erase the pen writing, also works great on crayons and markers that the kids have used to decorate the walls!!

Now go out there and get your fingers dirty!

CENTSerely,
Sister Thrifty a/k/a Trina Boice








www.sisterthrifty.com

Ready Resource for Relief Society Lessons

Whether you're a new Relief Society teacher or a seasoned pro, preparing lessons for Relief Society just got a lot easier with "The Ready Resource for Relief Society"!   The 2011 course of study is the second half of the "Gospel Principles" church handbook.   Trina Boice has written both parts 1 and 2.   

The books provide a lesson summary, pertinent quotes from General Authorities, relevant hynms for each lesson,  attractive handouts that correlate with each lesson, suggested artwork ideas, object lessons and more!

With the groundwork done for you, you can now concentrate on the fun part of giving lessons: personalizing them to the needs of the sisters in your ward.   Take out the stress of preparing lessons, and focus on giving Relief Society lessons that will touch the hearts of your class members.  With invaluable help like this, lesson preparation has never been so easy.

You can get free shipping, bookmark, author's signed copy, and even some free kid's meal gift certificates when you purchase directly from the author's web site at www.boicebox.com  

Relief Society is all about SERVICE

No doubt that most of us have the same stuff on our list of Year's resolutions: lose weight, exercise more, be a better parent, save more money, and serve others more. Right? Well, I can help you out with a couple of those right now! (Save money & serve more)

Starting on January 1, 2010 volunteers will be able to sign up for volunteer opportunities specifically designed to engage whole families in volunteer service. In exchange for your day of service you and your family members aged 6 and up can qualify to receive a free ticket to a Disney Park! In order to receive your Disney ticket you must follow the directions below:

Go directly to www.disney.com and click on "Give a day, get a day"

Complete the registration process for you and your family

Sign up for a Disney qualified project listed on the Disney parks website

Show up for the project you signed up for and volunteer

Make sure when you show up for your Disney qualified project you sign in and out so you receive credit for your volunteer service. The FAQ will answer most of your questions regarding participation, black out dates, ticket redemption and more.



While you're revising your New Year's resolutions, here are a few more worth considering:



Health:

1. Drink plenty of water.

2. Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar.

3. Eat more foods that grow on trees and plants, and eat less food that is manufactured in plants.

4. Live with the 3 E's -- Energy, Enthusiasm and Empathy

5. Make time to pray.

6. Play more games

7. Read more books than you did in 2009.

8. Sit in silence for at least 10 minutes each day

9. Sleep for 7 hours.

10. Take a 10-30 minute walk daily. And while you walk, smile.

Personality:

11. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

12. Don't have negative thoughts on things you cannot control. Instead invest your energy in the positive present moment.

13. Don't overdo. Keep your limits.

14. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

15. Don't waste your precious energy on gossip.

16. Dream more while you are awake.

17. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need..

18. Forget issues of the past. Don't remind your partner with his/her mistakes of the past. That will ruin your present happiness.

19. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone. Don't hate others.

20. Make peace with your past so it won't spoil the present.

21. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

22. Realize that life is a school and you are here to learn. Problems are simply part of the curriculum that appear and fade away like algebra class, but the lessons you learn will last a lifetime.

23. Smile and laugh more.

24. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree...

Society:

25. Call your family often.

26. Each day give something good to others.

27. Forgive everyone for everything..

28. Spend time w/ people over the age of 70 & under the age of 6.

29. Try to make at least three people smile each day.

30. What other people think of you is none of your business.

31. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

Life:

32. Do the right thing!

33. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

34. GOD heals everything.

35. However good or bad a situation is, it will change..

36. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

37. The best is yet to come..

38. When you awake alive in the morning, thank GOD for it.

39. Your innermost is always happy. So, be happy.

Walk To Zion program

A great idea from Beverly Qualheim:
A few weeks ago while I was walking with a friend, she told me of a program they once did in their ward to get the sisters walking.I loved the sounds of it and would like to start something similar onthis list since this year marks the 150th anniversary of the Handcartcompanies crossing the plains to get to 'Zion'. They called it 'WALK TO ZION' and they literally walked near theirhomes or in their homes, the equivalent of how many miles the handcartcompanies walked, keeping track of their personal miles.

I looked up some info on the Mormon Handcart companies and found thefollowing stats:"Across Iowa they followed an existing road about 275 miles (443 km)to Council Bluffs following a route that is close to current U.S.Route 6. After crossing the Missouri River, they paused for a few daysat a Mormon outpost in Florence, Nebraska (modern-day Omaha) forrepairs, before beginning the remaining 1,030-mile (1,658 km) journeyalong the Mormon Trail to Salt Lake City."So they walked 1305 miles total.That's a lot of miles!


GOALS
I figure we can choose from 2 goals...
1) 'walk from Iowa' = 1305 miles'
2) 'walk from Florence Nebraska' = 1,030 miles

We are blessed, we can walk it at our leisure in better weatherconditions, we can go home after each walk, we can walk with goodclothing, sturdy shoes, water, food, A/C if we have a treadmill...We also have no time constraints like the pioneers did-- they had tomake it to SLC before the winter cold weathers set in. And yes, weare starting out even later than the Martin and Willie Handcartcompanies. They were the worst off of all the handcart companies. Many died along the way, from all the companies. We are not going todie... we are going to take better care of these wonderful bodies wehave been given.

Book Club ideas

Here is a list of books that have been read by other Relief Society groups:

A Woman of Independent Means,, Elizabeth Forsythe Hailey
Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, Mark Twain
All Over But the Shoutin’, Rick Bragg
American Girl series
As I Have Loved You, Kitty de Ruyter
At Home in Mitford, Jan Karon
Awakening, The, Kate Chopin
Bean Trees, The, Barbara Kingsolver
Best Christmas Pageant Ever, The, Barbara Robinson
Chosen, The, Chaim Potok
Christ Commission, The, Og Mandino
Christmas Box, The, Richard Paul Evans
Christy, Catherine Marshall
Civil Action, A., Jonathan Harr
Cold Mountain, Charles Frazier
Cold Sassy Tree, Olive Ann Burns
Count of Monte Cristo, The, Alexandre Dumas
Dandelion Wine, Ray Bradbury
Death of Ivan Llyich, Leo Tolstoy
Education of Little Tree, The, Forest Carter
Egg and I, The, Betty McDonald
Ella Enchanted, Gail Carson Levine
Enemy Women, Paulette Jiles
Ethan Frome, Edith Wharton
Follow the River, James Alexander Thom
Gap Creek, Robert Morgon
Girl with a Pearl Earring, Tracy Chevalier
Girl in Hyacinth Blue, Susan Vreeland
Giver, The, Lois Lowry
Good Earth, Pearl S. Buck
Hiding Place, The, Corrie Ten Boom
Holes, Louis Sachar
How Green Was My Valley, Richard Llewellyn
I Capture the Castle, Dodie Smith
Importance of Being Ernest, The, Oscar Wilde
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte
Joy Luck Club, The, Amy Tan
Julie, Catherine Marshall
Lantern in Her Hand, A, Bess Streeter Aldrich
Life of Our Lord, The, Charles Dickens
Life and Death in Shanghai, Nien Cheng
Life of Pi, Yann Martel
Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The, C. S. Lewis
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott
Lost Horizon, James Hilton
Man’s Search for Meaning, Viktor E. Frankl
Much Ado About Nothing, William Shakespeare
Mutant Message from Down Under, Marlo Morgan
My Antonia, Willa Cather
Night, Elie Wiesel
O Pioneers!, Willa Cather
Optimist’s Daughter, The, Eudora Welty
Other Side of Heaven, The, John H. Groberg
Our Town, Thornton Wilder
Pearl, The, John Steinbeck
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen
Prophecy Checklist: From the Apostasy to the Final Judgment, Norma Pyper Mitchell
Room with a View, A, E. M. Forrster
Running Out of Time, Margaret Peterson Haddix
Saint Maybe, Anne Tyler
Screwtape Letters, The, C. S. Lewis
Secret Life of Bees, The, Sue Monk Kidd
Shepherds Abiding, Jan Karon
Silas Marner, George Eliot
Story of the Other Wise Man, The, Henry Van Dyke
Tess of the d’Ubervilles, Thomas Hardy
Thousand Pieces of Gold, A, Ruthanne Lum McCunn
Timepiece, Richard Paul Evans
Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference, The, Malcom Gladwell
Tisha, Robert Specht
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee
Town Like Alice, A, Nevell Shute
Tree Grows in Brooklyn, A, Betty Smith
Trees, The, Conrad Richter
Tuck Everlasting, Natalie Babbitt
Tuesdays With Morrie, Mitch Albom
Turn of the Screw, The, Henry James
Two From Galilee, Marjorie Holmes
Watership Down, Richard Adams
Winter Wheat, Mildred Walker
Woman in White, Wilkie Collins
Wuthering Heights, Emily Bronte
"Yellow Wallpaper" a short story by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
"Neighbor Rosicky," a short story by Willa Cather

Mother's Day

This could be for a Sunday lesson, Enrichment Night or mid-week activity:
Our Relief Society went around and took pictures of every sister in the ward, serving in some way in their ordinary lives such as being a teacher, or in the nursery or being a mom, in their jobs etc. Then someone did a power point on a computer and put it to music. It was really neat and showed how we all serve in one way or another. They didn't tell us before hand what the pictures were for.


This year we're planning to have all the sisters from every auxiliary attend Relief Society on Mother's Day. We have a special lesson given by a member of our presidency and serve a light breakfast which the sister's absolutely love! The Bishopric and Elder's Quorum will help with the Primary and Young Women.
Last year about one month in advance we passed out a survey (See below if you are interested) and read the stunning and funny results as the sisters ate. It was light-hearted but pertinent to the sisters. The survey reflected all that they have done throughout their collective lifetimes---so fun for them.
This year we aren't quite sure what we should do for the first 10-15 minutes as they eat. Something casual and fun yet not to detract from the Spirit that we come to expect from Relief Society. Guessing game, mystery box, old photos etc. Just anything like that. Any ideas would be greatly appreciated and could be used by several sisters.

Survey:
Just for Fun
How many nieces and nephews do you have?
How many children do you have?
How many diapers have you changed? (Give yourself an extra pat on the back for changing cloth diapers)!!!
How many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches have you made?
How many children in your family have been baptized?
How many family members have served a mission?
List one or more reason(s) you are thankful to be a "daughter" of Heavenly Father.

Activity Group ideas

Here are some ideas for Activity Groups that might meet weekly or monthly:

Pamper night: nails, feet, massage
Burn baby burn: computers and cd's
Angels among us: working closely with DI on projects
Sweet as Pie: making pies, pastries, etc
Celestial sisters: attend temple once a month
Eat your Wheaties: Food storage, recipes, organization, etc
It's Dirty work but someone's gotta do it: Housecleaning, tips, organization
Articles of Faith: memorize, tips to help children memorize, learn songs that go with them
Beach party/Spring Break: volleyball and light foods
Hooked on Reading: Book club- read and discussion
Share n' tear: Scrapbooking Blooming bulbs: gardening and yard work
Munch and Mingle: get together for lunch either at church, someone's home, or progressive dinner
Unfinished projects corner: self explanatory!
Blanket Brigade: making quilts...bring your own or come help others
One Dish Wonders: crock pot cooking
Ensign to the Nation: read and discuss current Ensign
Knead to Know Basics: bread making, rolls, specialty breads, etc
Tatt-a-tatt-tatt: crochet handkerchief
Cultural Night: productions at local theaters like symphony, plays, etc
Girls night out: go to a movie, dinner, sports, whatever with just the girls
American Idol: work on a talent or learn a new one
Tic Toc: Time management
Beyond the Pedigree Chart: writing your life history
Beauty shop Quartet: learn to sing or play an instrument
"me" time: What are my needs and how to make time for them
Quilting Bee
Park Pals - meet at parks with little ones to play while moms visit
Stroller stride - walk together while pushing the stroller