My life so far

Hi, my name is Sachiko. "Sachiko" means "Happy child" or " Blessed one" in Japanese. Growing up, I didn't like my name at all. It was a very common name and I didn't think the name fit me very well. I was born with a disorder(actually, three rare conditions)and because of that I had my leg amputated at age two. Since this was not curable, I was in and out of the hospital all the time. My family was disfunctional too. After high school I started working to save up money for collage, then, my condition got worse, so I had to quit my job. That was a very dark time for me. I had no idea how I was going to support myself or how my life would turn out, and again I thought how ironic my name sounded.

I am sorry to write such a personal and heavy stuff, but there is a point to this.
It has been many years since I felt so sad and scared. Now I am married to the man of my dreams; I don't know what I did right to deserve him. We have three beautiful children who make my life so busy and full. I am doing what I love to do which is designing and sewing. I have been blessed with a wonderful extended family and friends!

Recently, I thought about my name and realized the true meaning of my name. Yes I had rough patches in my life growing up, but because of that, I am where I am now. I can appreciate more what I have been blessed with and share that with people around me. When I forget about my own hardships and try to make others happy, I ended up being happier.

I could not shake this thought of mine for a few days now; I just wanted to tell you who are so nice enough to take time to read my blog that "everything is going to be ok." If there is someone who is worried or sad and you feel like your rough patch of life is never going to end, I just want to say that you never know what kind of great blessing are in store for you unless you just hang in there and keep trying.
My life so far, is a great ride. When I look back at everything, both the ups and downs, I am happy and I can honestly say I am truly blessed in life.







These wonderful pictures were taken by our good friend and rising photographer Michelle Kemp over at Rusty Bucket Photography.

Quilt and Christmas Decorations

As a quilter I was slacking the last few years. My I used to compete several quilts a year. Now I've had to slow down on quilting to make room for other projects. This year I completed 1 quilt and this quilt top, which I love. A good friend of mine gave me the pattern of this quilt as a gift. I wanted to make this quilt so bad that I stretched 24 hous a day to 27 hours a day. Now I'm thinking about how I should quilt this top.

I love fabrics! When I see beautiful fabrics my heart dances and starts wondering "What can I do with this?" I don't think I'll ever stop making quilts.

Hopefully when I'm like 80 years old, I'll still be quilting.

I'm not big on holiday decorations but every now and then I'll see something that I like and add it to my collectiion. Here are some Christmas decorations around my house.


I love snowglobes. I think there is a magical feel to them. I was looking for the perfect snowglobe for my home; when I saw this one, I knew this was it. It's not too flashy or too modern for my taste. Just right. The white color is peaceful and a little bit dreamy.



I found this Santa Claus at a local gift shop a few years ago. There were white ones and red ones. It took me a long time to decide which one I should take home, because I liked them both.



This is the chandelier above our dining table. Every year I dress it up with garland and mistle toe and silver ribbon. I love the warm feeling this light provides. I even love looking at the beautiful pattern on the ceiling.



The last one is something I made last year. I bought a styrofoam cone and lots of mint candies and candy canes at the dollar store and used a glue gun to make this decoration. I started from the bottom and worked my way up. It was such a fun and easy project to do and one of the most beloved Christmas decoration by my kids. In fact, they love it so much that every now and then I see evidence of someone touching and attempts to remove the candies. If you are thinking of making some decorations I highly recommend this one. In our household, kids are counting the days til Christmas and that is what makes me happy and makes me enjoy this holiday season the even more.

Christopher's Day

Today was a special day for my family. My oldest son, Christopher, was baptized today. We had talked to him about this for the last little while. He had been preparing himself for this day. Christopher had picked out the songs and who would say the opening and closing prayers.

The first song that he had picked was "If the Savior Stood Beside Me". Each word came so strong to me. Here are the words to the first verse of this wonderful song.

"If the Savior stood beside me, would I do the things I do? Would I think of His commandments and try harder to be true? Would I follow His example? Would I live more righteously if I could see the Savior standing nigh, watching over me?"

I was not prepared for the emotions that I would feel. I could not hold back the tears. I was thinking about the day he was born and how small he was and how it is our responsibility to teach him and raise him in the Gospel. The song he picked today taught me we can all ask these questions to ourselves daily. We can reach higher and live better each day. He definately was a good example to his younger siblings too.

Christopher looked so handsome and mature in his new suite.

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One more thing. A couple of nights ago while Aaron and I were working in our hobby room, Christopher came in and after a short while and out of the blue said, "So and so said that I'm the smallest person in the class." You can't sugar-coat the truth, he is the smallest one in his class. So, I said, "Yeah, you are the smallest, but you are the cutest."

He smiled a little and then Aaron turned around and said, "The next time so and so tells you that you are the smallest, you tell him; great things come in small packages." He started laughing so hard. We all laughed. As he was leaving the room, he was practicing Aaron's comeback so that he wouldn't forget. He seemed almost excited about it, like he couldn't wait for someone to tell him he was the smallest.

That's what I love about Aaron. He has a positive attitude and a great sense of humor. What would I do without him. Even on the toughest days he manages to make me laugh. Yes, I'm bragging, but I have an awesome husband!

Yes it is official!!

Aaron does not like listening to Christmas songs or watching Christmas movies and of course decorating the house for Christmas 'till Thanksgiving is over. I don't really care, so I decided to respect his opinion this time like every good wife would do. I waited to do all those things until the 28th, the day after Thanksgiving. While the boys and I decorated the tree, we were listning to Christmas songs. We were smiling and humming (eventhough Michael had a tonsilectomy the day before Thanksgiving, he was so happy to be able to decorate the tree; he loved helping so much!)

It is already December and official that Christmas is near!! I just love this season. Here are the list of things I love about the Christmas season.

1. Christmas music. My favorites are Josh Groban, Charlotte Church, Enya, and Frank Sinatra
2. Christmas movies. Every year I watch "While You Were Sleeping". That is my ultimate favorite movie. I also like "It's a Wonderful life". Some of my friends suggested that I watch "white Christmas" so that might become my favorite too!
3. Going to see the lights at Temple Square with hot chocolate and doughnuts! Sure I get cold but I can not stop smiling when I am there, lots of happy memories.
4. Wrapping Christmas gifts. It is exciting to imagine how the kids will be when they open up their presants. It makes me feel so appriciative to know that we will be able to do it.
5. I think more people are so nice and very generous towards one another. It is simply nice to know that people still care.
6. I am not going to lie.... yes some receiving is also exciting. Thanks honey!
7. I got baptized on Christmas day. I think more about our Savior, Jesus Christ in the month of December. I feel so blessed and grateful to know about the Gospel.

To make the cold nights a little bit warmer for movie watching, I made flannel pajama bottoms for the kids! (Old Navy made the tops) They were so excited.








I love December!!