2011 comes to an end

Some of you might remember back in February I made a little "to-do" list for this year and since there is only 1 day left this year I thought I would fill you in on how I did!

:) 1. Finish remodeling my kitchen

Well, there's trim left to do around the countertop and that's it. I'm okay with that.
2. Learn how to quilt feathers

I did practice this a few times but I'm not happy with it. One side of the feather looks awesome, the other...not so much. My brain just can't get them together.
:) 3. Get family pictures done

We had family photos done in October, I think? YAY.
:) 4. Finish reading "Decision Points" by George W. Bush

I'm almost done ~40 pages left and since I only read it on the rare 15 minute breaks and ocassionally at lunch, I did okay. Plus I think I can finish by the end of tomorrow, since I brought it home.
5. Build the walnut media center that is currently floating around in my head

Nope. Maybe next year.
6. Put carpet in our bedroom

Not even close. I couldn't talk Adam into it THIS year.
:) 7. Finish Ali's room

YEP!!
:S 8. Build bookcases for the living room

Yeah, so, I kind of cheated on this one and just bought one...hey, I didn't have time!
:) 9. Go back to college

YES I DID> and I finished my classes with great grades!
10. Perfect quilting feathers

Considering I didn't learn them that well, this will be a no.
:) 11. Read "If Wishes Were Horses"

I read it this summer between my classes, it was very good!
12. Build a Hope Chest

Nope :(
:) 13. Construct my new show quilt

I can say yes, it's constructed, however, not quilted! I better get on that
:) 14. Take a Ricky Timms class

Yes I did. Made a Kalidescope :):) Also, not quilted! Yikes!
15. Work on Ali's scrapbooks

I'm getting wayyyy behind...
:) 16. Go on a vacation

This year I was so very lucky to go on not one but two vacations! In July to see my sister working in South Dakota. Taking Ali to Mount Rushmore was awesome. Even though it doesn't change I always leave amazed. And going to Switzerland to see my exchange sister, Miriam and her family was a once in a life time experience.
:) 17. Stop worrying about the past

I am happy to report this was sucessful. I even surprised myself!
:) 18. Take a class with Carol Mollers

Carol taught the Ricky Timms class! haha
:) 19. Do more landscaping

I planted a tree. And I weeded a LOT.
20. Read Sarah Palin's book

Didn't happen. There's something about romances that trumps politics.
:) 21. Clean the barn

In the fall when I found a horse I thought I was in love with, I worked really hard on cleaning for about a week, then I went to look at the horse and he was totally lame. The poor guy. SO I decided it wasn't time and went back to quilting...
:):) 22. Give away more Quilts of Valor

I held a workshop in March, I believe, to make quilts of Valor and the support this time was mind blowing. I was so surprised given the help the last several years. At the Fourth of July MOMS benefit (since I was in SD) Kim handed the quilts out for me and I think we gave away 12 more. So happy!!
:) 23. Spend less time with doctors

I did this! I did this!! I love my doctor but being healthy is more important and if that means seeing him less, then so be it!

I did so many other things this year than I had planned. I read more books that I originally had on my list so even thought I didn't start Sarah Palin's book, my books were not neglected. In fact I bought 3 books before we left for Switzerland and I read one of them. And my mom got me 3 books for Christmas, one being Jaycee Duggards book- I finished in about 24 hours.

I feel like I've accomplished so much this year- too much to bore you with....

I wish you all a VERY Happy New Year! And here's to a new list! :)

Since I'm sick.......

Going to the doctor is getting...well...old.
In my last 25 years I have learned something-- doctors aren't always right

Right at this very minute I am stuck.

On my couch.

with Mono.

Again.

I first got mono in the seventh grade- at which time they said, and I quote, "the good thing about mono is that you can only get it once."

I got it again in 9th grade.

And here I am again at 25. The second time I thought it was a terrible coincidence. This time it's just plain annoying. I have things to do! And my work friends don't want me to infect them {not that I blame them}

So I wrapped presents- after my nap.

And I put garland on the banister- after my nap.

And after medicine, I am finally able to swallow better so I had a little something to eat.

And here are a few photos to catch you up on our tree harvesting adventure! :)

I think I'm in Love......

I know what you're thinking...

Yes, I already have a machine.

But I think I do enough sewing to justify this.

And Marcia at Pine Needles told me I deserve it!

So Santa if you're listening...

I'd really like this Swiss made Bernina 830 Limited Edition.

I promise I've been really good this year.

Some times too good.

:D

November 15

Can you believe we're half way through November?

I cannot.

I've been doing this thing on Facebook that's called the 30 days of Thanksgiving. And throughout the month I have been saying (almost everyday) what I am thankful for.

And so far they've been pretty much related to all of the crazy things in my life like feeling better and my daughter and my business. You know, those types of things.

I hope everyone is as thankful for the things in their lives as I am. Good or bad they have shaped who I am.

Just a little funny photo for ya!

Holiday Explosion Business Show

I am currently sitting at the Elks club. Patiently waiting for the Holdiay Explosion Home Based Business show to start.

It's 9-2 if you were wondering.

In Charles City.

So come see me! I'm giving away a grommet purse valued at $75!

There are also door prizes.

Free Koozies!

And I'm doing Photo Printing on Fabric!!

A Quilt Filled Weekend

Since it's Sunday night and I have nothing better to do than blog.... not...I thought I'd show a few projects I worked on this weekend.

I quilted the center background blocks with my own version of McTavishing. The black border is quilted with very small swirls and the outside border is quilted with "sticks". It is backed with Minkee and it's SUPER soft. I just love it. :)

Projects 2 & 3.
Winter table runners

Pieced and Quilted between 1 and 10 p.m.There are two other sizes for this runner. This is the medium...they can also be made into tree skirts.

Halloween!

Happy Halloween from the costume going people in the family...
My Princess Belle!

Black Swan!!

Black Swan and Zombie Bride. Aka Tonya :)

May you have all of the Tricks and Treats you desire.

Bahahahahah

**this is by far my craziest blog**

Hello Again!

I, like a few of my other blogger friends, have been seriously neglecting my blog lately. I hope to catch up soon- so much has happened!

But while you wait, here's a little sneak peak at my biggest excuse!

Just a little place called SWITZERLAND!

A Birthday Blog

It's my birthday and I'm fantastically excited about it!!!

Before the festivities begin I just wanted to take a moment to say how incredibly blessed I have been throughout the past year.

I have some great friends, I love my job, I have my business, my baby girl, a husband who tries to give me everything I could ever dream of and most importantly this year, I have my health.

Just a couple days ago I received more test results confirming that I am still in remission.

The most amazing thing I have learned over the last year is that I need to be thankful for every blessing in my life, no matter how big or how small they seem to be at the time.

Thank you to all of my friends and family for being there with me and for me. I love you all!

And for my sister, yes, I acknowledge that I am now a quarter century old!!!!!! Thank you for continuing to remind me of that. Just remember your time is coming!

So close I can taste it!

If you've noticed I haven't been keeping up on my blog very well this summer and well, just about everything else too.

I started back to college about 6 weeks ago and it has been a grueling 6 weeks.

Accounting.

Human Resources.

Need I say more? I think not.

However, I only have ONE test left!!

Accounting is really trying to be the death of me and I knew it from my first week in. It is so incredibly time consuming, I cannot even completely describe how time consuming it really is.

Since it's already 20 after 9 and I have to work tomorrow I'm going to wait until after work to take my very last accounting test.

Friday I have to go to Mayo - more tests. But have no fear, it is a "check up" for more inflammation. Lets hope for NONE. And I will be celebrating being done with summer school by shopping for a dress for my birthday bash! Here's to hoping I find something FABULOUS!

I finally did it!!!

I have wanted one of these ever since I was 16...Adam, however, always talked me out of it. (Which I happen to be mostly thankful for because back then, I wanted a tramp stamp... YIKES!) Now that it is ALMOST my 25th birthday I decided if I want it I'm going to do it; and since I've hardly done anything even remotely rebellious... So I enlisted my bestie to accompany me to a place neither of us had ever been and got my first ever tattoo. :)

I put a lot of thought into this. First, I wanted a small star on my wrist- I know, big shocker, me and stars- but I've always liked foot tattoos, especially sayings/quotes. The more I thought about it the more I decided I had better do my foot first JUST IN CASE I hated it- I can always wear socks right?

Okay, so where did I get the saying? Well, I've been searching and searching for one and then a couple weeks ago I was reading the book If Wishes Were Horses. First, its a fabulous book. Second, there was a paragraph in the book (I tried to find it) that talked about love and risks and I thought that was PERFECT!! So I used the same font that I use for my business and wallahh! Or however you spell that...

I love it! And I'm still going to get the star, someday.

P.S. It's very hard to take a picture of the outside of your own foot and get it to look okay.

Quite the week

Where to begin...

Over the last week we have been terribly busy between work, school/homework, quilting for others, tball and, well, everything else.

I finished the 5 day inferno last week having only lost 1 lb. So much for the 10 lbs 10 inches. However, I hadn't checked my inches ahead of time and may have lost some of those...

I hadn't exercised since the inferno ended until today mainly because I had to find time to do well on homework and tests somewhere!

Friday night I did get to have a girls night with my bestie, going to the Bowling Alley to eat and catching the movie Water for Elephants. Let me just say I was expecting a different kind of movie. *Caution spoiler alert* I wasn't expecting so much animal abuse and well frankly the killing of a beautiful horse in the first 10 minutes of the movie. Being an animal lover it was hard to stomach. And although it was a love story it was just a strange one. The ending was good, sometimes I just think movies these days are too graphic. Some things can be left to the imagination. *Spoiler over*

Saturday consisted of homework, tests, quilting, the Greene River Days parade, inflatables that cost a fortune, laundry, the mid day movie at the Charles Theatre, and shopping in Waterloo for some upcoming fun times. Oh, and my birthday present that continues to not be a surprise...

SUNDAY! One of the best days of the entire year.

I woke up "early" to take a test, work on a quilt and then we went BOATING! For the first time in, like, FOUR (4!) years!! And we had a blast.

I got to read a book. 108 pages I read that day! All spent on the water and in the sun.

I got a sunburn.

After SIX layers of sunscreen, I may add.

I'm still crispy.

Ali had a good time too. She spent most of her time eating and drinking. And getting in and out of the water about 5 times. Every time she would get out, we'd get ready to leave and she'd want to get back in. Typical child. They also tried fishing for a while but it was quite busy on the river, it being River Days and all. We absolutely cannot wait to go back out on the water.

I personally want to work on my tan- not burn, this time. And I would REALLY like to read more of a book. However, I read about 120 pages last night so I'm already 2/3's through the book- that just happens to be on my list of things to do this year. It is an amazing book.

5 day Inferno

Today I am starting the 5 day Inferno with TurboFire.

Basically you have to follow their meal plan and work out schedule for 5 days. Yesterday I did the grocery shopping for the meal plan so today it starts. I'm a little nervous because you (meaning I) only get to eat about 1,200 calories per day. Plus I'm doing a 45-55 minute workout everyday. Well the results are supposed to be good. Approximately 10lbs and 10 inches are supposed to be lost during the 5 days. Probably from starvation...

I'm starting out so positive! HA.

Obviously, if the meals looked that bad I wouldn't be doing it. I'm pretty excited about hopefully cutting back portions and learning to cook healthier. The one thing I will be missing from her diet is the protein shakes because of my Crohn's. And I had to modify some of the meals but overall I think it will be worth it. As long as I can keep it up.

And I'm really hoping that the information I heard on 95.9 yesterday that a desk job is as bad for you as smoking is not true. Clearly I don't think it can be NEARLY as bad as smoking but I have noticed a change in my habits since sitting at a desk all day over the last almost year! Hard to believe it's been that long!

Now back to homework and then a workout.

Have a great weekend!!

What's up!

So here's the deal. Life has been crazy busy and I have not been able to update blogger to tell the 1 follower I have that I finished the kitchen. Well...almost. I have to do trim but I haven't had time to post pix. But it's good. I love it. Glad its over.

Today was a very busy day- I had to work of course. 7 am to 5 pm. It was great. I love work! Well, I had to get Ali from Bible School and took her home on my lunch and she just wasn't acting right so I took her back to daycare after lunch and well 20 minutes later- phone call- Ali has a temp. I have a busy day and need to save my vacation so Adam got to take her home and to the doctor. Let me just tell you that I think "virus" was the worst term made up so doctors can just give it to you when they can't explain a fever. UGH. So, with a fever no daycare tomorrow (thank goodness for my gma) and no tball tonight. At which we had to bring treats and were supposed to work the concession stand... well 1/2 of that was accomplished.

I went to Subway to STUDY, because YES I'm back in college (I didn't feel like I had enough on my plate already), then went to a board meeting and a guild meeting. And I'm now home at 9pm catching up on blogger.

Tomorrow I'm working and coming home to plant all the plants I dug up on Sunday because of my thistle patch; I'll explain later. And then studying!!!!!!

The next 6 weeks of my life are going to be NUTS! And I have quilts to make in between everything else! WOW.

It's my pitty party...

...And I'll cry if I want to...

So today was supposed to be a good day, I woke up early to work out and do Turbo Fire. Any of you who know me know that getting up early in itself is a small feat. I'm not an early person. Not. At. All.

You know, sometimes there are just those days when nothing seems to go your way... we've all been there. I kept trying to stay positive as has been my new way of life lately. But by the end of the day I just feel defeated.

There is nothing I hate more in my life than being told I'm not good enough or that I can't do something. Growing up there were always things people were telling me I couldn't do. Things I wasn't good enough. Case in point- something I will never forget:

I had made a Walnut armoire for the Floyd County Fair as a 4-H project when I was a junior in high school. I designed it myself, built it MYSELF and just happened to win Grand Champion. So as Grand Champion I got to take it to the State Fair where my dad had to help me enter it as it weighs about a trillion pounds. Even in 2 pieces. Its solid walnut for goodness sake.

This was just about the most effort he had put into the project except for the occasional words of advice here and there. Well we got to check in and the guy who was taking in projects had the nerve to ask MY DAD if he made it or I did...

I know I'm a girl. And I know it isn't typical of a girl to do "boy things" like woodworking but I take pride in every piece of wood I have shaped into a beautiful piece of furniture. Thank you very much.

With that, I also take great offense to those who say I cannot do things.

Who say I'm not good enough.

Just to make myself feel better I'm going to make a little list here of things that I can do, maybe good at or I'm capable I just plain don't like to do it.

Cooking. Baking. Sewing. Scrapbooking. Quilting. Gardening. Woodworking. Plumbing (hate it). Construction. Computer work. Coloring. Driving. Running heavy equipment. Cleaning. Electrical. Tree planting. Installing cabinets. Decorating. Organizing. Multi-tasking. Designing. Cleaning stalls. Leading. Blogging.

And the list could go on...

This is my next project. And I can assure you I can do it and it will be beautiful.

Don't doubt be.

You're welcome for the lecture. :)

Fantabulous weekend!

So we started off our weekend by Adam driving truck and it just being me and Ali. But after Ali fell asleep I had some time to myself, just quiet thinking time. And as all mom's know- that is rare!

Saturday morning Ali and I rolled out of bed to go get our hair done. I'm finally back to dark and we both got trims. In the afternoon Ali and Adam headed to the shop while I cut out a new quilt design and cleaned my desk off. That has been bugging me for MONTHS.

And Sunday before- and right after church- it was so nice out! I decided I wanted to go fishing. I don't get that urge often so we decided to take off to the pond...

I lived up to my standards and did not catch a single fish. Typical.
And Miss Ali out fished us all by catching 2 fish.

And then we decided since Ali was making us all look like fools and she was getting tired of fishing it was time to go. Shopping.
She starts t-ball tomorrow and needed a glove and a bat...and we needed some hiking/camping things and I needed a top and I just happened to come across some AmAzInG shoes.


As many of you know I've been through some pretty rough things in my life and I have some how managed to get my husband to feel sorry for me so I can talk him into pretty much anything. Sorry honey! And since I have monstrous feet when I find shoes that I love and they're decently priced and they HAVE MY SIZE we usually get them. I've been looking for shoes like this FOREVER and almost walked out because no one would help me...but I was persistent and well they finally got them for me. The sales lady had the guts to tell me that these shoes run big so they have 10's. And I proceeded to tell her that I have to squish my huge feet into 11's so I would never be getting 10's. by the look on her face I would guess she wished she hadn't said anything.

And like always I squished my feet into these shoes and fell in love.

Adam said I had better get them and I didn't wait a second for him to change his mind.

I'm spoiled. What can I say.

A good end to her first year...

Miss Ali even "moved on" from her preschool class. Even though she is going for another year she has "moved on" from the class she was in this last year. I couldn't believe how emotional I was about it.

I'm so proud of her! She has grown in so many ways this year and some days I can hardly believe how smart she is! I just wish she would sing me more songs from school.....and I know she is going to become an even better and smarter person with one more year of preschool! :)

Easter catch up!

Easter has come and gone and WE SURVIVED! We had to work REALLY hard to get things in order but we made it. Cabinets in, paint done, all decor back up, food made, dresses done and just in time for the Easter Bunny to make an appearance.

Miss Ali woke up, put her dress on and found all the things Mr and/or Mrs Easter Bunny left for her...
Umm...Easter Bunny??


And the Easter Bunny made another stop for Miss Ali. She had a great time finding eggs outside!

What?!

Okay so, my double wall oven cabinet finally came in. And it was delivered today. And it's now laying in the middle of my kitchen floor.

Well long story short, the oven doesn't fit in the cabinet!!

As you can see the oven is in the front of this photo and the cabinet is in the background laying all over the middle of my floor!

So, I am patiently waiting for my husband to get home with a bit to take the cabinet apart and then saw out what I don't need. The trim pieces they told me it had to adjust for the size of the oven are apparently screwed and glued into the rest of the cabinet. I'm not impressed. This was supposed to go in and that was supposed to be it. Maybe tomorrow........

There are HOW many days until Easter?!?!?!

Okay so for the last, like, month Ali has been counting down to Easter. They talk about it at Sunday school and every time they say how many weeks are left she turns it into months... I'm sure you understand my pain. Well, the countdown has now moved from Ali to me- mainly because she's been sick, BUT I am counting now because we have this little construction project going on and well, Adam's parent's and brother's family are coming on Sunday............

This is what my house currently looks like:

And I must say these photos don't even really show the disaster area that I am living in. I'm a little concerned... BUT Saturday is supposed to be nice and I only work a 1/2 day tomorrow- we should be able to get the windows in and the last one out. And cabinets up and the walls back together. I can do this. I know I can. Okay, I'm pretty sure I can...

If you happen to see me around down breathing into a brown bag I'm only having an anxiety attack. It will be a fabulous Easter! Now I need to get back to painting, among many other things...

All in a good day's work...

Well today was mighty interesting. I planned on taking a trip to see my bestie and her baby girl and Ali woke up feeling sick... therefore I cannot go. On the plus side it was a beautiful day out!! AND I could start installing windows!!!! Finally. I'm so impatient...

-BEFORE-

-AFTER-

And it's a good thing we took out the big window where the door now is. We noticed it was already loose after we, I mean, I removed the siding! :) And when we got the window out the glider fell out of the track. Awesome. I absolutely do NOT recommend glider windows, even if they are Andersen. The door also opens and closes better now that it's moved. AND it's on the right side of the wall- no longer opening into the middle of a room!! That IS awesome!!

On my to do list tomorrow: order Sheetrock, Tyvek tape and siding...

Wednesday, when it's nice, some people better be expecting phone calls from me because this whole thing revolves around nice weather.

Happy Birthday Cala

Happy 21st Birthday to my baby sister!!!

This is not the best picture of her, but it's the best one I have at this very moment. And since she is still in SD at school, I find this one to be somewhat appropriate.

Happy Birthday Cala! :)

Remodel Update

Yesterday my new windows arrived...and with much anticipation I am impatiently waiting for Mother Nature to cooperate so we can install them. In the mean time I'm trying to keep myself busy getting ready. In between quilting and working and Ali and all those other things in life... As you can see the only things left on the walls are the goose, the deer, a clock (see below) and 3 cabinets (also see below). Those things will be moving tomorrow. Please excuse my fabric ALL over the place. We seem to have a lot of that around here... The kitchen is in disarray, and I cannot stand it. If it could only be finished I could take a BIG something off my worry about list.

Oh and maybe I should explain that I took everything off the walls so I can put on a fresh coat of paint. In 6 years this paint has taken a beating. Maybe if I would stop all of the projects we seem to constantly have going on...

On another note- I did manage to get my border for the new show quilt mostly together tonight. Phew! I'm a little behind though, because I was hoping to at least have it on the long arm if I wasn't already quilting it. Big dreams and high hopes, but it's been a long week. I think I'll be loading a Valor quilt tomorrow to practice my feathers on...

And if someone wants to tell good 'ole Mother Nature to warm up and not rain for me I would appreciate it. Have a great weekend everyone!! :)

My Saturday

Today, I got to do some Quilting Therapy. When I saw the Kool Kaleidoscope Quilt Carol Moellers had displayed a few years ago at the Floyd Count Fair I fell in LOVE with it. So of course when she was teaching the class at Stitches in Charles City, there wasn't the option to not do it!

So last weekend when I was going on about making Stratas, this is what they turned into...

I'm pretty excited because I'm the only one who got mine put together. And I love how it turned out!! It goes perfect with the paint in the rest of my house. Carol gave me some pointers on how create the awesome border she made that I want to re-create. We'll see if I can do it, otherwise she might be having a class. I also need to figure out how I'm going to quilt it and with what kind of thread. My plan is to do some bobbin work and make the back look really cool too! :)

Happy Saturday!

Last Weekend

Please pardon our backwards photos from the weekend...I really meant to do this, well, at the end of last weekend and then I thought I'd do it Monday, then Tuesday and well, I've been working a lot.

Sunday, I worked on my Stratas for the Ricky Tims Kaleidoscope class...

My first quilt with Batik's! I just love the 52 or so that I have picked out....We're supposed to have 15-20 for the class but extra for the border that I am in love with. I picked out a textured black fabric for the background. It's going to be stunning.

This was Saturday... Ali and I were working on my flower beds. The Croka's (no clue how its actually spelled) I purchased from Ali's preschool fundraiser came up! YAY!

My FORD. Over the last couple months, all he's done is gotten BIGGER! I think we should have named him Bear. He often looks like a black bear coming towards you... and he's OH SO CUTE!

Ali also played on her swingset and this is her sad face after Ford peed on her slide just as she was getting ready to go down it. It was SAD!

I love this photo of her. Luckily I got it. Pre- pee. :) HA

And we had to swing. I'm so proud of her pumping her legs!!

AND the Dress. The "Minnie Mouse Dress" as it is called here...Ali's in love with it, I'm in love with it. We all love it. And I cannot wait for her to wear it! My dress is also in the works. If I get to it this weekend I'll post pix, well, sometime.