losing touch

In high school I was lucky to have a good group of friends. Girls that would take me home even though it was 25 minutes out of their way just so I didn't have to ride the bus. Girls to lend me lunch money when I couldn't get my locker open to get my purse out. Girls that spent the entire weekend working on crazy history projects without so much as a shower. Girls that pushed me outside my comfort zone and showed me how to have more fun than I knew possible. Girls that forgave me when silly high school drama crept into our lives. Girls that I had a ton in common with. Girls that I still talk to and girls that I have lost touch with. Girls that could make me smile on a bad day. Girls that watched an insane number of movies with me. Girls that joined clubs and sports with me just so we'd have longer to hang out together.

Girls.

But my best friend was a guy. We talked about everything under the sun. He knew me better than any of the girls even though I spent more time hanging out with the girls. I planned on naming one of my kids after him no matter what my future husband had to say about it. We were teased some about being friends but not 'liking' each other... kids that age can be mean. But really we were just great friends.

I was afraid to go to college with 15 of my friends from high school. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to really find myself. {P.S. I was stupid!} So we went to different colleges. {Did I mention I was stupid?!} He had a girlfriend at the time that was still in high school and did not like him having female friends, especially me. So our talks got fewer and farther between. By the time I finally figured out how stupid I had been and transferred to the school with all my friends we were in slightly different places in life. Our talks were still wonderful and comfortable and we were still close, but something had changed and even though we were in the same town again {and he was crazy-girlfriend-less} we didn't go right back to how it was before.

After college it all kinda fell apart. He moved away. Our phone calls got farther and farther apart until they just stopped all together. I got married. And even though Aaron was really good friends with this guy too, it just didn't feel right to track down and pursue this friendship with Aaron on the sideline.

This entire life story has a point. This guy's birthday was last week. He was on my mind most of the week - wondering where he is now, if he's at the same job, with the same girl, happy? Same kinds of things I wonder about my other high school friends that I've lost touch with {and some that just give me glimpses of their lives through facebook}. Then the night after his birthday I had a dream about him. I actually don't remember any specifics of the dream, just that I woke up feeling like he's troubled, like he needs a friend.

I have no clue how to get in touch with him. I have no clue if my brain is just playing tricks on me since I was already thinking about him last week. All I do know is we were friends through a lot of tough stuff in high school and college and if he needs a friend now, I'd love to be there for him.

I don't plan on turning into a crazy stalker now and there's really nothing I can do about it, but it's just nice to get that out so that it can stop rattling around in my brain. When I told Aaron he just thought I was crazy, so maybe telling the bloggy world will make me feel less crazy!

learn something new everyday

I'm currently in the midst of my longest stretch of not being enrolled in school (not counting those 4 years before I started preschool) and honestly I don't like it much!

I can definitely do without the homework. But I love figuring out all the connections that make a new (to me) topic finally click! I love feeling like part of the college community. I love the sense of accomplishment when I finish a paper or ace a test. I love knowing that I'm doing something to better myself. I love the opportunities that open up to me based on the papers framed on my dinning room wall.

My husband thinks I'm certifiably CRAZY! He hates school and couldn't wait to be done with his master's. I hated finishing my bachelors and my masters simply because that meant it was over. I want to go back again, but I'm not sure what I'd do. A Ph.D. sounds way toooooo intimidating but another masters seems redundant. Maybe a masters in a completely different field? After we have kid's I'd love a job that I could do part-time, but nothing in education really works that way, so maybe I'll get a whole new degree that gets me closer to something I can do part time eventually.

I've thought about just taking some classes to learn a new craft (because I reallllly need another one of those!) but for some reason, I'm more drawn to the academic side of it all. This whole thing started simply by reading a post on facebook about a friend sitting in class. Well thats what got me thinking about it tonight, I think about going back to school at least twice a month. Nothing will probably come of it right now since I can't make up my mind what to do, but it's nice to dream of being Amanda Ph.D. one day!

walk AWAY!

Part of having rescue dogs living in our house until they get adopted is figuring out their quirks so that we can be completely up front with potential adopters in order to find a home where they will live out the rest of their days. Sometimes we get dogs that have virtually no issues and are only turned into rescue for reasons like the economy or a divorce. However, much more often dogs come in that have some pretty big issues that could have easily been avoided if they had been taught manners as puppies and been socialized.

*side note - our dogs are by NO means perfect little angels! They bark at the wind and jump up in the front window to protect us from the mail. They don't always remember that they aren't allowed on the couch and occasionally if there is a really really tempting paper towel carelessly left hanging out of the trashcan, they eat it. But we try very hard to make sure they know their manners!*

Our foster Wilson, who we've had since May is an example of the later. He was kept outside for his entire first year and because of that the family had no reason to teach him manners. He didn't interact with anybody or anything, so what would he need manners for? He obviously got no socialization either. And now we have a problem!

We've been working with him and have had him evaluated by several different professionals, but it looks like he will always carry some baggage with him. He is S...L...O...W to learn new things. It took him almost 4 months to learn sit and then another several weeks to be able to perform consistently when asked to sit. He's also very leery of new things, especially men. That is a big problem when the vet that we see is a man! So bad in fact that he needs to be muzzled for everybody's safety!

{shredded an entire dog bed while I was sleepin... and he was proud of it!}

Wilson does so well at home when nothing is changing; when he's comfortable. But on Friday my Father -in- law came over which in and of itself was a change that Wilson did not like. Add to that the fact that my FIL (drives me crazy with the way he) tries to get the dogs all riled up and you've got trouble. Dogs were at the fence barking when FIL got out of his truck. That's what the dogs do. They're letting us know someone is here. Instead of ignoring it like ALL of our other visitors, FIL walks over to the fence. The girls get excited when they realize that they know who it is but Wilson is showing increased aggravation. He's barking and growling and has jumped up on the fence. This dog weighs 130 lbs. If a dog that big was barking/ growling/ jumping at me I'd be outta there. But FIL keeps walking over towards him. Wilson barks at him a couple more times and then reaches out and pinches his shirt sleeve between his teeth. FIL was close enough to Wilson that if Wilson had wanted to hurt him he really could have bitten him good, but he just pinched his sleeve.

Wilson was definitely in the wrong here for nipping, but I'm more upset with my FIL. He KNOWS that Wilson has issues. We've warned him numerous times that he can not get in Wilson's face and tease him like he does with the girls. Hubby told FIL not to get too close to Wilson when he was growling/ barking/ jumping and FIL didn't listen. Instead of giving me time to get to the fence and turn the whole thing into a teachable moment for Wilson, FIL turned it into an threatening, react NOW situation.


If Wilson had actually bitten my FIL we would have had to report it to the rescue and then Wilson would have had to be put down. I'm so thankful that my FIL didn't get hurt and that we don't have to deal with the painful possibility of putting Wilson down. But now I am intensely worried about the next person who walks up to our fence. I just hope they have enough sense to walk AWAY from a huge barking/ growling dog!

Hubby gets the hint!

If at first your hubby doesn't respond... ask, ask again!

Friday Aaron had donuts at work and came home and told me all about how delicious they were. I mentioned we should get some donuts over the weekend.

Saturday Aaron went out with his friends. The event they were at gave out free donuts at one of the booths they visited. I *gently* reminded him that I wanted a donut too!

Sunday we drove by the Krispy Kreme but the hot sign wasn't on. I sighed heavily and batted my eyelashes while asking Aaron to drive back by on the way home from church. BUT we came home a different way.

Monday I walked into the teachers lounge and found and EMPTY box of donuts on the table. Oh the torture! I texted Aaron and told him of my hardships!

Tuesday I made clear during breakfast that I didn't even need REAL donuts... donut holes or munchkins would do the trick too!

Ladies, I'm here to tell you that guys may be slow, but give them enough hints and they eventually come through... even if it's just to get you to "zip it about the donuts already!"

Thanks baby! They are just what I wanted! :)

to move or not to move?

Right now we are busting at the seems of our house. Just the two of us {and 3 dogs}! This weekend we took stock of the "clean sweep" we need to do. It's not pretty!

I admit that I am a bit of a pack-rat and Aaron and I both collect various things. He's got more sports stuff then he'll ever know what to do with and sadly, I've probably got more yarn & fabric then I'll ever know what to do with. But those things alone are not causing us to feel cramped in our house.

We bought right at the peek of the market which certainly wasn't ideal, BUT that's when we got married and we had this little issue of having giant 'my little pony' dogs who made it nearly impossible to rent. We bought what we could afford... a two bedroom, one bath, less than 800 sq. ft. house. It's an old house which means NO storage. We use the second bed room as a combo dog room / storage room. The dinning room is the place we eat and the place I quilt and do school work. The kitchen triples as the place to cook, the laundry room (yay for stackable washer/dryer combos), and the utility room with the fuse box and hot water heater.

We know that when we finally start our family we'll be spilling out into the yard. So we are at a fork in the road. There are some things that this house NEEDS before we would be able to sell it given the market right now (new windows, new doors, new cabinets, bathroom redo, laundry room addition, fence repair). But after we sink all that money into the upgrades, would it make more sense just to make the addition a little bigger and sit tight for now (now being only another 3 years tops)? Or do we do the bare minimum for as cheep as possible and start looking for a bigger place?

Friday Fragments

* I know no where else that I could come and admit that at lunch today we had a HILARIOUS conversation about old man balls! It's definately one of those "had to be there" moments, but let me assure you that I laughed so hard that I'm positive I burned enough calories to have a peice of cake with dinner!

* One of my co-workers is sick with the flu and I've taken her 2nd grade son home this week. Whenever he came in my Kindergarten class at the end of the day, my little girls just went ga-ga over him. Adorable!

* In a teacher's manual I'm using with some 3rd, 4th, & 5th graders after school, there was an actual example using Budweiser as the answer. Seriously?

*Aaron got creative the other night in his request for dinner. I was napping on the couch and it was almost dinner time, for the dogs and the people. Aaron would usually just feed the dogs when he sees them getting all worked up about it being dinner time, but he decided to let them nuddge me, whine, and pace so that I would get woken up. He figured that if I woke up to feed them, I'd feed him too. Think again, buddy!

*On Twitter I follow people who I've met through blog land and some celebrities, but only the ones who do their own tweeting. Blake Shelton is a favorite of mine because he's not trying to sugar coat anything. I can truely imagine him being just like this in real life, and if I'm going to stalk a celebrity, I want them to keep it real! HA But it's a little sad that I've made it a goal to get him to respond to one of my tweets! COME ON BLAKE, make my dreams come true!

Thankful Thursday

1. I am thankful that even though I've been surrounded by the seasonal flu, H1N1 flu, and various viruses I have remained relatively healthy. A measly cold with a stuffy nose is nothing compared to what I've seen!

2. I'm thankful that we cancelled our field trip that was scheduled for today. The weather looked threatening on Tuesday, so we went ahead and called it off. It turned out to be the right call! Nobody wants to go to the pumpkin patch in rainy 55* weather. We also have over a QUARTER of the kindergarten students out with one of the above illnesses!

3. I am thankful that Aaron decided not to go on a trip for work this week. He was suppose to be in Michigan all week, but since he was sick he cancelled his trip. I've enjoyed having him home to cuddle with on these cold nights!

4. I am thankful that my doctor was able to fit me in on such short notice when I called this morning. I'm also thankful that she was able to calm my suspicions and that nothing is wrong! Praise God!

5. I am thankful that my cousin's baby was born healthy and handsome on Sunday night. Ryan Lucas 10/10/09 @ 7:31PM 7lb. 8oz. 21in. Congratulations Ashley!!

Not Me Monday

Welcome to Not Me Monday! MckMama is the creator behind this bloggy carnival, so be sure to stop by and visit her and all the rest of the folks who linked up to MckLinky to share their own Not Me Monday adventures.

I did NOT become an "evil carrier monkey" and make my hubby sick.

I did NOT feel compassion for about... 4 days. Then I did NOT become my normal "suck it up" self and demand that he take me to a concert that I bought tickets for 4 months ago. To be fair, his fever had NOT been down for 24 hours and he did NOT say that he wanted to go.

Good thing it was NOT a concert on the water and it was NOT very windy & cold. Otherwise Aaron might be going to the doctor tomorrow to see why he is coughing and his chest hurts.

The light in our kitchen burnt out and I did NOT briefly consider leaving it dark in there and see how long I could get away without cooking/washing dishes.

That event did NOT leave me pondering why our dryer does have a light and our washer does not. I did NOT feel like a fool when my husband pointed out that the washer fills up with WATER!

I'm so glad we could all come here to be honest today! Now head over here and check out what everyone else has NOT been up to this week.

Checking in

I feel terrible for being absent for so long. I'm being consumed by school stuff and pretty much have nothing else to talk about at this point. And I'm not so naive as to think that you'd like that! So I'll just share a couple of things and then go make comments on my progress reports.

*Several kiddos in my class have H1N1 and I've become the evil carrier monkey and delivered it to my husband with no more than a stuffy nose for myself (as of right now, but it could change!)

*We took EVERYTHING out of our attic last night so that we could get insulation sprayed up there today. Then they called {a full hour before they were suppose to show up} and said they had "no available technicians to perform our service." Great! Now my dinning room looks like this...

And it has to stay that way until Saturday or whenever hubby feels well enough to put the stuff back.

This mess is just adding to the stress that is building since I haven't had time to sew in 3 weeks. And now, I couldn't even if I wanted to. My sewing space is the dinning room table. HA!

I'm the only one who can see

My husband is a wonderful guy and I love him with all my heart. He is a fantastic provider for our family and is dedicated and loyal to his job. He makes me laugh every day. He's got a soft side that he only shows to me. And I love knowing that I know a part of him that he doesn't share with anyone else. He is a great friend. If any of his friends, co-workers, or even acquaintances asked for anything, he'd do everything he could to help. He's passionate about things he believes in. He supports me in everything from my job, to relationships with my family, to crazy endeavors I get obsessed with. He doesn't complain about me not being a fantastic housekeeper. He's generous. He truly wants me to be happy.

BUT

I'm going to lose it if this happens one more time...
Me- "Babe could you clean up a little while I'm at PTA? It would really help me out and I'd greatly appreciate it!"
Him - "Sure, just tell me what you want me to do."
Me- "Ya know, just straighten up."
Him- "But what do you want me to do?"
Me- starting to lose it "Do you see anybody leaving me lists of things that need to be done. Just look around, I'm sure you'll see something that needs to be picked up and put away."

Does this happen at anybody else's house?!

Friday Fragments

First, go ahead and scroll down to the last post... {then come right back - please}... see that? I haven't posted anything in a whole week!! Wanna find out what I have {and have not} been doing this last week? Here's the fast and dirty version...

*I'm overwhelmed at school with just getting lesson plans out and keeping my kiddos engaged for 7 1/2 hours a day, but for some unknown reason I went ahead and agreed to be the co-sponsor of our school's Odyssey of the Mind team. This was probably not the smartest thing I've ever done! I'm excited though since I'll get to work with 4th & 5th graders, which will be a completely new experience for me and OM will let me see those little minds stretch creatively. By about February, I'll probably be singing a different song!

*On day 64 of Amanda Jean's quilt along, I have exactly 55 blocks done. I went from being 2 weeks ahead, to 9 days behind. I'm going to blame this on school again. School gets a bad rap, but it's really my poor time management skills that have me behind on everything! It's really a shame too, since sewing calms me down & I'm guessing takes my blood pressure down a notch or two.

*Aaron truly believes that my real age should be somewhere around 85. Sure, I still get carded to buy lottery tickets or alcohol. And just the other day, a lady in the parking lot ask if my mom would be happy to find me skipping school. But I also like to quilt & crochet. I'm usually in bed by the time anything good comes on TV. And I'm now on blood pressure medicine. WHAT?! It's blowing my mind that I'm 26 and already on 'a pill for my pressure.'

*We laid down the law this week. No dogs are allowed on the couch any longer. I feel like a monster! The dogs may be taking it better than I am! :(

*After months and months and months and months of silence (to people I know in real life) about our struggle to have a baby, I've had the urge to tell our whole story on a couple of occasions this week. I'm not usually that open (again... in real life) but I'm tired of keeping it a secret. I still haven't actually told anyone, but I wanted to... and that's new!

*While I was watching my boys A & R this week, R (2) had a remote control car that A (3) wanted. R held A off right until the batteries were about to die and then handed it over and said "Your turn!" A could only use the car going downhill for about 45 seconds before it was completely dead. So SMART! And FUNNY!

*I recently discovered, and may be addicted to, dark chocolate covered soy nuts. YUMMMM!

*Packing lunches at night makes my morning so much easier, so much more streamlined, so why on earth do I resist actually getting it done the night before?!

*We were playing around at dinner the other night and I put ketchup on Aaron's arm. In retaliation, he placed a strategic swipe on my cheek. It immediately started stinging me. To the point that I had to leave the table and wash it off. I'm pretty sure that's not normal. I mean come on... I eat that stuff. If it stings my skin, what in the world is it doing to my stomach?!

*We are interviewing a dog/house sitter this weekend, and my house needs a complete cleaning before I'll be comfortable allowing someone else to stay here! Housekeeping has been a little too low on my priority list since school started!

If you made it all the way down here... Kuddos! Go have a cookie for me! And for tons more random fun, head over to Half-Past Kissin' Time. Lots of fun Friday fragments over there!!

Friday Fragments

This is my very first time participating in Friday Fragments but it's been a long time coming. If you only knew how hard it can be for me to write in actual logical sentences instead of just bullet pointing my main topics, you'd be amazed that I even started a blog!

Anyway, you can head over to Half-Past Kissin' Time to get the scoop and check out a bunch more random stuff!

*I've been a long time, card carrying member of the expert-pill-swallowing-club. I've bragged to my husband that I can swallow upwards of 8 horse size pills in one swig. {Yes, that's right, I've bragged about THAT... I've never claimed to be interesting!} But recently I've completely forgotten how to swallow pills at all! Not only do I actually have to think about it and make several attempts, but I've decreased the number I take at one time, and they are still getting stuck in my throat! Dang, I wasted that specialized skill and now it's just gone!

*We had a play date with the Dane fosters that are staying down the road:Storm & George. Miss Storm looks just like my Dolly Llama. I told Aaron that we could adopt her and call her Minnie Mouse. {Minnie since she is a mini Dolly and Mouse cuz I add animal names to the end of all our pets' names. GEEZ it's not as funny when I have to explain it!} But how funny would it be to call a Great Dane 'Minnie'?

The ever graceful, Dolly Llama performing Downward Dog.

*I just paid $50 for the privilege of wearing jeans to work on Fridays. Comfort really does mean that much to me! At least all the money goes to the American Cancer Society. I'm so glad my new school is so active in Relay for Life!

*My mom texted me when we got back from our trip last weekend and told me to call her and tell her all about it when I got the chance. I'm ashamed to say that I still haven't called her. I guess she figures I'm still alive though, the missing person division of the police department hasn't shown up yet.

- In my defense, I've been working 10 hour days at school all week and I'm EXHAUSTED when I get home!

*We bought groceries at Wallyworld and we dutifully took in our reusable bags. I love them because you can carry so much more stuff in one bag and then I don't have the erupting cabinet of plastic bags, but they haven't caught on around here, so we're usually the only ones in the store using them. At the checkout the cashier actually refused to bag our groceries because we had reusable bags. I told Aaron I felt like we'd been discriminated against - at Walmart of all places!

I could go on and on, but I don't want to scare you off on my very first week out of the shoot. I'll be back for more next week! Enjoy your weekend!

It's NOT a turn on!

There's something that's been bothering me...

I grew up in the country and went to a high school and college where the percentage of 'country boys' far out weigh preppy, rock, or jock guys. Trucks pulled into the school parking lot with full gun racks and the 'rewards' of an early morning hunt in the back. Half of my close circle of friends lived on dirt roads. Radios in parking lots are all tuned to the most popular station - country. Redneck is a compliment, and duct tape is the only kind of tape there is. It's seriously country where I'm from. And I love it! But there's one thing I don't understand about 'good 'ole country boys.' Why, please tell me why, do they think it's attractive to dip chewing tobacco?!?!

I've noticed a huge increase in the popularity lately. At the football game this weekend there was a guy sitting right in front of me who stuffed his lip and spit in a sprite bottle through the entire game!

Tonight I was at Barnes & Noble when a good looking, polite guy held the door for me. His bottom lip noticeably stuck out and he was carrying his spit bottle into B&N with him. FortheloveofGod! That shouldn't even be allowed! I know these guys have a lot of practice and (usually) have no trouble hitting the spit cup, but what if, just what IF they missed? GROSS!

Then Jake Owen, a country singer I enjoy listening to (and looking at) has the following lyrics in his latest single...
"...I said climb on up, but honey watch the cup that I spit my dip inside..."

Who is kissing these folks that use chewing tobacco?
What in the world sparked this popularity craze?
Don't even get me started on girls who participate in this habit!

I Wanna Go Back There...

Last weekend on the way to VT we stopped and stayed at my sister's house. They live on a farm and I'd do anything to be back there right now... away from the city lights, asphalt, and noise that surround my house. We woke up to a foggy morning with a rooster sitting on the porch. I collected eggs, picked cantaloupe and grape tomatoes, took pictures of cows, and sat on the front porch. I actually didn't mind getting up early since I was surrounded by all the natural beauty & quiet.

We left there and went to watch VT take on Marshall in their home opener. I LOVE being back there and I'd go back to college or relive my college years in a heartbeat! Tech won and I have a promise from hubby of going to at least two more games this season. I'm beyond excited!

I'll be looking back over these pictures numerous times for the next few days when I don't feel like working and I'd rather be back on the front porch. Hope you enjoy!

GeekSquad to the rescue!

My computer has been broken for almost 2 weeks! It's fixed now, but it took the GeekSquad coming out to my house for 2 hours to figure out why in the name of all that is holy my perfectly working modem & wireless router would NOT allow me to connect to the internet. Let's just suffice it to say that our internet provider screwed us!

It cost an unexpected, unbudgeted, but totally worth it $200 to be reconnected to the internet.

I now have almost 350 unread entries on my reader! :-O

I apologize for not reading and commenting on anyone's blogs the last 2 weeks... I was missing you all terribly!

AND school starts tomorrow, so I'll have next to no time to catch up.

If you had the day off today, I hope you enjoyed it! Happy Labor Day to everyone!

#100 & a plea for help

This was the first time I've used the random number generator and I must say that it was fun! I was going to have Aaron pull a comment out of a hat {or bowl or box or whatever} but he's tooooo busy packing tonight to worry about trivial blog business.

Anyway

The Random Number Generator chose...

TINA! Congratulations! I can't wait to share Leslie's earrings with you {and the other odds and ends I happen to like} and I'm absolutely positive that you will enjoy wearing these!

I'll email you to get your address!
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School starting 2 weeks from tomorrow is REALLY starting to play tricks on my sanity. But not in any normal ways. To the naked eye I appear completely cool, calm, and collected. I'm not freaking out that my class is not all put together or that my lesson plans for the first week are not in order. Instead I randomly lose it when my mom calls and tells me she lost a box of cereal. This makes no sense on so many levels - and I KNOW that, but I still cried over it tonight!!!

If the blog is quiet over the next few days, just know that it's probably because I'm curled up in the fetal position crying over burnt out light bulbs or something as equally ridiculous. But this too shall pass and I'll be back to normal in no time!
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Before I go though... I need a little help from you lovely blog readers who know their way around the kitchen. On Wednesday morning we are having a pot-luck BREAKFAST {I've never done breakfast pot-luck style before - lunch, sure. dinner, all the time. but not breakfast.} and this will be the first time I meet a good portion of the faculty and staff I'll be working with this year. I'd love to make a good first impression. Wow them with something yummy. Win their hearts through their stomachs.

Any suggestions? To-die-for recipe from your grandma? Please share!

Otherwise I'll just have to stop at the Krispy Kreme and get a hot dozen.... mmmmmm... ooey, gooey hot glazed doughnuts. Excuse me while I dry drool off the key board. I'm not suppose to be eating that much sugar so something healthier would be MUCH appreciated!

When Hubby is busy....

.... I go to quilt shops with my mom!!!!

.... and spend lots of money on fabric!! ~~~~~~~~~~

I finished these 2 sets of 9patches for the quilt along before I went back to school. I haven't been sewing at all this week... and quite frankly... it's been making me grumpy!

I've got more squares cut and ready to go though, so hopefully it won't be too long before I can get some more made!

~~~~~~~~~~

This is post #99. Consider yourself warned: THIS IS YOUR LAST CHANCE to enter my giveaway!! Simply go to this post and leave a comment letting me know which Piece of Chic from Leslie's shop is your favorite. EASY! And don't forget that Leslie has free shipping on all orders until she reaches 1,000 sales! Now is the time to get some Christmas shopping done. NOW GO! The winner will be announced in my next post!

I'm not grumpy - just thinking

A few things I've been pondering over the last week or so...

*How many years is it safe/effective to be on pre-natal vitamins without actually having a baby?

*Should I continue playing my Primary Care Physician and OBGYN off of each other to get what I need, or should I just find a new OBGYN?

*Why won't my husband open up about his feelings concerning all these issues more often? It makes me feel so much more connected - like we really are on the same page - like I'm not doing this by myself - when he tells me how he feels, so let's talk buddy!

*Is it even possible for me to stay cheerful after 3 new babies, 1 baby shower & 3 "we're expecting!" announcements in less than a week?! Seriously folks, seriously!!!! {disclaimer - I really am happy for all the blessings that my friends/family are receiving! And I promise not to cry in front of them & to always say Congratulations!}

*Are the financial decisions we are making in regard to all these procedures sound for the future?

These are mostly rhetorical questions, just needed to ask them so they'll stop rattling around in my brain.

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There is still time to enter my giveaway! Simply go to Leslie's Etsy Shop, pick your favorite "Piece of Chic" and then go leave a comment on this post! Good Luck!

right back on the bandwagon

I have an terrible way of coping with my own failures. Especially when it comes to dieting or "lifestyle changes" - I'm trying to make my good eating habits stick around longer than a month or two - hence the "lifestyle changes."

However, I've had several *high five* moments in the last few weeks!

I have to tell you where I started or my accomplishments will seem very trivial. In the past {and I'm talking 15 years kind of past} whenever I was on any type of diet or healthy eating kick or exercise routine one tiny little slip up could cause the entire thing to come crashing down around me. If I was doing Weight Watchers and went over my points, even for one day, I would instantly declare the entire week to be a waste AND THEN go get a milkshake because "these aren't allowed on my diet so I'd better get as many as I can before I start that diet again." It never mattered what program I was on. You could just as easily replace Weight Watchers with South Beach or The Zone {or probably anything else you can think of}.

The same thing happened with exercise. If I missed a day/routine that I had been planning for that week, I just skipped the rest of the week and wrote it off as another failed attempt.

Well, I did great sticking to my plans all through July. I was eating what I was suppose to be eating, my cravings had all but stopped, and I was being rewarded with (small) decreases on the scale. I had the motivation of our cruise to keep me going so strong that whole month. But the cruise became a catch-22. I was so motivated to stay on plan to get me to the cruise, but I KNEW I wouldn't have the kind of food control while on the cruise that I would need to stay on plan during the trip. {And really who wants to be completely strict while on vacation?!} So I gave myself a break. I didn't completely write the week off... I stuck to plan for breakfast & lunch, but ate more like everyone else for dinner. I still didn't go overboard at dinner but I did have dessert most nights.

The best part was that when we came home I jumped right back to being on plan. I didn't give it another thought. I didn't give myself a grace period or promise to do it the next week or make excuses, I just got back to my "lifestyle changes."

Yesterday I had a meeting at school and the Principal ordered lunch for everyone. Of course it wasn't something that was on plan for me so I ate a little {it was my first time meeting these people, and I didn't feel like explaining my food choices to them the first day} and tried not to feel too guilty. But as soon as that meal was over, I got right back on plan. I didn't throw away the rest of the day simply because of one little glitch in the system.

It's not much, but I'm proud of it!

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Make sure you check out the end of my post from Monday. I'm doing a giveaway of some of my favorite things!

Not Me Monday

MckMama started this blog carnival to give us all a safe place to come and admit all the things we did ... or did not ... do last week that could possibly cause shame and ridicule {or just big hearty laughs}. Keep reading past all my embarrassing adventures because there is a giveaway at the end! Enter my giveaway and then head on over to MckMama's and read what everyone else has been up to over the last week!

*Last week was NOT my last week of summer before going back to school. I am NOT simultaneously dreading and looking forward to starting a fresh new school year. The automatic re-set of being a teacher is NOT a huge bonus for me!

*Since I'm going back to working full time today, of course I spent last week being very productive and most certainly did NOT wake up on Thursday at 6:30 with hubby, read blogs and surf the internet until 9:30, eat breakfast, take a shower, watch Rachel Ray, do a load of laundry eat lunch and then take a 3 hour nap until hubby came home. I have much better time management skills and I am NOT looking at a long to-do list that did not get done since I was so lazy.

*I do NOT have a pattern and I am NOT now collecting fabric to make a quilt for our child... which is not even conceived yet. I did NOT go to the quilt shop on Tuesday planning to pick up less than $10 worth of fabric and walk out after spending $100! My husband does NOT think I am losing my mind!

*I am a great multitasker and do NOT get distracted easily. A perfect example of this did NOT happen on Sunday night when I was NOT trying to make boiled eggs. Seriously, how easy is that?! I did NOT leave the kitchen while waiting for them to boil just to forget that they were even there. I did NOT only remember them when one of them EXPLODED after all the water had boiled away. Aaron did NOT laugh at me for a solid 10 minutes {after making sure I hadn't burned down the kitchen}! I then did not have breakfast this morning since I did NOT singe and explode all my eggs =/

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It's GIVEAWAY time! I will be hitting 100 posts this week! HOLY GUACAMOLE! I've enjoyed sharing a piece of me and getting to know some wonderful people. I've made some friends and learned a LOT!

For this little giveaway I've put together a little box of some of my favorite things. Most of it is just little silly things that I'm positive you could go to Target and pick up yourself, but as you are looking through your treasures you will come across a little brown box tied with a ribbon. This is the real gem that you've been looking for and you probably didn't even know it. The box is from LesChic Boutique.

I first found Leslie through her Etsy shop when I was looking for something for my sister-in-law's birthday. She had a pair of earrings that were perfect, I bought them, and I've been a repeat customer ever since. Most of the orders I make these days are for 3 or 4 and sometimes 5 pieces of jewelry. I have earrings, bracelets, necklaces, and most recently I've made it my mission to grow my wire-wrapped ring collection. {They are seriously cute and comfortable!}

Leslie is fabulous to work with! She is quick to get back to you if you have any questions. She's fun to chat with and she's more than willing to work something out if you have something specific in mind that you want to see in her shop. I bought a bracelet and then ask her to make some earrings to match. They turned out beautiful. Just last week I ask her to make matching earrings and a bracelet to go with a necklace I bought almost a year ago. They turned out amazing as well!

Now it's your turn to win a "Piece of Chic"!

These earrings are some of my favorites and Leslie was kind enough to make a pair just for me to give away to one of my blog readers! If you want to win these light weight, sparkly beauties just go over to Leslie's Etsy Shop, browse around (if you see something you want, snatch it up! we'll wait) then come back and leave me a comment letting me know what your favorite thing is. It's that easy. I'll place everyone's comment in a hat and have Aaron draw a name and post the winner in my 100th post. You have until then to leave a comment here {in this post only}, but since you don't know when that will be.... I'd get your bootie in gear and do it soon!

*Just so ya know, Leslie is offering free shipping on everything until she reaches 1,000 sales. Help her get to 1,000 AND get yourself something pretty to wear... its a WIN-WIN!*

Thankful Thursday

I haven't done a Thankful Thursday post in awhile, but I was reminded of several things I'm especially thankful for and it's time to share them! If you want to share what you're thankful for today head on over to Sonya's. You can read about what everyone else is thankful for this week and link up to her site.

1. I'm thankful for the relaxing week of vacation I got to spend with my husband. He's been stressed at work and it was rejuvenating to see him happy and stress free! We had a wonderful time and it was great to get away from the day-t0-day routine and reconnect.

2. I'm thankful that I've felt calm and patient over the last week. Several things are getting ready to change and I'm waiting to find out about several others. In the past times like this would have me in a tizzy of anxiety, but I have been calm and patient. That's definitely GOD!

3. I'm thankful that 3 friends have had happy healthy pregnancies that will all come to an end tomorrow. I can't believe they are all going to welcome their babies into the world on the same day, but by tomorrow evening there will be 3 brand new precious lives in this world.

4. I'm thankful that I have a fantastic sister who sends me coupons in the mail. She LOVES searching for and cutting out coupons, but always ends up with some she can't use. She lovingly sends them to me because she knows I'll use them... but that I hate the task of cutting them out!

5. I'm thankful that we finally got some rain here that broke the absurdly hot streak of days we'd been melting in.

Vacation photos

I'm a girl of my word, so even though Blogger won't let me upload photos today for some reason, I'm determined to keep my promise from yesterday and show you our vacation photos!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2403678&id=6215652&l=94cbbccf8b

Here's the link to the album on facebook. I've never shared pictures this way before but since they are already uploaded there, I might as well take advantage and not spend the rest of the afternoon fighting with Blogger and having my computer seize up and flash me the blue screen!

Enjoy! =)

hellooooooo random!

It's only Tuesday and I already have so many random things to share with you that I'm going bullet style today! {These are in no particular order!}

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First, I had a very scary encounter while showering today. Don't worry, I'm not going to share TMI! I was rinsing conditioner out of my hair, almost done in the shower, head leaned back, eyes closed, enjoying the icy cold water (it's suppose to feel like 110* here today!) when all of the sudden the shower curtain rod crashed to the floor knocking over shampoo, conditioner & cleansers. Water is spraying all over the bathroom now because there is no curtain hanging up to contain it. And my first thought was... there's a burglar here to take all our stuff and kill me! Why didn't those lazy dogs bark and put up a fight!?

Turns out the tension in the tension rod just gave out. My heart almost gave out too!

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Second, it's suppose to feel like 110* here today! Dang!

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Third, I'm going to share more tomorrow, but wanted to give you a sneak peak of my vacation photos.

This was taken at the Atlantis Resort in Nassau, Bahamas. This was on the second day of excursions from our cruise. I'd go back right now if I could!!!

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Fourth, I actually ventured out of my house today in this 110* heat and when I came home there was a lovely package waiting for me! Before we left on vacation I had the privilege of winning my very first blog giveaway done by my friend Tina. She sent a lovely package full of a ton of things to make me smile! There is a candle, recipe box, recipe cards, a magnetic frame, a cute little balloon frame, note cards, a magnet, binder clips & number ribbon! I love it all! Tina, you certainly made me smile! Thank you!!!

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Fifth, I'm going to be having a giveaway of my own pretty soon! I'm getting super close to my 100th post and I'm putting together a giveaway of some of my favorite things. It's going to be super easy to enter and I'm willing to bet you'll find something that will become one of your favorites too! Check back!

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Sixth, and final point for today. I'm actually keeping up with Amanda Jean's 9 patch quilt along! I *think* I'm still a couple days ahead even after being gone all last week. But I'm a little obsessed with seeing how all these little squares will come together, so once I get started it's hard to stop me! I'm going to work on some more in just a little while!

I've got one more batch that are together but that I haven't taken a picture of. I'll be sure to get those when I take a picture of the ones I do today! Then you can see the first batch here.

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That about sums it up for today. Have a terrific Tuesday! =)

Not Me Monday

MckMama invites any & every one to share things from the last week that may have been a little too embarrassing or simply unbelievable. Stick around and read what I most certainly did NOT do last week and then head over to MckMama's and get to know some other folks over there.

This week I'm back from vacation and it's just too much for me to remember all the things I did NOT do last week. If I remembered them all, I'd wish I was right back in that tropical paradise. So let me share with you some things that were NOT included in my wonderful vacation. {This is NOT going to be pretty long!}

*We did NOT get to take 4 flights over the last week. I'm NOT a total geek and this was NOT a major part of my vacation. We did NOT leave out of a port in Florida simply so that I could fly to get there. I am NOT ready to get back on a plane already!

*There were NOT 24 hour buffets on the Carnival Fascination. I did NOT enjoy some foods that I have not had in the last 6 weeks due to a 'lifestyle change' that was working wonderfully. The formal dinners did NOT serve dessert after every dinner. And I did NOT gain 5 pounds back that I had lost.

*I did NOT swim in crystal clear seas where I wanted to stay forever!

*I did NOT already make plans to take a longer vacation to The Atlantis Resort in Nassau Bahamas. That place was NOT amazing!

*We did NOT walk across the entire width of the island of Key West Florida... TWICE!

*I did NOT take pictures of all the towel animals that our stateroom steward made during turn down service each night.

*I did NOT completely enjoy being waited on hand and foot all week! It was NOT amazing to not only not have to worry about my own needs, but know that my husband was completely enjoying himself too.

*I did NOT make a few super nice friends on the cruise. We did NOT enjoy having dinner with them every night!

*The bed on the ship was NOT the most amazingly comfortable bed I've ever slept in. I did NOT take a nap almost every day just to spend more time with that lovely cloud of comfy.

*We did NOT stay up insanely late most nights watching shows, playing bingo, listening to R rated comic skits, enjoying frozen beverages, talking, and eating.

*We did NOT attend an art auction and we did NOT win a free piece of art!

*We are NOT already planning another cruise! We are NOT trying to convince everyone we know to go with us next time. Nope NOT ME! =)

I will NOT be posting a bunch of pictures over the next couple of days, so check back... unless you really do not want to see some pictures of paradise!

Unplugging

Cruise '09 starts tomorrow! I'm giddy with excitement. Aaron is wracked with worry. He's mostly fretting over what will happen if our luggage doesn't make it to Florida in time for us to get on the ship, that he'll screw up the safety drill, or that we'll get left at one of the destinations when we get off the ship for excursions. He's a big 'ole worry wort, so I'm not surprised. He'll be just fine by the time we get to Florida tomorrow night!

Since we'll be out sailing the open sea I'm going to be completely unplugged for an entire week! No blogging (or blog reading!), no twitter, no texting, no cell phones! OH MY! Honestly, this is the only thing I'm actually worried about! HA! I guess that's a sign that I'm a little too dependant on modern technology for keeping me connected to pals.

The good news is that I've got an entire week to concentrate simply on enjoying and loving my husband! That makes all the worry about lack of technology fly right out the window.

{mostly}

And when I get back you will be subjected to TONS of pictures and hopefully some interesting stories! =) Enjoy the week!

The Gang's All Here

My sister and brother-in-law were in town this weekend. We had a little too much fun playing with the camera at our after-church-lunch-spot. It's not too often that we're all in one place at the same time. We had so much fun and I miss my sister terribly when she's gone!

Well we didn't look thrilled... but really we were I swear!

My dad grew that face fuzz to look cooler on his motorcycle. =)I need to remember to take more pics of the two of us together!

Now I lay me down to sleep

How come I can only sleep during day light hours lately?

I haven't had a good nights sleep in almost a week.

I'm exhausted right now, but if I sleep now, I'll be up for the day tomorrow by 2AM.

When I lay down at night I can't turn my brain off, I can't get comfortable, lately I've been too hot to sleep with even a sheet (I prefer to have a frigid room and then pile on a blanket or two) and like Megan tweeted last night, I feel like I have restless body syndrome. (I loved the way she said that, it was exactly what I felt!) That's right, it's way worse than just restless legs.

I started off today Jodi style... with a big Mt. Dew!

I'm not thinking or speaking in coherent sentences. (I'd be embarrassed if you knew how long it took me to write this piddly little entry!)

Anybody have any tried and true get-to-sleep & stay-asleep methods?

always, sometimes, never

Elise started this, then Jodi borrowed it from her, and now I'm copying both of them and sharing some of my always, sometimes, nevers with you!

I always
~take a multivitamin before bed every night.
~let numbers I don't recognize go to voice mail.
~turn on my computer within 5 minutes of walking in the door.
~leave my sewing machine sitting on the dinning room table.
~wave to Aaron as he leaves in the morning.
~have one basket of clean clothes and {at least} one basket of dirty clothes in my bedroom floor.
~wear flip-flops during the summer.
~keep a blanket thrown over my couch so that the dog hair won't get directly on the furniture.
~have room for ice cream.
~have chapstick in my pocket.

I sometimes
~pretend that I can't hear the dogs whining when they wake up at 5 AM... if it doesn't bother Aaron enough to get up and let them out... then let 'em whine.
~stay up past my bed time reading blogs or sewing.
~forget to turn my phone's ringer down before I go to bed and wake up to random twitter messages in the middle of the night.
~make Aaron spaghetti for dinner 2 or 3 times a week because it's easy {he just likes noodles with parm cheese- no sauce} and he loves it.
~buy someone a gift and then get myself the exact same thing a couple days later because I like it so much.

I never
~wear my hair up in public.
~grill out at home even though I LOVE grilled food!
~debate things with my Dad.
~get in the car without sunglasses.
~grow my nails out.
~stay organized for more than a week.
~really figured out how to decorate our house beyond the hodge-podge that occurred when all of our stuff collided in one place.
~look forward to bathing suit shopping.

That was fun! If you decide to get in on the action let me know so that I can come read yours too!

updating my jewelry wardrobe

Last night I was upset about something I'm not *suppose* to get upset about. Since I couldn't take my - well lets just call it what it was - anger out on the source I took it out on Aaron. Over a silly piece of cake of all things!

And then I bought myself some jewelry! HA!

~I was upset because I just found out that our friends Dana & Michael who welcomed their sweet daughter Brooklyn into the world in February are already off birth control to try for their second. I don't expect them to put their family on hold simply because we haven't been able to start ours, really I don't, but it was an unexpected blow at a fragile time.~

My 1st Quilt Along

Amanda Jean over at Crazy Mom Quilts just finished up hosting a quilt along and ended up with a B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L! quilt. {Seriously, click over and scroll down to the bottom} Somehow I missed the beginning and was too intimidated to try to catch up by the time they were on week 2.

Lucky for me, Amanda had already decided to give that beautiful quilt away because when she saw how it turned out she HAD to have another one! So here we are on the first day of the second 9 patch quilt along. When she announced she was doing it again, I got started right away. Even though today is only day 1, I have 7 blocks made so far {you are only suppose to do one each day} so I'm ahead... which NEVER happens!


I can't wait to see how this turns out {probably why I'm ahead right now} and if it is even 1/2 as lovely as all the quilts from the first round I'll be tickled pink!

My first 7 blocks. Every time I made one it became my new favorite. I think they're going to go together well!

Bugs are good as dead...

... if they decide to take a chance and come inside my house!

The first line of defense is a big 'ole doofy dog I lovingly call my "seek-and-destroy" tool. No bug, flying or crawling, can escape her constant watch. She will follow it around and eat it if she gets the chance.

If my bug catcher dog should happen to be in her crate, outside, or the bug is just too dang high up in the air for her, enter my macho husband. Aaron has been a known to smash bugs with shoes, hats, newspapers, and even his bare hand!

Tonight, I had a serious case for these two! As we came in from our putt-putt showdown, I heard a bug flying loudly right next to my head. Clover was still in her crate so it was all up to Aaron. The bug flew up towards the celling, Aaron took his hat off and swung it at the bug. He made contact and the bug was catapulted to the other side of the room, bouncing off of the wall 3 times in the process. He was a dead little sucker but he was not done with his torment yet. His blood and guts were smeared on the wall in all 3 places that he touched. Two of them were low enough for Aaron to reach but the third required standing on a chair. This spot was right over the doorway from the living room to the dinning room. Aaron stood on the chair, cleaned the spot and bent over to get down when ... THWACK ... he smacked his head right into the top of the door frame!

I'm STILL laughing {after making sure he was okay first of course} and he is nursing his massive headache with a frozen bag of broccoli and some Tylenol.

But just remember, the bug is dead and that's all that really matters!

Note to self #1

When riding in trucks with dogs, do not leave purse OPEN on the floor under a hot dog's drippy tongue. EWWWW!

late at best

Apparently I love supporting the greeting card industry but could care less if I actually bless the intended recipients with the cards I purchase!

Take for instance Father's Day. Now I did not see my dad on Father's Day since he was out of town, but I did see him the next Saturday and I even gave him his gift that day, BUT I had forgotten the card. I have also since seen him no less than 6 times. The card still sits on my dinning room table, completely filled out with loving sentiments. Way to go me!

This weekend my uncle and my brother-in-law both have birthdays. I bought them cards and had hubby sign his name. This was amazing progress for me! Both cards were destined to be on time if I put them in the mail today. I even have stamps!

ROADBLOCK

Where is my address book? I've stashed it away in the depths of God only knows where and can not find it for the life of me even though I've completely trashed two rooms looking for it.

Once again, the cards I've purchased will be late at best :(

The total came to $474.11

If you happened to catch any of my twitter updates from earlier today, you may have seen that I had to take my Dolly Llama to the vet because a giant gash appeared on her leg.

Last night Aaron went to the bed room and immediately called me to come in there. There were 5 spots of blood on the quilt. The biggest was about the size of a quarter and they were all in the same general area. It had to have come from one of the dogs, but we had no idea which one. All three had been up on the bed at some point. They were all walking fine {no limping}, had all eaten their dinner, and were all curled up sleeping in the living room at that point. I wasn't sure who to suspect. I went and rubbed them all down but never found anything, none of them flinched at any tender spots, and there were no blood spots where any of them were laying in the living room so I kinda just figured it was Clover chewing her nails/feet {she does that often and I have no idea why!} and that she was fine now.

We went to bed.

This morning I got up at 5:15 to start the day and in my blurry, sleep crusted eye state I saw something on the back of Dolly's leg when I let her out. After she did her business and came back in I checked it more carefully and she had a HUGE gash on her leg. It seriously almost wrapped completely around her foot! {It was at the point that I call a dog's wrist.} It wasn't bleeding at that point. I have no idea how she did it. I have no idea when she did it. She's still acting fine!

I waited until business hours (not to mention daylight) to call the vet and they made me an appointment for this afternoon. They didn't seem very concerned since she wasn't showing any symptoms. When we got there they first thought maybe they could staple it, then decided that stitches would be best, THEN looked at it closer and found that the gash actually goes 2 and 1/2 inches up into her leg!!!!!! She had to be sedated and have multi-layer stitches. I had to leave her there for 4 hours to give her time to go into surgery and then recover.

She's home now and acting like nothing is wrong still.



Dolly is very camera shy. She got up and ran out of the room as soon as she heard the click of the camera! Her bandage is on her back right foot and even though she can reach it, she hasn't tried to get it off yet!







I think she was getting a little aggravated that I would dare to follow her around with my camera and take pictures while she was in this state!

*see the fuzzy pieces of bed in the back ground? Clover shredded one of the blankets in her bed while Dolly was gone. I guess the separation was just TOOO much for her to handle. Spoiled brat!*











"NO MORE PICTURES MOM! A girl needs her beauty sleep! I'm going to my private place and you may NOT bother me here!"


*see the dirt in the bottom of her crate? Dolly is my mud hole digger. When she's outside, she digs a hole and lays in it to stay cool. She always comes in filthy but luckily most of the dirt manages to stay in her crate. I did make her get up and let me clean her crate after this picture. I'm so mean!*


She's now sleeping happily in her crate, but it's Clover who is pacing the house whining and wanting so badly to play with her bestest friend!

I'll take atleast one every day please

I was with the boys this morning & we were getting ready to go out to the park. A & R were getting their shoes on and I was putting their chairs back in the kitchen from breakfast. As I came back in the living room I ask if they were ready to go.

A said, "Just a minute, I think I need a hug first!" and it was one of those great big, huge, full body, head on your shoulder, tight squeeze, no less than 3 minutes hugs!

... and that's why these boys have my whole heart!

Making it up as I go along

I got in touch with my inner MckMama today and made up some salsa type yumminess. I had two avocados that were just about to get too ripe and I wanted to use them up without making guacamole. Lucky for me I picked up a bunch of cilantro last night while I was at Fresh Market and had tomatoes, cucumbers, green onions, and left over corn just laying around. I mixed it all up, sprinkled it with lemon juice, and dashed it with salt & pepper. It is down right good!

ignore my poor picture taking. I need to take some lessons from MckMama on that too!

I've been taking the easy living of summer a little toooo easy around here lately. I spend my days hanging out with the coolest 2 & 3 year old that I know personally.(I've read about some mighty awesome youngins through some blogs I haunt, but hey, I don't know them personally. I get to hang out with these awesome boys!) We go to the park, have picnic lunches, snuggle on the couch and talk for rest time, watch jets fly overhead, have tickle wars, say our letters & numbers, sing silly songs, drink out of fancy reusable water bottles, potty train, walk over speed bumps across the road, eat cookies & cucumbers at local farmer's markets, and ride with the wind in our hair. What I wouldn't give to live like this EVERY day!

When I get home in the afternoon I've been walking and quilting. I haven't gotten many projects actually completed due to the extremely nice weather. (NO humidity in VA in July = HEAVEN!) But I wanted to share my latest completed project... there are MANY more in the works.

It's just a simple strips quilt. I actually started the whole thing based on the backing fabric. Which can also be seen as the flower strip at the top of the front. I loved the pink, green & yellow combination and wanted to really highlight the colors. The quilting is a grid pattern with each line 3inches apart. It was great practice for me since I'm still so new at quilting, but it didn't turn out as perfect as I'd been hoping for. There are two puckers on the back, the DARK pink fabric I used for the binding ended up bleeding through in 2 places, and in attempting to square up the quilt I ended up making it long and skinny - it's an awkward size. So even though I had plans to give this away, it's sitting on my sofa right now and I've got new projects in the making to give to that friend. I don't want her to have my practice mistake quilt. But it still works great for me to cuddle up with on those days when I take a nap after Aaron goes to work.

Here's the back. Using a solid piece of backing fabric made the back a snap, but it also attributed to why my quilt ended up being long and skinny. I really liked quilting in the grid pattern, but next time I do it, I'm going to put the lines just a little closer to each other - hopefully that will make it a little more crinkly. This one did end up getting crinkly, but I took these pictures before I washed it because I had a feeling the binding fabric would bleed through. The two places that it did bleed are not that noticeable. It just looks like somebody spilled some fruit punch juice on it and then it didn't come all the way out in the wash.

Taking quilt pictures outside is SOO much better than the ones I got inside! I'll take them all outside from now on. In fact, I might go back and re-take a few of the other quilts I've done.