Pillows...

Finally, I am posting the pictures of the pillows that Kelli and I made for Mom. I think they turned out really well. It was my first time to do a buttonhole, and I think they look pretty good :)

If you'll notice the couch they are being shown on...that is our new couch. We got it at Flexsteel, and we love it. It is SO comfy!

Here they are...you are able to see what the front and back's look like here. The bigger pillows have 4 buttons instead of 3.

Here you can see our new couch...doesn't it look comfy?

Close up of the front.

Close up of the back.

By the way...isn't it a beautiful Friday?

Bad Blogger award goes to...

So obviously I've been a bad blogger lately! I looked at it this morning and realized it's been almost a month, to be exact just two days shy of it! How awful! To make matters worse lots of things have been going on. I have more birthday pictures to post, pictures of the pillows I helped make for my mom, and big news to share.

Unfortunately the pictures mentioned above will not be posted today because I don't have them with me! I promise to try to get those up soon...

So the big news. Most people already know, but Joel has officially decided to pursue his doctorate in mathematics at the University of Georgia in Athens. We are pretty excited about all of this, but we are also nervous. We found an apartment a couple of weekends ago and are just trying to get everything else in order to be ready for the move in July. Still don't know the exact date of the move yet, hopefully will know sometime soon. We've been furniture shopping and I've been hoarding any good packing boxes I see!

So I guess that's an update for now. Again I'll try to do better and post those pictures soon!

Hope all is well with you.

Busy Weekend

We were able to celebrate two birthdays, visit with family, and help a couple of new people discover LOST this weekend. Joel's birthday was yesterday and our nephew Sanders birthday is Wednesday. We had a combined party on Saturday complete with two cakes and gifts. I only have pictures of Joel's cake today...but more to come I promise.

Joel's LOST cake...if you don't watch Lost you won't get it.

Side view...

Last night we got Nathan and Deborah to watch the first two episodes of LOST, and we sent them home with the DVD set of the first season. Hopefully they'll get hooked on it!

Hope you had as good a weekend as we did.

Chocolate Chips...Yummy!

On Monday I was perusing through my usual reading of the blogger dashboard when I came across this new recipe on Our Best Bites. Once I realized I already had EVERYTHING I needed to make the chocolate chip cookies at home, I naturally decided I'd make them, that night.

So here is the recipe: Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Go check it out, and then immediately go make them. Just do it!

Snow...

Ok, so I'm behind. We had snow on Sunday, but I couldn't get the pictures ready to post until today. Now for those of you not from the south this may seem like nothing, but for us it is AMAZING! Haha! It has been at least 8-10 years since I have seen snow actually accumulate and stick! So here it is:

This is at about 6:30 a.m. when the snow was still falling. (Picture taken through the window because it was too cold to go out!)

Scene from out the front door.
Looking out toward the pasture.

This is around 9 a.m. It had stopped falling, and we went out and threw a couple of snowballs.

This was too much fun for us. Hope y'all had a great weekend too!

So...

I promise I'm still here. It's been a week since my last post...sorry about that. Anyway, I do have several projects in progress with a couple of family birthdays coming up and the secret sister project we have going on at church. I'll try to update soon on some of those projects.

On Monday I ordered this book...Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross. I can't wait for it to get here. It shipped yesterday, so hopefully sometime next week! I have read many reviews of the book on amazon and on other blogs and it sounds like a book to really be excited about. Over 40 patterns in the book. Right now I think the first one I'll try is this as seen on Film in the Fridge Blog. I'm nervous to be making clothes for myself, but I'm hoping it'll turn out great. Just from the pictures the shirt looks GREAT!

So I'll keep you updated on that front as well. Hope you're having a great Over the Hump Day!

Great find

On Sunday afternoon Joel and I headed to the local JCPenny. Now I have to be honest, most of the time it is hard to find anything good in there, but we were up for the hunt since they were having a 65% off sale!

Anyway, Joel was able to get some new khakis and a belt, and I found a cute shirt. It's like a rosey maroon color. It's different from the other shirts I have in my closet so I was excited about that too. But wait, the best part was that it was on sale for more than 65%! I got a shirt that usually sells for 36 or so dollars for $6! That's what I call a steal. I wore it yesterday, and I really like it.

So there is my exciting news. What's going on with you?

Finally finished!

I actually finished my quilt on Wednesday night, but I wasn't able to get it washed or take pictures until last night. But finally I am able to show you the completed quilt. I'm so excited with how it turned out, I really love it. It is super warm and snuggly, especially after washing (and it smells so good, I got the Gain Joyful Expressions detergent last time I bought detergent, and I am LOVING the new scent).

So here goes:

Front after washing

Back before washing (see some wrinkles)

Back after washing...look at all that wrinkly goodness!


Here is one of the front corner...I was pretty proud of the way my corners turned out since this is my first time to do binding like this. I like it!

And here is one corner from the back. Again, pretty pleased with how it turned out.

So there it is. What do you think?

Ragged Squares Quilt

I started working on this project last week and got sidetracked, so unfortunately it's still not complete. But I have been meaning to show these pictures for a while now. So here goes...

My version of the Ragged Squares Quilt as seen over at Crazy Mom Quilts:

All of the fabric is from Moda the Bistro line by Deb Strain. My sister-in-law Deborah started my stash of this fabric, and then I found the whole line at a little quilt shop that I happened to go into. I was very excited to get more pieces.

Layer 1

Layer 2

Top all put together.

I'm excited about this quilt. I think it'll be a good size for me to cuddle up under. I am also excited about the back (sorry no picture yet) because it is mostly a green color with a blue strip down the center.

It looks a little crazy with all of the patterns, but I really like how it all comes together and goes together.

Hope to finish the quilting this week and then I'll post those pictures.

Have you Ever...

So I wasn't tagged, but it looked like fun...so here goes!

Copy and paste the list below into your own post, and then make bold (and/or italicize) all the things you have done. Tag 25 people plus the one who sent it. (I am NOT tagging 25 people. Do it if you wish!).

HAVE YOU EVER?

Started your own blog
Slept under the stars
Played in a band
Visited Hawaii
Watched a meteor shower
Given more than you can afford to charity
Been to Disneyland/world
Climbed a mountain
Held a praying mantis
Sang a solo
Bungee jumped
Visited Paris
Watched a lightning storm at sea
Taught yourself an art from scratch
Adopted a child
Had food poisoning
Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
Seen the Mona Lisa in France
Slept on an overnight train
Had a pillow fight
Hitchhiked
Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
Built a snow fort
Held a lamb
Gone skinny dipping
Been to a Broadway show in NY
Ran a Marathon
Been in three states at once
Ridden in a gondola in Venice
Seen a total eclipse
Watched a sunrise or sunset
Hit a home run
Been on a Cruise
Seen Niagra Falls in Person
Visited the birthplace of your Ancestors
Seen an Amish community
Taught yourself a new language
Had enough money to be truly satisfied
Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
Gone rock climbing
Seen Michelangelo’s David
Sung karaoke
Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
Visited Africa
Walked on a beach by moonlight
Been transported in an ambulance
Had your portrait painted
Gone deep sea fishing
Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
Kissed in the rain
Played in the mud
Been to Grace Kelley’s grave in Monaco
Gone to a drive-in theater
Been in a movie
Visited the Great Wall of China
Started a business
Taken a martial arts class
Swam in the Mediterranean Sea
Visited Russia
Served at a soup kitchen
Sold Girl Scout cookies
Gone whale watching - dolphin watching
Gotten flowers for no reason
Donated blood, platelets or plasma
Gone sky diving
Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
Bounced a check
Saved a favorite childhood toy
Visited the Lincoln Memorial
Eaten Caviar
Pieced a quilt
Stood in Times Square
Toured the Everglades
Been fired from a job
Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
Broken a bone
Been on a speeding motorcycle
Seen the Grand Canyon in person
Published a book
Visited the Vatican
Bought a brand new car
Walked in Jerusalem
Had your picture in the newspaper
Read the entire Bible
Visited the White House
Killed and prepared my own meat
Had chickenpox
Saved someone’s life
Sat on a jury
Met someone famous
Joined a book club
Lost a loved one
Had a baby
Seen the Alamo in person
Swam in the Great Salt Lake
Been involved in a law suit
Owned a cell phone
Been stung by a bee

What about you?

So...

Over the Thanksgiving holiday my sister brought home this new game called Bananagrams. It is so much fun. It can be compared somewhat to scrabble in that you use tiles to form words, but my favorite part of the game is that you play with your own tiles and don't have to build off of other people's words. My in-laws and my husband are EXPERTS at Scrabble and it's just no fun for me to play because I'm not good enough! But with Bananagrams I can go at my own pace and make my own words. It's a great game! So for Christmas we had to get a set.

Last weekend I decided to play the Solitaire version of the game. Joel came in and decided to help so we ended up using every single tile! Here's what we came up with...


For the last 19 days Joel and I have been participating in the Love Dare Challenge. It has been a fun experience so far. Yesterday's Love Dare was:

Love Dare - Day 18

Prepare a special dinner at home and focus this time on getting to know your spouse better.
Proverbs 3:13

So last night I made spaghetti (one of our favorite meals) for supper. When I got home Joel had gotten me flowers! I was so excited, and the tulips were beautiful, don't you think?

LOST and other things

So our long weekend is now gone. We enjoyed having the day off and were able to run a few errands that needed to be taken care of. Next up for the week is the season 5 premier of LOST! We cannot wait. We are super excited because we feel like we got shortchanged last season (not as much as other shows) on the number of episodes. So we are ready to get back into the full swing of all that is LOST.

If you haven't seen the sneak peek of the premiere yet, go here:

http://abc.go.com/primetime/lost/index?pn=index

So we are officially counting down, and we only have a little longer to wait. Tomorrow night at 7 we will be sitting on the couch awaiting the beginning of the 2 hour premiere. So if you need to talk to us you better call before 7 or after 9!

Hope y'all have a great Tuesday (and a short week!). Would not want to overlook the historic even that is happening today of the Presidential Inauguration. We are watching it on the TV in the office here now...even though he's not my guy, I can appreciate the historical value of this event.