just a quick update

Hey everyone, I just got told I needed an update on here since I haven't posted in a little while...thanks Wende! And, this will be for you since it's more words than pictures ~MAYBE! :) Oh, and for everyone reading this, make sure you click on the link and visit Evidently. She's got some AMAZING pictures of one of the most beautiful places on earth!! :)

So, what the heck have I been up to in the last week since I haven't been posting anything. Well, hmmmm, let's see.

Saturday, I drove BY MYSELF to Algoma and Kewaunee to go to the antique shops down there. I didn't find any good OLD stuff, but I found these babies. Converse Chucks as the kids nowadays call them. They were $12 bucks. I couldn't pass them up, but now I have to find someone to fit into them! :) I do have someone in mind.

Sunday was spent at church, then playing. Anisa spent the day at a friend's house, and the rest of us just hung out. It was nice to have a day like that.

Monday was Memorial Day. We went downtown to the dedication ceremony of the War Veteran's Memorial. It would have been really nice, except someone didn't think to shut down the street for the hour and most of what we heard was cars and Harley's. It was a bummer. I thought it would a good thing to take the girls to so they would possibly understand what sacrifices others have made for us to live like we do. So, since we didn't hear it there, we talked to the girls about it later. Afterward, we had a BBQ with some friends over here. The kids played outside and we got to visit and eat yummy food! :)

Here is a little quilted "thing" I made for Ben at Robot Comix. You should go there because it's very cute and entertaining. I guess this "thing" is a little wallhanging or a table decoration. It's about 7.5" x 7.5" so Ben can do whatever he wants with this little decorative thing. I just figured he could use a little Mailbox Love. :)

And now for some wildlife, because, what would my blog be without some pictures of the wildlife in my backyard?! We have a couple of baby bunnies out under the bushes in our neighbor's yard. They have been coming out to eat lately and here is one eating a dandelion puff. So cute!

This morning I heard a new song outside. I couldn't see who was making the cute noise, then saw THIS! A Baltimore Oriole!!!! I was thrilled. They are hanging around a little bit since my neighbor has grape jelly out. :) I need to get some today on my Green Bay adventure.

So, as you all know, now, I'm heading to Green Bay today. I am in desperate need of groceries, and I like to do a monthly food run to Super Walmart and Sam's Club. I also have to run to Home Depot. I WILL NOT be going to any fabric stores which just hurts, but I'm saving myself for Fabric Depot in about 30 days!!!!!!

I hope you all are having a wonderful day and have a super fun fantastic weekend!! :)

Got cheese?

I figured since I live in the "Cheese" state, I should have a cheese quilt. The problem.....I couldn't find a pattern. So, being the creative type, I decided to MAKE a pattern. And here is the result.

I need some creative advice, tho. I can't decide if I want to do more quilting on it. Should I add some swirlies in the cheese blocks? Should I just leave it alone? What???? Comment, advice, ANYTHING!! :)

I DID quilt the names of different cheeses between the blocks. I like how that turned out, I just wish I had used darker yellow/gold thread.

I paper pieced the cheese blocks, which I love, because it's fairly accurate (even I can mess up on paper piecing, but not usually!). Then I appliqued the little dots on some of the blocks for "holes". One of the ladies at the quilt shop suggested reverse applique! DUH! Oh well. Too late now. :) Now I have to figure out where I want to hang it. I thought I'd hang it close to the kitchen, since it IS food. :)

Oh My! She's 13

Well, my baby is now a teenager. I no longer have any CHILDREN, I now have only TEENAGERS! Pray for me! :) tee hee

Here's Sara on her birthday. We went to Olive Garden in Green Bay for her birthday meal. We usually go out to dinner, but Anisa had to babysit that evening, so we went down for the day. She got a digital camera, a shirt, a Relient K CD, um, I can't remember what else. :) Oh, she got some money from Great Grandparents H and she bought herself some black and white checkered Vans. Just like the ones I used to wear in high school! ha! She got money from Mija Grandma for a pedicure! spoiled.

The flowers are from Kirsten (her one and only violin teacher in WA!). Aren't they beeeyooteeful??!! Yea, she thinks she's pretty special.

I'm sure she'll have fun being a teenager, I just hope I can survive it!

Fabric Diet

I was happily reading along on my favorite blogs and came across Anne's blog where she mentioned that she was going on a Fabric Diet. I thought, wow, I need to do that! I don't have as much fabric as some of the chicks I know, but I do have quite a bit that needs using. So, I got the badge from Kim at A Peach in Stitches, now I'm committed! Now I CANNOT buy any fabric, at least for this month. I plan to make a trip to Fabric Depot (hopefully with a bunch of bloggy, crafty, quilty friends) in July when I'm in WA, so the diet will have to go to the wayside for that day. Now, I must go sew....finishing a project that will be posted asap! :)

Lots of random stuff

Well, I haven't posted in a while. It's not because I haven't had time, or the desire. It's just because I haven't. :) So, without further ado, I will post some of what's been going on here. :)

My little Sara went to semi-formals last week. She's been talking about this forever, but we told her the grades had to be good. She pulled them up and got to go. Here she is getting ready to head out. Tomorrow she turns 13! Where does the time go? Heck, only 5 more years til she moves out! :) tee hee

Anisa has been taking Jazz dance. She likes it, but has decided to quit for now because for dance team, she has to take ballet. This is Anisa and Andrea at the recital the school had. It was very cute, especially the little 2 and 3 year olds dancing.

Here is the quilt I made for my friend whose husband died. I wish I could be there to give her a hug myself, but this will have to do.

Ok, I went up north BY MYSELF to look at the little antique shops that have now reopened. Things around here close down for the winter, and that's pretty much EVERYTHING up north of us. It's kind of wierd, but whatever. So, they're open now, and this little chicken bell was sitting on the shelf waiting for me to buy it. So I did. :)

And one last parting shot. This is Miss Tango. I've posted pics of her before, but this is just too cute to not put on here. We've kind of created a little monster. We let her run around in the living room (wood floors) and she hates being in her cage now. Well, who wouldn't hate being in a cage?! Anyway, she's a little fluffly lovebug. :)

Now, today, I'm working on a new project, but I'll have to post about that later...when I figure out what the heck I'm doing! :)

7 Random Things about ME meme

Kim at Kim's Northwoods Discoveries tagged me to do this 7 things meme.

Here are the rules: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them they have been tagged and to read your blog!

1. I love squirrels. Duh

2. I think camping in a trailer is CAMPING. :) We don't have a tv in our trailer, and if you put 4 people in a 19 ft. trailer that's ROUGHING IT.

3. 70 degrees is the warmest I like. Anything higher, put me in front of the A/C!

4. I like popcorn with chocolate chips ~ or other chocolate, like DOVE...my favorite.

5. I KNOW for certain, that I want to retire in Cannon Beach, OR....the most fabulous place in the universe.

6. I have really short, fat, little toes, my family says they look like Barney Rubble toes. :)

7. I love my bright blue 1993 Ford Aerostar named Baby. I love her color, I love the room inside, I love being high up, and I just love her!! Someday, when I'm a trucker, I'm going to buy a Kenworth T2000 with a flatbed trailer to haul Baby around! Now, how random was that??!! :) hee hee

Ok, so now I tag ~

Happy Zombie
PamKittyMorning
Wende at Evidently
Chris at Wisconsin Freeze
Michelle Sews
Michelle at Oil Cloth Junkie
Patti at Quilting is My Passion

Churn-Dash Cherries

Here is my latest little quilt. It's about 43"x 43". I found the pattern in the December 2004 copy of American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine (can you believe someone is selling it on ebay?). The pattern is called Candy Cane Quilt by Darlene Zimmerman. The original is supposed to be Christmas-y, ya know, like a candy cane, but I found this cherry fabric that looked so cute and summery, I had to do something with it. I like how the top turned out. My quilting leaves something to be desired, but heck, I don't care. It's done and up. And I like it! :)

I've already started my next quilt. It's for a friend of mine whose husband died last week. I think she needs a quilty hug, don't you??

Prom 2007

Well, we did it. Survived Prom!~ Anisa got the dress, the 4.5" red heels, the little red purse and of course, the jewels. :)

Here she is getting her hair done by Amy, her friend's sis who is going to cosmetology school. She was busy doing a few of the girls' hair. Curling, straightening, pinning, spraying..... I think Anisa had about 500 bazillion pins in her hair! And I don't know how many pounds of hairspray!

Anyway, she went to Prom with her friend, Kevin. A really nice guy. This is his last prom, since he's a senior this year. They went out to dinner at one of the local pubs that's actually more like a restraunt, than a "pub". Then went to the prom until midnight. They came home to change, then back out to the Post Prom Party at the local bowling alley. She said they had a blast, but her arm was sore the next day from the bowling.

After bowling, she spent the night with the chicks at another friend's house. A fun time was had by everyone.

Clarification

I was at a Stampin' Up workshop last night and it came up that I hate Dork Ounty. Well, I just want to clear things up. I don't HATE it, I don't even mind it here. Really, I don't. It's just not HOME. I'm enjoying seeing a different part of the great country that I get to live in. I am looking forward to seeing MORE of it this summer and whenever else I get the chance. I am so thankful for the new friends that I've made and the experiences my family has had.

With that being said, I'm a West Coast Girl. Always have been, always will be. You can lead a girl to the middle of the country, but you can't make her love it. I miss my ocean, I miss my volcanoes, I miss the lush green forests. I know there are plenty of people who think I'm nuts for loving OR/WA. It rains there ALL THE TIME! :) The slugs are huge, Portland and Seattle are very liberal, the sky is grey a lot.....but hey, that's ok with me! I like slugs. I can live with people even tho they're wrong! tee hee Don't email me! :) And the sun is overrated.

I can't wait to get back out West, but for now, I'm happy to live here in Wisconsin. I just can't wait to get back out West....oh, wait, I already said that. :)

I've finally gotten some more quilts done.
I have had the WSU Cougar fabric since, um, forever ago. Sara thinks that where she'd like to go to college, so we're going with that. :) I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I wish I had had more fabric, but I was limited to what I had bought. I did a split 9-patch and I like it. :) I also quilted the WSU Cougar in the center of the quilt. Sara is very happy with it and slept with it last night.

This purple quilt is a long over-due birthday present for my sweet niece Kelsey. I made a pink one for my niece Justine a couple of years ago, and had always planned on making one for Kels too, but didn't get to it (so many other fabrics and projects kept me from it...bad projects!) Anyway, I just dug out all my purples and bought a few more and Voila! Here is what happened. I hope it goes with her room! :)

Time Flies When You're Having Fun!

Well, this is a couple of days late, but Travis and I celebrated our 21st Anniversary on Friday the 13th! :)

Here we are 21 years ago! Wow, it seems like just yesterday. Oh, of course, somedays it seems like FOREVER ago, but that's only when Travis isn't doing what I tell him to do! :) We were just kids then, didn't know what the heck we were doing, just that we wanted to be together. I know there were many people who thought we were way too young to be getting married, but I guess we were meant to be. :)

We've lived in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California and Wisconsin. We've survived life in the Coast Guard. We've put up with long absences and weird schedules. I have been bossy and Travis lets me think he's listening. We've both gained some weight, gotten smile lines, and some gray hairs. One of us has even gotten bifocals! :)

But, two beautiful daughters and tons of adventures later, here we are today. We plan on lots more adventures and look forward to many different stages in our lives together.

Some craftiness

I'm working on lots of things, but here are a couple of things I have finished. They are going to friends, as soon as I can get my act together and deliver them! :)

More chicken potholders....

And a little friendship wallhanging. I am working on a couple of quilts...Sara's WSU quilt just needs binding that was ordered from FABRIC DEPOT.... and a purple quilt for my niece. I'm having fun, fun, fun!!! :)

So this is Spring in WI

Well, yesterday we woke up to THIS.....

You might be able to tell in the pics, that it was snowing when I took the pictures. It snowed for most of the day, but it was wet, and HEAVY to shovel! My back is a little sore today. We got around 7ish inches. Today it's warmer and sunny and will probably melt a lot of it. The birds and animals are probably thankful for that. I don't mind the snow, but Travis is really sick of it. He's ready for summer.....Ah, that muggy,disgusting heat, mowing the yard, getting eaten by bugs....gotta love that...not! :)

Organization

Don't you just love to be organized??!! Last time I went to Joann's I picked up more embroidery floss, since I can't get any good colors in SB. Today I spent a couple of hours putting my new colors on and labeling the little plastic doohickeys and it looks so pretty! Now when I have a stitchery project, I will go and look at my flosses all color organized and grab the exact color I need and the project will be more fun. :) Now if I could only get my basement organized....


that's another day! :)

Chicago

The girls had spring break last week. Anisa, went to WA (LUCKY), and Sara and I were not going to sit at home like we always do. Spring Break in WA was usually spent camping at Ft. Stevens, so this year we had to think of something new to do.

"Hey, let's go to Chicago! There's an IKEA down there." So, I got on the internet and found all the things we HAD TO do while we were down south.

On our way down the freeway, we spotted a Trader Joes!!! I about had a heart attack. We didn't expect to find a TJs!!! We went to the next exit, got off the freeway and came back to shop! We bought shampoos, conditioners, soaps, and red potatoes. But the most important thing was the Mochi ice cream. The girls LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this stuff. I think they could probably live on it. On the way back up north, we made a quick stop in TJs again and bought 6 boxes of the stuff. Packed it in ice and it made it home just fine.

Our next stop was Gurnee Mills mall. It's in Gurnee, IL. Ok, first let me say, we thought the roads in WI were bad, but OH MY!! The roads in IL are horrible. I need to check the suspension in my van from hitting so many holes in the road! Ok, back to the shopping. The mall was cool. We scored at the Hollister store. And we found Ruby Tuesday, but we weren't hungry yet. So, we headed south some more to IKEA!! It was fun, but I like the set up of the Seattle Ikea better. I'll find out about the Portland Ikea soon. This one was 3 stories and BIG, but the way it was set up, I felt like I missed stuff. It's hard to explain, just that I wasn't that thrilled with the way the store was. BUT, it's IKEA, and I did find some treasures. I found some cute seat cushions, vases for Sara's room, a cheese grater, a special bowl for Sara, an ice cream scoop and some raspberry cookies.

By the time we finished in Ikea, we were hungry. We found a Chevy's and were thrilled, so we had mexican food (haven't had Chevy's since July). YUMMY!! We brought some salsa and chips home for Travis.

We found a hotel, went to bed and got up early and headed into Chicago. We didn't really have a goal, and didn't know where to go, so we drove through and looked at what we found. This is the top of the public library downtown. It was very cool. We had to drive under some buildings which was also fun.

We parked and walked around a little section. I found a bank, got some money and we found a 7-11 and got Coke Slurpees. YUMMY!!! We were done shopping and walking, so we headed back up north. On the way, we stopped and got Ruby Tuesdays for lunch (a little disappointment, I was hoping for a jalapano chili burger, but they don't have that one here in the midwest!). With full tummies and treasures filling up the van, we drove happily back home. :)

Old Mailbox Love

I was browsing through my pics and found this that I forgot to post. We have some wonderful friends in Vancouver who are our links to everything wonderfully Japanese. Anyway, a few weeks ago, I got a box on my front step. "Hmm, who is this from", I thought. Oh, the H family!!!! I opened it to find tons of Japanese Yummies!!! By now, alot of it is gone, and it's been wonderful tasting some of the things we'd never had before. Thanks friends! We love you and miss you like crazy!

Oh What A Night

Wow. Imagine strobe lights, jets and rocks being thrown at your window at 2 a.m. That's what we had. Another storm blew in here in the middle of the night. Some hail. LOTS of lighting and thunder and a lot of rain.

It was a lot like the storm that blew in a few days ago. This one was slightly different, tho. During the evening we watched the news so we could watch the TORNADO WATCH! Yep, we were under Tornado watch from about 5ish until midnight. Some counties in central Wisconsin actually were in Tornado WARNING, which means TAKE COVER!!! Give me Earthquakes, tsunamis, and high wind storms, but please, no tornadoes! Yikes.

Turns out we didn't get a tornado, just a very cool storm in the middle of the night. Sara actually came into our room and hopped into bed with us for a while. When the storm was over, she headed back into her own room. I couldn't handle being sandwiched between two bed hogs anymore, and my back is pretty sore this morning, but I'll live. It looks like it's going to be a sunny and very warm day. As I type, at 7:55 a.m. it's 58 degrees with 90% humidity outside. I went to put the trash out and IT IS WARM!! :) I like it this temp. As long as it doesn't get too much hotter, I'll be having a great day. :)

Sunday's thinking

You know what I love?? Fresh muffins in the

mornings. Mmmm. I love the taste. I love the smell, I love the warmth. I just love them. I had some bananas going brown, and made these yummy goodies. Just wanted to share. :)

I hope each and every one of you has a wonderful day today! :) kisses and hugs.

A Lot Of Thoughts

Well, my first thought is the storms here ROCK! Too bad they're at 2:00 a.m. We woke up this morning to hail, rain, lightning and thunder. The lightning looked like a strobe light going off outside there was SO MUCH! I love it. Of course, I wish it was at 7:00 p.m. so I could really enjoy it, but oh well.

Yesterday Travis called me in the morning and told me one of the Lakers was pulling out of the canal also called The Ditch. It is the Wilfred Sykes. She is 678 feet and was the first new American-built Great Lakes vessel constructed after World War II. I love watching these beasts glide through the canal. It's very peaceful out there and the birds fly around and you can hear the water lapping the rocks. No salty smell, but I guess it's alright. :)

On Monday evening Travis and I went for a walk. When we got home there was a sweet dog running around. She came to visit, get a couple of pats then took off. As I was petting her, a car drove by. She took off, and the car backed up. She was THEIR dog! I found out her name and told them to come by later if they didn't find her~ if she came back we'd grab her. Well, we took the telescope out since it was a beautiful, clear night. Kota came back and we grabbed her. Then we waited and waited for her owners to come back by. Anisa and I even drove around the neighborhoods to see if we could find their car. Nothin'. So, we had an overnight guest. We made a little nest for her on the floor in our room, but she whined a lot. We finally let her stay on the bed (after many attempts on her part and us pushing her off). She finally fell asleep. By the way, she's a very well kept pup and smelled like she had just had a bath. Anyway, the next morning, I called the vets in the area and the humane society. It turns out that her owner called the humane society too, so she got picked up in the afternoon. It was fun to have a dog overnight, but I don't want the responsibility of having my own.

My last item of the day is my latest craftiness. BoogaJ's Pincushion Challenge has challenged me to make another pincushion. Well, actually 2. My original idea was to make the taco. Then a friend of mine was making s'more pins for her Brownie troop and she gave me the rest of her felt, and I decided to make a S'more. I really like how they turned out. I love the S'more. :) Now, I must go eat, because this post is making me hungry. tee hee :)

A coupla things

Ok, first. Friends. I mention Monica a lot around here. That's cuz I know her in real life and she's just so cool. But I've made several friends in blogland that I haven't met YET. I will get to meet Wende this summer. I can't wait!! I enjoy looking at her life through her words and pictures and I feel like I already know her. Pam, is another chick I feel like I know...since she's Monica's twin! :) If you look at my blogroll, you can see my "friends". I wish I could hug each and every one of them, AND go out for lunch and shopping! Thank you my friends for keeping me entertained. :) And all my lurking friends who aren't listed on my blogroll, I love you too! :)

Second thing is the weather here. All I have to say is.....WHAT THE.. Two days ago, I had a t-shirt and capris on. I was warm. It was 62 degrees out! Today, it's snowing! Wow. Just had to mention how strange it is. :)