Keeping my promise

Well, I'm going to try to keep up with my promise to keep you all updated on my SUPER DUPER exciting life.....

Ok, so now that you're back in your seat from falling out of your chair laughing, I will show you what I've been up to.

Every year the girls get new Christmas ornaments.  Sara's was easy this year.  A burger.  I found one at World Market and got it.  Anisa looked and looked, then decided she wanted something that nobody had - a jellyfish.  Oh, ok, thanks Anisa for giving me the impossible task of finding a jellyfish ornament days before Christmas.  Well, my search came up with nothing, so I figured I'd just make one.  I hit up Joann's for some sparkly chiffon type of fabric, a little bit of tulle and some ribbon.  Here's the result. She is thrilled with it (and so am I)> :)

 So, as you might be able to guess, Sara's into burgers.  Renee got her a Cheeseburger Pillow as a graduation gift. Sara loves her pillow, and named him Cheeseburgery.  We all give Cheeseburgery hugs and kisses and usually we talk to him more than we talk to Sara.  I wanted to make her a soft ornament.  Well, I didn't do it before I found her other ornament, but wanted to then just make Cheeseburgery a little friend.  Here is the Cheeseburger Trio.  The small, but tall one was my first attempt.  I wasn't sure how wide to make the patty and buns.  Well, that first try was not a good one, but it did allow me to figure out that I needed to cut my slices smaller. :)  We love Little Burgery and how he looks.

Another project I finished was a quilt for Travis for Christmas.  Yeah, I know.....like he needs another quilt.  Well, I never made one SPECIFICALLY for Travis.  He loves  Chickadees, he talks to them in their native language - Chickadese.  My husband is very talented.  Anyway, I was browsing the aisles at Heaven, I mean Fabric Depot, and saw the Chickadees and knew I had to make a quilt for Travis.

My sewing room is the computer room.  Not the ideal set-up, but until the kids move out or we move, this is the way it will be.  Travis usually has no interest in my projects, but for some reason, this was  harder to keep from him.  He saw the chickadees and had to ask what I was doing.  really?  REALLY TRAVIS? Go play with your ipod.  Anyway, I finished it and he loves it.  He's already used it a few times to snuggle with while watching TV.  I used the Attic Window pattern and I call it Chickadees In The Windows.  I even used some of the scrap triangles in the border!

There is another quilt on it's way to it's owner, and when that person gets it, I will post about it.

My next project is underway. It's another quilt, and another surprise, so it will have to wait to be posted JUST IN CASE anyone actually reads this.

So, now that you've had your daily dose of Cindy excitement, you can happily get on with your day.  Enjoy it and I hope everyone you come in contact with today is super nice! ;)  qxoqxo (quilty kisses and hugs)

Nothing like the present...

It's almost the end of 2013 and I have only entered 2 posts this entire year.  Bad me!  We have had so many adventures and I have only a few pictures to remember them.  I plan to use this more of a journal this year...for my  (and hopefully your) enjoyment. :)   Christmas is a couple of days away, so I have lots of errands to run today, but I plan to be more active here...keep watching!  And MERRY CHRISTMAS! :)

Well, I guess I should start with Anisa.  She turned 22 on the 21st.  I really can't believe she's already 22.  Time sure has flown by.  We have so many awesome memories.  God sure has blessed us.

We had a surprise visit last night from Shelby...Anisa and Shelby have been friends since birth..well, Shelby's birth since she's 3 months younger. :)  Here are these gorgeous girls this weekend, and one from when they were close to a year old.

I started volunteering at Chinook Elementary school.  It's where the girls went to school, I was the lunch lady and a Special Ed One on One with some terrific little boys.  I always loved going into the school. The kids.  The staff.  It's just a really cool place.  I REALLY want to get a PAY job there, but for now, I can only volunteer.  That's ok with me, tho.  I've got a big job in the library already, and Friday I got to work with the Kindergarten reading groups. I was very warmly welcomed back by some of my old friends and it truly felt like I was back HOME.  I would appreciate prayers for a job to come open there for me.  It will be nice to have a job in place when Travis retires in less than 2 years (shocking).

So, in other news in my house, it's been cold here.  We have a woodstove in this house.  I didn't really think it was a big deal when I looked at the house.  Travis found out it was a really good one (after all his research) and was looking forward to using it this winter.  Well, he's a complete pyro now.  He builds the fire every night.  We got our second load of regular wood delivered last week.  He's been using a combination of just plain old cut wood and 2 different kinds of eco logs.  One of the brands is Idaho Energy Logs.  He's been super happy with the stove.

I've been sewing some bags.  A Coastie wife wants me to make her an Owl print purse.  We THINK we found the fabric, and now I'm trying out some patterns.  I bought a McCalls pattern that I thought was pretty cute, but after getting it out and reading the directions, I don't like it.  I also don't like how they have you sew the bag together, so I did it my way. :)  I made 2 of these Hawkeye bags for 2 friends' daughters who are going to University of Iowa.  I'm going to order an Amy Butler pattern that I found.  I really like how her directions are written and her patterns are fun.

We went to the Oregon Zoo for Anisa's Birthday!  We all slept in a little, then she opened her presents, then we all got ready to head out to the zoo to see Lily the baby Elephant.  She was cuter than we had imagined.  I literally could have sat and looked at her all day.  They have her and mommy in a room (I don't love the bars and the small space, but it's warm), and there is a long line to stand in for a quick picture and to admire her. Isn't she so precious??

So, I think that's about it for now.  It seems like the weather is changing a little bit and it might be on a warmer/wetter trend.  I don't mind.  I guess that means I really am a true PNW girl. :)  I hope you all are enjoying your day/week/month... :)  mwah!

I have completely neglected my poor little blog and all the people who log on here to read about my wonderful, so exciting life.  heehee   I can only blame Facebook a little.  I am just a procrastinator...plain and simple.  I will work on it!  And for now...ta da...an update!

Travis bought me a new sewing machine.  She is a Juki TL-2010Qj.  He did an amazing amount of research and figured this was the best machine for me.  At first I was kind of upset because I showed him the machine I WANTED and I'd never even heard of a Juki.  I told him I'd give it a chance, and so far, I like it.  Pushing quilts through this machine is very nice and smooth, so that's a huge thing!   I even decorated her.  I still have my little Rosey (Viking).  She comes out for the fancy stitching.  Now, all I need is a studio about an RV garage built in the backyard...

So, since I have a new machine, I've been busy sewing lately.  I've made a few bags, a quilt and am working on some more bags with a pattern that I'm not happy with.  It's McCall's M6045.  The pattern itself is ok, but the instructions aren't what I'm used to.  I need someone to just say, "Ok, cut this and this out of this and this.  Sew A to B, etc".  This has 2 fabrics, 3 interfacings, and 4 bag options.  The instructions are all over the place.  Cut this for A.  Cut this for B, Oh, but you need to cut one of these for A again.  I just don't like how they wrote them out.  But, because I've used the Fabulous Amy Butler patterns, I have some background on how to fix the issues with this pattern. :) 

Speaking of Amy Butler patterns, I've made another 2 Weekender bags in Cupcakes!  Sara's totally into cupcakes right now, and I found this fabric in Home Dec weight and bought a whole bunch.  I didn't have the pattern with me, and it turned out I bought enough for 2 bags. :)  I love how they turned out.

I made this Memory quilt for someone. I can't say who, since it's a surprise and I've PROCRASTINATED and haven't sent it yet.  It was a super fun quilt to make, tho, and I think whoever gets it will be happy.  I'm hoping it will make them move closer... :)

Speaking of Sara and cupcakes... We recently bought a new table and chairs for our kitchen nook (try to find a round, counter height table that's 45" across..impossible).  While we were at a furniture store, we happened to find a Cupcake Painting.  I took a picture and sent it to Sara.  She wanted it (she usually wants stuff). :)  The problem was that it was $200 for 4 pics and 2 of them were of cupcakes, but the other 2 were really large ice cream cones.  Cute, but not really anything we wanted, plus, $200? really?  I told her I'd get her a canvas and some paints and she could paint one.  Well, here's the result. We were actually surprised at how good it turned out.

Sara's still loving school.  She recently had Little Mermaid Red hair.  It was shocking at first, but then we grew to really like it.  The bonus was that she was very easy to find in a crowd.  She loved it but changed it back to brown because it was pretty high maintenance.  Here is a picture of the entire family that we had taken for our church directory.  You can see Sara's red hair.

Anisa is in limbo.  It's quite irritating, but I know I am to blame.  I'm making it too easy on her, but whatever....I try not to complain too super much.  She's a great girl, and we have fun shopping, doing lunch, etc, but she is going to 22 on Monday and hasn't figured out life.  Her boyfriend, Jason, lives in VA.  He doesn't know where or what he's going to do.  He has a good job there, but the problem is that it's so expensive to live there.  We have encouraged Anisa to find a job  here for now, then figure out what she wants to do in the spring, summer.  They wanted to go to Colorado Springs, but apparently jobs are pretty scarce there.   Maybe we need to make her live in her car! heehee  just kidding..but only a little bit.

Travis is doing pretty well.  He likes his job, but is worrying about the future. He will probably be forced to retire in less than 2 years since he'll have done 30 years in the Coast Guard.  That is crazy to me.  I got him when he was 17 years old and now I can just admire the man I got to marry.  

I've been looking for a job.  I've applied to a lot of places, but so far, nothing.  I suppose the right job will come at the right time.  My dream job is back at Chinook Elementary, so I filled out my Volunteer paperwork and will start volunteering a day or two a week.  I figure that will at least get me back "in" with the staff and such, and when a job opening is coming up, I'll be the first to hear about it. :)  The most convenient thing about that is that it's right across the street from my neighborhood, so I could walk to work!  Keep me in your prayers! :)

Sara went to Virginia for Christmas and New Years. She had a blast and didn't want to come home (who wants to come home from VACATION?).  While she was gone, we drove down to Eugene (a 2.5 hour drive, one way) to go to the Ninkasi Brewery.  Their Total Domination IPA has become our most favorite beer, but we like a few of their other brews too.  It was SO.WORTH the drive.  OMG... we had a really great time.  We got there and I told them we had driven all the way from Vancouver just to come there.  They gave us free beers!  We took the brewery tour and had some yummy hot dogs and homemade pretzels.  Then as we were leaving, they gave us 4 pint glasses and some stickers.  The crew there is small, and everyone was really nice.  I wish we lived closer so we could go there all the time..just to hang out with cool people - alright...and to drink beer too! :) 

Travis, Anisa and I also went to Peacock Lane to look at the lights for Christmas.  It was very crowded but very pretty.  We took the time to go downtown and take a picture of the Portland sign right over the Morrison Bridge.  I love being back HOME!

Travis and I have been kind of jogging/walking.  We go every once in a while, not as regularly as we should.  Travis is better about going than me.  He's even taken his running gear to work and run during the day.  My problem is that I run to the trail, then see birds or squirrels then I have to stop and look at them! hahaha Oh well, as long as we get OUT, I guess that's good.

Well, I think I've caught you up on what's been going on here.  I'm sure there is a lot more, but I can't remember things!  Travis calls me Dori (from Finding Nemo) since I forget things almost instantly.

And some New Pictures :)

This past weekend, we had company .  Travis' brother and family came to visit from Eastern WA.  We had a blast.  A Winterhawks hockey game on Friday night, then a trip to Ikea (they had never been), swedish meatballs and then off to Multnomah Falls to hike to the top.  Here are some pictures from our adventures...

We had blinds up in our master bathroom, but they were old and discolored, so I took them down and made curtains.  I like how they turned out, but my "theme" in the bathroom is kind of beachy, so I plan to collect some shells, rocks and driftwood next time I hit the beach, which should be soon since I haven't been there in a while. :)

The new normal

A NEW POST!  Well, I figured I'd decorate this place a bit with a new entry.  Most of you  know we've moved.  If you are my friend on FB you've seen the adventures of the move, the house and all that's been going on.  If not, then I'll catch you up. :)

We got orders back to Portland...HOME.  We were so happy but had a lot of work ahead of us, as with any cross country move.  We had to house hunt from all the way over the other coast.  Travis and I flew to OR for a week.  We met up with our realtor and looked at several houses all over the county (back in Vancouver).  We didn't find a house, but we decided exactly what area we wanted to be in...back where we lived before.  Ok, so now we had an area, but still no house.  3 weeks later, I loaded up my precious van and drove all the way to WA by myself.  It was great and I realized that I probably would be content being a long haul trucker.  But I would need a mechanic with me and my darling husband who I love SO MUCH would probably drive me crazy being stuck in a truck for weeks at a time...oh well.   Baby and I made it to WA in about 4.5 days.  I think I could have done it quicker..now that I've done the trip, if I ever do it again, I'll know what I can handle.  Anyway, I drug my friend, Evonne, along with me to look at houses.  I figured it was good to have 2 pairs of eyes and different opinions.  We looked at a whole bunch of houses.  Some awesome houses in not so awesome neighborhoods.  Some not so awesome houses in awesome neighborhoods.  Finally, Travis found a house online and told me to go look at it.  The Pool House.  We went and looked at it, I even drug my old neighbor, Brian, with us to see it.  It was a nice house, nice neighborhood.  Bonus..it had a pool and hot tub..the kids were pretty tickled about that.  It is a mile down the road from our old neighborhood so we know the area really well.  I didn't LOVE the house, but it was ok.  Travis and I talked and I made another appt to go see it again.  The second time we really looked at stuff.  Or so we thought. :)  I took pictures to send to Travis and we decided to make an offer.  It was accepted and I flew back to my family in VA (after being gone for over 2 weeks).  From there, we faxed, emailed, called back to our realtor because of some issues with the stupid mortgage company the the previous owners.  After a stressful month or so, we finally owned a house in WA. :) 

We packed up our junk in VA (well, the movers packed it up), loaded it into the truck and hauled it away.  We had to stay in VA for an extra week for Sara's high school graduation, which seems weird, since I don't think I'm old enough for my BABY to have graduated high school, but whatever.  After graduation, we said good-bye to the baby girl, loaded up the other 3 vehicles and headed out on a caravan expedition.  Travis in Chuck hauling Traily, Anisa, Jason and Batman (Nisa's fishie) in Foxy, and me in Cupcake.  We planned to take it kind of easy and make it over in 5ish days, but got a phone call from the moving truck saying he had to deliver 2 days early or put our stuff in storage.  We knew that a military delivery going into storage meant a possible VERY LONG wait for our stuff, so we pushed it and made it to Vancouver in 4 days.  Hauling the trailer made our driving slower, so we did a couple of 16 hour days to make it on time.  Based on my experience from that trip, if  we ever have to make a cross-country move, I will drive all the vehicles, one at a time, by myself.  It was too stressful with Travis trying to keep up or falling back.

Anyway, we arrived and the next day got our stuff delivered.  I didn't have any time to really clean or paint the way I wanted to, so that came later.  With a house full of boxes and furniture not where it belongs, we started to try to get settled.

The bad thing about moving is you don't see the problems with the new place til you actually live in it.  The previous owners had lived  here for almost 20 years so even tho they had done some upgrades, other things had been let go.  Besides that, I'm an OCD clean freak, and saw all the dirt and grime.  I got to work scrubbing cabinets and lining shelves.  Steam cleaning carpets AROUND the boxes and furniture.  Oh, and the pool.  Yeah, it was GREEN.  It hadn't been covered the there were 2 weeks between them moving out and us moving in, so it had leaves and cotton from the trees in the filter, and lots of algae.  The rain gutter system had crushed pipes so we had to have the front yard dug up to replace the pipes and because of water issues in back, we had the backyard dug up to install a french drain.  We quickly realized we had paid a lot for a fixer upper.  doh.  We got rid of lots of junk, realized we don't have enough storage here, but have found creative places to store things. I have painted most of the house and we're just now, after about 4 months, feeling a little settled.  There are still things that need to be done, we want a new, bigger shed, I have to finish painting which includes a 25 foot ladder.  The pool still has some algae, but we're converting to chlorine (right now it's kind of "organic chemicals") and we're hoping the chlorine kills all the plant life, and besides, it's too cold to swim right now. Next year, we're planning to put in an awning over the deck so we can spend more time outside.

Life is settling down to a new normal.  Travis is back to work in Portland doing what he enjoys..inspecting ships.  And he has several guys he knows that are there.  Anisa is currently in VA trying to figure out where she wants to settle for now.  Sara is attending Aveda Cosmetology Institute in Portland.  As of last night, she has bright red hair, but she LOVES LOVES LOVES school.  I'm just trying to stay busy and not get into trouble at Fabric Depot. :)  We've already spent countless hours and tons of money at Home DEPOT. :/  But, we're super happy to be back Home.   Anyway, that's what's been going on here.  I'm going to try to be better at updated the blog, but I'm not making any promises. :)

Back in VA

Well, our trip to the Great PNW wasn't a complete success or failure. We didn't find a house, but we realized we want to be back in the same exact area we left. In fact, we'd love to be on our same street, and our old neighbor is working hard to get us there...he actually talked to one of the neighbors and they want to move, but they don't have a yard big enough to put a trailer pad on. darn.

We drove the entire county while we were there, saw some nice and not so nice homes. There were a couple that I'd LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to live in, but not the areas. Buying a house stinks. And especially when you're not willing to budge on a few wants/needs.

We had some awesome beers (um, PORTLAND...most of the beer there is awesome), spent a gorgeous day at Cannon Beach (it was supposed to be a day of showers and we didn't get a drop of rain), on our way back to Vancouver, we went through a little snow storm. Overall, the trip was good. We didn't get to visit, except one night, we went to sushi with the Hisatomi family to celebrate the March birthdays (there are 4 our the 6 of us), and I ran into Evonne and one of my Chinook kids, Porter, at Fred Meyers (we were there at least once every day). :) Yep, it rained a little every day - a lot on a day or two, but we didn't mind. It felt great to be back HOME. The air smelled wonderful. The drivers were nice. The people in Portland are still as weird as ever. It was a great trip. :) I'll post some pics later...Travis needs to use this computer for now! :)

100th Anniversary of the Cherry Blossoms

Well, we went to see the Cherry Blossoms for the last time while we live in VA. Of course, they were beautiful and fun to see. Wandering around the Tidal Basin really never gets old. I could go into the city every day and see something new and wonderful. After swearing that I would never live in DC, I have to apologize to Travis every once in a while, because I have come to love living here. Sure, it's not HOME (my heart is in Cannon Beach), but it has been a super wonderful experience. I will miss many things about DC...museums, eateries, Cherry Blossoms, Monuments, History. I won't miss the drivers and all the people who can't speak English, but whatever. :)

Anyway, yesterday we headed in to see the cherry blossoms, but also to go to Ford's Theater (where Lincoln was shot) and the National Geographic Museum (they have a Samurai exhibit that Travis wanted to see). It was a little on the hot side, but that's just cuz I like cooler weather. In a lot of peoples' minds, I'm sure it was perfect. We saw a squirrel, so I was happy. :) hahahaha Here are a few pics from the day.





















































I'm going back into DC today to meet with some Coastie Chicks. We're meeting up with a Chick who is visiting the city. We plan to look at the blooms and have lunch. Should be fun....other than the fact that it's going to be even hotter today. :( I'll post more pics later!

Charleston and Savannah trip

OMG. Ok, we just got home from our southern trip. Charleston, SC and Savannah, GA. The main goal of the trip was to see Paula Deen, my BFF. And she proved that she's my BFF...she patted me on the butt! :) highlight of the whole weekend, y'all!

Charleston and Savannah are beautiful. And the bonus was GOOD DRIVERS. :) We're surrounded by the most horrible drivers in the world here in VA. That's because all the bad drivers in the world move to the DC area. Down south, people were polite, they used their signals, they let you in if you needed to merge and had your signal on. We only got honked at once by someone who was visiting. It was so nice. AND, the people there were nice. People held the door for you. They said please, thank you and excuse me. Oh, Gosh....it was great.

We stopped into a prom dress store and Sara may have found her prom dress. You'll have to wait for pics, but the one she found is beautiful and so flattering.

I used to say I didn't like the spanish moss hanging from the trees, but this trip made me realize I really DO like it. It's just part of the beauty of the south.

The houses....ok, they were AWESOME! Mostly old and so cool. AND, Savannah is the most haunted city in America! Cool, huh? :) We didn't see any ghosts, or the movement of ghosts, but we saw lots of very nice things. The weather was perfect. It was supposed to be rainy all weekend, but we only got a few drips and then sun! The top pic is of Rainbow Row in Charleston. The lower pic is one of the MANY cute houses in the historic district of Savannah.

Saturday we took a trolley tour of the city and saw all the sites. Then Sunday, Travis dropped me off at the Lady and Sons restaurant to get in line for a wristband to get Paula, Jamie, Bobby and Aunt Peggy. What beautiful people. OMG...They were all so sweet, friendly and made us all feel like we were friends. They are just so dang nice! I can't even tell you how awesome it was to meet them. Anisa and I are going in May to the next book signing, and I'm SO.EXCITED!! This is Paula with the little girl who was standing with her Gramma and me in the line. They were all so great. Paula gave out lots and lots of hugs and compliments.

Travis did his daddy duty and took Sara to another prom dress store (same name, different location). What a guy! She found one that she liked, but I think the one she found in Charleston is still her favorite.

Today, we got up early and headed home....8 hours later, we got home safe and sound to see our Anisa. I missed my kid. Sometimes it's fun to just have one kid, but I love my girls so much. It'll be nice to sleep in my own bed tonight...which will be very soon since I got home, had dinner and a delicious beer. ;) Hope you are having a great evening wherever you are. :)

Beeyooteeful creations

I am kind of amazed sometimes when I watch Anisa cook. She doesn't do it all that often at home, mainly because we don't eat a ton of sweets and she cooks at work, so doesn't often feel like creating in our little, underpowered kitchen. But, every once in a while, she creates and I love to see how it turns out. These are the little beauties she made for our Bunco night. They are delicious. Little pink macarons filled with a creamy filling and decorated with raspberries topped with a real rose petal and a sugar dew drop. The great thing about them is they aren't super sweet. I can actually enjoy them. :) Someday she'll own her little bakery and make custom macarons...who wants one?? :) :)

What's been UP lately

Well, not a heck of a lot, but I've been staying busy. Doing what...I have no clue. :) Ok, I actually do have a tiny clue. I've been sewing a little. Working on a quilt that I have had fabric for, for years. I saw this great quilt on a website a long time ago, and bought all the fabric that I needed and then it sat there. I never got the Pattern, but in my research, have found what blocks needed to be made, and so now I'm working on it. It's not turning out how the picture looked, but that's ok, I guess. Quilts are great like that. Even if you mess up really bad, you're usually the only one who knows. :) I also made another 2 Weekender bags. One for Sara and one for my friend's 50th birthday.

The blue one is Sara's. She wanted a "Tiffany" blue bag and found these fabrics. Not the perfect blue, but she loves it so I guess that makes it perfect.

This one is Rhonda's. She didn't get to pick her fabrics. :) heehee Hey, it was a Bday present! Travis actually suggested I make her one since I couldn't think of what to get to this special bday. 50. She's an antique and I will tell her that often. hahahahah, yeah, I know I'll be 50 someday, but that's a while away. And she still looks and acts young so it's all good. :)

My next Weekender will be for Anisa since she doesn't have one yet. Poor baby. That's ok, tho. She can't go anywhere since she's a working girl now. Being grown up stinks. We're heading to Savannah this weekend and she couldn't get the time off, so she has to stay home. We're planning to go (Just the mom and kid) in May, tho, so that will make up for it. Paula Deen is doing a book signing gig at her restaurant on Monday, so we're mainly going for that. Sara has Monday off of school for President's Day, so this works out really great. Pictures and an update will be coming soon. :) After the trip...heehee

Anisa just got back from WI. She was gone 3 weeks and it flew by. It's sometimes nice to just have an only child. She had fun. Now she's trying to decide if she'll move back to WI or go back to Portland with us. We think she should go back to Portland (duh), mainly because there are gonna be more job opportunities for her, but she has to decide on her own. I hate watching her have to decide. I know how she feels....anxious to get out there an conquer the world ON.HER.OWN, but also being scared. She'll figure it out and make it however she needs to.

Tonight I am hosting Bunco. So, I must get off the computer and start cooking the chicken. I'm making chicken enchiladas....mmmmm! Anisa's making her famous macarons with a fruity twist. Those pics will come soon too! :) I hope you all have a fabulous day. :) mwah!

Craftiness

I finished my Weekender and I.LOVE.IT! I will definitely be making more of this bag. It was challenging, but not too bad. I want to take a trip now, so I can use it. :) It took me about 3 days of working on for a little bit here and there. I think if I had a whole day, I could whip one out now since I kinda know what to do...with this one, I actually had to read the instructions. I wasn't going to do the cording, since I was a little scared since I had read other blogs that said it was really hard, but I found it to be more time consuming than hard. I was also unsure about all the interfacing and stabilizers, but that wasn't too bad, either.

For anyone who does this bag, just give yourself time. Definitely use a heavy duty needle (I didn't break any needles or bend any pins, although, a lot of time I didn't even use pins.....I hate pinning).

I made a couple of pockets on the inside which was something not on the pattern, but other chicks had done it, and I liked the idea. I showed Sara and she wants one. We are gonna make a dress together, but once that is done, I might take her out to pick out fabrics for her own bag.

Here is Anisa's Camo Purse. She found a purse that she really liked, and we came home and figured out a pattern and made this. It's a little bigger and bulkier than I had thought it would be, but it was a perfect bag for her to take to WI...she loaded that thing up! :) She is REALLY happy with it, and has gotten lots of compliments on it. Yep, she's a redneck. :)

The most important part of today, tho, is it's ANISA'S 21ST BIRTHDAY!!! I can't believe that I have a 21 year old kid. That's just so weird. She had mixed feelings about not being home for her birthday, but ultimately decided to go spend her birthday in WI. We went to dinner at Chevy's for her birthday dinner. The next day (yesterday) we went to the airport and off she flew on a plane with a buffalo on the tail. :) Of course, at midnight she started drinking, but I talked to her this morning and she said she didn't feel great, but she's alive. :) Dumb kids. I told her just don't be driving with anyone who's been drinking...I hope she listens.

So, today, I plan to spend time with Sara who loves being an only child. We're gonna work on her dress, I hope. We cut out the pattern and now have to cut out the fabric. As soon as we're done, I'll be posting on that...It's satiny fabric and chiffon. I've never worked with either fabric, so it'll be very interesting, but I'm on a Challenge Kick.... :) I hope you all have a great day and challenge yourself with something fun! :) mwah!

First Post of 2012

Well, it's a couple of weeks into the new year, but Happy New Year. I have been busy with, um, well, I don't know, but I'm sure it was something important. :) I've gotten a little bit of sewing done. Anisa and I found some Camo canvas a while back in a remnant so we bought it figuring we'd made a purse or something out of it. Then, I found some cotton fabric that she likes to line it with. I didn't take a picture of it yet, but will have to post one later. She found this purse that she loved, we figured out a pattern and made it. It turned out really cute. A little bigger than we both thought, but she likes it so I'm happy.

I bought these fabrics to start making Amy Butler's Weekender bag. Happy Zombie made it, and of course, she inspires me so I had to buy the pattern. heehee I cut the fabric out a couple of days ago, working on the interfacing hopefully this morning then I can get to sewing soon. I'm VERY anxious to get this done, since everyone that has done it, LOVES it. It's a challenge, but I'm up for it. :)

I also made this bag for my mom. She had another tote that she loved and used the heck out of. It finally died (I think the strap broke). When she came to visit for my birthday, we hit one of my new favorite fabric stores in NJ...J and O Fabrics. Awesome selection of novelty fabrics. Anyway, I found the fabrics for this bag there, and she asked if I'd make her a bag out of them. I said SURE and used HZ's pattern to make it. I love that pattern. I love the fabrics. Mom loves her bag. :)

Travis and I are slowly getting back into jogging. :) I'm not saying running since we're going pretty slow cuz we're out of shape. We jog/walked on the Bull Run Trail a week ago which was super fun. We went in about 3 miles, then back. It's VERY hilly, which is good and challenging. We have a goal on a nice weekend to jog walk from the top of the trail to the bottom end. It's about 18 miles total. We'll pack a little lunch and do it in a day. We just want to see the whole trail.

My cell phone finally bit the dust yesterday. It's been a while coming since I've dropped the poor little thing a few times. Anyway, I was forced to get a new phone. Unfortunately for the people at Verizon, I still refuse to buy a "smart" phone (which I don't think there's anything smart about). I got a nice little basic PHONE. I use it to call people and text. I don't need a camera on my phone. I have a camera. I don't need a GPS...I have maps. I don't need to read my email on my phone...it's a PHONE for goodness sake. Ok, that's my vent. I got a little LG Octane. I like it so far, but I have to get used to the keyboard. I hate change. Oh well. I also got to go to Trader Joes, so that was a little bonus. :) It's not far from here, but it's in a shopping center that I don't usually get to just because TJ's is the only store there that I like.

So, that's about all my latest news. Sara and I are making a dress for her. We cut out the pattern pieces, and I ironed the fabrics. It should be interesting since it's a silky under dress and a chiffon top layer. I've never worked with either fabric cuz of how crazy slippery they are. I'll post about that when we start...wish us luck! :)

Last post of 2011

I know it's not the last day of the year, but I've been such a slacker, I don't expect to make another post in the next day or two...sooooo, this is my non-official last post of 2011. I'm choosing to call it non-official in case I surprise myself and log on tomorrow or Sunday! :) hahahah

So, we celebrated Christmas just the 4 of us, like I like it. I like getting up really late, staying in my jammies all day, eating whenever I feel like cooking and just chillin'. We had to wake the kids up at about 9:30 since they were OUT. Travis was quite involved in the laying out of gifts. He bought Sara a guitar and wanted to make sure she didn't see it before she actually got out to the living room. He's pretty cute. :) The girls got spoiled, as usual. Nisa didn't get a guitar, but she got money for her Wisconsin trip next month. Sara got Uggs, Nisa got dishes - plates and bowls for when she moves out. :) It was a good day. We had a simple ham dinner and thanked God for sending Jesus. Watched some tv, then after a wonderful day, went to bed early. :) Perfect.

My timeline here is a little backward, I just realized, but I'm going to tell you about Nisa's graduation which was Dec. 14. :) She actually graduated in Aug, but they only have one ceremony a year, so she walked in Dec. She was all cute in her official Pastry chef uniform and her pretty blue Magna Cum Laude cords. She met up with her sweet friends and off they went, giggling and being crazy. The ceremony was nice, and we even got to see friends who we've known since Santa Barbara (their son graduated too). We're so proud of her. She still loves her job at Swiss Bakery. She doesn't love getting up early, but likes getting home early.

She's also discovered that she loves Bass Pro Shop. We went up to the one near Baltimore the other day and she went crazy. about 90% of the people in there had camo on. She was a happy girl. My little redneck girl. She got some cam flannel sheets, a can koozie, and looked at and almost drooled on the knives and guns. Oh, and the boats and 4-wheelers. :)

Yes, then there's Sara. Sara is Sara. Going to school, sleeping, spending time with her friends, Younglife, church group, and TONS OF TIME playing her guitar. She's learning lots of new songs. We love to hear the music coming from her room. She also still loves learning new make-up tricks and hair styling things. Who knows...maybe someday she will be doing make-up to the stars. :) Although, I'd rather see her be happy in Portland or Seattle. We'll see.

I mentioned to a friend that Sara had been sick EVERY Christmas. She asked if we had a live tree, and said Sara might be allergic to it....ugh! It makes perfect sense. She's sick.. . LITERALLY..every Christmas. So, this year may have been our last Real Christmas tree. Dang. Anisa and I looked for a fake tree the day after Christmas, but they were all gone. Too bad they have sales for months leading up to Christmas so the after Christmas sales aren't that great. Stupid stores ruined my "day after" shopping days. The day after Thanksgiving sales aren't good cuz they are open on Thanksgiving.....I miss the old days when stores were closed on holidays. jerks.

On to happier items. We have red house finches bedding in our tree at night and we love it. Every evening at dusk, they sit on our deck until it's time to go into their little sleep tree. Then, between 5 and 7 a.m. they get up and sing their sweet songs on the deck or trees around. Man, I love birds, and squirrels! :) heehee

Our winter has been very warm. Today it's supposed to get into the 50s again. Next week, they say it'll get into the 30s. We'll see. No snow at all this winter which makes me sad.

My mom came up for my birthday and so we decided to take a trip to New York to see my cousin and go pub hopping. We had a blast. April's friend, Laurie met us in the city and we had a really great time at a pub called McSorleys. Very fun bar, very fun people, yummy beer. We also cruised through New York City in the car which April said was better than walking cuz we were warm and we covered A LOT of area. :) All the stores were decorated for Christmas so it was very pretty and bright.

If you want to look at my pics, you can view them on shutterfly. :)

Things to report

Well, it's been a little while since I've written, but not as long as some of the times I've gone with no reports. There are a few things in the Nolen family that have happened recently. Here goes...

Sara has had a bit of a dilemma. She says she has lost her passion for dance, at least on the team, so she made up her mind to quit the dance team. On Oct 20, she faced the coaches and told them her decision. It was hard for her, but she handled it like an adult and is happy about her choice. She has gotten to hang out with friends who she didn't get to hang out with while on the team because of the huge time commitment for DT and is even planning to go on a church retreat. She loves her DT family and will always treasure her memories of her time on the team, but this year is a new chapter. She's a senior and wants to make it spectacular. She's actually gonna enjoy her first long weekend this week coming up. Mon and Tues are days off of school, and normally we'd be at Dance Camp, but not this year. We might even make a trip to NY to see April and Chris....and MAC, Macy's, Times Square, Lady Liberty...... :) She's a lot less stressed and even got a B+ on her math test (she's not a math girl, and struggles with it, so this is awesome news. :)). Now, my reaction is more sadness. I didn't quit the team, and I think they need me! :) heehee Actually, I've been working on bags to sell as a fundraiser at the end of this month, so I'll still be kinda involved. Plus, I still work with Tammy and talk to Dianna every day (DT moms), so I'm still in the loop. I even told them I could still chaperone for Nationals. We'll see! :) Here she is with some friends on their way to an away football game. They had a "white out", that's why they are dressed in white (trash bags). They had lots of fun..
As many of you also have heard, we got snow on the 29th. Yeah, it came down, but nothing stuck cuz the ground was pretty warm and it was rainy along with the snow, but you can see that we got big flakes coming down. It sure was pretty. It's been cold lately, and it seems like it went from HOT to COLD real quick. I guess that's usually how it seems to go around here. We go from air conditioning to heat. Poor little heat pump. :) heehee
Last night was Halloween. 35 bucks worth of candy and not many kids. Dang. Now, I have a ton of candy in the house. Guess we better keep running to work it off. :) Now, if I can just stay motivated and work out time to go. Well, stop making excuses, that's what I need to do. :) Sara and some of her friends went out trick or treating for a bit after they went and got $2 booritos at Chipotle. Those crazy burritoholics. :) Here are the girls....We went out and took some pics hoping to start on our Christmas letter/card/pic for this year. I'm saving the family pics for the card, but here are my beautiful girls. I just love them so much. :) Especially when they're being sweet. :) heehee We had fun and wanted to at least get some pics with the fall colors. The trees are so confused this year with the weird weather we've had, so the colors didn't seem to be as vibrant as normal, but they are still really pretty. This was at Mercer Lake right here by our house. We even saw some little tiny fishies. Yeah, Anisa has taken up fishing. Her friends like to fish, so they go her "hooked". She went and bought a fishing pole and even a little tackle box with hooks, bobbers, and all that stuff. She wants to make a trip to Bass Pro Shop soon. We like to tease her about it, but she doesn't care. She likes to go out with her friends and fish. Crazy kids.I'm working on making bags, and today I'm going to work at Tammy's. She's got a lot of events and baskets to make and get ready for. Her business is taking off and I'm so proud of my friend. For those of you who I don't normally talk to, Tammy is one my Dance Mom friends, who has a gift basket business. She quit her full-time job to get her business running again (she's a single mom, so this was a GIGANTICALLY HUGE step). Anyway, the girl is on fire getting all kinds of new accounts with some big companies. I hope she makes it big. Oh, here's her website in case you want to check it out...Talk Of the Town Gifts....we ship anywhere in the country! :) I'll put extra love in any basket you want! :) heehee This is a picture of a luncheon she did for NEW - Networking Executive Women. Mali, the speaker of the day was awesome. Check out her book, A Million Fireflies. This woman has been through some crazy stuff in her life, starting with her family fleeing their home in Laos in the middle of the night when she was just 4. If you want to be inspired, get the book. :)As usual, you can click on any picture to make it bigger. :) So, now you've been updated. Hope you all have a spectacular day. Love and kisses!! :)