Home is where the heart is....

We were going to go to Lowe.s today and pick up the rest of what we needed for the bathroom, but FIL's pick-up is in the shop and quite frankly cement board, doors, and tile aren't going to fit in my malibu...so we're going to go tomorrow night after work.

We didn't get much done in the bathroom this weekend...well, let me rephrase that, we didn't get as much as I thought should be done. What we did was place things out in the room and see how they would work out. It's a good thing we did, because the shower door (that I said was too short when Matt said it wouldn't be) is going to be too short and we have to get another one.
The door we got was only 65 1/2" high, that's how tall I am and there is a metal bar that frames out the door. I tried explain to Matt and the sales rep at Lowe.s that it was going to be too short, but I'm a girl, what do I know.

The cabinet came out great...Matt cut the back off and rebuilt it (remember, it's a kitchen cabinet, which is 24" deep, cut down to a bath cabinet, which is 21" deep). It's all going to fit absolutely perfectly on that wall.
The only thing I'm thinking may need to be reconfigured is the mirror above the sink. We bought an oval 24x36" mirror, but I'm thinking it's not going to be wide enough. I'm planning on keeping my eyes opened at the consignment shop and home goods for a bigger mirror.

Oh, and remember how I was looking for a roll out shelf, like this, to fit in the cabinet? I looked high and low and it could be found, but was $100 [seriously]. I don't have, nor do I want to spend a $100 on a piece of metal.

I came up with this idea! I'm planning on taking apart my desk in the office this summer (it's falling apart) and I realized that the draw rollers are the exact same thing. So I can build the roll out shelves for the cost of a couple of pieces of wood :-) AND it can be the exact height/depth/width I want...just have to find the baskets for it: Cool huh?

I've still been questing for kitchen curtains...and I FOUND THEM, but they're out of stock. Have you checked out the BHG line for Walm.art? It's actually really nice, and pretty well made too. Well I found these three curtain patterns that I like and it would only be $60 to do all 3 windows (as opposed to $60 for 1 window).

I'm torn between the the red and the one in the middle...of course both of them have parts (either valance or tiers) that are unavailable online and I don't think my walma.rt had them. I just worry that the red is going to make the room too dark. Any opinions?

I found a very cool blog, which may or may not be shutting down, it's called Knock-Off Wood. This lady is amazing...she makes me look like a loser. She draws up plans for all the furniture that you see in things like Pottery B.arn: It's some awesome stuff and really rather impressive.

"Be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead!" - I Peter 1:6

I don't like when weekends come to an end...it's always sad.

Yesterday I got out of working in the store (yay!). My parents were out of town and we had 2 people, other than Matt, scheduled to fill in. It was a slow enough day and the one guy's girlfriend stopped in and she helped with the cleanup. I was free to do what I wanted...which entailed about 6 loads of laundry (all Matt's...that boy has more clothes than anyone I know!), cleaned the house a bit (mopping mostly) and made a pot of apple sauce from the apples we picked.

This morning we went to church for the first time since the end of June (pathetic, I know): We've had something going on every single Sunday since then. Of course we didn't have a restful nights sleep and it was a bit tough getting out of bed to go to church.

Matt was up brewing until after 1am last night...then at 2am the dogs started barking. I got up to take them out, but could tell it wasn't their typical "I need to go pee/poop!". Somehow, in my half asleep stupor, I had enough sense to not just open up the backdoor and let them go out (like I usually do).

I had them on their leashes and opened the door and was going out with them...when I noticed a fluffy white tail next to the garbage can on the back porch and the dogs were heading straight for it: A SKUNK! I grabbed their leashes and quick hauled them back in and shut the door. I think the skunk was as startled by us as we were of it...because it never sprayed. That's not to say if I hadn't been paying attention it wouldn't have.

Out the front door we went and all the time me checking to see that it hadn't moved out front. The dogs barked almost constantly the whole night because of the darn skunk outside, so we didn't get much sleep. Could you imagine if that skunk had sprayed?! It would have been the whole back end of the house, me, and the dogs...Matt would have just moved out for the next few weeks. I'm so thankful the skunk didn't spray.

After we got home from church I made some butternut squash soup, which came out really good and was REALLY easy. We had squash in the freezer from last fall...and I figured since we hadn't eaten it as squash, maybe soup was the answer. It's certainly an easy and quick meal!

Matt cleaned the basement today and got the furnace ready for the winter...we now have room in the basement to store some wood. After he had a nap we worked some on the bookcase: It's too tall, in my (wrong) opinion. I had wanted it to be 3'x5': Only to realize that 5' is a lot higher than I thought it was (I'm 5'5"). I tried to get Matt to cut it down shorter, but he absolutely refused and I could not get him to change his mind....so it stays.

This week I have to sand the whole thing down and prime it with a couple of coats, then paint a couple of coats as well. One of the shelves could be a bit more spaced, but Matt wasn't waiting for me to come back from upstairs with the book I wanted to test it with (can you tell he was being a poop-head?). The book fits, but it's a bit tighter than I would like.

We had dinner at my parents' house, but before heading up there I wanted to do an impromptu photo shoot...it was a beautiful afternoon. We decided not to spend the money on a photographer and are just going to do a couple of sessions by ourselves. Hopefully we'll be able to get my sister or my mother to come down and take some of the two of us. Matt did a really good job! I'm very proud of him! While the frame positioning isn't always perfect, at least a couple of his pictures came out looking quite professional. I will leave you with these...have a good week everyone!

Maternity Shoot - Session 1

"Don't underestimate the value of doing nothing, of just going along, listening to all the things you can't hear, and not bothering."

Pooh's Little Instruction Book, Inspired by A.A. Milne

Doing nothing is something we have a hard time with around here: I don't think it's possible for us, at least not yet. Saturday Matt worked in the store all day, then came home in the evening and cut some more of the wood pile. I was home most of the day, but spent it getting things done around the house (baby things away, dining/sewing room organized, wall letters etc). In the evening we collapsed on the couch and watched the last 1/2 of a movie (that's right, we watch movies in 1/2s - we can't stay up late enough to watch a whole movie).

Sunday we got up and headed to Albany (2hrs away) to do some returns/exchanges at BRU, find me some clothes, and pick up some things we needed for the nursery.

We were a bit overwhelmed at BRU: HOLY CRAP THAT PLACE IS HUGE! We walked around looking at things (we had planned to buy stuff), but decided we didn't need it yet, so we'd hold off for a while.

At Macy's I managed to find a comfy pair of work pants that actually look really nice. I got some long sleeve tees at Tar.get for $10, and we got some crib sheets, mattress pad cover, and storage carts for the room. It was a lot of walking though.

On the way home from Albany we stopped in C-town at my aunt and uncle's for my uncle's birthday. My aunt wasn't able to make it to the shower, so she had a huge wash basket filled with clothes (all sizes) that she had gotten at different places: There are some cute outfits in there. Of course it's something else I have to put away now....and I thought I was done HA!

Yesterday I had off. I spent literally the WHOLE DAY sewing. I went into the dining room at 8:30 and didn't come out until 9:45 last night....except for a few breaks, but the baby's quilt is done (picture in previous post).

Matt did get home a bit earlier than usual (3:30), but he went straight outside and finished cutting the rest of the wood pile...now we have the fun part to do (splitting) and the even "funner" part (stacking). He's hoping to have a lot of it done before the baby arrives.

As far as me...my back was killing me last night and my belly felt like it had quadrupled in size, just stretched and really uncomfortable. I don't know if it had to do with sitting and sewing all day or what.

There has been some advancement on the work front: I FINALLY! have a tempt to start training to do my job. She's starting tomorrow...so if I'm not posting as much (since I usually post from work), it's because I have a shadow.

She seems like a really great person (an older woman...probably late 50s); put it this way I'm glad she was the one interviewing for my position and not the other way around (she rather intimidated me). I feel like I could leave here in October and know that she would be able to step, fully, into my position if I don't return...which is a good feeling and what I want. Hopefully she works out.

"To sit in the shade on a fine day, and look upon verdure is the most perfect refreshment." ~ Jane Austen

We're not quite to the point of being able to relax...Matt's not home yet from tearing down and once he is we have to head up to his parents' for dinner (doesn't that sound restful). I think, if I let him, he would sleep for a week solid. He's so exhausted, and tomorrow starts his normal work week. He won't have a day of reprieve until Saturday. I'm hoping he won't fight me this week when I'm trying to send him to bed early.

I got a wonderful package in the mail the other day, one that made me happy and over the moon: Can you guess what it is?

I cannot tell you how thrilled I am to have my camera back...I really, truly did miss it (as ridiculous as that may sound).

Now that I have my camera back and I can do a bit of updating from around the White House.

~*~The Garden~*~
The garden is crap: Plain and simple. If you can find the vegetables among the vegetation you're doing better than me. Last year we tried to grow pumpkins, so that I wouldn't have to buy them for decorations in the fall: It didn't work.

Well, guess what we have taking over our garden (besides the weeds)...Hint: It's not something we even planted this year.....PUMPKINS! Lots of pumpkins. There are at least 4 or 5 good size pumpkins and a couple of smaller ones coming along.

Our tomatoes are doing all right. There's supposedly a blight going around, but it hasn't hit our plants yet. I thought I had planted some regular tomatoes, but it looks like all I planted was cherry tomatoes. I certainly won't complain about the size of the tomatoes, as long as we get enough to eat fresh!

There are also a couple of rogue yellow squash out there...of course the ones I prefer are acorn and butternut, no sign of them poking through the weeds, but I guess that it's not that big of a deal...I looked in our freezer downstairs and I still have the ones that I blanched and froze LAST fall.

I'm actually really embarrassed by the current condition of our garden. My mom's cousin from Germany is coming over to dinner on Thursday and my uncle is staying with us this weekend. If there's one thing about Germans it's how fastidious they are about gardens and perfection.

It's because of that anal trait that I weeded the front and side flower beds this morning. They look a lot better, I just need to mulch them and they won't be too much of an embarrassment.

~*~Crafting~*~

I started working on the wall letters for the babies room. I printed the letters out, traced them onto the wood, and then went to saw them out (with the scroll saw I bought last September, but haven't used once). I used to be pretty good with a scroll saw (in high school shop, 12 years ago).

I botched the letter A so badly that I gave up, came upstairs, went online and found someone to order the letters from. Now hopefully they get here soon. I would like to have them finished and on the wall before the weekend....same as I'd like to do with the curtains.

I did receive one of the samples that I had chosen for the curtain fabric...I like it, but I want to see what the other one is before I finish the curtain. I think the one I'm still waiting on is THE ONE I've been looking for, but I don't know because the picture on the website was absolutely horrible.

I finally made the Cupcake Bath Bombs: The first batch fizzed like crap and I ended up throwing them out. The second batch (which I made this morning) came out a lot better and the fizzed and dissolved nicely. I even got them iced! Once they harden up I'll print tags for them and put them in the gift bags and they'll be done!

One thing I did get a lot done on this week was the Christmas stocking: No, it's not finished yet, but it is getting MUCH closer. Of course, once my fabrics arrive I'll be putting that aside (Christmas is a bit further away than this kid's arrival). I seriously can't wait for the room to be done...it's nice now, but it's nowhere near DONE.

Speaking of Christmas: I have 1/2 my shopping done! I cheated though. Remember the Sock It To Me sock exchange that Kym was doing. Well the slippers that I got were so awesome that I decided to order everyone, on my side of the family, their own for Christmas. Suezee2 on etsy.com was awesome. I finished my whole family for $135...I still might order BIL, PP, and Niece matching ones for their Christmas gifts (haven't decided yet). Here's the pictures of the slippers/socks I got.

How cute are they?!

I'm sure there's more going on, but I honestly can't think of it.....Matt just got home, so I will say "toodles" for now :-)

What the....?!?!

The weather has been a bit different around here lately...

That was my drive home. Yesterday , June 15th, it hailed: Some places (like the road) got as much as 2-3" of hail in a matter of minutes. This is the second or third hail storm that has blown through in the past few weeks. Needless to say the crops aren't doing too good.

When I got home the back deck was covered in hail, as was the front yard, and the garden now looks like swiss cheese. The tomato plants are missing a lot of leaves, the lettuce looks pathetic, even the hops took a beating in the storm. I don't know if things will grow back or not. I'm more concerned for the farmers than I am about our little garden.

New Projects

This post is going to be a whole lot of nothin' organized: Rather than writing it in an organized manner, it's bullets for ya'all.

Things We're Working On
* I've been diligently stitching on the kids Christmas stocking. My goal is to have it finished before the end of July: We'll see. There's a reason for my pushing to get this done, besides Christmas being 6 1/2 months away. I have to get started on this project:

*My mom's 50th birthday memory quilt. Her birthday's not until May 8th (lot of special people born that day), but I can't imagine I'm going to have too much time to work on a quilt with a newborn baby, so I hope to have the top done before October.

It's actually a pretty easy pattern, the hardest thing is going to be getting pictures out of my parents house without my mom noticing. The large "empty" spots in the quilt are going to have pictures from my mom's life in it: Her as a baby with her parents, her and her brothers, her and my dad's wedding day, some of her and her friends, pictures of my brother, sister and I as babies with her, picture of her and her grandbaby, my parents 25th anniversary picture....things like that.

*I also got back SIL's quilt, so I have to get the binding on that before MIL heads up to their house for the shower on the 20th. I do wish I were going, even if only to see her reaction to the quilt, but 10 hours in the car alone just isn't appealing (I'll post a picture of the quilt once it's done.

*We got a bunch of plants in the ground. I had to thin out some of the seeds that I planted and transplant some of my tomatoes to bigger containers. Matt's lower batch of hops didn't take so we're going to be planting the 25 strawberry plants we got there: Hopefully they do better.

*We also managed to semi-integrate the hens and chicks: They're all now in the same pen, but the chicks are still separate...they just didn't have anymore room in the cow trough...plus the porch was starting to smell.

*Still no advancement on the fence :-\ Coworker loaned us his auger, but it doesn't start, so we have to wait until he get's it fixed to dig our 51 holes for the fence (definitely not doing that by hand). I seriously can't wait until the fence is up, I'm so tired of having all these people driving past our house to go down to the community garden...and none of them drive slowly.

I think that's about all so I'll leave you with a picture of my peony (I would love a FIELD of peonies and poppies...all different colors...that would be heaven to me).

I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck. ~ Emma Goldman

These are my clematis...I love clematis...I love viney flowers that grow up wrought iron even more...my clematis fulfill both.



I planted these a few years ago, but I honestly can't remember what they are now, but I absolutely love the little periwinkle buds with their yellow centers...


I've had to get creative this week with dinner: We had a lot of ricotta cheese which did not sell in the shop (it was a special order for someone who decided they didn't want it after all). The other night I made eggplant lasagna, which was good, but a bit too salty. Tonight I made stuffed chicken breast.

Very easy to make: Pound the chicken breasts until thin, mix however much ricotta, mozzarella, and garlic you like together, spread on the chicken breast, top with tomato and spinach, roll up, place in dish seam down, bake until cooked through (about 45 minutes at 375*)...voila!

Busy....busy....

Our OB appt was entirely uneventful and as many of you have said before, a waste of time. Dr. G came in felt my uterus, says it's the right size, stuck the Doppler on my belly, answered my questions, ordered the blood work for my quad screening and that was it.

As far as what I'm limited to doing in NC: "If you feel ok doing it and it's nothing outrageous, there's no reason why you can't just do whatever you normally would". BOOGIE BOARDING HERE I COME! (let me just say that I'm not some crazy person, I more or less just float on the waves). She actually told me that it's a great time to travel, because I'm out of the risk area and not uncomfortable yet...sounds good to me. I do have to take a baby aspirin while we're driving to help prevent any blood clots.

Surprise of all surprises....we have our "anatomy scan" this Thursday. I was hoping for next week, but the only time they can get us in between now and when we leave is Thursday. Hopefully they can find out everything they need, and we can find out if we're having a girl or a boy. Oh my goodness, it's so hard to believe that we may actually know what we're having in just a few days!

The drive home was interesting. Matt drove from O-town, a peasly 35 minutes away, by the time I dropped him at my parents and drove into town (another 10 minutes) I was gagging and praying that I'd make it home before I threw up. As soon as I made it in the driveway, I opened the door and was throwing up. Lovely! This drive to NC is going to be interesting...unless I'm driving I feel nauseous (I've always had issue with car rides, but it's worse now). I have to ask on Thursday about whether I can take dramamine, otherwise I'm driving for 12 hours or throwing up.

The weekend was busy, we did a lot of work outside. I got all of the window boxes planted, as well as the hanging baskets, and managed to weed the front flower beds. Matt got the back and front lawns mowed. He was going to rototill the garden, but the tiller isn't working...that has to go to the shop tomorrow.

I know I've been really bad about keeping you guys up to date on what sewing projects I've had going on. I can't show you what I just finished, because I sent it off without taking any pictures. I will show you what I made tonight. I've been wanting a summery tote bag to use as a purse, but I haven't found any I like...I finally caved and tried making my own again....it actually came out:

"Just living is not enough. One must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower." ~Hans Christian Anderson

Saturday I had my first pregnancy induced emotional breakdown: I burst into hysterical tears because our house is trashed and the kitchen floor was disgusting. Matt brews his beer, but never really mops the floor when he's done....so there are these dried puddles of beer, throw 2 dogs into it, and you've got sticky hairy puddles on the floor.

I kept saying to Matt that we needed to clean the house and he would just kind of brush me off with "Yay, I know"....and I burst into hysterical tears. He just stood there looking at me. At that moment my mom and sister walked in and they all just stood there and laughed at me....I was laughing too, because I knew how ridiculous I was.

I had the morning off and went to the farm stand that we go to (45 minutes away). I got a couple of bags of dirt, as well as five baby chicks, a couple of plants, and some fruit that my mom asked me to pick up.

On to the chicks: We got 3 Rhode Island Reds and 2 Plymouth Barred Rocks. Hopefully they'll be laying by the end of August.

Sage and Thyme are not too impressed with them. Thyme kind of looks at them and wanders of, but Sage is very much obsessed with them...I'm not sure if it's their chirping, the smell, or just the fact that there are BIRDS in the house (Sage LOVES birds).

In the afternoon I ended going to the store and working for a few hours to give my mom a break, or really, so that she could go home and do some bookkeeping. It never seems to end...I think we're all starting to get worn down with working so many hours. I'm glad that we're getting a week off, but I'm seriously starting to feel bad about leaving my parents alone for a week.

Saturday evening we went to a concert in our town; We're very fortunate to have a theatre...there are several groups that work together to bring different musical groups to our theatre and they are almost ALWAYS excellent. I've often said that if I ever win the lottery I will be paying whatever is needed to restore this old building. The history of this building is so cool! Teddy Roosevelt actually gave a speech here.

Anyways, the groups that we saw were Jay Ungar & Molly Mason and Liz Carroll & John Doyle. You've probably heard Jay Ungar & Molly Mason, they actually have a song on the Legends of the Fall soundtrack. Another famous song of their's is "The Lover's Waltz", which we had played at our wedding...it is one of the most beautiful and perfect waltzes out there.

Sunday morning we skipped out of church (this is the first weekend, that I don't have to do bulletins-someone else is now doing them...yay!). We didn't get out of bed until 10:30...it was quite nice to not have to rush around for once.

I did some stuff around the house, planted some seeds, we worked on cleaning...the house looks a bit better, but there's a long ways to go still. In the afternoon I laid on the couch and watched "Harvey" while Matt started trimming the trees along our property so that we can get started on the fence soon. In the evening we went to my in laws for dinner.


I've started my list of questions for the doctor next week, as to what I can and cannot do in NC. I've already started having people (MIL was an OB nurse for 25 years) telling me I what I can't do. I'm generally a very active and self-reliant person, but I know not to push myself. If I feel comfortable doing something (gardening, lifting etc) I'm going to do it. So, I figure it's best just to ask the doctor and that way I can just answer that my doctor says "XYZ".

I'm really looking forward to NC.

"Gardening is a matter of your enthusiasm holding up until your back gets used to it." ~Author Unknown

Since it is finally beginning to feel more like Spring than Winter we've begun to work more outside, both in my flower beds as well as getting our veggie garden prepared.

Last night we sat down and decided on what we're going to grow and ordered our plants/seeds. Hopefully they'll be here soon. From my records of last year we were still having frosts until the middle of June last year, so we're converting my sewing room into a greenhouse and getting everything started inside, then when we get back from NC we'll transplant it all out.

Here's what we have going this year:
Butternut Squash
Tomatoes
Hops (for Matt's brewing)
Acorn Squash
Cucumbers
Sweet Potatoes
Spaghetti Squash
Romaine Lettuce
Cayenne Peppers
Yellow Squash
Spinach
Sugar Snap Peas
Asparagus
Garlic
Basil
Strawberries

Hopefully it's enough and not more than we can handle...don't know how much gardening I'm going to be up to. I think Matt's going to have to step up a bit more this year with the weeding and watering. I'm hoping we can get the rototiller down from my parents house and at least get the soil prepped before we head to NC.

My flowers are doing well: Peonies and hydrangeas have shoots and the tulips, daffies, hyacinths are all in bloom. Pretty soon I'll be able to pull out my window boxes and have to make a trip to fill them. The local greenhouse is closing, so I'm hoping that perhaps I can get some good deals on bigger plants (more hydrangeas and some fruit bushes).

The weather this weekend was beautiful! The coolest thing was seeing the trees go from tiny, tight little buds to a vast majority of them having 1" or 2" shoots already all in the course of a DAY! It'll be so nice when the trees are all in leaf again...the one thing that will be interesting to see is how much damage the tent caterpillars have done over the past 5 years...every year there are fewer and fewer trees with leaves. I'm hoping that the frigid cold this past winter killed the majority of those nasty things.

Winter either bites with its teeth or lashes with its tail. ~Proverb

It is certainly winter and the Farmers' Almanac has, unfortunately, been right again. They had predicted colder than average temperatures and when it wasn't too cold, large quantities of snow: We've got both! The fact that they can predict the weather and be RIGHT amazes me!

We've been hunkering down. Yesterday's high was 7*, with the windchill it was 0*. When Matt got up at 4 this morning it was -5* outside, when I got up at 7 it was 1*. Both of our furnaces (gas and wood) have been kicking on alternately, which is not typically. When we're home we burn only wood, but when we're not here the gas kicks on to keep the house above 55*.

The chickens are doing well. They've been locked in their house with plenty of food and water. We're still getting 3-4 eggs a day in spite of the cold. Yesterday, when I got home, the hen house was a cozy 25*, which is warm enough for them. We do have to check the water twice a day though, because it keeps freezing (surprise! surprise!).

By the time I went to bed last night it was 16* in the hen house, and this morning 13*. When I went out to thaw their water, I noticed that they were holding a foot up under them while walking around. As long as a birds feet stay warm, they'll be warm. I threw some more wood shavings in (added another 6" to the bottom of the house) and had an escapee. I thought for sure I'd be chasing her around the yard...nope she sat right there and didn't move. I put her back in the house, then one by one picked each of them up and zipped them in my jacket for a few minutes to get them warm. I think they'll be all right.

Hopefully you're all keeping warm. Let our thoughts and prayers be with those who have to be working in this bitter cold (my dad, Matt, and Nate M.) and particularly for those less fortunate, who don't have a warm home or a place to go.

Weekend in Review (for lack of a better title)

What a whirlwind! I actually survived the weekend, and it ended up being a rather infertile unfriendly one at that! I'll start at the beginning.

Friday I got home from work and my sister was here: So I cooked dinner for the two of us (cheeseburgers and tater tots: YUM!). I honestly can't remember what I did on Friday night, but Matt didn't get home until after 9. I may have spent some time cleaning, but I think I just walked around looking at all that had to get done.

Saturday morning Matt left to go hunting at 3:ooam. I got up at 7:30, only to discover that it was a balmy 7* outside. My plan for the morning was to stack some wood in the basement, bake dessert, and start cleaning the house. I stuck to it! I bundled up in snow pants, scarves, mittens and hats and headed out. Two hours later I had this stacked in the basement....all by myself!


Once that was done I started working on dessert. I had ordered a cake mix from King Arthur Flour a few months ago, it was for a Chocolate Indulgence cake: $12.95 for the mix! I made it: It was delicious, but so something I could have made with out their expensive mix! It was nothing more than the recipe for a molten lava cake, but baked in an 8" pan rather than individual cups. It was delicious though. Definitely needs some unsweetened whipped cream with it though.

Once dessert was done and Matt was back from hunting we got started on cleaning the house. We vacuumed, we dusted, we scrubbed, we laundered and it all feels so good now that it's done (again!). I wish there was a magical way for a house to stay clean for more than a day.



Dinner was steaks, oven roasted potatoes, acorn squash with maple syrup and brown sugar, green beans tossed with garlic and olive oil, and my homemade biscuits (which are getting better and better). We ate it all, and company didn't leave until after 11 (late night for us).


I managed to work on my Christmas wall hanging some more. I got all the blocks done, except for the appliqué stitching and the letters on the one block. Here's a rough idea of how it's looking. I'm thinking that I'm going to do some kind of plaid sashing between the blocks, not sure yet. (as usual, click on any of the pictures to make them bigger).


We did get an anniversary gift. My mom had asked me if we'd like something special for our anniversary...I said Not really, but that we did need a new iron. Well my parents got us a new iron. I had wanted a Rowenta (which is what Matt had from college): They work great and do a really nice job. Matt's wasn't doing a good job at steaming anymore...but after 7 years and countless uniform pressings and quilt blocks it was time to be retired. We now have the Rowenta Advancer...the thing is a dream!

We went up to Matt's parents for dinner and no one even mentioned our anniversary. Not surprising though...on our first anniversary we were handed a card signed mom and dad, and were told that that would be the only anniversary card we'd ever get, because they weren't going to start that "shit" (direct quote).

We never made it to the movies this weekend. I hoping that we're going to go to dinner on Tuesday for our anniversary and see "twilight" then. Wish me luck!

I've been busy the past couple of nights! I've had complaints that I don't post enough pictures of myself (Miss :-P). Here's one of me (can you tell I'm tired)! That's right, I have a scarf on. Unfortunately when I get home from work the house is typically around 57* (or colder), it takes a while for the wood furnace to get burning hot enough to heat the house. Yea, our wood furnace...it isn't one of those big outside jobs that you fill twice a day. Ours has to be filled every couple of hours.

This is how we heat our house during the winter: In order for it to work, one has to continually be throwing wood into it...it's constantly hungry! To feed it we have to bring food into the basement. Remember that big pile of logs and cut pieces of wood? Remember how we stacked it....guess what?! We get to move it AGAIN! That's right...all of that wood stacked outside of course has be to be brought into the house to burn.

Every night I come home from work and load the wagon full of 20-30 pieces of wood and throw it into the basement. I must say though...I love my energy bills. When we heat the house exclusively with the natural gas, our bills are typically around $500/month, that's with keeping the house set at 65 in the evenings, 55 during the day, and 55 at night. Cost of heating with the wood furnace: $600 for a load of logs, which typically lasts 1 winter. I told Matt that he's lucky to have a wife who is willing to do this work ;-)

I've been working on my Christmas wall hangings. Here's what I got so far:

I still have to stitch around all of the appliqués and make the Christmas tree and snowman block, as well as one other block. Now I'm undecided though. I was going to do one block that said "Be Merry" on it, but now I'm thinking maybe a block with an angel would be nice: Whatcha think?