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March 30, 2011

. today .

This week has been pretty busy at work – which makes the days go by fast. Like like like! – Especially since Spring Break starts on Friday and the time can’t go fast enough!

Jennifer & I are working hard on getting all the student class requests entered into the computer. We got through all of them today and updated the requests to include classes needed to fulfill graduation requirements. Tomorrow we’ll get to look at numbers…then sections and teaching assignments…then we’ll get to start creating the Master Schedule. If only it was as easy at it sounds!

I’ve been bringing home work each night this week, so I haven’t had the time or energy to go downstairs. I have been putting in my time on Pinterest, which leads to this:

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a common problem of mine.

I made it downstairs tonight after Youth Group and started quilting a quilt with straight line stitching along the seam. Hope to finish it up tomorrow.

The countdown is on for Spring Break – 2 more work days! Mom, Melissa, and I are going to Bellingham and Seattle for a few days. I don’t really care what we do while we’re there (besides going to Nordstrom, U Village, and A Muse) – I’m just really excited to get away. I’m looking forward to going to Bellingham because I’ve never been there and it will be fun to see Melissa’s college roommate, Jenn.

My Spring Break plans are not nearly as fun as the group that is going on the art trip to Turkey and Greece! My favorite Youth Group girls are going and some of their parents. It would’ve been a really fun trip to go on! I can’t wait to hear about their adventures and see pictures, of course! Safe travels!

March 28, 2011

. goin' to the lake .


It's getting closer...our time at the lake in July. To say I can't wait is a huge understatement. I found this online tonight....it's our favorite local guy, Mike Wagoner, singing his original song, "Goin' to the Lake." Mom & I fell in love with this song and the lyrics last summer when we were there. It's become a weekly ritual for us while we're there to go to Hills, one of the resorts, on Wednesdays for sushi and live music with Mike Wagoner. If he sings "Goin' to the Lake" AND "Stuck in Spokane," it's been a good night. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do...

(Baumann families and Casper families and Eppich families....I think you'll love this too!)

. finally .

It's been over a month since my blog makeover.
In the makeover, I added links at the top of my page, but I hadn't had a chance to actually fill them.

Well check them out! Most of them have something there - they are still a work in progress, but I'm on my way!

. little lady .

Have I shared with you my obsession with all things Camille Roskelley? (I swear I am not a stalker, just an admirer!) Her patterns are oh-so-cute and oh-so-doable for me! She is down-to-earth, funny, and creative (duh). I could really see us being friends. Really, I could. Smile

So – moving on to Camille’s book, Simplify. Love! (Needless to say!) I lovingly wrote my name inside the cover, and then skimmed it, read it word-for-word, scanned it, looked at the pictures, bought a copy for friends, and planned projects. It’s got beautiful pictures and awesome quilt patterns.

I thought – I wonder if I could make every quilt in this book. Now that would be one heck of a blog post! So – someone beat me to it! The other day, Camille shared a link to a blog (Pretty By Hand). The blog author is starting “Project Simplify” – her version of “Julie and Julia” – quilting her way through Camille’s book. YAY! SO excited to watch this journey unfold!

Well, lookie here. I finished my first project from Camille’s book last night!

It’s from the pattern she calls “Little Man” – but I used girly fabric, so I had to change the name!

This quilt is made entirely of scraps, except for the back. I LOVE THAT! I so need to get my scraps under control, so a few more of these and I might be able to accomplish that!

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(When I share pictures of quilts on my blog, it just reminds me that I want a nice camera. The iPhone camera just doesn’t do it justice.)

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I straight-line quilted this…

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…with a couple swirly stiches thrown in as surprises!

I’m thinking about starting to sell stuff on etsy. This might be my first item for sale. What do you think?

Pattern: Little Man by Camille Roskelley from “Simplify”
Fabric: Aviary
Quilted by: Marcie

March 27, 2011

. checked off the list .

 

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I got so much done this weekend!! I basted 3 quilts and 1 table runner, quilted 2 of the quilts (straight line quilting – love!), went to the Tri-Cities with my Mom, had a VERY lazy Sunday, finished binding two quilts, and made a birthday present for a friend having a birthday in a few weeks! Whew! And no nap!

I had a lot I wanted to get done and I’d love to get even more done this week…before we leave for Spring Break. We’ll be gone most of the week plus a day in the Tri-Cities for appointments…not much craft room time!

I’ve been catching up on Sunday night TV while I’m finishing binding a quilt…how great is Sunday night TV?! I LOVE IT!
Sister Wives, Army Wives, The Celebrity Apprentice, Amazing Race, Brothers and Sisters, Holly’s World, and my favorite – The Real Housewives of Orange County! Doesn’t get much better than that!

March 25, 2011

. do you pin? .

I have seen different things online about this new (to me) website called Pinterest.

Joining the website is by invite only, so I put a shout out on Facebook to see if one of my friends could give me an invite. Of course, Jamie, who is always ahead of the curve, hooked me up!

Pinterest is like a virtual bulletin board. You can “pin” pictures from all over the web to your board (and you can categorize them – which I LOVE big time!). You can also look up by keyword pictures that others have pinned.

I am so HOOKED. I love it. I have spent a lot of time on it – I had extra time this week because we had conferences at school which equals a lot of extra time for me.

I’ve looked up quilts, craft spaces, fabric, jewelry, just about anything I can think of.

Here’s a screenshot of my homepage:

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Do you want to pin? I’ll invite ya! It’s more fun with friends!

March 21, 2011

. monday night dinner .

 

meatloaf

I got to make dinner tonight and since we had some ground beef to use, I decided meatloaf sounded great!

I found a recipe online with good reviews and went for it (I’d never made meatloaf before….new experience!)

It turned out pretty good, so here’s the recipe:

  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/4 cup minced onion
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
  • 2 pounds extra-lean ground beef
  • 3 slices bread, toasted and crumbled
  • 7 buttery round crackers, crushed
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 3 1/2 tablespoons sour cream
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce, divided
  • 3 tablespoons ketchup
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
  2. Melt the butter in a skillet over medium heat, and cook the onion and garlic 5 minutes, until onion is tender. Remove from heat, and season with salt and pepper.
  3. In a large bowl, mix the onion and garlic, beef, crumbled bread, crushed crackers, egg, sour cream, Worcestershire sauce, and 1/2 can tomato sauce. Gradually stir in the milk 1 teaspoon at a time until mixture is moist, but not soggy. Transfer the mixture to a 5x9 inch loaf pan.
  4. Bake uncovered in the preheated oven 40 minutes. Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees F, and continue baking 15 minutes.
  5. In a small bowl, mix the remaining tomato sauce and ketchup. Pour over the top of the meatloaf, and continue baking 10 minutes.

March 20, 2011

. bag-a-licious .

I’ve been eyeing this laminated cotton fabric at Craft Warehouse for a few weeks (let’s be honest, I’ve been there more than normal lately because they had a 40% off coupon. These hardly ever happen, so I had to take advantage, right?!).

Anyway, I went to the quilt show yesterday with Jessica and I went ready to buy a kit. I didn’t see one that I really loved, so I decided I’d try the laminated cotton. I had a bag pattern in mind that I could use. I picked up the coordinating cotton at Craft Warehouse (30% off bolted fabric, thank you National Quilt Day!).

This morning, I got going on my bag! I used this Market Bag tutorial from Film in the Fridge (http://www.filminthefridge.com/2008/08/28/to-market-to-market-a-market-bag-tutorial/). The only thing I did different is add pockets on each side.

I’m happy with how it turned out. The laminated cotton was a little tricky to sew since you can’t press it and it shows all the pin marks. I looked up online some pointers to sewing laminated cotton, so that helped.

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I have made this bag one other time, for Melissa. She complained that it didn’t have pockets, so I made sure to add pockets in this one.

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I’m not sure what I am going to do with this bag, but for now, it’s fun to look at!

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The fabric is Central Park by Kate Spain. So cute!

. in a funk .

I really don’t know how else to describe it. I haven’t really had the desire to do anything this week. I had a migraine on Thursday, so I stayed home on the couch all day, drifting in and out of naps. On Friday I felt like I’d been hit by a truck. oh the joys.

On Friday night, I was in the craft room from the time I got home from school until about 10:30pm. It was AWESOME! I got this Buggy Barn quilt pieced together…I’m in love.

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It was the one that caught my eye at the Buggy Barn Quilt Show I went to last August. I bought the kit and finally started piecing it together at the craft retreat last month. I did all the birdhouses and flowers there – but then the actual piecing together was difficult. I put it away for a while and then came back to it this week and tackled it! I can’t wait to get it quilted. I’m so proud of it!

On Friday night, I also cut the fabric for two more quilts and cut fabric for six bindings. I pieced together a few blocks of one new quilt:

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It’s another Buggy Barn with Bliss fabric.

Here’s all my bindings stacked up…ready for their quilts to be finished!

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I met my family at Michael Jay’s on Friday night after Junior Miss Dress Rehearsal. It was a crazy night – but Melissa and I got this picture together before it got too crazy!

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On Saturday morning, I met Jessica & Ethan at the Tri-Cities Quilt Show in Kennewick. It was a great way to celebrate National Quilt Day! There were some amazing quilts there – more complicated that I have interest to do. It was fun to shop in their “merchant mall” – helping Jess pick out a quilt kit! I bought a yard of laminated cotton, which I’ve already cut into!

I feel a nap coming on…maybe because everyone in my house right now is sleeping, including Samson. I gotta join them, right?!

March 14, 2011

. weekend away .

Mom and I were lucky to have a weekend getaway to Seattle this past weekend. We needed the escape from reality and responsibility and drama.

This picture of Kamryn is from last week one night when she came over. This is her favorite face to make right now and I think it’s so funny! I got her a little talking teapot so we can have tea parties when she comes over. It’s pretty cute and so is she!

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We met Kamryn and her gramma Karen on Saturday morning in Othello and caravanned with them to Seattle. We stopped in Ellensburg for an early lunch at Jenikka’s, a super cute coffee and sandwich shop. Thanks for introducing it to us, Karen!

From there, we headed over the mountain (bare and wet, thankfully!) and went straight to Fife High School to watch the All-State Volleyball games. Kate was chosen as the SCAC Coach of the Year last fall, so then was asked to coach the All-State game. That is such an honor and I’m so glad we were able to watch her! Two girls from CHS were on the All-State team that Kate coached, so that was exciting to watch Michelle and Brooke too! The last match was really close after the team finally found their groove, but ultimately lost the game 3-1.

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Here’s Kate and her co-coach Josie from Ellensburg. They had a lot in common, so it was fun to coach together, Kate said.

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After the game, we went to Mali Thai, a favorite of Brian and Megan’s, for dinner to celebrate Brian’s birthday. It was very yummy and fun to be with such great friends.

Kamryn (check out her cute Whitworth onesie!) chewed on a lime while we waited for our food. She wasn’t so sure about it, but kept going for it. She would make a sour face, but I never could get it a good picture of it!

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Sunday morning, we enjoyed a breakfast at the hotel with the Baumann/Johnson’s then headed out for IKEA. We wandered around IKEA for two hours, inspecting everything! Smile I found a new office chair for the craft room, so looking forward to breaking that in!

We separated from the Baumann/Johnson’s, who went on their way home, while we headed toward Des Moines to a quilt shop that Amy Wieseler told me about.

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Carriage Country Quilts – it’s an old house and there are bolts of fabric EVERYWHERE! It was pretty overwhelming and the fabric was not really my style.

I had to take a picture of the bolts of fabric even in the bathroom!! Crazy!

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Mom and I went back to South Center and went to Target, had a late lunch at The Cheesecake Factory, and went to Nordstrom. We were both ready to buy some shoes at Nordstrom, but were unimpressed with what they had to offer. Big bummer. We found a$3 movie theater and went to see “Country Strong,” which Mom hadn’t seen yet. Still as good the 2nd time for me!

This morning, we went to our favorite little stamp shop, Impress (I haven’t scrapped or stamped in months – yet still, I couldn’t resist buying some things. What is WRONG with me?!). We made plans with Kristiane to meet up with her, so we had a couple hours before it was time to meet her. We drove around the Capital Hill, Magnolia, and Ballard neighborhoods. We don’t know how we get ourselves into the situations we do, but we seem to always be directionally challenged and go in the opposite direction of the cute little neighborhood shops. Or, we end up in some residential neighborhood with super duper narrow streets with a Sears delivery truck already taking up 75% of the street. We are losers!

We drove and drove and drove around and were about to turn around to finally get on track to go where we were going to meet Kristiane – I looked around and said to Mom, “this looks like a college campus!” Well, what do you know…we literally stumbled upon Seattle Pacific University. Literally. We drove around campus a little bit – wish we could’ve had time to stop at the bookstore because I’m a sucker for college bookstores, but maybe next time. We were about to be late to see Kristiane!

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We met Kristiane and Laurel at Kristiane’s friend’s house and got to spend a couple hours catching up! It was great to get to meet Laurel and snuggle her a little bit. I hadn’t seen Kristiane in about a year and a half, so it was a much needed visit! I’m so glad it worked out to see each other.

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Mom and I headed home from there via downtown Seattle one more time. A trip to Seattle is not complete without a look at the Space Needle!

We felt like we had a real mini-vacay and feel ready to face the week ahead. It’s not going to be fun or easy, but we’ll get through it. Nothing a little kahlua can’t help along. Smile

March 11, 2011

. spring time loves .

 

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This week was not the best one as far as weeks go. There was a lot of drama outside of school along with being busy at school with registering students for their classes for next year and getting ready for the HSPE. All that drama took a toll on my emotions (and caused Mt. McKinley to pop up on my face!)…but somehow, I feel like God protected me though it and I was able to keep it out of my mind for the most part and keep a good attitude.

This afternoon I drove to Kennewick to meet my Mom and Grandma for dinner and getting our nails done. On my way, I was struck by so many things. Maybe I was noticing the simple things in life or appreciating the signs of spring…

  • the John Deere tractor in the field doing spring work before the irrigation gets turned on
  • driving with the windows rolled down while singing along to the radio
  • wearing sandals
  • boats in the river and golfers on the golf course

Mom and I are escaping for the weekend for a pre-Spring Break break. We are going to Seattle tomorrow until Monday to hit up some of our favorite places and be with some great friends. It’ll be a great way to regroup emotionally and gear up for the three weeks of school we have left until Spring Break. I promise to give you a full report when we return!

March 8, 2011

. makes me happy .

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I got some happy mail yesterday in my mailbox at school. Usually it’s mostly junk or stuff to deal with, so happy mail was a fun surprise!

There was a very sweet note from Julie Hart along with this picture of Eric & Chafen’s baby, Hal. Hal is laying on the quilt that I made him!

I love making and giving away quilts – and I really love to see the people I give the quilts to love them as much as I do. Sometimes they’re hard to give away, but to see other people use them and love them makes it worth it.

March 6, 2011

. kahlua .

Something unfortunate happened this week….we ran out of kahlua. Winking smile

My Dad came to the rescue and made a QUADRUPLE batch yesterday!

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KAHLUA

Make simple syrup:
1 quart boiling water
Add 3 3/4 cups sugar
Boil 5 minutes

Add:
1/2 cup instant coffee, slowly (Folgers Coffee Crystals works good)
Bring back to a boil
Cool slightly.

Add:
1 5th Vodka (100 proof works best)
Pour into 1/2 gallon jug

Add:
2 – 2 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla

YUM! Nick, Kate, Dave, Karen, and Kamryn came over for a crab dinner last night and we tried out the fresh kahlua. Pretty darn good! We had a great evening with good friends and Kamryn provided the entertainment!

March 4, 2011

. happy friday .

This week was an emotionally crazy week – paired with a lack of sleep because my favorite dog has been deciding that 4am is a great time to want to play outside. I was so glad to come home to this quilt kit in the mail:

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(fun, right?!)

and these sweet pictures on Facebook.

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This is Louise Virginia Rein, my cousin Lisa’s daughter, laying on the quilt I made her.

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Louise is already almost 3 months old (not sure when that happened). I can’t wait to meet her next month and get to see her big sister and parents!

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