…what a week…

This week flew by in the blink of an eye…

It was the 2nd week of AP testing – I made it through proctoring 9 tests in 12 days! Not my favorite two weeks of the whole school year, but I made it through!

We had Beta Bunco night on Tuesday. Melissa beat me for most wins by one win. Competitive much?!

Mom & Melissa had their LASIK surgery on Wednesday! Although each had some complications, tonight they are well on their way to a full recovery. Hopefully they’ll be pleased with the final result.

I got a new purse yesterday at Heritage – I love it! I’m in <3 with houndstooth right now, so this was hard to resist!

Tonight, we celebrated with Tiffany Schneider after her graduation from WSU Tri-Cities with a BSN. YAY! You made it!

I’m really excited to go to Spokane on Sunday to Whitworth’s graduation and to cheer on Amber as she takes that walk across the stage! Can’t wait!!

Random, but this was my life this week! :)

…I love a plus sign…

I love this little quilt!

It’s another ‘designed-by-Marcie’ plus sign pattern. I just can’t get enough!

Nick & Kate gave me this fat quarter bundle for my birthday (such great friends – they know exactly what I’d love!)…

and I turned it into this!

I’m not sure what the line of fabric is called…

But it’s happy!

I quilted straight lines in random intervals from top to bottom and side to side. I love the effect it made on this quilt – it fits perfect with the pattern, in my opinion!

I didn’t have enough of the daisies for the back, so I added this gray & black polka dot. I like it better from a distance…

It’s bound in solid black, which I think makes a nice frame.

…pennies from heaven…

Last night at youth group, we got tally up how much money we raised in our “Fill the Can” fundraiser! This fundraiser was super simple – I found the idea online. The youth group-ies all brought cans of pop, we put labels on them, and handed them out after church one Sunday. The basic idea was to fill the can with change, cash, or checks – as well as prayers for the mission trip we’ll be going on in June. We handed the cans out around Ash Wednesday and asked for them to be returned on Easter.

We had a great response from our generous congregation! We rolled the change last night at youth group…there was so much, I did not think we were going to get it done last night. I thought we’d have to bag up what didn’t get rolled and do it again next week. I should know better than to not believe in these kids – they amaze me all the time!

They worked so hard rolling all this change – it was very overwhelming, but they had great attitudes and we had a lot of fun doing it!

We’re going to announce the official total at church on Sunday…but I will say that we are so lucky to have such a loving and generous church family who supports the youth with all their hearts. <3

. the royal wedding .

I definitely need to mark this moment in time, so if you’re royal wedding-ed out, go ahead and skip this one.

Mom & I got up at 5 this morning to watch the wedding before we went to work. I recorded the wedding hype beginning at 1am this morning on NBC and TLC (gotta get the legit news and the gossip too!).

We got to see most of the wedding and then a little of the journey from Westminster Abbey to Buckingham Palace before I went to work. Throughout the day, I was checking Twitter to keep up on it and now, home after a long day of work & a trip to the Tri-Cities, we’re watching all the recaps.

Here’s my personal commentary!

I loved her wedding dress. So simple and perfect for a royal wedding. And her sister’s dress – I loved the shape of it. Beautiful!

I really liked seeing all the guests – their hats & headdresses, dresses, and royalty & dignitaries from around the world. The British just do hats like no one else can…why can’t American’s embrace that tradition??

Well…maybe not… :)

(Princesses Eugenie and Beatrice)

More pictures to remember the day…

Did you see William lean over to Kate’s dad and say “This was supposed to be a small family gathering…”?

My other favorite part was after their vows & after William gave Kate her ring, the crowd outside the Abbey cheered and Kate smiled. So cute!

How great was this – that William drove their getaway car! Loved that surprise!

I think her second wedding dress was as beautiful as her first – definitely younger looking and more fashionable that the first. That will be copied for sure.

And finally, their new official portrait – which I think really shows them as a normal couple. “They” (who’s they?!) say that William and Kate are the beginning of a “modern monarchy” and I think this more casual portrait points to that.

I’m pretty fascinated with most things royal…British and otherwise, so this was pretty exciting! I wish it wouldn’t have been in the middle of the night on a Friday – otherwise I would’ve liked to have a royal wedding party! How fun would that be?!

. busy week .

I’m sure this has already been used as a blog post title a time or two…but it definitely describes this past week!

Jennifer & I have been working hard to move forward on master schedule building…we still have a ways to go, but we’re getting closer every day!!

We’ve had cheer tryout practice this week, culminating with cheer tryouts tonight. Here’s our group of girls that were trying out!

We ended up with a great group of girls for our 2011/2012 squads. I’m so excited for football season to start! :)

I found out today that as of Monday, we have exactly 6 weeks left of school, which means 7 for me! Wow – that is definitely manageable, but there is so much left to do between now and then! Priest Lake on my mind….every gosh darn day between now and then!

. happy birthday jennifer .

Today was Jennifer’s birthday. We celebrated it up big by working on scheduling ALL stinkin’ day in my office.  What a day, right?! That’s how everyone would want to celebrate!  :) haha

I made this bag for her gift…it was a challenging undertaking, but I like how it turned out. I think I’d try to make the top and bottom more even next time. I love the “Make Life…” fabric by Sweetwater!

I HOPE (hehe) she enjoys it!

Happy Birthday Jennifer! I love working with you and you make coming to work fun – even doing mundane tasks! :) I learn so much from you and I appreciate all the little & big things you do to make my life go more smoothly. I don’t know what I’d do without you! Hope you felt celebrated today!

. catching up .

Since last week,

• the Europe vacationers came home! It has been fun hearing their stories and seeing some of their pictures. Kate Hawk brought me this mug from Starbucks!
  
  It was so sweet of her to think of me. She didn’t even know that I have a small collection of similar city mugs from around the US. They’re packed away, so I can’t remember if I have an international one or not. I’ve been using this one the last few days for my morning coffee. I feel so special! Jennifer brought me a beautiful green pashmina that I have on the back of my desk chair for now. I can’t wait to wear it!
• I’ve spent the weekend at the Palouse Divide Lodge scrapbooking with my Mom, Melissa, Amy Kleinbach, and about 20 other ladies. I got 18 double page spreads finished in a little less than 48 hours. There was a lot of snow left up there, but it rained most of the day on Saturday some melted. It was a fun getaway to a cozy lodge with good friends!
• We came back on Sunday afternoon and headed straight for Johnson’s to celebrate Kamryn’s 1st birthday (already?!) and see the Vissers. Melissa kept saying, “the Swiss are here!” We spent a relaxing afternoon with them, catching up and helping Kamryn celebrate! She liked the tissue paper part of her presents best! I gave her this cute swim suit, so we had her model for us. She is definitely on the go, so no still shots!

• I went to Delt Clark’s T-Ball game yesterday. T-ball is just something you have to go to each spring! It was fun to watch – and it cracked me up when the kids kept asking if it was snacktime yet!

The next few days are full with Senior Parent Night, Masonic Junior Achievement Night, Stunt Certification Training for Cheer, and Easter on Sunday! I think I’ll be ready for a big nap on Sunday afternoon!

. double dip .`

I’m excited to share this one with you!

This is part two to the Double Dip pattern by Thimble Blossoms.

Here’s a reminder of part one:

I love love love this one…the zig zags are so adorable! It’s been on the back of our couch since I got it done.

Drumroll…..Part Two!

I did some straight line quilting – which I’m getting more adventurous with and loving the results.

As I was piecing this together, I wasn’t so sure I liked it. The colors weren’t jiving to me and then I put the border on and I was afraid it was too busy. Once I quilted it, I liked it more…it’s growing on me.

Pattern: Double Dip by Thimble Blossoms
Fabric: Bliss by Thimble Blossoms
Quilted & Pieced by: Marcie

. make a funny face .

We had another family dinner tonight at Mei Lings – a family favorite!! We always make it a point to go when Lisa is in town!

Frances entertained us all with her antics throughout dinner. She knows her colors, animal sounds, can do “cheers” with her juice box, give “knocks”, “rock on”, and this new cheesy face!

Doug was doing it to her as we were trying to take this picture:

We were all cracking up at Frances, the mimic. She is too much!
She and Melissa had a mini dance party in the restaurant. So adorable!

These girls are going to have grown so much by the next time we see them, in August. I’m glad we got to spend so much time together while they’re in WA – but always wish we lived closer. Hopefully one day….soon!

Frances: 23 months
Louise: 4 months

. you’ve been egged! .

(Thanks Mikaela for this idea!)

Tonight for youth group, we ding-dong-ditched…Easter egg chocolates!
We went to three houses, hid 12 Easter egg chocolates in the yard, put this sign on the door, rang the doorbell (or knocked), and ran.

 

They were supposed to be stealth, but it’s hard to keep 11 giggling teenagers quiet!

Look at that! You’ve just been EGGed!
But do not be alarmed.
We came, we dropped, we ran away…
Your house, it was not harmed.

So what is this before you now?
Just an early Spring surprise.
Be quick and look around your yard…
Twelve EGGs lay in disguise.

A secret friend has just dropped by
To share some spring time cheer.
So now you’re it! It’s now your turn
To Egg a house that’s near.

Select a friend, or two, or three…
Gather a dozen EGGs for each.
Be sly and hide them, knock, and flee!
Leave this message at arm’s reach.

Hang a poster at your door
And now your task’s complete.
Days ‘til Easter aren’t much more…
Aren’t surprises sweet!

We hope the families had fun with our little surprise. My apologies to the family who’s eggs were not so much hidden as thrown in their yard. Somehow 11 teenagers didn’t quite get the concept…