As Seen On My Walk Today

This morning, I went for a little walk along one of the lakes here. I stopped to watch these two for a while.

Baby Blankets

Over the weekend I worked on a few more baby blankets. I had bought some more flannel to go with some that I had on hand. I am really happy with how they turned out. So soft and pretty! (The purple one on the bottom is the first one I made a few weeks ago.) (Go to this YouTube link to watch a tutorial of how to make these.)

One thing I've like about these, aside from the magic of the border, is being able to choose a decorative stitch for the top-stitching. I think you are able to see on this close-up some of the stitching I used. I even bought some variegated thread (with pink, yellow, green, blue, and purple) to use on these.

Now I just need some babies to wrap up in a cozy blanket. That pink one is so incredibly soft!

It Was Better and Better

Have you ever had one of those weekends that starts off great and just keeps getting better and better and better? (And yes, I can still call it the beginning of a weekend even when it starts on Wednesday night.) Last Wednesday Hubby and I took off for a long Easter weekend in Missouri. Our destination was the city of Columbia where we used to live for 10 years. Our son was just a wee little one year old when we moved there and our daughter was born there. Needless to say, but I'll say it anyway, the memories, oh the memories. They flood back when we are back in the town where the kids were tiny.

On Thursday, I started the best weekend ever by out hanging out at the mall and at the Panera where I first learned to love to hang out at Panera. I used to go there on my nights "off" as a young mom. I remember reveling in the no-little-one quiet and read and read and filled up on Diet Coke. I used that time to re-charge. (Trivia: Panera used to be called St. Louis Bread Company. That's what it was called when I first started going there.) (Columbia is officially an awesome town in my book because they don't just have ONE Panera, but THREE!) While I was in Panera I silently prayed, "God, it would be cool if I could see someone I know." And can you believe that just two minutes later an old friend walked in? So incredibly cool!

Every day we spent in Columbia was just as good as the previous one. We were blessed to be able to connect with several old friends. Pizza with the the son of some dear friends. A four hour lunch with a couple I consider our mentors. Good Friday Service at a new church in town was very moving. A five hour supper with friends who we used to exchange babysitting with. (Our kids have so many great memories of playing at their house.) Meals at good, interesting restaurants. (Including a restaurant that a former co-worker of my hubby's owns.) Sunday Easter service at the church where we used to worship. (So good to see some familiar faces!)

Sunday was an absolutely beautiful day and we celebrated Hubby's birthday by spending some time at a beautiful garden in town. We used to go there and let the kids run off their energy.

They've added some cute little statues all over the place.

Seeing the new green plants all over the place was just lovely.

Ahhh.... so peaceful...

We both remember watching our first-born walking some of his first steps on these pebbled embedded walkways.

We drove home with full hearts.

April HodgePodge

1. Have you ever played golf? Any interest in playing? Do you have a significant other who loves to play? Did you watch The Masters this past weekend?
Yes. No. Yes. No.
Believe it or not, I actually took golf lessons before we left Singapore 11 years ago at a very nice golf club there. I had fun with the friends I was taking lessons with, but I thought the whole game was incredibly boring. On our last day of lessons, we took the golf carts out and  played four holes. I remember thinking there was no way I could play eighteen holes! My favorite part of it was driving the golf cart. Now? Sometimes I go with Hubby when he golfs and I drive the cart. :)

2. Hats are back in fashion this spring...how do you feel about wearing a hat? (fyi-I'm not talking baseball caps) When was the last time you wore one? 
I have never worn a fancy hat. Not even when I was little. The only times I've worn a ball-cap type hat is when I was in the sun all day or snow skiing.  It's been years since I've done either of those. This is a picture of me sporting a lovely cap. Classy, huh? But hey, we had just finished with a day of snorkeling on the Great Barrier Reef in Australia! (I am no longer taller than those two kids. Sigh.)

3. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 meaning proficient and 1 meaning "I'd starve", how adept are you at using chopsticks?
Oh, I used to be really good (a 9.5) at chopsticks! I could not only pick up one peanut with them, but two peanuts at one time! Living in SE Asia for three years, gave me a lot of opportunities to practice. The first time I used them was when I was on a house hunting trip in Singapore with Hubby. The people from his work took us out for lunch at a local place. I did pretty well, or so I thought until they cleared my plate away. The table in front of me looked like a two year old had just eaten there. I was kinda embarrassed. I probably could get the hang of them again if I needed to, but I'm just not very patient with them any more. 

4. Has technology taken over?
Probably. But I think it's a pretty good thing. I love my smart phone. I love being able to look things up on Google, find restaurants, and use the GPS. And hey, if it wasn't for technology, I wouldn't be writing this blog, now would I?

5. In the course of a day how often do you look in a mirror?
Whenever I go in the bathroom. (And that all depends on how much water I drink.)
Ah-em ....awkward moment....
Next question.....

6. Tulip or Daffodil?
LOVE BOTH! I am crazy about spring and just love seeing all the flowers and flowering trees breaking into bloom.
Monday, we were driving back from a lovely long weekend away and stopped in a little town in Iowa at a Dutch Bakery and got the added bonus of seeing all their tulips in full bloom. I just loved all the colors and had an impossible time choosing which one was my favorite.

7. I am proud of myself for __________________.
A random act of kindness. But I'd rather not share the details. It was random, involved a stranger and involved me listening to and obeying a prompting of the Holy Spirit. (And then a little happy dance from me, because I was proud of myself.)

8. Insert your own random thought here.
On our trip home on Monday, we also stopped at my favorite spot on the campus where we went to college. There is a place between a bunch of the old dorms where there are a dozen or so Redbud Trees. Those are my favorite trees in the spring. I hopped out of the car and took a few pictures.

 

 

Dear Hubby:::

Happy Birthday to you today! Praise God for your life!!

How wonderfully special to celebrate your birthday and the resurrection of our Lord! A great day from beginning to end!

I love you. (Have I told you that? Have I told you that enough? I hope not, because I will never stop telling you that I love you.)

John 15:13 says: Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Remember all those years ago at that Keith Green concert when we stood next to each other and sang those words to each other? We were only friends at the time, but I know I meant them with all my heart. Now that we are a few decades down the road, I mean them even more. I have realized how much you have sacrificed for me. You do so much for me. You work hard to provide for me. You work hard to do things to make me happy. You shovel snow and mow the yard for me. You vacuum the house house for me. You take me to quilt stores and listen to me babble about sewing. You drop me off at the door of places we go. You take frequent weekend trips with me. You hold me when I cry. You love me. You are very patient with me.


I see all these things you do as your way of sacrificing for me. Of giving up your desires for me. I am so honored to be your wife. I love sharing life with you. I am so thankful God had you be born so that I could live my life with you. You are the best and I am blessed.

Thank you, dear Hubby, for being my best friend. I hope you think your birthday is a special day.

Happy Birthday!

Love,
J

Another Quilt Project

I finished off a little quilt kit I bought almost 10 years ago when we had a vacation on Cape Cod. I didn't realize that to construct this little quilt required a method I knew nothing about. There is a method in quilting called paper foundation piecing. It's a great method to use for tiny pieces and sharp points. Here's a link to a video that explains it, if you really want to know. I was thankful to be able find some video tutorials to watch so I could learn how to do this. I learn better by watching something than just reading about it. (I realize that this may be confusing. I just want to document my projects.)

This little quilt is 8" by 8".  Once I got the hang of it, it went together pretty quickly.

The Weekend

Let's see if I can crank out a half-way decent weekend recap.

(Half-way decent doesn't just depend on the words I write down, well maybe it does. I do need to find the correct words to make it sound like a fun weekend.)

Here we go...

I look forward to weekends so much. I love having Hubby around all to myself for a couple of days in a row.

Friday night we wanted to take advantage of the beautiful weather we've been having. I showed Hubby a trail along a lake that I like to walk along sometimes. Here's a picture of that spot I took last fall.

We thought we'd try to see a movie, so we grabbed a sandwich for supper  and went to the theater only to find a very long line out the door. Neither of us like to stand in line, so we punted the movie idea and went home. The rest of the evening consisted of the two of us flipping through the TV channels and playing Scrabble on out laptops.

I stayed up way too late Friday night work on a sewing project that my sister-in-law brought to my attention.

 She told me about a bunch of quilting/sewing YouTube videos that have managed to help me waste a bunch of time watching them and help me find a bunch a great ideas and help me to realize there are a few more tools for quilting out there that I don't have. Here is a (video) link to the receiving blanket I made Friday night. (It really takes longer a bit longer than 10 minutes, like she claims, especially if I cut one of the pieces of fabric the wrong size. I have no idea what I was thinking.) Now I just need to get to a fabric store to get some more flannel.

Saturday, Hubby worked outside getting things ready for summer. Due to quite a lack of rain last summer, one of the small pine trees in the front yard died and Hubby had to cut it down. I always hate to loose a tree. Now if it would just rain a lot more to revive the grass. While he was outside, I put the finishing touches on the receiving blanket.

Saturday night was the annual recognition dinner for the company my hubby works for. The company recognizes people for the years of service. No, hubby wasn't recognized this year, it goes in five year increments. But Hubby has to be there because he's the Head Dude in this area. And I have to go because I'm the Head Dude's Wife. Yippee. It's a difficult function for me, because I don't know any of  the people and I'm not very good at small talk. But, I plastered a smile on my face and brushed up my list of answers to possible questions and my list of questions for other people. Yes, it works best for me to think of these things ahead of time. I survived and really enjoyed the food. We even made it home in time to watch the last 14 minutes of the Final Four NCAA game. It was the best part of the game, from what I understand, and we were happy to see the Kansas Jayhawks win.

Sunday we tried (yet another) church about 20 miles away. After lunch, we drove 50 miles to a truck stop to meet our daughter and some of her friends who had made a road trip to Minnesota to visit another friend of theirs. It was totally worth the 100 miles total to spend 45 minutes with them and have some ice cream.

That about sums up the weekend.

(I might need to work on using better words to make our lives sound a bit more exciting, huh?)