Spring has sprung

Spring is definitely here in all its glory. Things are blooming and my car is a lighter shade of green thanks to the dusting of pollen all over it. Oh, and I am sneezing, my throat is sore and my eyes are swollen and red (which makes me look like I've been crying although I haven't been) thanks to all that light green pollen. I went to the doctor today to have all of my allergy prescriptions refilled. I hope it helps. That way I can be outside and enjoy all the beautiful pink and purple and white trees that are literally bursting or dripping (depending on the variety of tree) with flowers. I love it!

This was taken on the road to our house. Yes, it is gravel. This makes my dad crazy! The road was supposed to be paved at some point but so far it hasn't been. In addition to those purple trees there are tons of honeysuckle bushes all along the side of the road. During the summer it smells gorgeous down here!

My Tie-One-On apron!

Becca told me I had to finish it! I cut out the pieces at her house during
Spring Break but my Janome was being all weird so I brought it home and sewed it up on my Singer. I finished it a few weeks late but still in time to send it in for the Tie One On theme: Spend No $$$!

I used a Simplicity pattern that I bought a few months ago and used some fabric that I bought awhile back and I am very pleased with the way it turned out. I have made aprons without a pattern before and I like this one much better. The pattern I bought had several other apron patterns too and I might make a few of those also.

There is nothing like an apron to make you want to be in the kitchen. I had about 10 minutes before I was supposed to leave for school and I thought to myself, "I can get those done before I have to leave for school! And I'll wear my apron to keep from getting wet!" And I did! Only I was late for school because it took me longer than 10 minutes. Oh well.

New Blog Finds!

Who new that my co-worker had a blog since November and I never knew about it? Vicki does an incredible job at stamping and paper-crafting and has a blog to show all the great work she does. Check it out if you enjoy that sort of thing!

• The Briar Patch

New Arrivals

Arrival number 1: Spring...boy oh boy am I glad for warmer weather!

My niece, Olive Evangeline. Isn't she adorable? We certainly adore her!

This fellow is named Jude. He is an Havanese. I believe they are in the same family as the Bichon Frise. At 4 and a half months old he is only 4 lbs. A nice change from our 140 lb Newfoundlands!
And last, but not least, my cousins from Massachusetts arrived today to visit us. It was the first time they met Olive and the first time we met Cheyenne, my cousin's daughter. Hopefully we will get a chance to visit each other again soon!

She's here!

My beautiful niece, Olive Evangeline, arrived on Wednesday morning (yes, April Fools day) at 12:50 AM. She weighed 8 lbs, 3 oz, and was 20 in long. I was there for the whole thing. It was quite an honor!

Just watching her be born was so cool. I think my dental assisting background helped me out a little bit. In the way that I am more comfortable in more intense situations and seeing people get shots and in pain and bleeding doesn't make me woozy or panicky. But yeah, I was so proud of my sister. She was great through the whole thing. Very focused. Especially after she got the epidural! :) But even before then she did very well.

Watching Olive be born I can only say there is definitely a God, our Creator, who designed women to be able to carry a baby so perfectly and who made my BEAUTIFUL (!) niece. She doesn't even have a cone-head! My sister was SO close to having to have a C-section because of some complications, but in the end she was able to deliver naturally. She is exhausted and she lost a lot of blood, but both Mommy and baby (and Daddy too!) are doing well and they are going to stay with us this weekend. I'm so glad I'll be on spring break. It will be great to get to spend some time with them.

I'm so tired, but I'm really glad it's over and now we can get to know this newest member of the family and watch her grow. It's very exciting.

Yes, I was a homeschooler. And I'm proud of it! (This was so funny, I had to share!)

[ x] Own/have owned a denim jumper
[x ] You were at least 13 when you got your first "trendy" haircut
[x] Everything in your closet at some time was referred to as modest
[x] You do/have tucked things in that shouldn't be tucked in
[ ] You have been a member of at least 3 co-ops
[x] You were a true 16 and never been kissed
[x] Your mom drives a van of some sort.
[ ] You have at least one childhood picture where you, your mom, and all you siblings matched
[ ] You are/were/will be a PSEO Student
[x] At some point in your life you were more comfortable with adults than kids your own age
[x] Have studied ways to defend your beliefs, debate, and/or create laws
[x] Used uber conservative ABecka curriculum

TOTAL SO FAR- 9

[x] You use big words that most adults could not use in conversation
[ x] You can use the words sublime, epiphany, and cognizant correctly
[ ] You have a favorite word. AMAZING!!!
[ ] You have an understanding of Latin root words and how to use them (huh?)
[x] People from the outside world are referred to as "public schoolers"
[x] You or one of your siblings knits.well? maybe not
[x ] You laugh at the decline in literacy in America
[x] You score constantly higher than "public schoolers" on standardized tests.
[x] You have no concept of cafeteria food
[ ] Family vacations are/ can be referred to as "Field Trips"
[ x] Traveling on said vacations have included stopping at historical site markers along the way
[x] You have never been in a public elementary school, middle school, or high school during regular school hours
[ ] You have gone to or been involved in a homeschool convention... more then should be allowed.

TOTAL SO FAR- 18

[x] You read books on a regular basis
[ ] You have taken part in a political protest
[ ] You were a Pride and Prejudice fan before the movie
[ x] You were a Lord of the Rings fan prior to the movie
[x] You were a Chronicles of Narnia fan before the movie
[x] You speak a language other than English (if you count sign language...I can't speak Spanish to save my life!)
[x ] You dream of dating characters from books instead of celebrities. (I have fallen in love with book characters...I hate celebrities!)

TOTAL SO FAR- 23

It has been assumed that you:....
[ ] Have won many spelling bees
[x] Have no social life
[x ] Have no friends of the opposite gender
[ ] Are extremely inept
[x] Only listen to classical music
[ x] Play piano or the violin (and it's true I might add!)
[x] Do not own a pair of trendy jeans.
[x] Have no knowledge of drugs or alcohol
[x] Don't date, only court.
[x] Have never been to a "party"
[x] Know no other beliefs other than what your family believes



TOTAL SO FAR- 32

You have been asked more than 10 times in your life:
[] If you wear pajamas to school
[ ] If you get perfect grades because your mom grades you
[x ] If your mom teaches you or if somebody else's mom does
[x] How do you meet people
[x] Why you aren't in school
[x ] If you get days off whenever you want
[] If you're going to be home schooled through college
[] If you have a big family
[x ] What your parents are protecting you from
[ ] To quote something famous
[ ] For the answer, because supposedly homeschoolers always have all the answers


TOTAL SO FAR- 37


You have "rebelled" by:
[x ] Listening to "worldly music"
[ ] Wearing black fingernail polish
[ ] Wearing tight clothes or letting your midriff show or showing off what color of boxers you are wearing
[ x] Watching a *gasp* PG-13 movie
[ ] Breaking dress code
[ ] Listening to music with a beat
[ ] Dancing. Especially dances that involve contact for longer than 2 seconds. With somebody of the opposite gender. Scandalous!!!


TOTAL : 39

1-10 You're not really a homeschooler...you just do school at home
11-21 You're a homeschooler, but not what the world expects
22-32 You're a homeschooler(I knew it!)
33-? You probably wouldn't have facebook to begin with...but congrats you're the stereotypical homeschooler

Tag your homeschool friends and see what they are!

I'm at the hospital

I am waiting for the arrival of my niece and we are wondering if she will make her appearance before April Fools day! I'll be back with news soon and pictures too!

Oh I'm SOOOOOO excited!

Another one bites the dust

Well, I had hoped to share a lovely new skirt that I was working on today. I have a pattern that I've been wanting to try for a while now and I decided that today was the day to use it! It's been so much warmer around here lately that I've been wanting to wear skirts and sandals instead of jeans all the time.

I picked out my fabric that I wanted to use and after reading through the directions I pinned my pieces and cut them. I was excited because I had just enough fabric to make this skirt! Or so I thought.

I didn't realize that I was supposed to cut 2 of each of the panels. For some reason I thought I only needed to cut one of each piece. As you can guess I didn't have nearly enough fabric. I cut up a whole piece of cloth and I won't be able to use it. I chose fabric from my stash that I bought about a year ago so there probably won't be any left at the fabric store. And even if there is I have other things I need to be spending my money on. Like school supplies. I was accepted into college for the fall!

Oh well...better luck next time!

Welcome to my life...or part of it at least.

This is where I work. The dentist office where I spend quite a few hours each week making people miserable! Yay! Or not! Well, at least I don't intentionally make people miserable but people just don't seem to like coming to the dentist very much so they are usually pretty miserable. :(
This is one of the operatories in the office. Room 2 actually. As you can see it is pretty small and there is lots of dark wood...the office's decor is a little outdated (okay, a lot outdated. My boss's personal office has an ORANGE rug! Eww! lol). But we are slowly bringing things up to date by bringing in new chairs and we hope to get new computers and things someday soon. My doctor has only been there since June of last year and the improvements are tremendous!

My doctor's side of the room.

And this little space is my world. My chair, my cart with the suction (I used to be so scared of using the suction, now it is second nature.), and the laptop and x-ray tubehead. I spend a lot of time here. For example, I spent 10 hours there yesterday. Looong day!
I also spend quite a bit of time here. This is the sterilization center/lab.
Do you remember this picture from earlier?
This is what it looks like during the day.

This is where I've been for the past few days instead of at my sewing machine which is why I have no crafts or projects to post on. Instead work and school has been consuming my life. I failed a homework assignment in Chemistry and also one of the quizzes, but my teacher said almost everyone failed that quiz so he won't penalize us for that. Whew! But that homework assignment has been haunting me so today when I had my exam in that class I got so nervous that I didn't even get to finish one of the problems.
I'm so glad that I have tomorrow off!

Later~

Apron Theme: Spend No Money!

I think this is the perfect opportunity to jump in on the action at Tie One On. Once afore-mentioned energy comes back (and I finish my homework) I think I will break out that apron pattern I bought for a dollar(!) last month and give it a whirl. Luckily the deadline isn't until April 30th so that is plenty of time to work on one!

I bought some fabric to make into skirts and I'd like to try out the patterns I got on some cheaper fabric before I use the fabric I like to make anything. I'm hoping to start cutting out the patterns this week. Of course I intend to do a lot of things that don't quite get done, but I'm really hoping for this to happen. I'm pretty sure I only have one exam this week. I made a 96.7% on my last test in this class (chemistry) so I'm hoping I can keep my test scores in the 90th percentile. We shall see.
I'll check back in later.

Happy weekend. :)

yawn

As much as I wish I could say I finished or even started a new project this week I just can't. This week has really kicked me in the rear. I am too tired! Between work and school my energy has just been zapped. I paid a visit to the doctor this week to see if we can't find out why my energy is always so low. I get so tired that after a regular work day I am so sleepy I feel like I can't focus on my classes or even on driving which particularly causes me concern. And I try to get as much sleep as I can so it isn't like I am staying up to all hours of the night. Anywho, my regular doctor was booked and couldn't see me so I saw a different doctor and I just loved her! I want to see her from now on. She was so encouraging and she is into integrative medicine so she was understanding of how I prefer to use natural methods of healing rather than allopathic methods of healing whenever possible. We are running a bunch of tests and I have a follow-up visit scheduled with her. So hopefully my creative juices will begin flowing again soon and I will have the energy to act on them.
Until then, I'll just admire the other lovely springy work being shown on other blogs.
I guess did get some work done on the scarf I started awhile back so I guess that is something. It is about halfway finished. :)
ciao all!

Fashion Statements

For: x-lisa-x chic casual - by KAMILKA on Polyvore.com

(I did not make this set, I just found it on Polyvore and added it here for a visual.)


Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. - Colossians 3:12

As girls (and guys), we know that fashion plays a big role in our societies and, therefore, our lives. It is a huge industry! Our clothes say a lot about us and our lifestyles. People describe their styles as being preppy, sporty, retro, glam, bohemian, 80's, etc. etc. because they want to identify with whatever they are styling themselves after. We express what we like and often times who we like or want to be like through the clothes that we choose to wear. I mean, you can tell a person has a 'thing' for the 70's if they always wear clothing styled after that decade. We can tell a person likes bright colors, or a certain color, if all their clothes are really bright or contain the same color all the time. You can often tell which bands and brands people like if their clothes sport their logos.

So, as a Christian, it makes me wonder. When people look at us do they see compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience? Can they tell we identify with our God who saved us, loves us dearly, makes us holy? God tells us to clothe ourselves with these things. I know as well as the next person that you can't weave a shirt or pair of pants out of compassion and humility. But I would like for people to look at me and say, "she is kind (compassionate, gentle, patient, humble)" and know that I identify myself as the child of the one true God who loves me (and you).

I want that to be my fashion statement.

New on my knitting needles

I finished the other scarf. I am pleased with the way it turned out. Now I'm making another one for another friend at a different college. :) I need to learn how to make something besides scarfs! I still have this dream to knit a skirt, but I think I need to do some quick 'stash-busting' projects first. I have a feeling that a skirt will take quite a long time to do..

Puppy love

Here are the puppies our dog had. Only three out of the five made it past the first week. Now they are four and a half weeks old and they are huge! They are pretty sweet too. I took them outside this morning because it is so beautiful outside today. It is sunny and warm...we made it past January and February and although March technically counts as winter, I feel like spring is on its way!I love this first photo.

Our grass is dormant right now...it looks so ugly!

I love pictures of yawning puppies.

These puppies are very dark. They are very hard to photograph so I had to go back and lighten up the photos after I took them. Sorry the quality of the photos isn't so good.

I should post pictures that I took of our Weimaraner puppies when we used to breed Weimaraners. They were so cute.

New Sewing stuff

Over President's Day my Dad asked me if I wanted to go to JoAnn's fabric store. That was the first shock. He never asks me if I want to go there. I used to have to beg him or my mom to take me there.
The second shock was that I didn't really want to go. This necessary self-inflicted/enforced budget makes going out to the store not so fun!
But because he asked me, I went with him. He was refinishing a chair his grandmother gave him and they were getting ready to reupholster it and he needed some foam or something for it.

While we were there I decided to look through the patterns and guess what?! Simplicity had patterns on sale: 5 for $5! So I bought 5, because even on this budget I can afford that. :)I have never watched Project Runway, but I like the idea of wearing summer dresses. That is what these will become. They will probably be a little bit longer, and will definitely have straps. The pictures make me understand the whole concept of 'less is more.' I think I'll wear a little more fabric and show a little less skin, thank you. :)

And I think there is a rule somewhere that states: if able to buy a Built by Wendy pattern(s) on sale, do so immediately! I am just following rules set in place for my good. Right?
And because all of my aprons have issues with laying properly I got this apron pattern. Hopefully it will help me get the idea of how to make good aprons.
And I got this fabric on sale at Wal-mart. I don't like Wal-mart's fabrics, but I did like this print. And the denim was cheap and I want to try to make a skirt so that is where those came from.

Now I really need to start using up my stash. Right now it is spread around my bedroom in a very disorganized way.

Wowza!

Hey, look! How sweet of Lisa from The Hem Line blog to tag me with an award. :) Thank you, Lisa! I'm completely flattered!

So I am supposed to send this out to 10 other bloggers, but I'm not sure I will make it to that many!

So I think I'm just going to send it out to the ladies whose blogs are what made me interested in blogging to begin with and to the ladies whose blogs are just beautiful and inspiring! I hope that someday my work is as good as theirs is!

- Chara Michelle
- Brin from My Messy Thrilling Life She has a great blog but she is shutting it down next month. I am not the only person who is very sad about this. :(
- Pleasant View Schoolhouse
- Sparkle Power
- Tiny Happy

Isn't blogging fun?

Breaks (Written on a Friday, posted on a Sunday)

It's Friday. I'm at work on my break. And it's a lovely day. Today I have the office basically to myself. It is rainy outside. Normally I don't enjoy rainy days like this. I'm a sunshine-loving girl. But every once in awhile I enjoy a rainy day. Especially when it feels almost like spring outside. I also (surprisingly?) enjoy working on Fridays. And I enjoy the opportunity to be alone for a little while with no sounds except my own breathing and the 'drip drip' of the rain outside and the 'tick tock' of the clock on the wall and the clicking of my keys on the keyboard as I wait for 3 o'clock to roll around so I can head home and enjoy the rest of my day. I have plans for this weekend! After a particularly long and trying week I am ready to spend 2 days with family and friends enjoying the people God has placed in my life. What would I do without those wonderful people? They are truly a blessing!

Inhale, exhale; drip, drop; click, clack; tick, tock...two and a half more hours until my lovely weekend begins!

Happy weekend. I hope it's lovely for everyone!

A baby is God's opinion that the world should go on. ~Carl Sandburg

A few months ago at work I was talking to a patient who was telling me about her grandchildren. I told her that my sister was expecting a baby and how excited I was. To my horror she looked at me and squinted her eyes and said, "I wouldn't bring a baby into the world! Would you?" Um...absolutely! Having a husband and family has been my dearest dream for a long time. I know times are difficult, but the world has faced dark times before and children are the hope for the future. They are the future. I was mad at that woman for trying to burst my bubble. Maybe I should have felt sorry for her because her perspective was so wrong.

So I was thrilled when I saw all the people who came out to the baby showers that the ladies at church threw last week and the one we threw yesterday. Friends and family who came to celebrate a new life and show their support for my sister and her husband. It was so encouraging and it meant a lot to our family.

I said I would show pictures of the other hand-made gifts. Here you go! Sarah made these beautiful baby hats. She made several sizes so the baby could grow into them. She used great colors, don't you think?
Holly, my younger sister, made this elephant. It came from Joelle Hoverson's Last Minute Patchwork Quilts and Gifts. I LOVE that book! I think I've used it more than any other sewing/craft book I own.
Sharon (my brother-in-law Matt's mom) got this kit and made it when he was a baby but never framed it. So she framed it and gave it to them for their baby. Sweet isn't it?!
Somehow, I think her quilt is sweeter! I just love the colors she used. SO gorgeous! I think log cabin quilts look so beautiful, but I'm not sure I would have the patience to make one. I can only imagine all the hard work that went into this.
Matt's dad made this cradle for their baby. That family is so talented! Everything they do turns out so beautiful!

And this perambulator is cool! The word perambulator makes me think of The Importance of Being Earnest. If you haven't seen that movie, go watch it. It's so funny. I get the song stuck in my head, but it's okay. It's one song I don't mind having stuck in my head. :) Matt and Jacqueline were given this pram by someone who Matt worked for. They aren't sure if they are going to take the baby out in this thing (though it would be kind of cool huh?) but it is so pretty! We used both the cradle and the pram to hold shower gifts. They were neat decorations.
So let me tell you (and show you) the shower!

Becca, Susan and Tasha helped us out so much. They helped prepare food, blow up balloons, and decorate. They were great! I don't know what we would do without them. :)

And speaking of food: We had two tables set up in the dining room for all of it! One large one for real food and a smaller one for the desserts. Tasha made the pretty crepe paper bow. None of us like using crepe paper, but she did a great job decorating with it.
Hmm...yummy. :) I don't even want to know how many calories are on that table. After all, you know what I always say: Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we diet! Only I don't really diet very much which is why I'm so skinny. Or not...hmm...
Jacqueline and Tasha decorated the cup cakes. Yes, Jacqueline decorated the cupcakes for her own shower. It's art on a plate!

Actually, speaking of art on a plate take a look at this veggie tray!A swan made from an apple. This was made by Christina (the picture below). She studied culinary arts in school. Isn't she talented?We tried to keep the decor simple. We used flowers and the gifts and food to make things look festive.
And all the beautiful ladies made the place pretty too. :) There is my pregnant sister! She is talking to Matt's aunt Christine and his cousin's wife, Tracy. I hadn't met Tracy before. She is very nice! And stylin too! And she owns a weimaraner Oh I miss my weimaraner. :(

We played this fun game where a few of the ladies put balloons under their shirts (to look like they were pregnant) and had to tie their shoes. The first one to tie both shoes won!
Susan is an expert mom. She has 6 sons! She was pretty quick!
Liz had a hard time. Her excuse was she adopted both her sons. :)We also did a little mixer at the beginning so people could meet each other. There were quite a few folks who came from out of town and we wanted everyone to have a chance to interact and meet each other. What they did was everyone got a slip of paper and they wrote down an unusual fact about themselves. Then they threw the slips into a basket and we mixed it up and they all drew one of the slips out. Then they had to go ask around and find out who wrote whatever was on their paper.
It was fun to find out who was a deputy sherrif, who rescued ducklings from a storm drain, who backpacked through Europe, who took the opportunity to reinvent themself and who managed to set their own broken leg after being kicked by a horse! Everyone got a chance to share something about themselves and most of us got a good laugh out of it!

Fun times. :) But I have to admit, I'm relieved it is over! I had a great time, but I was plumb worn out by the end of the day!

Handmade baby shower gifts.

These were some onsies that my co-worker gave to me to give my sister. They were gently used and the only fault we found with them were, "they're kind of...boring." Yes. The plain white and pink and yellow onsies were boring. Or they had little appliques that my sister did not like. Things that said ' I'm the Princess!' or some other such saying. I think the baby will be a princess (being that she is the King of King's child), but we don't want her to walk around with a princess complex or anything. So we covered it up!I used to look at yo-yos and think to myself, "ick!" Shocking because they were so easy and fun to make and are really cute! A quick way to dress up so many things. I think my yo-yo making days are just beginning.

Nothing like a baby shower to change your life. :)
Okay, so I have this fabric that looks like an ice cream cone. I was able to cut up pieces and applique them to this onesie/sleeper (whatever it is) and then I couldn't help myself and added the iScream writing to the bottom. It was supposed to look like the lettering for iPod.
I was told that flannel receiving blankets make better burp cloths than cloth diapers do. I heard that they are easier to wash and keep clean.
But aren't receiving blankets really big? I found this idea for homemade flannel burp rags on a blog somewhere awhile ago and thought it was a great idea.
I have a picture of this quilt when it was just a pieced quilt top. I finished it up and tied it off last week. With all the pink things I knew this baby would be getting, I decided to go for some neutral colors and chose green. She is due just after St. Patricks day and she is part Irish.
That doesn't actually have anything to do with why I chose green for the quilt. :) I just liked the colors.
I put these together in a basket with more onesies from Target (with little sheep on them...aww!) and some baby wash cloths and baby mittens and a rubber ducky (that says HOT on the bottom if the bath water is too hot) and called it a gift.

Wait till you see some of the other handmade goodies given at the shower from grandma's and friends. It was so fun to see the things people made.

In 2 days

I will get to post pictures of all the things I've been working on! My sister and her husband's baby is due in March and we are throwing a baby shower for her this weekend. There will be about 30 people at our house tomorrow! I'm so excited! There is so much cleaning and rearranging and baking and decorating to do tonight and tomorrow. There is nothing like a baby shower to have an excuse to get together with friends and plan and shop and do all sorts of fun things! My mom recruited me and Becca to run the games for the shower and I have had fun getting together with her and planning and shopping. And of course talking about all the crazy stuff going on in our lives right now. Thank God for friends!

I have been sewing like a madwoman these past couple of weeks! I have found that, like other crafters, I like to show love for people by making them things. Putting time and thought into a gift just for someone is something I really enjoy. And getting something handmade is really touching too. So tonight I will go home and wrap up my gifts for the shower and start in on the baking that has to be done by tomorrow afternoon. We are having too much fun getting ready for this baby!

This will be the first grandchild/niece in our family. I cannot tell you how excited I am to meet the newest little member of our family! We've been praying for this baby since before it was conceived and I cannot wait to see what she looks like and to watch her as her personality develops and as she grows and discovers the world around her. For someone I have never met (though I have felt her kick a few times!), I love her so much. And in about 3 weeks she is due to arrive.

And then I'll probably be so busy staring at her and begging to hold her that I won't be making very much stuff at all! So it's a good thing I've been getting it out of my system now!

I'll be back in a couple of days with pictures!

Have a happy weekend. :)

whew! What a week!

It's been one of those weeks. Stress levels are running high. Our hygienist put in her notice at work. My boss is really stressed out and I feel like it's affecting the office. I found out my plans for school have been changed. 10 more people are coming to the baby shower this weekend so Becca and I met up last minute to change our plans for games, which was nice and I am pleased with the alternative games we chose.

Sigh. I am so ready for this week...no...more than that...this time to be over. I can't stand not knowing what is going to happen to me. I can't stand waiting and waiting to find out what my future is tentatively going to look like. I'm so frustrated and I feel so alone. And I feel scared too. I hate feeling this way.

This past year has had its share of highs and lows. I've struggled with a lot of things this past year that have caused me to be kind of down. But when I am very stressed out or struggling with something, somehow God provides encouragement for me. Sometimes it is through a conversation with my mom or sister or a friend. Other times it is in unexpected places. I was browsing through blogs (so what else is new?) and on one of the blogs I was looking at the author posted part of Psalm 37. And it was exactly what I needed to hear (or read). I'm going to post pieces of the Psalm here, but you can view the whole Psalm by clicking on this link.

Psalm 37:3-8, 18-19, 23-24

³ Trust in the Lord and do good.
Then you will live safely in the land and prosper.
⁴ Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you your heart’s desires.

⁵ Commit everything you do to the Lord.
Trust him, and he will help you.
⁶ He will make your innocence radiate like the dawn,
and the justice of your cause will shine like the noonday sun.

⁷ Be still in the presence of the Lord,
and wait patiently for him to act. (so hard to do!)
Don’t worry about evil people who prosper
or fret about their wicked schemes.

⁸ Stop being angry!
Turn from your rage!
Do not lose your temper—
it only leads to harm.

¹⁸ Day by day the Lord takes care of the innocent,
and they will receive an inheritance that lasts forever.
¹⁹ They will not be disgraced in hard times;
even in famine they will have more than enough.

²³ The Lord directs the steps of the godly.
He delights in every detail of their lives.
²⁴ Though they stumble, they will never fall,
for the Lord holds them by the hand.

Oh my, those last verses are the part that I really NEEDED to hear! I get so anxious about making decisions and facing unknown situations. Knowing God is holding my hand and directing my steps and delighting in every detail of me life is such a comfort. And even if I stumble, Jesus won't let me fall. What a beautiful promise!

Wishing...

Not that I need another sewing/craft book. I have a whole stack of them that I haven't made good use of *yet* and I couldn't justify buying two more. But if I could, I would want these two.I think the cover alone is just so inspiring. It's springy/summery for one thing. It makes me want to don a yellow (a color I am liking more and more lately) skirt and climb a tree just like the girl on the cover.
I have the other Sew What! books and I particularly like the Sew What! Skirts book. The Fleece one is good too, but fleece is pretty expensive so it's not as practical for me. This one looks like fun too.

What are your favorite crafting books?