Happy Father's Day!

The Father's Day card Holly and Adam picked out. The Ten Commandments of Dad. I accidentally deleted the picture of the front of the card.
I would like to say that my Dad doesn't curse or swear, but he does tell us to turn off lights in rooms that aren't being used!
Happy Father's Day, Dad!

PS: Dad said he loved his card! I think it was a hit!

7(ish) Layer Salad

The recipe for this salad came from my sister's Mother-in-law who is an amazing cook. We had this salad at her house over Memorial day and I haven't gotten it out of my head.I put myself on a rather strict diet. Not entirely sure how long I'll make myself be this strict but I'm hoping to break some bad eating habits and create some new good ones. The diet I am putting myself on is basically just meat (fish and eggs and cheese included), veggies and perhaps 1 half cup of no-sugar-added apple sauce or a glass of skim milk every day. I hope to keep it up for the whole week and perhaps start adding in It's boring. I hate it. I miss junk food. But I'm going to do it anyway and I made this salad today to have something yummy to bring to work with me. I think there are more than 7 layers in this salad. I practically have a whole produce section in here. Wish me luck as I try to make it through a full-time work week without sugar...namely chocolate!

Beaded bobby pins

I had some fun this past week decorating these little bobby pins. I used fishing wire and beads I had along with a couple of drops of super glue (that stuff really sticks to your hands!) to do these. It was a fun little project. Easy and manageable while working full-time. I would like to do a few more in the future.

Gettysburg!

We took a little trip to Gettysburg Battlefield this past Sunday. The weather was made to order. I love it when the weather is perfect. Not too hot, not too cold...just right. In the words of Goldilocks anyway. :)








It was a huge battlefield. I had no idea how big it would be. You had to drive through it and even then it took us hours. It is very beautiful out there in Pennsylvania. But personally I think I liked Antietam Battlefield a little better. It is a little smaller and I think not quite as rugged as Gettysburg is.

Whenever I am on a battlefield or at Harper's Ferry I am just amazed at how peaceful those places seem. They're quiet and beautiful and yet so much violence took place there. Especially the battlefields. They're described as being blood-soaked and strewn with bodies. Horrible really. I couldn't picture it when I am in those places.

I like going to historic places. I think it's so neat to walk on ground that has been walked upon by historic people. George Washington was a scout or surveyor for Harper's Ferry so who knows if I have walked the same grounds as he did. I think it's sort of a neat thought.

I have often wanted to go to Israel to see the places that Jesus and his disciples and the apostles walked. Talk about history! I think it would be so awesome. That's one of my goals one day.

Craft Fair!

I went to a craft fair near Harper's Ferry on Saturday. It is a juried craft fair and you have to pay to get in (I had a coupon so I got in cheaper) so there were a lot of really talented artists there with beautiful creations! It was a lot of fun and I not only saw a lot of beautiful work but I got to talk to a few of the artists too which was fun.


Each ''store'' had a booth in the tents and there were probably about 10 of these large tents in the park with lots of stores in each tent.This lady makes wire jewelry. I bought a ring from her.

This store was just selling handmade soap. It smelled really good there.This store was selling hand-spun/dyed yarn and knitted goods. For very high prices...


This store was one of my favourites. The reason being that the artist is a patient at the dentist office I work at. All of this work is done by Mona Kissel and she is a polymer clay artist. Her work is just beautiful.

There was also a store where a lady was doing paper cuts. I am not posting that picture because she asked me not to put anything online because she didn't want anyone to steal her designs. I will just say that she did very pretty work. It looked like fun. She told me a lot of the history and technique behind papercutting. Perhaps someday I'll try my hand at that.

Also not pictured is the "hammock" store. I'm not sure what it was called but they had outdoor furniture and really awesome hammocks and hammock swings that are SO comfortable. I still haven't given up on my dream of owning one someday. :)

The only other thing I bought was a bottle of sparkling apple cider that my family helped drink up. Thankfully! It was very sugary so all I wanted was a little glass. But my younger brother was able to drink a lot of it being that he is a teenage boy who can eat whatever he wants. :) My little sister helped out a fair bit too.
I almost bought some yarn remnants from one of the yarn artists but I'm glad I didn't. I already have too much yarn that I haven't used yet and I can't justify any more. Truthfully I just can't justify any more craft supplies. :)
It's like a weird sickness or something. Am I the only one with this disease? :)

Oh summer...

Well, I don't think this summer is going to be the kind where I get to sit lazily in a hammock and breathe honeysuckle air and just take in nature in general. No. Not for awhile anyway. I'm very busy these next few weeks. I'm working 5 days a week this week and for the next 2 weeks at the dentist office so most of my days are filled with with dental assisting. I have been working on some fun stuff but our computer isn't letting me upload pictures so it will be awhile before I do any posting. But I am planning to do some posting on the things that I've been up to lately including journaling, gardening, sewing (hopefully), stamping...I'm also hoping to go to a craft fair this weekend and I'm sure I'll have pictures of that!

In the meantime, enjoy your summer!

2 months old today!

It's weird to think that 2 months ago today our Olive was born. Since then she has grown considerably and her personality is developing. She is a lot of fun. We love her. :)Happy two-months-old-day, baby! You are the best niece I could ever ask for.

Where I'd like to be.

This is my summer dream come true. A hammock. Unfortunately it isn't mine. But it is my sister's (she own's two) and I got to spend a lovely hour and a half or so there today. I sat out there with my niece in my arms and Jacqueline sat in the swing across from me and we swung and chatted until Olive fell asleep. I think God decided to give us a few extra springlike days since I was so allergic to the outdoors the past few weeks and couldn't go out and enjoy it. It is very gracious of Him.Jacqueline and Matt have a lovely yard. It's full of different kinds of trees and there are forsythia bushes and a rose plant out there too. Their next-door neighbor has a beautiful rose garden which is nice to look at too. I think that in their situation it's better than having their own rose garden because they can enjoy the beauty of it without having to care for it. Having an infant and keeping up with a garden sounds like a pill to me.

I think there must be honeysuckle near the yard because it smelled so good out there too. It was just a perfect way to spend an afternoon. Under a shady tree with a slight breeze, chatting with my sister (before they leave for 3 weeks!), snuggling Olive, inhaling the wonderful smelling air...I could easily spend every day this summer doing nothing but swinging outdoors. I could read out there, eat out there, knit or sew, nap in my hammock swing...

Someday I will have my own home and I will have a garden and in that garden I will hang hammocks and I will spend all summer outdoors in my garden planting things and when I'm not planting I'll be in my hammock. And I'll hang an extra one for visitors. Because the only thing that could make spending a summer outdoors in a garden with a hammock more pleasant is to have a friend out there with you.

Yum!

I found this recipe off La Fugi Mama's blog. They are excellent! I tried them out for a little home-thrown birthday party last week and I think they were great! Here's the link...try them out yourself! There were a lot of other great cupcake recipes on her site. Even a few unconventional ones. I'd love to try a few of her other ideas.

A birthday gift

For a fellow tea drinker!
Now she can carry up to 6 of any of the kinds of tea that she likes with her anywhere she goes! A small gift to a friend who continuously bestows the gift of kindness upon me and many other people. I am very blessed by her.

An early Mother's day card!

I brought this upstairs today and said to my mom, "Happy Mother's Day!" She laughed (!) and said, "Mother's Day isn't until next week! Holly gave me a card too!" Last week Holly told me that this Sunday was Mother's day so I stayed up last night and made this card for my Mom. I guess we both should have checked the calendar and realized that we were a little bit early. Now that I think about it Mother's day isn't usually the first Sunday of the month, is it?Well, I think being early is better than being late and this way we can celebrate again next week. My mom deserves to be celebrated a lot anyway. :)

The only thing I don't like about this card is that I wrote Happy Mother's Day of the front. I wish I had a stamp that said that so I could have stamped it or perhaps if I had some kind of a rub-on transfer that would have worked well too. Unfortunately I didn't have either so I wrote on it. But I like the flowers. :)

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.