Friday Fill-Ins

What a week!  Luckily my Mom and Aunt arrived yesterday so I'll be spending the weekend with them until we bring my Aunt to my cousin's and then Dad is coming on Monday!  It will be an interesting week or so!

Trying to get back in the swing of things so I thought I'd do a Fill for the day.

1.   Blogging is     something I'm working to be better at (and missed while I was gone)    .

2.  A current fashion trend I wish I was brave enough to wear is    leggings/skinny jeans, and knee high boots.  I really, really wish that I could wear this style.  I love it, but my calves are way too big I think.  

 

3.  My greatest accomplishment in life thus far is    graduating from college, engineering kicked my butt  .

4.  If I had to choose between a mountain or a beach vacation I'd choose  the beach.  I love to just sit back and relax in the sun and water, even though I'm not much of a swimmer. 

 

5.  A talent I wish I had is     to be able to do my make-up and my hair.  I am no good and doing make-up.  I can do other people's hair, pin it, style it braid it, but I can never do anything with my own, it's so plain and boring  .

6.  A talent I do have is    being able to engineer things.  I love making cards and sewing, but sometimes it's a little bit of creative engineering to make them look pretty. :-)  

7.  This week    is over!  So glad that my mom and aunt are here and dad is coming soon!   

Wedding Gift

As I mentioned our friends Matt and Candra got married last weekend.  I knew I wanted to make them something as a gift but I didn't know what.  I saw the beautiful McKinley quilt pattern on obsessive crafting disorder and I thought it was perfect!  I modified the pattern to be bigger and instead of using charm packs, I just cut out my own 5x5 squares.  I absolutely love the fabric!

Here's the full quilt, thanks to KC for holding it up for me in the backyard.

A couple of close-ups of the squares and the backing, made with a twin sized brown cotton sheet from Target:

 I hand embroidered their names on the front:

 Used my Stampin' Up Big Shot to makes some 'flowers' to add some appeal:

I made a cute bride and groom card to go with it:

 This was definitely a time consuming project.  I loved how it turned out.  I had hoped to make it bigger.  I just knew that with the late start, I wouldn't have been able to make it bigger and finish on time.  I spent an entire weekend sitting at the kitchen table, just quilting. Matt and Candra loved it, I'm glad that I did it!  Thanks for your advice that you would have loved to receive something like this.  It definitely gave me the motivation to get going on it.

I'm still here!

I can't believe it's been so long since I last blogged.  September 15th!

Remember that new job that I got?  Well it has just sucked up all of my time lately.  I can no longer blog during my lunch time.  I had to get on the phone at 9pm for conference calls and that just left me with no time to blog.  It is really overwhelming to start I new job.  I never imagined it would be like that.  Despite that, I am soooo happy now at work.  Before I was feeling unsatisfied and unmotivated.  Now, it's all very new and exciting!  The late night phone calls stopped this week so hopefully I'll have a little bit more free time to do some blogging.

I have lots of things to share.  Our good friends Matt and Candra got married and it was a beautiful ceremony.  Later this week I'll share the gift I made for them.  I ran a 5K, and started training for another 10K.  Unfortunately the half marathon got put on the back burner after an ankle injury earlier in September.  This weekend KC and I did Habitat for Humanity and it was an interesting time.  Didn't feel like I helped as much as I would have liked but framing and roofing is hard when you don't like ladders.  :-)  My sister and I went to a Lady Antebellum concert and it was great!

On top of not writing posts, I haven't been reading/commenting much either, or reading the book club book.  Things are looking busy but manageable now.  I hope to get some more posts up and start commenting and reading more.  I miss blogging and hope that you'll "have me back"!  :-)  Thanks to Jessica for reminding me and motivating me to write a new post!

Let me google that for you!

Ok, so my husband showed me this tonight and I just about died.**  I love it and had to share!  Please, tell me that I'm not the only one who is just hearing about this.

The website 'Let me google that for you' is located here.  You type in your question and hit the Google Search button.

It then, provides you with a URL, in this case, it gave me this one, which you in turn send to the person who asked you a question.  The resulting URL animates someone typing the question into google and then says "Was that so hard" and then directs the user to the google results search page.

Ha ha, it cracked me up!  I love it! Though I think I'll chose wisely who to use it with. :-)

** This resulted from someone asking me a question that I thought was rather 'duh' and they could have just figured it out by googling it.  Just a pet peeve of mine! 

Just thought I'd share.  I hope you're all having a good week, mine is busy, busy!

Book Beginnings and Bookends - CeeCee Wilkes - Chapters 50 - 71

It's the last week for CeeCee Wilkes over at Book Beginnings and Bookends.  

1. At the end we find out Tim was sending Cory money because he thought she could be his daughter since he was having an affair with Genevieve. Did you see this coming?

I was suspicious as to who was sending the money and why if you remember back to when we answered questions a few weeks ago.  While I had no idea why he was sending the money, I was suspicious that it was Tim (and I still don't understand how he could send money if he was in hiding but that's a different story, he must have taken out all his money before the whole thing went down.)  I did not see it coming that he thought it could be his daughter though I was a little suspicious and felt that there had to be some motivation or something.

2. By the end of the story, what were your feelings about Eve? How had they changed since the beginning?
By the end of the story I was happy that Eve received the closure that she needed, she needed to change what was happening to her and it was the only way.  I think the life that she lived is very different from what she would have lived had she not had to keep this secret.  She was very cautious and not very open, now maybe she can live a little bit free-er and little happier.

3. Were you happy with the way President Russel treated Cory?
Yes, I understand where he was coming from in wanting justice for what happened to his family/his wife.  I'd like to think I'd be understanding of the other side of the story but I don't really know if I could be.  In the end, it was very commendable of him that he shortened her sentence and I hope that Cory is able to co-exist peacefully with both families.  Catch up on all the time missed with the Russel's and with her mother since they were so distant for so long.

4. If you were in Cory's shoes and had just found out all of this about the woman who raised you and who you believed to be your mother, how would you react? Would you forgive?

I have absolutely no idea.  I think, as Cory did, I would push her away at first.  I would feel shocked and angry and upset and fooled, like my entire life was a lie. I would want to hear every single detail and know everything that happened.  Then I'd hope that I could realize that my life wasn't a lie, that even though it wasn't what it would have been had this never happened, that I still had a mother and father and sister that loved me and that's what a family is.  

5. In your mind, how does this story end? Do they all live happily ever after? Does Cory go on having relationships with her old family and her new family?

In my mind, I kind of wanted to hear a little bit more about Eve's trial.  At least know what happened and what was said.  I think that they move on to live happy lives eventually.  I hope that Cory is able to go through some sort of treatment for her fears and learn to live a happy and independent life.  I hope that she is able to build new relationships with her new family and make them better with her old family.  She's been through a lot and deserves nothing but the best for her and her baby in the future.  

I hope that Eve is able to have as normal of a life as possible after everything that she's gone through.  I hope that she can share her mother's letter's with her daughters and maybe even see Ronnie again.

6. How do you think Cory has changed throughout the story? Have your feelings about her changed?

I kind of have a love/hate relationship with Cory.  I loved her because she was sweet, innocent and quirky.  Then got mad at her because of Ken and thought she was being kind of selfish and slightly over-reactive.  I'm so glad that she dumped Ken and I think that really helped her.  Her listening to Eve and forgiving her and helping Eve put me back on the love end again.  I hope she was able to find a good balance in all of her relationships.

Overall I enjoyed the book and participating in a book club was a different experience for me.  I certainly enjoyed it.  Hopefully I can join in again in the next go around. Can't wait to see what the next book is going to be!

You can link up here!

Fab Friday!

It's really been a great week!

1.  You have all been super sweet with your comments about my quilt.  Thank you so much you made my day!

2.  My new job is off and running.  It's very overwhelming, but I'm so excited.  Unfortunately my blogging might take a bit of a hit, because I don't have as much free time anymore.


3.  Tonight we're going over to a friends house for a game night, where we will undoubtedly play our favorite game of catchphrase!

4.  I'm wearing my cute new ruffled flats from the one and only Target today and I love them.  (and I got them on sale!)

5.  The start of football yesterday is so exciting!  That means that it's time for Fantasy Football!  I've had teams the last 2 years, the first year I got 1st place and the 2nd year I got 2nd place.  There are 12 teams total, 2 of them owned by females.  The guys have it out for us every year, but it's still lots of fun!  I'll be spending this Sunday watching football and sewing.

6.  KC and I are going to a fancy dinner tonight to celebrate my promotion/new job and we've been saving our change over the last year and have over $100 in there!  Yeah, can't wait for date night!

7.  I want to cook Spaghetti Squash (never have before), does anyone have any awesome recipes that they'd recommend?

What's everyone else doing this weekend?  Hope it's a great one!

Not bad for a first try. . . .

So I finally finished my first quilt.  Overall, I'm pleased with the results.  It certainly has it's quirks and is kind of small, though I imagine it's a great baby quilt.

I followed the tutorial posted on Moda Bake Shop for Pure Baby Boy by Teaginny Designs. 

I used thee Fandango by Kate Spain Jelly Roll.  I cannot remember the solids though, but I'm pretty sure they were Bella Solids by Moda.

I followed the directions on the post pretty much to the letter.  I did add the extra solid colored strip on the back, but found I didn't really need it. 

 I always have a few lessons learned after a sewing project and this one is no different.

• Don't be afraid to remove some stitches and do it again.  If you look close at some of the blocks you can see some of the seams don't line up perfectly (which honestly, really bothers me)
• Stick to solid backings for a while.  The backing on this is pieced and when I basted it, it was not straight so the top and bottom pieces are not even.  Ah well, live and learn.
• Spray basting is sticky.  I really wasn't happy/impressed with the spray for basting the quilt.  It was sooooo sticky.  When I was doing the binding, my needle ended up covered at the end.
• The edge of the presser foot is definitely bigger than expected, which made the binding a bit more difficult to complete.
• Quilting is lots of work and I need to find a walking foot for the next project.

I think I'll stick this one in my office at work for days when I get cold, plus it'll add a little bit of color.

Overall, I'm calling it a success and a learning opportunity.  On to the next one (I may have started it already).  All recommendations, suggestions and tips welcomed.

Tag you're it!

Katie from Oui, Bien Sur! tagged me to answer 8 questions about myself.  I thought it would be fun to play along.

1. What is your least favorite food?
   My least favorite food would have to be muscles or clams or scallops.  They're just a bit too slimey for my tastes. (shudder)
2. As a past wedding guest, what is one thing that annoys you? How did you (or plan to) avoid it at your own wedding? (whew, sorry, long answer, brace yourself!)
   For me there were 2 things that annoyed me.  The first I suspect is common and unavoidable in some situations, 'the gap'.  Mostly common in Catholic weddings, but I went to a wedding where we had to wait 2 hours between the ceremony and the reception (with nothing to do in between and we were out-of-towners).  To avoid this as much as possible at our own wedding, we scheduled our cocktail hour during the gap and missed it ourselves.  Honestly we never had any intention of attending a cocktail hour, so this was the best option for us, though I do know it's unavoidable so I try my hardest to understand and not be annoyed when it does happen.
   The second thing was kind of more of a bride thing, but as a guest I was all kind of like, it's a little upsetting that we didn't get a picture with the bride-and-groom at all.  I mean if it was me I would want to remember everyone.  So when it was our turn.  During our cocktail hour, when everyone was in the other room and our formal pics were taken, we sent the Bridal Party on a mission to go in to the cocktail hour and find groups of people for pictures.  All the people we went to college with, all the people from mom's sided, dad's side, etc etc.  We took a picture and sent them on their merry way back to the cocktail hour until we started the reception.  It worked really well and I'm so glad we did it.  I think we have pictures or almost everyone that was there!
3. What movie can you quote along with the best?
   Hmmm, I don't know, I'm not much of a movie quoter really.  I'm getting to know The Ugly Truth, 27 Dresses and The Proposal though because I've been watching them lately.
4. What’s one thing that will be on your Christmas list this year?
   Fun answer - MacBook Pro - oh how I long for you! or iPad - though I'm holding out for the next generation!
   Semi-fun answer - Fabric! - I am loving so many different fabrics out there it's so hard to decide.
5. What is your favorite thing about blogging?
   My favorite thing about blogging is the people.  Everyone is so nice and offers help and leaves some great comments.  The ideas people have are amazing and I just want to try them all! 
6. If you could live in any other decade which one would you pick?
   I have no idea what I would pick.  Mostly I think I would pick the roaring 20's.  Known for a time when people were breaking traditions, the jazz era, women got the right to vote.  I would have loved to see my great-grandma when she was younger!
7. Where has the best meal of your life been and what did you eat?
   This is tough, I think that the best meals of my life have both been meals where I ate salmon, one being one of the specials at McCormick and Schmick's (with a blue crab stuffing) and the other at Top of the Hill (with mushroom Risotto and grilled tomatoes).  Two things about this, first, both of these dishes were specials for the day when we went and it's rather upsetting that I can't have them again (or find the exact meal to tell you what it is), though I suppose it opens my horizons to trying new dishes!  Second, up until about 3 years ago the only seafood I ate was shrimp cocktail and fried haddock.  I now love salmon out but struggle to cook it at home.
8. What is your guilty pleasure TV show?
   I don't consider any of much shows that I watch regularly guilty pleasures.  My guilty pleasures are the Lifetime or made for TV movies that I get drawn into watching when I'm hanging around channel surfing.  Once I start watching I'm hooked and can't turn it off until it's over!

That was fun (and tough!).  I'm not one for tagging people because I want everyone  to participate!  Link back if you answered them, I'd really love to see peoples answers to these.  

Here are my questions:

1. What's the one thing you and your husband or significant other have agreed to disagree about?  
2. What's your favorite flavor of potato chips?
3. What's the one fall/holiday tradition that you're looking forward to?
4. Do you sing out loud in the car?
5. If you could have a shopping spree at 1 store, what store would it be?
6. What's your favorite dessert?
7. If you could have a role in 1 TV show, what would it be?
8. Coke or Pepsi?

Love Long Weekends!

Hey, remember me, the girl that used to blog here.  I hope so.  Last week was a good and bad week.  I got a new job (Yeah!), but I'm having trouble coming up with blogging content and I don't really want to get too caught up in participating in things just to have some blogging content.  So I'll slowly make my way back and blog what I've got and not push myself too much.  I'll get back to commenting too!  I have been reading though, so please don't think I haven't. With that said, it was a great weekend.

We decided on Wednesday that we should take Friday off.  We had plans for the weekend and wanted to enjoy them and had some things to get done around the house.

Friday we got some stuff done (cleaning, cooking) and headed off to the beach.  On the way we stopped at the Outlets where I got some new running clothes (finally some shorts) and visited the Loft Outlet.  I think I could have stayed in there for hours!  I found a few new shirts and sweaters.  With my new position I feel like I need to dress up a little bit more.  I'm pretty sure KC doesn't want me going back there for a while, but I'm planning to go back when mom and dad visit!  I'm limiting myself though to what I can't buy (solid sweaters, ruffle tanks and plain cardigans (without something underneath - not allowed!).  I think I need to expand my accessories, scarves and jewelry will go far.  I've never been one to branch far in the jewelry area but I think it'll help!

We got to the beach house late Friday and stayed up late chatting.  Saturday while KC went to play Ultimate with his team I went for a run/walk.  Half marathon training is not going well though.  I was fine until last weekend, when my ankle started hurting and I just can't figure it out.  I tried to go easy on it this week but I think I just need to let it rest for a few more days.  It just hurts and I don't know what's wrong, it's in the back, so doesn't feel like I rolled it.

The rest of the day Saturday we went to the beach and it was wonderful.  Earl couldn't keep us away.  The water was a bit rough.and the waves were definitely big.  Sunday the waves calmed a bit.  All in all though, the weather was phenomenal.  Temps in the upper-80's I think and just beautiful.  We could not have asked for more perfect weather.  One a little bit of a sun-burn so all-in-all a very successful beach trip!

It was different people's responsibilities to plan meals (we did breakfast) and one of his teammates was talking to KC about dinner and they had the fabulous idea to replicate a Tahou's Garbage Plate.  His teammate is from Rochester and we went to school there so it was a must at that point.  Now before I go into the details into what is contained in a plate, I should say that the first time I heard of it, I thought, how disgusting, are you serious.  Then I tried it and I was like, whoa, not bad.  Then, one night at 2AM as we headed home from the bar we stopped and that was it, it is like heavenly drunk food!  Ha ha.  Your typical garbage plate looks similar to this:

What is it you ask?  Well, it's have 'hash browns' and half macaroni salad on the bottom.  Then 2-cheeseburgers on top, followed by the 'special sauce'.  Typically there are fresh chopped onions on top (not on mine) and then people put various amounts of hot sauce, ketchup and mustard on top.  The key is to cut it all up and mix it together.  It looks gross, but it is so delicious.  I only at 1 burger and definitely it wasn't as big as the pic above.  If you ever go to Rochester, NY, I would highly recommend a Tahou's garbage plate, either from the original Tahou's or at a local 'Hots'.  There are other varieties, with hot dogs and chicken and other things instead of burgers, but that is a traditional plate and the only one I've had to vouch for.

Monday we headed to the local Triple A team's baseball game as friends had extra tickets.  It was hot but it was nice to spend an afternoon at a baseball game.  We went into extra innings and had a lot of fun.  It was relaxing, nice to sit and chat.  Afterwards some people came over for dinner and then we took to relaxing.

At the game this was the foul pole:  "Eat more Fowl".

I find it so funny and I love watching all of the Chik-Fil-A commercials and billboards.  The cows are so funny. Who-ever came up with that marketing idea is a genius and I hope they got their share of the $$.  They make me laugh every time I see them.

I started Firefly Lane and I'm halfway through it.  So far, I'm liking it.  I didn't read a description beforehand, just some recommendations and decided to just wing it.  I kind of like doing that, I have no idea where the book is going right now, but I'm definitely liking it.

If you made it to the end, thanks, sorry it was so long!  I hope everyone else had a great weekend as well.  Time for a 4-day week, just think, it's already Tuesday!

Book Beginnings and Bookends - CeeCee Wilkes - Chapters 36-50

I'll admit that I'm happy we're getting to the end.  I read ahead and it's getting heard to go back and answer questions from weeks ago!  I did enjoy the book though and I'm looking forward to participating again.

1. Have your feelings about Tim changed through out this last section of chapters?
I definitely had a better feeling about Tim in the last few Chapters.  I was honestly a little surprised that he didn't just toss her to the wolves and tell, but at the same time, I think in my heart I knew that he wouldn't do it though. Something in me saw a little good in him. 

2. Do you agree with Cory and her behavior as an adult and her life with Ken? Is she justified in cutting her mother and father out of her life?
I think that her behavior and life with Ken is just like she is trying to get away from with her parents.  Isn't he controlling her life almost like she thought Eve was doing.  I don't really like Ken much and I think he's kind of rude and almost a little controlling of her just as she is trying to get away from.
I'm not sure if I'll be in the minority with this, but I don't agree with her cutting her parents out of her life.  I think it's a good idea for her to distance herself a little but completely cutting them out just doesn't seem reasonable to me.

3. At what point do you think Cory decided to spend less time with her mother?
I think that Cory not getting answers from her mother really made her feel that she needed to distance herself from her parents.  I think she needed some answers to really gain some insight into her past and maybe that would help her to connect with Eve and not getting them really made her take a good look at things.


4. What do you think is Eve's biggest fear?

I think that jail is really not her big fear.  I think her biggest fear is distancing herself from Cory further, basically losing her and the possibility of losing Jack and Dru.

5. When the story about Genevieve's body came out, what would you have done if you were Eve? Just sat back and watched things unfold? Come forward? Would you tell Jack?

I think I would have gone crazy.  I mean as I've said all along, I don't know how I could have kept it to myself for that long, but now to have it resurface, years later.  She's made a new life for herself and a new identity.   I'm pretty sure I would have become consumed by it at that point and would have had to say something, just not sure if it would be to the authorities or just to Jack.  I mean, Tim didn't appear to be throwing her name in there, but I just think it would eat away at me.  Plus, I think this all has a huge impact on her illness.

6. Do you think Eve should tell Jack and confess? Why?

Jack is supposed to be her partner for life, in good and bad.  I think it's better if she tells him.  She needs someone to talk to about it.  Otherwise, I think she'll get sicker and it will consume her at some point.  I think that if she decides to tell Jack she needs to think about him too.  I mean they have been married for so long.  There are a lot of lies that have come as a result of this and they've been there since the start.  He might feel betrayed and unsure of what is really the truth.  

You can link up here!

Things to smile about

Sometimes I just need to sit back and think about the good things, the things to smile about.  

1.  Getting a new job on a Monday, makes it not such a bad day after all and a great start to the week/month!

2.  Spending the weekend turning your closet from this:

to this:

 plus all this to go to the Goodwill (4 bags of clothes and 1 bag of shoes!):

3.  Sitting outside on a Saturday night in 80 degrees and watching a concert where the headliner played for 2 hours

Source

4.  Learning that mom and dad will be coming for a visit in October for 1 week+.
5. Going to the store and buy 2 sweaters, 1 tank top and 1 scarf for your self and 1 sweater for your husband and only spend $50 for all of it.

6.  or when I order a shirt just to get my order over $50 for free shipping and absolutely loving it when it gets here.

7. taking a Friday off so I can have a 4-day weekend, just because!  Today is my 'Friday'!

Hope everyone is have a great week.  Happy September!

Book Beginnings and Bookends - CeeCee Wilkes - Chapters 21-35

You can link up here if you have read the book too!  Can't wait to read everyone else's answers!

1. Do you think Tim is the one sending the money?
   I think that it's possible that Tim is the one that sent the money.  With the $5000 that he gave to CeeCee before, he has the money somehow.  If it's him though, I'm suspicious how he found out where CeeCee was.  And why he was sending the money, what was the connection?  Maybe I'm looking into this too much, but if he was in hiding I don't think that he would have been able to gain access to his money.
   
   
2. So far, there's been a lot of discussion on CeeCee/Eve and her choices. What choice(s) would you make differently from her?
   I think it's hard to say you would make different choices that what CeeCee/Eve made.  All along I've said I would make different decisions.  I don't think that I could have gone through with it to begin with, but if I had gone through with it, then maybe I would have made the same decisions as her all along.  Keeping it from Jack would have been tremendously difficult, I feel like at some point I would have had to tell someone, it just doesn't seem like a good way to start out a marriage.
   
   
3. What do you like about Jack? Are there things about him that you don't like?
   Jack seems so personable and likable.  It's hard not to like him, he just kind of swept in.  He seems like such a good guy and someone that would be great for Eve.  Very genuine and passionate about his acting career.  I don't think that there's much about him that I don't like really.  He might be a little pushy for my taste.
   
   
4. What are the differences between CeeCee/Eve's relationship with Tim and Eve's relationship with Jack?
   I think that this relationship is different then the one with Tim as Eve is a much more mature person now.  I think she has "learned her lesson" and doesn't easily let her guard down.  She is cautious and wary of new people.  I think that she needs this relationship with Jack to feel like a normal person again.  Her relationship with Tim was one of lust and immaturity where her relationship with Jack seems to me more based on love and feelings.
   
   
5. Do you think Eve is to blame for Cory's fears? What could she do, specifically, to help Cory feel like less of an outsider?
   This is kind of a hard question to answer, after reading the whole book I had a bit of a different opinion I guess.  But I do think that Cory's fears were started by Eve and how over-protective she was of Cory.  I think I'm forgetting parts of the book, but I don't remember specifics that Eve did to really make her feel like an outsider, other than being so over-protective.  Maybe I need to go back and brush up.
   I think that to help Cory, getting her involved in different activities would be the most beneficial so she is able to meet new people and make friends.
   
6. Do you think Eve appropriately answered Cory's questions about her father? Do you think Cory will question her father more as she grows older?I think she answered them the best she could.  As would most people, I think that Cory will have questions about her father when she grows older.  She doesn't look like her mother so she'll naturally be more curious of who her father is as time passes.  It's kind of ironic that Eve had to have the same questions answered about her own father by her mother.  Do you wonder if now that she has to tell Cory lies if she wonders if her own mother was telling the truth?

This book club is such a great idea, I'm really enjoying it.  I can't wait to see what the next book is!

One of those weeks

It's just one of those weeks where I don't have much that is particularly coherent to put together to make a full post, so a brain dump will have to do for this fabulous Friday.

1. I am so happy that the weather is finally cooling down a little bit.  It was multiple weeks of non-stop upper 90's here and it was starting to get frustrating.  I'm so ready for fall.
2. M pinged me yesterday to say that she wanted this for Christmas, and while she may have been trying to be a smart @$$ about it, I'm going to get it for her anyways.  I love it!  :-)
3. I'm almost finished with my first quilt, yeah!  Hopefully I should be able to finish it this weekend.  If so, it will have only taken me about 10 days, not too shabby (it's a small baby quilt though).
4. I find it amusing that I needed to buy $50 worth of merchandise to receive free shipping, so I added a shirt to my order, assuming I would just take it back if I didn't like it (they don't have what I ordered in store).  Well, I got a tracking confirmation for 2 packages, one for the shirt and one for the rest of the items I ordered, 2 separate packages, no shipping paid.  That just seems a little backwards to me!  
5. Next weekend we are going to a beach house for the weekend, Definitely looking forward to some time by the ocean.
6. The country girl in me is excited for the Brad Paisley concert tomorrow night.  It's the first one for the year, which is very rare for me.  I usually make it to a couple.
7. Gap, Give and Get is this weekend, which means 30% off (unlimited use) at Gap, Banana Republic or Old Navy (including outlet stores), if you haven't gotten the coupon, let me know and I'll email you mine.
8. Opinion needed, we got a quilt for a wedding gift and I liked it.  My friends are getting married in about 6 weeks, I'm not sure if I'd have time to finish one by then, but it's possible.  Do you like the idea of getting a quilt (with your last name or names) on it as a wedding gift?

I hope that everyone has a great weekend!  Anything exciting going on?

Aim to please

This weekend I was watching 27 Dresses (for like the 10th time) and when the bar scene came on, it struck a cord with me.  You no, the part where Kevin asks Jane if she knows how to say 'No'.    I realized that I don't know how to say 'No' and more so, I'm a pleaser.

I find myself not being able to say 'No' to things, whether it is work related or personal related.  If someone asks me for help with something 99% of the time, I say 'Yes'.  Invited to a party, I will ask to bring something.  Getting married, I'll ask to help with whatever I can.  New project at work, sure, I'll work on it.

Lately, it's happening more frequently.  With my friend who's getting married, she had invitations to make and pillows to make.  I insisted on making at least 4 pillows for her this week because she has other wedding stuff to do.  She needed to finish a few envelopes, I stopped by and picked them up and brought them back all finished.  My husband doesn't get why I am so eager to help (there's more to his argument, but I won't divulge it here).  To me, I say I'm just trying to be a good friend and help out the bride.  We just got married a year ago and I know how much work needs to be done.

The Luau shower that was this weekend is another example.  At this point we've already picked out the menu, etc, but I took the details to a whole new level.  Why?  Because I want the bride to be happy and I want her to have the shower with every detail thought about and not overlooked.  From the small things, like water bottle labels, wrapped silverware, and food signs to match the invites to the big things, like a luau/hawaiian themed menu, hula bear cupcakes, a photo-booth to remember the details.  To me these are all things that are important to make the party, but deep down, it's because I want to bride and groom to be pleased and happy with it.  I want them to feel special.

It goes on and on, I could probably give you at least 5 more examples.  I think KC gets it a little bit, he understands that I just want to be helpful and I'm trying to be a good friend, etc, but I know that sometimes it annoys him. For me, sometimes I think I'm terrified to disappoint people or let them down.  That they'll feel that I'm incapable or inadequate.  Even though these things might cause me stress and other problems, I still can't say no and stretch myself above and beyond.

I'm not really sure where I'm going with this, but I do know that I'm going to try to work harder to pick and chose what I say yes to.  It's ok to not do everything.  It's ok to let someone else host a party.  I'm sure there are some things that I'll never drop (it's common courtesy in my book to bring something to a party), but I've got to learn to stop stretching myself to the limits so often.  Can I change immediately?  No, it's gradual but in the long run, I know I can be a better person for myself (and for KC) if I do change even a little bit.

Book Beginnings and Bookends - CeeCee Wilkes - Chapters 11-20

I love participating in the responses last week so I am glad to get into it again this week.  I will admit that it is hard to write some of these responses knowing the ending of the book.  


You can link up here if you have read the book too!

1. Where do you think Tim and Marty are at this point in the story?
   I think that Tim and Marty are somewhere in hiding.  Part of me thinks that the original plan was to just abandon CeeCee to begin with and never come back regardless.  I can't help but wonder if they have other plans that they didn't reveal to CeeCee already.
   
2. What were your thoughts as CeeCee was helping Genevieve deliver her baby?
   My heart was aching for CeeCee.  I wanted her to just have the common sense to get in the car and drive, drive somewhere.  I mean the authorities have to have some sort of sympathy for her if she gives in now right?  I knew that she wouldn't actually hurt Genevieve but she had no idea what she was doing.  She had no idea what she was getting herself into when she agreed to go to the cabin and this just made it 10x worse!
   
3. After Genevieve died, what would you have done with her baby if you had been in CeeCee's shoes?
   I would have taken the baby to a hospital or something.  I don't think I could have kept it a secret.  It would just gnaw at me forever.  This beautiful baby didn't have a mother and it was partially her fault.
   
4. Why do you think CeeCee/Eve is still holding onto hope that Tim will come for her?
   I think she is, she wants to think that Tim was a good person and that she made the right decision to help them.  Tim is her first love and made her think that they loved one another and that she was doing
   
5. How do you think Eve will establish her new identity in Virginia?
   I think that Eve will struggle at first to establish herself and let go of CeeCee.  She still holds onto hope that Tim will return and I think she doesn't want to accept her self as Eve out of hope that Tim will find her.  Deep down I think she knows that this whole ordeal will always be with her, whether she gets married again or whatever she does with her life.  I also think it may cause her to be a little apprehensive or men in the future.  Afraid that something similar might happen.
   
6. What do you think of CeeCee/Eve now after she has gone through with the kidnapping, the delivery of the baby, the escape, and the relocation?
   I think that she has grown up a lot over the course of this ordeal.  I think that she will constantly live her life in fear now.  That she will always be looking over her shoulder and will be very protective of the baby.  It's hard to know if she will ever shake that feeling that someone is looking for her.  I also wondered how she would be able to go on without letting this eat at her for the rest of her life.

Other/Notes:
I struggled with the fact that Ronnie didn't inquire and ask more questions of her.  It would have been interesting to hear more from Ronnie's side, about her roommate and friend who disappeared, to never return.  She left all of her belongings, her money everything behind, even the things she cherished most (the letters from her mother).  If it was me, I'd be looking for her or call the police or something.  


Hope you all had a great weekend!

Single Girl Weekend

We're in the middle of prime Ultimate Frisbee season here in our area.  For me, that means that KC is gone for tournaments frequently on the weekends, there are 1-2/mo.  On top of that there's a bachelor party weekend away and other trips planned.  This all adds up to me being home alone for the weekend.  In the end it's really not such a bad thing!  We try to do our cleaning during the week so that I'm not stuck with it all on the weekends and the rest of the time is mine to enjoy like he is enjoying his weekend playing Ultimate.

For the most part, I'm pretty good at keeping myself busy, if the other guys are around then I'll hang out with them, etc.  On the other hand, I secretly enjoy when no one is around!  That means time to myself to do whatever I want.  I have a few guilty-single-girl tendencies though:

• It's ok for a meal to consist of either:
• Baked Potato
• Cup of Minute Rice
• Air-Popped Popcorn
• An Auntie Ann's Pretzel
• Turning on TBS or TLC or FX (or WE) and watching movies/tv shows all day without interruption.  This seems to ring a bit more true in the winter, but I can turn on TBS and just watch all day, some times their movie marathons are awesome.  Doesn't matter if I'm crafting, sewing or reading it's on in the background.
• Calling M and talking to her for 3 hours without getting bugged.
• Sitting in the office paper crafting or sewing all day and spending way too long on one project.
• Perusing the craft/fabric aisles for longer then is necessary. 
• Showering but putting my pajamas/sweats back on right afterwards.
• Going to the mall and perusing the sales, since KC does not like to shop and usually follows me around like a puppy dog when he goes.
• Go to Target and wander around look at random things, only to leave with nothing, or $100+ worth of items.
• Sit at the computer and Blog-Hop and find new blogs to read or projects to do.
• Go to the RedBox (or Netflix streaming) and find the chick-flicks I've wanted to see but haven't yet.  I just wish I had the guts to go to the theatre myself.

This weekend will be no different and I'm kinda looking forward to it.  I'm looking forward to KC's return as well but, sometimes it's nice to just have to worry about myself and no one else!

Most of mine are fairly boring, does anyone else have anything else they do when it's just them?  Anything that's a bit more exciting then mine?!?!

Happy Friday!  Have a great weekend!

ETA:  I've only had 2 people participate in my Craft-It Forward so far, so there are still some spots open if you want to join.  I might just go beyond 3 depending on how many people there are.  :-)

100 Posts & Pay it Forward!

Today marks my 100th post!  To celebrate, I thought I'd Pay it Forward!  

A few weeks ago, Sandy from Sandy a la mode posted about a little game with the following rules:

1. I make a handmade gift for the first 3 people to comment.
2. I have 365 days in which to send you the gift.
3. The gift will be a total surprise.
4. You keep this going by posting Pay It Forward on your blog (obviously, you must have an active blog to participate).

Luckily, I was the third commenter, score!  If you don’t follow her blog, you should, she posts about all sorts of inspiration, traveling, cooking and weddings!

So go ahead, leave a comment on this post and the first 3 people to do so will get something handmade by me!  Just like Sandy did,  I won’t approve comments until the end of the day so the comments will show as ZERO until I approve them, that way it will be more like a surprise who wins!  Assuming I even get 3 comments by the end of the day!  I have a few ideas for sewing projects and spent some time paper crafting this past weekend, so I hope that I will have something to send to the first 3 people sooner than later.  :-)  And really, I just wanted to take this time to THANK YOU all for following me through all 100 posts.  The comments you leave are encouraging, funny, supportive and  appreciated!  Thanks for sticking with me.