2009 New Years Eve

What a year it has been! There have been many more laughs this year than tears. I am so thankful for all my friends and family that has made this year special. Tonight my DH an I are gonig to our friends, The Baileys, for our yearly New Years eve party. We basically eat and play games.
I counted up and I have finished 17 stitching projects and I have no idea how many books I have read. I know the total must be over 100 books.
I just want to wish everyone a Happy New Years and for you to be safe while out and about on the roads. Watch out for those crazy people out there!!!!!

Strawberry Shortcake Murders review and other tibets

I have been listening to Strawberry Shortcake Murder by Joanne Fluke. This is the 2nd book in her Hannah Swensen series. Hannah owns the town cookie shop and her cookies/recipes make mouth water!! The book comes with recipes so that you can make the cookies she talks about in her story. In this book, the town is hosting a baking contest and Hannah is helping run the contest. One of the judges winds up murdered in his garage and Hannah has to help solve the case. There is a love triangle between Hannah, Eric- the local police and Norman -the dentist. I am enjoying listening/reading this series. The first book is called The Chocolate Chip mystery. If you are looking for a new series there are 12 books in this one and I am hoping that each one gets better and better!!
Today, I took my mom to the airport. As of right now she is flying to New Delhi India for a 2 week visit with my sister and her family. She called me from the Big Plane in Chicago letting me know she got on the right plane and would be arriving in New Delhi in 15 hours!!! Can you believe that??? 15 hours!!!
I also figured out that if your Shark Steam mop quits steaming..you can put CLR (calicum, lime and rust) cleaner in it and let it sit plugged in for about 10-15 minutes. Give it a few pumps during this time...and it will start steaming again. Mine quit steaming after 3 months, I used this and a big black clog came out and it steams better than when I first got it!!! Just an FYI....

Welcome To Tyler- Whirlwind

I just finished reading Whirlwind by Nancy Martin. This is the first book in the Welcome to Tyler series. I have had these on my bookshelf for awhile so I decided to pull out the first one to read. I have to say, I liked the book. I didn't like how it left things open at the end but this is a series so I am hoping all things will be tied together at somepoint. Liza is returning home to Tyler when her life fell apart in Chicago. She heads to her grandpa's lodge where she promptly has an accident. She winds up sharing the lodge with a crazy guy who prefers to be left alone. He doesn't like people, goes into a panic attack. She drives him INSANE!! She doesn't like her mom, adores her grandfather and doesn't want to talk to her sister. It is a major family drama. There is a little mystery to the book, romance... a small sex scene that is not very detailed at all(it is a harlequin, after all). I can't wait to start the next book.
On the stitching note...I finished stitching my snowman and then I realized I used Ecru instead of white...so a frogging I went...now I am using white!!! UGH!!!

Cinderella Update

What a busy day!! I got up this morning and the cleaning but hit me. I have no idea where it came from but it hit hard. I dressed warm and cleaned out my side of the garage. My side is where we keep all the recycling. My town doesn't have a pick up for recycling, I actually have to box it all up and take it to the recycle center. I had to make two trips with the back of my SUV FULL!! It was just crazy. I then proceeded to sweep out myside and my garage is actually clean!!! Then, I came in the house and took down both my Christmas trees, moved a bookcase from the living room to the bedroom and cleaned my living room while doing a load of laundry. Talk about being tired after all this...whew!!

I worked on my Nora Corbett Cinderella piece. My goal was to finish her sleeves and the beading it entailed. I was a little concerened that the laces wouldn't show up but they look great in the pictures.

I also cut the fabric for my Sandra LittleJohns Summer Ball Design. I now have to convert the key from anchor to DMC. This design is 34" x 14" when completed. There are several people stitching this design with me...so I won't be suffering by myself. This design is only 6 pages...so I feel pretty good about it!!!

I also pulled out my January SAL which the theme is Snowman. I decided to pull out my Mill Hill kit called Snow Day it is from the Button -n-Beads series.

I have another busy day tomorrow. I have to go visit my mom, she is leaving for India on Wednesday. She will be gone for 2 1/2 weeks. She is so excited!!!

Furbabies

I had a couple of people ask me about the Flip Camera and how the videos look so I thought I would upload a video of my furbabies opening their Christmas presents.

Winchestor House

I set a goal to finish Winchestor house by the end of the year. I can honestly say I am not going to make it!! I did however do all of the roofs and the backstitching it entailed. UGH! My fingers cramped on the last roof. I have put it away in my rotation and now working on Cinderella by Nora Corbett.

The rest of this is just me whining...so feel free to stop here if you like!!!
I spent yesterday going through all my emails, group posts etc and realized taht I have gotten just way behind. I couldn't believe how far behind I had gotten. This year has been very hard on me since I lost my grandmother. I have tried and tried to keep a happy face and keep going but I just miss her so much. I never realized how much I would miss her. Sorry...I don't mean to such a downer but that is the way I am feeling right at this moment. I started my school year a week behind and I never caught up which I tried. I got behind in my emails and posts becahse by the time I got home from work..dinner cooked I was just tired. So I stitched and got behind in my groups. Enough about this sad subject.
I have been thinking about somethings I want to change one of them is I am going to start getting my nails done again. I know that may sound silly....but I used to love getting them done and I stopped for some reason. So, I am going to get my nails done this week. On the stitching note I usually keep a database on how much I stitch and how much I have to go...well..I am stopping that because it stressed me out. This is going to be a big habit to break since I have been keep track of my stitching for years. Hopefully, I won't feel that "HAVE" to get so much done in a night to get finished by a certain deadline. Crazy huh?? but I have actually managed to stress myself out by stitching when it was supposed to be relaxing. I am also going to try to finish one of my HAED's this year. I have 2 going right now but I want to finish one of them just to say that I actually stitched a HAED!!!!!

Merry Christmas

I want to take this time to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas!! My dear family was snowed in this year. We were supposed to go over to my mom's Christmas Eve but the weather was a little iffy. We live on this hill that if the weather turns we may get down it but we won't be getting back up it. So Mark and I decided to stay home. We spent the evening with the fire going and watching movies. Santa came last night and I woke up to exactly what I wanted!! Santa brought me a Flip Video Camera and I LOVE it. It is so easy to use. Santa brought Mark a gift card to his favorite Casino and Golf Store. So he was a happy camper.
We tried to make it to my grandfathers today however, the roads were horrible. We made it down our hill (there were 3 cars in the ditch) and down to the 2nd interstate exit before we turned around and came home. I felt so bad but that is how it goes. My family understood and we are going down on Sunday. So, I spent today stitching and watching TV. I will post stitching progress later...

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!!!!!!!

Cherokee Child is Finished!!!

I put the final stitches in Cherokee Child tonight! I am so happy to have her finished. She turned out just beautiful!!!! I was so excited to see the final picture. So now I can spend my Christmas Break working on Winchestor House.

Today was the last day of school until January 4th. I am so happy to have some time off. It is really exciting!!! Now, if only my cat would stop meowing. He wants his wet food but if I get up when he starts meowing then he keeps if up everynight and doesn't stop. So when he is quiet I have to feed him. It is very annoying!!!

I have Finishes!!!

I cannot believe I have not posted since the day before Thanksgiving!! I am a horrible blogger. First of all I would like to announce that I have finished ALL my reading challenges- the 10 book challenge and the Everything Austen challenge!!!! You heard me...both reading challenges are finished. I finished the last stitch in my Jane Austen Challenge this morning. On the personal side...This has to be the smallest bar of soap ever made. Mom and I went to Branson, MO last weekend. This is the bar of soap left on the side of our tub for use to use. It was wrapped in this cute little package. In case you are curious, it is in between two travel size toothpaste tubes.

This past Thursday, I got up at 4:30 am and by 5:00 am was booking our Disney Dining for this summer . It took 45 minutes to book 19 reservations and then booked the fantasmic on the phone at 6:00 am. I had everything booked and ready to go by 6:15. Now I just get to sit and wait on June 8th to come. Only 178 more days!! HEE HEE!!!!

NEW FLOOR!!

What a day!! I finally put my new floor in today. I put it in all by myself! I have to say I am pretty darn proud of myself. We had to have a new floor because my 14 year old cat decided to use the hallway carpet as her litter box. She would pee all over the carpet and she actually ruined 2 baseboards!!! We tried everything and finally gave up and put in a new floor.
As you can see the baseboard is gone and the wet spots is where she was going potty. When I bleached that area...it turned white and bubbled..EWWWW!!!!

Next step was priming the floor. This gave me such a headache. I have never used primer and I didn't realize how strong it was!!!
I knew my quilting tools would come in handy someday...I just didn't realize that it would be to cut tiles for my floor!! LOL!!. In case you are wondering, I used a box cutter not my quilt cutting tools!!!

And FINALLY...the new floor!!!!! I will be honest and say some of these tiles are cute and pasted but hey....it looks good!! This is just temporary until we put in hardwood floors.

First Day of Vacation.

Today was the official start of my vacation and I have to say I LOVED sleeping in this morning!!! However, once I was up it was a VERY busy morning. I folded 5 loads of laundry. I hate folding laundry so I usually let it get backed up. Today it was folded and put away. I am putting a new floor in my hallway. My beautiful cat, Munch age 14, has decided that the hallway is now her litterbox so the carpet was RUINED! We are putting in a vinyl floor. I will post pictures of it when finished.

Today was Mark's birthday!!! He turned 41 years old. We went to PF Changs to celebrate with friends. Talk about some good food...YUM!!! When we got home we built a fire in the fireplace. As soon as we did this our dog, Tusk, started acting NUTS. He was pacing, asking to go outside, coming back in, barking at us. This is not his usual behavior when there is a fire, ususally he likes to lay down and sleep in front of the fire. So we knew something must be wrong. We put the fire out and he then proceeded to take a nap. I have no idea why he was acting like this but animals usually know things. We listen to ours!! This is Tusk with Charlie the tiger. This is how Tusk is usually.

On the Reading Challenges:
Everything Austen Challenge:
1) Read Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict - Completed!!!!
2) Stitch "The Daughters of Longbourn" by the Stitching Parlor - finished page 2 of 4
3) Re-Read Pride and Prejudice Completed!!!!
4) Watch the movie Lost in Austen - COMPLETED!!!!!
5) Read: Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange - COMPLETED!!!!
6) Read: Northanger Abbey - COMPLETED!!!!

10 book Challenge:
1) NorthAnger Abbey by Jane Austen -COMPLETED!!!
2) Mr. Darcy's Diaries by Amanda Grange- COMPLETED!!!
3) Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict - COMPLETED!!
4) Peppermint twisted by Sammi Carter - COMPLETED!!!!
5) Just take my Heart by Mary Higgins Clark -COMPLETED
6) Cinderella Pact by Sarah Strohmeyer -COMPLETED!!!
7) What would Jane Austen do? by Laurie Brown- COMPLETED!!!
8) Unsolicited by Julie Kaewert
9) Duchess by Night by Eloisa James -COMPLETED!!
10) Murder at Astor Place by Victoira Thompson -COMPLETED!!

Cherokee Child

I have finally finished page 7!!! Talk about exciting!!! I have been really stitching on her and on my Jane Austen piece. They are both coming along very nicely. I truely hope to finish my goal by the end of the year. I will tell you that my fingers are very sore! For Cherokee, I only have 3 more pages to go and I am working on her this entire Thanksgiving Break-all 9 days of my break. Who knows, I may finish her by the end of this month!!!

On a more personal note, my mom had surgery this past Wednesday. She had her gall bladder removed. I found out after the surgery that they make a small slit in/around your belly button and it comes out from there!!! EEEKKKKK!!!! Her poor belly button!! She is doing much better and is able to get around just fine!!!

On the fitness note, I have been walking this week. I have lost a couple of pounds and I am happy with that loss. I do wish I could lose it all in a couple of weeks like the people on The Biggest Loser!! Oh well....I have no desire to work out for 8 hours a day, I think it might kill me!!!

Winchester House

Earlier this month I made a decision to finish 3 BAP's before the end of the year. I would like to finish: Cherokee Child, Winchester House and Daughters of Longborne. I haven't worked on Winchester house since my Disney trip this past July. Can you believe that??? Since I decided to finish these three...that means I have to have a rotation again. Did you know that there are only 45 days left in this year???? I did the math and need to finish 1170 stitches a day....I really don't think that is possible...but I am going to try and finish them!! Winchester house is coming along nicely, I just have some backstitching to complete on this new tower section that I worked on today. Cherokee child is coming along nicely. I am just about to finish with page six which means only two more pages to go.

On the personal side....School is kicking my backside this year. I am not kidding!! I can't seem to catch up. My to do list is getting longer by the day. However, I can relax know that I only have to work 3 days this week before Thanksgiving break. The only reason I am not working the whole week is my mom is having surgery on Wednesday and I will be taking care of her on Wednesday and Thursday.

Mark and I were watching How I Met Your Mother this week and they were talking about when you get into a relationship you gain weight. Sometimes, you let things go..you hair, nails etc. I will be the first to say, I have done this!!! I weighed 105 lbs when I met Mark...Lets just say I have gained a few lbs. since then!!!! I have decided to lose some weight and make some changes to make myself look better and feel better . I am starting with the hard part - the weight. I have started taking my sweats to work and stopping by the park on the way home. I walk for 15 minutes in one direction and then if I want to go home, I have to turn around and walk another 15 minutes. So basically, I walk 30 minutes. I have cut down to one coke a day. That is one thing I won't give up. I LOVE t o drink my daily coke.....I am not as cranky when I have it. This week I walked 6 days at 30 minutes a day...so I walked for 3 hours. YAY ME!!! I figure that come spring when everything is coming in new...I will go get a new hair do, nails and NEW CLOTHES!!! I will keep you updated on how the weight loss is going.

Reading Challenges

I finished another book!!!! I finished Confessions of a Jane Austen addict. It was about a girl who turned to Jane Austen whenever life got bad. After a VERY bad breakup she fell asleep reading Pride and Prejudice and when she woke up, she was in the Mansfield park storyline. She learned that life in England during that time didn't smell so great. It seems people didn't thinking bathing was necessary.
I have started walking after school and I was able to find a copy of Northangler Abbey from the Fayetteville Public Library. I downloaded the book and then transferred it to my I-Pod. I am listening to it while I walk. I have to say this is the best way to get read a book. I am enjoying listening to the book for 30 minutes a day.

Everything Austen Challenge:
1) Read Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict - Completed!!!!
2) Stitch "The Daughters of Longbourn" by the Stitching Parlor - finished page 1 of 4
3) Re-Read Pride and Prejudice Completed!!!!
4) Watch the movie Lost in Austen - COMPLETED!!!!!
5) Read: Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange - COMPLETED!!!!
6) Read: Northanger Abbey - Listening to on my I-Pod!!

10 book Challenge:
1) NorthAnger Abbey by Jane Austen -Listening to it right now
2) Mr. Darcy's Diaries by Amanda Grange- COMPLETED!!!
3) Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict - COMPLETED!!
4) Peppermint twisted by Sammi Carter - COMPLETED!!!!
5) Just take my Heart by Mary Higgins Clark -COMPLETED
6) Cinderella Pact by Sarah Strohmeyer
7) What would Jane Austen do? by Laurie Brown- COMPLETED!!!
8) Unsolicited by Julie Kaewert
9) Duchess by Night by Eloisa James -COMPLETED!!
10) Murder at Astor Place by Victoira Thompson -COMPLETED!!

I am getting very close to completing both challenges!! This is very exciting!!!

Daughters of Longborne

I spent this week orking on my Stitching Parlor The Daughters of Longborne. It is coming right along I think. It is part of my Jane Austen challenge so it MUST be finished by December 31st.

I do love how this is coming along. The colors look great on this fabric.

I am trying to finish 3 BAP's before Jan. 1st. -Daughters of Longborne, Winchestor House, and Cherokee Child. That is my goal. We will see what happens.

Today, I graded papers and then more papers. I am not kidding....I graded for over 4 hours. Being out of school for 2 days put me BEHIND!!! I got myself all caught up today and will be able to start my other to do lists at school. I only have 10 days until Thanksgiving break and I get a whole week off of school!!!! I can't wait!!!

Overdue update

Wow...I haven't posted in a while. Since the last post I have had several things happen. We had parent teacher conferences and I actually had 10 parents show up over the two nights. I have to say this is the first time that this has ever happened. I couldn't believe it. It actually shocked me. The only thing I do not like about PT conferences is that I have to work two 12 hours days in a row.
I donated blood at the school blood drive and the nurse who was sticking me missed my vein. She had to wiggle the needle around until she found a good flow of blood. About 2 hours after donating I took that arm bandage off because it was driving me nuts. I do this evertime I donate blood....the next thing I knew... I passed out in my classroom. It is good to know that my kids will call the nurse when I am passed out cold. Luckily I was sitting in my chair when it happened. I was wheeled out of my room by the HOT school resource officier. The teacher next door told me that one of my seniors was teaching the class. He was keeping all my kids on task and working while I was being wheeled out. She heard him tell them that if they didn't do their homework and keep working then Mrs. Hartwell will yell at us the next time they were in class.... TOO FUNNY!!!
I went to a bridal fair with my friend Jammi. She is getting married next year around Thanksgiving. We had fun looking at all the dresses, photographers, and the best part..tasting all the food!!! The cakes were so good. I came home that afternoon and was feeling a little wonky...so I took a nap. The next thing I knew it was 7:00 pm. I felt funny....so I told Mark that I was headed to the High school to make out some lesson plans. The bad thing about being a teacher is that if I am sick, I just can't take off. I have to make out lesson plans, seating charts, print out attendace records. It is really a pain to do this so I don't try to miss. There is so much stuff to deal with when I get back also such as passing out 6 detentions over behavior. UGH!! I was home sick for 2 days and finally went back to school on Wednesday of this week.
Reading Challenge:
Everything Austen Challenge:
1) Read Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict - on my night stand
2) Stitch "The Daughters of Longbourn" by the Stitching Parlor - finished page 1 of 4
3) Re-Read Pride and Prejudice Completed!!!!
4) Watch the movie Lost in Austen - COMPLETED!!!!!
5) Read: Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange - COMPLETED!!!!
6) Read: Northanger Abbey - on my bookshelf

10 book Challenge:
1) NorthAnger Abbey by Jane Austen
2) Mr. Darcy's Diaries by Amanda Grange- COMPLETED!!!
3) Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict
4) Peppermint twisted by Sammi Carter - COMPLETED!!!!
5) Just take my Heart by Mary Higgins Clark -COMPLETED
6) Cinderella Pact by Sarah Strohmeyer
7) What would Jane Austen do? by Laurie Brown- COMPLETED!!!
8) Unsolicited by Julie Kaewert
9) Duchess by Night by Eloisa James -COMPLETED!!
10) Murder at Astor Place by Victoira Thompson -COMPLETED!!

On the Stitching note....I have been working on Cherokee Child and The Stitching Parlor - Daughters of Longborn.

I think this is enough of an update for a bit.....will post stitching pictures later

Cherokee Page 6 complete

Wow..another week has flew by!!! I can't believe how fast this school year is going. The first nine weeks is over, tomorrow night is parent teacher conferences. This is always a very interesting time because I usually don't have a lot of parents stop by and visit with me. I do get time to caught up on my grading during this time. That is VERY nice!!

On Tuesday, I had to call Disney to ask something about our reservation and found out I had a Pin Code attached to my name. This is like a Disney coupon - 40% off our hotel!!! This code saved us a total of $2400 off both hotel rooms. That was just FABULOUS!!! We were so excited to save this amount...even my brother who doesn't get excited about anything.

DH and I paid off our truck this weekend which was great!! One less payment for us!! This is so exciting!!!

On the stitching note, I finished page 6 of Cherokee Child. She is looking so precious! I only have 3 more pages to finish one her!!! I might have her finished by the end of the year. I can only hope!!!

Teddy Blanket

My friend Erin is 9 months pregnant and due any day now. We held her baby shower at school on Friday. I was a bad co-worker because I hadn't finished up her gift. I made her a recieving blanket and burp towel. I took her the gift this morning and she loved it!! I was so glad because she did the nursery in light green- classic pooh. The blanket I made was a Blue Jean Teddy. Stitching wise I am working on Cherokee child. I have 3.5 pages left to go. I can't wait to finish it.

Date Night!!

DH emailed me today while I was at work. He invited me to dinner and a movie!! We hadn't done that in a while so I was really excited. We went and saw the movie "The Informant" with Matt Damon. I hadn't heard much about it so I wasn't sure what to expect with it. I really didn;t care for it. It had the off kilter humor of the TV show "The Office". I just don't get that type of humor so the movie wasn't all that great. It did have some great one liners that made us laugh. If Mark hadn't wanted to see it, I think it would have been a renter for us.
After the movie we went to eat at the Outback Steakhouse. They have GREAT steaks!! I love their Bleu cheese pecan salad. YUM!!!

2009 SAL Challenge Finish

I put the final stitch in my 2009 Ozark Sampler SAL tonight. I love the colors in this design, the quote and all the quilt designs. Debbie Draper and Mary from Ozark Samplers did a FABULOUS job designing and picking out the colors. Mary told us today in class that they picked the colors out over the phone. How in the world you could do that...I will never understand. It turned out beautiful.

We had class today at The Busy needle. We had our Large count fun fiber class. Instead of a window design, we have a sampler type pattern. There is this really cute little turkey on the side of it. Mary had suggested that we just do patterns and then pick out own fibers...but she got to class and said the kit was easier. We all agreeded....we liked seeing the fibers she picked out.

Big news in Razorback Country.......We BEAT Auburn today!!!!! Yes we did!!! They were undefeated in the SEC and we kicked their backsides!!! GO HOGS GO!!!!!

POWER!! I HAVE POWER!!!

It was raining last night and we were just going about our business. Mark was watching football and hockey, just happy as a clam. I was in the bedroom watching some saved shows while I waited for Greys, and Private practice to come on TV. I LOVE Thursday night TV....when BAM...the lights go out!!!! We lost power at 7:30 pm!! I stumbled in the dark, found some candles and we wound up playing 3 rounds of Cribbage. I won!!! We always play best 2 out of 3. It took me a while to remember the rules...but we did enjoy it. I finally got bored at 9:00 and deicded to read by flashlight in bed. I wound up falling asleep. The power finally kicked back on sometime later and the house was FLOODED in lights. Mark was still up so he took care of all the lights for me. It is now 4:00 AM and I am wide awke. I guess I got my 6 hours and that was enough.
I didn't get one ounce of stitching completed last night so I guess I will work on that this morning. It is still raining which stinks! This is the day to stay home with hot chocolate and a good book.

This sums it up!

I am serious...this is how my life has been this school year. I cannot get caught up...I don't care how much I try, I am behind. My desk at school looks like a tornado has passed right through the center of it. It is meeting after meeting...email after email....UGH!! Ok enough whining.

I have decided to stay off of facebook for a while...just the daily posting to see what is going on in everyone's life. I was getting addicted and not doing the things I am supposed to be doing. Hence another reason I am behind.

I called Disney yesterday and decided to upgrade to the Deluxe Dining plan which means we can eat anywhere we want to without worrying that is a table service or counter service place. This is good because most of the places we want to eat are table services (incase you are wondering..this is a sit down dinner w/ a waiter) It is $67 a day for each person. When you think about it that is a good price for 3 table services and 2 snacks. YUUMMM...Mickey Ice cream bars!!!! YUM!!!!!!!!! Think of all the food I can eat!!!!!

Overdue Update

I haven't posted in a while. I don't know what is going on with me. I want to post what is going on in my world but I don't remember to post until I have already shut down my system!!! I just cannot get it together for some strange reason. Enough whining from me. I do have an update on my book challenges:

Everything Austen Challenge:
1) Read Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict - on my night stand
2) Stitch "The Daughters of Longbourn" by the Stitching Parlor - finished page 1 of 4
3) Re-Read Pride and Prejudice Completed!!!!
4) Watch the movie Lost in Austen - COMPLETED!!!!!
5) Read: Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange - COMPLETED!!!!
6) Read: Northanger Abbey - on my bookshelf

10 book Challenge:
1) NorthAnger Abbey by Jane Austen
2) Mr. Darcy's Diaries by Amanda Grange- COMPLETED!!!
3) Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict
4) Peppermint twisted by Sammi Carter - COMPLETED!!!!
5) Just take my Heart by Mary Higgins Clark
6) Cinderella Pact by Sarah Strohmeyer
7) What would Jane Austen do? by Laurie Brown- COMPLETED!!!
8) Unsolicited by Julie Kaewert
9) Duchess by Night by Eloisa James
10) Murder at Astor Place by Victoira Thompson

I am doing pretty good on my challenges. I have been working on my Jane Austen piece. I am just working on the border right now. It is simple to do!!
My main stitching challenge right now is my 2009 Ozark Sampler SAL. I told Mary I would finish it by the end of the month...she didn't believe me!!! So I am trying to finish it up. It would go a lot quicker if It didn't have this intricate border that is driving me crazy!!!!
I know that you have seen the new Disney tickers. We are taking another trip to Disney this summer. It is my mom, sister, brother, niece, nephew and myself. We are staying at the Wilderness lodge again!! We LOVE this hotel!! Plus...it is nice to have this countdown because it lets me know how many days until I am on Summer break again. Isn't that terrible of me?

Guilty or Innocent?? What do you think?

LIZZIE BORDEN TOOK AN AXE AND GAVE HER MOTHER 40 WHACKS, WHEN SHE SAW WHAT SHE HAD DONE .....SHE GAVE HER FATHER 41!!!

This has to be one of the biggest mysteries in history. Could a woman kill her parents with an axe? A jury of her peers found her innocent. They didn't believe a gently bred woman could kill her parents. I think she did it....what about YOU?

This is my demented cross stitch I was working on that I mentioned in a previous post. It is very sick I know...but it just needed to be stitched with Halloween coming up and all!!!! The designer is Monsterbubbles....in case you feel the need to be demented too!!!!

10 book Challenge Update

You would think that I made this wonderful list of 10 books I want to read, that I would read one.. NO...not me. I finished 2 books this weekend that weren't even on my list!!!! I have found that my Library has Books 2 go....which means you can download them to your computer and then upload to your I-pod. I find that I LOVE listening to the stories while Mark watches football. It is great!!!



This weekend I read:

Fearless Fourteen is the fourteenth novel in the Stephanie Plum Series. I LOVE this series!!!!! Their family is just crazy, especially the grandma!! I love how she is always ready to try new things and carries a gun in her purse!! Ranger just sounds hot!!! He makes me melt when I listen to his voice on the CD....Joe is nothing to sneeze at either...he is YUMMY!!! I was a little disappointed because Stephanie's car didn't blow up this time....just got tagged! If you are wanting a laugh...I suggest you start with book one and get ready to bust a gut laughing so hard!!



This book just made me feel good for woman all over the world. Quinn was one of those women who just wanted to keep the peace. She never caused trouble that is until she rescued a small puppy she named Katie. Her boyfriend is a jerk...a real jerk!!! I really wanted to slap him...that is all I can say. If I could have reached through my Ipod and slapped him I would. But she did have a hero...a very HOT hero (is there anyother kind???) by the name of Nick who sounded very yummy!! I HIGHLY recommend this as a very fun book to read!!

Betty in AZ told me that: I am reading Red Hot Lies by Laura Caldwell. I am going to read that in place of Blackwork by Monica Ferris as I can't get that one yet from my library. So far it is really good.

Karin: I finished Night Game last week (in case you didn't see my message). I've finished Conspiracy Game twice since then....I guess I'll have to read something else since Deadly Game isn't here yet. *pout*

Kathryn is reading up a storm..her update: Books one and two finished:
The Enchantment Emporium by Tanya Huff.
The Defector by Daniel Silva.
80% finished with book three.

Seems everyone is doing good but me!!!! I haven't finished ONE of my list. I had better get busy!!!!!

Spring Window Finish

I finished my Spring Window from Ozark Samplers the other day. I had to change the bottom square. I didn't like the colors it was supposed to be and then when I was stitching the bunny...he didn't look like a bunny to tell you the truth. He actually looked like a blob of poop. Yes..I typed poop!!! But I took him to my LNS, talked with my stitching pals and we decided I needed to outline him with 3371 DMC and it violia...it turned into a bunny!! I am so excited!!!

I started reading one of my books tonight for my book challenge. I am currently reading Mr. Darcy's Diaries by Amanda Grange. I have to say this is quite interesting since it is all from Mr. Darcy's view of meeting and falling in love with Elizabeth Bennet. It is really good!!

I started a new cross stitch piece...I can't tell you what it is because it is a VERY demented piece!!! I am not kidding....it is pretty weird. I am loving it!! I did contact the designer because the chart is somewhat hard to read so they are going to send me a new chart!!! Can you believe that??? I am so happy!!!! This piece isn't taking long to stitch up either. So hopefully I can show you the new piece by next week...it is really demented!!!

10 Book Challenge

I am so excited!!! The book challenge starts tomorow and we have several people signed up!!! So far I have the following people:

Carol
Vicky L
CJ
Debra H
Karen
Angela P
Kathryn
Evalina Maria
Elena
Deb
Silverlotus
Anna Van Schurman
Alice
Susan
Karin
Betty in AZ
Lady Doc

Please visit each other's blogs and post encouragments!!! I can't wait to hear how everyone's doing!!!!!

Cinderella has a face!!

My stitching goal was to give Cinderella a face. The stitching was easy..I think the beading took twice as long to do. I ike to bead as I go which I know is not recommended, but I will forget where to put the beads if I don't do it this way. I have borrowed some HUGE q-snaps from my friend Debbi and my friend Kim made me some q-snap huggers to help me hold the fabric. She looks just beautiful!!!

Several people have signed up for the reading challenge!!! I am so excited!!!

Cute Baby Blankets and Burb Cloths

I found the cutest pattern this suumer to make baby blankets, burb cloths and bibs. Marks best friend from high school had called earlier this year to ask him if he would be the baby's godfather and of course he accepted. I decided to purchase the pattern and stitch up the baby blanket and burb cloth. They let us know they were expecting a little girl so at least I knew what kind of flannel to purchase. I just love them!!! I think they turned out really cute. They didn't take long to make however, it took me longer to hand stitch them closed. I am not confident in my handstitching but it had to be done. We got the phone call on Saturday to let us know that Courtney Noelle was born. Unfortuantley Mark answered the phone so all I know is her name. He didn't find out weight, length...any of the good stuff!! I will be getting them in the mail on Saturday. I have to wash and iron them before I send them to their new home!!!

10 Book Challenge

: <br /><div align="center"><a href="http://reading--stitching.blogspot.com/2009/09/10-book-challenge.html" target="10 Book Reading Challenge"><img border="0" alt="" src="http://i184.photobucket.com/albums/x35/msvsnider/library_of_congress_widget.jpg" /></a> </div><br /><br />
One of my favorite past times is reading and I thought it would be fun to do a book challenge. Sometimes we forget how much fun it is to sit down with a good book and read. I have found that I have fallen in love with downloading a book to my computer and listening to it while I stitch. I get to do two of my favorite things. There be a random drawing for a $10.00 Barnes and Noble GC for this challenge. The prize will be on the honor system. On to the 10 Book challenge:

Sign up by Sept. 15 by leaving a comment here and then posting the challenge to your blog and/or website. Then make a list of 10 books you want to read by the end of this year. You don't have to stick to your list since sometimes something more interesting comes along that strikes your fancy. You must read 10 books though....that is the challenge.

Please post a comment on my blog to let me know how you are doing! Please make sure you link to my blog your list. I can't wait to see what everyone chooses to read!!!!

My list:
1) NorthAnger Abbey by Jane Austen
2) Mr. Darcy's Diaries by Amanda Grange
3) Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict
4) Peppermint twisted by Sammi Carter
5) Just take my Heart by Mary Higgins Clark
6) Cinderella Pact by Sarah Strohmeyer
7) What would Jane Austen do? by Laurie Brown
8) Unsolicited by Julie Kaewert
9) Duchess by Night by Eloisa James
10) Murder at Astor Place by Victoira Thompson

Not sure about my other 5....I will have those down by the start of the challenge. My DH is sound asleep right now so I can't get to my bookshelf!

Updated on 9-14-09

Everything Austen Challenge

I have another finish on my Everything Austen Challenge!!!! At this rate I will be finished before the Dec. 31, 2009!!

1) Read Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict - on my night stand

2) Stitch "The Daughters of Longbourn" by the Stitching Parlor - finished page 1 of 4

3) Re-Read Pride and Prejudice Completed!!!!

4) Watch the movie Lost in Austen - COMPLETED!!!!!

5) Read: Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange - ready to start reading

6) Read: Northanger Abbey - on my bookshelf

Another Tree

I pulled out my AWH this past weekend and decided to start the dreaded tree. I knew the blue would be fast so I thought why not spend Fri-Sun working on the tree and leave the blue for last...that would go much quicker than this dreaded tree.

I got out of my rotation this summer so I am trying to get back into a stitching rotation. I am making one minor change though...I want to stitch a small project in between my larger ones. Right now I am on my Mill Hill kick and have several Halloween kits I want to stitch up. I just love halloween patterns!!

I did get some excitment today!!! I went into my local Grocery Store, Allens, and couldn't believe what I found!!! Just some background, I live in a retirement village just turned into a city. This grocery still carries out your groceries and puts them in your car. They keep the small dum dum suckers in their pouches to give to the kids. I found the Halloween issue of JCS!!!!! I was so excited!!!! I immediately called my friend Debbie and asked if she wanted one too!!!

I know I have some people who read my blog, I was wondering what you were currently reading? I am reading Peppermint Twisted by Sammi Carter. This is the 3rd book in her Candy shop mystery series. Would anyone be interested in doing a Book Challenge? There 18 weeks left in the year and maybe we could set a personal goal to read 10 books before the end of the year. Leave me a comment if you would be interested. I thought it sounds like fun...it could be any book you choose. Let me know what you are thinking!!

Celestial Chocolate French Toast

Several people have e-mailed for this recipe, however I can't take credit for it. I got this from Sammi Carters - Chocolate Dipped Death, the 2nd book in her Candy Shop Mystery books, which I highly recommend. There are several more GREAT recipes in each of her books!!!

What you need for 6 servings

3 1.55 oz milk chocolate candy bars (no nuts)

3 eggs

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon Vanilla extract

1/4 teaspon salt

12 slices of day -old bread ( I just plain old white bread

2 tablespoons real butterpowdered sugar (for dusting at the end)

How to:

Break each candy bar in half, the short way. Grate just a little chocolate (no more than 1/2 teaspoon off of each piece) and save in a small bowl for later.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with milk, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Pour half of this mixture into a large (13 x 9) ungreased baking dish.

Layer six slices of break horizontally over the egg mixture. Place one piece of candy bar in the center of each piece of bread. Top each slice with remaining pieces of bread like sandwiches. Pour the remaining egg mixture over the bread. Let this stand for at least 5 minutes so the bread can absorb the egg mixture.

On a griddle or in a large skillet, meth teh butter over medium heat. Fry sandwiches until golden brown on both sides. Add an additional 2 teaspoons of butter midway, if cooking in batches.

To serve, cut each sandwhich diagonally. Dust with confectioners' sugar and sprinkle with chocolate shavings.

Weekend Stash-finish-Cherokee Child

Today was a GREAT shopping day for me!!! I went to my LNS for our monthly Boo Club and I found some new patterns. I bought the two of the Brittercup monthly designs series. I also got two new mill hill Halloween kits. I have fallen in love with stitching Mill Hill Halloween designs. They turn out so cute when finished!!!

Then I walked over to the Rabbits Lair and bought 3 yards of fabric. After that it was off to Dollar Saver where I purchased 4 yards of marbled fabric and then 4 yards of Black marble fabric for the back. I am making a quilt for our friend Buckly. He requested I make him something so I decided to make him a quilt. Of course this means I will be calling Kim in a panic because I will need help!!!! That is usually what happens!!!

I have completed 67% of Cherokee Child...she is just so precious!! I hope to have her finished by the end of this year.

DH went to play cards so it was me and the dogs. We stitched on our HAED - A wintery Heirloom and watched our Charmed DVD's. It was a charming evening!!

Cherokee Child & Chocolate French toast

I pulled out Cherokee Child yesterday and it was very long stitching process. I LOVE to park and carry my threads. Since this was a brand new page I had to start off each thread to carry so it took me all day yesterday to get the first row of 10 x 10 blocks completed. I love how she is turning out...her face is just so precious!!

Today was an exciting day at school. So far things are going great. I love my classes. Today was my 2 English classes and one math class. One thing about my English classes is that we get to read for about 30 minutes each period. Which I just love!!! I had bus duty this afternoon which basically means I go out..watch the kids get on the bus. Should be no problem right? Wrong!! There was a fight afterschool right in front of hte buses. I am a small person so when two boys fight there is no way I am getting in the middle of it. I was trying to control the peace and make sure no one else joined in and they didn't run when the SRO (school cop) come out to settle things. Luckily no one was hurt, the SRO and principals came out to help. What an exciting way to start bus duty!!

I made Chocolate French Toast for Breakfast on Sunday morning!! It was yummy!!! Incase you are thinking that looks like regular french toast...you should know there are 3 hershey candy bars in this breakfast!!! I got the reciepe from a book I am reading: Chocolate Dipped Death by Sammi Carter This is a candy cozy mystery series...It is another one I highly recommend!!! I am right in the middle of the second book in the series and it always makes me want to eat Chocolate!!! Mark actally said it was wonderful and wants me to make it again!!!!

Everything Austen Challenge update

I am loving this challenge!! The challenge is that I must complete 6 items related to Jane Austen. They can be anything you like. I found this challenge on Stephanies Written Word blog. My list looks like this:

1) Read Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict - on my night stand
2) Stitch "The Daughters of Longbourn" by the Stitching Parlor - finished page 1 of 4
3) Re-Read Pride and Prejudice On chapter 43
4) Watch the movie Lost in Austen - COMPLETED!!!!!
5) Read: Mr. Darcy's Diary by Amanda Grange - just picked up at Borders Books
6) Read: Northanger Abbey - on my bookshelf

I have until December 31st to complete this challenge. As you can see from my project uptop that the colors are just popping off this fabric.

Today, Mark was gone so I decided to pop in the DVD player Persuasion and then Pride and Prejudice, the Colin Firth version. I spent the afternoon stitching on Cherokee Child while watching Jane Austen. It was a very nice afternoon.

My Dear Granny

My dear granny passed away on August 11, 2009. She was such a fabulous granny, a grandchild couldn't ask for a better one. I was lucky because for the first 10 years of my life, I lived next door to her. I would visit her everyday and she always had time for a story, snack or to take us fishing!!! She would make my sister and I matching Christmas and Easter dress every year! After my parents divorce, we spent every Friday night at my grandparents house. My grandma would always have: Brownies made for my sister, Green Olives for my brother, and rice krispie treats for me!! On Saturday mornings, she would make us peanut butter and syrup. In case you are wondering, that is just a Giant spoonful of peanut butter and lots of syrup on a plate...mix well until really creamy..eat with bread. YUM!!!

She loved the holidays and always had to be the hostess. She was a QUEEN in the kitchen. My granny could cook....my favorite dish she made was Chicken and Dumplings!!! She had a HUGE Sunday dinner each week. Unless we were out of town, we were expected at lunch on Sundays.

She was an excellent seamstress like I said...but she also quilted and crocheted. I have a beautiful tablecloth she has crochet for me. I also have several quilts she has made. I guess this is where I get my love of needlework.

I just wanted to share a little about a fabulous lady that I am going to miss dearly.

Everything Austen Challenge

I started my Everything Austin Challenge by watching the Movie "Lost in Austen" which I LOVED!!!! It is about a modern day London girl who suddenly finds Elizabeth Bennett popping into her bathroom and carries on a conversation with her. She then proceeds to go into the door Elizabeth came through and gets stuck in Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice world. So now I only 5 things to complete before December 31st.

ON the stitching project of this challenge. I did start the design from the Stitching Parlour - Daughters of Longbourne. I picked out the fabric from picture plus titled "Sprite" and the colors just pop off this design!!!

Tiny Halloween Finish

I decided to pull out one of my small Mill Hill Tiny Treasures kits. This was my first Mill Hill kit that I have ever stitched. I have to say my fingers are a little cramped!! The stitching part was easy but beading the orange diamond outline was a harder than I thought. I had to frog it not once but twice...but it turned out ok!!! It was actually fun to stitch and finish!!

Mystic Stitch- Augusta page 3 finished!

WHO-HOO!!! I finished page 3 of Augusta the 13th hole today!!! You are looking at 15, 628 stitches which equals 22.3% complete. I put in a BBC TV mini-series today called "Berkley Square" and watched that while I finished up this page. If you love period pieces...I would definetely recommend this video. It is a about 3 early 1900's nannies, their charges and their employers. I ordered it on netflix and it is 3 DVD's. I watched the last two today. One while Mark was golfing, the other when he went to bed.

Mark got home from a week of being gone to PA. He played a round of golf this morning and then we had Copeland's for dinner and just hung out together the rest of the day. It was nice just to hang out with him.

Augusta the 13th hole- Mystic Stitch

Yesterday I finished page 2 of my Augusta pattern...actually it is page 6 but I am doing them out of order. I can actually see a tree!!! Only 13 pages to go until I finish this design. I am going to try and get it finished by christmas for Mark. We will see if that happens or not...hopefully it will.

On Monday, we went down to OK to visit my grandma in the nursing home. The strokes have left her with the inability to speak. She started crying when she saw us...Grandpa said that is what she does when she recognizes someone. It was so hard to see her like this. Before the strokes, she was very vibrant and outspoken. She loved to argue and talk sports.

On Tuesday, I spent the day cleaning out my sewing room and working downstairs in the dungeon. I couldn't believe how much stuff I accumulated in my sewing room. It was amazing. It took most of the morning to put things away...sort things out...I found some patterns I didn't realize I had!! The dungeon was another story...I still have to work on that tomorrow. Just an FYI- the dungeon is our MIL apartment below the house. It is actually Marks office now...but when we moved into the house it help unpacked boxes. The previous owner painted the room/trim/doors GREY!! Prison GREY!! UGH!!...so we call it the dungeon...now it is a beautiful amaretto color. I will have to make a recycle run sometime this week.

The dogs and I took a nice long 3 mile walk in the park Tuesday evening. After our walk...we played in the dogpark. The boys always enjoying playing at the dogpark. There are some really pretty dogs. I did get asked why my dogs were wearing a muzzle...they weren't...only their training leads. It makes it so much easier to walk two 95 lb dogs when they wear their training leads.

Strip Tease Quilt

I finally finished this quilt!!! I was so excited to have it completely finished. As you can see Tusk LOVES his quilt. Yes, I made a quilt for my dog. He used to have one that he loved to lay on when he was a puppy...However, Brigen ate it. Yes, you read that right, he ate Tusks quilt. I actually had to take a day off work because he woke me with a VERY upset stomach and little surprises all over the carpet. Luckily, the X-Ray said he was all right.

I started this quilt last September and became frustrated very quickly. I went to the local quilt store and asked if they gave quilting lessons. The shop owner said that if I would come in the store either on Tuesday or Thursday evenings she would help me. I was so excited about this and bought all the supplies for my first quilt a Strip Tease quilt at her store. The first night she was very helpful to me. I went home all excited and started putting it together. I went back the next week and well....the store wasn't as friendly as the previous week. I put it down to her being a little busier than the previous week. She looked at my strips that I cut out..told me good job then had me iron them. Then she said I could go home and start putting them together. Which I did...well...it kinda went downhill from there. Everytime I went into the store, either the shop owner was too busy to help or the in-resident quilters would tell me "She is too busy to hlep you tonight" or my personal favorite "Tonight is not for new quilters...this is the experienced quilters night. You will have to come back later." I came in one Monday afternoon. I had a Dentist appointment and was finished around 3:00 pm so I thought..hey, this would be a great time to go and get some help. I was still piecing it together and wanted some help. There was a stitch-in going for the local quilters guild and the owner actually took me to the calendar and said..."You need to start reading the calendar on when you can come in for help. I am too busy today. Any day when there is nothing on the calendar I will help you." The calendar was completely full...something on everyday. It was at that point, I quit going.

Kim was kind enough to help via the internet and phone. I most of it finished but when I put the binding on backwards...I put it up. I was so extremely frustrated. I mean this is not how stitchers treat each other is it??? I showed the quilt to my friend Kayla and she said it looked great...who cares if it is a little lumpy or the binding is on backwards. Since I already made the big mistake just use the machine and finish the darn thing...so I did!!! Tusk is happy and I have a pretty quilt (minus all the mistakes)

I just love the colors.....I am happy with the finished product and am looking forward to making my next quilt!!!

My first baby blanket!!

I finished my very first baby blanket tonight!!! I posted earlier that a coworker of my husband had a baby a couple of months ago and Mark wasn't sure if it was a boy or girl...ugh...husbands. So, I knew that the happy couple has dogs because we baby sat them one weekend. I decided that puppies was a safe route. Yes, I know it is blue...but it is so cute!!! I have to say the satin binding was a huge pain in the backside to put on. I did have troubles with the corners and they aren't exactly perfect...but they are there. Needless to say I am pretty proud of this quilt. In case you are wondering...it is one of those panels you can buy at hobby lobby....