New Year's Eve

I've heard that the activity you do on New Year's Eve is a precursor to your entire next year. If so, Daughter 2 will be doing lots of crocheting and studying. Mickey is her assistant.


After some fun, hooky time, she ended up with the start of a new blanket:


Isn't it so lovely?! It's being made with the bamboo yarn she got for Christmas. I'm loving it!

It's seems to be the time in Blogland to sum up the previous year in order to get on with the new one. Some of this year's momentous occasions have been:
1. Getting a new son-in-law - by far the most momentous occasion!
2. Trying to sell our house and finally giving up on it.
3. Remodeling all of our bathrooms and getting new countertops and backsplash in the kitchen.
4. Daughter 1 graduating from college with an engineering degree and finding a job.
5. Having fun making quilts. Wish I'd made more, but it was one of those years as seen in numbers 1-4 above!

I thought the year might end with me going back to work. I haven't mentioned it until now, but I had a couple of job interviews in the past couple of months. I didn't get either one. You never know, I may still find a job someday, but until then I think God has other plans for me. So after a couple of days of feeling a bit worthless because I was passed over, I now feel renewed energy and plan to make 2011 great and productive and fully satisfying.

Thank you to so faithfully following along my quilty journey. My 2011 will be FILLED and overflowing with quilty goodness. I promise! My resolutions are simple this year:
1. Try to eat healthy.
2. Walk more.
3. Quilt more.

Hexie Happening

We've so enjoyed having Daughter 2 home with us for a few weeks, especially after her Fall of study abroad when it was rare to even get to talk with her - had to settle for e-mails! Evenings of late find her on the sofa while we watch TV, happily stitching her hexies.
Aren't they lovely?! It's growing by leaps and bounds!

She's also been working on some gorgeous crochet, even designing her own pattern using some bamboo yarn she received for Christmas. She squealed with delight when she opened that gift!

We are still basking in our holiday of relaxation. Today there will be some cooking going on, getting ready for a fun New Year's Day with lots of yummy appetizers to enjoy while we watch football (and make hexies and applique and crochet!)

A Very Merry Christmas!

Please excuse my blogging break - after the wedding AND Christmas, I was a bit pooped! But all is well, other than the fact that I caught a little cold. I can't complain though; I haven't been very sick, and it's given me a good excuse to park in my recliner and hand stitch to my heart's content. Above is some of the loot we opened Christmas morn. Daughter 2 was the recipient of the Flutterby quilt; she was happy indeed!
My funky angels are coming along nicely. I'm working on angel number 3, the one on the left with no shoes. Let me tell you, the shoes are so tiny. I've bitten off more than I realized with this quilt. So many teeny tiny pieces! But I will forge ahead. By the time 2011 is over and this quilt is complete, I should be much improved at applique.
Here another shot of Emily and Tommy as they left for their honeymoon in Antigua. They are back home now after a wonderful trip. We have Elizabeth home with us for a week and half longer until she has to return to school and we're enjoying every minute!

Wedding Shoes and Rum Cake

I think the funniest story of Emily and Tommy's wedding day was my shoes. I had no problem finding a dress to wear - bought one this summer. But finding the right shoes was another matter. A few weeks ago I bought the shoes above. I thought they were pretty, elegant, and the heels weren't too high. Last week I put them on one day to break them in around the house. I realized after only a few minutes, they were not going to work. They felt fine in the store, but not at home. Very uncomfortable.
So only days before the wedding, I found these lovely heels. Gorgeous! I knew they'd be to high for me to wear all day (unless I wanted to spend the holidays in a back brace), so I wore them only to the wedding and bought the comfy cushy flats below for the reception.
Before the wedding while I was running around the church affixing pew bows, and getting pictures made, I decided to change into these flats until time for me to walk down the aisle in the heels. As soon as I put them on I realized I had a problem. Not only were the flats two different sizes, but I had two RIGHT shoes! Oh my! I decided that even with the mismatched sizes and two right shoes, that they were much more comfortable than the heels. So I went with it, wearing them to the reception, and dancing up a storm in them. A couple of days ago I went back to the store, coming home with a matched set of shoes, same size, one left, one right. I because of all my troubles, the store refunding me 20% of the cost.
Elizabeth made this delicious rum cake last night. Wish you could smell it! We'll be serving it on Christmas Eve while we entertain family members with a beef tenderloin dinner. Yum!

More Wedding Pictures

First dance.
Here are Emily and her bridesmaids. On the left is Elizabeth (Daughter 2) who was maid of honor. On the right is Angelyn, Tommy's sister. In the background you can see some of the hundreds of poinsettias in the church. It was a beautiful setting!

Just Married

Aren't they a gorgeous couple? I have tons more photos to share but blogger is not cooperating this morning - but stay tuned. My brother rented this antique Bentley to take them to their hotel. The next day they left for Antigua, where I'm sure they're relaxing on the beach.

They're Married!

What a wonderful, fun, exciting, Godly, festive day today was! Everything went well! The church was gorgeous, decorated with hundreds of poinsettias, lots of garlands and wreaths, and a HUGE Christmas tree.

The reception was so much fun. The food was yummy, the cakes were amazing, and hubby and I even danced a bit. I can't even begin to explain how much fun we had.

This photo was not taken today - it from earlier this fall when Emily had her bridal portraits made. But I'll be sharing photos from today and a few funny stories soon. For now, I'm putting my feet up.

Counting Down

Two days until my older daughter get married! You would think we would be in tizzy around here, wouldn't you? But everything is organized and ready. The primary thing on my to-do list today is to go with Emily to get manicures. Neither of us typically get our nails done professionally. That's one indulgence in which I've never felt the need to partake. But for this special occasion, we will indulge!

I do need to run the vacuum today, maybe bake a loaf of whole wheat banana bread. Hubby is going to pick up his tux.

Daughter 2 and I have been catching up on all the Harry Potter movies, in anticipation of seeing the new one over the holidays. We already watched four of them. So maybe today we'll get to number 5. And believe it or not, I've had quilting time this week! I've so enjoyed spending time with my HQ sit-down machine! I'm about 1/3 of the way done quilting a pretty large quilt. It's a fun time around here!

Snowflakes Falling

Yes, it's been snowing around here. Lots of flurries, which to us here in the deep South is a big deal! It's supposed to warm up before the weekend so we won't freeze in our wedding attire. Above is a pic of the wedding programs Emily made. Aren't they beatiful? She used a snowflake stamp with embossing ink, sprinkled it with silver embossing powder, and used my heat gun to melt it into a shimmery snowflake.
Sweet Oliver. So sweet. But not so fast! When we came home from a shopping outing yesterday, we found him tangled up in this:

I'd bought this filled bobbin saver in Houston for my applique projects. Total loss. The bobbins that were not chewed were wet with dog drool. It had been sitting near my chair for weeks and he'd never shown interest. He must have been bored and lonely. He seems okay; he ate well last night so I think he hasn't suffered from his playtime. But we're watching him closely to make sure.

I ordered a new one last night.

Christmas Cheer

Okay, so it's not exactly like the picture on the box the kit came in, but whatever. I love it! We quickly gave up on perfect scalloped shingles, perfect wreaths, perfect anything. By the time we were done, the goal was just to squirt some icing and push some candy into it.

Gingerbread houses are so much fun to build and decorate. Plus they make a nice centerpiece for the holidays.

Lots going on around here. Daughter 2 is home from Italy. Only ONE WEEK until Daughter 1's wedding!!!! We've been getting dental appointments and hair appointments out of the way. I jumped off my Mom's dead battery and took her Christmas shopping. My Christmas shopping is all done. Something about having a December wedding makes you get everything done early!

This week we'll be doing some holiday cookie baking. I want to have lots of goodies on hand for any out-of-town friends and relatives who will be in town for the wedding next weekend. Hubby and Daughter 1 will both be off work on Thursday and Friday so we can take care of last minute wedding prep, though Emily has everything so organized that there will not be much to do. We absolutely can't wait for the big day!

I've even had some quilting time. Emily helped me baste a quilt today. Tomorrow I have a date with my HQ sit-down machine. I've missed her!

That's One Funky Angel

Can you believe it? I've made a start on my 2011 block of the month project! The January block in the Baltimore Christmase pattern has four horn playing angels, with holly in between. The pattern called for pale pink dresses and brown wings. Definitely not me! So my angels are decked out in Kaffe with polka dot wings. One down, three to go!