Halloween

Warning sign. We are not liable.

The front of the house.

Extreme props.

The front of the house.

We went to L.A. for Halloween. My Aunt Judy and Uncle Vance live there and every year they have the most amazing Halloween Yard. It takes over a month to put it all together. We showed up two days before to help put the finishing touches on it and to scare the crap out of people on Halloween. It is a lot of hard work, but very rewarding. Plus, I get to see my other family members from IL and other parts of Cali. See the second post for more.

My 10 Year High School Reunion

Like I said in the last post, I was in Peoria, IL the last week in May. This coincided with my ten year high school reunion. I didn't take many pic's, but here are the ones I liked. The first two are guys I went to high school with and the last two are me with my friends kids. Casey Getz, his wife and son, Jeremy Elsasser, me with Joe and Ashby Patterson's little girl Emma and me with Amber (Aaron) and Jason Redoutey's little guy Caleb. I think I was one of two couples at my reunion without kids. Of course there were some single people and Nathan didn't attend with me so it was kind of weird. I fell back into by old secretarial roles by organizing a list of updated addresses and emails. My ultimate goal of pacifying my curiosity about my classmates was met, plus it fueled me to join facebook. So I guess it was a success. 

I am so delinquent

I've been up to a little sewing lately. I made my mom a gardening bag for mother's day. Didn't turn out exactly as planned, but still super cute! This pic is taken at my parent's land in Farmington, IL. We were home the end of May.

It's been a long time

Sorry all. I have been horrible at updates. I have an exciting new project I want to share with you though. Nathan and I have been working at renovating a baby blue room (a favorite of the past owners) into my new craft/office room. Take a peek. First Nathan removed the popcorn ceiling, installed can lighting, patched, sanded and painted the ceiling. Then we painted the room not once, but twice since I didn't like the first color. Most recently, Nathan laid wood laminate flooring. It looks amazing and that is just the beginning. Right now we are working on crown molding and baseboard. I can hardly wait for him to build my desks and for me to get started on all my curtains and accessories. 

Another Home Tour

Last Sunday, Becky and I went on another home tour. This time to Windsor Square in the Scottsdale Camelback area and another girl Heather joined us. The homes and landscaping were beautiful. Very inspiring.

Coronado Home Tour

Two Sunday's ago, my new friend from book club, Becky, and I went to see the Phoenix Coronado home tour. The company was better than the tour, but I took a few pics none the less. Too bad they won't upload. Maybe later.

Tonya's new yoga mat bag

How cute is this!! Another gift for a friend who has so graciously taught a workout class at our church for free. Pattern from Lotta Jansdotter's Simple Sewing. Sorry the pic's weren't working before. Hopefully this will do it.

Self Magazine 2008 Challenge

I am up for the challenge. With my 10 year high school reunion quickly approaching, the thought that comes and goes about eating better and exercising more, finally leads to change. I joined Self Magazine's 2008 Challenge. It is mainly about getting healthy and reaching your happy weight. I am inspired by the pre-planned meals and exercise routines that don't immediately lead to boredom. I am one week in and have had to be extremely disciplined. With people eating nacho's and ice cream sundaes at work to still having some not so great snack food around the house, I strive to find the smaller me. Working out and eating healthy has left me feeling satisfied and upbeat. Anyone interested is heartily invited to join me for all or just part of the challenge. As you eat your fast food this week, keep me in mind.

More Family Pictures

First pic is my dad and I next to the biggest amethyst I have ever seen at the Fossil, Rock and Gem Show in Tuscan with some of his hippie friends that just so happen to be in AZ at the same time as my parents. Heaven forbid them get together in Peoria, IL! Next is my mom and I shopping at the show. And last, Grandma and I (my mom's mom) at our place and then Grandma playing Guitar Hero (she's so cool).

Giving Blood

I'm so proud of you Nathan. Nathan went and gave blood with me for the first time ever. I have been suggesting nicely that he go with me for a long time, but for one reason or another, he hadn't made it until this week. He even gave power red, which is when they take nearly double the amount and give your plasma back to you during the run. I'm not tall enough and don't weight enough to give power red, but they talked him into it. He did great!! No queasiness or fainting. This is one of my soap boxes, so beware! It takes so little time and effort to give a unit of blood every 56 days, that everyone should do it!! It is estimated that 60 percent of the population will need blood or blood components sometime during their lives. If you already give, GREAT! Bring a friend next time and right now United Blood Services is offering free movie tickets.

My Parents Visit

Well, the rush is over! My parents flew in from Peoria, IL last week and stayed at our place for a week. I love my family, but they can be overwhelming for me. My parents are hippies at heart, never plan anything yet want to do everything. They think I'm a little too uptight at times and all that can lead to tense situations. All that said, this was the BEST trip yet. In fact, I was sad to see them go home. This picture is us at the Renaissance Fair. Dad wasn't sure he wanted to go, but mom goaded him into it. Nathan took the picture, so of course missed out on being in it (typical). 

Die Oleander Bush

Above is the destruction of our four oleander bushes that were taking over our back yard. They were taller than our house and from the first to the last pic, you can see the shed get uncovered. We had tried to trim them back, but they were out of control even when we bought the house last year. We hired some guys to come and hack it down and finish off those stumps so they are level with the ground. The bush had been pushing the cement block fence over little by little so we are super relieved to have them gone. 

ACLS

I just completed a four week ACLS class. ACLS stands for advanced cardiac life support. My new job demanded that I have it and since let this credentialing expire, I ended up taking the whole class over again instead of a renewal class. It was a good thing though, because there were quite a few changes since 2005. ACLS includes interpreting cardiac rhythms, pushing cardiac drugs and the use of algorithms for code and emergency situations. My manager had mentioned, that if I was not able to pass the written and demonstration based testing, then my job would be at an end. I wasn't nervous at all until he said this, but I passed with flying colors yesterday. Yeah!! My job will continue, well at least until April 5 when I have to make a decision of where to work next.

Sewing Expo

Oh my word! I am so excited! For years I have been saying that I want to buy a serger and today I did. I went to the Quilting, Sewing and Crafting Expo at the AZ State Fairgrounds today and after wondering around hundreds of booths by myself, I asked myself, "What am I doing here?" I realized it was the perfect opportunity to compare shop. Normally I would have to go to at least 3 or 4 different sewing dealers to look at, ask questions and test drive all the different brands of sergers, but here they were under one roof. I got the best deal!! 

For those of you that don't know what a serger is, or are saying it sounds familiar, but what does it do? I'll tell you. A serger allows you to finish seams professionally so you can wear and launder items hand-sewn without them falling apart. They do a ton of cool stictches that I won't bore you with. But if you are interested, here is the one I ended up getting. Janome 1110D. Now I really need to get sewing!!

Bibs for Baby

One of my good friends from high school, Amber, recently had a baby boy and I had the cutest baby bib pattern from Amy Carol's Bend the Rules Sewing, so I decided to give it a whirl. This is the finished product. I wanted to pick non-baby fabrics, to give it a vintage feel. Sorry the pics aren't better. Photography is not exactly my thing.

Delight.com

Deep down I know that I will never be as environmentally conscious as I would like to be, but I have to start somewhere. I have been eyeing these reusable grocery bags for awhile and purchased them with money I received from Christmas. 

While on the same website, I found the ultimate cookbook holder and I couldn't resist.

Both were purchased at Delight.com. Their website has a daily special at a reduced price and a page with the editors favorites always available. 

Finished projects given as gifts

Here are some recent things that I have made. Most of them were given out as Christmas or Birthdays gifts to my friends and family. Credit for the original patterns should go to Amy Carol and her amazing book, Bend the Rules Sewing. This is a simple wallet for credit cards.

 This is super cute clutch that I made in a few different fabrics.

A zippered case to hold whatever my friend Betsy wants.

The most generic gift of all, yet grandma's adore, coasters.

Hopefully I'll be up to some more sewing and blogging soon.

Terra Finally Has a Blog

So after reading many blogs about friends and strangers, I have decided to start my own blog. Yeah! Haven't decided how often I will post, but it is born out of my desire to share my life and what I have been accomplishing with my sewing.