It's Thursday, A pleasant surprise

I have to Report....

I gained only a half pound.  I was pretty impressed since I went to big girl camp this week and all we did was eat and sew.  

I haven't been paying close attention to eating right and eating healthy because things have been soooooo busy.  

But I must say,  The happy dance is coming out!  All the painting in the new house is done!!!  I MEAN DONE.  

I was thankful to have some great help last night to help me finish the walls in the last room.  Then we moved on to an unexpected project with the kitchen cupboards.  But I have to say It is a relief to have the painting in the house done.

Ryan has talked about painting the cellar stairway.  If we do indeed do that it will take no time at all and we can do the anytime we want.  

So being Thursday starts a new week and maybe I need to pay a little bit more attention to what food I shove in mouth.  That Future mother in law sending cookies to the house is hard to resist.  I have to say NO to those cookies.  That is my goal for this week.  

Goals for this week:

• Say not to MOST of the sweets.  Only allowing myself 2 sweet treats this week.
  

• More exercise!  
  

Sewing weekend.

Sewing Weekend!!!!

Yes, The girls "weekend getaway" that was right at home was very well worth it! It was enjoyed completely by all I am sure.

I started out the weekend before making all these cute little "goodie" bags! I whipped them up in no time. I took fabric out of mom's collection that she didn't know where else she was going to use that material to make something. So I cut them up, spent time sewing them together.

I did some shopping for items to place in the "goodie" bags. I got all kinds of little things to put into the bags that maybe these lovely will use and enjoy!

We had door prizes to draw names and give away little goodies.  Every person got to leave with two different goodies!

The calm before the storm.  Thursday night after mom and I got our tables set up.

And a Cutting and ironing station!

My first dishcloth I have ever made without my grandmother finishing it for me.  I know the dark green didn't really go but I ran out of yarn and just wanted to finish it so I could use it!

Friday night as everyone arrives.  Munchies on the counter, wine in hand and lots of girl talk!

Just social time

Michele likes to talk with hands and body motions!

Not sure what this story was about.

Chatting before dinner.

Girls will be girls.  Ashlee always sticks her tongue out in pictures.  

Procutto wrapped chicken and baked ziti!

A made a few blocks to ship out to a women in California making quilts for people in Japan.

Mother daughter chat

Michele was happy that I was able to repair those pj pants.  They started with a large whole!

Carol was trying to get cell phone service.  It's supposed to be right leg bent and left arm up.

Movie time, .... "Eat, Pray, Love"

Michele cooked, cleaned, and told stories.  

Early Saturday morning but the rest of the girls weren't there yet.

Saturday breakfast.  Bubble and squeek, sausage, and much more.

The late girls were finishing breakfast as the rest of us got started on projects.

This was Michele's command post for the weekend.  The Kitchen.

Mom was busily working with her five inch squares.

Some projects and reading in the works.

Laura worked diligently on cutting!

Lauren just plays with the dogs and Sophie can't seem to get enough of it.

The stromboli got a little big!

Those girls are working very busily and very focused on thier projects.  

Working hard.

Look at that wonderful master piece!

Laura doing more cutting.

 Cindy made a tie blanket for Heidi!

This is where the pictures get few and far between.  At this point we realized Winnie (Mom's dog) was missing.  She dissapeared somewhere around 12:30 on Saturday.  

After hours of searching all afternoon,  after dark there was nothing else we could do.  So this is when some of us did some more sewing and working on projects.  

Lynda was busily working on getting her binding sewn on so that she still had my help.

Michele enjoyed telling stories and sitting in the big comfy chair!

More sewing and chatting!

Sunday Breakfast.  Bacon, sausage, bagels, donuts, and fruit!

The spread looks amazing!

This was the feed we had before setting back out Sunday morning looking for Winnie and handing out flyers.

I got some more blocks made for Japan!

I got my laminate bag made for the "Shop Hop".  

We got a call Sunday afternoon saying that Winnie had been spotted.  We have such a great group of friends as there were probably a dozen people out looking for her but it got dark again and we still could not find her.  

We got a call early Monday morning that she had been sighted again.  Mom and dad went down with Piper. After and hour and a half dad finally spotted her and was able to get her.  

She is now home with mom sleeping on the couch.  It has been two crazy days!  

A Sunday Adventure

Long story short but we had quite the adventure Sunday afternoon.  I couldn't resist taking pictures.  

Dad came in looking for Piper  needless to say when we went outside this is where she was found.....

She was on the roof of the boat house.

Dad had to go up after her,

He tried to coax her down,

He even climbed down to show her how it is done.

But that didn't work.  Dad ended up having to carry her down on a ladder.  Mom and I were too busy helping him get her down that we didn't get any pictures of this event.  

Friendships

Friendships

I am having a very difficult time with friendships lately.  I have had many friendships over the years and never had such a challenging time as I do know.  It seems like things are always changing and friendships never stay the same.  

Friendship: (From Wikipedia)

Friendship is a form of interpersonal relationship generally considered to be closer than association, although there is a range of degrees ofintimacy in both friendships and associations. Friendship and association can be thought of as spanning across the same continuum. The study of friendship is included in the fields of sociology, social psychology, anthropology, philosophy, and zoology. Various academic theories of friendship have been proposed, among which are social exchange theory, equity theory, relational dialectics, and attachment styles.

Value that is found in friendships is often the result of a friend demonstrating the following on a consistent basis:

• The tendency to desire what is best for the other
• Sympathy and empathy
• Honesty, perhaps in situations where it may be difficult for others to speak the truth, especially in terms of pointing out the perceived faults of one's counterpart
• Mutual understanding and compassion
• Trust in one another (able to express feelings - including in relation to the other's actions - without the fear of being judged); able to go to each other for emotional support
• Positive reciprocity - a relationship is based on equal give and take between the two parties.

Apperently when I give sympathy it is worthy and some people just take it wrong.  Some people hate to hear honesty, so why do you become friends and then no longer associate with someone when they tell you something honestly.  I can't seem to trust when we plan something and I always get backed out on because they always have "something better to do".

Friendship one:

We have been friends for ever.  I say friends and that may be what I call her but I never see her, I never talk to her, and when she comes around she never even communicates with me.  Whenever I try and plan anything with other friends she says I am always leaving her out, like I am not aloud to do anything with anyone else.  Apparently I can't  have any other friends.  We never communicate but the moment she finds out I am getting married she is like the long lost friend who wants attention.  All of a sudden I start getting multiple text messages and phone calls a day.  As Ryan says, she just wants to be in the wedding, and that is your decision.  Once I made the decision of who was going to be my maid of honor, and it wasn't her, I have yet to hear from her again.  I know it is going to lead to a crappy wedding day because it is going to be all about her and how she didn't get to be in the wedding, but I am very close to certain people and would rather have them in my wedding.  So, I just live everyday smiling and doing what is best for me.  

Friendship Two:

I haven't been friends with this person long but when we started chatting and hanging out we spent many hours together.  Ryan was very impressed that this person and I had become so close because it gave me someone to spend time with when he was gone, it gave me someone to talk to when days are rough.  Then I lost this friendship right down by the wayside when this friend was now in a relationship.  So now when I text, I don't get any response or very short respone.  I understand love at first sight and I understand knowing when you want to spend the rest of your life with someone.  She has been with him a very short time (maybe 3 weeks) and she began planning a wedding for this year.  Nervous, yes I am.  Scared, yes I am.  Sad, yes I am.  Now I see her in passing and barely any words are spoken.  

Friendship Three:

Couldn't ask for a better person to talk to on a weekly basis.  We speak atleast one a week, we both have busy schedules but we still do the best to touch base with each other so that we can check in and see how each other are doing.  She has been through many difficult times together and I will always be by her side any times she needs and I will never doubt that if I needed her by my side she would be right there.

Friendship Four:  

Couldn't ask for a better person to touch base with on a daily basis.  We were once very close, spent some time away from each other and now are becoming closer then ever again.  We have also been through other difficult times together and have shared many tears and long talks.  

So, why do I have some friendships that are so great and wonderful and other friendships that I just can't seem to understand.  I try and work at them and when I do I just get shut down and frustrated.  They always have better things to do, or would rather spend time with the boyfriends.  So why do I keep worrying about these friends and trying not to say anything that  will hurt them.  Why do I continue to plan things and then be backed out on due to something "better" coming up.  

I am finding that on a daily basis I am asking myself which friendships I need to treasure and continue enjoying, and which friendships are truly worth working so hard on, or just letting go.  

From this day forward, I live my life to the fullest, I enjoy the friendship and relationships that I have and I work on only those that I feel are worth fighting for!  

It's Thursday, A pleasant surprise

It's Thursday!!!!

I lost 1.5 pounds!!!!!! This girl is pretty happy today, I might just dance all day!

So this weekend we were at my grandparents and my mother found my prom dress in my grandmother's closet. My mom and I really thought I should try it on!






I did!!!! It fits so much better than when I wore it to prom 7 years ago! When I wore it to prom 7 years ago it was very snug. Now I had all kinds of room to move and had no worries at all.

What a great feeling!

Weekend Getaway!!!

I have to say

I am very excited for this coming weekend!!

I may miss Ryan while he gets to go off and enjoy his snowmobiling and I am home but I sure know that I will have a great weekend.  

I get to spend the weekend with a bunch of girls, sewing, crafting and having fun.  We have a friend coming to my moms who  will be doing all the cooking.  We have I think 10-12 women coming to spend the day full of crafting and learning from one another.  

We will get up in the morning, enjoy sewing, brunch will be cooked for us, we will do more crafting, dinner will be cooked for us then dessert, wine, and a movie!  Sounds like a couple great days ahead.

Friends, good times, good food and a great weekend will be had!  

Jason's Birthday

So every year on March 8th we go down to my parent's house to celebrate my brother's birthday. Yes I know he isn't there to celebrate it with us but he would want us to be having a good time with friends. So we get together and there are many "Jason" stories told.


Later on in the evening we enjoy one of Jason's old time drinks. The jagerbomb. No one really cares for the drink but most people drink it in Jason's memory. I have to admit that I have never tasted the jagerbomb but as my brother knew I was not an alcoholic drinker. I never cared for alcohol and really could care less about drinking it. So I don't partake in this event.

Here mom and dad are enjoying their jagerbomb after our adventure. I will tell you about our lovely adventure later.

Mom doesn't enjoy them so well. She has never really been a fan of the jagerbomb but she does it once a year on this glorious occasion.

So here is the group getting ready to toast to my brother, jagerbomb in hand.

And every year on his birthday I place balloons on the cross that I made and placed at the location of my brother's accident. On his birthday go the flowers, at Christmas goes the wreath ,(which I know has not come down and my mother has informed me Christmas is over and it is time for it to come down), and on the anniversary of his death goes the glads. I try and put these various items on this location to remember my brother and the great times that we had.

So the adventure. My brother's girlfriend decided that she was going to come down to my parents in her Jetta. Let me just tell you my parents are the only year round residence, it is usually a. snowy, b. icy, c. muddy, or d. okay depending on the season. Well March 8th two days after rain. It was very slippery mind you and Ryan sanded on his way in but there was no way that Lindsey was getting out the road, UPHILL with her little car. My dad ended up towing her car, Jeremy driving, three quarters of the way out the road then continued to follow him to the end of the road to make sure that they got out the road okay.

Hello Thursday

Thursday......

Oh how I missed you, not.

But welcome again and with that 

THANK YOU!!!!

Another week, another loss.....

Autumn

It's more Auntie Time!!!

Sophie is very protective of Autumn when she is over at the house.  When daddy brought her in this is where he put her down and Sophie knew it was her dog bed but she was just protecting her.

Taking Autumn to the fabric store is always interesting.  She found this pig fabric at the quilt store and she was carrying that around along with a pillow.

So Auntie bought the fabric, and came home and made a pillow for her.  She might be slightly spoiled, or maybe just well loved!

She was pretty happy with her pig pillow and this is when she got tired and decided that she was ready to lay down.