Christmas

It was a year of new traditions and stuff we didn't even think about. Weather almost prevented Steve, Joe and I from making it to KS but we did. The weather did stop us from making it to Rochester the day after Christmas. It snowed for 3 days solid in KS and that is UNHEARD of. We had a good time...shared laughs (lots of them), serious chats, tears, anger...well you name it and we experienced it. Would I change a thing? NOPE...oh, church services were cancelled for the 24 and 25...it was weird not to go to church for Christmas...but it was what it was!

I was there...the puppy wanted attention!

Joe and Sarah got a kick out of his stocking hat with a poof ball on it!

Dan with his goodyear blimp snow globe! LOL he loved it!

Autumn loved being with gpa...nap time!

the annual pic with the kids and the christmas tree...we were at dans...this was as good as it got!

A visit from Kevin and Kristin

Thursday Kevin and his girlfriend of 2+ months came for a visit! Steve and I had a lot of fun while they were here and it was great to get to know Kristin better. Steve and I had met her in October at a soccer game. She was pretty shy then and Steve and I decided she was very different from any other girl Kev had introduced us to. All the others were pretty outgoing!!!

This trip though...we found out that YEP, she is different...SHE IS AWESOME!!! She has a great sense of humor and loves to give Kevin a little bit of razzing! She and I spent Friday together at the Mall of America! Kristin was soooooooooooooo very excited to go there! Steve and Kev met us out there for dinner at the end of the day.

They left today...drove to Madison, WI to see a good high school friend of Kev's and then on to a suburb of Chicago to spend a few days with Kristin's family.

Here's the cute couple!!!

11 years ago today...

Here is my story of being a breast cancer survivor...today is a day that I choose to celebrate!!!

Breast Cancer

I hope you are inspired...have your mammos and do your monthly exams!

Back from a much needed vacation!

Steve and I went to Phoenix for a week. We enjoyed some wonderfully warm weather except for 2 days that required jeans and a jacket! Best of all, it was a lot of R&R!!!

We took advantage of a couple of wineries...
Spent the day in Sedona...gorgeous! It also included a stop at a quilt store!!!

We also found a few brewpubs and had some new beers! Always fun!!!

We took in Taliesman...Frank Lloyd Wright's home/school and then some. If you are ever in Phoenix I would highly recommend taking in this tour!!!

There were also some very GORGEOUS and STUNNING sunsets!!!

Now...today...it was back to reality! Laundry, groceries, Target, and back to exercising!!! But...life is good!!!

Vacation

Heading home tomorrow from a week long vacation in Phoenix. We had a super quiet, relaxing time here! My own bed will feel good tomorrow!

Breast Cancer Awareness Month

It's breast cancer awareness month. If you don't do monthly self exams...please do. If you have discovered a lump and ignored it...PLEASE DON'T!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Do you self checks!
Get your annual mammogram!
Don't ignore warning signs!!!

I am almost an 11 year survivor and am thankful for every day I am alive! Take care of yourselves ladies and gentlemen! (yes, men can get BC)

Quilting room pics

Here are pics of my quilting room! This is stuff hanging over my doors. Gotta utilize all the wall space for decor since most of my wall space is taken up with my design wall.
I just got my design wall up and running today!!! FINALLY!!!!!!!!!!

This is my pressing area and my sewing machine!

This is my cutting area under the window. It's great to have something to watch while cutting something out!

It's small, but it'll work!!!

FINALLY...something quilty!

This weekend, my daughter Sarah is a bridesmaid in her best friend's wedding. Molly will marry Matt and so I had to make a quilt. Can you guess what Molly's favorite color is??? YEP...you guessed it, GREEN!!!!!!!!!!!!
I sure hope she and Matt like it! Here's a close-up of the fabs. It's all quilted and the binding is on. I just have to do the hand stitching!
It sure felt good to quilt a bit!

Martha Stewart look out...

OK...so I got a bee up my "you know what" to make homemade spaghetti sauce cuz I am B*O*R*E*D...I went to the farmer's market this morning and got fresh tomatoes, carrots, and onions along with parsley and oregano. This is a totally MN grown spaghetti sauce! Here are the goods...with a few tomatoes to spare...First I had to core the tomatoes and then skin them by dunking them in a pot of boiling water and wait for the skin to split...

Then douse them in an ice water bath...

once they were cooled off the skin magically peeled off...I was totally impressed that this worked...Google is a good thing!!!

Here are the tomatoes in all of their "nakedness"...LOL after prepping the spices, onions, and carrots (yep, there are carrots in here...see ingredients above)...it is still simmering down to spaghetti sauce consistency.

I have tasted it and it's AMAZING...a bit spicy cuz there's crushed red pepper in there as well...but I think this recipe is a winner. I'm not sure how much it's gonna cost me...the tomatoes were about $8 and carrots were about .50...spices about $1 or so...when I see how much I get out of it I'll have a better idea of the cost...but it doesn't matter cuz it's way better than store bought!!!

Condo pics...

OK...we're not completely settled but here ya go...I hung a quilt up in the entry way...my future quilt gallery is finally started! WOOHOO!!!
This will be the sitting room...right now it's the "where should we put it" room! LOL Here's the master bath...beyond the wallon the left is the shower...the toilet is to the right of the towels...and the tub is behind the door on the right! You can see one of the double sinks to the left!

Master closet...before the master bath...just walk thru the door ahead and see the bath above! LOL

The master bedroom...

guest bath...

Steve's space...

the closet to steve's space...we NEED NEED NEED shelves!!!

my sewing room...still a WIP

my fabric closet

my sewing room as viewed from the family room

here's the kitchen and eating area from the family room

The deck before I spent 3 minutes reorganizing! LOL

This might work better...we'll give it a try...the jury is still out on this one!

SO...there ya have it...our condo...about 75% done...I still need to get my cutting area and design wall set up and then I'll be good to go!!!

Kitchen table arrived...

The new kitchen table arrived the other day... Problems with a chair...repairs...and now it's perfect!!

Almost done...

TADA...I want to find a neat graphic cloth for the chair covers...the tan isn't working for me!!!
I have quilted a little bit but no pics...just assembling HST's that I had from a looooong time ago but it was nice to sew a bit!!!

House...

So...we had an offer on our house in KS today...an INSULTING offer at that! They offered us $100K less than our asking price and that offer is $30K less than we paid for it 8yrs ago minus the pool, the landscaping around the pool, the finished basement, the granite countertops, and the theatre room and its equipment. WOW...really???????????? Is this a JOKE? I know the real estate business is rough right now but seriously people...make an offer that shows you want the house.

After reading the offer that our realtor sent via email...the couple only qualify for a sales price of $350K. IF, and I repeat IF...we said yes to this insulting offer...these people couldn't afford the property taxes and upkeep of the pool. What are people thinking? We've had a mortgage crisis here in America and they would be just another chapter in that book if we agreed to sell it to them...WHICH WE ARE NOT GOING TO DO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks for listening to me vent! PS...the sewing room is ALMOST done...I might be able to purchase what I need for my design wall and cutting board area! WOOHOO!!!

July 4th...2009

Sarah and her pup arrived Thursday night. We enjoyed the evening on our little deck with a few margaritas!

I said good morning to Autumn on Friday!

Friday we went shopping and Saturday we spent constructing furniture and rearranging furniture! It was great to have Sarah's input...AND help!!!!

Saturday night we were invited to the rooftop deck, met some people in the building and watched the fireworks. It was pretty cool!!!

Sunday I made breakfast and got Sarah and Autumn on the road back to KS. It was fun to have them here...I miss them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Still a mess...

There's a long way to go...but here's my sewing room...it needs a little TLC...stay tuned!!!

............

I'm not dead...just buried in BOXES!!!!!!!!!!!! It took me almost 3 days to get the kitchen unpacked and organized.

Here's a pic of the kitchen after we closed on it. More chaos pics later...I need some zzzzzzzzz's now!

My life in 3 snapshots...

Happy 27th Anniversary Steve!!!! I love you!!! See you tomorrow.

Moving...

The moving van showed up today. Lots of boxes everywhere and there's still more to do. Tomorrow they will be back to HOPEFULLY finish up. I have a night planned with girlfriends and do NOT want to delay it. It will be fun but emotional! Delivery date of our stuff to MN will be this Saturday. Keep me in your prayers...this is rough...tomorrow, 6/18 is our 27th anniversary and we'll be apart for the first time EVER...not fun...

Maui...

Here are a few pics from our trip to Maui with Steve's parents. It was a super trip...now to the task of moving...UGH...NOT NOT NOT happy about it but I want to be with Steve so it's what I have to do. I'll be out of commission for several days. Don't worry about me...just a change of location!

Steve and his dad took the SAME tshirt to be their "pool" shirt...UGH...

Steve and I in Maui

Steve, myself and his parents in Maui...


Steve and I at the Luau...

Our final sunset...GORGEOUS...