I think I have her figured out

Mother Nature that is.

I recently saw a picture on another blog, of Mother Nature from the Chiffon margarine commercials from many years ago. Can you picture her, wreath of flowers on her head? By now, Mother Nature is getting up there in years, but I figure for her, time has stood still. She can't age and die like the rest of us, she has to live forever, like the Easter Bunny. But she's still a woman.

Every woman getting up there in years can relate, it ain't always easy. I'm dealing with the hot flashes, and I've only just begun! Imagine if you were stuck in time and had to deal with them! I know since my body can't regulate my temperature, I adjust other things. Blankets on, blankets off. Thermostat up, thermostat down. My family of men love me! But how does Mother Nature adjust?

She plays with our weather! She gets hot, turns down the temp and we get below freezing temps. She cools down, we get spring in January. Yesterday was pleasantly warm, although a bit too drizzly for my taste. More nice temps today, but I see single digits in the forecast again tomorrow. I guess if I look at the weather from this perspective, I can relate and accept it a little bit easier!

I decided I might as well make the most of the weather while I can. Not going to work out inside, instead get out and move. And I'm taking my grandaughter with me

Doesn't she look thrilled! She has become way too "laid back" with these cold temps, time to snap out  of it!  I'm going to get a flu shot this morning and over to visit my MIL. The walk will wait until this afternoon. Maybe she'll be ready then. And she can recover from it while I study the evening away.

Liebster Award

I have been nominated for a Liebster Blog award by Kat over at katsstitching! Thank you for this Kat, I'm super excited! This award is simply another way for bloggers to get to know each other. I only had three followers before Vicki's Grow Your Blog Party last weekend. My blog has grown, and I have met so many wonderful new people. And I haven't even had a chance to visit all of the blogs that signed up for the party!

Of course, there are rules to follow for the Liebster, not bad ones though:

1. You must post 11 things about yourself.
2. Answer the questions that the nominator set for you.
3. Create 11 questions for the people you nominate.
4. Choose 11 new blogs & link them in your post.
5. Please leave me a comment on this post with the URL to your Liebster award so I can learn more about YOU!


Here goes, 11 things about me 

1. I am a violinist. My step father gave me his violin when I was in middle school, and I have loved it ever since. I was asked to audition for the Northwest Indiana Symphony Orchestra when I was a junior in High School, but I chickened out the day of my audition. The only time I play now is Christmas Eve.

2. I won a pageant when I was in High School. Back then, (1983) it was called America's Junior Miss. It has since been renamed to Young Woman of the Year. This pageant has always been based on Poise, Physical Fitness, Talent, Scholastics, and speaking ability. My picture hangs in the Portage High School auditorium where I won, along with all the other winners.

3. I'm afraid of heights. I think a lot of people are afraid of heights too. I try so hard to not give in to this one.

4. I have been up in the Eiffel Tower. This one is crazy, see number 3 above!

5. I have a fear of bridges as well. I have always been afraid of going off into the water, and not being able to get out of my car. My youngest son LOVES to tease me about these bridges when we travel-at least he gets a good laugh. I think the worse ever was Mackinac Island!

6. I've always wanted a horse. When we bought our house on ten acres, the lower half was already fenced for the previous owner's cows, has a creek running through, and a pond-it was meant to be. My neighbor asked me to go riding with her one day, so we went to saddle up. I couldn't lift the saddle. Nor can I pick up a hay bale. No horses here, end of discussion.

7. I love to run. Several years ago, I was too quickly approaching 200 pounds. I started walking every day. The weight came off, but walking wasn't good enough. I just really like running, but my body does not. It hurts my knees and hips. I do it anyway, when it's not twenty below outside! 

8. I achieved lifetime member with Weight Watchers. It has been 5 years since I met that goal. I've put a few pounds back on now, but am working to get them back off. It's not so easy at my age!

9. I really enjoy Jillian Michaels workouts. Have you ever tried them, wow! If I skip a couple of days, then get back to them, I know I have skipped them, my muscles hurt. Note to self, didn't work out today, better do it tomorrow!

10. I am the queen of unfinished projects. Last spring I started remodeling my basement. It was already a finished basement-full kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, etc. We were going to knock out one wall make it a walk out basement. I replaced the kitchen cabinets, counters and floor. Boxed up everything in the basement (craft room, son's bedroom, books off bookshelves, dvds, etc). Weather was too wet, then we were too busy with son's racing, no time to do the digging. Decided to just replace the carpet and wait another year until son leaves for college.  Carpet still hasn't been done, boxes not unpacked. This is just one project.

11. I am very shy and quiet. I've always had a very small group of close knit friends, because I get tongue tied around other people. This has been such a challenge in my life. Since my husband is an Army officer, it requires a lot of politics, many social events. I cringe at the suggestion of another event we are 'required' to go to. Blogging is much easier, I can talk without looking you in the face, wondering what you are thinking of me while I speak!


Moving on, the 11 questions from Kat:

1. When and why did you start stitching? My roommate in college taught me to stitch. She couldn't stand that I loved to read for fun, so she had to 'broaden my horizens'
2. Do you do any other crafts or have any other hobbies? I scrapbook, make cards, sew, and on my bucket list, I want to quilt. I've even bought quilt kits that I haven't started.
3. What has been your favorite cross stitch project to date? I made a tooth fairy pillow when my boys were little, all three used it. One of the boys pulled it out of hiding last week, and displayed it on the living room couch-while I was still in SC!
4. Do you belong to a stitching group or guild? Sadly, no. Wish I knew of one where I live, I think I'd give it a shot. 
5. What's your favorite LNS?  ONS? Because I'm in the country, no LNS here. Closest city (over and hour drive) is Indianapolis, I try not to drive there too often. I usually shop from 123Stitch
6. How many hours a week to you spend stitching? I stitch every evening, so at least 2 hours a day, more if I can. I have at least one project on all three levels of my house so I can stitch at any hour, without waking my family. 
7. What's one thing you would love to try, but haven't yet? Raising chickens! Bet that's not what anyone would expect!
8. What does your stitching area look like? My favorite corner of my living room, Grandma's glider, small table with ORT jar, and a good Ott Lite.
9. What is your favorite type of project? (BAPs, bookmarks, ornaments?) Most of what I've stitched  have been gifts for other people, usually a medium sized picture that is their interest.
10. What is your favorite book?/Who is your favorite author? The Redemption Series by Karen Kingsbury. Favorite author is Richard Paul Evans.
11. What is one thing you truly love about yourself? I am compassionate. Maybe that's why I am so happy working in a nursing home.

Next, 11 questions for the people that I nominate:

1. If you could have any job you wanted, what would you want to be

2. What was the last movie you saw, what did you think of it

3. Do you prefer to cook, bake, or go out to eat

4. Do you like to watch sports-live or on tv

5. What was your favorite Christmas gift you've ever received

6. Do you prefer to vacation by yourself, with your family or your girlfriends

7. What is your perfect vacation

8. Are you a one project at a time person, or a serial starter

9. Do you prefer to be inside or outside

10. Describe your decorating style

11. Who is one famous person you admire

My nominations:

Sylvia @ Sylvia's Stitches

Deb @ Ramblings of an Empty Nester

Rajeswari @ diapermum

Denise @ Neesie Natters

Wilma @ Wilma's World

Ronda @ Mountain Delights

Kathy @ Kathy in Ozarks

Retired Knitter @ My next 20 Years of Living

Laurie @ 111 La La Lane

Jan @ The Comfort of a Safe Place

Sandy @ French Laundry 132

I encourage you to stop by and check out these blogs!

Music Running Through My Head

Do you ever get a song stuck in your head, and no matter what you do, it keeps playing over and over and over? Today is one of those days. I woke up this morning, looked out the window, and the music started playing, without much effort on my part. Wanna know what I'm hearing......


Oh, the weather outside is frightful
But the fire is so delightful
And since we've no place to go
Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!!!

And yes, I was happy to look out and see the beautiful snow falling, a good reason for these frigid temps! Hubby planned ahead for this, brought his computer home from work yesterday. With the snow we woke up to, his usual hour and and a half drive would have been two and a half hours today, so he's home, with me, all day. I love my hubby, but I have my routine, and my agenda for the day. I didn't get my morning "me" time. Our plans collide on days like this. I'm hiding in my basement, trying to get my stuff done. He wants to work on taxes, together. We don't even have the documents in yet, ugh! It just might get frightful inside today, maybe I need to take a walk in the snow, where it's calm and quiet!

So now I gotta ask, is there going to be a song stuck in your head today too?

Home Safe

Had just a moment amongst the chaos of returning home, to thank my new friends and followers for your prayers for our safe return home! Due to mechanical difficulties with a broken dirtbike early this week, we chose to drive home yesterday, instead of through the night Monday. I was happy for that. I find it easier to drive at night, but doing that when the temps are sub zero is not good. With our many years as Boy Scout leaders with our sons, we know and live the motto: Be Prepared. We had extra hats, gloves, coats and blankets, but why push our luck. As it turned out, we were very fortunate. We made it safely to Lexington, KY last night. We had made several stops along the way, so we were still traveling later than expected (final tally was 16 hours to get home). We had just pulled onto the interstate, and only a few cars in front of us, traffic came to a complete stop. For over half an hour, we sat. It was 18 degrees. I was thankful for the extra blankets. And I was tense. Not for us, but for the reason for the stop. We could see smoke ahead, and realized both directions of traffic had stopped. We all know bad things happen when this is what you see at eight thirty, on a dark winter night. When we finally started moving, our stomachs tightened at the sight of what was once a pick up truck, only the bed remained. The smoke was clearing, but it was obvious there were no survivors. We only saw the one vehicle, but that was enough. We realized how blessed we were for the timing, we could have been right there.  I thought about the fact that my son would be planning to drive himself home at the end of his training, and I decided he would not. I can't protect my children everywhere they are, but I will not let an inexperienced driver travel 800 miles alone. I will be returning to South Carolina next month! Our thoughts and prayers go out to the families that were changed by that accident last night.

Wordless Wednesday!

A little bit of beauty I found, amongst the bare branches, and despite the cold temps!

IHSW Update

I was so excited about how much stitching I was able to squeeze in over the weekend, I just couldn't wait to share. This piece is getting so closed to being finished, maybe next month's IHSW weekend, I will be working on something else! Here i what I started the weekend with:

And this is what I had when I finally put it down to try to sleep last night

I'm so anxious to see this complete, and ironed! How about you, did you get to stitch, or craft this past weekend? Let me know what you worked on, I'd love to stop by and check it out!

Simple Woman's Daybook

This morning seemed like a good time to get my thoughts out there. If you want to learn more about the Simple Woman's Daybook posts, you can read about it here: http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/


For today

Outside my window I see the fitness center, where 25 ambitious young men are warming up their muscles, preparing to ride. Just beyond that is the motocross track, still right now, but in an hour, will be filled with these boys on bikes, their mechanics, trainers and parents that are here.

I am thinking that it looks like it's going to be so nice outside today. How can the weather turn so cold so quicly, it will be in the twenties here tonight.

In the kitchen, at least the bathroom counter top that is the make-shift kitchen, I have put some food in the slow cooker I brought from home. Although I won't be here for dinner, I know that my son will eat good tonight!

I am wearing comfy traveling clothes for the ride back to Indiana. I tried to put on layers, hubby likes to have the window open so he can smoke, but I am always cold.

I am wondering if I can make it through today without crying. I am letting my youngest son experience life on his own. I'm just not ready for this yet!

I am reading schoolbooks as I travel today. When I get home tomorrow, I will go back and check out all of the blogs that signed up for the Grow Your Blog party, since I didn't get to do that this weekend. The link to these can be found here:http://vicki-2bagsfull.blogspot.com/

I am looking forward to sleeping in my own bed, with my own pillow.

Around the house are probably a lot of dust bunnies waiting to be caught. My hubby doesn't usually do much cleaning, and I've been gone for two weeks. With three dogs in the house, I'm sure the hardwood floors need some attention!

One of my favorite things is being with family. My hubby, son and I spent yesterday acting like tourists here at South of The Border. We walked through shops, took pictures sitting on statues, the whole nine yards. And I loved every minute of it.

A favorite quote for today: When Life Gives You Lemons, Make Lemonade

Good Afternoon!

Welcome to all of my new followers! I can't wait to stop by everyone's blog and say hello, but it may take a few days, as my schedule has taken a twist. I managed to fit in an hour or so yesterday to do some blog hopping, plan to do more in the next week, since Vicki will be keeping the blog list up.

I thought I would be staying in SC at least until the first week of Feb. Well, guess hubby just can't be away from me that long, and has come to take me home! Hmmm, he thinks it's easier for the teenager to be alone, 800 miles from home, in a motel with no kitchen, keeping up riding, schoolwork and laundry by himself. Sorry, a little too much venting? Since my plans changed unexpectedly, we are trying to get the boy set up. Did major grocery shopping for him, lots of laundry and today one of his bikes is being rebuilt-good thing dad was here for that one, turns out the bike wasn't safe to ride. My books and stuff are all packed for tomorrow afternoon's drive home. And I am not looking forward to that one! It was middle 60's here today, so pretty. With the wind chill, will be twenty below at home tomorrow, not even pretty new snow with it! Yes, I do love winter, but really, why do I want to stay here?

When I get home, I will post pictures of how much I have accomplished with the IHSW, I am happy with the progress I've made in the last couple of evenings. But I don't want to sign out without posting a pretty picture I have come across, another of the Christmas gifts I made for 2012. This one was for my mother:

This is three different shaped wooden crosses, covered with paper and screwed together. The crosses were all purchased at Hobby Lobby last summer. The papers are all from the retired Roxie paper pack from Close To My Heart. The rolled flowers were made using the Art Philosophy cartridge from Close To My Heart, I love the way this turned out, and so did my mom. Hope you enjoy looking at it also!

Please keep hubby and I in your prayers, that we will have a safe journey home!

A Blog Party!

Hi, and welcome to my blog! If you've come here from the Grow You Blog Party, hosted by Vickie at http://vicki-2bagsfull.blogspot.com, I'm glad you've stopped by!

I'd like to tell you a little about myself. I am an Army wife, happily married for 28 years to my high school sweetheart. 

Throughout his career, we have lived in Germany, North Carolina, Texas, and back to Indiana, where we both grew up. We currently live on ten acres in a small country town (population just over 700) west of Indianapolis. We moved here thirteen years ago hoping to have a more wholesome atmosphere to raise our three sons-we've never regretted the move!

Isn't that snow gorgeous, winter is my favorite season!

I have been blessed to be a stay at wife and mom most of the past 28 years. Raising three sons is not always an easy task

Despite the photo, they are good kids! My oldest, Chris, is newly married, he is an Army officer, now serving in Afghanistan. Next year, he will return to Tennessee with his wife. My middle son Nathan has been my biggest challenge and blessing. Nathan was born with Spina Bifida, and has been a paraplegic since he was born 21 years ago. He still lives at home, and we learn new things from him every day.  My baby, Avery, is a high school junior. He is the one I have had the joy to travel the US with. He races dirtbikes and has competed in MD, FL, AZ and half a dozen states in between. Since he is not yet 18, he cannot enter tracks alone. My hubby can't leave his day job as often as he'd like to, so I tour with my son. He is an accomplished rider, which makes me proud and scared at the same time. There's always the challenge to go faster.

As my boys got older, I decided it was time for a career. I currently hold an LPN license and worked night shift for a few years. I gave up my job last year to travel, and pursue my RN. This spring I hope to graduate, finally!

In my spare time, I am an independent consultant for a Scrapbooking/Stamping company. I am almost at the ten year mark with Close To My Heart. I enjoy making and giving handmade cards, but scrapbooking was my passion when I joined the company. I currently do monthly workshops at my home, and am considering increasing my business when I finish school. 

I was taught to cross stitch by my college roommate back in the 1980's. I was hooked and have collected patterns and threads ever since. I've stitched more in the past year traveling with my son, than I have in the past twenty. Maybe I'll finally make my way through some of the patterns I've collected.

I am relatively new to the blogging adventure. My family calls me "technology challenged," so every picture, every post, seems to be an effort for me in some way, but I happily tackle it as often as I can, hoping to meet new friends in the blogging world.

I'm glad you've stopped in for a visit today, and I hope you'll peek in from time to time, to see what I've created.

Finally Friday!

I'm so relieved, this week is almost over, I've been waiting for Friday to be here!

I'm so amazed at the change in the weather here in SC. We have enjoyed such nice warm temps since we've been here, close to 80's. Yesterday, the rain moved in, and we could feel the temp dropping in the afternoon. I don't know why I didn't think of it, but I didn't turn the heat on in our motel room, and this morning, my son and I woke up freezing! Who would've thought it would drop so quickly. My mother has always told me, and now my husband does too, I need to watch the news more often, now I get it! Since the temps are going even lower tonight, you can bet the heat is running now, lesson learned.

With all the rain, my son and the other riders here didn't get out on the track today. Most of the riders live within 5 hours of the tracks, so they were able to go home for the weekend. Not many people around here today. I took the opportunity to sit at the laundry mat, sounds like fun doesn't it! Got the riding gear clean at least. I never put those in the dryer, so it's good they have a couple of days to dry hanging in the room. Maybe tomorrow, I'll get the other laundry done.

I got a bit of my studying done today, wasn't able to talk the boy into much studying. He is really struggling through Macroeconomics, makes him so discouraged with school in general. Maybe tomorrow we'll look at that too. He did get pretty excited watching IU play basketball today though! My oldest son graduated from IU and is a big basketball and football fan. My youngest is hoping to attend IU in the not so far off future, so he's hooked on watching them already. Way to go today IU!

Since I don't have much excitement tomorrow, I can spend my weekend stitching, finally! I haven't touched a needle in a couple of days, so I'm ready. And, it is IHSW weekend, put other things aside and stitch. If you want to read more about it, you can find the info and sign up here:
http://joysze.blogspot.com/2013/01/2013s-first-ihsw.html. I have several pieces I'm working on, but I'm trying to focus on only one project and get it finished. I love new starts, but it's been a while, I need a finish, and I don't have anything small in the works right now.

That's about all folks, thanks for stopping by!

Is it Friday yet?

So, already, I'm not off to a very good start with my word, FOCUS! I did get the computer running for my son, and I have put in some study time. I even walked out to the track to see if I could get any pics, but just as I got out there, they were done riding, maybe I can get some tomorrow. So I'm back to the books, but my mind isn't in it. I'm thinking of the weekend. Last weekend I walked all around the South of the Border tourist attractions, not enough there to entertain me again this weekend. I think I have the solution though, it's International Hermit & Stitch Weekend! I think I might have to get the laundry done on Friday afternoon, and I can stitch all weekend. If I was home, I'd probably get some scrapbooking done, maybe that will be next month though. But anyway, I brought several of my stitching WIP with me, and I think that will be my plan. It's only Tuesday, but I'm ready for the weekend!

Running Like a Chicken With it's Head Cut Off!

Do you ever have one of those days, where you just really feel like you're that chicken, running around with it's head cut off, can't figure out exactly where you're going, or what you're doing? Well, today seems like one of those days!

Happily, today is hubby's payday, so that means time to pay the bills, which are sitting back home in Indiana, with my check register. Thank goodness for internet, I can look most up and pay online, just can't balance the checkbook. Not a good thing with two people in different states using the same checking acct, know what I mean! And then there's the electronics issues. For some reason, which I think we've narrowed it down to, my son's computer won't connect to the internet here at the hotel. Obviously mine does, so it's not a WiFi issued. More like a virus maybe, since his Norton's expired two weeks ago! I spent 2 hours on the phone with HP yesterday, still not fixed, back to it today.
And night before last, I woke in the middle of the night in a panic, my school final exam is only 6 weeks away, and I feel like I am soooo, not prepared. Gotta get more studying done. And read son's MacroEconomics and Calculus to coach him through those, since he's doing online classes. And I want to get outside and get pictures of the boy riding, before the rain comes in later this week. And the muddy moto gear really needs to be washed......see what I mean, silly chicken I am!
I decided I needed help, and maybe a good night's sleep wouldn't hurt either! While surfing on a sleepless night, I came across "Word of the Year".  A word to help inspire, or create intention in my life, what a neat idea! It didn't take me long to figure out what word I needed for 2013:

Yes, I think FOCUS would be such a good word right now! Everybody has many hats they wear, things to get accomplished, and I can do it too. I just need to buckle down, and FOCUS, one at a time, these will be completed! Wonder how this would look as a screensaver, would probably make me crazy!
If you want to read more about Word of the Year, or you want to join in, you can find info here:
http://theletteredcottage.net/word-of-the-year-link-party-2013/
Thanks for stopping by, I gotta run!

Happy Anniversary!

I woke up this morning feeling pretty lonely. Considering I'm in a motel room with my son in the next bed, I wasn't alone, just lonely. Today is mine and my hubby's 28th wedding anniversary. I'm with one son in SC, and hubby's helping another son move back home in Indiana. With his 29 years in the military, we've spent many special occasions apart, but it doesn't make it any easier.

Happy Anniversary sweetheart!

TUSAL

I'm trying something new this year. In the past I've come across bloggers' posts for "orts" and "tusals" and never really knew what they were. Now I know, and I'm going to give it a shot! If you're in the dark like I was, here's a little of what I learned-

Orts-are old ratty threads, they are the ends that stitchers cut off. Some people save these castoffs and create a pile, others discard them. I've always thought it was neat to see the different colors build up together-since I usually have several pieces I rotate working on, there's always a variety.

When various stitchers post photos of their piles, showing "progress" of sorts, the Totally Useless Stitch A Long was born (TUSAL). Photos of little jars containing the orts are usually posted around the new moon every month. 

Since I already collect the threads, I might as well join the fun! I have a pretty little candy dish that sits by my stitching chair at home. However, when I left home a week ago, I didn't think to bring my orts along with me. This is one of the rare times I will say, I am thankful for cell phones-I asked my son to take a picture of my jar at home, and send it to me (along with instructions please don't let dad throw away my trash before I get home)

This is what I have to show:

It's not a very large pile of threads, so that means one of two things: either I'm very thrifty with my floss, or I need to stitch more! I'm thinking it's the second choice 

I will probably not empty my dish, just continue to see it grow throughout the year.

If you're interested in joining this stitch a long, you can find more info here:
http://itsdaffycat.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-totally-useless-stitch-long-2013.html


The next post will be February 10th, I hope I have more to show then!

Creative Pay It Forward

I am so excited about the subject of this post! I have come across this on a couple of blogs that I happened across, and now I am starting to see my friends post this on Facebook as well. Do you remember the movie Pay It Forward? That is the idea here, do something nice for somebody else. Wouldn't it be wonderful at some random time, open your mailbox and find you have received something totally unexpected! That is what I am offering, at some random time during this year, I will mail something to you. This might be something handmade, something I've seen on my travels that I thought would be wonderful to share with somebody else, or something I've baked. Whatever I happen to send will be totally random, at a random time this year. I've picked this up from my new friends Sarah Beth, you can visit her here: http://sarahbethscross-stitchblog.blogspot.com, and from Vickie, you can visit her here: http://astitchersstory.blogspot.com. This offer applies to the first 5 people who comment on this post, however, since I joined with two sites, I will open this up to the first 10 people who comment, yeah! Here are the guidelines that you must follow:

1. You must leave a comment on this post, and you MUST say that you want to join me on the Creative PIF 2013

2. You must post this on your blog as well, making the offer and commitment to send to five people who comment to you (yes, you must have a blog to participate)

I love the idea of such random acts of kindness. If you'd like to share in on the fun, maybe receive a little surprise, please let me know! When I see your comment, I will email you for your address, and then you may post this to your blog. I'm anxious to see who will be happy to spread a little happiness!

Thankful Thursday

I find that most people only think about what they are thankful for in the month of November. It is one of the traditions we have all grown up with, the expectation to express something we are thankful for, before we are allowed to start devouring the traditional feast. Last night was one of my sleepless nights, and as I surfed lightly through Pinterest, I came across a crochet pattern for a cute animal hat, you know, the kind that have been so popular with kids this past winter. It made me think about the hats I bought my nieces this past Christmas when they came up to visit my family.

Thinking about the girls in their hats, which they loved and wore all week, just made me think how fortunate I was to be able to have so many of my family with me. We had eight people in the house for a week, half of them teenagers that, because of distance, barely know each other. Yet we were all happy together, truly appreciating the opportunity. Of course, we were missing my son and his wife, but they were there in our hearts. So, the point of my post today is that I am thankful for my family. Not only at Thanksgiving,  and Christmas, but I am thankful for them every day. My family keeps me busy, makes me proud, and sometimes makes me a little crazy, yet they are always the center of my universe, my source of strength.  What are you thankful for today?

Bracket Frame

I have a couple of Christmas gifts I was able to put together this past year, that I haven't posted on here yet, so it's about time to get them shared! I can get at least one of them up today, need to locate pics of the others.
I have a neighbor that always gives the most wonderful handmade gifts for Christmas. I have, on occasion, been able to give a handmade gift back, 2012 was one of those lucky years. I had so much fun assembling this frame for her. Monica is a scrapbooker like myself, and she has a lot of photos displayed around her house and craft room, so I knew that was the perfect gift for her.

Monica has only one child, a daughter, and I thought this would be so pretty with a picture of her little girl in it. With the other bracket frame I assembled, I covered the front of the bracket with paper, this one I left white. I cut out the large flowers with my nestabilities and cuttlebug. I used four layers of papers to make the flowers. The smaller flowers were created with my Close To My Heart cricut Art Philosophy cartridge. The leaves and stems were also on the cricut cartridge. The background paper is from a retired paper pack, Girls Just Wanna Have Fun, accented with Hollyhock and Desert Sand cardstocks. I love the way this turned out, I was as excited as she was when she opened it! These bracket frames are so easy to assemble, I'm anxious to create a few more!
That's all for today, thanks for stopping by!

Christmas is finally over

Thank you for your wonderful comments!
 I debated leaving my Christmas tree up all year, seriously wanted to, but for some reason, my cat has decided he should climb it! My cat is three years old already, and I've never had a problem with him and the tree, don't know what his excitement was with it this year, but alas, it had to come down. I was so sad to see it go. I think the white lights, against my dark walls, add such a feeling of serenity to my living room. This year, maybe I will put it up earlier, and let it stay up longer. I guess it all depends on the travel schedule.
As I am writing this, my youngest son and I are beginning to settle in to our "home away from home." We drove for 13 hours today, from Indiana to South Carolina. It was a pretty drive, through mountains, snow still sitting on the trees. And I love traveling to new states with him, showing him things he's never seen before. Last year in our travels, he saw cotton growing in the fields of Alabama, tumbleweeds in Oklahoma and cactus taller than him in Arizona. Today we saw a flock of wild turkeys in the field. I'm hoping while we're in this area, we'll get out to Myrtle Beach. Even though we've been in Florida the past two Thanksgivings, we never got out to the beach, gotta make sure we do that with this trip. We have to find something to do on the weekends other than our schoolwork! He's 17, growing up, yet he's still like a little child, enjoying seeing things in real life, that other people only get to read about. I love having this opportunity with him!
I appreciate your kind works for my oldest son. I am so proud of his service, as well as my husband's many years as a soldier. Please keep all of our military in your prayers.
I'd like to finish this post with a picture that I don't see I have ever posted. I finished a cross stitch project while we were traveling over Thanksgiving, but I never showed it here. I have a stack of cross stitch magazines I have collected for many years, with patterns I really hope to work some day. This is the first of many I hope to get done:

This piece was designed by Diane Williams, before Little House Needleworks was created. I admire her work, and hope to complete many more. Hopefully, my project will be framed and hanging on my walls before fall!
I guess that is enough for today, thank you for visiting with me!

Simple Woman's Daybook

Sometimes when I can't sleep at night, I have to find something quiet to do to pass the time, that won't wake up my family. There are a variety of things I like to do, which I never have spare time to get around to, but trying to do any of them without turning on lights or making any noise is impossible. So I surf the internet. I find a blog to look at, then follow the links to the other blogs, and I find some pretty interesting things. One of the postings I found the other night was interesting to me. I came across a blog had a posting for Daybook postings. To me, this is challenging, maybe that's why it's appealing. Challenging not because of posting my responses regularly, but challenging because it forces me to sit and think. I'm a pretty laid back person, but I tend to just go with what happens, without attempting any deep thinking. Because of my simple mindedness, this might be a good process for me. If participation in these daybooks posts sounds interesting to you, you can read more about it here: http://thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com/ 

Here are my entries for January-

Outside my window the heavy snow is still sitting on the branches of the trees, weighing them down. The sun isn't up yet, and everything is still and quiet.

I am thankful for my husband. He works hard to ensure that our family is well provided for. I have been so fortunate to be able to stay home and raise our boys, the youngest is now a junior in high school.

I am wearing yoga pants that are not as loose as they were this time last year, a tshirt from a 5K race that my husband, my son and I participated in together, and ugly, but comfy purple crocs on my feet.

I am going to South Carolina with my son this weekend. At 17 years old, he's ready for some independence, but  I'm not ready to let him drive there from Indiana all by himself. He's going to a motocross training school, and living in a hotel for a month. I'm convinced he will need assistance having healthy meals, and keeping up with his classes online.

In the kitchen my dishwasher is running. I think it's a little loud, but my family is used to me turning it on in the mornings, so they are immune to it. Why can I not remember to turn it on before I go to bed at night!

I am reading Taylor's Fundamentals of Nursing. Doesn't that just sound too exciting! I have a big test to finish nursing school in March, I can't wait until the last minute to start reading that.

I am looking forward to this fall. My oldest son will be returning from Afghanistan...

Around the house are empty walls and tables, waiting to be dusted and decorated. I took all (or almost all) of the Christmas decorations down, packed them away, but I have yet to put anything back up in their place. I have seriously considered using a lot less Christmas decorations, because I'm such a procrastinator that my mantle tends to sit empty between Christmas and spring!

One of my favorite things is walking. A few years ago I lost a good amount of weight, and the exercise that I did most often was the cheapest-put on my shoes and head out the door. I am fortunate to live in the country, along a road with a winding creek beside it, and plenty of big trees to look at. I am easily entertained by the squirrels and birds, and occasionally the deer.

A peek into my day

It is seriously time to take down the tree! Since I'll be out of town for a month, it needs to be put away before I go!

I hope you've enjoyed my Daybook for January. If you enjoyed this and decided to participate, let me know, I'd love to read your entries as well, have a wonderful day!

Another New Year!

Happy New Year!

My mother always told me, the older you get, the faster the years seem to go by. I'm really starting to believe that. It seems like it hasn't been that long since I left my job, but it's almost been a year already! And in a way, I'm kind of hoping this year goes by pretty quickly. I'm anxious for this fall, when my son will be coming home from Afghanistan. I know I'm not the only one looking forward to his return!

My dear hubby and I went out to celebrate New Year's Eve the other night. We haven't been doing that the last couple of years, maybe because we're just getting old! It's a hassle to drive an hour to Indianapolis, find parking and someplace decent to go, with a hotel close enough to walk to, always wondering what the weather will have in store for us. We usually don't feel like going out is worth all of that. This past year though, we stayed local. The Chateau Thomas Winery in Plainfield is only 40 minutes away, not a bad drive. They had a New Year's Eve celebration that was worth checking out. The price was really not bad, it included our hotel stay, which was across the parking lot from the winery-wine and snacks at the hotel at 6pm, then wine and snacks at the winery. This was followed by a wonderful dinner buffet, dessert bar, then dancing until midnight. After our champagne toast, there was more dancing and a breakfast buffet. One final breakfast buffet was served at the hotel before checkout. We had so much to each, it was like being on a cruise, fantastic! Along with our new year's eve hats and party favors, guests also received a bottle of wine, which we chose to bring home to enjoy another time.  If you're looking for something to do for New Year's Eve, and you're going to be in Indiana, check out the Chateau Thomas Winery, I promise you won't be disappointed!

Most of the Christmas decorations have been packed up and put away. On my agenda today is packing the final decor, our tree. I always wait until after the new year to take it down, but I have to get an annual photo of my boys in front of the tree first. I have avoided doing the photo this year, since one of the boys isn't home. Guess it's time to accept he's an adult now, and won't be having Christmases with us every year now. Heavy sigh, time to move on.....