The Garden

Last weekend I started another project: a vegetable garden in the back yard. Here are some pictures of what I've done so far. The first picture is of our box spring mattress frame. Link and I ripped out all the fabric from the top and the bottom. Then we moved the frame to the perfect garden spot in our yard. (By the way, I didn't try to dress Lincoln up like one of those cute calendar babies, he did this to himself after trying on the pajamas I made him. He loves his hats and also note the rain boots he really did put on all by himself!) Yesterday and today I filled the frame with soil, peat moss, and compost. Then I planted all the plants and seeds. I'll try to update you on the progress, good or bad. That picture with the white blocks in it actually has words if you click on it. I put in the names of the plants so you can see what I planted. Oh, and the plants are actually pretty evenly spaced it just looks funny because of where I was standing to take the picture.

Pajama Bottoms

These are for my boy. It is hard coming up with fun sewing projects with a boy in mind. Most of the fabric I have is quite girly and most of the cool patterns I see are for girls. I had this fabric in my stash and one day realized I didn't have to make a blanket with it. Lincoln is testing them out as we speak.

More green and blue

This is my first solo skirt. When I was in college I had a wonderful roommate (Liz) who helped me make a couple of skirts, but this is the first I have done on my own. It turned out way better than I thought it was going to and I like it a lot. I think I will go ahead and find some material to line the inside with to make it a little less transparent. I love the blue flowers and I'm glad I finally got brave enough to cut this material. One of these days I will figure out how to post pictures from the places that inspire these creations. For now you will have to be satisfied with the pictures I take.

Here is a closeup of the fabric.
It isn't quite as cream colored as it looks,
but it isn't bright white either.

My first quilt

I finally finished the quilt I've been working on. Ok, so it didn't take that long. I started with lots of strips that were already cut and I just had to select the colors and sew them together. After creating several strips I then sewed the strips together. I cut out some blocks and put them around the border. It went very smoothly except for the parts I messed up on and had to redo. Somehow the picture of the back didn't get uploaded, but the fabric I used is a greenish with clouds and you can see it in the blocks at the bottom of the quilt. It's the fifth from the left.

The quilt:

Close-up #1:

Close-up #2:

Pulled pork

A recipe from a blog I just found written by a former ward member. She makes some really yummy sounding food. You can find the recipe here. We had it with leftover "Kate's Pasta Salad" and Ghiradelli's Triple Chocolate brownies for dessert. Of course for the BBQ sauce I had to make my special sauce with mustard and brown sugar and it was super delicious.

More Shirts

The shirt collection is getting bigger. I made a new type and a repeat of the other shirt in a new fabric. The new shirt is kind of a v-neck wrap in a green with white trim, but it proved to be very difficult and I will not make another one. After being happy with the pink and white shirt I went crazy and cut out pieces to make about 6 more. This light greenish one is one of those I finally got to. I needed something fairly easy to do and since it was cut out it only took me 2 days to finish.

Home Projects

A few weeks ago Lincoln and I went to Flower Mound to visit his friend Luke and my friend Nicole. While we were there, Nicole mentioned some projects she was doing around the house and I was very impressed by how "manly" they were. It made me realize that some of the jobs I had been leaving for Chris to get done were actually things I could do myself. It was an epiphany. So this week I learned how to use a power drill and did a few very easy projects.


I hung a picture:

I put up a towel rack:

I put in a shower caddy:

Last of all, I hung a curtain rod:

Yay Commenters!

I'm glad some of my friends and family have found the blog already. Thank you for your comments and love. I think I will start writing more regularly, but who knows. Make sure you all get add me to your google reader so you will know when I update. If you don't know what that is ask me and I will have my husband send you a lengthy email explaining it. It is awesome! Trust me you need it. I will have important recipe posts and you will want to see the cool sewing projects I'm working on. Oh, and you will find out when I get to do exciting things such as: go to the grocery store (all by myself!) and listen to Radiohead on the way there and back. (thanks Chris for letting me use the MP3 player and for watching Lincoln all night!) Today I am itching for a haircut. It might just overtake me to the point that I will go ahead and hack at it myself. I looked at Albertsons for some hair accessories, but all they had was the same old stuff. My hair is too thick to be held up by those wimpy little clips. The Albertsons in Frisco is so very lonely. I feel bad every time I go there because it is so empty. I even felt guilty using a coupon because I wanted them to make some money. Fortunately, it is very conducive to my "mommy alone time".

A new blog for me!

I decided to move to blogger because my husband, bless his heart, is a little on the busy side right now and I needed something easier to use. I'm sure I will still need lots of his help. Today I had big plans for getting lots done around the house, but instead went for something I could do sitting still for 2 hours straight. Please leave comments once in a while so I know this isn't just my private journal. Ok, so I'm not very good at that myself. I keep up with a lot of you without letting you know. Sorry. I'll try to do better at that too.

My 5th Life

I never really believed in reincarnation, but I do think I've had at least 5 rather seperate phases to my life. When I look back on the past it's hard to believe that the person back then was still me. It's as if I died at the end of each stage and came back a whole new person.

Stage 1: Childhood. I love reflecting on this time and I miss it more than any other stage. It was full of dreams and imagination, beauty, joy, playfulness. I felt my family's love for me and I enjoyed being who I was. I played in the pond with cousins, rode bikes, explored the yard looking for ancient artifacts, played capture the flag with neighbors, etc. It was a magical time.

Stage 2: Teenage Years. I would never go back. Not even for 1 million dollars. It was a lonely and depressing time. Emotions and hormones made me a train wreck. I did enjoy babysitting and reading, beading and jalapeno chips. I felt very alone.

Stage 3: College. This is where things started to get fun again. I took lots of classes that I was interested in: Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, Humanities, Geography, Art History, Piano, Dance (social and folk), History. It was so much fun and I made lots of great friends. I graduated and stayed at school to work in the library. The best job ever with the best coworkers ever! It was a great time. I saved money, spent money, hung out with friends, took classes for free on work time. I went to the international cinema. I dated! I didn't go on a date until I was 18 and I didn't even know that guy's name. College didn't pick up immediately, but eventually as I came out of my shell boys started to be interested.

Stage 4: Marriage. I love being married and Chris is a wonderful husband. I don't tell him that nearly enough. We have so much fun together and the first few years were so nice. He was in school and worked part time. I was working full time. After work I would come home and work on the giant jigsaw puzzle. It was a struggle to come to terms with my previous expectations of marriage and home life and what it actually turned out to be. The house was never that clean, the dinner wasn't always home cooked, I wasn't the homemaker and wife I expected to immediately become. We did work through it and come to terms with the reality of our life together.

Stage 5: Mommyhood. This stage was surprisingly difficult in the beginning. My body crashed after giving birth and I sunk into a depression and anxiety hole deeper than I had ever felt before. I couldn't eat, get dressed, anything but sleep and hope to wake up feeling better. I had been so excited and nervous about the baby, but I then things went very wrong. Fortunately with medication and time everything got gradually better and better and I love my little boy so so much. We still have difficult days, but we have so much fun together and he is such a cute little person. Now I am working on fun hobbies like sewing, canning, reading, cooking, and sometime soon gardening. I am enjoying my 5th life and hope for many fun and interesting lives to come.

My best deal

All this for only $3.00 total! Everything in all 3 pictures! This is why I couldn't help going back a 5th time.
Squares of really cute fabric:

Fat quarters and strips, oh so many strips. Mother, I loved your strips of color quilt. I think you may be able to make another or 10.:

Finally, the pieces that have been sewn already, also the batiks, and some random pieces that were of odd sizes.:

My Stash

In case you can't tell, I'm catching up for a long time of not posting anything. I think Chris still has pictures on his computer I need for my blog, but I don't remember what they are anymore. He just uploaded the ones I'm now posting, and yes, I do know how to do it myself, but it's easier if he does it for me, isn't it?
So now I'll include some pictures I took of my fabric stash. I went to an estate sale, and then back again, and again, and again, and once more. It was such a great deal I couldn't pass it up! The lady who passed away was an amazing quilter and had a whole 2 rooms full of fabric. Something like 300 bolts plus smaller amounts of fabric. It was crazy, but in a good way for me.
Now that I have a ton of fabric, I am no longer afraid to sew because I know even if I make 1,000 mistakes there is still no way I will get through all the fabric I have.
Large (Bolts):

Medium (Yardage):

Smaller (fat quarters mostly):

I don't have pictures of all the scraps I have in about 10 extra large ziploc bags. Look at the post about my $3.00 deal to see how much fits in 1 bag.

I made a shirt!

It took a couple of tries. First I made a rough pattern and pinned it onto myself, then I made a version in white that had some problems. When I did this one I was able to improve even more and I'm happy with the way it turned out. The first day I worked up the courage to wear it Lincoln and I went to the park and he cut open his lip and bled all over the new shirt. At least he was ok and the shirt was too.

The New PB&J

Corn tortillas fried for 10 seconds in oil and blotted dry on paper towels.
Avocado
Tomato
Black Beans
Cheddar
Sour Cream and Salsa for dipping.
This makes a great quick and pretty healthy lunch.