Officially 30

Yesterday it was finally official!  I'm now 30 years old!  Thanks to all of you who helped me celebrate a wonderful day.

I was able to go to my all-time favorite restaurant (The Red Iguana) with some super great friends. 

It just happened to be located next to the world's classiest motel.  So classy, in fact, that I couldn't resist getting our picture in front of it.

Anyone up for a stay in the Honeymoon Suite?  This definitely be my first choice for the ultimate romantic get-away!

Thanks for the night of good food, great friends, and good hearty laughs!

Conditional Love

The sad truth is that the love for my dog is often quite conditional.  I know it's entirely unfair, but it's the way it is.  When she's clean and smells so lovely, I love her to sit by me.  I love to pet her and have her around.  When she's dirty and smells like a dog.... not so much.  I find myself shewing her away, sending her outside... 

It's not fair.  I completely acknowledge this.   I am the one who bathes her.  It's my fault when she's stinky.  It's my fault when her gleaming white coat looks a little gray. 

I tried to solve this problem at one point by giving her a shave-down.  Not a success. 

Yesterday I finally broke down and paid the big bucks for a professional do.  We were lucky enough to find Bruce, the overly enthusiastic dog groomer, who was willing to experiment on our dear George.  I am so estatic with the results.  She's white and shiny and smells oh-so-good! 

Before:

After:

Little Things in Life

Why is it that the little things in life always bring you the greatest joy?  Today's example... These:

My good friend Audrey was showing me these little animals that her sister had made.  Instantly they reminded me of my Grandma Roundy.  She was the craftiest lady that I have ever had the honor to have known.  My cousins and sisters and I all had the chance to have her live with us for a while when we were growing up. She was always whipping up little gems such as these, and sharing her wealth with her grandkids.  One year she made a whole set of Christmas tree ornaments out of this very type of crocheted animals.  I was waxing so nostolgic looking at these little animals that I'm pretty sure a real tear came to my eye. 

My friend's little sister surprised me by making an animal for each of my girls.  Vivian, you're the best!  These will hold a very special place in my heart forever.

Going Hog Wild

As we all know, I tend to be an all or nothing kind of gal.  When I find something I enjoy, I sometimes go a little overboard.  The same has proved true, yet again.  My new found hobby is bringing me so much joy that I just can't stop. 

Last week  I whipped up a little dress for each of my girls.  I had them all ready to go by Sunday.  I was super pleased with how they turned out. 

The best part was that my girls were super excited to wear them and begged me to sew more things for them.

This week I have been dying all week because I haven't had any projects to work on.  No fabric to sew with... no patterns to sew.  So sad, right?  Well last night my friend called and told me about a sale on patterns that we just couldn't pass up. This is where the going hog wild part comes into play.  This is what I ended up leaving the store with.

I'm definitely going to be prepared the next time I pass a fabric that calls my name.  So many possibilities ahead of me!

The Countdown

Less than 2 weeks until I'm 30.  Seriously!  Why is this bothering me so badly?

Best Buds

This is Audrey's BFF Mr. X.  They are best buds.  They fight like cats and dogs, but somehow they always come back to each other.  Mr. X even proposed to Audrey at one point, only to break her heart by swearing his love to another only 2 months later.  We're so happy to have him in our lives.

I absolutely love this picture of the two of them.

So Proud of Me!

At the risk of turning my blog into a brag-fest.... LOOK WHAT I MADE!!!

                      

I'm so proud of myself!  After struggling through making a quilt for a church project, I realized that sewing could be something that I might really enjoy.  The only problem is that I have absolutely NO knowledge whatsoever about how to sew.   Luckily for me I have a really good friend who happens to be an amazing seamstress. (She's the one who made Khursten's baptism dress)  Also luckily for me, she's very generous, patient, and willing to share her knowledge. 

On Friday night, a few of us girls got together for a little sew-a-thon.  It was so much fun.  I was surrounded by women with vast amounts of sewing wisdom.  They walked me through my little project step by step and patiently explained all of the instructions on my pattern (which I swear are written in Greek). 

I feel like I've been entered into a world of endless possibilities.  I can't wait to start my next project.  Thanks ladies for all of your help!