WHERE I WAS...




 (front row) Michael J. Smith, Dick Scobee, Ronald McNair;
(back row) Ellison Onizuka, Christa McAuliffe, Gregory Jarvis, Judith Resnik

 

 25 years ago today was the day the Space Shuttle Challenger broke apart 73 seconds into its flight.

I was home sick that day.  I remember sitting in the living room.  We did not have hundreds of channels to watch, so I remember laying on the coach and watching as the Space Shuttle took off.  It was so exciting.  There was a teacher on the flight, Christa McAuliffe, and she was the first civilian to be going into outer space.  I remember the talk about who else would be able to go after this.  I remember thinking anyone would be able to go into space one day.  Maybe there would be hotels on the moon when I got older and the shuttle would transport us there...remember I was only 13.

Then right before my eyes as we watched that incredible vehicle soaring closer to the heavens something looked different the cloud of exhaust split apart in two.  I remember the commentators on the television not being sure what was happening.  Then it all became clear the shuttle had exploded.  And all seven of the crew members had not survived.  What an eerie thought, that I had just witnessed 7 people dying.  I cried a little.  I remember feeling a little silly that I was sobbing for people I did not know.  And yet my heart went out to their families and loved ones.

It was definitely one of those moments in my life where I have always remember.  And said those names or spoke of that day with a little reverence in my voice.

"We will never forget them, nor the last time we saw them, this morning, as they prepared for their journey and waved goodbye and 'slipped the surly bonds of Earth' to 'touch the face of God" ~~ President Ronald Reagan

THURSDAY CRAFTING

 This Thursday the "crafting ladies" had not specific project. One friend brought her scrapbooking project, a few others were working on the ornaments for their SWITCHAROO that I made last week.  My incredibly crafty friend Mikki, had found a couple of Valentine projects I could work on.  SO I showed up on her doorstep at 10:00 am ready to get my craft on.

I made this cute sign with the heart on it, and we both made a set of these blocks...One side is Valentines and the other is St. Patrick's Day.  We also made a set of HEART shaped outlet covers for the kitchen which I {LOVE}.

 I am so very grateful for the ladies I get together with on Thursday.  We have had GREAT conversations and so many laughs.  What a blessing to surround myself if wonderful women.

WA-OGGING OUTSIDE

With the bitterly cold weather we have had the last few weeks I have taken to treadmilling rather than freezing my bum outside.  There are two problems with that...

(1) the treadmill can get a bit boring after a while

(2) it is too easy to stop earlier than i initially had planned.

So after looking at my planner yesterday and seeing that it is only 11 WEEKS until the Salt Lake Half Marathon I realized I needed to take this "working out" a little more seriously. 

So I pulled on the running tights (okay, I know the mental image of me in running tights is terrifying, but you can stop laughing now), the ear muffs, gloves, 2 layers of shirts and a hoodie sweat shirt.  I also opened up a pack of handwarmers that I picked up at the Target $1 Pot a month ago.  With nano in place and garmin on my wrist (unfortunately the battery wasn't completely charged and only got about have my wa-og recorded)  I headed outside.

The first part of my walk was cold, but not as bad as I had anticipated, but the second half, mother nature decided to mix it up on me and decided to send down some snow.  And the last  few blocks I had the cold wind hitting he side of my face with little ice pellets mixed it...NOT SO MUCH FUN!!!

There is a pretty cool sense of accomplishment that comes from going outside for a wa-og compared to just doing it on the treadmill.  Looking forward to more training outside!!

VALENTINE SWITCH-A-ROO

The switch-a-roo tree with the Valentine ornaments

 Today I spent the afternoon with my friend Mikki and my other friends that craft on Thursdays.  We finally made the Valentine "switch-a-roos".  This was definitely one of the easier projects to work on.  We started at noon and had them ALL done by 3:00pm.  Mikki was smart and just purchased the wooden hearts in two different sizes from Roberts and then cut out the other decor: Hershey Kiss, lips and x's & o's.  We painted everything either pink, white or red.  Then we used some of the cute scrapping paper that is out there to cover the hearts and pretty much glittered the heck out of everything else.  I dived into the "LOVE" themed scrapping accessories I had to embellished them up a little.

Cute glittered smoochie lips

A simple sign with rub-ons and rhinestones

Hershey kiss, made of wood, pained brown and wrapped in foil

TREASURE HUNTING



 After having a FABULOUS loss at my "Wednesday Weigh-In" I decided to do something I love.  I headed over to Deseret Industries (DI) and went treasure hunting.    First I perused the books.  I found some good paperbacks to add to the kid's book shelves.  Then I ran across a couple of fun hardcovers to convert to cute handbags and e-reader covers (if I can get then to work).  Then I couldn't help but to walk through the dishes section and that is where I found these...

There was a large white Pyrex bowl with this cute Amish friendship bird pattern in orange and yellow marked $1.00.  Then next to that were these 3 nesting Pyrex bowls in these bright yellow and orange colors.  The middle sized bowl has the cutest yellow daisies.  So the small and medium bowl were marked $0.75 each and the large one was $1.00.  So I managed to snag these cute Pyrex bowls for $3.50...

I know I probably didn't "need" another set of bowls, but I just could not resist those bright cheerful colors and the awesome price tag...

Totally made my day...

mY sEwInG oBsEsSiOn

Prior to Christmas I began sewing more than I had in years. My friend Suzanne shared a purse she had made with me and I loved how it turned out and the spark on inspiration was lit. I made a few more purses before Christmas, but quickly discovered that my old Brother sewing machine made the process less than enjoyable. The bobbin kept slipping as I would sew and the tension was never quite correct. I spent more time swearing at the machine and threatening to chuck it across the room than actually sewing. So I subtly (I emailed Steve links to 3 different sewing machines I liked) let Steve know I might be interested in getting a new sewing machine for Christmas. And boy did he deliver. This is the awesome machine I opened on Christmas morning. I was pretty excited, but also a little intimidated by the machine. It is computerized and I was nervous I might not be able to work. So it took me a week or so to actually plug it in and give it a whirl.
It runs so smoothly. I love that when I finish a stitch, it stops with the he bobbin is so easy to load. It has a bunch of stitches. Some I am familiar with, but there are a bunch I have never seen before and I am not sure yet what to use them for. It has a few stitches that can be used for quilting, which I think is pretty sweet. It has definitely made going down to my craft room to sew a much more enjoyable experience. So much so, I am a afraid Steve is going to be sorry he bought me the machine because I am spending so much time in front of it.
My sewing machine is not getting much rest right now. I have been collecting different upholstery fabric to keep me busy making purses for my etsy store. I have thought about getting a box to store all these fabric in, but it makes me smile whenever I walk downstairs and see that stack of rich colors and textures sitting on my counter.
The other thing I have enjoyed making in the last few weeks has been these memo pad holders OR planner holders. I keep making one for planner. Then after I make I think, "what if it had another pocket" or my last idea was "I think it would look cool if there was a ruffle". So off I go down to the craft room, pull out some fun fabrics and whip one up. This is today's creation...
Love these fabrics and colors. So bright and sunny.
And there is my ruffle. I think it is so cute.
Two little pockets I can slide coupons and such into.
And of course the memo pad, which is a must for me. A place for me to make my "to do" lists. I think this may be the perfect cover for my planner. But we'll see...

FLOWERS

Last night, after working 12 hours in the pharmacy, Steve stopped and bought me some flowers. Now some wives might think, "...hmmmm, what did he do that he needed to make up for it with flowers?" That's not the case with Steve. For a few years now Steve has kept two vases (one on the kitchen table and the other next to my bed) in our house filled with flowers. In the Spring and Summer he picks flowers from our yard: daffodils, tulips, petunias, daisies, lilacs but mostly my bouquets consist of various roses from our bushes. Then in the fall and winter it becomes a little more difficult to keep them filled, but he manages. I love the smells and colors of the flowers, but more than anything I appreciate the effort Steve puts into keeping those vases filled...that even after a long day at work, when he probably would just like to get home, change out of his work clothes and veg out, he thinks of me and stops to purchase these beautiful tokens for me.

Thank you Steve, for loving me so very much. I hope I keep all the vases in your life filled and bring you just as much happiness!!!

FROM DRAB to FAB!!

I love to carry a planner with me everywhere I go. I purchased a new one for 2011 from Target. It is a Franklin Covey, I love the layout of the pages, but the cover is very plain and drab. Then I remembered a Vera Bradley notepad my mom had gifted me a few years ago. It was fabric and padded. Whenever I looked inside my purse and saw it there it would just make me smile. So this seemed like the perfect solution to my planner problem and a great project to break in my new sewing machine.

I added some pockets to the inside cover to stash receipts and business cards. I can even store a pack of post-its to jot quick notes. Definitely a planner a would be proud to pull out and make my notes and calendar our family events