Going on Vacation!

Yeah, you read the title right. Jeff and I are going on vacation. This is going to be our second trip to Hot Springs, AR during the winter. We will be staying in a quiet cabin at a ranch in the middle of no where... with no cell service. We will be going to Garvan Woodland Gardens one night to see the amazing light display. Now that I have had my camera for a year, I think I may get better pictures this year! We will also walk the promenade and "Bath House Row" in downtown Hot Springs. I will be wearing the new hat my sister made me and shipped express just so I could have it for vacation... my sister is the best!

I plan to make good progress on my second "Be a Santa for a Senior" blanket which is my hexagon blanket. I will also be finishing the hat with detachable flower for my boss and a flower for this adorable little purse I made last night. These photos a rough... the lighting is terrible in my office... well was terrible... I got a higher wattage light bulb today!

The pattern for this purse can be found at Tangled Happy. 

One Blanket Down

I stopped at Walgreens a week ago and found they had their "Be a Santa to a Senior" tree up. I chose to people who wished for lap blankets; they were both females because none of the men wanted blankets. As you know I have had my "Random Squares" blanket in the works for some time now. I finally finished it... and I'm about half way finished with my hexagon blanket which I will also be giving away. I am super excited for this as I have been planning for it all year. Here are some photos of the finished blanket!

Happy Thanksgiving 2010!!!

I was up late last night making a Apple and Pear Crisp and a Chocolate Cream Pie for today! Both of these are waistline friendly and look delicious! The Apple and Pear Crisp had me wanting to eat a slice at midnight! Jeff and I will be leaving soon to his aunt's house for Thanksgiving dinner but I wanted to share my desserts with you!

Looks heavenly, doesn't it?

 

The lighting was so great for the Chocolate Cream Pie... It kind of looks like Pumpkin!

I promise, its Chocolate!

 

Today, I am thankful for my family and friends. 

I am thankful for the small handful of readers I have on my blog.

I am thankful that God saw fit to call me His.

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. I would love to hear what you are thankful for. Eat lots of turkey!!

Flashback Friday: Milestones

Two years ago I reach the highest weight I had ever been in my life. I was 282lbs and miserable. I joined Weight Watchers in 2009 and lost 35 pounds. I have lived in Arkansas for almost 7 years now and my most favorite place to be here is Petit Jean Mountain. I have walked a few trails there but the one I wanted to walk the most was the Cedar Falls Trail. This trail is 2 miles round trip and you hike down into a canyon to the bottom of a 95 foot waterfall. This is considered a strenuous trail and I haven't been in good enough shape to hike it.

I took this trail head on this summer. I made it in the 2 hours recommended to complete the trail. It was one of my most fulfilling accomplishments so far. 

This is Jeff and I before the hike down

 I was told photos of you there only count if you take photos of you while you are at the bottom...

This would be me at the bottom

 

And this would be Jeff at the bottom

It was so beautiful here... I didn't get the serene shot of the fall that I wanted because of the people breaking the rules by climbing to the back of the fall... but here is what I did get.

Weekend Projects

Just wanted to quickly share a couple things I completed this weekend.

Jeff and I have a cat; her name is Miss Kitty. Miss Kitty has been with Jeff for around 10 years or more and she is a spoiled cat. The minute he plants his behind in a chair or on the couch she is in his lap. Recently I have been coming home to find she has pulled one of my WIPs out of the desk to nap on it during the day. I have this giant oak desk in my office that has an open cupboard on the floor (this where the tower for my PC sits), there is enough room in this cupboard that I have stored some yarn and a baby blanket that I am working on in a walmart bag. Each night last week I came home and she had pulled it out of the cupboard to sleep on it. I would shoo her away and put it back in the cupboard only to find she had pulled it out again the next day. So I said thats it... and I made her a blanket from some of my scrap yarn.

See that bright red thing under her? That is her blanket and that is her bed we bought for her about a year ago that she won't use... I think I've found a solution!

Next is a hat that a girl at work asked me to make. I talked her into the neon green flower... thought it would look cute. She is picking it up tomorrow but has already seen a photo and she loves it. The hat and the inside of the flower are made with Caron One Pound in Black and the green part of the flower is made with I Love This Yarn in Limelight. There is a button for the inside of the flower and also a button on the back of the flower so it is detachable from the hat. I love it!

One of these days I am going to make the hat in a different color that will photograph well. This hat is my own pattern and once I make it in a different color I will publish the pattern here on my blog... it will be after Christmas... I also have some other patterns I came up with for Christmas presents for my family that I will publish here as well.

Beautiful Homemade Giveaway!

A fellow blogger and talented woman is giving a way a gorgeous antiqued Christmas stocking. You should take a look!

Flashback Friday: First Real Vacation

Jeff and I got married young, I was 19 and he was 23. We were broke... so we didn't have a honeymoon. In fact, he had to work on our wedding day. All of our vacations in the early years consisted of camping trips. We wanted to do something big in the summer of 2008 but I was hospitalized and given a blood transfusion because I had almost bled to death. We used our Vacation in the fall of 2008 when  my dad and stepmom came down for a visit. In the summer of 2009 we had planned to take a trip just the two of us for our first real vacation to Eureka Springs, Arkansas... but again, I was sick. I had my gall bladder removed on vacation.

In December 2009 we finally took our first real vacation... just the two of us. We went to Hot Springs, Arkansas and rented a beautiful cabin at a ranch in the middle of no where with no cell service. It was amazing. We had a wonderful time and will be going back this December. The main reason we I chose Hot Springs was because they have a Christmas light display at Garvan Woodland Gardens each year and I love Christmas lights! This is one of my favorite photos from last year's first real vacation.

Veterans Day 2010

Today is Veterans Day 2010. I know a lot of military men and women... many who are in my own family. I love and respect each and everyone of them for the sacrifice they have made of me and the people of America. We have freedom because of these brave soldiers. 

My father in law served two tours in Vietnam voluntarily. He received a purple heart for the injuries he suffered when he was caught in a napalm blast that almost killed him.

While all of my photos today are of the Vietnam War Memorial "The Wall" in DC, I want to honor all Veterans... those who survived the wars, those who didn't and those still missing. 

I honor all of our Veterans today. Thank you for protecting my freedom!

Flashback Friday: Dad

I've posted before about how much I love my dad and what he has been through in the last 10 years being a fighter of Celiac Sprue Disease. I've mentioned about his stuttering, shaking and memory loss. Today I want to share a photo of the last time I was with my dad.

Jeff and I are planning vacation for next spring, we will be going to Washington for a visit with my family. It will be the first time Jeff has met most of my family and it will be the first time I have seen my dad in more than two years. I have been in Arkansas since Jeff and I got married in 2004 (not counting the 5 months we were separated after the wedding) and I haven't seen most of my family since my Poppa passed away in December 2004. Jeff and I flew my dad and step-mom down here to Arkansas in October 2008 and my mom and little brother came down this last June. Both visits were wonderful.

So today's photo is from my dad's visit. I regret that I didn't take more photos than I did... we had a wonderful time. Dad doesn't remember a whole lot about his visit here thanks to his memory loss caused by his disease. When asked about his visit here he remembers one thing... Petit Jean Mountain. Petit Jean is one of my most favorite places to go and while it doesn't compare to the mountains we have back home in Washington... it is still a beautiful place with amazing sunsets and views. Dad remembers Petit Jean as "the place where you can see forever" because you can see for miles and miles when you are on top of the mountain.

We also took Dad and Mare fishing while we were at Petit Jean... it was their first time fishing with crickets as bait and I remember dad chasing the crickets that got out of the tube. We had fun. Dad caught a fish... a brim... He looks so happy!

New Look

I've updated the blog to a fall theme! Hope you like it!

WordlessWednesday

Baby Mittens

It seems that now that Jeff and I are finally talking about planning a family next year... the more baby crochet projects I have going on! I made the pink and red baby blanket and the blue and yellow blanket... Ive made hats and baby booties for family and friends.

Jeff's manager asked me to crochet some mittens for her 5 month old little girl. She wanted them to be cream and she wanted them connected with a string so that they wouldn't get lost. I wanted these mittens to be perfect so I sat up Friday night with a couple different yarns and patterns and made one mitten with each pattern and yarn. I decided on this pattern and some Caron Simply Soft in Off White.