Project 365 - Week 4

Another week...a little late.
Here's how our week unfolded:

Sunday, Jan 22 -

Doughnuts on a Sunday night! :)

Monday, Jan 23 -

On the computers...a too common sight.

Tuesday, Jan 24 -



Baking

Wednesday, Jan 25 -



Helping out at church filling up the preschool bins for Sunday

Katie got a new facepainting book-first projects: flip-flops and tatoos.

Thursday, Jan 26 -  



Chickens in the baking making

Friday, Jan 27 -



Katie doing her homework. I came into the room and she had taken her Dad's hat that was lying around and put it on like this! Ha! Should we tell him where it's been?

Saturday, Jan 28 -



Veranika, German Sausage & Gravy - remembering Grandpa who died a year ago

You can join the P365 linky here.

Scrappy Challenge - red log cabin

I've been cutting most of the day and have lots of strips to make several red log cabin quilt blocks. However, we had other plans for the evening so I only got one pieced together before having to quit. This is my FIRST log cabin quilt block! Yay!

I'm thinking about making one of these blocks with a white square center. My plan is to make log cabin quilt squares out of the color challenges each month for a rainbow quilt to finish in 2013. That's the plan for now. (I'm also toying with the idea of a nine patch quilt; love those!)

Thanks to you all for the sweet comments last Saturday! I am excited about all quilting has to offer and getting to meet new friends along the way.

P365-Weeks 1-3

A couple of years ago I began participating in Sara's Project 365 in which you take a picture everyday to facilitate remembering your year. The first year (2010) I didn't do too badly; I think I posted on my blog into the fall. Then last year I only posted into the spring (a funeral, a wedding and a move will do that to you, I guess.)

Anyway, I'm going to give it a try again this year. I've set a goal to snap a picture everyday and so far, so good. What I should have done was set a goal to POST those pictures every week. Maybe I'll have to make an addendum. Anyway, I've finally gotten the first three weeks of January's pictures ready to share so here we go!

Sunday, Jan 1-

Christmas Screen Saver needs to go!

Monday, Jan 2 - 

Back to School - a science experiment about air expansion

Tuesday, Jan 3 -

A new Kinnect! The girls are having fun!

Wed, Jan 4 -

A flock of noisy, hungry birds descend on our yard

Thursday, Jan 5 -

Katie's guests at her movie-themed 10th birthday party

Friday, Jan 6 -

Biscuit's not a fan of the camera!

Saturday, Jan 7 -

We've had so much fun with the VIP entrance on our Powder Room Door (leftover from Katie's birthday party) that we've decided to leave it up a little longer. (It finally did come down.)

Sunday, Jan 8 -

O, Cheesecake Factory, how I love you!

(Chocolate Macaroon-Mom, Coffee/Kahlua-Mark & Katie, Pumpkin-Rhett)

Monday, Jan 9 -

First snowfall in January. A dusting really.

Tuesday, Jan 10 -

Quilt Material...I need to get started! (Face the fear!)

Wednesday, Jan 11 -

Using my hot pink purse this week. Bright!

Thursday, Jan 12 -

Stopped by a friend's house and saw her daughter's Senior Project

 - an Illuminated Bible, the Gospel of John.

It was so cool in person! She designed and created each picture. Wow!

Friday, Jan 13 -

Two beautiful horses who will be boarding at the farm for a while.

The lighter brown horse is Ruby; the darker one is Mike.

Saturday, Jan 14 -

Company's coming; made some homemade rolls.

Sunday, Jan 15 -

I work about 12 hours on Sunday and this is one of my responsibilities - keep all the staff and volunteers in our children's department caffeinated!

Monday, Jan 16 -

Horses. Sigh.

Tuesday, Jan 17 -

Ah! The material got washed, pressed, cut and pieced together!

Wednesday, Jan 18 -

My kid's reading while they wait for a play to begin.

Thursday, Jan 19 -

I have to pay an arm and a leg for the road on the left, but it's worth it once a week!

Friday, Jan 20 -

A meal for a friend returning home from the hospital.

Saturday, Jan 21 -

I couldn't pick just one picture for this day!

A little Currier & Ives :)

Buddies! Mark was studying for school when Biscuit decided she needed to keep him company. Cozy!

First Scrappy Challenge Post

Ok, I'm giddy sharing this post with you! Wish you could see my excitement...hmm, maybe a video posting would be fun sometime in the future! 

Anyway, I have dabbled in quilting a couple of times in the past 18 months and one of my goals for this year is to participate in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge twice a month during 2012.  That's a BIG goal since I've only created a diaper changing pad and a couple of mug rugs. 

(October 2010 - Diaper Changing Pad for a friend)

(February 2011 - mug rugs made for a blog swap)

Each month Angela at So Scrappy challenges us to use a specific color to use up our quilting scraps.  Since I'm just getting started I don't have much scraps, but I use the month's color to make purchases. That's fun too!

I do, however, have a "stash."

Right after moving to the farm in September I happened upon 4 boxes of quilting material at the local thrift store. The boxes were priced at $25 each - a steal!  I had just moved and thought $100 would be an outrageous splurge, but I was looking at a gold mine.  I figured there was probably $400 dollars worth of material for sale. 

The boxes were separated by colors with green and brown in one, red and purple in another, etc.  Another lady and I were digging through enjoying the treasure.  She kept saying, "I've got enough material already, I shouldn't."  I kept saying, "Well, if you don't want it, I'll probably get it." Then I tried to compromise with her, trying to get her to land on a decision. I would ask her which color she would like and she kept dodging the commitment to buy, but digging and admiring all the way.  That, of course, made me want to grab the 4 boxes and make a run for it! I could just envision those old-time department store sales in the movies where the well-dressed proper women had a free-for-all.  Much to my relief she finally decided that she wasn't going to buy and as soon as she walked away, I put my hands over the boxes and hollered across the store, "I want to buy all four of these boxes!" I was too scared to even walk to the counter; I wasn't taking any chances.  The salesclerk came a put a "Sold" sign on the top box and I suggested she needed to put one on EVERY box. She smiled and obliged me.

The manager then walked by and said, "Oh, you're going to get all four boxes, I'll give them to you for $20 each.  I think someone must have died and these were donated."  I was giddy with the unexpected savings and I felt honored to take someone's stash and make something from it.  Isn't that what a quilting stash is? Dreams of what could be. Sigh.

Anyway, it's taken me months to get up the nerve to cut into the stash and create something - anything. I didn't want to make a mistake or waste material. My hubs said, "It's just sitting there wasting money anyway." (His way to encourage me to get over the fear!)

So this week I delved into the stash. I chose some reds, tans and greens and put together a simple 4-in square quilt top.  I even added a border after this picture was taken.  The following day I went to JoAnn's and bought supplies to try hand quilting.  I might have mentioned that day that "I love my life!"  (not something I say often enough.) 

Today is my first submission to the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and I hope there will be many more to come!



I can't wait to show you my progress and the finished project in future posts.

I LOVE quilting!

Smell the beauty

I often yearn for more beauty in my life. The routine of daily chores can at times be depressing; the constant stacks of dirty dishes, dirty clothes, and papers needing attention seem to never end.  Where's the beauty?  On a positive day, I might recognize that we're eating well, that we have plenty to wear and that I have an active life that calls for my interaction through paperwork, but more often than not, I face those tasks with dread.  I'm learning that if I add just a touch of beauty, it helps me work/cope with greater joy. 

I choose toile file folders to use everyday, put decals on my washer and dryer (hubs thinks that's silly, but I enjoy them) and I light a candle next to the sink that never seems to stay empty for long.  The smell of beauty in my kitchen keeps me coming back to work on those tasks that feed my family, but not my soul.  As I write this post I can smell the lemon lavender candle and it calms me. I love scented candles!

A few of my favorite Yankee candle scents are Lemon Lavender, Autumn Wreath, and Sun and Sand. I've been known to use a Sun and Sand car freshener in the mini-van in the dead of winter. The slight aroma of suntan lotion during blizzard-like conditions makes me smile. I'm quirky that way. :)

Do you have any favorite scents?

How do you add beauty to your daily routines?

Company Girl Coffee is a linky party hosted each Friday to meet up with other women in blogworld. You share whatever you want on your own blog and then just link your post over at Home Sanctuary. I've made some new friends and have visited several interesting blogs. I love that Rachel hosts the linky on a Friday 'cause by then I would sure love just to sit and have a cup of coffee with a girlfriend. That's often not possible in real life, but virtually it's a lot of fun! Thanks, Rachel!

Practicing Gratitude

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

This was one of my kid's Awana verses this week. Don't you just love listening to them practice memorizing the Word? I'm so thankful when I hear them quickly recite the verses, knowing that in the future the Lord will bring them to memory during the times they'll need it most. Kingdom work.

I think I mentioned that I started a new habit of keeping a gratitude journal. Each night before bed I write down 5 things I am thankful for that day. During this exercise I sometimes wonder if it is really making me more grateful, but I do believe it is. Just this month I've written the serious to the silly... I'm thankful for the conversation about heaven with my kids to I'm thankful for brownies with crunchy edges. :) Paul instructs us to give thanks in all circumstances, because it's God's will for us. Sometimes that's hard, but I think the practicing of it, just like practicing the memorization of Scripture, can make it a little easier so when the time comes and we really need it, we'll be ready. Kingdom work.

Weekly Routine

Let's share some Company Girl Coffee today!
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A long time ago I wrote down all the tasks that I wanted to complete during a week's time. Then I divided the tasks out between the days and made a simple list to follow. Over the years, the Weekly Routine has morphed into whatever was needed at the time, some years full of outside committments, some years focused on homemaking. Here's what my list looks like right now:

How do you organize your weekly tasks?