She sews and scraps

life...

on Saturday Zach and I ran in the Two Sisters One Heart charity run, I did the 5k and Zach did the 10k, Zach was 4th in the whole 10k group! I was slow but came in 2nd in my age group 40-44, of course there were only 6 of us in that group, but 2nd isn't bad out of 6 right?!! LOL I think 80-90 people ran the 5k that I ran, it was a lot of fun and so touching, the event was ran so smoothly and you could tell there was a lot of love :) Zach ran to the finish line with me and Jim became the photographer of the family :) oh and I am down 8 pounds now! Jim is doing sooo good, he has lost around 25 pounds! GO JIM!!!

Here is our Valentines day picture (thanks guys for posing with me!)

I am still waiting for my results, I went to have a bigger area removed from my shoulder last Wednesday since they found abnormal cells after the mole removal, they really took a lot out of my shoulder area, I get my stitches out next Wed and should have the results back by then. Pray for me, its' a little scary dealing with this stuff, I am a big worrier but God has calmed me down regarding all this and has let me worry about other areas in my life ;)

Lots going on, track is back in full swing, Jim and I work all the meets and it's a busy busy time for us, my garden needs to be turned so I can start planting, the weeds are starting to pop up and there are new shrubs, trees and flowers that are calling my name at the nursery that I am wanting to buy,  I have so many sewing projects that are 1/2 done, new ones I want to start, plus my sweet friend Angela has taught me how to crochet a little and I am learning to embroider also, like I really need  another craft/hobby :) I have outgrown my little craft room and dont' really have the time or money to start another one but yet I do find more to start :) I figure when Zach leaves the nest (I hope not for a long, long time) but this will all keep me busy with a part time job or something :)

Verse for today that I was led to

1st Thessalonians 5:18 (NIV)

(18) give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

YAY! I won and I am sooo inspired!

I woke up to a very happy email from Quilt Home  saying that I was the "link of the week" and that I won $20 gift certificate! I LOVE their shop, they always have the fastest shipping, seriously! I can order on Friday and I have my package in my hands on Monday, plus they ALWAYS write a nice handwritten note and they have fantastic fabrics! That definetly inspires a gal right?

For those of you who inspire me....

Jim and Zach, well Jim bought me THE NICEST sewing machine (Bernina Artista 630) to support and continue my sewing and he doesn't complain (not too much anyways) about my messy craft room :) he always tells me I can do anything :) and then Zach, the best son ever, who always, always says, "very cool mom" when I show him something I made or has something positive to say :)  My mom, because she is always super supportive and says she loves everything I do, thanks mom ;)

I am also inspired by my yahoo girlfriends, they are the best, they always have the nicest comments for me when I show them a sewing project :) thanks girls! (even though I haven't been scrapbooking as much!)

 My friends here that live near me, where would I be without them?!! Rebecca, Angela, Barbara, Teresa, you guys are the sweetest! always willing to listen and I know you all have my back :) I also want to shout out to Donna, my sister in law because she sews so beautifully and does wonderful work and has inspired me in many ways :)

my online buddy, Dee, wow, that gal knows how to word everything, she is super talented, she loves Jesus and she always says the right words.

I LOVE you all!

also wanted to share this

talk about being inspired from I heart linen  I LOVE everything this woman creates, if you don't have her book  I Heart Patchwork  you HAVE to get it, it is full of great projects.

Thats it for today, hugs!

It's been a pretty good year! :)

It has been a good year, overall my family has been happy and healthy (even though I am going through a yucky cold right now) God has really blessed us and even when the times are tough and we each struggle, God is always good and I thank Him for that.

This year we did alot more hunting than the year before, it really feels good to be doing what we love! Jim turned 48, I turned 40 and Zach turned 16 (yikes!) Jim worked a lot, he is a great provider and I love and appreciate him so much for that, he went shooting a lot and we did get to hunt a lot more for him (and us). I started college for the first time in my life, learning ASL is a dream come true for me :)  I was a full time mom and wife keeping up with these two guys of mine is not easy, I love it but it takes up a lot of my time LOL. I love being a wife to Jim and a mom to Zach.  Zach kept busy doing cross country and track, which he LOVES. He has mainted his great grades (all A's and A+) He is such a great guy.

The year 2009 has had it's sad and hard moments too, being distant from family (emotionally and physically) is hard, I miss family that has chosen not to be a part of my life but I figure they have their own struggles too. Getting my abnormal cell results from the mole and being scared about that and going through whatever treatment the Lord sees fit these next few months.  I am hoping to learn from those hard times and pray that I can continue to get through these different and challenging "moments". But I don't want to FOCUS on the negative, I mean we all have that in our lives but I want to continue to focus on the positive :)

For 2010? gosh, I pray that we are healthy still, I want to grow even closer with my immediate family, I want to sew and scrapbook more than I ever have (now that I have a new sewing machine!) I want to keep learning ASL, I want to become more confident in myself, I want to run several 5K's, I want to continue to appreciate all the little things in my life and continue to see God's blessings that He gives to me. I could have shared a 1000 pictures to recap on 2009 (because I take a ton of photos!) but this post would be very loooong!

Here is a picture of us from today (with 1 of the 4 dogs!)

Hugs and love you all!

College, vacation time and a NICE gift (new sewing machine!)

Well, I finished my first ever college semester this past Thursday! aren't you proud of me?!! I am SO proud of myself, it's not easy starting college at 40 years old, but I loved every minute of it and learned so much! I have a few weeks off until I start ASL 102 in the middle of January!

So being done with college, I can finally start focusing on what I need to get done around the house since I have slacked since starting school, it's nice now that I have almost 4 weeks off, Zach is on his two week Christmas break and Jim has taken off a few weeks, I love it when we are all home together, not that we have a lot of fun events planned, but no schedule is NICE :) oh and we are still doing really good working out at the gym!

I am hurrying trying to finish up a few sewing gifts, I am working on a quilt for Jim, that I have showed him, but Jim likes every quilt to be HUGE, so I told him there is no way it will get done for Christmas, I need more time and money to buy more fabric, I am using Moda Rouenneries by French General, I have this book too :) but the linens and the cremes and reds are just gorgeous together

  I am also finishing up two projects for my mom, can't share them here now because I know she reads my blog (love ya mom!)

anyways, yesterday as I was sewing with my old little Bernina, it started acting up again, I was getting so fustrated, she does this to me anytime I sew lately. Well..... Jim had been out shopping during the day and came home and handed me a receipt and he said that I needed to have my Christmas present early, (he said that I needed this gift to finish up cooking for the holidays) I opened the receipt and it was a receipt for a new Bernina Artista 630E!!!

I got so stressed, cried and told him it was way too much money and that I did not deserve it, and he told me yes I did (awww!)   I looked at the price again and started really bawling, you know that ugly cry? that was me :)  I could not sleep just thinking about this dang machine!  anyways, can you believe how spoiled I am?!! Jim got a great price and I just love ALL the gals at Bernina Southwest in Mesa! we went to pick up my machine first thing this morning and they were all so happy for me and gave me hugs! they seriously are the best group of ladies! I have so many projects floating in this head of mine and can't wait to start them, especially since I now have the BSR on this machine, I just dream of the stippling I am going to be doing!

anyways, lots of hugs, hope you all have a Merry Christmas and I am just so thankful that we have Jesus as our Savior and can't even imagine my life without Him.

December already? (Thanksgiving pics, running a 5K and abnormal cells)

I am barely posting about our Thanksgiving!

We had a good Thanksgiving, Jim had to work :( but Zach and I went and ran a 5K at a benefit here in Queen Creek called the Turkey Waddle it was so much fun,

Here is Zach and I after the race

 
(notice Zach doesn't look like he is hurting after running? I do look like I am hurting!! LOL)

I thought I would walk at least 1/2 of the 5K but you know what? I ran almost all of it!!!  if I stopped to walk, I only let myself walk for 15 seconds but only did that a couple of times, I was pretty proud of myself! the best part of the race was when I finished and Zach came and found me and gave me a hug! :) :) :)

Zach finished 8th out of all those people! Proud of you dude!

My sister Kristina and her sweet hubby Aaron and their two kiddos Hope and Robert came to spend the day with us (mom was too sick to come) and we had a nice time! it was quiet and relaxing and very casual, just how I love the holidays to be :)  (after the race, I took a shower and never did my hair for the day! geez! LOL) notice the tank top I am wearing? yes it's Thanksging time here in Arizona!

I LOVE Thanksgiving, we all really have so much to be thankful for :)

We are still doing really good since joining the gym, Jim is super inspired and motivated and he has been eating really good, he even gave up coffee and tea! yes! he gave up his sweet tea! me? well, I do exercise so I can eat what I enjoy and I am sitting here typing while drinking my coffee but I am doing better eating (a little!) I have been running on the treadmill and focusing on my abs, I have got to lose this gut I have acquired!

School was  a lot of fun yesterday! We had to sign about our whole Thanksgiving weekend and work on our classifiers, I only have 5 classes to go and will have finished my first semester of college ever! yay me!

Well I got my results back yesterday after having my mole on my shoulder removed and there are abnormal cells, I have to go back in and they are going to start taking out more skin and tissue all around the mole and then check again to see if more abnormal cells are there, if there isn't, then I just get checked every 6 months, if there is, I keep going back and they keep cutting that area bigger until they see no more bad cells, pray for me please! I am being positive about it but it is a little scary :)

hugs!

boat pics, moments, UFO's, fabric and misc chatter

I don't know where the rest of last week and this week went so far! dang, November is already flying by!

whats new? hmmmm Jim bought a boat, used, but new to us

 
We took the boat out for a test run to see if it would sink how it would run. Well good news, it didn't sink :) but we realize it's just too small for us three to move around on

here are some pictures of our day out at Canyon Lake, I took my little old digital camera (in case the boat sank I didn't want to loose my Canon Rebel!) this explains the not so great pictures!

don't know why this picture didn't work! hee hee! it's a keeper though, it's the only one of us three :)

just a scenery shot
 
so now I guess we might be selling a boat and looking for something else?!! ;)

MOMENTS.... we all have them, real life happenings, maybe the house isn't always the cleanest etc, basically Moments is "a project dedicated to the idea that it's all the moments that make up a life—not just the pretty ones. We are a group of like-minded folks who believe that perfection is in the eye of the beholder and wish to share our imperfections with each other. We hope to further the concept that no one can do it all" go visit Amy at A common Place Life  and join on in if you want :)

Here is one of our moments (oh boy, I have  A LOT of pictures to share like this and others), this is from when we just got back from our hunting trip and everything always gets placed between the living room and dining room right behind a couch, it gets  a little scary sometimes but this is real life and this happens to my house daily.

 

Right now I have about 6 different calls for hunting on my table (hint hint Jim!) there is way too much laundry and clutter areas in my home (I do have plans for those areas!)

now onto UFO's, no not the kind up in the sky (if they exist) but Unfinished Objects, you know, all those sewing projects you have started and moved onto another without finishing the first? because we all have to have at least 9 ongoing projects at once?!! ;)  if you are interested in joining in, look at Tallgrass Prairie Studio to join in and be encouraging! I am signing up for finishing up 5 Christmas gifts, a quilt top to finish, quilting on another quilt and a table runner, a purse and a tote bag for school. I do have more, but I need to be a little realistic :)

One last picture to share...

doesn't this all look like fun to play with?!!

Going to watch Criminal Minds with hubby and son, then off to bed, 4:30am comes early and I have school tomorrow :)
 

HAPPY 16th BIRTHDAY ZACH!!!

Happy Birthday buddy! love you lots!

I can't believe I am the mother of a 16 year old now! Zach is the BEST kid any parent could have, SERIOUSLY! he is a good guy, has a huge heart, always considerate of others and he is really funny, he is a very hard worker and overall just a great guy!

have to share some of these pictures since he was born, gosh I had the hardest time choosing which ones to share, I didn't have a great camera when he was young and didn't take great pictures but I am so happy to have them :)

Here he is at 6 months old

Here he is at almost 2 years old

and almost 3 years (had to share these two because he had changed sooo much!) look at those little legs!

and almost 5 years old

 
 5-6 years old (how could I not share this one?!!)

9 years old

10 (almost 11) right after he killed his first deer

12 years old

13 years old (cute chubby cheeks!)

14 years old (8th grade graduation)

15 years (hey where did the chubby cheeks go?!!)

and another 15 (just a couple of weeks ago) he loves cross country and track

 just last week (almost 16)

 This is what Jim gave to Zach (yesterday) for his 16th birthday 

 
 HAPPY BIRTHDAY ZACH!!!
 
 
 

Hunting pictures so far...(there will be more!)

We have not gotten a deer YET! not without working our butts off though, we left last Thursday so we could start early Friday morning and each day we hiked/walked in some steep whitetail country  for 7-8 hours each day and rode the quads 2-4 hours each day. It was very warm and too many other hunters and city people around.

Here is the three of us at the end of the day on Friday

here is day 2, yes we are filthy, it was so dusty while riding the quads behind each other, I felt so gross the whole time but I sure did appreciate our little shower in our little old camp trailer

Here are Jim and Zach posing resting while I HAD to take a picture

Jim spotted this tree that someone did some carvings, pretty cool huh?

 
and here is day 3

we all came home Sunday night since Zach and I both had school, Jim went back on Monday morning and is coming home today (Wed) so him and Zach can go back and hunt tomorrow (Thurs) which is our last day, wish us/them luck! Wouldn't it be so cool if they each got a whitetail and our freezer would be full?!!

I will post more later especially if there is a dead deer or two involved!

more outdoor pictures

These were from last week and I am just now sharing them here but wanted to post these before the next set :) we went out scouting for deer and a camping spot for our upcoming whitetail deer hunt (which is going on now!)

Zach roasting us some weenies

Jim doing his part of getting me in the pictures :)
  

 "pecker" mountain (inside family joke)

and our "posed" family picture that I always have to get of us, the guys know this picture comes with everything we do or anywhere we go, but I always guilt them into saying "you will appreciate these pictures when I am dead"  ;) 

There are probably about 30 more I could share from this trip but I will just spare you and show you these.

Hugs!
 
 

Horse Shoe Bend trip

Jim took the day off and we took the quads out to hopefully scout for deer in our upcoming whitetail deer hunt starting this  Friday,  we wasted quite a bit of time in the morning since we waited till the last minute to decide to go.

here is a crappy picture done with my old little rinky dink digital, since I rarely use this camera, I forgot how to do the timer, well after giving it to Jim to figure it out (what was I thinking?!!) and him changing a lot of settings on it, the image quality was bad! lol well it's a picture still and I do love it :)  notice I am smiling still? this must mean that Jim didn't take Zach and I into his adventures of "lets go where no man has ever gone" adventures, meaning where I am usually scared to death going in areas where my quad might flip or roll over on top of me (remember our trip to the Coke ovens, Jim?!!)

and another picture I am in love with, I might just have to frame this one and put it somewhere in our home

 
Love finding anything shaped like a heart, rocks and now a cactus!

It was a good trip, first safety wise, plus we had a nice meal afterwards and lots of laughing on the trip home while impersonating Arnold Schwarzenegger! fun times for sure :)