Summer

Summer, as usual has flown by. We celebrated my dad's 75th birthday.

I spent a few days nursing my husband back on his feet following arthroscopy to the knee and removal  of a few bone fragments.

Funny thing is while we were at the Ambulatory Surgical Center, I ran into an old friend of mine. I've known her for 30 years or so. She asked why we were there and proceeded to tell me I needed to come work there! A few minutes later I was talking with the manager and she asks me to come for an interview. This was Friday, I interviewed on Tuesday, and started a new job on Monday! I spent the rest of the summer working between The Joe and WSC. Too fun, so completely opposite. The stress of the ICU and the steady pace of the endoscopy wing. What will I do next summer?

Celebrated my daughter's 22nd birthday.

and a friend's 50 birthday.

Helped my niece pick out a bridesmaid dress for my dtr's wedding 

and picked out a contender for me to wear...

Not sure...

Took my youngest son to college in South Carolina

and then spent a couple relaxing days at camp.

After a bit of rain and just general "it was nasty" our dog's bed needed to be disposed of. So into the garbage it went. The poor dog was so distraught without his bed. After spending the first night on the hard floor, he improvised!

Spent a bit of time crafting.

And now it is time to get serious about this upcoming Wedding!

Not sure if we are ready or not?

who am i and where have i been?

Last post, March 28th. Today is July 5th. I guess I can say I have been busy.  Baseball season and wrestling season keep us busy traveling to games and meets. Traveled to Greenville at break, did some shopping. Bought a few bridal items for my daughter the bride to be.

Of course, while we were shopping in Greenville, my very creative husband was making a masterpiece which could have saved us a lot of money! (had I known)

You will never believe, this was made from a tyvek painter's coverall; a mattress pad; the fur collar taken from an old sweater; a sheer curtain; a painter's hat; an old belt; some sequins; some spray adhesive; and a hot glue gun! I think it cost him less than $15.00, he is very resourceful. The outfit was a huge success at the bridal shower my daughter's college friends put together for her. Needless to say she was very surprised when they insisted she open the package and model the ensemble for everyone.

Meanwhile, my youngest son's senior year was coming to a close and was packed with activities. Our church hosts a banquet to honor the graduating seniors. The banquet was held at the beautiful Paint Creek Golf Club. My son attended the banquet with a close friend (who ironically wore her older sister's dress, that I made using tablecloths!).

Meanwhile, the older two children are wrapping up their college days! My son graduated with a degree in secondary education and my daughter with a degree in business.

and moments after graduating, my son proposed to his beautiful girlfriend! It was a real surprise!

She said yes, of course and now another wedding is in the works.

The youngest left for his senior trip to Europe for 10 days and at home the graduation/wedding season began. Bridal showers and planning for graduation and an open house kept me busy.

My youngest graduated with high honors

His entire graduating class, all seven of them.

The next day we held his open house, along with some of the other graduates families. 

Hard to believe my baby is off to college in the fall!

The weekend after graduation was the first of three weddings.

The next weekend, the second.

And the next weekend, the third!

The first wedding, I altered bridesmaids dresses, the second, I made bridesmaids dresses, and the third I altered bridesmaids dresses! I was tired of bridesmaid dresses for sure.

After the wedding season was over, I held a sewing camp for some young girls. We worked on an organizer for their things and then made a skirt and matching vest. The girls did an incredible job.

Finally, after all that and working a couple days back at the hospital, my husband and I went on a mini vacation.

Up to the magnificent Upper Peninsula of Michigan.

Soo Locks 

Tahquamenon Falls

Pictured Rocks, the sunset cruise.

Enjoyed a great picnic and fireworks with friends for my husband's 4th of July birthday and of course our nations birthday, but sadly no pictures.

It doesn't seem like much when written, but it all kept me busy!

Bring on the next whirl of activities, a scope and a scope. One for the daughter and one for the hubby.

okay,okay

So I'm not a good blogger, not even a mediocre one. I will keep plugging a way with the thought that one day I will be better. Like Ashley at AshleyAnnPhotography http://ashleyannphotography.com/blog/. I enjoy her blog so much, it usually makes me chuckle at some point during my day. She posted about Pinterest.com, it made me very curious so I requested an invite and now I'm learning to pin my favorites out there for future reference. So much easier than bookmarking everything! Projects, wedding ideas, you name it, you can pin it! Two other blogs that I enjoy are Gussy Sews http://www.gussysews.com/ and Knitty Bitties http://knittybitties.blogspot.com/. Lots of sewing inspiration from those two. I have wanted to make a camera strap cover for myself, so I finally put one together with scraps I had laying around. It is not nearly as cute as those I see on line, but it will do until I break down and buy some Amy Butler fabric or something awesome from moda.

I even added a pocket for my lens cap, don't worry that wasn't my brilliant idea, but it is perfect.

Remember the wedding I was helping with? 

A winter theme, beautifully done on a budget. The wooden disk was our table card and a cute coaster keepsake. Isn't the tree stump votive holder cute? With the bride and groom's initials carved into them. Beautiful wedding, congratulations, Andrea and Aaron.

So for my BIG 50 birthday I got an e-reader, the B & N Nookcolor. Of course I had to make a cute cover to protect the soft leather of the cute case it snaps into.

It had to be lined and have a velcro closure.

Love it.

Then of course my loving hubby couldn't let the BIG day go by without a party, oh no!

big party, big hat, big surprise. FUN.

The boys drove down to Greenville, SC to surprise the girls (well one of them had to be in on it).

love these kids

Whew!

Today is our second snow day and I finally feel like I have time to put some thoughts down. Busy has been an understatement. Let me see if I can recap. 

We left Michigan on Christmas Eve and drove straight through to Denver, Colorado! Thinking of ourselves as the characters in the movie, "A Christmas Story", we sought out a place to eat and ended up at Viva Burrito! We still laugh when we think of it. 

We drove through the Rockies to Moab, Utah. Arches National Park, beautiful!

Goblin Valley State Park, fun, the boys wanted to play paint ball!

Grand Staircase/Escalante National Park.

My personal favorite, Bryce Canyon National Park.

The Grand Canyon, both north and south rims were closed due to the weather, so we pushed on to Monument Valley. 

Spent an absolutely freezing night in Durango, CO and just made it through the mountain pass at Wolf Creek; before making our way to Colorado Springs and the Air Force Academy.

New Year's day was spent on the road and we arrived home on January 2nd. What an adventure! We were home for a few days when our daughter went for an evening airplane ride with her boyfriend, he proposed mid-air! He strung Christmas lights out 20 feet high to say "Marry Me?" on the ice of a lake and had a friend hit the switch at just the right moment. She of course said yes! 

The newly engaged couple.

Of course we had to run right out and buy these!

Then we had to send her back to school, one more semester till graduation. No dust settling here, I had to get busy and help organize a bridal shower for a close friend's daughter. We made cupcakes to go with our all white theme. My friend LA is so clever with trays, flower pots, and a glue gun.

Okay, with basketball season in full swing and I a senior parent, I volunteered to help with the costumes for our school play, Pride & Prejudice. My youngest son played Mr. Bennet. After making three dresses, a vest, and countless hems and repairs. The play was a huge success!

You would think me crazy but I also helped hem and make some changes to the bridesmaid dresses and the wedding gown of my friend's daughter. There is no rest for the weary because now I need to finish the quilt I am making for the wedding gift! Pictures of that later. Soon I will finish my December album and my 365 is coming to an end for the year. Will I do it again? Yes! maybe this time the digital version...