What's In My Kindle

I've been shamelessly searching for good book recommendations and I thought I might return the favor. Also, note that I am a TERRIBLE spender when it comes to Kindle books. I do not like paying over $5 for an e-book. So if it's over that, it better be good!

Game of Thrones

I just got this yesterday. I saw that Deb from Smitten Kitchen mentioned it and I decided to try the "preview" first and knew 30% in that I was going to buy it. Luckily it's only $8.99! But there are FIVE of them...

Room

I bought this the day I got my Kindle and I could not stop reading it. Such a great read. Thrilling and sad and intense.

Sookie Stackhouse (1-11)
I am glad I waited a while before reading these, because waiting between books is not my favorite thing to do. I did it for Harry Potter, and I don't like it. These are great, I love Sookie! A million times better than Twilight and quick reads. I love Bill, not so much Eric.

Little Bee
This story hurts my heart. I know it's fiction but I sense that it's based in a truth no one wants to face. Read it and then be outraged with me?

Cutting for Stone

I admit that I was a little bored with this story at the beginning and I'm so glad I stuck it out. I can't give anything away though. It is heavy on medical terms, but since I listen to Chris talk about that stuff, I can just plow right through. ;)

What are you reading? It is less that $5 on a Kindle?

Updates

Dear Readership,

I forgot to tell you two important things!

One: I was baptized on the 15th of May! Finally, as I have been putting it off for years. Years! I should have just done it when I went to church in Ohio with all my friends, but I didn't because my mom couldn't be there. Then I was always busy the weekend that church had baptisms and was never brave enough to just go up there when it was open to all. So I was baptized and it was great and I cried and got lots of prayers from my friends there. Jayden was there and now she really, really wants to do it too. We think, mostly, because it's a giant hot tub.

Two: I auditioned for the Worship team at the Vinyard and they accepted me into the Ensemble choir. I went to my first rehearsal last week and was totally blown away. Our leader, Grace, was trained by her mother, a professionally trained vocalist in Korea. She is amazing and I learned so much in that two hour rehearsal. Singing is HARD and I am woefully ignorant. However, all those years of singing to the mirror were helpful in that I don't strain my neck when I'm trying to be loud!

This weekend is the first time I get to sing with the Ensemble at church. We have 4 (FOUR) services so think of me! It's going to be a demanding day. But I'm really excited (and nervous) to be a part of it.

That is all!

Shop Notes

So, I'm finally getting around to posting my latest scrap buster project: Checkbook covers!

Zebra print, because I know people go crazy for that kind of thing!

Innocent Crush

Parisville!

Another Parisville but a bit more subdued.

They can all be found in my shop!

Some Pictures of Flowers...

...That I did not grow.

I never much cared for white lilacs, the purple ones smells better. But I was making myself remember how to photograph white objects. ISO set to 200, f16 and my shutter speed was 160, I believe.

ISO- 200 f 8 and shutter speed at 120 (if I'm remembering correctly)

Jacob needed to touch it! I don't think he knows that roses smell good yet.

Technical Difficulties

I am not even going to explain how I just had to scramble for deleting cookies and figuring out where my Menu Bar went...this is what happens when you don't post to your blog daily and then get locked out when Blogger goes down...over a WEEK ago.

So when I last left you, I was going out to plant the garden. Which we did. And now, 10 days later, we have four rows of corn, one row of lettuce, and 3 wells of cucumbers growing. The carrots and onions are not quite out yet, maybe tomorrow? I also have two pepper plants since the packet of seeds contained exactly TWO seeds. Not 30. The tomatoes are doing well, I found one tiny green globe today, when I went to see if the hail storm ruined anything. A sneaky squirrel was trying to pop in, I hope I scared him off.

Perhaps it's time to make a scarecrow?

We are also in the process of putting in sod, but before we can lay that down, we have to put in a sprinkler system. So I've been "helping" in the loosest sense of the word. Jacob helps by falling down into the trenches and crying about it.

Do you know what muscles you use to dig out trenches with a weirdly shaped shovel? Muscles you didn't know you had, that's what.

Mother's Day

I am so terrible about this! I meant to tell you all about my Mother's Day, and now it's Friday. Bad me.

While Jacob and I were at church, Chris went out and got me a couple bags of organic compost, three tomato plants, and a bunch of seeds for a garden! I've been bemoaning the fact that I do not have one for a long time, so it's great to know he actually listens to me.

We went out to get the rototiller right away, but after Chris struggled with one tiny patch of dirt for over 30 minutes, we decided that we'd have to rent a better tilling machine. Luckily, we got to borrow one for the week and now I have a fourth of the backyard as a garden. Chris tilled up the land and got a truckload of manure that we spread out and it's now ready for planting. We're going to head out and do that as soon as I finish writing.

The 2nd gift I get is that the dogs no longer get the whole backyard to themselves to completely trash! We're going to block off most of it to keep for us. So we're going to be putting in a sprinkler system and sod before the end of this month. It will be so nice to have a place to go play in the mornings or eat out at night. Our front yard is fine, but really tiny. The backyard has just been over run with weeds, stickers and dog poop, so it will be a big change to have something nice out there. But it also means we will have to clean it on a regular basis. And that is not my favorite thing to do!

I hope your day was good as well!

Wanna Talk A Kitty?

I got a new phone last weekend and we have all been playing with it. Jacob is able to play quite few of the games and thus, we all have to share. And consequently, lose the games. Although he did help me win two rounds of Angry Birds.

May=Snow

Although it was snowing on Sunday, these were popping out on Monday morning.

I love tulips. Maybe because they are the first flower to pop up? These are rather late, as lilacs are already in bloom in our neighborhood.

Iris. Once a Kappa, always a Kappa.

Metro Living

Please excuse the photos. I finished this quilt about five minutes after I was supposed to be in the shower before church. But I wanted to have some proof that I made it before handing it off. Unlike the two bags I made with Parisville earlier this week!

My mom asked me to make a baby quilt for a granddaughter of a friend of hers. She is due to have a baby in a couple of weeks, and her baby shower was this weekend.

I only had a day to get this done, so I'm happy that baby quilts are very quick projects. I am totally in love the the Metro Living line by Michael Miller right now, so I picked out some coordinating fabrics with the help of Randi. I used a solid Kona cotton for the backing, but my quilt top was about 5 inches too big for the back so I had to add on some strips to lengthen it. It turned out to be my favorite part. Maybe because it's a rainbow them?

The binding was not planned. I forgot to get a fabric for the binding and I didn't have anything on hand that matched. Until I found the red/white polka dots! I am happy that it was pre-washed and ready to go! I didn't pre-wash the rest of the fabric, but I think that the red could have bled and I would be sad to hear if it was ruined!

Easter Weekend

On Saturday, we went to the Thirsties Warehouse for the Great Cloth Diaper Change. All over the country (and world) babies were changed into cloth diapers. We were trying to break the Guinness Book of World records...I believe we did but I will have to get back to you on that!

Jacob wasn't one of them, but he did get a cool face painting and a balloon sword and pink kitty!

For Easter, we went to church and Jacob was so impressed with the streamers and balloons in the lobby. So naturally, it blew his little baby mind when a confetti cannon went off at the end of the service. He wanted nothing to do with the huge beach balls floating all over the room, he just kept saying "it's a party!" Indeed it was, kidlet!

After church and a much needed nap, we went over the CS's parents for dinner and egg hunting. After my busy weekend, I was really ready to go home and put on sweats and watch True Blood for a couple hours but we had to stick around for the evening. Every year, after dark, the adults have an egg hunt with flashlights, searching the backyard for eggs. This year, there were 103 to find. They up the stakes by adding money to the eggs, so no one wants to go home before that! To make it even harder, this year it was raining and the yard was torn up for a new sprinkler system the weekend before. So that was a muddy MESS. But I found $20, so I suppose some wet socks and mud coated shoes are worth it.

Life 'Round Here

Jacob is in the beginning stages of potty training. Everyone says cloth is easier when starting that, but so far it hasn't proved true. Since cloth stays damp against skin, Jacob doesn't know when he's wearing underwear and when he's in a diaper. So, there has been a lot of bare bottom time around here! But occasionally, he just marches his naked butt to the bathroom and goes on his own! WIN WIN!

Now that my quilt projects are finished, for the most part, I've been doing a little mass producing! Above are some ballerina bags. I found the linen look alike fabric at Joanns and the yellow and blue screamed SPRING to me. I don't know why I bought the purple!

This is my second project. Checkbook coves! I gave two away, my mom and sister in law needed them. I suspect the zebra print will be gone in .2 seconds after I post them to Facebook. I am not a fan of the animal prints, but I know a few people who are! These are a pretty easy pattern from KeyKa Lou, she has awesome patterns on Etsy.

Cars, Planes, Trains and SUPER COPTERS

I finished the bilk of my quilting projects last week. I have one left to do, a tee shirt quilt for a college friend before I am DONE for a bit, but I need to decide on a backing for that one before I can quilt it.

I love the quilt I just finished for a little boy named Tanner. His mama said he likes anything with cars and trucks, so when I saw this fabric, I knew I had to have it! I found it on Etsy from this shop and I got the solid Kona from this shop. I love the orange so much!

When Jacob saw the fabric I was going to use, he immediately asked me if it was for a "Jacob peelow?" and I'm thinking that he probably deserves his own full size custom pillow. I just have to ask him to decide between Super Copters or Planes.

As for this specific quilt, it's gone to live in Russia for the next two years. How cool is that! Dear Quilt, please send postcards. ;)

Wedding Bells: Part Two

After we made it out the door and in time for the shuttle, we parked ourselves in a pew and waited for the bride. Who we may have seen when she walked down the hall before the ceremony. Her mama told us to avert our eyes, but that seemed terribly rude so we just smiled and tried to look ashamed. I doubt we succeeded!

Post-wedding: we took a shuttle to the reception, a lovely quaint house with a huge enclosed patios and overhead heaters. Along with generous servings of hors devours and plentiful drinks, we waited for the bride. Sarah looked so lovely! Very Grecian goddess, and somehow I have no photos of her. Technically, I have at least one Polaroid but Sally took them and claims she is going to scan them before sending them back to me.

After enjoying our snacks and drinks, we all went to dinner and had...HAMBURGERS! My friends are so classy. We were actually hoping for hot dogs, if we are going to be honest.

Later there was dancing and group photo taking, I can't wait to see the results from that! Cell Block #18!

Of course, the weekend pasted by TOO quickly and I am in full friend withdrawal. 2.5 days is not enough time! Cleveland, OH does not have Tim Hortons but luckily, we found a Trader Joe's so it's slightly redeemed. Just a little bit!

Melancholia

I knew I would have trouble when I came back from Ohio. It's nothing new, honestly. I always struggle to regain a sense of happiness whenever I come back from Ohio. I thought it would be multiplied this trip, as I didn't have a chance to get sick of living out of my suitcase or just be ready for things to settle down.


Part of me wonders if this is a sign that I should be back there. If that sense of belonging is not just because I lived there for 4 years. Maybe I am meant to return. I love being in Colorado, close to family, but it doesn't always feel like home. I don't actually have many friends, at least it feels that way some days. I know it's hard with a baby, a job, a side job, a house to clean, time for myself. I don't always have time for friendships.

So maybe that's the hardest part of being back home. It's so effortless to be with people who have known me for almost 10 years. I've always been able to find a place, no matter where we moved, but I always feel like I've come home whenever I go back to visit the O-H-I-O.

Wedding Bells

I got to go away for the weekend! I left on Friday, nearly missing my flight but luckily my plane was late. Sadly, Sally's plane was even later than mine and she didn't arrive for almost 5 hours after she was scheduled. Friday night we got a hotel and stopped at Olive Garden for soup, salad and a bottle of wine.


Saturday morning, we found a lovely place for brunch. Despite a pair of panties outside the front door, it was so good. I had a lobster Eggs Bendict with a mimosa, Abby had Challeh French Toast/Eggs in a Basket and Mimosa, and Sally had a Veggie Quesidilla and a Bloody Mary. Then we went shopping for jewelry before going back to the hotel to pop open the bottle of wine and prep for the wedding. Clearly, you will be able to see a theme for us?


Hint: Food+Drinks+Shopping

Tomorrow, I'll tell you about the wedding!