~Never say "Never"~

When I first started seeing people walking about in hideous, brightly-colored, plastic shoes, and found out that this new trend was called "Crocs", I said, "I would never wear those! They are so ugly!" But then, I started liking them. And then they came out with their "Mary Jane" version. Oooh, I could wear those for gardening!

When I was out with my family the day after Christmas, we serendipitously walked into a shoe store that had their Crocs on sale. And guess what? I walked out with a pair (after paying for them, of course)! I can't wait to wear them this summer; obviously holey shoes wouldn't be very great for walking about in the snow! Hehe! I bought mine in black - if the store had had pink in stock, I would have gotten pink!

Photo credit

~2007 Projects~

1. afghan square, 2. coasters, 3. blue bag, 4. brown apron, 5. box bag, 6. coaster, 7. dpn needle case, 8. valentine runner, 9. softies, 10. napkin rings, 11. ripple afghan, 12. tea cozy, 13. knit purse, 14. Mrs B's aprons, 15. zippered clutch, 16. zippered pouches, 17. Monkey Socks, 18. Child's First Sock, 19. Reversible apron, 20. socks

I did not include a few of the smaller projects I completed, or any of my Etsy sales. As you can see, I accomplished a whole lot more with my sewing machine than with my knitting needles!!

~Home~

This morning at 2:30 a.m., we arrived home from a trip to California. We had a wonderful week + stay with my family! It was great to visit with my family!

The day after Christmas, we went to Pismo Beach, which was a fun, relaxing day. We spent some time on the beach and pier, a little bit of time browsing through shops, and then we all got fish and chips at Splash Cafe, which is well-known in the area (though I'd never heard of it!).

There were two pelicans hanging out at the pier. I've never been so close to them before! They were letting people get within five feet to take pictures.





Today has been a very lazy day. I was so tired from travelling all day yesterday. I slept in late, and have slowly been doing things around the house.

I used to joke with a friend, when it was time for me to go grocery shopping, that I needed to go shopping because all I had was condiments in the fridge. Well, there is very little besides condiments in my refrigerator, so I do need to get to the store sometime this evening!

Hope you all had a merry Christmas!

~Merry Christmas!~

Wishing everyone who stops by a wonderful, merry Christmas!

Christmas is a wonderful time to thank the Lord for coming to earth to redeem us from our sins! It is easy in all the hustle and bustle of gift-getting and giving, cookie baking (and eating!), and parties and activities galore to overlook the one Reason we are celebrating Christmas in the first place!

May God richly bless you this Christmas, and in the New Year to come!!!

~Fruit Cake?~

Around the Christmas season, jokes abound about fruit cake. However, people keep making it, so some people must like it!

I think of it as an "old fashioned" Christmas tradition. It appears on the buffet at my grandma's house, cut in bite-size pieces, every Christmas. I usually take a piece or two. It is ok, but not my favorite.

So...
...do you like it?
...do you make it?

Have a great day!

~More secrets~

If your name is "MOM" don't click here:
Link
Well, ok, I know a lot of ladies go by "Mom", don't they? So I'll let anyone except Kevin's mom click that link!

They're in today's mail! Hope they make it in time!

~Listening~

...as I work in the kitchen:




...a thrifted record. I love my turntable...and Julie Andrew's voice...and the lovely crackliness of listening to records!

~Apples for bunnies and a package in the mail~

These two subjects seem disjointed, but they do go together! *Smiles*

A few days ago, I posted about finding rabbit tracks in the snow around our house. Debra from The Bunnies' Bungalow posted a comment, saying that apples will attract the bunnies back.

So today, I cut up two apples and put them out.


But Debra didn't just stop by my blog to tell me how to feed my bunnies. She was also notifying me that I had won a contest on her blog! How exciting!

And her package came in today's mail. There were soooo many goodies in it! Thank you, Debra!!!

~Today~

Just one of those boring, rambling posts ahead...

This morning I went to a Christmas breakfast hosted by one of the church ladies. I had a great time, and was glad that I went. The food and fellowship were great. The table which I sat at had an assortment of ages, but most of the ladies were in their late 70's. One lady was the oldest of 10 kids, another the oldest of 9 girls. She told about how her mother saved money by making their und*rwe@r out of flour sacks, and how they had the name brand on them still, because the lettering was red, and not possible to bleach out. Another lady talked about all the aprons she had out of feedsacks. Later, she referred to someone being "off their trolley." As I said, the fellowship was great. It was fun to hear the ladies reminiscing of their childhood.

This afternoon I worked on a Christmas project. I haven't taken any pictures yet, so I don't have a secret link to post. But I will soon.

I offered my old camera to my two youngest sisters to play with, and my dad said, "Great, now we'll have 400 blurry pictures on the computer". LOL I didn't think of it that way. (My old camera stopped focusing correctly.)

I got my house all picked up and pretty this afternoon. It's nice to have the clutter all put away!

I'm trying to think of something wonderfully funny or amazing or remarkable, but nothing is coming to me right now, so I'll just sign off!

Have a great day!

~Grocery Bags~

I'm just back from the grocery store (Meijer), and I'm tickled pink over the recyclable grocery bags I bought. (Note: it is the small things in life that make me the most excited. Tell me I won a car, and I'd say, "oh, ok". Tell me that I can buy a grocery bag for $.99 and I jump up and down with joy. LOL)

So anyhow, the bags are wonderful! They only cost $.99 apiece, and they appear very sturdy. I purchased three today, and only needed three extra plastic bags for a week's worth of groceries. They hold so much, and they pack into the cart/trunk of my car very nicely. I have been meaning to make myself some shopping bags, because I really don't like bringing home so many plastic bags each week! For one week's groceries, I usually bring home 10 or so plastic bags. I do reuse some of the bags, but most of them end up in the recycle bin. It is just such a waste!



These bags have a hard plastic insert which goes on the bottom so the bag is easy to load. It also has a little tag so the checker can hook it onto the bag holders. Inside, there are two pockets which fold in/out to secure bottles.

Here you can see the bottle holders (I put a bottle of soy milk in the bag, you can tell how deep the bags are too!), and the little tab that slips onto the bag holders.



Next time I go shopping, I plan on buying three more. I think this will be more than enough for my shopping needs. No more plastic bags! Hurrah!!!

~A little walk~

Yesterday was nice out (as in, it was 33*, not snowing, raining, and no wind fiercely blowing), so I took the opportunity and went for a walk. It was nice to be outside and get some fresh air.

If you look at a chart of obesity percentages by state, you can see where your state fits in.It is no surprise to me that Michigan is in the top 10. A good portion of the year the weather is just so yucky, so uninviting to go out in. There really is not much that will entice the Michigander outside during February, and I do think that weather and outside attractions do play a part in one's fitness.

This winter, I'm going to *try* to get outside more. I need the fresh air, if only for a few minutes. That being said, the weather today is not enticing. It is a rainy, slushy, icy mess out there!

Where does your state fall? Do you think you get outside often enough, especially during the winter?

~Rushing, rushing, hurrying, scurrying~

Kevin and I are in our church's choir, and this year's Christmas cantata has a song that goes along the lines of:
Christmas time is rushing, rushing,
hurrying, scurrying,
much to do, no time to do it,
I can't get it all done at Christmas time...

So of course, that is the song that gets stuck in my head! Not the more meaningful, lovely songs. And you know what? Christmas time IS rushing, rushing, hurrying, scurrying!

In an attempt to make some sense of all my "to do's", I've come to Panerea Bread with my laptop. Lists are my friends, so I'm fully prepared to make out my lists! However, I'm taking a look at my lists, and making sure that they only contain the things that I need to do! I'm cutting out any unnecessary items on my list, so that the days leading up to Christmas are not "rushing, rushing, hurrying, scurrying".

Only 15 days till Christmas! I hope you have a peaceful Christmas time!

~Dessert Centerpiece~

Thank you to everyone who gave me great ideas for my dessert centerpiece! I mulled each idea over, and thought about doing many different things! The final decision was Michelle's Double Musky Cake.

Here it is, on the table before dinner:


It was delicious!!! And I think it counts as a "fabulous" dessert for my 101 List. =) Many thanks to Michelle for not only posting the recipe, but for answering my many questions; most of which showed my ignorance when it comes to preparing a dessert like this!

And a "freebie"...here's a pic of Kevin and me:

~Box Bag~

One of the things I've wanted to make for quite a while is a box bag. I found an onlnine tutorial a few weeks ago, which is what I used to make my bag. I didn't follow it completely, but it was a big help to me. I encased the exposed seams with fabric strips.

Here's the fabric I used, by Moda (I love Moda fabrics. Their cotton is so easy to sew with!)



The finished bag:



My new camera arrived. I'm still playing around with it and getting used to the settings. Having a nice camera does not equal good pictures. LOL

~The sun came out!~

Winter Sun, Biei, Hokkaido, Japan

Yesterday the sun came out of the clouds, the first time in a long time. But do not be fooled, just because the sun was out, did not mean it was warm! It was in the low 20's all day! Brrrrr...

I had to go out yesterday, and I wasn't really dressed that warmly. Go figure. I write a blog post on how to dress warmly, and then I don't even follow it. I think I've been in denial about the weather. You know, if I don't dress like it is 20 degrees outside, mabye it really won't feel like 20 degrees. Or something like that. Well, winter is here to stay this time around, I do believe!

It has been snowing off and on since last Saturday. Unfortunately, we didn't get our
leaves raked up before it started snowing, so there are lots of leaves under the snow! Last night when we came home from church, we saw some rabbit tracks, and some tracks that belonged to a smaller critter (mouse, maybe?). I thought about setting out food for the rabbit, but I've left carrots outside before, and it left it alone. Any ideas?

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

~Afternoon fun~

If you aren't my sister whose name starts with "B" please take a look at my latest project:
Link 1
Link 2
Link 3

But if you are my sister whose name starts with "B" or if "B" happens to be in the room, you better not click those links!!! Christmas is coming, you know!

~Just listed~

This apron is made out of vintage apron fabric! I was ecsatic to find this fabric! Remember that aprons make great Christmas and hostess gifts. *Smiles* Visit my shop (link at left) to view more aprons, including a vintage Christmas apron.

~Lunch with a friend~

This afternoon I had lunch with a friend of mine from our church. She served egg salad with crouissant rolls, grapes, and Sun Chips. Yummy! After lunch, I helped her fold, stuff, and stamp their prayer letter (they are missionaries with a mission board which builds churches in America). We had a nice time together!

I'd like to say how special it is to have friends outside of your age bracket. When you are in Kindergarten, you think that the only friends you can have have to be your exact age. But as an adult, it is wise to have friends of all ages! My friend is my mom's age, but we truly enjoy spending time together.

If you are so blessed as to have Titus 2 women in your church, get to know them! Allow them to be in your circle of friends!

~Doing the happy dance~

I'm getting a new camera! I cannot wait! Well, I guess I'll have to! I ordered it from Dell tonight. I hope I get it soon!



According to Consumer Reports, it is the best buy. I'm all for that! *smiles*

Image from Dell.com.

~December already?~

Wow! This year has flown by!

Today...
* a little laundry * a lot of dishes * relaxing reading * cooking and baking * hopping around a few blogs * a few cups of tea *

Ah...a nice cozy, snowy day!