Happy 70th Birthday to my Mom & Happy 5th Anniversary to my husband James

For those of you who don't know, I got married on my Mom's birthday. So on May 28 we have two celebrations in our house!
First off, tomorrow is my sweet Mom's 70th birthday! She is a fiesty 70 year old if I do say so myself. I hope she has the best birthday yet!
Her grand daughter Jennifer and more importantly, her two great grandsons, Trent and Craig are coming to see her this weekend to wish her a happy birthday. She will enjoy that, along with the turkey and dressing I am making on Sunday for Memorial Day (yes turkey and dressing for Memorial Day. Go figure!).
My sister Brenda and my Mom's other grand daughters, Sabrina and Sierra will be over to wish Mom a happy birthday I am sure. Sabrina just finished another year of college and Sierra starts high school this next year. And my sister is almost finished getting her degree and is an honor student. My mom is so proud of them all!
And I made cupcakes for a bake sale, but left her a few on the side.
Second off, it is my 5th anniversary with my hunk of burning love husband, James. I waited 44 years to get married. I was waiting on James.
He is the love of my life, the one I waited all my life for, the man of my dreams. I am spending the best years with him. He holds my heart in his heart.
Thank you James for 5 wonderful years.
So I hope you all have a great Memorial Day weekend. I know I will!

Happy Mothers Day to all!

Happy Mother's Day to all of you out there!
Today we celebrated Mother's Day by James and I taking my mother and his mother out to lunch. It was quite an expedition. We started out going to Golden Corral at 11:00 and when the cars wrapped around the block we knew we weren't going there. Then we went to Cheddars, same song, different verse and ended up at Applebee's.
We had great food, wonderful drinks (I had 2 pomegranate martinis with the last one being simply colored vodka, but really good!) and lots of fun.
I know my mom didn't stop laughing (and she only had rootbeer!) the entire time she was there.
Here are the pictures from the day:
James and his mom, Judy

My Mom, Jan and me

James and I

And finally all of us

I hope all of you have a wonderful rest of your weekend and a glorious week!

A new ring!

Well, the bad news is, I never found my wedding ring. Makes me sick, but we can't find it.
Good news is, my husband bought me a new wedding ring. We found the perfect one from James Avery. It is a silver heart shaped love knot.
This is significant to me for one, the love knot means our love will always be. And James has always told me "you are my heart". That is why the heart shape is important.
Here is a picture of it. Please ignore my un-manicured hands!

I love my sweet, forgiving husband James with whom I have been married to for 5 years on May 28th!

A question

I am interested in this scroll frame stand.
I started working on Warm Water Wash. Actually, I put the fabric on the scroll frame and put exactly 6 stitches in it until I realized that my holding a 24 inch scroll frame and stitching wasn't going to work.
So I started looking at scroll frame stands. And I like the look of this one the best. Now I need your help.
Have any of you used this frame stand? If so, do you like it? And I need to hear from my "big" girl friends on this also.
My biggest question is am I going to be able to position this in a way that I can stitch and my stomach doesn't get in the way. There, I put it in words.
I know I am not the only one out there that has this issue. And until I can lose more weight, I still want to stitch!
I would love to be able to take it outside with me when I stitch in my new chair as well as in my living room chair.
So, how about it friends? Have you used this and if so what do you think?

The Garden

Have I told you all how wonderful my husband James is? Well, let me tell you again.
Today he worked six hours in the sun putting in a small garden for me. He had to rototill the rows, hoe up the grass, bricks, rocks, etc, put in some top soil, plant the plants and then he watered everything down. And in the famous words of my mother (if you knew her you would understand) "I Supervised!".
I am sunburned as red as a tomato. But it was so wonderful to see it taking place.
The pics I am about to show you doesn't do it justice. We have a little scrap of a back yard, but he made the most of it. We have red, yellow and hot banana peppers:

Broccoli, zucchini, cucumbers, grape tomatoes and regular tomatoes and for Craig, carrots:


My daughter gave me a topsy-turvy for Christmas and we planted a grape tomato plant in it:

We moved my Mother's peach colored roses to the other side of the yard with the other rose bushes. And with the wagon of petunias & snapdragons it is quite colorful!

I also have strawberries, mint, lemon thyme, more petunias and of course, hot lips (which isn't blooming yet):

I know everything looks pretty rough right now, but soon I will have a garden full of colorful, fresh vegetables! I can't wait!
James, I love you so much and thank you so much for doing all this for me!

Some stitching, some flowers and a new addition (very long post)

I know it has been awhile since I posted anything here. Truth is, I went through a grieving period and a period of depression.
I had to put my sweet little dog to sleep Wednesday a week ago. She was 15 and had gotten very sick. It was probably the hardest thing I ever had to deal with, short of my father's death 14 years ago.
Alex the puppy was about 2 or 3 when she came to live with me. Her previous owner had treated her like a queen before his death and when she came to live with me, she made it clear she would accept nothing less. She ruled the house and I loved her dearly.
I miss her more than words can say.
I had not felt much like stitching until today. I finished a verse in my "Time For God" by LK. I think it is appropriate that the verse is "Hard Times, Trust God" for this has been a very hard time. Here is a pic:

I only have one more verse to do and then I will be finished. I haven't decided who will get this piece. My husband and my 5th anniversary will be in May and I am really thinking of giving it to the Pastor that married us. He is a dear family friend. He took me to summer camp when I was a teen, presided over my father's and my grandmother's funeral and then married James and I.
While I have really loved doing this piece, I want to do something a little more colorful before I dive into LK "ABC's of Aging Artfully". Those shades are muted much like these are and I have the need for color.
Here is my next piece. It is a Raise the Roof Design called "Warm Water Wash". It is a wide piece and I am going to have to get some 20" scroll rods to accommodate the design as well as the extra fabric to frame with.
I purchased this on E-Bay and it came with threads, buttons and the patterns and was half the cost of what it was on most ONS. I really love patterns that come with the threads and everything so all I have to do is pick my fabric. Especially when they are GAST or WDW.
Here is a pic of the new project:

This spring has been very good for my flowers. A combination of cold weather to kill the bugs and lots of rain has brought out the best in my roses. My pink rose bush is fuller than full and my yellow rose bush is doing better than ever.
My dear husband, during my grief, helped me plant some petunias and snapdragons in my wagon. Our plan was to rototill the back yard (the grass is a bunch of weeds anyway) and plant a garden. But last weekend all the rototiller had been rented out and this weekend it has rained, rained, rained. So on to next weekend for the garden.
But my husband did purchase this wonderful 2 chair set with an umbrella in celebration of my 20 pound loss with WW. I have now lost 23.4 pounds (I didn't weigh this week yet). I love this set. I can take it with me to Relays and the umbrella will keep the sun out of my eyes when I sit and enjoy my garden.
Here are some pics of my flowers and my new chairs:





And we seem to have a new addition to the neighborhood. My husband has been telling me he has seen a bunny in our yard, as well as around the neighborhood in the early morning hours. And while we sat in our yard Friday morning, he appeared in the area between my house and the neighbors. My husband snapped a photo:

What I have now seen (but don't have a pic of) is that there are at least two bunnies and from the kissing they were doing, I suspect it won't be long until we have more! They are cottontails and when I told my youngest grandson that I thought the Easter bunny forgot to go back home, he told me that he had seen the Easter bunny and he talks. So I needed to talk to this bunny and if he talks back, it is the Easter bunny.
Here bunny, bunny...

Happy Easter and an update on Time For God

Happy Easter to you all!
I worked some more on Time For God by LK. I have finished another verse. It is the "Quiet Times, Worship God" verse. I thought this was appropriate given that this is Good Friday. I have spent a great deal of my stitching time reflecting on my worship time.
I can't tell you how much I enjoy working on this piece. I think it is because while I am working, I am quietly spending time with God. It is well with my soul when I work on this piece.
I hope all of you have a wonderful and safe Easter weekend. Thank you for reading my blog and sharing your thoughts with me.

A cube finish, an early Mother's Day Gift and of course a drawing!

I decided to finish off "Chicks Rule" as a cube. This is my first attempt at a cube finish and I am somewhat happy with it. I need to get some round wooden beads to attach to the bottom to make it stand straight. But I do like it. Here is a pic:

This week I also received a gift in the mail from my daughter. I love brooches (to say the least). And I love brooches that are eclectic.
I do not wear any other types of jewelry except my wedding ring unless it is a special occasion and then I might wear a pair of earrings.
But I have wanted a Mother's brooch with the birthstone colors for my daughter and grandchildren. We have searched everywhere and the only ones we could find were very expensive.
My daughter checked on Etsy and there was a woman making Mother's necklaces out of silver wire and colored beads the color of the birthstones. Jen (my DD) contacted the seller and asked if she could make a brooch. The answer was yes and so she ordered one. Since my DD and first grandson are both July birthdays, I have two red beads and then a teal/aqua color one for my second grandson born in March.
I have to tell you I love this pin. It is first of all handmade which I really appreciate and second, you won't find this pin on anyone else. It is just mine.
The picture was difficult to take, but here it is:

I just love it!
Now for the moment you all have been waiting for! The winner of the Lizzie Kate limited edition Spring Fab Fob with scissors!
The winner is...... MEARI! You can thank my oldest grandson for picking your name!
If you will e-mail me your mailing addy I will get it in the mail to you next week!
Congratulations!

Finish on Chicks Rule and my daughter is stitching!

While my daughter was visiting, she picked up an embroidery kit from Sublime Stitching. It is an old fashioned, iron on pattern company with a new look to it. Really cute patterns, updated to the looks of today, that you can make tea towels, pillowcases, etc.
She got the kit on Thursday and was really excited to get started. She stitched and stitched and finished her first tea towel. I am one proud Mama. She can crochet and knit, both of which I cannot do. But to take up stitching, whew! Just thrills me. Here is picture of her first piece:

And she inspired me to finish a new project. My intention this week was to do 2 verses on my Time for God. I did finish one of the two as I previously talked about in a post.
But getting the new purple fabric and the new Lizzie Kate "Chicks Rule" made me itch to stitch it. And stitch I did! I finished it tonight. And it is so cute. I just love it! Here is a picture of it:

I don't know what I am going to do with it. I might do a folded stand up like she has on the photo or I might do as a hanging flat fold. Have to find some cute fabric for it!
Don't forget to read my post before this for your chance to win a Lizzie Kate of your own!

More vacation pictures, a new project and just for reading to the end of the post, a giveaway!

Ok, yesterday we went to the zoo! It was great fun! My dear, sweet Mother was exhausted by the end of the day, but I think she wouldn't have missed it for the world. Here is a picture of the entire bunch at the beginning of the zoo trip!

These are a few more at the zoo!

I thought this fish was quite interesting!

This is a picture of my youngest with a statue of the orangutan! Have I told you how much I have looked forward to seeing the orangutans? They are fairly new to our zoo and I have really wanted to see them. Here is a picture of the smallest one. Sometimes I wish I could hang around like this!

And this is a pic of my 2 grandsons on the Komodo Dragon statue!

Today we went to the Rainforest Cafe in Grapevine Mills Mall. This is our second trip there. Last year we went there for my youngest grandson's 5th birthday and he requested we go there this year for his 6th birthday. Wow! He turned 6 today. Unbelievable!
Here is a pic of my husband, the boys and myself. My daughter was taking the picture so she is not in it!

This is the birthday boy blowing out his candles:

And no trip with my youngest would be complete without a train. There was a small train that did trips around the mall for children. Here is the pic with the boys as they were about to take off. All aboard!

Now onto some stitchy news. Have you seen these pieces? They are by Lizzie Kate, my fav designer!
I am doing the Chicks Rule (which is a limited addition) on 28 count lavender Lugana. I think it makes the colors just "pop"!


I really love the ABC's of Aging Gracefully. I am going to do it on my fav Silkweaver color, Days Gone By (the same fabric I am using for Time for God).
Now, you are at the end of the post. Whew! Long, huh? Think you deserve something for reading so much? Well, I have been blessed and Easter is upon us. So I want to bless one of my friends with something.
The Spring Fab Fob is a limited edition by Lizzie Kate. It comes with the pattern, some beads and most importantly these little, tiny blue and pink scissors.
This can be yours:

All you have to do is leave a comment and mention you want to be included in the drawing. I need some way of contacting you (e-mail addy would be lovely). I will draw for the giveaway on Saturday, March 27th. Good luck to all!

An award, some stitching and more pictures!

I received this award from Meari from "Meari's Musings". I have so enjoyed reading her blog and have learned many neat tricks from her. Thank you Meari for passing the award to me. :) It makes me feel good to know people enjoy my blog.

The rules are simple:
1) Accept the award.
2) Thank the person who gave you the award
3) Add a link to the person who gave you the award.
4) Put the award on your blog.
5) Write 10 things about yourself others might not know about you.
6) Pass the award on to 10 others.

Ten Things You Might Not Know About Me
(And Probably Don't Want To Know)

1. I am not naturally a red head. Really don't know what I am naturally except gray now.
2. Until I was 30, I never held a job longer than a year.
3. If I had my way, I would ride a motorcycle. (Of course, I would have to majorly lose weight)
4. I loved the color purple until I was 42 and now my favorite color is green.
5. I am afraid of snakes. REALLY AFRAID. Like I won't go into the snake house at the zoo afraid.
6. Sea World in San Antonio is my favorite place to go on vacation. I could just stay there all year round.
7. I have seen Six Flags over Texas in Arlington at all different times of the year. In fact, there is a snow cone stand that changes to a hot cocoa stand depending on the time of year.
8. I waited until I was 44 to get married for the first time. And then I married a guy 14 years younger than me!
9. I only care to stitch small projects. My days of doing huge WIP's are done.
10. I hate stitching with white thread. I don't care if it is GAST, WDW or DMC. I hate white thread.

Here are the winners

1. Carolyn at Just One More Stitch...

2. Rene at Rene la Frog's Ramblings
3. Kathy at Kathy's Stitching Comments
4. Marilee at Yarnplayer's Tatting
5. Cindy at Lonestar Stitcher and her Ramblings
6. Penny at Mind Wanderings
7. Janet at Crossed Stitch Bibs
8. Marian at Gumbo and Grits
9. Dani at Blackbelt Stitching Wizard
10. Mary at Frazzled Needle

On the stitching side, I have finished another verse in my "Time for God" piece by Lizzie Kate. I stayed up until 1:30am finishing this verse. First time in a long time I stayed up that late stitching!
The next one is "Quiet Times, Worship God". I am telling you, stitching this piece really makes you reflect on your relationship with God. I hope to have the next verse done before I return to work on Monday. Here is a pic of the completed work so far!

As many of you know, my daughter and grandsons are visiting. Today I went bowling with them and out to eat. My sweet Mother came along to "supervise" us as she put it. Here are a couple of pics of our outing!


I am having a blast on vacation. I hope to have more pictures tomorrow as we are going to the ZOO!

An update

I have been stitching on my new project. I showed you pics of the fabric, threads and pattern in the post just before this one.
It is called "Time for God" by Lizzie Kate. It is funny how a stitched piece can affect you. The first part of the piece says "Happy Times, Praise God". So I have been praising. The second part says "Difficult Times, Seek God". I have reflected on that part quite a bit this weekend also.
I am making it for my friend Lisa's birthday, which isn't until June. She will appreciate this piece, I am sure.
This picture is terrible. The colors are just absolutely beautiful on the piece itself. I am not sure what is wrong with my camera (or maybe it is me!). I took several shots and they all were slightly blurry.

I stitched quite a bit today, which made both Mom and myself happy. Mom because it means I was in the living room with her and not in my room on the computer. Me, because stitching brings me joy. I sometimes forget that.
I also had to "visit" my sister's dog this weekend while she was away. Gator was happy to see me.
On my way home from visiting with The Gator I stopped by the Arboretum. I looked at the daffys. They must have really split up a lot of the bulbs and transplanted them all over because they were EVERYWHERE! And on the way home, I saw my final sign that spring is definitely here. I saw the little reddish, purplish buds on a red bud tree that is a few blocks from my house. Red bud trees can make me smile even on a bad day. So there you have it folks. I saw a robin last week, daffys are out and now the red buds have burst onto the scene. SPRING! Skip de do la! It is SPRING!
Hope you all have a week that is as beautiful as you all are!

I promised you daffys and daffys I give you!

Ok, for all of you snow bound, frozen to the bone folks here is some bright sunshine! Even though we had 3 inches of snow last week (unbelievable for Central Texas) the daffodils made it through.
Our arboretum has even more patches of daffys than last year. They are all over the place and many have bloomed. I suspect we will have daffys for at least the next two to three weeks, which makes me SMILE!
So here are the pics I took today. Absorb all the warm, yellow color from them that you can and think sunny thoughts!

Stitchy update

I have neglected the stitching part of my blog! So I thought I would post some pics of stitchy stuff.
First, my friend Marian and I had a, err, challenge between friends during the Texas/Alabama game. My Longhorns really disappointed me and I sent some fabric to Marian for losing the "challenge".
So imagine my surprise when I open my mail and find a goodie bag from Marian for being a good sport. And what a nice bag it was! Here is a pic:

It had some silk threads, some silk ribbon, lots of needles and my favorite purple ribbon fabric. Just so FUN!
Then for my birthday I received several skeins of threads from my exchange group. Here is a pic of some of them (I have already started using the rest of them!)

And finally here is a pic of my newest project I hope to start on this week. It is called "Make Time for God" by Lizzie Kate. It will be stitched on 28 count Lugana by Silkweaver called "Days Gone By" which has got to be my absolutely favorite fabric and color. It seems to go so well with Sampler Threads and Weeks Dye Works. Those muted shades just pop on this fabric.
And speaking of Weeks, I also have the threads in the pic for the piece. I am going to stitch this for my friend Lisa for her birthday in June. I think she will love it!

Today my husband took us by the Arboretum, which is my favorite place to go. The daffys are in bloom! They made it past the 3 inches of snow we had last week. They had a wedding going on there and I couldn't stop to take pics, but I plan on going by there tomorrow and will take lots of pics for those of you who think spring is never coming. I also saw a red robin on Thursday, so my heart is singing! Spring has sprung in Central Texas! (fingers crossed!).

Wishing for spring

Oh how I miss color. Yellow daffys (I have seen one so far this year, but it was pathetic), pink & red roses, red robins and most of all RED BUD TREES!
These are the colors of spring for me. And I miss them so much. This winter has been so cold. So miserable. So bleak of color.
I want the yellow sunshine and the blue skies to look up at. I want the green grass (not the brown dry stuff we have now). I want to see the little leaves of all the plants coming alive.
That is the word I am looking for. ALIVE. Birds chirping, squirrels running, children playing. Sound and colors that make us know we are alive.
Is it spring yet?

Who says eating healthy can't taste good?

I have been venturing out, cooking some lowfat, lower calorie foods. And I have been having a lot of fun finding foods that fill me up and taste good! Even my husband and mother are enjoying the fruits of my labor!
I have decided to share a couple of recipes with you. The first one is called Caramel Apple Pork Chops and they are SOOOOOOO good!
Here is the recipe:
2 Tablespoons Splenda brown sugar blend (half brown sugar and half Splenda)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon lower calorie margarine spread
2 cups peeled and chopped apples (I used two regular sized Galas)
4 (4 oz. each) pork loin center loin chops
Salt & pepper

In a small bowl mix brown sugar blend, cinnamon and nutmeg. Spray a large skillet with non-stick spray. Melt margarine and add sugar mixture and apples. Cook on medium heat until apples are tender and sauce is thickened.
Remove apples and sauce. Season chops with salt and pepper. Place in same pan (don't clean it out beforehand). Cook about 5-6 minutes on medium high on each side or until no longer pink inside. Remove to a platter and pour apples and sauce over.
Enjoy!
Serving size is 1 chop and 1/4 apples and sauce
Calories 246; 12 g fat; 1 g fiber; 6 Weight Watchers points
Pair this with steamed veggies and a salad and you have a wonderful meal!


Sweet Potato Frittata

2 medium sweet potatoes, diced medium size
2 teaspoons olive oil

Toss together and roast in oven 450 degrees for about 30 minutes or until browned and soft

Saute 1 onion, diced, in 1 teaspoon olive oil. Add 1 clove minced garlic. Add 1 bag of baby spinach. Allow spinach to wilt.
Add potatoes, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, 1/4 teaspoon thyme, 1 teaspoon (to taste) salt, and pepper to taste.
Whisk 2 whole eggs and 6 egg whites together and pour over vegetable mixture.
Place in a 350 degree oven and cook until set (about 10 minutes). Cut into 1/4's.
About 4 Weight Watchers points for 1/4 frittata.

This is great to reheat the next day.

Tomorrow I am making baked Coconut Shrimp. If it turns out well I will post the recipe then.
Happy eating!

Happy Valentine's Day (and my trip)

Happy Valentine's Day to all!
My dear, sweet, adorable husband and I went to Austin for Valentine's Day. I can truly tell you this was the best Valentine's Day EVER!
We left early and went down 6th Street. This was the day of the Austin marathon and there were a gazillion people there. They even had a live band playing on one of the side streets.
Then we went to my husband's favorite comic book shop. For those of you who don't know, my DH collects comic books (mostly old ones). No trip to Austin is complete without a trip here.

It is a fun store and I love people watching there!
And I saw Austin's Blood Bank. I am in the blood business and just love seeing other donor centers. Here are some pictures:



I just love the way they have parking spaces marked for blood donors with the little hearts by them. And that vehicle! I can't wait to ask our director if we can paint our hospital services vans like that!
Then we went back down 6th Street. For those of you who don't know, 6th Street is downtown Austin and is, err, quite eclectic to say the least!
We were going to the Ritz (putting on the Ritz!) which is one of Alamo Drafthouse's locations in Austin. We tried to get a picture of the theater and us, but it was impossible with all the traffic on the street and such. But here is one of the two of us and as you can see we are quite happy!

At the Alamo we saw the new movie, Wolfman, with Anthony Hopkins. But the Alamo isn't just any theater. It is a dinner theater, with a complete bar and an excellent chef. We rented the balcony suite, which had two leather recliners and tables to put our food on. We were ALL BY OURSELVES! There was another suite halfway across the top of the theater from us, but basically we were in a world all our own. We did the Ultimate Package, which included a bottle of Champagne (yes Champagne in a movie theater!), an appetizer and 2 entrees. I got the salmon with a lime-mango-curry marinade, jalapeno-garlic green beans (fresh) and basamati rice. It was OUTSTANDING! James had a gourmet bacon-cheeseburger and fries and he said it was fantastic. We had potato skins for an appetizer (and yes, for those of you following my weight loss program, I had planned for this! I had 2 skins and used some, but not all of my bonus points for the week).
Once you see a movie in this setting, well, a normal theater just doesn't cut it. I suspect we will be watching DVD's at home for some time!
We had a beautiful day, with the weather much like springtime. That is until we came out of the movie theater! A Northern was blowing through and the temps dropped at least 10 degrees, probably more. The wind was crazy and was crazy all the way home.
I will leave you with this last picture. As always, Keep Austin Strange is most important there. This article was in The Onion, a newspaper. I couldn't help but bust out into laughter!

Click on the picture to read the article headline. Were you someone that contributed to this amazing fact?
Hope I gave you a giggle this Valentine's Day!