Celebrating Independence!

I love all the celebrations around Independence Day!! Liberty, what an awesome gift. Recently, I watched a movie about John Adams and my eyes have been opened to some wonderful American History. I didn't care much for it in school but I do love it now.

I made this small quilt last year for a swap. It was fast and fun since everything was pretty big and easy to machine applique.

Have a safe and fun-filled 4th of July!! America's Independence Day!

God Bless,

Carrie

My quarterly update!!

I guess I am an all or nothing girl. I haven't accomplished a post in way to long. One big thing at a time, it can be so consuming.

February and March I spent most of my time responding to job listings. I became one of the innumerable ( is that a word) people looking for employment. I sent so many resumes to positions exactly matching my work history. When you don't get responses you really begin to wonder if your resumes just are floating in lala land somewhere. Or worse.......

When I did get one response, they wanted my credit score and they even suggested which company to use. All I needed to give them was the number for the interview. So I did it and guess what....no response! Hmmm, kind of ticked me of if you know what I mean!! And it was a good number to but who needs to check that just for nothing.

So......, after two months of THAT, my DH and I started talking about what is the next fun approach, to you know making money and paying bills.

So to make this story not as boring as my life I will just get to the point. We have decided to invest in a purchase of a Subway restaurant. Aha!!!!! If they won't give you a job, buy one!!

Oh my goodness......I have spent the last three weeks training on all the in and outs of Subway. Starting at 5:30 am most mornings, well all mornings I think and until 3 or so, on Tuesday's coming back for inventory. I come home to Bend on Fridays and back to Eugene on Monday.

It has been most interesting and I am getting the hang of everything pretty much. Did you know how many different sandwiches they have........lol. I always order tuna or turkey/ham. So I even had to study those different portions a bit. My brain is not the sharpest pin the cushion. I can convert fat quarters, to yards much faster or figure how much yardage needed for a border or whole quilt for that matter .......well that is not to be, its "Welcome to Subway!"

So I will have more stories on that later I'm sure.

Other than that I have had some quilty fun!! My DH had a field trial up by Spokane so that meant I got a trip to The Buggy Barn. Woohoo! Love them! I got a refreshener on my needle punch, bought a couple new patterns for needle punch and some new Jo Morton fabrics too.

This store is full of inspiration, and one inspiration is there painted red cabinetry. I want to remodel my office in these gorgeous handmade pieces each time I see them. Someday!!

I am really looking forward to their quilt show and classes this year, Barb and Alma from Blackbird Designs are returning for two days of classes. I signed up for the autumn quilt class, I am really looking forward to meeting them. I love their quilts and love their blog. Speaking of their blog. I was a very lucky girl and won one of their engagement calendars for 2011. It will make next year fun, filling in all those Subway appointments etc. LOL........

It really is a wonderful calendar. The Buggy Barn had some for sale when I was their in April. If you love the pictures on Alma's blog you will love using this too!

In April I spent five days in Omaha with the boys. Mom and Dad went on a trip and us two Gramma's spent 4 days playing and having a wonderful time with the boys. Grammy Terry lives a couple hours away and spends almost every other weekend in Omaha. So the boys were very comfortable and didn't miss mom and dad to bad.

They loved going outside when the weather allowed. They are growing up and are so much fun.

From left, Ethan, Jaxon and Hayden. It was sport shirts day. Hayden is a Nebraska Cornhusker, Ethan is the Oregon Duck. Jaxon sporting his 3rd pair of glasses is the all around sports guy!!

Here is Grammy Terry and Jaxon, outside on the back deck doing puzzles.

And laundry is so fun when you are folding cute little clothes. Hayden keeping me company.

I am looking forward to July when they come out to Oregon, it will be a couple days before their 2nd birthday so we will have a very fun party. Can you just believe that they are going to be two already. They change so much, and man do I love watching their cute little bodies walk around, that and seeing their personalities develop.

Hayden is pretty independent and he loved walking up and down the sidewalk, hand in one pocket. Till we meet again sunshine, I love this picture of him.

So that is a little update on me. I need to get back to paperwork and get ready to leave for my last week of training. When I come back I will have some pictures of my quilty projects and to tell you about a couple of projects I just couldn't resist and joined for this summer. They of course have wool. Also, I will have some completed projects to show, now don't fall off your chair there. I am going to stay on track and get last years BOM completed.

God bless each of you dear bloggy friends, and primitive spring blessings too!!

Fondly,

Carrie

Happy Easter

Wishing you all a special Easter with your family and friends.

Easter blessings,

Carrie

Magna Cum Laude

I was doing a bit of organizing, cleaning generally moving some dusty things around this morning and uncovered something. It is a little book, The Sixty Sixth Baccalaureate & Commencement for Northwest College, May 2002.

Listed their under Baccalaureate Degrees was my sisters name:

Christie Amans……..Magna Cum Laude…..Bothell, WA

I went and googled to get the definition:

According to Wikipedia.org (even though its Wikipedia its true I learned it in Latin class), these terms are called ''Latin honors'' and are used to "indicate the level of academic distinction with which an academic degree was earned."
Here is a list of Latin honors, in order of increasing level of honor:

• "cum laude" (Latin for "with honor")
• "magna cum laude" (Latin for "with great honor")
• "summa cum laude" (Latin for "with highest honor")

By GPA: Graduation with honors 'cum laude' requirements can vary but in general: Cum laude grade point average estimates: gpa for cum laude - 3.5 to 3.74; gpa for magna cum laude - 3.75 to 3.99; gpa for summa cum laude - 4.0+.

I went to my sisters graduation ceremony and do remember noticing this, but I am just so proud of her that I wanted to share.

Christie is a wonderful sister, I have to say she really has made my life so special for many reasons. She is 6 years older and really included me in her life. She has always been a giver of her life and treasure. She paid all of my travel expenses to go see our Mother in Yuma last month. Just one example of her generosity towards me.

She went to college and became a Dental Hygienist then moved from Oregon to San Jose, CA to go to Bible College for a year. There she met her future husband and made life long friends. She lived in California, where I visited many times, and Texas, what a fun place to visit too!!

The last 12 years her family has lived in Seattle, we have spent most Thanksgivings with them there. After 4 years of moving to Washington she had a big decision regarding her career. She decided to go back to college and get her Baccalaureate Degree, in her 50’s. She was going to college, writing term papers and had an outstanding time doing it.

She has a new career now with Home Instead Senior Care, where she is Human Resource Manager. And I must say she is really a perfect fit.

Christie I am reminded of how very proud of you I am and how lucky I am to be your sister!!

One of my most memorable moments with Christie was in Maui. My daughter was getting married there and we traveled and stayed together with Christie and her husband Larry. We were at the beach going snorkeling, but not Joe, he says no way! Sharks you know!! Well after trying to get flippers and mask on while standing in the surf…..

Christie and I are finally out in the water, sand out of our masks…..Larry is still not so sure. We are saying, "come on in, its great"……. then we see Joe behind Larry waving his arms and everyone else on the beach is too!! So we thought, lets go in closer and see what they want. Well what they wanted to say was there was a shark between us and the beach and now we were swimming right to it!! All I can say is Ignorance is bliss!!

When we noticed we were the only ones in the water we thought just maybe something was up for sure!! LOl……we never saw the shark!

It was fun and we went down the beach a ways to the rocks where more people were and continued our snorkeling…. it was a very fun February memory.

We celebrated Valentines Day very quietly, had a great steak dinner and Joe gave me a very pretty bouquet. Watched some Olympics, I just love the Olympics and always wish they would show them earlier in the evening. We are going to bed after midnight for goodness sakes…..lol!!

Thanks for listening to my sharing of my sister, I would love to hear your special memories too!!

Prim blessings,

Carrie

Visit with Mom and Quilt Show

Well I was so excited to go out to lunch yesterday I did not look at my post very closely.  Oops…..I didn’t upload any of the quilt show pictures.     Lol….guess that gives me a good reason to come back today!!

Like I mentioned, the weather was quite rainy, 1.89 inches in twelve hours.

Here is the rain pouring off the patio,  the best thing is mom had no leaks.   Mom did some updates to her park model in Yuma, it is the perfect size now for her and guests when we come to visit. 

We were going to go up to Tucson for a couple days but changed our plans because of the weather.    We did find a local quilt guilds quilt show with a nice vendor attendance.   These first two quilts were the viewers choice winners from the previous year.

quilting detail.

I love this one!!

 

These next two had the same maker and were hand quilted.  So beautiful.  I chose this first one as my viewers choice favorite.

 

If I had to choose a favorite, or which one would I want for my home this one would be my choice,  I loved the colors and the raw edge quilts are so cuddly.     And I just had to keep my sister in the picture.  :))

We enjoyed the vendors attending the show.    My goodness I was mesmerized by Liberty Homesteads booth.  They had been to the Road to California show and are attending some small shows on there way home to Kansas.   I have never seen there quilts in person and fell in love immediately.  We purchased some of their dyed muslins.    Books or pictures never do justice for the real item do they.  They asked for us to not take pictures of there booth so sorry no pic’s.

One day we ate lunch at this bakery/deli restaurant that I can not remember the name of to save my life.   But….here are some pictures of their desserts of which we did not indulge.     I would today if I could have a take back.    Do you make desserts like this?

These strawberries are so big!

OK enough of that stuff, yum!!  

It’s super bowl Sunday this weekend,  are you watching the game, having a party or celebrating at your local quilt shop.   We haven’t been real big football fans the last few years but I am sure we will watch some.    We are going to make some homemade Pizza.   I will share the recipe and pictures. 

Prim Blessings,

Carrie

Here I am!!

Happy 2010 dear blogging friends.   It has been a very long time since I posted and I appreciate hearing from you letting me know I’m missed, MIA and receiving your encouragement.

We, like most of you, had family visit us over the holidays.  It was wonderful and very fun.  We were so pleased to have Joe’s whole family with us over New Years.     My house was filled to the brim,  Joe and I still talk about how fun it was to have everyone in our home.

Last month my sister treated me to a trip to Yuma to visit our mother.   We were really looking forward to some warm sunny weather.    LOL…….how about some sun and lots of rain, wind and  a fun time anyway.    As it goes, the day we drove to Phoenix to catch our plane it was sunny and getting warm.    

It was sunny on this day, we were in Old Town Yuma for the Lettuce Festival.   We purchased some fresh fruit and Asparagus for dinner.    It was so windy we didn’t spend to much time but opted for a nice warm restaurant for lunch.

We looked up quilt shops and while visiting one learned about a quilt show.    We went and I took some pictures:

 

This week we have a friend staying for the weekend.  Meka is staying while her owner is off  to Sun Valley Idaho.    

It’s a bit crazy here with our 5 lovable GWP’s,  my daily conversation’s go like this…..”put that down” , “give me that”, “that’s not yours”, “take that out of your mouth”, “Hey! Bring that back “,  “Off the table”, “Off the washer” and “Where did you find that?”      And that is just with Casey!  Joe calls him our demon dog, but really, he is just the youngest and is still in the VERY busy, nosey, destructive stages of puppyhood!!

Casey, Pepper, Meka, Slide

Casey,Meka,Slide,Pepper and Jake

 

Daisy Mae,  its just impossible to get them all in one picture.

This weekend we will take a few walk abouts, maybe a couple will get a haircut.    Pepper needs one,  but don’t ask her and Meka, well you just don’t come stay with Carrie and not get some grooming.   Poor thing,  she always thinks she is in trouble.   I will take some pictures because I know you are dying to see more pictures of my dogs.  LOL……..

I have been finishing up details on my BOM blocks getting ready to set them together,   they have been so much fun.   I love all the wool, never never get tired of working with wool.   So pictures of that too coming up.

This year I have really resisted joining a multitude of wonderful projects and will focus on finishing my BOM first.    One thing I will keep up with is my Jo’s Little Women group at Sew Many Quilts.         Then late spring I am going to sew along with the Wool Crazy girls.   If you visit this link today you are in for a real treat.    I’m so looking forward to this project.   I have the wool  that’s for sure,  are you Wool Crazy too?     I have been following the posts and wow, they are looking wonderful.

Well my DH is here now and he is taking me out for lunch!!!    It’s Thursday and  Baldy’s has Baby Back Rib special every Thursday.   Yummo!!!   There the best ever!! 

God bless each of you and have a wonderful week.

Prim Blessings,

Carrie

Merry December

WOW!! The Month is half over and I am writing my first post. Good thing its not my job huh, I’d be let go…….given the boot…..adios amigos!

Time just goes by and another day goes by and I don’t get this done. It is fun once I sit down and get going it must be the starting thing, unlike my quilting projects, there its the finish thing.

Anyway Thanksgiving was quiet and very nice……..gee I won’t go on about the last THREE weeks and bore you but it has been that long. Bad Girl!!!

Did you see the blocks on my header. I LOVE them, Kindra made them for me as a gift. Isn’t that just so nice of her. I have seen them around in blogland and spoke with her about them and she up and surprised me this week. I love surprises, they are so fun!! Thank you Kindra, I will treasure them.

Not to be to corny but our blog name kind of becomes our “brand”. It’s been fun this past year sharing my ordinary life like it was book worthy. LOL…….but really life is a big deal!!! I could get real philosophical about the whole thing but suffice it to say we all are worth it. Right…….I mean I spend hours reading all of your wonderful blogs and it is amazing how we all become so important to each other!! Where am I going with this? I have no idea……. but I know those blocks make me smile and blogging wasn’t even something I new much about 18 months ago.

I finished a fun project this week, I had to use a life line and phone a friend about the little noses! Yikes, I haven’t done alot of embroidery and this project had TWELVE noses……

As you can see they are somewhat of a focal point and I was wanting them to be perfect………well I got over that and just jumped in because my lifeline has her own life and has been very busy!!! She did call me today and reminded me we have a mutual friend who I could also have asked. Thanks for the call, it meant alot!

This mat is a Christmas gift and will be off Monday with the rest of the gifts to Omaha!! It is a Primitive Gatherings kit called “Love Ya Man!” It was so much fun to make, working with wool is wonderful.

We are enjoying a kind of heat wave today……..it is 50 degrees warmer than last week. We had more than a week of below zero temperatures and today we are 45. Its awesome!!! It is blue skies and sunny!! It’s almost like summer.. lol!

When we get cold weather we have the biggest icicles, they are pretty cool. I was loving them until I watched the news and they showed pictures of house with ice damns ruining there roofs causing $$$ of repairs bills. So I went out and knocked them down, changed the channel and watched something less scary. There were alot homes and businesses with broken pipes this week and I am so thankful we were not one of them. It kind of makes average temperatures something to be thankful for!!

A friend has started a new blog!!! Michelle of Mocha Moochell used to live in Bend and found mister wonderful and now lives in Portland! She has recently started quilting and is finishing up her teaching credentials. Go over and welcome her to blogging, she is having so much fun with her quilting and has some wonderful quilt shops to share with us!! I will get over to see you, your quilt shop sounds wonderful!

A little update on my boys……

Here they are with Mom at the piano. Krista is a music teacher, doesn’t she look happy!! We will miss them this Christmas, they are growing so fast!

Hayden is walking and is just adorable. They were so fun to shop for this Christmas. Look forward to more videos on Facebook.

Thanks for stopping by, enjoy all the festivities leading up to Christmas. My week is full of parties and decorating, I can’t seem to get it finished this year!

Prim Blessings,

Carrie