In a Year from Today and 15 Before

Fifteen Years ago today I gave birth to my first angel baby. Caitlyn was born on Friday, January 13th after 13 hours of Labor. It was an amazing day and she still amazes me every day. She is gorgeous and has a 3.75 grade point average. She is kind and down to earth. The picture is her sledding with the kids. She's not too cool for it yet. YAY!

In a year from today I will look back at my blogging and say wow. 17 followers and 1 comment on a give away post. I am so excited to have friends to share my thoughts with. Thanks for checking my crazy life out. Alice has a hand painted gourd bird house on the way. YAY!

I have to go deliver a clutch to be rebuilt and a flywheel to be resurfaced and a throw out bearing to be..... whatever they do to a throw out bearing. Dealing with having equipment fixed is like pulling off wearing a big designer hat. Walk in with confidence and don't be intimidated. You don't have to know it all, just be willing to learn from the shop owners and be smart about what they are telling you. I have found that because I am a female in the Male world of Tree Service and Large equipment that they will try to sell you the whole thing for $800 instead of the seal you need for $11. Then I am going to needlecraft club with my Grandma. My favorite part of the week. I have to try to talk them into helping me figure out the directions for making the heel of a sock. The Grandma's might be more difficult than the Gear Heads at Kay Cee Clutch. lol

New giveaway next Wednesday so leave me a comment on this or any blog entry from today until next Wednesday the 20th and you will be entered. Give Alice a little competition next week. I'll think about what the prize will be on my drive to the city today. Don't worry, it won't be a Throw out Bearing.

Is Anybody going to San Antione, or Phoenix Arizona

I shouldn't be blogging today. I should be in the dessert. I shouldn't look out to see snow right now. I should be in my hammock with my hiking boots tied to one side and the sun blazing overhead catching up on a night of flying and hiking. We used to be able to pack up and be hiking somewhere by morning. We tried. We gave it our all! John and I couldn't take another day here in 5 degrees and our "Ramblin Fever" was coming out. One of us was bound to run and errand and just keep driving. So we pulled out the backpacks and gear and went through everything and packed and repacked and looked on the internet and found tickets for $220 roundtrip to Phoenix. When we were impressed with our packing skills; my pack was 21 lbs and his was 24.5 lbs. We decided we would have even better luck to just go to the airport and see where we end up. Have you tried to be spontaneous with a airplane lately? In Kansas City? It's not like Atlanta where there is always someone working and things are buzzing. We got there at 1:30 am. Yes We Were Completely Sober (just on a mission). The ticket counters would open back up at 5am.

We learned a lot however; ticket counters are not open all night, our hiking boots aren't as comfortable as we remember, 3 concourses of hiking just to see what is going on is a good test of your pack weight and boot fit, What time they clean the floors at KCI and I got to eat at a Denny's I've never been to before.

This is probably a good thing. Now I can run up to the snowy :( city and pay my car payment and I can catch up some housework. I can also post the new treasures I found yesterday while out hunting (before the whim to take off). I can also show you my new favorite local artist; http://amberstimelesstreasures.blogspot.com/ Her jewelry is beautiful and you can see her passion for perfection and detail in her gorgeous photography of her products. I just love the rich color and artful display while in perfect focus for her subject. So the blog pics today are Ambers yummy products, oh and you can order from her blog. Super handy when it is 800 foot of snow outside. BAHHHH I want the desert!

Also, check out the patch I found while treasure hunting yesterday. I think I need a mechanics shirt to put it on! Also, I am going to start doing a give away on my blog. Here's how it works; leave me a comment and I'll draw a name and send that person a surprise! Ok, maybe I'm the only one who likes a total surprise so I'll tell you what it is. This week it will be an Original, Hand Painted, One of a Kind, Gourd Birdhouse like the one pictured and it will be signed and dated by me. So leave me a comment and tell your blogging buddies to come by and leave me a hello and I'll draw a winner on Wednesday. Oh, I think we'll call it Wiener Wednesdays.... errr I mean Winner Wednesdays. So the above pics are; sample of the Birdhouse prize, My new craft sew on Emblem, and Ambers Gorgeous Jewelry.

Snow Day

Ok, I promise to work on these super cool bird houses I have been hoarding. But having all these rug rats at home is distracting. I had to post a picture with the best reason to have your own Tree business. The skid steer makes great Igloo's! this picture doesn't even do justice to the size of this thing. Thanks John, we love ya!

Birdhouses in the Snow

It is snowing here...again. Just like everywhere else in the country in the last couple of weeks. My picture of snow for today is taken from inside the window while I wear a big red sweater and sip coffee.

I have immersed myself in decorating blogs and all I can think about is color, organization and turning something into something else. http://fleamarketstylemag.blogspot.com/ sucked me in today and from there I went to http://www.designspongeonline.com/ I have also been dragging home bird houses and things in that shape from the shop. But it is warmer to look at all the fun stuff online than to paint in the garage, so here I am. While you are finding yourself sucked into the designsponge site, check out this great diy project of a grocery checklist. Oh to be so organized. But that isn't really my resolution. Actually I'm not sure if I have one. I'll keep you posted. The candle holder is my little creation yesterday.

Fiber Arts Versus Valium

Yesterday was all about the yarn. Journey, my sister in law had a doctor's appointment on the same day that she had scheduled a lesson for Makena (her daughter) to learn how to use the huge weaving loom she had got her for Christmas. I quickly volunteered to come over and stay with her during her lesson. It is a 7 foot pine wood loom for weaving yarn into a shawl. It is wonderful and I watched and took notes while drooling. As I was taking notes and being Makena's back up I was planning where I could put a 7 foot triangle in my house. Then I decided some new yarn would probably give me the quick fix I was craving. The shawl picture is an example of what can be woven on the loom and I found it on this gorgeous etsy site http://www.etsy.com/shop/AguapauDesign

I had been contemplating trying to knit socks because we love our merino wool, tres expensive, outdoorsy, snobby socks from the Backwoods Store or Dynamic Earth and thought what fun to knit something useful and appreciated. I ran over to Sprouts because when I first had the knitting socks idea I figured there was a way to do it on a circular needle and this whole 5 double pointed needle thing just looked like it defeats the purpose of being relaxing and meditative. Julie is always amazing and helpful and showed me the sock book by Cat Bordhi and sure enough it shows how to knit socks on circular needles. Julie then suggested I stray from the instructions in the book and instead of buying 2 identical needles I should buy a #2 24 inch and 32 inch. That way my collection continues to grow. What a good drug dealer.... errr I mean yarn seller she is! I in no way mean she deals drugs! I mean she fills my yarn, fiber, creativity addiction with just what the doctor orders! These two needles had different colored cables between them and I found that nice also to give me a little reassurance of which one I was using next. So, here are pics of the beginning of my first knitted socks. Love it! It has totally consumed me and that is exactly what I was wanting. It makes me focus less on what my husband needs to be doing (because that is my job right?) It also makes me appreciate why wool socks cost so much. You can see by the picture that an evening of knitting didn't get me very far. My kids asked why I was knitting baby socks?!

The Goode Family Marathon

The Goode family get together marathon has begun! Friday night was at the Farm for little nieces' Kloe and Ava's Birthday. Last night was Mary Margret's Graduation Party where there was a lot of dancing to Black Eyed Peas and Deaf Leopard. I think of Mary Margret whenever I hear "Pour Some Sugar on Me"

When I logged in this morning, a little late because I had to vacuum first, I noticed a giveaway on my favorite blog http://thepioneerwoman.com/homeandgarden/ Her Photo's are beautiful and her recipes are easy and amazing. Here is the answer to the contest question; What do you do on Christmas Day? We are the real Brady Bunch, so we open presents and then go see Grandma’s controlled Chaos. My husband is the 10th of 12 children, 7th son of a 7th son! Therefore Grandma’s house is open and bustling and joyous! Tons of squishy babies everywhere. Then the kids go for JC Christmas (joint custody or thank Jesus Christ and let the spiked egg nog flow) Happy Holidays, Jennifer

The picture is a little snowman gourd ornament.

Lacy's Little Helper

Look! my Sam isn't the only cat friend drawn to find the most fun vintage stuff in the house. This is Lacy's cat and it was helping her with her gorgeous vintage art frames and light switch covers. http://www.etsy.com/shop/laceyellis This is the link to see her fun stuff up close! MUST SEE.