Sweet Heart Quilt

Ahh... that has a nice ring to it, doesn't it?  If you have no idea what I might be talking about, you can get up to speed by going here, here, and here.

Have you caught up yet?  Good.

Because the Sweet Heart quilt is finished.

Yes, you read it correctly.  It's finished.  All done.  Finito.

I could not be more proud of myself.  

I mean, not to toot my own horn, but I did a pretty darn good job for someone who is essentially self-taught in the art of quilt-making.

So, without further ado....

Ta-da!

Isn't it purdy?  I happen to think so.  There are so many bright colors.  I knew it was cute when I was making it, but once the entire thing was actually completed, it took my breath away.  I may or may not have shed a couple of tears when I snipped the last thread.

Here's why...

The the dark pink/coral binding?

I made that.  I measured out the strips, sewed them together, and folded them with an irritating little tool that I will probably never use again.

And then I sewed it on.  Did you know that binding is often hand-sewed on the front part of the quilt?  I'm not sure when I first became aware of that fact, but it sounds daunting.  

But I did it.  I stitched and stitched, wondering why thimbles aren't a bit more comfortable.

Oh, and here's the beautiful fabric I used for the back...

A nice, light blue.  I think it looks fantastic with the white.

Oh, and in case you didn't notice, the fabric I chose for the back and for the binding are also two of the colors of the striping on the front.

Even better, the only thing I had to purchase for this quilt was the white.  All of the hearts were made from fat quarters I have collected over the last couple of years and the stripes were fabric I already had in my stash.

So there you have it.  The first quilt I have made from start to finish that is machine-quilted with hand-sewn binding.  No more yarn tacking and no more satin blanket binding.

Happy Fall!

Harvest Moon, 2010

Taken from my back porch

Shutter speed: 1/200
Aperture: 5.6
ISO: 100

Shoes

I think that these need to be my next tennis shoes...

Aren't they purdy?

As much as I run around at work, I'm going to need to replace my current tennis shoes at some point.  But, seeing as how money doesn't grow on trees, it looks like my Nike+ Lunarites are here to stay for at least a while longer.  A good cleaning would do wonders.  How do you clean tennis shoes?

This Is Amazing

My Favorite...

Here's my favorite Halloween candy...

!!!MELLOWCREME PUMPKINS!!!

What's your favorite?

So...

I didn't tell you this when it happened, but I wanted to share some news with you.

No, I am not pregnant. 

I applied to nursing school.

It happened last Monday afternoon.

I took the entrance exam on September 3rd.  It's just a reading test.  It'd be awesome if it played a big part in whether or not someone is accepted because I earned great scores.  Of course, I doubt it does.  I'm crossing my fingers, though.

Anyway.  The following Tuesday I went to meet with a counselor.  I got all of my paperwork filled out and signed that I needed to turn in just to get an application.  I went skipping down to the Allied Health office, bounced in the door, and announced that I was there for an application to the RN program -- YAY!

The woman shot me down in less than a second.

She then handed me a sheet, circled number 4, and instructed me to return when I had all of the necessary paperwork printed out.

So I returned home.  Of course, when I attempted to print out the required information, the site was down.  I printed it out Wednesday and took it with me to school.  Thanks to a much-needed hair appointment that afternoon, I was running behind schedule and had to book it through the halls to the other end of the building and back before my A&P quiz.

Thursday morning, I received an e-mail saying that I met the requirements, here's your application, e-mail me with any questions.   

FINALLY!

I printed it out and immediately started filling it out when I got home from work.  It was simple, just one page.  I wasn't sure about some of the information, so I ended up e-mailing back and forth with the woman from the nursing program.  I mean, I only had one page to fill out, I wanted to do it right, right?

Since the school is way across town, I waited until Monday when I was at school to turn it in.

So there you have it.  I've applied for the RN program at a local community college.  It is a selective admissions program and I'm not positive how many people they accept each semester.  I'm crossing my fingers that I get in, but I know that it's possible I may be rejected.

I will find out on or around October 22nd.

The Not-So-Distant Past

This is me at the end of 2007.  My last name still began with the letter H and I still lived in a state that began with the letter M.

I am wearing bright orange hunting coveralls that are both older than me and covered in what I can only surmise to be old deer blood stains.  But hey, I was going sledding, I just wanted to stay warm.

Here I am a few months later in March 2008 the day of my bridal shower.  I had to look at this picture twice to figure out who this was, as I feel I hardly look like that anymore!  I'm working on growing my hair out, though.  I feel that I look better when it's longer.  I'm just saying.

Here I am back in the 1980's.  I was a cutie patootie, wasn't I?  Looking through the childhood photos I have scanned onto my computer, I've noticed I'm wearing a lot of Mickey and Minnie t-shirts.  That might explain my tattoo...

Oh, my.

2004.

I was a senior in high school and, under the influence of friends, posed (on purpose) in front of a port-o-potty.  I'm a classy lady, right?  I'm actually quite a ways in front of it, but still.  It's a plastic box filled with human waste.  What was I thinking?

At least my hair looked decent.  Ish.

And last, but certainly not least...

I really have no explanation for this picture.  I was in college and I promise I was not under the influence of any controlled substances.  My friend and I went to see "Clue, the Musical" at a small, local theater.  There was seating on three sides of the stage, which was actually only a step up from the ground.  So, during intermission, we uh... went on stage... where we acted silly.

Happy 25th Anniversary!

Happy 25th wedding anniversary to my amazing parents!

Then...

...and now!

The whole family!

!!! Happy Birthday !!!

Happy birthday to my wonderful Mother!!!

Love you!!!

xoxo

My Afternoon..

I'm spending this crisp afternoon at my sewing table. I'm ready to be done with my heart quilt. I'm so close!

A Girl Can Dream

This is my living room.

And here it is looking in the other direction...

Thrilling stuff, right?

How about that carpet?  And those curtains? And you can't tell it from these photos, but how about those brass face plates on the outlets?

Good stuff.

Not.

It's quite dated and it needs a face lift.

Here's a look I really love but know that my husband would never ever in a million zillion years let me do:

How great is this room?  I can do without the striped sofa, but I really like the look of this room.  I opened this photo up in paint and did a bit of rearranging, hence the white lines all over the place.

Our television is currently mounted on the wall between the closet and the door to the dining room.  Unfortunately, you can see our television through our front window.  From the street.  Clearly.*  

I don't love having the curtains closed all day because our neighbors can see our television and could confuse Derek and Meredeth on the floor after their non-wedding with some pornographic video.  We have all of these wonderful windows and don't get to enjoy the view for this reason.

Anyway, I'd love to put the television over the fireplace.  It doesn't have to be mounted, it can just stand on the mantel.  My question is, what to do with the Wii and xBox?  The cables?

I don't necessarily need chairs where it says chairs.  A loveseat or chair-and-a-half would do just fine.  But how gorgeous is this setup?

I love the white bookcase and mantle.  That's the part I know my husband wouldn't go for.  It's sooooo pretty!  I'm just not a fan of the wood-colored trim.  At all.

*I discovered this one day while my husband was watching one of those popular prison shows and there was a scene involving inmates taking a shower.  I quickly ran inside and shut the curtains.

I Can See!

I finally dragged myself to the optometrist this morning.

I was out of contacts, my prescription was expired, and I was wearing glasses I've had for at least four years.

It was time.

Last year I had a poor experience with the optometrist.  The doctor I went to was impatient and just down-right rude to me when I wasn't able to read the eye chart [hello, it was blurry!]

This year I went to Dr. S.  I immediately noticed a difference from the jerk doctor I saw last year.  Dr. S. smiled when he introduced himself.  Oh, and he told me to call him Dr. Mark, which made him even more personable.

I was so at ease with Dr. Mark that I fessed up to all of the terrible habits I used to have regarding my contacts -- wearing them for months at a time, never taking them out, etc.  Of course, it's easier to admit these things when I no longer do them, but still, it was easy to be honest.

We went through the whole eye chart, which is better #1 or #2, #3 or #4 bit for several minutes on each eye.  At the end of it, Dr. Mark told me that my prescription had changed.  

Of course it had.  My eyes started going bad the moment I hit puberty and it was downhill from there.

I was in for a surprise, though.

My eyesight improved.

I nearly fell out of my seat when he told me my new prescription.  The contacts that I'd been wearing for the last year were -5.25.  My new contact prescription is -4.0.  Crazy, right?  I was really skeptical when he told me how much they had improved.  I mean, seriously.  I've been nearly blind for 12 years now, who is he to tell me my eyes are getting better.

After talking to him about what lenses I'd been wearing and how I'd like to wear ones that are a bit less expensive, Dr. Mark set me up to try on a new brand.

And you know what?  I could see just fine!

I'm also no longer an Acuvue gal.  I started out in Acuvue 2 lenses back in 2001.  Several years ago I decided to switch to Acuvue Oasis because they let oxygen in and don't dry out as quickly.  Last summer I tried out the Acuvue Advanced but hated them.  Today I am proud to say that, after nine years, I am wearing Bausch & Lomb SofLens 38.  They went in easily and feel great on my eyes.

So far.

I'm trying them out for a week or so before I order any.  I've only been wearing them for two hours and that's not long enough to decide if they're the kind for me.

I also ordered new glasses.  They're really cute and I'm pretty excited about them.  They'll be here sometime next week and I can show you how adorable they look on me.  Here's what I've been wearing for several years:

This was taken in April 2007, just after I got the glasses.  It was definitely time for an upgrade!

Also, don't forget to visit this post and leave me a question to answer on Friday!!!