Happy Holidays!

I hope everyone is enjoying getting ready for the holidays! I know I am:) Although I have been moving quite a bit slower, but all for a great reason! Apparently I have a very active and above average size for her age perfect little girl still growing like a weed in my big round belly! We were told that she would probably be small, but now we're told if she continues to grow as she is now she will be 8-9lbs! I'm 27 weeks this week and so far all is perfect! Everything that can possibly be checked has been checked! She's perfectly healthy, and I'm perfectly healthy, just really tired! But that could be that I don't like to slow down either. On top of being growing a very active baby, I have been getting ready for Christmas, going to Christmas party's for the garden clubs, traveling to VA for my big baby girls Sweet 16, crafting, and a small amount of helping with the hydrangea festival planning.

If any of you have the weekend of June 3-5 free, then you should plan on being here in Douglasville, GA for The Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival! And if you don't have it free, then you should rearrange whatever it is and be here anyway! It will be so much fun! And for the one's of you that live close by, you should be thinking about what you would like to enter in the flower show and/or the table designs! Remember last year was my first time going to the festival, first time ever going to a flower show and first time ever entering a a flower show, and I won first place for a day lily! If I can do it, so can you! And look where it has gotten me, I'm now the President of The Town and Country Garden Club! haha! Even if you don't enter, you should still come and see everything and take the garden tour! Check out my pictures of the tour from last year here! Absolutely amazing gardens! One of them has been featured in Southern Living magazine like 4 times! (and I'm pretty sure it will be on the tour again this year and also featured in the February 2011 Southern Living issue I'm told!)  So go check out the blog, that is still being worked on, and continue to check there or follow it for all the updates as I get them!

I hope you all have a Wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year, in case I'm not back on here before!

I'm back and busy busy busy!

Well, we made it back safely! We had an amazing time in Vermont and Montreal! But my week wasn't complete until I went to The Country Living Magazine Fair here in Stone Mountain Park just outside of Atlanta!

I have tons of pictures and stories that I will post this weekend!

I am taking on something new, something that I've never done before. I will be the new president of Town and Country Garden Club starting in January.  That has also landed me on the planning committee of the 4th Annual Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival that will be held here in Douglas County the first weekend of June 2011. We started the planning this week! There will be more details to come! And I'm starting a festival blog!

Anyone who has a chance to come here really should! Last year was my first time at the festival and I had a blast! That is where I won my first place ribbon in the flower show! There is also a garden tour that is amazing! One of the homes on the tour last year has been featured in Southern Living magazine a few times and is supposed to be in the February 2011 issue!

Here is an article that was published in Southern Living about Penny McHenry. I wish that I had had the chance to meet her! 

I'm seeing Pink!

I'm seeing PINK everywhere because.....

It's a GIRL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

That's right! I'm having a baby girl, due March 21.

So, I'm getting the sewing bug really bad right now! I got my pleater and bishops dress pattern out this week to see if I can still remember how to smock. It's only been about 13 years since I've smocked anything.

I can't wait to see what I might find for her next week in Vermont and Montreal!

My mom is having a Giveaway!

Happy Anniversary to my Mom and Dad! 34 years tomorrow!

And for her anniversary, she is having a giveaway on her blog! 

So go check it out! And good luck!

Best Buy has lost me forever!

That's right! Best Buy has lost me and my family as customers FOREVER!

Last week, I took my laptop (which I did not buy there) in to be repaired by the Geek Squad. I purchased it online through Dell about 3 years ago. I've been very happy with it. But the battery stopped charging and then last week it was not getting any power at all. So I thought since I live 5 minutes from Best Buy, I would give them my business, instead of dealing with the hassle of shipping it back to Dell. BIG MISTAKE!

First of all, I keep all of my embroidery designs and photos on jump drives. The Geek Squad tech wanted me to purchase an external hard drive to back up everything, but only the things that I already have copies of. So I declined. I payed $35 to ship it off. This weekend I got a call from someone telling me to call the store that I dropped the computer off at and they would give me an estimate. The estimate was $285 for a new power source and a new hard drive. My hard drive was just fine when I took it in. My husband took over at this point, he knows more about these things than I do. No one could tell us anything about my computer except that it was not in front of them and that I could call this number and find out something. Our only questions were "What was wrong with the hard drive?",  and "Was it recoverable?". How else were we to make an informed decision? If I had to start over from scratch then it would be cheaper and easier to just buy a new computer. But with each person that we reached, we got the same answers, "Your computer is not in front of me, I'm not sure where it is." "Can we speak to someone who has seen our computer or can you get a message to them?" "No, we can't do that, we never talk to them and they will not talk to customers."

So my computer is on its way back to me, my husband will fix the power problem and if I need a new one, it will NOT be purchased at Best Buy!

I just feel like this is very poor customer service. We should be able to get our questions answered. It's almost as if they expect you to not have questions and just spend your money because they say that you should. But Best Buy you came across the wrong customers this time!

My daddy has always said that he did not like Best Buy and would not go back there. He and my mom bought a new refrigerator and dishwasher there and both were duds! It's not the fault of the store, just the appliances. I guess I'm with my daddy on this now, no more Best Buy for me either!

The Truth Is......

The truth is.....

that I'm a liar.

that I'm not always as ok as I may say that I am.

 that it's easier to just smile and say that I'm fine.

that I'm terrified every day that I'm going to do something to harm this baby that's growing inside of me.

that I miss my baby boy every second of every day.

that there is not a day that goes by that I don't cry for my baby boy.

that some days I cry harder than others.

that I look at his picture and kiss his little face everyday.

that I cry myself to sleep most nights.

the nights that I don't cry myself to sleep, I lay awake and think of him.

that I don't think my husband knows any of this, because I haven't told him.

that its been 5 months since I gave birth to my sweet baby boy and it seems like it was just yesterday.

that when you go through something like this you find out who your true friends are.

that the ones that I so desperately want to talk to about all of this doesn't seem to be there.

that I fill my days with lunches and outings with the ladies from the garden club just so that I'm not thinking.

that sometimes I feel like I'm going crazy.

that sometimes I feel like I'm the bad friend.

that I don't want to feel like this.

that I am not writing this for sympathy, I just needed to write.

that I probably won't answer any of your comments.

that I miss my family.

that I miss me.

that I now know what to say to someone going through this.

that its better to say something than nothing at all.

that I have friends who still have not spoken to me at all, or when they did speak they never mentioned it.

that sometimes that is what hurts me more.

that I'm not angry with God.

that I'm sad, but not angry.

that I thank God every day for the blessings that he has given me.

My First Trunk Show

My friend Karen, is having a wine tasting party at her house. She has made some homemade blueberry wine, Yum! Although I won't be tasting any for quite some time! She's also making some delicious, risotto (this I will definitely be able to sample) !

Anyway, she has asked me if I wanted to display some samples of my work to sell! I'm so excited! Maybe I'll be able to make some spending money for Montreal!

I'm hoping that this will be the first of many trunk shows for me:) After all, it is getting close to Christmas and time to start thinking about presents!

So these are just a few pictures that I have on hand, but I'll be doing some more bags of different sizes, embroidered towels, and burp cloths (after all I need to put that embroidery machine to good use!).

I can't wait!!

Mr F has a business trip coming up in October, and like many of his trips I get to tag along! Of course this isn't going to be one of those boring trips like it usually is or one of the trips back home that I always tag along so that I can see my family while he works. This trip is going to be so exciting!

We are going to Montreal! That's right! Montreal! We will first be flying into Burlington, VT! Vermont in the fall! I've always wanted to go there and now I get to! He has vacation days that he is going to use at the end of the trip so that we can do some of the touristy things. Besides it's not often that my husbands job takes him anywhere other than the east coast and a few mid west states, never out of the country!

After meeting Mary on my last trip, it makes me look at vacations a little differently! I start trying to remember which bloggers live close by where I'm going and would I be able to meet someone!

So let me know if any of you live close enough that we might could meet up!

Even if I don't get to meet any bloggy friends, I'll still come home with some great pictures, Vermont Maple Syrup and probably some fabric!:)

This post comes with a warning!

Warning: before you read this post I have to get a few things straight! I am in no way prejudice or judgemental or scared of someone with a life threatening disease. This post is written just because this was just too funny not to share! Please remember that I am a nurse and I know how to protect myself from certain diseases and therefore I am not afraid to go to the grocery store or Target for fear of catching something!

Last night, my dear Mr F called me from PA where he is on a business trip and asked me to meet a man and his wife at Target with an item that he sold them on craigslist. I'm not a person that scares easily, so I told him I would, especially since its a man and his wife. He told me what they would be driving and we were to meet in Target parkinglot. Target here is always busy!

So the said pickup truck pulled in beside me and there were two men in the truck not a man and wife. The man got out and came toward me, slurring his words like Otis on The Andy Griffith Show! "You must be Eric's wife". We made our exchange and then for the next 20 minutes I stood there deciding how I was going to kill my husband!

First of all, this man was probably about 6'4", slender with a beer gut, long greyish red hair in a ponytail, dirty blue jean cutoffs, a t-shirt, muddy workboots with dirty white knee socks. And he wreaked of pot and alcohol!

He proceeded to tell me that he had the f#@&ing Aids! (everyother word was the f word)! He continued, "Are you afraid of my f-ing Aids?, Can't you tell I have the f-ing Aids?, Don't you see the f-ing A on my forehead?, Aren't you scared to stand there, won't you catch my f-ing Aids?" All the time I was just looking at him thinking how can I get back in my car and leave. The other guy was standing beside his truck talking on his phone.

I told the man that I was a nurse and no I was not afraid of him and his Aids. His response was "Why can't you teach that to the rest of the f-ing world!" He has been HIV positive for 20 years. Which is amazing! He then told me that his wife of three years was also HIV positive for 20 years. Then, "We've been married for three years, we got married 1month and 2 weeks after we met. Do you have a f-ing problem with that if you do you can kiss my f-ing a$$!" Me, "No I think its wonderful that you two have each other." All the time thinking I'm divorcing my husband!

He then told me that he had been arrested 4 different times for DUI's when he wasn't drinking, it was his Aids meds, but that he was only arrested because the f-ing redneck cops around here know he has Aids and is trying to punish him for that.

He tells everyone within 5 minutes of meeting them that he has Aids. He said that he tells people in the grocery store checkout line that he has Aids, because it is his mission to educate people about Aids.

His friend finally got in the truck cranked it and started to back up, that is how I got away!

I'm sorry, but if it is his mission to educate people about Aids, he has no idea how to do it! I was not scared of the fact that he had Aids, I was scared of the fact that he was being absolutely obnoxious, drunk, and high.

I called my husband and told him a few choice words, and I will not be helping out with anything that he chooses to sell on craigslist ever again! We would be getting divorced had he sent the man to our house!

I can laugh about this today, but last night I couldn't!
I should add that I had just come from a memorial service and was still dressed up!

My Summer Vacation

This summer while on vacation I got to meet Mary! Mary was one of the many ladies that participated in making that AMAZING quilt for me! I'm so happy that we vacationed about 30 minutes from her home. I packed up the quilt and hoped that we would be able to meet! She is so pretty and sweet and I wish we lived closer! She also has a beautiful daughter! We of course had our husbands along to be our photographers.

I can't even begin to explain how special it was to me that we were able to meet in person. We've talked back and forth through blog posts and emails for a while, but it was so wonderful to be able to see her in person!

Not only did I get to meet one of the amazing ladies that participated in making the quilt, she got to see the finished quilt in person! The pictures just don't even do it justice. I hope that I will have a chance to meet all of the ladies who had a hand in this!

Accu quilt Go Giveaway!

My friend Karen at Sew Many Ways is hosting a giveaway for an Accu Quilt Go Cutter! Wow!

Go here to enter!

Summer has been busy!

Summer has been soooooo busy for me and my family. There has been lots of travel, time in the garden, lots of time in the house with the air conditioning (especially on those 100* + days!), some time canning, and a little time sewing.

But this is what I've mostly been doing......

That's right! I'm making another one! (I just love that picture!)

I am due March 21, 2011. Too early to know what it is yet, but the ultrasound yesterday showed a 1 1/2 " very busy little peanut! The dr's are pleased with the progress so far. I will be getting ultrasounds every month until about week 24 then I'll start every other week ultrasounds with the specialist and in between seeing my regular ob. So basically a dr's visit every week!

I've had mostly afternoon sickness, but I think I may have solved that problem. I was taking vitamin B6 but I was taking the whole thing in the morning. The dr told me to cut it into thirds and take it throughout the day. So that's what I did today and it helped! Not sick yet!

I'll be back later to post some pictures from my visit with someone very special from blogland! I should have already posted but things got in the way.

House Number Planter

I'm so bad about taking before pictures. I need to get better at that! I would love to do tutorials on some of the things that I make, but I get involved and forget to take pictures of all of the steps.

Anyway, here is the after pictures of my house number bucket that I did!

I printed off the numbers on card stock and cut them out to make stencils.

I painted a galvanized bucket that I already had with some hammered copper spray paint that I already had.

Then I traced the stencils with a sharpie and painted the numbers with navy paint.

I then sprayed the bucket with a sealer. Drilled holes in the bottom for drainage and planted flowers in it!

I just love it!

Meet Rosie:)

Rosie is my helper. She is a great helper.

She loves wearing new clothes.

(a new dress that I made last week from fabric from my stash)

She loves being a model.

(the shirt was made from a man's shirt that I bought at the Goodwill! I just love it! and the skirt was made from some linen that I had in my stash. Don't you just love the rolled flowers!)

She's the best model that I have! She's not bossy or moody. She never complains or gets lazy. She's always right there and ready when I need her! I really need to find a photographer or a real model! But I do love Rosie and she is great at what she does! She's much better than I am! Especially when I have to be the photographer and the model!

(the shirt was made from a long sleeved top that I've had in a box of winter clothes for a while now that I haven't worn in a few years! the skirt was made from some knit that I had in my stash!)

I'm sponsoring a giveaway!

Have you ever been to see Karen at Sew Many Ways? If not you really should! Trust me! It's so worth the time! But first you better grab something to drink, something to snack on, and a pad of paper and something to write with! She has soooooo many ideas for everything! And they are all inexpensive!

She has been hosting Sharing on Sunday on her blog for four weeks now. I offered to give one of her readers something of their choice from my etsy store!

So if you've never been you should go! And while you're there enter the giveaway!

I'll be back tomorrow to show you some of the sewing that I've been doing this week!

My "new" red cake plate!

Today I went to the Goodwill here in town, and I love it there! It is so neat and clean! And it smells good! Everything is organized by color:)

But my favorite find today was this.....

it was only $2.00!

When I saw it, I just had this idea, why don't I paint it red! Now I have a red cake plate to match all the other red cake plates in blogland!

I used the red paint that I already had!

I only painted the outside so that I can still use it for food:)

This is a cloche that I got 50% off at Hobby Lobby! I just love that store! And I have a new love for garden cloche's.

Also while I was at the Goodwill, I scored a few really nice men's shirts!

One of which has already ended up into a .......

skirt! for me:)

It's so cute! I can't wait to make more! I wish I had better photos, but I can't take them of myself and Mr F just doesn't get into it!

I'm linking this post to the Weekend Wrap Up Party at Tatertots and Jello!

And to Frugal Friday at The Shabby Nest!

And to Sundae Scoop at I heart naptime!

How cool is this? Jamielyn saw my post on Tatertots and asked me to link this up to her site! *grin*

And to the Sunday Showcast party at  Under The Table and Dreaming!

And Tutorial Tuesday at Hope Studios!

And Look What I Made at Creations By Kara!

Turkey Sloppy Joe's

Last night we had turkey sloppy joe's for dinner. They were yummy! I found a recipe for the sloppy joe sauce on all recipe's. Then I made hamburger buns from scratch! They were perfect and soft and just tasted so good!

Field trip!

Today I went on a "field trip" with the garden club! We went to a daylily garden that was just gorgeous! There were so many that I couldn't even begin to choose which would be my favorite:)

I have such a great time with these ladies! And every time we get together I meet someone new. I'm not sure that they know how therapeutic they are for me. It's so nice to get out and do something fun like that.

I think about my Little E all the time. Constantly. But I'm doing ok, mentally. I only have a few breakdowns a week now instead of everyday. We got the autopsy report back, and he was completely normal. There is no reason that can be found for what happened. So we'll try again, after I get straightened out. Tomorrow I go for a gallbladder ultrasound. My liver enzymes are still elevated and so is my cholesterol, which is all new since the birth. If it is my gallbladder then it will be removed to fix the problem. If its not, then a liver biopsy is next. I'm praying its my gallbladder, much easier to fix:)

You can see the rest of the photos that I took in my picasa album to the sidebar.

Enjoy!

New in Etsy!

I've added something new to my etsy store. Its been empty for a while now, but I'm trying to get it going again. So for the past few days I've been making things to get it going again. I've decided that I'm a pretty crafty lady and there is no reason that I shouldn't put some of my many talents to use and make a little spending money while I'm at it! Besides I do have a very nice embroidery machine, plus a few more sewing machines, sitting around here!

This is what I've got in there so far......

They are made from flatware that I found at a thrift store, then I took wire and bent it around in different ways and hand stamped the letters onto aluminum flashing. I can stamp anything you want!

I'm not finished adding it all to the store yet, but I had to give you all a peak!

Hope you are having a good weekend! Mr F was in a bike race today, it was almost 100* and I was almost melting just sitting in my chair! I couldn't imagine peddling a bicycle for an hour!