Hold Up......

Monday, February 22, 2010

Ok... So are we all drinking the same water???!?!?! This totally gave me a shocker today!!!! I started to check up on my cousin Karen's blog to see if they had poasted picts of their new house yet... (still waiting for those) and I get a happy surprise that they are expecting their first bundle of joy!!!! Which is way exciting!!! Especially since she's made it to the 2nd trimester and on her way out of the yuckies! Which then got me thinking about my cousin Erika who I knew was preggers and just behind me on the dates, who I hadn't heard from in a while (no blog updates for almost 10 months now....come on girl!!! ha ha ha...pictures! pictures! pictures!) So I go to my cousin Angela's blog, who is one of Erika's older sisters and I find out that she's pregnant too!!!!!

This is sooo exciting!!!!!!!

Is there anyone else out there in the land of my family and cousins who is pregnant that I have totally not caught on to yet????? I'm totally not worried about Jen because she just had her girl this last summer.... Allison???? It's looking like you are the only one that I can look at since we are all pregnant... (i'm really not trying to put you on the spot here... really because I know how un-fun it is to be there.)

BUT THIS IS SOOOO EXCITING!!!!!! How much fun will it be at our next family reunion!!!!!!!

Please update me if I am missing anyone else!?!?!!

President's Day Adventures...

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

I finally had a day off where I could get stuff done around our apartment that has needed to be done for quite some time. This last fall my sister-in-laws and I gained- oh--- I can't even begin to tell you how many hundreds if not thousands of yards of fabric. Some of it is good quilting fabrics and others are good apparel fabrics. That has been taking up our apartment for quite some time. Ruth and her husband- bless their hearts stored it and then divided out the bolts of fabric. Levi and I bought 5 plastic Rubbermaid bins to store it all. Sadly- I still have more that I need to pack away- I've only filled 4 of the 5 bins- that last bin is a project for another day. It's holding a lot of craft stuff that I need to put away in my craft drawers which also need to be organized and prepared for a trip to the storage unit. 

But before all of this happend I was finally able to finish our little baby boys quilt! Wooo Hoooo!!! Can I tell you how excited this makes me!?!?!? REALLY REALLY EXCITED!! It's done... and now I don't have to worry about it anymore! I can start on smaller projects that aren't going to require so much time and effort! Yippie!

This is the fabric that I used to make his quilt... Moda's "Shirtings" line- love it! Very antiquish.
(To view the photos bigger you can click on them to make them full size.)  

Here is the quilt top once it was completed....

Here is the final product!

Front and back... I used a red ticking(?) stripe fabric to continue the antique feel for the backing

Levi designed the border quilting design and charted it out for me to follow...

the quilting of the inside... this was hard trying to move all the fabric through my machine.

This is the coolest part... I got so tired of being poked by pins and needles.. that I went to Wal-Mart and bought some bobby pins to hold the binding in place as I stiched it on! It really worked too! it was perfect!!!!

Welll.. this means- one baby quilt down!!! And who knows how many to go! That number will all depend on how many the Lord feels like he wants to send us!

Love you all!!!!!

Love-

Rach

Once There was Some Snow Man!!!

Friday, February 12, 2010

Once there was some snow man! snow man! snow man!

Once there was some snow man! fall... fall... fall...

In the sun it melted! melted! melted!

In the sun it melted! small... small... small...

 

Ha ha ha... I totally know those aren't the lyrics to the actual song- but it was the only song that came to my head that didn't talk about Christmas! I had to change the lyrics because I don't have any pictures of a snowman. I do know that people have been building some- in the neighborhood behind my office there is a house that had what looked to be a zoo in the front yard made from snow. It was cute... But I don't have a picture. Sorry. I do have pictures of where I live! SO exciting I know... ha ha ha!

 

We broke the all time record for snow fall in Texas yesterday, which was set back in 1917. I hope you enjoy these photos!

 

At 6:30 am... it had been snowing for about a half hour....

 

the dusting on the tree in front of my apartment....

 

Barely covering the ground... you can see my breath in this photo too... kinda cool.

 

Now about 7:45 am as I was leaving for work... 3 inches already.

 

My loving husband cleaning off my car so I can leave for work.

 

Our parking lot....

 

My neighbors car... see how deep that is?

 

This is where I work....

 

The beautiful trees... remind me of one of my favorite Ansel Adams photos.

 

So pretty and serene.

 

Our other car at lunch... close to 5 inches of snow....

 

Our very own floating iceburg!

 

A tree in our courtyard at lunch...

 

The view at lunch.

 

The snow this morning... so heavy it's weighing down all our trees and plants. About 170,000 people are with out power this morning. Not us though....

 

Hello Car??? Where did you go????

 

The street to get to our apartment...and our driveway....  These photos were shot by Levi. While I was at work he did some exploring!

 

The empty lot across from us...

 

Some more beautiful trees!

 

How deep it is.... 12.5 inches!!! New record!!!

 

Our aprtment complex....

 

The area that once use to be my jungle walking/ running trial that was cleared to make way for our Dart Rail line... kinda like Salt Lake's Trax system.

 

Work to install the railway will begin this summer- right after we move out!!! Whew! Just in time!!!

 

Well family! I totally know this doesn't compare to Utah... I really missed seeing Utah this winter, but this will do. I am just glad that here in Texas days like this are followed shortly after with days in the 70's! Hopefully those days will come soon! The snow is petty and all... BUT... I think the Northern half of the U.S. can keep it for the long winters. I like my warm sunny days! I'm just glad that I know how to drive in this stuff!

 

Love you all!!!!!

 

House Hunting....

Monday, February 8, 2010

Well.. You know I would love to say that here is our new house!!!!

Or maybe this one???

Or how about this one???

BUT... ha ha ha... at this point in time a house like these will remain a distant dream. Here's to wishful thinking!

It's just so hard to find a decent house that is with in our means. We can easily get a bigger and better home- but would it be within our means? Would it be something that we would regret purchasing a year later? Would it be a home that if one of us were to loose our jobs or have a major medical problem cause us more stress over worrying about how to pay our mortgage? It really is hard not to want to "keep up with the Jones's" or buy bigger and better, when sometimes bigger and better isn't really better.

Levi and I recently started touring homes trying to find a home that we feel is a place where we can grow and raise our family. I was the primary one to be doing the market research following the guidlines that Levi had given to me, but it seemed like everything that was with in that range just wouldn't work with out ALOT of work. Here are some examples....

Do you see that BIG GAPING HOLE??? Who know's what's made a nest in there! Or what caused that!

Hmm... 5 different flooring styles on just the main floor alone. It's one thing to try to match tile or ask the builder of your house to get you some matching tile... BUT when you have builder tile entry (top center of pict)... Pergo in the room just to the left (top of pict)... Carpet in the room to the right (top of pict)... then this awful tile in the family room that in no way helps the flow of the house- actually hindering it... and then horrible lenoleum in the kitchen... it makes it a really hard sell. Who wants to chisle away at tile all day? Don't even ask about the upstairs!!! Let just say one word... FLOOD in Master bath... repulsive odor. I will save you the picture.

Let me point out.. this wasn't our first house of the day.... That one was in such shambles that it wasn't even photo worthy! These realtors need to really do themselves a favor and follow the "truth in advertizing" moto!

Our 3rd home that we toured was the best home- It was really the only move-in ready home we had seen all day. The only draw back was that it was tiny. But a tiny home on a tiny lot- I guess for some one it will work!  Right?!?! I will say though that this one gave Levi and I some great insight on decor options for our future house. The colors in this one are actually the colors that we currently use in our apartment. Which made it real easy for us to picture ourselves living there.

Tour this home here

The shot from the entry way....

The ceiling lamp in the formal room right off the entry. LOVE IT!

The Family room... We LOVE this red!

Unfortunately... we both decided that this home would be too small in just a couple of years. We absolutely loved it and the location with a major park with in walking distance but... too small.

For the time being.... the search continues!

Ruth's Baby Shower!!

Friday, February 5, 2010

The final baby shower!! Well... not really final... my baby shower will be held in March probably over Spring Break- but this is the last one that I have to stress over!!! Woo Hoo!!!

The other night as I was visiting with Ruth she was telling me her plans for the nursury room and said that she was looking for something to hang over the baby's crib. I instantly knew that this would work. It was also used as her baby shower banner.

Since she knew the name it made it super easy to put together and to surprise her!!!

Here it is in as her shower decorations! This will be the last thing I hang! Gotta save the surprise for last!