Time Flies...

Wow!! it is hard to believe that it has been 2 months since my last post! Things are going fine here in Arkansas. The only thing that the kids have complained about so far is the chilly weather. It was 35 degrees this morning when we got up. It never got that cold in Mississippi...we probably would still be running our A/C if we were still there...lol.

As for stitching I have been working on 3 different patterns: Woodland Faerie, Footprints, and the Cottage Garden Fairy(Thank you, Annemiek!!). I have also (finally) found 2 LNS for me to go broke. One of them has a monthly stitch in and I am thinking of joining them. I have talked with the owner of the store and she seems like a really nice person. I fell in love with them right away since they do carry some of the dyed threads that I wasn't able to get in Miss.

I really have tons more to say but I have errands I have to go run. I hope everyone is doing great!!

I have a few minutes to post some things so I figured I would. First of all, I miss all of my blogging friends something fierce! I didn't realize how much I looked forward and enjoyed blogging.

We are settled into a nice 3bedroom/2 full bath place in a itty bitty town called Avoca. It is so small that they don't even have a school so my kids go to school in the next town (Rogers). I literally live in the woods. I can't even get a cell phone reception! I love being able to walk outside and not have any neighbors. The drawback is I have to drive for about 20 minutes to get into the next town and even further to get to the grocery store. I haven't found a good LNS yet. There was one here before but I guess it closed down about a year before we moved back. *sigh* just my luck!

I have been stitching a lot since I haven't gone back to work. I finished up The Fortunate Traveler by TW. It turned out awesome! I wish I could post some pics but I forgot to bring them with me to my friends house. I also have completed some small things like Wish Upon A Star by J.Aikmen-Smith and the beginner whitework from TW. I am about 1/2 done with Woodland Faerie by TW. I think my next big project will be Footprints by TW.

As for the daily things in my life things have been okay. Last week Krissy was in the hospital for a blood transfusion. She had uncontrollable vaginal bleeding and passed out 3 times in my bathroom so we flew to the ER. She ended up having 4 pints of blood and 2 pints of plasma. I didn't sleep for about 3 days until she was out of danger. Luckily, she is all better now. She is now on estrogen 3 times a day and iron twice a day. She will be on the iron for at least a year.

Allie and Mac are both doing great. Mac loves living in the woods because he finds all sorts of critters and bugs. We have a constant supply of lizards and tree frogs. All three are looking forward to school starting on Aug. 21. Actually I don't know who is looking forward more them or me! :)

I am going to browse a few blogs before I head out so I not sure when my next post will be but you can be sure all of you are in my thoughts daily.

All is Well

This is just a quick post to let everyone know that we are doing fine in Arkansas. I'm still stitching away. :)

In less than 24 hours we will be on the highway driving to the Ozark Mountains. I still have tons left to do, too! We are picking up the moving truck this morning while the kids are at school. Hopefully we can get the truck loaded before the kids get home from school. I know they want to help but it is just much easier if they don't.

I haven't been stitching a lot in the past few days. I did manage a small start on Renee's Birthday Exchange gift.
While I am on "leave" from the net I am planning on still working on Woodland Faerie on Mondays and Deepest Love on Thursdays.

This will be my final post from Mississippi. Next time you hear from me I will be living in Rogers, Arkansas. I am going to miss blogging and reading everyone's blogs while we are in transition. I didn't realize how much I enjoy blogging until I realized I would be without it for awhile. I want to thank each and everyone of you that have left me comments in the past as they are a real motivator for me.

Night Garden

Last night I finished Laurie's RR for her. It was one of those days that I just needed to sit down and do some stitching to relax me. I stitched Night Garden from The Prairie Schooler. I was surprised on how quick I got this stitched and done. It had a lot to do with no backstitching. :D I was going to wait until after the move to start this one but I couldn't. LOL Now, all I have left to do is go to the P.O. and mail it off.


Later today I am going to kit up my project for Renee for the Birthday Exchange. I was having a hard time deciding what I wanted to stitch for her. I finally found something on my last trip to the LNS. I have a tentative idea on how I am going to finish it but I am reserving my woman's right to change my mind. LOL

SBQ of the Week

Today's SBQ is:

Do you stitch "on the go?" (On the commute to and from work, during your lunch break, waiting for the kids, etc.) If so, do you have a specific "travel" project or do you just grab whatever you happen to be working on and take it with you?

When we went back for MIL funeral I tried to stitch while my hubby was driving. That didn't work out to well! Every time there was a small bump in the road I managed to jab myself with the needle. After about 6 times of that I decided that I can't stitch in a moving vehicle. However, I do manage to get some stitching done when I am waiting in the car pool line for the kids. I usually just grab whatever I am working on that day and bring it with me.

My house is an organized chaos. I have boxes everywhere and piles of things in every room of the house. I am trying to keep things in three different piles: stuff going with us, stuff for the yard sale, and whatever is left I am giving to the church. Of course, the kids are trying to help pack which leads to more work for me since they don't seem to understand that you fill a box full not just with one or two items.

Only 5 days left until we move to Arkansas and I still have tons of things to do!

Last Happy Dance in Mississippi

Late last night I put the final stitches in Our Days for my mom. I am pleased with how it turned out. I always get nervous when I have to center words on the fabric because I usually mess up and get it off centered. I only messed up once on the names and date. Luckily, I caught it rather quickly so I didn't have to rip out a bunch of stitches. I am going to go to the post office and get it mailed off today so I don't have to worry about losing it in the move.


If I get a chance to stitch this evening I am going to start Laurie's house RR. It's not due till May 15 but I know she is looking forward to getting it back so I want to get it finished and mailed back to her as soon as I can. I am hoping to also start working on Renee's Birthday exchange this week, too.

I have decided to put my rotation on hold until things get calmed down. Since my mom's anniversary is on the 17th I really need to get Our Days done for her. I would have had some more of the backstitching done on the wedding bells but I noticed a mistake on the flowers on the "O" and spent the rest of the night frogging and restitching.



Things are moving right along for the move. We have our truck reserved for next Monday. I'm not sure if we will leave that day or the next. I would prefer the next day since I don't like to drive at night. It will be about 9 hours on the interstate. I have to make sure I have a pack of gum in my purse! Once we get close to Ft. Smith my ears will start to pop. I forgot about that when we drove up for MIL's funeral!

The kids are excited about moving. We have family and friends that live there so it makes it easier already knowing people. The kids have a list a mile long of things they want to do when we get there. I can't wait to go to the LNS!! One other thing, that is really neat is we get to visit the park where we got married on our anniversary this year. When we lived there before every year on our anniversary we used to visit the park and ring the bell for the amount of years we were married. We haven't been able to do that for the last 6 years living in Mississippi. All in all everyone is positive about the move. :)

Birthday Exchange for Cathy

The Birthday Exchange I sent to Cathymk arrived safe and sound. I really enjoyed myself stitching this design from Elizabeth's Designs. I made it into a pillow tuck and added some tassels in the corners. Overall I was pleased with how it turned out.



I also sent her some goodies but I forgot to take a picture of them. Hop on over to Cathy's blog to see them.

Total Chaos

Things around my house are in total chaos! Our lives have been turned completely upside down. I had said a while back that some things were happening at my job that were looking positive. That isn't the case now! About 2 months ago my boss told me that the owner was selling the apartments. I was told that if the apartments sold I could either go with the new company or stay with old and transfer to another complex to manage. Either way I would not lose my job and Mike wouldn't lose his job either.

Last Friday I get a phone call from a lady informing me that the take over was going to take place this week or next week. She also informed me that they wanted to do a phone interview with Mike and me on Monday. So for the whole weekend I worried about doing the interview. The interview went fine and we told her we had to think about it. After doing some majoring talking in between Mike and I we decided that it would be better for us just to stay with the old company and transfer across town.

This is where everything started to take a bad turn. We told my boss that we wanted to stay on with him. At that point is when the shoe dropped. That is when I found out that the other property was being sold, too! We had to take a step back and rethink our options. We could either stay here and work for the new company or we could move to NW Arkansas where my husband has a job if he wants it.

We have gone thru and looked at the pros and cons of each job and have decided to move to NW Arkansas. It wasn't a hard choice since my FIL lives in Arkansas. The hard part is getting everything ready to move 500 miles! My stomach is in knots over this whole ordeal. If I make it thru this with all of my hair left on head I will be amazed!

Easter Exchange for Becky

With all the above going on is why I haven't been able to work on my stitching. I did receive word yesterday from Becky that she received my exchange. I stitched the Passione Ricamo freebie on some evenweave that I dyed golden yellow. I made it into a wall hanging and I added some tassels to the corners. I had a wonderful time working on it and only had a few arguements with the tassels. LOL

Easter Exchange From Laurie

I am sorry I haven't been too chatty this week but I have been dealing with some stressful things which is having a direct result on me stitching. So today when I received my Easter Exchange in the mail from Laurie it really brightened my day up!


She stitched Bunny's Tail from Twisted Threads and made it into a beautiful pillow for me. I love it!!



She also included these wonderful goodies for me. Laurie is the sweetest person! She even sent the little treat bags for my kids. Now they think she is the coolest person. Thank you Laurie!! You really spoiled me. :)

It Made It Home!

After the stressful day today I was so happy to see a package in my mailbox. I got my first RR back today! It is really gorgeous! Vash, Jo, Cathy and Renee all did an excellent job on it for me. For my theme I choose the Elemental Dragons freebies from Dragon Dreams. Aren't they adorable?!


I am thinking about having this one framed for myself. :) I just can't get over how beautiful it turned out! Again, thank you ladies for doing such an awesome job for me.

Peace and Quiet

It is Monday and I finally have some peace and quiet time! I was going to work on Laurie's RR yesterday but I decided to work on Our Days some more since I need to have it completely finished and mailed by April 14. (at the very latest!) Tonight I will be working on Woodland Faerie. I am really starting to enjoy working on her now that I am done with the one over one stitching. LOL



Leslie-I used a little of laundry soap and a infants toothbrush with warm water to get the soda stain out of the fabric. When I am finished with a piece (before I add the beads) I also always wash it. Hands get dirty so easy and even if it looks clean to me I still have to wash it.

Things Don't Always Go As Planned

Well, last night didn't go quite as planned. Mac and Allie's friends ended up not being able to come over for the night. Apparently they got into trouble with their mom and got grounded. LOL..I know exactly how that one goes! Krissy did go to the slumber party but this morning before we came to pick her up she sprained her ankle on the trampoline. It's swollen so she is laid up on the couch, foot in the air and controlling the TV.

I forgot to post a progress picture of Deepest Love this week. I am really loving this one and can't wait to see it completed! I am going to work on Our Day some more today. Tomorrow I will be working on Laurie's final square on her RR for the SBEBB.

TGIF

It has been a good but very long day. I had to work at the office all day plus still do my normal running around. It didn't look like it was going to be a good day but it turned out to be a pretty good day. It started with my boss informing me I was staying until close today. Fridays are extremely slow ( I had a total of 2 phone calls) so at least I was going to be able to get some stitching done in peace and quiet. I started working on Our Days until around 1pm when I managed to spill a little of my soda pop on the fabric. I managed to get the spot cleaned but the fabric was wet so I couldn't work on it anymore for the day. This is as far as I got today.



So, I guess the day didn't turn out too bad.

Report Card Time

My kids brought their report cards home yesterday. As a proud Mom I get to brag! All three of my kids made the honor roll. :D It didn't surprise me that Krissy and Allie made the honor roll as they both have always made excellent grades. On the other hand, Mac struggles in Reading and Math so I was just hoping for C's. I nearly fainted when I opened up his report card to see all A's and B, even in Reading and Math!! Last quarter Mac had a 78 % in Reading and brought it up to 92 %.

It looks like I am going to have a full weekend ahead of me. Krissy is going to a slumber/birthday part for her friend tomorrow night. I don't envy her mom either! There are going to be eight 12 year old pre-teens at the slumber party. Mac and Allie are each having a friend spend tomorrow night so hopefully it will be somewhat peaceful so I can get some stitching done.

With all the excitement of the great grades I didn't get a lot of stitching done on Woodland Faerie but some is better than none. :)

SBQ of the Week

Today's SBQ was suggested by Carol and is:

Have you ever participated in a needlework mystery (i.e., a design that you started before knowing how it will look in the end and by which you receive parts of the design via the internet, magazines, or leaflets at spaced intervals)? If so, why did you decide to do the mystery? What appealed to you about it? Did you enjoy it? If you have not done a mystery, would you ever do one?

I have thought about stitching a mystery series but that is as far as I have gotten.


I was able to get a little more stitching done on A Time For Everything last night. Next week I will be able to start stitching on the winter scarecrow. Tonight I will be stitching on Woodland Faerie. Normally, I would be working on The Fortunate Traveler but I missed working on WF Monday night.

A Great Mail Day!

This week is going really great. I opened my mailbox to discover this wonderful hanging from Joanie for the Lottery Exchange. I love it! It is so pretty. She also sent me a small pattern and a notepad which both will get used. :) I love all of it!! Thank you so much, Joanie!


I have been working on A Time For Everything SAL with Becky today. I haven't got a lot done so far but I am planning on working on it some more tonight.

I did it! I finished Herbs & Spices tonight! I was able to get a lot of stitching in today because the kids went back to school and it was raining all day long. It feels good to finish one of my large projects. :) For the time being I am going to work on Our Days on Fridays.



Now I am off to look for a new large project for that spot!